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“Won’t we go over budget if we go with Plan A?”
“Still, it scored higher on the satisfaction survey.”
The lights were off in the conference room, with only a beam projector suspended from the ceiling illuminating a screen draped across one wall.
With the mood a little subdued from the back-to-back meetings, the team leaders were discussing the last item on the agenda. It was a meeting about the annual Christmas event where underprivileged children who dreamed of becoming hunters were invited to December’s headquarters.
Unlike previous years’ events, which were merely for show, this year’s event was to be organised properly, and a detailed plan was brought up as part of the meeting agenda, but no one could see eye to eye.
As the words exchanged lengthened, a small sigh was heard amidst them. The eyes of the team leaders seated around the long table turned to the sole person at the head of the table.
The team leaders were a little taken aback. The man, who would normally be looking at the screen or paperwork, was looking at his phone placed on the table.
The man, who had only been looking at the switched-off screen without texting or searching anything, pushed back the hair on his forehead as if it bothered him. The team leaders quickly averted their gazes, feeling like they had been peeping, though all that was revealed was a white forehead.
Silence descended on the dark conference room for a moment. After letting out a light cough to break the awkwardness, Team Leader Jung cautiously spoke up, “Mr. CEO, what do you think about this…?”
Juwon lifted his head and looked at the projection screen. He spoke in a voice so clear that it made them wonder if the image of him looking at his switched-off phone as if he were possessed by it was just a trick of the light.
“Let’s proceed with A.” Tucking his phone into the inner pocket of his suit, Juwon continued, “What’s the point of being stingy with food for the kids? It’s not like it’s all that much.”
“Then, the overbudget…”
“The budget was already too little in the first place. Raise it when doing the supplementary budget.”
Juwon stood up from his seat, calling for the end of the meeting.
“Shall we call it a day? Then, good work everyone.”
After having gauged the atmosphere, the team leaders quickly stood up from their seats as well.
“M-Mr. CEO, wait a moment…”
Team Leader Han signalled something with her eyes, and Team Leader Jung, standing in front of the podium, picked up the remote control and switched off the beam projector. The conference room, having had the blackout curtains drawn, was instantly plunged into darkness.
“……?”
After a moment’s confusion, the closed conference room door opened, and light streamed in from the hallway. Team Leader Choi walked into the conference room carrying a cake with candles.
“Happy Birthday to you~ Happy Birthday to you~”
As the song ended, Team Leader Choi stood in front of Juwon while holding the cake. With a click, the ceiling lights came on, and small firecrackers exploded.
“Happy Birthday, Mr. CEO!”
“Happy Birthday!”
Thin, colourful paper fluttered in the air, followed by the sound of applause. Looking at the team leaders surrounding him, Juwon rubbed his auricle.
“Um…”
The clapping slowly died down, and the fluttering papers sank to the floor. In the silence that descended, Juwon shook his head.
“I shouldn’t be accepting this from everyone.”
Team Leader Choi grinned and pulled a receipt out of his pocket.
“We bought it for less than 30,000 won, just in case.”
“We apologise for the smallness of its size!”
“The prices have gone up lately, so we almost bought a slice instead, didn’t we?”
As the others chimed in, Juwon pointed to the cake as if he couldn’t help it.
“May I blow out the candles?”
“Ah, before that!”
Team Leader Han brought out what she had been hiding behind her back. It was a pair of glasses with thick pink rims and the word HAPPY DAY written across the top, along with a rainbow-coloured cone hat.
“You should wear these.”
As the excited Team Leader Han stood on her tiptoes and tried to put the cone hat on him, Juwon bent his knees and wore it. Caught up in the moment, he wore the plastic glasses as well and said, as if amazed, “I haven’t seen glasses like these since I was in elementary school. Nowadays, do people still wear these on their birthday?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Isn’t it more amazing how his whole face is covered up by those glasses?”
“I already know it’s my birthday, so stop bringing it up…”
Whoo, Juwon blew out the candle at the end of his sentence. The flame flickered and went out, leaving white smoke in its wake.
Unable to resist the expectant look in their eyes, Juwon picked up a cherry from the top of the fluffy whipped cream and popped it into his mouth. Sweet juices spread out.
“It’s delicious, thank you.”
Hoho, Team Leader Choi, who had been looking at Juwon, laughed and said, “I still can’t get used to seeing Mr. CEO eat sweet things, no matter how many times I see it.”
The other team leaders agreed as well.
“No matter how long the meetings would go on, he’d only drink water.”
“He always skipped meals as well.”
Really? Juwon tilted his head. Come to think of it, he wouldn’t even bring snacks near his mouth before, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had cake for his birthday. Come to think of it…
“…Is seaweed soup on the Korean menu today because it’s my birthday?”
At Juwon’s words, Team Leader Choi nodded his head as if it were obvious.
“Of course. Mrs. Kim Deokbun says it’s pure seaweed flown in from her hometown in the South Sea.”
“Oh, I should have had two bowls then.”
Juwon laughed as he took off the glasses and handed them to Team Leader Han.
The boisterous room fell silent for a moment as he added on, joking that was why the seaweed soup had tasted so good. Team Leader Han accepted the glasses and quickly replied, “…Mrs. Kim is a good cook…”
She had this question when he looked the way he usually did as well, but she stared at him so mesmerised that she wondered how someone could look like this when they smiled. As if everyone else was also mesmerised for a moment, the atmosphere soon turned lively again.
“Mr. CEO, how about we have a casual company dinner today?”
Applause erupted at someone’s suggestion. Team Leader Jung chipped in as well, “Since Inhunter-nim isn’t here, why don’t you have dinner with us?”
“My husband is working, so I have to work as well.”
As Juwon shook his head, laments wafted through the conference room.
“No, but you have to eat and work anyway, right?”
“I’m sure Inhunter-nim would want you to eat well too, wouldn’t he?”
At the mention of Inheon, Juwon wanted to check the phone in his inner pocket again. Even though he didn’t feel any vibrations coming from it.
He glanced at the camera that had taken up residence in the corner of the room.
“Shall we call it a day?”
“…Ah, should we, Mr. CEO?”
PD Kang Junseong, who was standing by the wall of the conference room, made a gesture with his eyes, and the red light that signalled filming went out.
They were filming a special episode of The CEO’s New Clothes. The PD’s style was said to be natural, and it was so natural that he had even forgotten the camera was there.
Thanks to the sudden birthday party, he was reminded that they were in the middle of filming. Taking off his hat, Juwon said, “This is awkward. There was no need to do this much.”
PD Kang waved his hands.
“It wasn’t a request on our part, the team leaders suggested it first.”
“It’s not for the broadcast, we just wanted to congratulate you…”
Upon hearing Team Leader Han’s words, Juwon blinked. To think that it wasn’t because there was a camera.
“Wow, did you think it was a script?”
“Mr. CEO, that’s too much…!”
“No wonder your reaction was so…”
In the face of the denunciation, Juwon apologised, “Ah… I’m sorry.”
Up until now, he hadn’t paid much attention to his birthday, but that didn’t mean no one knew about it. He’d received congratulatory cards, gifts, messages, and phone calls from transaction partners and business associates. This time again, he naturally thought it was just an extension of that.
“If you’re sorry, then don’t we have to have a company dinner today?”
“Speaking of which, let’s decide on a menu.”
“How about Puffer Fish Bulgogi in front of Exit 4?”
“Hmm, the taste of their food is a bit different these days…”
The team leaders had a judging competition about the restaurants near the company. Watching that sight, Juwon rubbed his neck. He couldn’t think of anyone else to share a private celebration with other than Inheon.
He hadn’t heard from Inheon. It was inevitable. Three days ago, a dungeon suddenly appeared.
As it was classified as dangerous, there was no choice other than to send Inheon. Still, thanks to that, the dungeon was being easily cleared without any casualties, even though it was in a densely populated area. Though, it was an A-class dungeon, so it’d take another two days to clear it.
Juwon was worried about Inheon. Even if no words were said, he would be upset. It was their first birthday together after their civil union, and Inheon would have wanted to celebrate it more than anyone.
Inheon had always donated to various charities every 11th of November. The amounts were small when he was younger but grew to an astronomical amount when he awakened as a hunter and started earning meaningful profit. He made a lot of donations on a regular basis, but the amounts on November 11th were so large that people misunderstood it as Inheon being crazy for stick snacks.
It wasn’t the stick snacks he liked, though, but me…
Even while being surrounded by people who genuinely wanted to celebrate, Juwon missed Inheon. He wanted to hear a congratulations from him.
He knew in his head that it was a sure thing to lose contact in dungeons where radio waves didn’t work, but he still found it funny how he kept checking his phone.
Bzzzzz.
Then, as if by magic, a vibration went off inside his chest.
Bzzzzz.
The area of his heart where it met the phone trembled. Even while thinking it could be a spam call or someone else calling him, Juwon took out the phone that had been placed in his inner pocket.
A saved name appeared on the black screen.
My First-Class HusbandA phone call from Inheon could only mean one thing. He moved to an area with communication range, meaning they had cleared the dungeon.
“Let’s have a company dinner some time later. I’ll let you know the date through Secretary Kim.”
Juwon gave a light nod and left the conference room, pressing the accept call button.
The door to the conference room, open just enough for one person to exit, was soon closed, but Juwon’s voice leaked through like light coming in from the hallway.
“Yes, Inheon-ah.”
The room turned noisy after Juwon left.
“…Inhunter-nim?”
“Gasp, have they returned already?”
“Wait, let me try and contact Hansoo, who’s on scene right now.”
“Oh, oh, it seems like it’s true. How could it be this early?”
PD Kang looked at the closed conference room door and lamented, “Ah, I wanted to capture him picking up Inhunter-nim’s call.”
The corners of Team Leader Han’s eyes rose as she looked at PD Kang.
“Didn’t Mr. CEO say to call it a day here?”
“I know, I know. How could I possibly film when Han sunbae is so scary?”
As PD Kang playfully grumbled, Team Leader Choi, who had at some point grown close to the PD, arranged the meeting materials and said, “You said the reaction this time was no joke either.”
“All that was posted was an article, but it really was no joke. If I get promoted, it’ll be all thanks to December.”
“Did you see the advertisement for the CEO’s birthday on the front page of some major newspaper? I heard he even has a fan club.”
“Honestly, that’s partly thanks to our Director Park,” PD Kang said as he wrapped his arm around the camera director’s shoulder, and Director Park Cheoljun nodded his head.
“It’s a pity that the camera can’t capture the real thing, so we put our heart and soul into this, but it’s a shame it’s still not the same as seeing him in real life…”
“Still, it’s good since CEO Lee comes out so well on camera. Even when we’re just shooting naturally, it gives you this kind of feeling. I just thought of an idea for the title of this special broadcast.”
At PD Kang’s words, curiosity appeared on the faces of the team leaders.
“What is it?”
PD Kang proudly snapped his fingers and replied, “Yessa and Yesa!”
“……?”
“Pretty President, Pretty Romantic!”
“……”
“…Do the team leaders not like it…?” In the silent atmosphere, PD Kang looked back at the staff and continued, “What do you guys think?”
“…Is the title important?”
“……”
Team Leader Han clicked her tongue and said, “So the real reason why the broadcast was so successful wasn’t actually because of the PD’s sense, but because of the CEO’s face…”
“No, but why are you saying something so hurtful?”
As laughter echoed through the conference room, Juwon’s voice echoed through the emergency staircase that connected to the corridor.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Going up the emergency staircase instead of the elevator, Juwon listened carefully to Inheon’s voice beyond the phone.
“Yeah, I already ate. And my husband?”
The low voice in his ear felt sweeter than a sugar-coated cherry. Even the tip of his fingers holding the phone felt ticklish.
“Do the battle rations taste bad? Want to order a pizza when we get home?”
The echo of his footsteps as he climbed the stairs bothered him as it interrupted the call, so Juwon leaned against the wall of the emergency exit and continued the call. Despite the fact that he had heard his voice three days before, he was pleased to hear it as if he hadn’t heard it in a long time, so he continued to make idle chat.
“For me, seaweed soup?”
“Yeah, they brought seaweed from the South Sea to cook for me.”
“That’s a secret…”
“Oh, how’d you know? It was a woman.”
At the reaction coming from the speaker, Juwon finally burst out laughing. When he was asked if he had eaten and what he had eaten, he said he had eaten seaweed soup, and the way he questioned one by one if that was true, who had cooked it for him, and whether it was a woman or a man made him happy.
When he revealed that the person who cooked the seaweed soup was Mrs. Kim Deokbun, a small laugh erupted from beyond the phone as well. She was the middle-aged cook responsible for the meals in December.
The time they had to laugh as if they were in each other’s company was brief. After the handling of the dungeon, both Inheon and Juwon had a lot of work to do. After hanging up the phone with some regrets, he was bombarded with missed calls and messages.
Upstairs in the representative’s office, Juwon switched on the television as he handled the updated report.
A few moments later, a breaking news subtitle appeared below the daily drama, and the screen switched to live news. Many reporters were already at the scene of the dungeon outbreak, and it seemed like the news had been relayed to the broadcasting companies.
With a temporary headquarters as a background, a reporter spoke in an excited voice, “Breaking news just in. December’s PA Team has just cleared the Haegeum-dong dungeon. The total time taken to clear it was 13 hours, making it an unprecedentedly fast world… Ah, the PA Team has just come out!”
The camera panned to the entrance of the dungeon being sealed. But only for a moment, as the security team stood in front of the reporter and cameraman again.
“We are still in the process of the first closing. Please keep your distance until the second closing, as it is dangerous.”
Juwon, who had been handling the flood of calls and approval requests, stood up from his seat as he looked at the screen.
“What are they doing?”
There was no way those people with press cards hung around their necks wouldn’t know that the first completion wasn’t a definite seal, but as those reporters who had been camping out since the time the hunters entered the dungeon tried to capture even the slightest glimpse of the front, the caution lines and barrier were on the verge of breaking.
“The final closing has still not been announced yet! Please stand back!”
However, one reporter had trailed down the ridge and had even approached the dungeon’s entrance. He was caught on live broadcast as he shoved a small hand camera through the loosened barrier.
orcinus comments:
the author has listened to everyone’s wishes and finally came back with fluffy extras… a whole volume worth of extras too!! (happy as a reader, not so much as a translator 🥲)
thinking… juwon has started to rub his ear in certain situations, he picked up inheon’s habit 
my family almost called an exorcist for me as i was reading since i kept giggling to myself before screaming into my pillow. i’ve been trying to savour it slowly, but… almost read half of it already…
ah, and technically this is extra 1 of vol4, but i’ll continue numbering it as 10
I was so deprived that I could barely read with me rolling around every two seconds 😭😭 “My first-class husband” THATS SO CUTE.
Wuu thank you for giving us fluff!!!!
Oh god thank you author and our dear translator. We need the fluff.
I always thought this novel as a cliffhanger for being way short, but now I’m glad the author finally listened to everyone’s wishes!!
“Yeah, I already ate. And my husband?”
Their conversation is so natural😭. I’m so happy for their development!!
I’m so happy to see more of these two
Sooooo cuteeee 😭 My heart can’t take this… give me more 😍 Thank you orcinus for your amazing translations as always!! 🥰
Ahhh I wanted to scream and laugh when I heard about more chapters 😍😍