“Looks like you’ve become a beggar, huh, hyung?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit much for a beggar to walk into the guild master's room, don’t you think? Just grab the items and leave with them.”

Ui-jae pointed to a long line of dried fish hanging behind him. Sa-young’s mouth tightened. He returned to the desk, keeping his gaze fixed on Cha Ui-jae, and pressed the microphone button that connected to the secretary’s office.

“…Tell the research team to take the new samples and send a transport truck to the Wave Guild’s main entrance.”

—Uh, what? A transport truck?

“Get one that can carry twenty awakeners at a time. Or just tell them to bring the biggest one they have, and they’ll understand.”

—…Yes, I’ll relay that right away.

As Sa-young removed his hand from the microphone button, he leaned both hands on the desk and lowered his head. A deep sigh escaped his lips.

“…The message.”

“Hmm?”

Ui-jae blinked. Given his state, which looked like he had just been pulled from the water and rolled around in dirt, Sa-young asked, tapping his fingers on the desk.

“Why aren’t you checking your messages?”

“…Did you send a message?”

Sa-young rolled his eyes upward, looking at Ui-jae. Did he really not see the crazy message that had come in right after he sent it? Sa-young's lips twisted in irritation. So that’s how it was going to be.

“Ah, pretending not to know?”

“No, hey, what do you mean pretending? I really didn’t see it. My phone screen is broken.”

Ui-jae pulled out his phone from his pocket to show him. Just as he said, the screen was completely shattered, looking like it had been hit with a hammer.

Sa-young peeked into the container through the open door. Tools and weapons were scattered around the guys tied up like dried fish. There was no blood, but most of the items were broken or bent.

“…….”

Sa-young turned his gaze back to Ui-jae. His face remained as handsome as ever, but his hair was wet and messy, soaked from the water, and his usual neat appearance was replaced by a disheveled mop. There were also footprints and stick marks all over his apron. This was a mess, even for a mess.

While it was unclear what Cha Ui-jae’s true abilities were, there was no way an awakener strong enough to block Sa-young’s attack would get beaten up to this extent and leave such marks. In other words, he had purposely taken a beating.

“…….”

In the meantime, Ui-jae pulled out a heavy black backpack from his inventory and piled them up in the guild master’s office, placing the last one he was carrying down. It irritated him that he wouldn’t cross over the threshold himself.

Did he think that just because he called him a beggar, he was really a beggar? Sa-young asked, unable to hide his irritation.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Just a second…. Everything in this backpack is medicine. They said it was three of this and that, but I don’t know the units. No, you’ll figure that out.”

“…….”

“Hey, Romantic Offener, when do you think you’ll pass out?”

“…Huh?”

“…You’re about to pass out.”

The Romantic Offener was already collapsed on the container floor, barely moving his mouth. His eyes were dazed, and he looked like he was about to drift off. Ui-jae clicked his tongue and gestured to Sa-young.

“Come in and take this guy with you.”

Sa-young tilted his head slightly with a sullen expression.

“I can’t go in there.”

“Eh?”

“That door is one-way.”

“…One-way?”

“Didn’t Choi Go-yo explain? That door only lets you exit; you can’t come in.”

Ui-jae glanced once at the Romantic Offener, then at the door, then back at Sa-young.

At this point, it was clear to Sa-young that Cha Ui-jae was having some crazy thought with his fair face. Sa-young had no intention of hiding his displeasure, gritting his teeth like an angry dog.

“Why? You planning to wait in there until the Romantic Offener passes out?”

His usually neat face had turned sour. He often made that expression when he was hit on the mark.

“No, I was just wondering if I really need to go out there….”

“Ha.”

“I could just pass you the items and these guys, and that would be it, right?”

“How am I supposed to get to the hangover soup restaurant in Incheon? Are you going to make me swipe the corporate card for a taxi again?”

“Late-night surcharges would make it about two hours… it would be a bit expensive.”

Ui-jae looked like he was seriously considering it.

Cha Ui-jae was a mess. That’s what Sa-young thought. His appearance, as well as his actions, clearly indicated that his head was in disarray. He was unbelievably reckless, impulsive, and bossy; he acted as if he had an extra life and was risking it all.

“Still…”

Cha Ui-jae brushed his wet hair back and smiled.

“This was quite useful, don’t you think?”

Then, oddly enough…

As he revealed his teeth while smiling, Sa-young turned sharply away.

“Come in before the door closes.”

“If I just throw them over there…”

“You’ll listen to me when I tell you once, right?”

He could only hear Sa-young when he spoke with a sharp tone. It was only then that Ui-jae sluggishly pushed the Romantic Offener into the guild master’s office and dragged the tied-up guys over the threshold.

The moment the last of the dried fish passed through the door, the Romantic Offener, who had been stubbornly holding on, let out one last breath.

“Ugh.”

At the same time, the wide-open door disappeared, and the solid door of the guild master’s office returned to its place. Sa-young came back after laying the Romantic Offener and the dried fish outside. Ui-jae was still awkwardly standing there, looking around.

“Should we go in for now…?”

Sa-young asked with his arms crossed.

“Why did you jump in on purpose?”

“Hmm? I thought maybe I could catch a tail while stirring things up.”

Ui-jae replied casually and shrugged.

“But it seems I didn’t salvage anything.”

“You didn’t have to go that far. What I entrusted to you was just simple surveillance. Taking them down requires different specialists.”

“I could respond faster than they could today.”

Ui-jae’s actions had indeed been quite helpful. The Awakener Bureau and the Wave Guild members were chasing after drug dealers, but they only pursued them so far. It was the first time they had wiped out dealers like this and taken all the drugs. With this much medicine, the Seowon Guild and the Wave Guild’s research team should be able to extract some valuable data.

Sa-young gestured toward Ui-jae.

“I get it. Let’s go.”

“Okay, let’s go. Hi Nexby, search for the nearest bus terminal.”

Ui-jae called for Nexby on his phone with the broken screen. At this point, it could be called his eternal companion. However, Lee Sa-young was glaring at the phone with a tilted head, as if something was bothering him.

At this point, Cha Ui-jae couldn’t help but notice that Lee Sa-young often tilted his neck when he was in a bad mood. He tried to pretend he didn’t notice, but in the end, Ui-jae couldn’t hide his displeasure and asked.

“What’s wrong now?”

“No… I was just wondering if you were doing this on purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you looking for a bus?”

“I have to go home. If I wait too long, the bus will stop running.”

“In that state?”

Sa-young scanned Ui-jae from top to bottom, as if mocking him. It was only then that Ui-jae reflected on his appearance: his wet hair and hoodie, and the apron covered in footprints.

Cha Ui-jae was fine, but his appearance was not. Anyone could see that he looked like he had a serious story to tell. If someone were kind and caring, they would surely come up and ask what was wrong!

Realizing this, Ui-jae quietly tucked his phone back into his pocket. He then sighed deeply, brushing his wet hair back.

If I hadn’t gotten drenched, I would have just gone.

Actually, thinking about it, if he used Silent Steps, he might be able to slip away unnoticed. Just as he was about to sneak over to the door, Sa-young pulled out a crumpled A4 sheet from his inventory. It was the emergency escape button from Hong Ye-seong that he had seen once before.

And before Ui-jae could refuse, Sa-young grabbed Ui-jae’s arm and tore the paper.

Moments later, the two stood in front of the hangover soup restaurant.

“…Isn’t that a rare item?”

“It’s fine. Ten sheets come in a set.”

“…….”

With a sour face, Ui-jae opened the locked door of the hangover soup restaurant and stepped inside. He headed straight for the small room in the back.

The small room attached to the shop was packed with gift boxes he had received a while ago on one wall, and neatly folded blankets and pillows were piled on one side. The size of the room was so small that Ui-jae wouldn’t be able to lie down without touching the boxes and blankets.

“You should change your clothes first.”

“I know that.”

Cha Ui-jae took off his hoodie and tossed it to the floor. He put on the clean clothes that were prepared for him and then climbed into bed. The new clothes were too warm, as if they had just come out of the dryer.

Sa-young, who had been standing awkwardly outside the door, stepped inside and leaned against the wall.

“You still can’t use Silent Steps?”

“Ah… I haven’t practiced enough.”

Ui-jae felt embarrassed. In fact, his skills were still lacking, and he couldn’t maintain them for long. When he first awakened as an elemental wizard, he had specialized in using the Silent Steps skill. However, after falling into the underworld, his skills had dwindled greatly. Now, even small sounds would make him jump.

“Even so, if you’re going to get thrown out, make sure you don’t drop your bag.”

Sa-young grinned.

“Why not? The bag is my treasure. I had my first loss ever today. It’s not easy to get things back, even with a reward.”

Ui-jae curled up inside the warm blankets, breathing softly. He felt embarrassed and ashamed to think of today’s events, but he had to admit it was a valuable experience.

“Anyway, just take a break. You can go back when you feel better.”

“Yeah… sure.”

Cha Ui-jae covered himself with the blanket and dozed off. As he watched Ui-jae’s sleeping face, Sa-young took a moment to contemplate their shared experiences.

“Just don’t do it again.”

He muttered quietly, careful not to wake him up.