Lay Low C.55

[q3apo]

This is MTL Work. Just for fun.

Episode 55

The sofa at Lee Sa-young's house was incredibly soft, no matter what they put in it. These days, blankets are made from dungeon by-products, but is this sofa also made from dungeon by-products? Cha Ui-jae desperately tried to change his mind and accept the situation.

It was still uncomfortable to occupy a more comfortable seat than the landlord, but he couldn’t continue the argument here. If he did, he would really have to destroy the sofa and sleep on the floor next to Lee Sa-young.

Even though it wasn't his intention, didn't he ultimately contribute to destroying the bed? He couldn't cut off the chain of intact furniture again. Of course he doesn't have any money to pay.

‘Yes, the elder should take care of it.'

It was when Cha Ui-jae, who had rationalized his natural old-fashioned mindset, was enjoying the softness of the sofa. Sa-young lightly threw two pillows and two blankets. Ui-jae instinctively grabbed it and muttered.

“I don’t need more than two.”

“Take what is given to you.”

Behind Sa-young who said that, blankets and pillows were piled up like a hill. He didn't know where he got it from, but he brought a lot of it. Ui-jae, who had no idea about the Wave Guild's high-class breakroom, thought about it. Well, thanks to that, he didn’t think Lee Sa-young would be able to sleep well if Ui-jae received two.



Only after checking that Ui-jae was fussing around and putting on a pillow and covering himself with a blanket did Sa-young start laying out his own blanket on the floor.

After laying down several layers of blankets like a soft mattress, Lee Sa-young lay down on a pillow. Eventually, when Sa-young clapped once, all the lights in the house went out. Ui-jae muttered as he stared blankly at the dark ceiling.

"Good night."

There was no answer. It didn't matter since he hadn't expected an answer. The sofa was soft, the blanket was soft, and the pillow had just the right amount of elasticity and height to support his neck. It was a good night's sleep for the first time in a long time.

But if you ask him if he could sleep comfortably. That wasn't the case.

It was about ten minutes after he laid down on the sofa and then on the floor. The reason he could tell the exact time was because he was so bored with my mind that he counted the seconds.

'I can't sleep.'

He was not a person who usually sleeps a lot, not only that, instead of sleeping at this time, he was preparing for business. Established life patterns are not easy to change. He couldn't sleep because he couldn't adapt to the suddenly comfortable sleeping environment.

'Perhaps because my body was born to be an outcast. With Lee Sa-young by my side, my mind became clearer as time went by. '

“… … .”

In addition, Sa-young was still awake. Although he was motionless, like a dead person, his breathing had remained constant from the moment he laid down until now. Just as he had noticed, he must have known that he was not asleep. Ui-jae found something else to think about.

In the silence, all of Ui-jae's thoughts were sucked into the crack. The apocalypse, the kaleidoscope of Yoon Ga-eul, the cracks in the West Sea, people's screams, the smell of blood. His thoughts continued endlessly into the bottomless pit. If this continued, he felt like he would be buried in gloomy thoughts again.

Ui-jae had no choice but to bite his lips and open his mouth.

“Lee Sa-young, can you sleep?”

“No, Hyung.”

It wasn't a voice that was croaked up after waking up, but a clear voice that he had heard just a moment ago. What was there to say to that? Hearing someone else's voice, the tangled thoughts calmed down a little, and he felt his consciousness return to reality. Ui-jae blinked and opened his mouth.

“I can’t sleep too.”

“You’re probably tired.”

"Why?"

“Why did you make such a mess?”

Sa-young laughed as if he found it ridiculous, but he didn't look like he was complaining.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it?”

Ui-jae also accepted it with ease. A short silence fell between the two again. It was quite bearable than before. Ui-jae quietly looked at the ceiling and then spoke to Sa-young again.

“How about the door boy? Is he okay?”

"What… The one sent you from Incheon to Seoul?”

Sa-young closed his mouth as if choosing a word, then continued.

“He’ll come to his senses in a day or so. Maybe tomorrow evening.”

“The penalty is stronger than I thought.”

“Because it’s a skill that too good to use indefinitely.”

"Yes."

Occasionally, conversations continued. Since conversations between people cannot continue indefinitely without pauses, silence inevitably followed. However, Ui-jae was no longer afraid of that. Even if something kept trying to sneak in between, he felt like he could shake it off.

This time, Sa-young called Ui-jae first.

"Hyung."

"Huh?"

“Do you know I still have the letter?”

"Letter? What letter?”

“You gave it to me and now you don’t remember.”

Ui-jae tried to remember, but nothing came to mind. He didn't remember giving Sa-young anything that could be called a letter? A rustling sound was heard as if Sa-young was turning over. Ui-jae also turned to the outside of the sofa.

Sa-young was looking at Ui-jae with his chin resting on his hand. A look of amusement appeared on his pretty face.

“If you touch it, it goes away.”

"…ah."

Could it be the threat written on the business card? It seems like he found the right person to go to… As Ui-jae looked at him with a trembling face, Sa-young let out a kick and lowered his head.

Suddenly, a blue light crossed his vision diagonally. There was a large window on one side of the living room, and the sun was rising dimly in that direction. Has time already passed like this? Cha Ui-jae washed his face dry and asked.

"What time is it now?"

"Well, I guess it’s about 4:30.”

“… .”

“Why, are you going to do business again?”

“Hey, the store door needs to be opened.”

“I’ll order Bae Won-woo.”

“Is it okay?”

“If you’ve eaten that much, shouldn’t you know how to make hangover soup?”

Sa-young muttered rudely as he got up. Ui-jae also got up from his seat and stretched his body. Although time was a bit tight, with his new trait, the preparations for the business would be over in no time.

Since Lee Sa-young said he had left the clothes he had worn yesterday for laundry, Ui-jae ended up having to borrow clothes from Lee Sa-young again today. After putting on the black turtleneck and black slacks that Lee Sa-young had chosen for him, the two got on the elevator together.

Yes, side by side. Ui-jae stands diagonally from Sa-young, but clings tightly to the corner of the spacious elevator, widening the distance between them. Sa-young, standing in the center of the elevator, sneered.

“Why don’t you come closer?”

“I feel comfortable here.”

“You even broke my bed and borrowed my clothes.”

“Don’t say anything that someone will misunderstand.”

“We’ve done everything together, so why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Shut up, please.”

Cha Ui-jae had no intention of seeing Lee Sa-young off, but the elevator in the Pado Guild building where Lee Sa-young's company residence was located had a structure like a hotel that required a guild membership card to operate. Even if you want to jump up the stairs, the door leading to the stairs can only be opened if you have a guild membership card.

Cha Ui-jae had no choice but to take the huge entry/exit tool called Lee Sa-young. Furthermore, because of what Lee Sa-young added, Cha Ui-jae couldn’t help but be even more careful.

“You’re famous, hyung.”

"I? Why?"

“Do you think there’s anyone in this guild who hasn’t tried my hyung’s hangover soup?”

“… .”

“What if the guild members ask you why you’re here?”

Isn’t the reason his face was sold by the waves because he paid 5 million won in advance for the hangover soup restaurant?  Ui-jae was dumbfounded, but now was not the time to argue about who was right or wrong.

It's 4 a.m., so they probably won't run into other guild members, but what if they do? It was also true that there was no excuse. They can't even say that he had hangover soup delivered. Since they had been criticizing him for not delivering hangover soup, he didn't know that if he kept talking like that, he might have to hold a press conference due to suspicions of preferential treatment from the head of the wave guild.

Cha Ui-jae, who was thinking, suddenly saw the elevator glass. The outside of the elevator, which was made entirely of glass and well-lit, began to look like a door. Just break it and jump out? Even if he did, his body wouldn’t get hurt too much. The problem is…

"Hyung?"

“No, it’s okay.”

It was the price of the window that had to be paid. Cha Ui-jae, who had already incurred a large debt for the bed, stared straight ahead, carefully folding away his distracting thoughts. He considered using the silent footsteps skill, but that only hid his presence without being noticed, and it was useless in such a narrow space.

The moment the door opened with the notification that they had arrived on the first floor, an ominous voice was heard.

“Oh my, it’s already dawn when I come out of a dungeon raid. Hey, guild leader?”

“Sleep a bit in the dorm and then go to work. Huh? Hello! You woke up early. Huh?”

“… Eh?"

Everyone's attention was focused on the two. To be exact, they were startled when they saw Lee Sa-young, who had a shadow over his face, and bowed in greeting, then raised their head to find Cha Ui-jae shoved in a corner. There were hunters who had cleared the dungeon and returned, and there was Bae Won-woo who was wiping his sweat with a towel, probably after finishing his early morning run.

“Huh? Aren’t you Mr. part timer? What brings you here?”

Bae Won-woo greeted them warmly and approached the elevator door, but when he saw Lee Sa-young standing in the center, he started to turn his head with a confused expression. Cha Ui-jae muttered the reasons with a face that seemed to have lost its soul.

"ah… yes… what… yes… .”

"yes?"

"haha… That’s how it happened.”

Neither Cha Ui-jae nor Bae Won-woo knew what had happened. Only Lee Sa-young calmly stood in the exact center of the elevator and glared at Bae Won-woo. Of course, Bae Won-woo had thick nerves and was like a very strong wire, so he spoke to them without even noticing Lee Sa-young's sharp gaze.

“But what are you doing here, part time worker?”

“… .”

“What are you doing here?”

Sa-young was silent. Bae Wonwoo turned his head and looked at Ui-jae as if he hadn’t expected guild leader’s answer. The part-timer will answer. Didn’t they have some affection for each other? However, Ui-jae was the same.

While the hunters' doubts were growing in the silence, Bae Won-woo, with his keen observation skills, noticed that part-timer's clothes were different from usual. Black neck collar and slacks. The black one looked like something Lee Sa-young would normally wear.

'what?'

He remembered seeing that neck pole somewhere.

Wasn't it obvious that Lee Sa-young had worn it a while ago? Forbidden knowledge that he shouldn't have realized at that moment struck Bae Won-woo's head. The part-timer... is wearing Lee Sa-young's clothes? And he doesn't lend clothes to others, he hates people coming near him? Coming down with the part-timer? Lend clothes to him?

Bae Won-woo's eyes widened as if they were going to pop out. He poked Lee Sa-young without any hesitation with his trembling index finger.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey this, hey. Huh? Hey, this.”

“Bae Won-woo.”

“Hey man! What kind of situation is this? Explain!”

“Why don’t we go out and take two more laps of the Han River?”

On the surface, it was a friendly offer, but Sa-young's true meaning was 'get out of here'. No matter how clueless Bae Won-woo was, if he said this much, he would understand everything.

However, Bae Won-woo could not let go of his regrets and continued to hover around the two people. As a tank, his persistence was no joke.

'… If this continues, I'll arrive at the store after 5 o'clock.'

In the end, Cha Ui-jae made the first move. He came out from the corner and put his arm around Sa-young's shoulder in a friendly way. The Wave Guild members in front were silently shocked. Sa-young also seemed to be looking at himself with his eyes wide open, but it was none of his business.

Ui-jae patted Sa-young on the shoulder and smiled kindly.

“I had a bit of trouble yesterday, and guild leader Lee Sa-young kindly helped me out, hahaha.”

“Yeah? What's the problem? Which bastard made trouble again?”

The shoulder that was covered with my hand seemed to flinch very slightly. He shook his head with a serious expression.

“I can’t go into detail right now, but I received a lot of help from the guild leader.”

“S, Sa-young would do something like that?”

Great confusion appeared on Bae Won-woo’s face. He wanted to believe what Saeng, a part-time worker at a hangover soup restaurant, said, but he seemed like he couldn't believe why Lee Sa-young helped Saeng with his part-time job at a hangover soup restaurant. Ui-jae stuck a wedge.

“Anyway, I’m a part-time worker at Bae Won-woo’s favorite hangover soup restaurant. I think that’s why he cared.”

"What? Is it true?"

Unfortunately, Bae Won-woo was caught in Ui-jae's three-inch tongue. Sa-young coldly ignored Bae Won-woo's eyes, which seemed to be touched. Regardless, Ui-jae quickly got out of the elevator as if he was avoiding a monster's attack and waved his hand.

“Oh, the store has to open soon, so I’ll go, sir! See you at the store!”

"uh? Uh, goodbye, part timer!”

Bae Won-woo waved his muscular arms. After Cha Ui-jae disappeared, Bae Won-woo looked at Sa-young again with a bewildered face.

“So why did you come here? Is it true that you helped him with something?”

Sa-young, who had been silent the whole time, clicked his tongue and responded coldly.

“It really doesn’t help.”