That Face Is the Problem - vanish into fiction

“That is right, has it been about three years now? The dorm is very clean. Do not worry, Jae-gyeong.”

‘…Then does that mean they really had sex in the dorm three years ago? Why on earth? Why do it in the guild dorm when there are homes and hotels… Why?!’

Perhaps because Jae-gyeong’s expression suddenly worsened, Jeong-eon lightly grabbed his shoulder.

“I apologize, Hunter Jeong Jae-gyeong. But the dorm is truly clean now, so there is no need to worry. We are going straight to Basement Level 2 to do mock training. I promise.”

Of course you are. Jae-gyeong swallowed the words he could not say out loud and barely managed to nod.

He already knew that Jeong-eon had lived briefly in the seventh-floor dorm three years ago. It was a well-known story that had spread like a fairy tale, the love story of Hee-ro and Jeong-eon.

So back then… in the very place where Da-sol and I are living now… that is where they nurtured their love…. Please tell me it was not in my room. Not the living room either… not the kitchen… not the bathroom…. While Jae-gyeong hurriedly prayed in his mind, the elevator arrived at the first floor.

“Enjoy your pork cutlet~”

Hee-ro waved as he sent Da-sol and Jae-gyeong out. Once they stepped out of the elevator, Jae-gyeong felt like he could breathe again, and his body temperature dropped a little. Maybe because of that, his hiccups naturally stopped as well. Jae-gyeong looked down at Da-sol, who was standing blankly beside him.

“Da-sol… are you okay?”

“Just seeing those two drains the hell out of me.”

After saying that, Da-sol roughly scratched his fluffy hair. He started walking toward the exit. Jae-gyeong quickly followed him.

That day, Da-sol ate another giant pork cutlet, and Jae-gyeong ate udon.

***

1. Mirror Dungeon

The group living arrangement ended without incident. A week was longer and shorter than expected, and the relationship between Da-sol and Jae-gyeong had improved significantly compared to before.

Da-sol kept his word. He made an effort to eat with Jae-gyeong as much as possible and tried, in his own way, to be sincerely polite. Sometimes, when Jae-gyeong gave him that wistful look, a string of curses would fly out immediately. But those were just warning-level curses, so Jae-gyeong could understand.

Jae-gyeong was now able to completely separate Da-in and Da-sol as different individuals. Their similar faces still made it unavoidable for him to think of Da-in from time to time, but as he continued to interact with Da-sol’s personality, speech habits, and voice, the separation happened naturally.

On the day the group living ended, the two of them ate breakfast together without making a fuss, then exchanged brief goodbyes. After that, they returned together to Huntrion Apartments with their luggage. Since they lived in the same apartment building, it somehow felt like an extension of the group living. That day, Jae-gyeong learned that Da-sol lived four floors above him.

“Ahhh… home….”

Since he had moved out not long after moving in, it was not so emotional that it brought him to tears or overwhelmed him with nostalgia. Still, he felt a bit more relaxed.

“So Da-sol lives four floors above me….”

Lying on the sofa, Jae-gyeong stared at the ceiling as he thought that. Somehow, it made him feel strange.

“No… no, do not think about it. You sound like a real creepy stalker.”

He felt disgust toward himself for having had that thought. Maybe Da-sol’s aversion had rubbed off on him.

Would someone who had no feelings at all really feel unsettled just thinking about where the other person lived?

Jae-gyeong suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

“Jeong Jae-gyeong, are you insane….”

To get his head straight, he did a thorough cleaning of his apartment. After that, he used his iPad to create a more detailed weapon proposal, then turned on his computer and wrote a full-fledged planning document based on it. He did get sidetracked and played games for a bit, but in the end, he managed to completely forget about Da-sol.

The following Monday, Jae-gyeong submitted his plan earlier than anyone else on the team. Hee-ro smiled and praised him generously.

“Jae-gyeong, you are really diligent. You are good with paperwork, you are a capable hunter, and you even got closer to Da-sol… you are the best. Well done.”

Hee-ro gave him a thumbs-up like he was praising an elementary school student. He was not sure whether getting closer to Da-sol was really that big of an achievement, but hearing praise still felt good.

“Once the weapons are completed, we will be entering the scheduled S-rank Mirror Dungeon. We will hold a formal meeting about it, but study up in advance.”

“A Mirror Dungeon?”

And an S-rank one, at that.

While he was in JK Guild, he had entered S-rank dungeons only twice. At the time, S-rank dungeons themselves rarely appeared, and due to safety concerns, higher-ranked large guilds were given priority for clearing them. But now that he had joined the Training Guild, he was facing consecutive S-rank dungeon raids. Jae-gyeong’s heart trembled with anxiety and fear.