---

While Woo Jin readjusted himself, Jiho smiled brightly.

“Everyone got here so quickly. We were a little late, right?”

“Ah, we all met a little early.”

“Really? We should’ve joined you guys earlier then. We were just killing time by the Han River.”

Though Jiho sounded regretful, Yiwon, who was standing behind him, didn’t look regretful at all.

Yiwon used to be a close friend when they were younger. Although he was a prick sometimes, he was loyal, fun to talk to, good at soccer, and never a boring guy.

But after Yiwon became Chungram’s guildmaster and an SS-rank hunter, Woo Jin could feel a wall between them. Even though it’s only been one or two years since they’ve last met, it feels uncomfortable, as if it’s been decades.

Unlike Woo Jin or Dong Hyuk who felt awkward and Kyung Hyun who understood since he’s seen Yiwon a couple of times since then, Min Jae, who doesn’t have a lot of tact, grinned and spread his arms.

“Joo Yiwon, it’s been a really long time.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

Yiwon’s smile looks like it was painted on. Though he avoided Min Jae’s hug, thanks to Min Jae’s over-the-top actions, no one took it seriously.

“It’s been a while, Cha Dong Hyuk. You too, Shin Woo Jin.”

Jiho, who was observing Yiwon, glared as Yiwon greeted everyone normally with a friendly face. Jiho let out a long sigh and rubbed his chest. Then, with a reassured expression, he took a seat.

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

“We’re hungry too. I’m so hungry I could die.”

“Did you guys order anything?”

“We did, but we’ll probably have to order more. If we order now, we should be able to eat nonstop.”

“Then we should order right away. Do you have the menu?”

“Yeah. Hey, this place has a lot of food that looks really good. I thought about ordering everything on the menu, but I held myself back.”

“Good job…. How many dishes did you order?”

Faithfully responding to everything Min Jae said, Jiho started to read through the menu. Multiple heads gathered around him.

Min Jae and Jiho have always gotten along with each other. To be more exact, Jiho was never annoyed by Min Jae’s chatter and he answered him well.

Seeing the two talk takes Woo Jin back to the past. From the fun memories to even those desperate ones of his one-sided crush.

Though he was nervous at the thought of seeing Jiho again, Woo Jin actually feels a lot calmer now that Jiho’s in front of him. He currently has a lover, and Jiho is just his first crush from the past. The force of his face was too strong, that’s all.

After ordering more things off of the menu, Min Jae pulled a rather thick memo pad out of his bag and handed it to Jiho.

“Give me a few of your autographs, Shin Jiho.”

“…So suddenly?”

“My girlfriend asked me to get your autograph.”

“Why does your girlfriend want my autograph?”

“She says you’re better looking than me…. She said the love of a fan is separate from romantic interests.”

Jiho burst into laughter at Min Jae’s dejected tone. While the laugh spread to everyone else, only Joo Yiwon didn’t laugh, saying as if it was obvious,

“Of course, if she had eyes, she would say that.”

Jiho, who was laughing, jabbed Yiwon’s side to warn him to stop talking nonsense.

Seeing them act like close friends, Woo Jin was internally shocked.

‘Are those two still not dating?’

Because they looked like such devoted lovers on the news and internet, Woo Jin thought they had started dating.

To be fair, they’ve always been like this. Despite everyone’s beliefs, they were never actually dating. It’d be nice if they just got together. That way, the people who don’t stand a chance can give up and no one would try to overstep their boundaries. Wouldn’t that be easier?

“Ah, and I brought a few gifts too.”

Wrapped gift boxes dropped from thin air. No matter how many times Woo Jin sees it, an awakened one’s inventory pocket is truly fascinating.

“Open it.”

When the person giving the present looks more excited than the ones receiving it, they can’t just not open it.

In the large box were items difficult for non-awakened ones to come in contact with. A single-use barrier item, an HP recovery potion, a status recovery potion, etc. These are all items useful for normal people, yet expensive.

“Aren’t these too expensive?”

Dong Hyuk asked worriedly, but Jiho shook his head.

“I gathered the things to make these myself, all I did was leave the crafting to someone else. And since I left it to a guildmember, it didn’t cost any money.”

“Oh~ Guildmaster.”

“You’re so powerful.”

“…Are you making fun of me right now?”

The actual powerful person here, Chungram’s guildmaster, silently laughed next to Jiho.

Though he isn’t being difficult, Yiwon’s polite attitude makes it clear that he has no intention of being as close to his friends as he used to be.

Although that’s disappointing, Woo Jin was relieved that Jiho didn’t seem to have changed. Shaking off the depressing thought, Woo Jin soon immersed himself in the long-awaited meeting.

---

By the time they separated, it was already one in the morning. Even though their friends said they should meet again, not seeing them being able to get together like this again in the near-foreseeable future made Jiho sad.

“It was nice to see everyone again. Right?”

“I’m happy as long as Honey is happy.”

Yiwon, who hardly spoke all evening, replied as if nothing had happened.

At first, Jiho hadn’t noticed anything wrong with Yiwon’s behavior. But as time went on, Yiwon’s silence grew more obvious. The awkward atmosphere that appeared every once in a while was so chilly that Jiho never wants to experience it again.

Thankfully, their friends understood Yiwon’s attitude, but Jiho still felt sorry for the friends who adjusted their schedules to match Yiwon’s. 

“Hey. Why do you act so coldly to your friends?”

“That’s because….”

Yiwon was going to make a light response, but he stopped. Standing in the middle of a city still busy past midnight, Yiwon appeared completely isolated.

“Just. I don’t really remember them.”

Jiho, who thought Yiwon was going to say something serious, relaxed.

“It hasn’t been that long, how can you not remember them?”

“You’re right.”

Though Yiwon’s response was simple, Jiho can tell that there’s something else. Wondering if he should ask, in the end, Jiho sighed. Jiho’s even investigating the people around this guy because he won’t tell him anything; there’s no way Yiwon would confide in him.

“Hey, if there’s something you want to say to me, say it.”

“You really want me to?”

Jiho thought Yiwon was going to ignore him, but Yiwon stopped and asked seriously.

“Actually….”

Cleverly standing in the middle of a dark four-way intersection, Yiwon said dejectedly,

“I don’t care about people I don’t even remember. I’m just scared that you’ll throw me away again.”

“…”

Throw him away again. Doesn’t that mean that he’s thrown Yiwon away before?

Yiwon spoke certainly of a matter Jiho has no memory of. The reason Jiho can’t brush it off as a joke however, is because Yiwon looks more serious than Jiho’s ever seen him before.

“Why would I throw you away? If it’s something I said in the past….”

“No, it wasn’t a minor slip of the tongue. You threw me away.”

“Are you misunderstanding something?”

“I wish it was a misunderstanding.”

“…”

“That’s why there’s times where I resent you.”

Because he was clenching his teeth, his last words came out forced. Words that were too sharp to believe that Joo Yiwon had said them to him. 

Seeing Yiwon, who looked truly wronged and angered, Jiho wanted to understand.

Yiwon silently observed Jiho’s face for a bit before moving. In just 3-4 steps, Yiwon stood right in front of Jiho, to the point that there was no gap between them. He caressed Jiho’s cheek.

“I didn’t say that to see you make this face.”

“…”

“Did you get hurt from a couple of words?”

“…It’s not like that.”

“Liar.”

Jiho glared angrily at Yiwon. A person carrying so many secrets doesn’t deserve to call him a liar.

Yiwon smirked, as if he found Jiho funny. 

“I say all the time. That I like you, that I love you. You never listen when I say that, so why are you making such a face at this one thing I said? You’re the one who threw me away.”

“…”

“Hm? Why don’t you believe me?”

His low whisper sounded close to a plea. Despite Yiwon’s position of looking down at Jiho, it feels more like he’s hanging onto him. Jiho feels a strange sense of deja vu. As if they’ve had this conversation before.

Why does he not believe Yiwon?

That’s because there’s no way Joo Yiwon would like him.

Because they can’t be each other’s special person.

Jiho was going to think calmly through Yiwon’s words, but everything suddenly fell into chaos. Like a backed-up drain, his memories flooded in all at once.

“Listen carefully. …”

“XX, and XX. Everything.”

“You’ll just hurt XXX.”

“XXX X is…’

No, these aren’t memories….

No matter how hard he tries to remember, nothing. The fleeting memories dissipated like smoke.

System Management

XX’s XX has been activated. Any further attempt may damage the soul.

His head aches. Jiho hugged his head and stumbled. Yiwon hurriedly caught him.

“Shin Jiho.”

“Huh? Yeah….”

“Are you okay?”

“…”

As soon as Yiwon held him, Jiho’s nausea went down. Jiho stared at Yiwon’s worried expression through his blank eyes.

“I was just making a joke because Honey won’t accept my love, don’t be mad.”

“…”

Jiho finally remembered what they were talking about. Right, it was about resent. What kind of bastard makes such fierce jokes? He’s pretty sure Yiwon was telling the truth.

Receiving Jiho’s doubtful gaze, Yiwon stuck his face uncomfortably close to Jiho’s. Any closer and their lips might touch.

“Shin Jiho.”

“…What.”

“Use the skill on me too.”

“Skill?”

“[Blessing of the Star]. Gyung Woo-hyung told me about its effects. That if you use that, you’ll be able to see how much I like you.”

“…”

Jiho hesitated. When he was in the dungeon last time, Jiho had decided to confirm Yiwon’s feelings towards himself with [Blessing of the Star] But when it actually came to it, Jiho paused.

What if the skill lasts 5-6 hours, even lower than the guildmembers at No Name? If that happens….

“Honey.”

Yiwon whispered sweetly to Jiho, who was so conflicted that he couldn’t make a move. Because they were standing so close to each other, Yiwon’s lips gently brushed over Jiho’s. Flustered, Jiho pushed Yiwon away. Yiwon chuckled.

“Why are you so afraid?’

“Who’s afraid?”

Though it was an obvious taunt, it worked. Jiho took a deep breath in and calmed himself. He was going to use the skill anyways, might as well use it when Yiwon’s giving him the chance.

[Blessing of the Star].

Jiho gathered all of the mana he had and threw it at Joo Yiwon. Unlike others, who look shocked and excited when they receive his buff, Joo Yiwon looked tranquil, as if Jiho’s mana made little difference to him.

The person who received a shock instead was Jiho when he checked how long the skill’s duration on Joo Yiwon was.

[You have used 3000 MP on Blessing of the Star for ‘Joo Yiwon.’]

[The duration of the skill’s effect on ‘Joo Yiwon’ is 999,999 hours.]

---

LaZ Bird Corner

999,999 hours?! For those curious, that’s a little over 114 years.

What’s with Jiho’s memories…?

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