The idea that someone was going through that room, probably hunting for something valuable or confidential, wasn't lost on him.
A tight, uncomfortable feeling settled in his chest. Even if he had a pretty good guess of what was happening, he couldn't afford to get involved. He'd already drawn too much attention in the Rift to risk exposing himself again.
The voices inside suddenly went quiet.
Then one of the men spoke, low but clearly annoyed: "They said it would be here! Where the hell is it?!"
The other grabbed him by the shoulders, trying to steady him.
"Focus, man. If it's not here, then it's at Mr. Choi's house, or on him."
"Makes sense… If those records are really what they say, something that valuable would be kept close. But are you even sure they exist?"
"Yeah. I heard that bastard talking to the guild master. Supposedly it belonged to some famous guild master before, whatever, I don't care."
"But… if that lunatic finds out, he'll hunt us to the depths of hell... He won't stop until we're both dead."
"He won't find out. He's not even sure it exists. But if we get it, whatever deal that psychotic fucker has with the guild master goes straight down the drain."
"Isn't this too dangerous? What if they decide to go to war over it?"
"Let them kill each other. We'll walk away with the final prize, and, of course, their seats. Once we have the records in our hands, the whole world will be begging us to lead them."
Han Jaemin slowly backed away from the door.
'Records…? What the hell is going on? If it's important enough for them to sneak in here, in the middle of a party packed with reporters and hunters, then it's not just any records.'
Han Jaemin took a few more steps back, putting distance between himself and the door. His heart was still beating in an alert rhythm, but he drew in a deep breath, trying to shove that conversation out of his head.
'Not my problem. I've already gotten involved way too much.'
And it was true. He'd already drawn far more curious looks than he liked with the Rift incident; it was only a matter of time before someone started asking too many questions and his life, useless, but peaceful, turned into a living hell.
If someone wanted to steal "secret records" or whatever the hell that was, right in the middle of a party full of reporters and hunters, that was their problem. They could deal with the fallout. Jaemin had zero interest in throwing himself into the middle of a guild ego war.
He took one more step away from the hallway, turning to leave, when he suddenly crashed into something solid.
Bam!
The impact was harsh, like he'd slammed face-first into a wall that hadn't been there seconds before.
His hands flew to his nose, rubbing it lightly as the sting climbed up. His whole body went rigid the instant his brain finally registered the figure in front of him.
"Huh–"
Jaemin choked on his own saliva, taking a small step back.
It was a tall man, standing right in front of him, so silent he looked more like a corpse propped upright than someone actually alive. A few strands of silver hair fell across his forehead, catching what little light there was in the corridor, and his eyes, yellowish, a little tired, were fixed on Jaemin, exactly as they had been inside the Rift.
It was the same man. That mysterious guy Jaemin hadn't been able to get out of his head since the day he'd left the team in charge of closing it.
For about five seconds, which felt more like centuries of silence, the hallway seemed to shrink.
'How…? I didn't sense him coming.'
Even with most of his abilities sealed, noticing someone that close was basic hunter stuff. A reflex. A survival instinct that even the lowest rankers developed over time.
And yet, he hadn't noticed a damn thing. No ripple, no subtle shift in the air. Not even the sound of breathing to prove that this man had been standing behind him for who knew how long.
A shiver crawled up the back of Jaemin's neck almost immediately. He tried to keep his expression neutral as best he could, but the muscles in his shoulders tensed on their own, like a gazelle in front of a lion, ready to bolt at any moment.
'This isn't normal.'
Of course it fucking wasn't. Jaemin had met a lot of skilled hunters over the course of his career, but someone who could get that close on purpose without even triggering his system was, at the very least, way too suspicious.
"E-excuse me."
The sentence came out more as a reflex than a real attempt to get past him. Jaemin tried to go around him, but the man didn't move even a millimeter. It was like trying to sidestep a pole cemented into the ground.
Up close, he looked even stranger.
His skin was too pale, almost colorless. The silver hair was nothing like cheap dye; it was a cool shade, probably natural, that didn't match anything Jaemin was used to seeing, except in reports about high-ranking hunters. And those eyes… yellow, sharp, like two gemstones assessing every tiny detail.
"Having fun?" the man asked.
His voice was deeper than Jaemin remembered. He'd already heard that voice inside the Rift, but here, this close, it was almost like feeling a sound vibrate straight through his chest.
In a way, it didn't match the empty hallway at all, or the fact that, behind that door, two idiots were basically talking about starting a guild war.
"…Huh?"
Jaemin blinked, taking a second to process the question.
'Is he talking about… the party?'
The man tilted his head slightly, as if waiting for an answer Jaemin honestly didn't know how to give.
"The party," he clarified. "Hunters usually like this kind of thing after a big incident… drinks, music, reporters kissing their ass here and there, you know?"
Jaemin pressed his lips together, not sure how to react. He'd expected anything but this kind of comment coming from that man.
"I… am not a big fan of reporters," he said at last. "Or of too many people in the same place."
That, at least, wasn't a lie.
The man let out something that may or may not have been a smile. It vanished so fast that Jaemin almost thought he'd imagined it.
"I noticed."
Silence spread through the hallway again.
For a few seconds, they just stood there, staring at each other. The distant music from the party reached them muffled, like it was coming from another world.
Jaemin felt a faint prickle at the back of his neck.
'Why is he here? Did he follow me? Or was it a coincidence?'
The silver-haired man took a small step to the side, opening up space in the corridor. Not enough to seem polite, but just enough to reveal, over his shoulder, the path back to the hall.
Jaemin nodded and started walking, but at that exact moment, the man lifted his gaze to the sign above the double doors.
[Guild Master's Office]
"Curious, isn't it?" he remarked, making Jaemin freeze on the spot. "The kind of people who think it's a good idea to break into a room like this during a packed event."
Jaemin's stomach gave a small twist.
'Shit, he heard everything too.'
He shot a quick look at the door, then back at the man, who was still calmly observing the sign with infuriating composure.
"I just… was looking for the bathroom," he said, in the most neutral tone he could manage. "I heard a noise, thought it was someone getting sick."
It wasn't the best excuse in the world, but given the situation, it also wasn't the worst.
The man turned his face toward him and studied him for a moment, shoving his hands into his pockets like he was a little too comfortable there.
"Lying is not one of your talents," he said at last. It didn't sound like criticism, just a statement.
Jaemin felt his face heat up a bit, more from irritation than embarrassment. His temper had never been the gentlest.
"I have nothing to do with whatever they're doing in there," he shot back. "I just want to go back to my life and pretend none of this ever happened."
"You're doing a poor job at that too."
Jaemin could swear there was a trace of sarcasm in his voice. Or maybe it was just pointless provocation, whatever it was, it was hitting every one of the hunter's nerves dead-on.
Before he could answer, a dull thud echoed from inside, followed by a muffled curse. One of the idiots had bumped into some piece of furniture; papers fell, and the sound of drawers being slammed shut in a hurry came right after.
Jaemin glanced at the door on instinct. When his attention returned to the man in front of him, an uncomfortable idea cut through his thoughts.
'Is he with them? A lookout or something? Or… the opposite?'
"Aren't you going to do anything?" he asked, before he could stop himself.
The silver-haired man raised an eyebrow.
"Are you?"
Jaemin almost answered "of course not," but the words got stuck in his throat.
As much as he didn't want to get involved, this had all the makings of a complete disaster. Secret records, threats of a guild war, people dumb enough to talk about it out loud… and now, some absurdly strong stranger standing right in front of him.
"Like I said," Jaemin muttered, "it's not my problem."
"Interesting."
The man actually seemed to consider that, as if he were tucking away a valuable piece of information.
"For someone who walked into an unstable Rift alone just to hold off a collapse until the Dahlia team arrived… you're pretty selective with what you consider your problem."
Jaemin's whole body went cold.
'He… knows about that.'
A bitter taste rose in his mouth almost instantly.
"You were there, weren't you? When the Rift opened."
"Was I?"
The urge to curse him out came so strong that Jaemin had to restrain himself from lunging at the bastard's throat. His left eye started to twitch in annoyance.
"You… if you were there, why the hell did you take so long to go into the Rift?!"
Jaemin's voice came out louder than he intended. The hallway fell silent, even the murmurs from inside the guild master's office went quiet for a moment.
A smile crossed the man's lips as he took a step toward him, closing the distance enough that Jaemin could feel his breath.
Instinctively, Jaemin tried to retreat by the same measure, but the other kept advancing until his back hit the cold wall of the corridor.
"Relax," the silver-haired man said, bracing his left arm against the wall beside Jaemin's face and leaning in until they were eye to eye. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay still for a moment, it'll be over quickly."
'Over what, exactly?' Jaemin thought.