I Possessed The Villain In a Hunter Novel And It Fits Me Perfectly

Joo Seowon slowly squeezed their eyes shut, then opened them again. If it were at all avoidable, this was something they really did not want to do...... but in truth, it wasn’t as if they couldn’t.

Seo Jehyun wasn’t all that meticulous about this kind of thing anymore.

And that, in turn, also meant Seo Jehyun trusted Joo Seowon.

After pressing their lips together for a moment, Joo Seowon parked in the garage and quickly headed up into the SH Guild building.

Ever since Song Hwayoung’s absence, the SH Guild no longer ran properly. Naturally, aside from the occasional person dropping by, the building itself was almost always empty.

Today was no different. Entering the vacant SH building, Joo Seowon headed to their usual spot with practiced familiarity. They turned on the laptop left at the desk and pretended to work for a moment, then slowly opened the desk drawer.

Reaching into it with familiar ease, Joo Seowon took out a matchbox and set it on top of the desk, narrowing their eyes as if conflicted for a moment.

A little later, calmly opening the matchbox and pouring its contents into their palm, Joo Seowon stared quietly at the tiny object that dropped into their hand.

What had been inside the matchbox was none other than an earring.

“.......”

After staring blankly at it, Joo Seowon finally seemed to make up their mind. They twisted out the earring they already had in their ear, then replaced it with the one from the matchbox.

To the naked eye, the two earrings did not look especially different, but in truth, their functions were completely different.

One was a trackable communication device Seo Jehyun had forcibly stuck into them, and the other was just a plain accessory with no function at all, something they had bought in case the hole closed up while the first one was out because Hunters healed so absurdly fast.

The wound had already healed completely, and it was an area that no longer hurt, yet for some reason the replaced earring felt oddly hot. It was probably just their imagination.

Checking the time, Joo Seowon rose from their seat without hesitation.

From here on out, they had to move quickly.

Seo Jehyun hadn’t been gone for long, but from the start, the timing of when Seo Jehyun connected communications to Joo Seowon had always been sudden. Lately he did call their phone first, but that didn’t mean they could simply relax.

Catching the elevator and heading back down to the garage, Joo Seowon pulled the car out in an instant. It was fortunate there were no witnesses, so things went just a little more smoothly.

And so the place Joo Seowon drove to was none other than the parking lot of a completely unfamiliar shopping complex.

Knock knock—

After parking and waiting a moment, they heard someone tapping on the car window. Instead of answering, they unlocked the door, and the hand that had been tapping naturally opened it.

The person who got into the car was someone familiar.

“It’s been a while, Seowon.”

The one offering the casual greeting was Im Haekyung, who somehow looked cheerful.

To be talking like this, in a place like this, and in this manner, with Haeseong’s guild master of all people. For a moment, an emotion surged up in Joo Seowon that felt like anger, or maybe irritation. Perhaps it was anxiety. If Seo Jehyun found out, there was no knowing how he would react from that side.

'Why am I...!'

Ever since Im Haekyung had arbitrarily gotten hold of Joo Seowon’s number, contacted them, and opened up this line of business between them, the two had occasionally kept in touch. Joo Seowon found Im Haekyung unilaterally uncomfortable, but the terms Im Haekyung offered were mostly information deals that did not appear to put Joo Seowon at a disadvantage, which made them difficult to refuse.

'...Not that there’s any way there’s really no downside.'

In truth, secretly meeting Im Haekyung like this was already a major disadvantage in itself.

And this time, the reason Im Haekyung had called Joo Seowon out even included a slight threat. If it had been a threat directed at Joo Seowon themself, they would not have come to meet him like this again. But this time, the direction of the threat had been a little different.

This time too, Im Haekyung had suddenly called Joo Seowon and spoken in an utterly calm tone.

—Have you been doing well?

'...I’ve been fine. But... what made you call?'

—Ah, I called to comfort you because I thought you probably hadn’t been doing well... but if you have been, then that changes things a little. Thanks to Jehyun, these days I keep ending up with one new mess to clean up every single day.

There had been the faintest trace of a smile in Im Haekyung’s tone. When Joo Seowon gave only a short laugh and did not answer, Im Haekyung asked in the same mild voice.

—Ah, I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious... does Jehyun warn you in advance about the things he’s about to do? Like, “I’m going to go total Hunter Kwon’s car right now,” that sort of thing? I imagine it’s rather different from how he is with me.

That question, tossed out as though he were truly curious, left Joo Seowon genuinely speechless this time.

—Because Jehyun... treasures you, Seowon.

Seo Jehyun...... treasured Joo Seowon?

'What the....'

Briefly, Joo Seowon recalled a recent phone call with Seo Jehyun. It was not as though they had been freshly wounded by the way Seo Jehyun treated Song Hwayoung’s death like it was nothing. They had always known that was the kind of bastard he was.

Seo Jehyun had really used the fact that Joo Seowon liked him in an awfully clever way.

Whenever Joo Seowon grew subtly impatient and their emotions kept getting ahead of them, Seo Jehyun would quickly redirect those emotions somewhere else. It would lead to sex in no time at all.

If Seo Jehyun really treasured Joo Seowon, would he have acted that way?

Every time they came to their senses, it felt like being hit over the head. But that still didn’t mean they could define their relationship with Seo Jehyun.

Just as they had nearly told Song Hwayoung about her death until the very last moment, only to keep their mouth shut to the end. Joo Seowon was the one who knew how to break the covenant, yet somehow it felt as if Joo Seowon alone was the one bound by it.

Did Seo Jehyun even...... think about things like this at all?

The crooked question surged up in an instant.

When Joo Seowon still did not answer, Im Haekyung stopped lightly prodding them and moved on to the main point.

—Seowon, if you’re not busy, shall we meet for a bit? I have a good offer for you.

'...Right now I’m a little....'

—I don’t mean immediately. You should have time to sort things out on your end too.... Since you’ll have to clean up after the messes Jehyun has made.

“......”

—Ah, it’s not an offer. As you know, I know a lot about Jehyun... and I also know that quite a bit of it would be troublesome if it leaked outside.

The convenient method Im Haekyung had used to summon Joo Seowon was a threat against Seo Jehyun. Even knowing that if they told Seo Jehyun about this, Seo Jehyun would make the decision cleanly for them, Joo Seowon ultimately had no choice but to accept Im Haekyung’s proposal.

It was the result of their mistrust of Seo Jehyun, to some degree, as well as a desire to be acknowledged. Of course there was also worry and affection...... too.

Now, seated in the passenger seat, Im Haekyung calmly greeted Joo Seowon again.

“Have you been doing well? Though it doesn’t really look like it.”

“I’ve been well. Have you been well, Guild Master?”

As Joo Seowon naturally lifted the corners of their mouth and returned the greeting, Im Haekyung gave a faint smile and nodded. Beyond his characteristic eye-smile, with the corners of his eyes folding softly, his unusually bright eyes were visible.

“Since you probably don’t like long-winded talk either, I’ll just give you the conclusion.” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“...And what conclusion is that?”

“Jehyun will end up transferring to Haeseong. Because I’m going to make it happen. And while we’re at it... it’d be nice if Yehyun transferred along with him. Honestly, I don’t need Yehyun either. Haeseong has plenty of good healers... and that one’s loyalty to Jehyun is already so high that it would actually make them hard to handle.”

“.......”

“I said I’d give you only the conclusion, but I guess I’ve been talking too much.”

Letting out a small smile, Im Haekyung continued in that same placid voice.

“I don’t intend to offer a Haeseong contract to you, Seowon. You know what that means, right?”

After stealing a sideways glance at Im Haekyung, Joo Seowon finally let out a hollow laugh they couldn’t hold back. Watching that reaction, Im Haekyung smiled back and went on.

“To be honest, I want to control Jehyun to a certain extent. I feel the need for it, which is why I’m recruiting him into Haeseong... but if he keeps springing off like this, it gets troublesome, doesn’t it?”

“You want to control him.... That’s a little much for something a guild master says about a guild member.”

“I’ll admit it. But the case is rather special....”

Letting the end of his sentence trail off, Im Haekyung tilted his head slightly as he looked at Joo Seowon. Before they could even respond, he kept speaking.

“If possible, I’d rather isolate Jehyun. So he can’t keep causing trouble. Or... so he’ll depend on me a little more? But you’re quite a major variable in that plan, Seowon. Eighty percent of the trouble Jehyun causes probably comes from information he gets from you.”

That was true. But rather than answering Im Haekyung carelessly, Joo Seowon calmly waited for what he would say next.

'So when Seo Jehyun called Im Haekyung a fucking lunatic bastard, he was dead right....'

Im Haekyung subtly observed Joo Seowon, who was skillfully hiding their expression while keeping the corners of their mouth lifted.

“That said, I’m not saying I’m going to kill you or get rid of you entirely... I don’t dislike you, Seowon.”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“Let’s make a separate deal, you and I.”

As he said that, Im Haekyung pointed at the pen clipped to Joo Seowon’s chest.

“I know you used to run a private detective agency. I know you used to take one-on-one contracts with people... and work for them.”

“Right now I’m under an exclusive contract with Seo Jehyun, so that’s a problem. There’s also a penalty fee.”

“Haha.... Naturally, I’d compensate that penalty fee for you, Seowon.”

Im Haekyung laughed as if Joo Seowon had said something genuinely amusing.

“No matter how much Jehyun has tied you down for, I can cover more than that.”

“.......”

As he said that, Im Haekyung wore a faint smile, as though he were generously offering Joo Seowon a choice. To keep from clenching their fist too tightly, Joo Seowon propped one arm against the window frame.

“Even so, that won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because of the covenant.”

They stated the fact plainly. Even if they did possess a skill that could break it, that didn’t mean Joo Seowon was unaffected by the covenant itself.

More than anything, Seo Jehyun had said he knew where Joo Minha was.

But just when it seemed like Im Haekyung would understand and nod, he suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hahaha....”

“.......”

After laughing out loud for quite a long time, Im Haekyung finally smoothed his expression back into place, straightened the corners of his mouth, and asked:

“A covenant.... Seowon, do you really believe in that?”