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Kang Inheon dragged Lee Juwon to the hospital. It was after 6 pm so they needed to go to the emergency room.
Lee Juwon had always hated hospitals and had an instinctive aversion to going to an expensive emergency room for such a minor wound, but he just followed Kang Inheon. If he was with Kang Inheon, even going to the hospital was okay. Saving money in his dreams served no purpose.
When a dungeon randomly appears, the place that becomes the most chaotic were hospitals, so they had to wait a while even after being accepted. As he leaned back in the waiting room chair, his eyes closed in exhaustion.
Passing through the corridor, an old guardian saw Lee Juwon’s face and lightly clicked their tongue and said, “Oh dear, what happened to your lovely forehead?”
Kang Inheon, who was still looking at his toes, lowered his head even further. He seemed to think it was his fault that Lee Juwon was injured.
Just as he was about to tell him not to worry about it, a nurse with a chart called out Lee Juwon’s name.
Lee Juwon stood up, and Kang Inheon quickly followed and got to his feet. No matter who looked at it, Kang Inheon seemed unsettled and grim, as if he had lost an arm.
In fact, Lee Juwon was the very last in a hospital overflowing with emergency patients. Because his wound was light, he had to wait for a long time even after going to the emergency room and sitting on a small chair provided inside.
What kind of dream even has realistic hospital wait times? As Lee Juwon was grumbling on the inside, a doctor who looked very tired, as if they had been up for at least two nights, approached him and said in a perfunctory way, “How did you get hurt? Did you get into a fight with your friend?”
Kang Inheon standing next to him responded before Lee Juwon could, “N-no!” And then, with an enthusiasm he had never seen before, he continued, “H-he was s-scratched by the c-claw of a s-super big f-flying m-monster called a M-Manjo and…”
“Scratched by the claw of a monster?”
The indifferent doctor’s eyes narrowed. Kang Inheon nodded his head vigorously and said, “Yes, to try and s-save me…”
“Save? Is the injured student a hunter?”
“N-no, b-but…”
Sensing the disbelieving looks in the doctor’s and the nurse’s eyes, Kang Inheon explained with even more effort, “I-it could’ve b-been a lot m-more dangerous but J-Juwon n-noticed the signs of t-the dungeon and w-we got out of t-there quickly… H-he told t-the hunters who c-came to the p-park to u-use the fire e-extinguisher t-that was right n-next to the bench…”
“I’ll start with the dressing first.”
The doctor, who had roughly interrupted Kang Inheon’s excessive rambling, took the dressing tools from the nurse. Lee Juwon furrowed his brows a bit. The cold antiseptic stung as it touched the wound. Kang Inheon’s eyebrows furrowed even more as he glanced at Lee Juwon.
“It’s a thin cut, so it doesn’t need stitches. Foreheads usually bleed a lot.”
Kang Inheon’s expression became strange as the doctor spoke in an indifferent tone as if asking why they had come to the emergency room for such a small scratch. He was brusque like a school parent who was offended by hearing that the wound on his child’s face wasn’t that serious, but he also looked relieved that the scratch was not deep.
Seeing the various changes in Kang Inheon’s expression, Lee Juwon decided not to mention that a wound from a monster would leave a scar unless you were awakened. It was common knowledge in today’s dungeon era, but not at this time.
“What… are you preparing to become an idol or something? And this friend here is already a huge fan?”
Maybe they also felt Kang Inheon’s piercing gaze, but the doctor shrugged their shoulder. He was already over thirty, what idol? As Lee Juwon shook his head at the rising shame, the doctor, who had finished the treatment, stood up and added, “Be careful in the future. It’d really be a shame if a scar was left. Your friend is scary too…”
While the nurse shined a hand mirror at Lee Juwon and gave him a few precautions, Kang Inheon quickly left the emergency room. Lee Juwon’s gaze followed his back.
“Keep water out of the wound until it heals, and change the bandage every two days. Use waterproof tape when you wash. Student, you have to take care. Your skin is so white it’s easy to leave marks.”
Lee Juwon nodded roughly and stood up. He slipped the extra band the nurse had handed him into his uniform pocket and followed Kang Inheon.
It wasn’t hard to find him. He was standing in front of a reception storage self in the hospital lobby. The shelves were tall and he was tiny, so Lee Juwon almost laughed a little. It was a sight he would never see again in real life.
But the faint smile on Lee Juwon’s face soon faded.
As Kang Inheon turned to leave after paying the medical bill, their eyes met. Kang Inheon tried his best to conceal his embarrassed expression as he approached Lee Juwon, who left the emergency room earlier than he expected.
After leaving the hospital doors, the sky was extremely low and dark after the short winter sun had set. Only the breaths of the two bloomed white in the dark sky.
It was time to go home. Lee Juwon asked Kang Inheon, who was still walking with his eyes on the ground, “What bus do you take?”
“…17.”
“Let’s take a shortcut.”
Lee Juwon took the lead and turned into an alleyway next to the hospital.
The shops in the alleyways had mostly lowered their shutters and switched off the lights on their signs. The sparse streetlights bathed the dark alley in an orange glow.
Step, step, only the sound of the two’s footsteps echoed in the silent alleyway. At some point, the sound of something rolling cut in between. It was the sound of a vendor in a trapper hat dragging a rear car from the mouth of the alleyway.
The alley was narrow, strewn with orange washbasins, garbage bags, and beer crates. They stood on one side of the alley for a moment to let the rear car pass by. They felt the chill of the cold stone wall on their backs.
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.
The rear car passed by, making a rattling sound. Soon, it disappeared around the corner of the alley. But Kang Inheon didn’t move his feet. Lee Juwon didn’t hurry him to move.
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The narrow alleyway was just endlessly quiet.
At some moment, he felt cold water on his cheek. Lee Juwon stuck his palm out in the air and looked up at the sky. Not sure if it was rain or snow, trickles of sleet, fell from the dark sky.
The snowflakes gradually grew thicker with irregularity. The narrow alleyway was soon spotted with white as if sprinkled with salt.
It was even colder standing still in the middle of the falling snow. Kang Inheon was no different from usual, as if he didn’t really feel the cold, but not only did the tip of Lee Juwon’s ears turn red with the cold, they were on the verge of becoming blue.
“Let’s go. It’s cold.”
Lee Juwon took the first step, and Kang Inheon followed. The sound of their steps was different from earlier as they walked down the street laced with a thin layer of snow. Each step on the snow made a crisp sound.
The alleyway somehow felt brighter than before, covered in white snow. Snow piled up on the tricolour light of a closed barber shop door spinning around and around all on its own, the old faded blue awning, and the white bucket that had been placed there to prevent parking.
Kang Inheon’s black hair, long lashes, ruddy cheeks, and lips were covered with white snow. Lee Juwon cast a sideways glance at his appearance. Then, his eyes met with those of Kang Inheon, who was also glancing at him from the side.
“Ahem…”
The two avoided eye contact, feeling unnecessarily awkward.
At the end of the alley, feeling like they sensed a presence, a yellow cat ducked under a street vendor’s cart, which was wrapped in thick plastic, only leaving tiny paw prints in the lightly layered snow. It was followed by a younger kitten. The sound of its feeble cry rang quietly at the mouth of the alleyway.
When Lee Juwon’s gaze lingered for a moment under the cart, Kang Inheon spoke in a hoarse voice, “…D-do you like it?”
“Huh?”
“T-the cat…”
At the sudden topic, Lee Juwon rubbed his nape.
“…Me?”
“Y-you said… y-your Christmas wish was to raise a cat…”
“…I said that?”
Kang Inheon said in embarrassment at Lee Juwon’s reaction tilting his head to the side, “Y-yesterday during CEA class…”
What’s CEA again…? It may have been yesterday for Kang Inheon, but it was too long ago for Lee Juwon. As Lee Juwon remained silent, Kang Inheon’s voice became quieter.
“…A-am I wrong?”
“No… well…”
Maybe it was back then. However, it had been so long since he heard the cute word ‘Christmas wish’ that it just felt like a faraway past.
Somewhere along the way, he stopped making wishes. Because such things were weak and powerless. Sitting still and praying didn’t bring back the dead, and it didn’t make debts go away.
Somewhere along the way, instead of making wishes that wouldn’t come true, he fed his greed that could. His life had gotten a little better since he stopped paying attention to his surroundings and satisfied his greed. …Did it get better? Come to think of it, not really. He couldn’t even fully satisfy his greed until the moment of his death. He probably won’t be able to satisfy it till the end.
Still, all his greed was money. Why did he want to make so much money, even he sometimes wondered on his tired way home from work at dawn.
However, he’d soon scoff it off. The more money the better, what else needed to be said? Those who had a long tongue when talking about money were swindlers, and those who had no interest in money were crazy about it.
For Lee Juwon, who believed in capitalism, the word ‘wish’ was too much of a luxury. But if he could live again… Then, he wouldn’t know.
“What’s your wish?”
Come to think of it, he was curious about what the young Kang Inheon’s wish was.
“I…” Kang Inheon moved his lips slightly. Lee Juwon listened closely, but Kang Inheon didn’t continue his words until they were out of the alley and onto the main street.
When they came onto the roadside where buses circulated, the streets, unlike the quiet alleyway, were bustling with people. The white bulbs hanging from the street trees twinkled, and cheerful carols wafted out of the shops that kept their doors open in the cold.
<Joy to the world~ the Lord is come~♪>
<Feliz Navidad~ Feliz Navidad~♬>
The streets were lined with vendors selling winter treats and cold-weather gear. The vendors in their red Santa hats looked perplexed as the snow fell on their stalls, but they didn’t seem to have any intention of shutting down early. There was a flurry of activity as they laid plastic over their items and installed roofs.
Even while brushing off the flurries of snow on their heads and shoulders, all the passersby had excited faces. It was a snowy Christmas Eve, even with the dungeon crisis showing no signs of ending.
<Hohoho, Merry Christmas!>
A big Santa doll placed in front of the large arcade caught the people’s attention. The Santa doll held a sparkly cane while doing a hip dance and continuously yelled out “Merry Christmas”.
<Love and blessings for Christmas!>
Kang Inheon’s gaze was also drawn to the Santa doll. But Lee Juwon soon realized he wasn’t looking at the doll.
With ‘ManKyungGwan’ written on its shining neon signs, the arcade was a hotspot for the students of nearby schools. Through the window, children that were their peers could be seen absorbed in games. A male student with his uniform shirt sleeves rolled up and his tie loose danced in rhythm on a board with arrows pointing in nine directions.
Lee Juwon gestured toward the arcade with his chin and said, “Wanna play a game?”
“N-no…” Kang Inheon quickly waved his hand. “I-I’ve never done it before, s-so I c-can’t.”
“Then we have to go even more.”
To think that a middle school student had never been to an arcade. Even Lee Juwon had once been a VIP at arcades, PC rooms, and comic rooms. Though, he hadn’t even looked at them since his parents died.
“I-it’s okay…”
Kang Inheon hesitated. Lee Juwon grabbed his wrist and led the way to the arcade.
“Just trust this hyung and follow me.”
“Wha… what do you mean ‘hyung’…” When Kang Inheon muttered in a tiny voice, Lee Juwon’s conscience felt a bit pricked.
Yeah… Actually, I’m not a hyung, but an ahjussi…
Inside the arcade, it was louder, flashier, and more crowded than the street. A kid shot a ball into a slanted basketball hoop and high-fived his friend, and a woman in a leather jacket twisted the wheel on a model motorbike.
Kang Inheon’s eyes widened as if he were in another world. Somehow motivated by that appearance of his, Lee Juwon exchanged his bills for a stack of arcade coins. Since Kang Inheon had never been to an arcade before, he sat him down in front of a low-difficulty land-winning game machine first.
“It’s a game I used to love when I was a kid… You have to expand your area by avoiding the bombs here. Hold down R and use the stick to control the direction…”
Kang Inheon sat in a round, backless chair and clumsily gripped the joystick. Lee Juwon stood hunched behind him, holding his hand as he demonstrated. He could feel the hot heat of his back as his chest slightly touched his nape. Maybe it was because he was young, but he had a lot of heat in his body even though it was winter.
“Now, you give it a try.”
Kang Inheon unknowingly went too far in the beginning and died after running into a bomb.
“Gasp…!”
“It’s okay.”
Lee Juwon sat next to him and kept adding coins nonstop every time Kang Inheon died.
Soon, as if getting a grasp on the feeling, Kang Inheon dodged the incoming bombs here and there and secured his territory to the max.
92% SUCCESS!
“Oh! Good job!”
He finally cleared a game. The black silhouette on the screen changed to a woman in a swimsuit. The woman inside the monitor cupped her large chest and winked slightly, and Kang Inheon stared at Lee Juwon.
“…Y-you l-liked this kind of thing?”
“No… T-this is just a service cut…”
Lee Juwon waved his hands around and made excuses, like a father watching a graphic video with his young son, but the word service was more problematic.
Lee Juwon quickly got up and took Kang Inheon with him to another game machine. Scanning the arcade with a hawk’s eye, he spotted the game that would be best suited to mend the situation.
Standing in front of a striking game that would look both wholesome and easy to anyone, he felt at ease.
<Quick Lead Removal Championship! Explanation!>
“Just keep hitting no matter what!”
He continuously tapped the red, blue, and green buttons until his palms were on fire. Lee Juwon tried his best as never before, but Kang Inheon pulled out the lead in an instant, and FAIL appeared on Lee Juwon’s split screen.
“…You’re pretty good?”
Lee Juwon’s defeats didn’t stop there. Playing arcade classics like Street Fighter, DJ games, pro wrestling, and even Bubble Bobble brought back so many bubbling memories that Lee Juwon forgot his age and circumstances and pushed himself harder than Kang Inheon.
Lee Juwon once had expertise in this area, and he soon found his abilities again so well that there were onlookers standing behind him. However, Kang Inheon was better than he thought. Apart from Tetris, Lee Juwon lost to Kang Inheon one game after another.
“…Is this really your first time?”
Lee Juwon, who had just lost a gruesome defeat using his cheat key in Tekken, Marshall Law, looked at him suspiciously. Kang Inheon rubbed his earlobe and answered slowly, “…Yeah.”
“Is it because a game is also something you do with your body…?”
Lee Juwon stretched, his shoulders probably aching from trying too hard to win against a kid.
“Uuu-.”
He was so focused on the game that he didn’t notice the slightly different atmosphere of the arcade. He looked around and saw a clique wearing their school uniform in a sleazy way, touching game machines here and there.
“If you’re done, get out,” said one of the guys from the clique who swaggered up to Kang Inheon, even though there was an empty game machine right next to them. Lee Juwon raised an eyebrow, but Kang Inheon pulled his collar.
“L-let’s just g-go now…”
Lee Juwon followed where Kang Inheon was leading.
At the punch machine in front of the arcade’s door, several members of the clique were gathered. Amid them, the biggest and most tough-looking man was loosening his shoulder.
He had the face of a barbarian and looked like he wouldn’t pass for a teenager at all if he weren’t wearing the uniform of a local school. He spat a stream of spit at the floor through his yellowed teeth that looked as if they had experienced the passage of time and shouted loudly, “Here I go!”
The barbarian pushed his shoulder back, running from far away toward the punch machine. Using the recoil of his entire body, he leapt and struck the punching bag.
“Wow!”
“999! 999!”
As the clique cheered, the numbers on the electronic board went up. It started at 0 and stopped at 897. The barbarian turned the wrist he used to hit the punching bag and said, “Ah, fuck… That’s so shitty…”
“What is?! As expected of Choi Cheol! That’s amazing!”
“Anyhow, I think 900 is the top for this machine? I’ve never seen it go over 900.”
One of the guys in the group, an anchovy who had been praising the barbarian and massaging his shoulder, started digging around in his pant pockets and looked stumped. Quickly looking around his surroundings, the anchovy spotted Kang Inheon trying to leave the arcade and grinned. Leaning on one foot, the anchovy blocked Kang Inheon’s path.
“Hello?”
Kang Inheon looked around, unsure if the greeting was directed toward him. The anchovy stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned down to make eye contact with Kang Inheon and continued, “Kiddo, can you lend me some coins?”
“Fucking hell.”
The answer came from Lee Juwon, who was standing behind Kang Inheon.
“You want us to lend money to a guy like you who can’t even count?”
orcinus comments:
enjoy the happiness while it lasts 
personally if i was the one in charge of the christmas music you’d hear mariah carey blasting from all speakers
thanks for the chapter!!!
Lee Juwon: “All I want for Christmas is Kang Inheon. And pizza too”
Maybe a good meal too 🥲
Thank you for the chapter ♥️
Thanks for the chapter
Thank you for the chapter! This is probably going to be the last wholesome chapter we’ll ever read 🙃🙂
Thanks for the chapter ❤️
Gracias por el capítulo ☺
So my understanding: he is spending one day in the past, getting his wish of sharing pizza with our ML, and as a kid he didn’t know ML but had the scare to prove he saved him… hmmmmmm. Seems like a bit of a time loop occured, fate if you will.
I have a feeling he will rejoin the present at the time he entered the dungeon when he next wakes up, thus kid him protected ML and didn’t know (as it was not him but future him) and ML has the memory and care for our MC.
Nice to see them spending time together, eating and playing 🥺💖
So precious… This— their time together!! A day well-spent!
Hell yeah. All i want from Christmas is mariah Carey to sing LMAO