Jiyun handed a note over, “Give this to Blood. I have another job for him.” After handing over the note, the woman did not look over. She continued to type on her computer, jotting down notes for her next experiment. 

The man, who received the note, crushed the lit cigarette in his hand. The cigarette did not burn his heat-resistant body. He frowned while clicking his tongue in annoyance, “I don’t want to see that freak.” He almost spat at the last word. 

“I don’t care who you don’t want to see. If you don’t want to end up in my next project, I advise you to stop complaining and do what I ask. And I won’t ask twice.” 

The man clicked his tongue once more, grabbed his black cowboy hat from his seat, and put it on. He pulled a small device from his pocket and pressed a button as a portal appeared. He stepped through the portal, appearing at a small cottage in the middle of the woods. The man walked to the fence leading to the backyard, pushing it open as he walked through.

In the yard stood Blood, still covered in bandages and wearing a straw hat, watering his garden. Next to him was a wagon full of fertilizer—the fertilizer was soil mixed with human remains. The man paused for a second, looking at the scene in disgust, before finally walking over to Blood. He took out the note and put it in front of Blood, “Queen Bee says she has a new mission for you.” 

Blood paused in his watering and peered at the note before glancing at the man. The man slightly stepped back. Blood was not wearing a mask. If people ignored the bandages covering the rest of his body, Blood’s skin was clear and almost pale. He is a handsome man, almost looking like an idol oozing with sexuality. But his dead eyes and cold face physically unsettled others. It was like staring into an abyss that wanted to swallow you whole. And it was not only his stare that unsettled people, but his monotone speaking and creepy ways; he was someone whose morals seemed more fuck than Jiyun's. 

“Fuck, are you going to keep staring the whole time!” The man yelled, but his tone didn’t carry any weight. He sounded more nervous than anything. I don’t want to be here. His body practically sung. 

Instead of saying anything about it, Blood grabbed the note and pocketed it. He went back to watering his garden. The man wiped his hands, feeling like they were dirty as he glanced around at the garden of death. 

Red Poppies, Red Spider Lilies, white Chrysanthemums, black (?) Roses, and many others. He had them divided with their own spots. “Growing flowers, how boring.” The man commented, although his face looked twisted from staring at all the flowers. 

“He likes them.” Blood answered. His voice still sounded like a robot that hasn’t learned emotions. 

“Who is he?” The man questioned. 

Blood stopped answering and started moving to the next area. The man clicked his tongue once more, spitting at the ground. Fucking freak. He thought. He glanced at the flowers once more, reaching for the roses that looked dyed. Before his fingers could graze them, bandages tightly wrapped around his wrist, pulling his arm harshly back, “Only he can touch them.” 

The man tried to pull his arm back, but it wouldn’t budge. “Let me go!” 

Blood held his arm back for a second longer before letting go. “You can leave.” He dismissed the man. 

The man flicked him off, wanting to explode in anger, but held himself back. Even though they were both in high positions, he knew Blood was strong. He may have wanted to beat the man, but he had a stronger will to live. After one last spit, he pulled out his device, making a portal to leave. 

After the man walked through the portal, Blood walked over to the black rose that the man had almost touched. He softly touched the rose, almost cradling it like a child. “How can I give you something tainted, Doyun?” The roses in the area started to wilt until they all died. Once they had finished dying, Blood crushed the one in his hand before he released it. He looked toward the sky. Did he enjoy the new flowers I gave him?  

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Doyun drove to work with Changmin in the passenger seat. He handed him a script. “You have a conference in two hours; I want you to go over the script with the newbies beforehand.” 

Changmin flipped through the script, seeing that it was almost six pages long. “Why so much?” 

“Have you seen the public’s opinion?” Even though they had sent out statements that helped turn things around, there are still people complaining. You can never satisfy everyone. Doyun thought. And even though they couldn’t, it was Doyun’s job to make them look the best in everyone’s eyes. 

“Can’t you go over it with us?” Changmin asked, getting a headache. He hated conferences and hated reading through scripts even more. He tried to find major key points, seeing what he could improvise later on. 

“Hana will. I need to set up a schedule for the dead civilians' funerals. I am having the main team attend the funerals to show condolences.” 

“I am part of the main team.”

“I know. So prepare for that too.” 

“Fuck, what happened to people being grateful for hunters risking their lives to keep them safe? I swear, they have become spoiled and greedy, complaining and criticizing everything we do. And we have to sit here and grovel for their fucking forgiveness?” 

“Welcome to the age of the internet.” 

When they reached the guild, Doyun parked the car as they stepped inside. He and Changmin stopped on different floors; Doyun waved him bye when he stopped at his floor first. When he entered the office, the other workers looked like ghosts. They were tired and practically working on fumes. “Why did it have to be one of our Gates?” One worker complained as they passed by, gripping their coffee like a lifeline. 

Once he sat down at his desk, Hana came over. “Did all the newbies arrive?” Doyun asked her. 

“The reckless one is still missing,” Hana commented. 

Doyun started drumming his fingers on his desk, “We don’t have time to deal with it; we cannot delay the conference. Go to the meeting room and help Hunter Sa and the newbies with the script. If we need to make last-minute changes, so be it.” 

“Okay. Did you read over the report I sent you last night?” 

“I did. If the Division department wants to compensate us, send them to the financial team. They can deal with it.” 

“I have also collected all the information for the funerals. Most have already planned a date, while three haven’t said anything yet. I have emailed the information to you.” 

“Thanks. Is there anything else?” 

Hana shook her head. “Then, you can go to the meeting room.” Doyun dismissed. Hana left. Doyun turned on his computer and set a timer for himself on his phone before he started working. He wanted to ensure that he didn’t miss the conference later. 

He worked for almost two hours when he checked his phone and saw that there were still fifteen minutes before the conference. Doyun stretched and stood up, making his way to the workers’ lounge. He made himself coffee, giving it small sips as he walked out of the room and moved to a small corner in the hallway to relax for a little bit. He tilted his head back on the wall with a sigh. Because he was busy trying to relax his mind, he didn’t notice someone walking towards him. Or he did, but ignored it because it could have been another worker walking by. 

The sound stopped in front of him while the light he had before became shaded. His eyes were slightly closed, and when he opened them fully, he saw Yongsun boxing him in. “Hello, Lil’Vine,” Yongsun smirked. 

“Hunter Choi.” Doyun greeted, trying to straighten himself, but couldn’t move much since Yongsun blocked him tightly. He also peeked over to the left, wondering if Jin-Sang would appear too. 

“Jin-Sang is busy. But, I should take a picture since he missed out on seeing you.” Yongsun chuckled as he pulled out his phone. 

“A picture?” 

Yongsun hummed, leaning closer until his lips were right on Doyun’s ears. Doyun immediately tensed, looking left and right to make sure no one was coming. It was nerve-wracking, but a little exciting to be in this position out in the open. “I wonder how I should take it?” Yongsun whispered in his ear before blowing into it. 

Doyun shivered, unconsciously gripping Yongsun’s shirt with his free hand. “N-Not here.” He couldn’t help but stutter. 

Yongsun laughed in his ear, causing Doyun’s knees to feel weak. “Lil’Vine, you are making it sound like we are doing something dirty. I only asked for a picture.” He rubbed his lips on Doyun’s ear, teasing him. Doyun loosened his fingers from Yongsun’s shirt as he softly gasped. 

Yongsun chuckled once more before he stepped back, giving Doyun space. He opened the camera on his phone and snapped a quick picture of Doyun’s flustered expression. He looked at the photo with a satisfied expression, “Jin-Sang will love this. Until next time, Lil’Vine.” He grabbed Doyun’s coffee from him, taking a big gulp from where Doyun had sipped from, and handed it back to him. 

Doyun received it with a daze, staring at the spot Yongsun had drunk from. Yongsun left as quickly as he came. Doyun stared at the spot a little longer before looking left and right again. He made sure no one was there before he stuck out his tongue, slowly licking the same spot Yongsun had drunk from. He licked the spot three times, practically wiping it clean. 

When he stopped, he was practically breathing hard with a red face. He bit the area of the cup, trying to calm himself down. It wasn’t the first time he acted like a pervert dealing with anything Yongsun and Jin-Sang dealt with or had, but he knew he shouldn’t be doing this. 

Well, I won’t have to do this if I accept their offer. He thought, wanting to pull his hair from going into a cycle with this thought. Before he could even go down a rabbit hole, his phone timer went off, indicating that the conference would start soon. Doyun drank the rest of his coffee, but held onto his cup instead of throwing it away as he walked back to his work area. 

There was a large TV in the area for the workers to keep up with the news when they needed to. One of the workers was already turning on the TV as others gathered around to watch. “Don’t forget to jot down notes.” Doyun reminded them as he pulled out his phone to jot down notes himself. 

For now, he will push the matter of Jin-Sang and Yongsun from his mind and focus on what he needs to at the moment.