Chapter 96

“Lodging?”

Ah. Damn it.

The instant he saw Hae-gun’s reaction, Eui-rim realized his slip of the tongue. He had deliberately kept his motel stay a secret from everyone.

“Don’t tell me you left your house? When?”

At the sharp question, Eui-rim’s mouth snapped shut. Unable to hide his fluster, he lowered his gaze.

You idiot. Think before speaking. Why have you been so careless today? You never let your guard down like this around the others.

Was it because the psychological distance between him and Hae-gun had collapsed after the Isolation Ward? Had he grown so comfortable around him that he simply lost his filter?

“Eui-rim-ssi.”

Lifting his gaze at the stern tone, Eui-rim saw that Hae-gun’s smile was entirely gone, replaced by an intense, probing edge. Nibbling on his lower lip, Eui-rim braced himself.

“Yes. That’s right. I packed my bags and left on Monday. I’m currently staying at a motel nearby.”

A heavy silence descended over the car. The stillness was so suffocating that Eui-rim wanted nothing more than to step outside into the night air.

“Input the address.”

The demand was entirely different from what he had expected. Staring at Hae-gun’s finger pointing toward the navigation screen, Eui-rim blinked in surprise.

He’s not going to ask why? I thought he’d interrogate me about leaving my apartment.

“The address for where?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what Hae-gun meant. Rather, because he had read the Guild Master’s intent all too clearly, he had hesitated. It was his subtle way of asking if they were truly turning the car around.

Hae-gun gave no verbal reply, letting his silence answer. Glancing between Hae-gun’s set jaw and the screen, Eui-rim typed in the name of the motel.

“It’s close to the guild.”

Skimming the route with a brief glance, Hae-gun gave a soft, incredulous laugh. It was hard to decipher whether he was amused that Eui-rim had picked a motel right beside the guild, or if there was a darker edge to his humor.

Unlike their earlier chatter, the drive to the motel was shrouded in silence. Even the hand that had playfully ruffled Eui-rim’s hair or brushed his cheek remained firmly on the wheel, leaving an odd emptiness in the cabin.

Sitting in this silence feels like carpooling with an estranged civil service coworker. We were so awkward we never exchanged a word beyond greetings.

Since the motel was right near the guild, they arrived in short order. Following Hae-gun’s prompt to lead the way, Eui-rim took the elevator upstairs. Arriving in front of the door, he tapped the keycard stored inside his phone case.

Hae-gun, who had remained quiet the entire ride, let out an exhale bordering on despair the moment he stepped inside. To an S-rank hunter accustomed to luxury penthouses, this standard motel room probably felt stiflingly cramped.

Still, it’s quite decent for a motel. It even has a soaking tub, which my apartment lacks.

Feeling needlessly self-conscious, Eui-rim stood by the door while Hae-gun surveyed the space. Then, without a word, Hae-gun walked over to the suitcase resting in the corner. Unzipping it in one smooth motion, he began packing—stuffing Eui-rim’s laundered shirts, toiletries, and charging cables inside.

“What are you doing?”

Hurrying over to grab Hae-gun by the arm, Eui-rim was met with utter nonchalance. Hae-gun tilted his head, seemingly baffled by the resistance.

“What does it look like? We’re going home. To my house.”

“That’s not what I mean. Why are you packing my things to check out?”

“Then were you planning to keep staying here?”

Seeing Hae-gun look genuinely appalled, as though the idea of staying here were madness, Eui-rim was struck speechless.

What is with this brazen reversal of roles?

Of course, he hadn’t planned to stay here forever. Living out of a motel when he had an apartment wasn’t particularly pleasant. Once his nerves settled, his intention had been to return home.

Yet even so, today wasn’t the day. He certainly hadn’t expected Hae-gun to unilaterally evict him on a whim.

…Still, I owe him an explanation. I’m the one who let it slip, so I have to clear this up.

“If you don’t want to go home, don’t stay here—come to my place.”

“Pardon?”

An unexpected proposal dropped like a thunderclap. Just as Eui-rim was agonizing over how to explain his situation, Hae-gun cut through it all.

“Stay with me. You can use my house as your lodging.”

Why?

The first reaction that surfaced was sheer bewilderment. Why is he suddenly making that kind of offer? Do I look that pathetic? But Hae-gun isn’t someone whose sympathy runs so deep that he’d invite a houseguest into his private sanctuary just out of pity.

“I’m fine,” Eui-rim said, trying to decline politely. “I only moved here because I needed some space. It’s really not something you need to trouble yourself over, Hae-gun-ssi.”

“Well, my thoughts are a little different.”

“Different?”

Hae-gun nodded. “After the Isolation Ward incident, your name has started circulating within both the ministry and the Association. For your own security, staying in an unvetted motel like this is reckless.”

“…”

“Besides, we’ll have to formally introduce you soon. Wouldn’t it be wiser to relocate to a secure residence before the spotlight lands on you?”

“I can just return to my own apartment before then.”

Eui-rim caught Hae-gun’s arm to pull him away from the suitcase, but against S-rank strength, he didn’t budge an inch. Glancing up at Eui-rim with a quiet look, Hae-gun finally straightened up and sat on the edge of the mattress.

“You need to be in a state where you *can* go home. What’s the point of forcing yourself back into an empty apartment?” When Eui-rim let go of his arm, Hae-gun’s gaze softened. Rubbing his lower lip with a quiet sigh, his tone turned gentle. “Does staying at home make you anxious?”

“Pardon?”

“You told me once before. That if possible, you didn’t want to go home.”

“…”

“I wondered if seeing your younger brother’s phantom brought back too much of the past.”

The words struck like a physical blow, leaving Eui-rim’s mind completely blank. As Eui-rim stood frozen, Hae-gun looked down at his own clenched hand and added, “I know what you saw and heard that day. Even if Moonhyuk and Chaeyoon saw entirely different illusions.”

“…”

“A young boy was crying for his hyung. Begging to be saved, desperately pounding on a door.”

“You… saw that yourself?”

His throat went instantly dry, his voice coming out in a cracked whisper. Swallowing hard, Eui-rim bit his trembling lip.

Until the true Shadow manifested, hallucinations had always been strictly subjective. Even when looking at the same possessed host, people saw and heard completely different things, tailored to their own psyche.

Everyone had distinct vulnerabilities. Whether rooted in guilt or unhealed grief, the illusions mirrored individual traumas to drag victims down.

Yet Hae-gun had witnessed the exact same scene as Eui-rim. He had seen Eui-jun, heard the boy’s desperate cries, and shared the identical vision.

Because their souls were resonating.

Remembering the bond forged by their resonance stirred an emotion Eui-rim couldn’t name. Hae-gun had witnessed his deepest wound, understood his silent agony, and stayed beside him; the realization melted a frozen ache within his chest.

“You’re right,” Eui-rim confessed in a quiet voice, meeting Hae-gun’s steady gaze. “Seeing Eui-jun kept dredging up the past. Staying alone in that apartment was unbearable. To be honest, I wondered why you never asked me about it… but you didn’t need to.”

“…”

“Because you already knew everything.”

Because he knew what Eui-rim had endured in that subterranean tomb, Hae-gun had asked no probing questions. He had simply helped him rebuild his daily routine, waiting in silence for him to heal.

“Was staying at the motel bearable?”

“Tolerable, more or less. Though even this room felt suffocating, which is why I moved places midway through. It never used to be like this, but whenever I was alone, my thoughts began to spiral.”

Thanks to 〈Shackles of Oblivion〉, he was no longer tormented by visceral terror. It was simply the hollow longing—the desperate ache of wishing he had regressed to when his family was still alive—that refused to fade.

“When did you start seeing the same illusions as me, Hae-gun-ssi?”

At the question, Hae-gun looked up thoughtfully. “From the moment the host imitated your sister’s voice. At first, I assumed Moonhyuk and Chaeyoon were witnessing the same thing, but when I asked them later, they heard completely different sounds. That’s when I realized I was the exception.”

Eui-rim nodded softly. “Shadows prey on human vulnerability. Their auditory and visual phantoms are composed of whatever guilt or sorrow strikes each person most deeply.”

“Mm.”

“For instance… the phantom voice mimicking my sister was a total fabrication. It was only poison spewed by the Shadow digging into my memories to ignite my guilt.”

“Then what about the words your younger brother spoke?”

Eui-rim’s voice caught in his throat at the question that pierced straight to the core.

When Eui-rim couldn’t answer, Hae-gun let out a breath closer to a sigh than a laugh, rubbing his jaw.

“So those were true, then.”

“…”

“I understand your pain. And I understand why you fled to a motel.”

“Then…”

“However, if running away hasn’t healed you, there’s no reason to keep punishing yourself like this. Don’t you agree?”

Once again, Eui-rim had no rebuttal. If he pressed, he could have found some petty excuse. Yet, as though his heart secretly longed to be persuaded, he remained silent.

“Come to my place. It isn’t your apartment, and you won’t be alone in the dark. It’ll be far better than this cramped room. Stay until you feel whole again, and then you can go back.”

“…”

“I won’t even charge you rent, so don’t look so burdened.”

At the teasing remark, a soft laugh finally escaped Eui-rim’s lips. Shaking his head with a helpless smile, he nodded.

Just like that moment after shattering the final sigil, when Hae-gun had held him in the dark. Once again, a profound, soothing relief washed over him.