Downing everything in the blink of an eye, Cheon Areum pulled out his phone and opened the maps app. He marked the location, but the moment he checked the distance, the urgency to hurry drained right out of him. He got up, grabbed a pint of ice cream from the fridge, and shuffled into the living room.
Plopping down on the couch, he turned on his favorite cartoon—two sheep who were battling over a horse—and started eating. By the time the episode ended with a cliffhanger of one of the sheep pulling out a secret weapon from its wool, the pint was already empty. He was just about to get another when Rian suddenly ran up to him. Rian held out a phone toward him—the very one Cheon Areum had deliberately left behind in the kitchen.
"Hyung, there's an alert of an S+ Class gate that is in close proximity to our house!"
Cheon Areum scrutinized the notification unsurprisedly. It seemed like the central bureau was already aware of the gate's existence. This meant he couldn't watch the next episode and no more ice cream for him...
"You will have to go, right? Since you're the strongest awakener ever!"
"Of course I will have to...."
He replied with the motivation of a brain-dead fish wanting to cross the ocean, putting away the empty ice cream pint.
"I'll try to get home soon. Do you want to stay home or go and play with Haneul?"
"Haneul! He likes it when I read bedtime stories with him!"
"Does he now?"
Kim Haneul was already at the age to understand bedtime stories? Cheon Areum only knew he was older than a year by now, but their encounters were countable on fingers, so he hadn't interacted with him a lot. Cheon Areum sent a message to Kim Ryung first before dropping Rian at their neighboring house. Coming back to their house, he immediately called Yoon Seoyul. As he made his way to the bedroom, Yoon Seoyul picked up his call and spoke first.
"You saw the notification?"
"Yeah, I'm coming too. Wait for me at the office."
Cheon Areum informed him since he wanted to go with Yoon Seoyul.
"We don't have any information on an S+ Class. Anything can happen, Areum... stay at home."
Transitioning the call into a video call, Cheon Areum showed Yoon Seoyul the outfit he wanted to pick.
"Is this too sexy for a pregnant and married omega?"
"..."
Yoon Seoyul stared at his screen quietly for a while before replying.
"You can wear whatever you like... but don't come here."
"Are you entering the gate?"
"Yes."
"Then I obviously have to go. I'll see you at the office. Bye."
Deciding on the cropped top with the straps that he hadn't had a chance to wear yet—but he really liked it and didn't know when the opportunity would arrive for him to wear it again—he chose it anyway. It might be a little distracting, so he decided to cover it with an oversized jacket, not knowing if this was also Yoon Seoyul's or not. He took half an hour to get ready before riding in a taxi to the guild's building. As the only guild with an S+ Class hunter, the Brutavernum guild was currently the number one guild in the country, breaking the record for clearing the most S-Class gates in a year during the last surge.
Since this was the first ever S+ Class gate, only the top shots would be selected to go inside. As the strongest hunters, it was the best option to send them out, and there would be many guild masters Cheon Areum would be meeting for the first time ever. Sucking on a sweet milk lollipop, Cheon Areum gazed out the window of the taxi, seeing the people on the streets going about their days before retreating his gaze and starting to search for this new awakener that wanted to stay hidden so badly.
Keeping at his search, Cheon Areum arrived at his destination. Walking into the building after two months, he noticed nothing much had changed. He also wanted to drag in a familiar face into the gate that would be helpful to him, but he could only detect Inho's energy. Hwan and Inho had always been a set. Thinking he would know Hwan's whereabouts, he stalked his energy, which led him to a dim and empty meeting room on the first floor of the building.
"....?"
What could he be doing here?
Concerned Inho was dwelling in the dark for not being able to upgrade his single status, he came across an even more eye-opening view.
"Inho, what if someone sees us?..."
Inho sat on the chair with an omega on top of him, undressing him.
"What's there to be afraid of? Didn't you say you'll teach me everything about love?"
Inho complained, unbuttoning his shirt and burrowing himself in the omega's neck as Cheon Areum took a seat at the entrance of the meeting room, watching them quietly until Jung Wooyoung noticed him. Startled, he instantly turned away to button up his shirt again.
"Oh, don't mind me. Go on."
He assured Jung Wooyoung, gaining a glare from Inho who finally saw the reason for his reaction.
"You need a taste of your medicine too, but why do you seem to be enjoying watching us.... It pisses me off even more..."
Inho muttered and clicked his tongue, fixing Jung Wooyoung's clothes. Wooyoung was probably too embarrassed to be caught red-handed by Cheon Areum—the person he looked up to—that he couldn't lift his head to look at him.
"You should at least close the door. Wasn't this on purpose?"
Adding more fire to the already raging fire, Jung Wooyoung froze the moment he heard those words. His gaze snapped to Inho, sharp and disbelieving. Inho immediately shook his head in frantic denial, every movement etched with protest as if that alone could prove his innocence. But Jung Wooyoung stared at him with the look of someone newly betrayed by his lover and separated himself from Inho at once.