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“G-give it back…!”
Kang Inheon quickly reached for his wallet but couldn’t touch it. Tak, the plastic chair fell to the floor. Lee Juwon stood up and opened the wallet.
He didn’t know how it’d be like in real life, but Lee Juwon was much taller than him right now. Even as he stood on the tip of his toes and stretched out his hand, he couldn’t stop Lee Juwon from opening the wallet.
The wallet contained a card and a few bills. Lee Juwon took a close look at the driver’s licence inside the transparent film of the wallet. The picture on the licence looked a little familiar. It was clearly the same middle-aged man who had brushed against Kang Inheon in the building earlier, only younger.
“What is this wallet?”
Kang Inheon lowered his head, his eyes shaking, and he said nothing. Lee Juwon couldn’t believe it at all and asked again, “…Did you steal it?”
After a long pause, Kang Inheon said, “…Because… w-we needed to g-go to the hospital…”
The reason was absurd. But Kang Inheon was bowing his head, crestfallen as if he had committed a capital offence, so Lee Juwon couldn’t say anything more. He simply pushed the overturned chair back up and sat down.
Lee Juwon patted Kang Inheon’s seat, and Kang Inheon also sat down again. They sat next to each other and said nothing.
Lee Juwon finished the rest of his tteokbokki. The soft, elongated wheat cakes were delicious, with just the right amount of sweet and spicy seasoning. After washing it down with fish cake soup, he dipped the crispy fried shrimp in soy sauce and ate it.
While he ate the fried squid, which was cut with scissors and dipped in the tteokbokki seasoning, Kang Inheon hesitantly picked up the chopsticks that had fallen to the ground. When Lee Juwon finished eating, he snatched the chopsticks from Kang Inheon’s hand and threw them in the trash.
“U-uh…”
Kang Inheon looked at the trash can in surprise. Lee Juwon took out a new pair of wooden chopsticks from a bamboo container in the middle of the table. After lightly tapping the vertical end to open the white paper wrapper, he divided the chopsticks with the tips stuck together and handed them to Kang Inheon.
Kang Inheon looked at his new chopsticks for a while before picking up the fried shrimp. The two ate in silence for a while. Eventually, the plate slowly started to reveal its bottom.
“Wanna eat more?” Lee Juwon asked, and Kang Inheon nodded.
The table was covered with tteokbokki, fish cake soup, assorted fritters, and even sundae as if they had just ordered for the first time. “Can you eat it all?” The owner asked, surprised, but diligently serving the food. The hustle and bustle as the table was set up again lifted the sunken mood a bit.
“Oh, isn’t that our neighbourhood?” The owner, who was slicing a bunch of green onions, said as they watched the television, and the eyes of the people in the stall turned to the small screen. The local news showed the view of a completely broken fountain and a panoramic view of the park.
<Today, at around 5 pm, a Spirin dungeon occurred in Muyong Park. Luckily, thanks to quick reporting by citizens, official hunters were on the scene right away and no major damage was done…>
With no official deaths or injuries, the article about the dungeon was short. It was soon followed by another article about preparing for heavy snowfall.
After glancing back and forth between the television and Lee Juwon, Kang Inheon spoke in a small voice, “C-can I ask you s-something?”
When Lee Juwon nodded, Kang Inheon continued cautiously, “H-how did you know a dungeon would a-appear in the park?”
“…I saw it on the internet. It said to be careful if you don’t hear birds…”
“D-do you know all the methods to deal with the monsters too?”
“…I applied some of the information from the Encyclopedia of Monsters…”
Lee Juwon’s voice gradually faded. The Encyclopedia of Monsters was a rubbish book with no right information.
Not only in that book but to this day, information about dungeons and monsters on the internet and in books was either unverified or of low quality. This was due to the passive disclosure of information by hunter associations around the world.
Citizen organizations insisted that the general public needed to be properly informed in order to prepare for dungeons and monsters that suddenly appear, but Lee Juwon consistently ignored them. Information was money, and he couldn’t understand why it should be given away for free. However, the thought of both of them sitting in the park without thinking of anything and getting stabbed by the Manjo’s claw and dying made him feel chills.
“T-that’s amazing…”
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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“A-as expected, y-you dream of becoming a hunter too…”
“…That’s not it.”
“It’s not?”
Kang Inheon looked at Lee Juwon as if it were unexpected. Lee Juwon rubbed his dry cheek and said, “I’m going to start a hunter company.”
“Wow…”
It might seem like something amazing to a young boy, but it wasn’t really something amazing at all. It was just the next best thing since he couldn’t manifest as a hunter.
At the time, he was pretty discouraged, but in hindsight, it made sense. He just wanted to be a hunter because it was almost the only way to make a lot of money in a short period of time as a beggar.
Naturally, starting a company wasn’t easy either. It was ridiculously beyond his own powers, both in terms of capital and manpower. In the early days, when he only had loans and no staff or office, he didn’t get any applicants for a long time even after posting job advertisements. At that time, Kang Inheon was the only hunter who applied.
It was such a historic day that he even remembered the date. December 23rd, Thursday at 2 pm.
The interview took place at a café near the office. It had snowed so much the day before that the office in the rooftop room was flooded.
If it was cold enough, the snow would freeze, but it was warm that day due to a cycle of three cold days and four warm days. As he watched the stagnant water on the ceiling trickle down into a sky-blue bowl, Lee Juwon took out his phone.
Even he, Lee Juwon, couldn’t call an interviewee to an office leaking rainwater. It wasn’t like he could postpone it either because the weather forecast called for more snow.
That morning, as he sent a message to change the location of the interview, Lee Juwon felt hopeless and thought that a company that held the interview in a café and not an office, anyone could see it was either illegal work or a scam. And to inform them of the change of interview venue on the day of? Lee Juwon couldn’t even think of an answer.
But unexpectedly, he received an immediate answer saying, 「Alright」. Looking at the text, Lee Juwon thought that there really was no answer for the other party either.
It was the first time he had ever sat alone in a café during the day on a weekday. It was an unusually sunny day for winter, and the street seen from outside the wall window was bright. Even though it was winter outside, it was warm in the café, which was well-heated.
The large franchise café, which occupies a three-storey building, was bustling with people. From college students with their laptops on, to couples chatting over empty cups with all the ice melted away, to study groups eating their third slice of cake, to office workers carrying takeout drinks…
Lee Juwon sat down at a table near the entrance door on the first floor and reviewed Kang Inheon’s resume again. He didn’t really have any big impression of it. His manifestation date was December 17th, less than a week ago. The date of his resume was the 18th, so it seemed that he had applied to all hunter companies, big or small, as soon as he manifested.
Kang Inheon… a name that sounded like a hunter. Twenty-five… we’re the same age, Semyung Middle School… I also went there for a while, do I know him? A-class hunter… my ass.
The resume said he was an A-class hunter, but Lee Juwon didn’t believe it. If he really manifested as an A-class hunter a week ago, why would he apply for a rookie company over Edwin, Lion, and other big names? A copy of his hunter certificate was also attached, but who knew if it was authentic.
But even if he was a mythomaniac F-class hunter, he couldn’t be picky. If he was coming, he had to meet him first.
If he had to enter a dungeon and only had one life, he wouldn’t be a civilian. In that respect, he rather admired his guts.
The money spent on counterfeiting would be a million won anyway, so it was better to tell them to make it a big A rather than a B or a C. No, he should have gone with an S…
It wasn’t the time to pick and choose between cold and hot water. Weren’t the both of them suspicious? Lee Juwon tapped the resume with his index finger. If it was good enough to use, use it, and if it was bad enough to throw away, throw it away.
Leaning back in his chair, Lee Juwon ordered an Americano because it was the cheapest option. It was his first meal of the day, and the icy cold liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach. A carol streamed from a speaker on the wall.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let Earth receive her King.
Ding-.
The bell attached to the entrance shook and made a sound. The employee at the counter greeted them soullessly, not even looking at the entrance,
‘Welcome.’
Lee Juwon turned his gaze to the entrance, as anyone who was waiting for someone would naturally do. A tall and handsome man walked in with a cool breeze from the outside. He greeted back the employee who greeted him with a smile.
‘Hello.’
The man was tall and his shoulders were wide enough to catch people’s attention at first sight. He wasn’t sure whether his surroundings were sparkling because of the man who was dressed in a light grey long coat, faded jeans, and white sneakers, or whether it was due to the winter sunlight coming in through the wall window. He smiled with his mouth open as he greeted the employee.
There was no photo attachment on the resume, but Lee Juwon knew the moment he saw him.
That man. That man is Kang Inheon.
Unbeknownst to himself, Lee Juwon quickly stood up from his seat. Maybe because of that, the man didn’t look around and walked straight to him.
The man slowly approached Lee Juwon. He couldn’t tell if he was actually walking slowly or if Lee Juwon felt like he was in slow motion.
‘…Hunter Kang Inheon?’
The man who stopped in front of Lee Juwon nodded. Lee Juwon had to lift his head a lot to make eye contact with him, even though he rarely ever had to look up.
Lee Juwon held out his business card and said,
‘Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Juwon.’
The man looked down at the business card he was handed for a moment. His large hands made the ordinary business card feel small.
Looking at him so closely, Lee Juwon’s mouth went dry, even though he’d just had a cold drink. Badump, badump, his heart thumped.
It’s real. This is real.
Lee Juwon stuck out his hand for a handshake, trying to curry favour, even if it was only a little bit, and lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile. He thought would be better than his usual frown. Then, he thought, Kang Inheon would greet him with a refreshing smile, just like he did with the employee.
However, as if the saying you can’t spit on a smiling face was a lie, Kang Inheon’s expression was… not very good. To the point he could spit on a smiling face.
Only when he felt embarrassed about his outstretched hand did he take it. Unlike how he shone like sunshine, his hand was extremely cold. Lee Juwon said,
‘It’s cold, isn’t it?’
‘…Yes, it is.’
Wasn’t it a foul if even his voice was good?
The thought that he might be someone he knew flew out the window. There was no way he could be forgotten, even if he had just passed him by in the corridor. Anyhow, he’d been at that school for less than half a year, so it wouldn’t be strange if they’d never met.
They sat down facing each other, but Lee Juwon dismissed the idea of an interview. Wasn’t an interview a way to assess the capabilities of the job seeker? He didn’t need to assess such things.
He was special. It was clear that he was at least an A-class hunter, if not higher. The important thing right now was how to get him to choose December, the smallest of the dozens of hunter companies he would have applied to.
His first reaction was that he had already lost, but he gave it his best shot. He diligently explained the company’s profit structure and prospects as if he were making an IR pitch.
Since all he could offer was a stake in the company and a percentage of the profits, Kang Inheon didn’t have all that much of a reaction to the conditions Lee Juwon provided. As Kang Inheon remained unresponsive, Lee Juwon became desperate.
‘So, you’re from Semyung Middle School.’
As if grabbing onto the rope of the school ties he saw on the resume, Lee Juwon continued,
‘It’s in Jincheon, right?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘I went there for a while too… Were you perhaps there in your second year?’
‘Yes.’
Kang Inheon, who had not only been disinterested but also stiff, finally showed a reaction. He, who had been staring at the table throughout the entire profit distribution and company explanation, raised his head.
Lee Juwon forgot to breathe for a moment. He couldn’t look away. His silky hair was neatly pulled back, revealing a clean-cut forehead. Under the high ridge of his nose, his full lips were lively and pretty, red like the colour of watercolours.
Even though he had deliberately forgotten his school days, there was someone like this? Lee Juwon was confused.
‘We’re the same age… That means we went to school together, but…’
‘……’
‘Was there someone this tall…?’
‘…I was small then.’
‘Aha, so that’s how it was…’
‘……’
‘You’ve grown a lot since high school…’
‘……’
‘Congratulations…’
‘……’
‘Anyway, I guess this is fate… Haha…’
Lee Juwon was aware that he was spitting out just about anything. He tried to keep the conversation going somehow, but Kang Inheon’s expression sank lower and lower. At some point, not only did it become cold, he even looked displeased.
I’ve lost… Lee Juwon felt dejected on the inside.
The seemingly upright Kang Inheon could have been the type of person who despised the use of school ties and regionalism. He didn’t even graduate from there, and it was comedic calling it school ties when he just went there for a while. Lee Juwon didn’t really want to talk about his school days either, so he couldn’t talk anymore.
This could cause Kang Inheon to feel even more reluctant, seeing how he couldn’t distinguish between public and private matters and babbled on about useless things during the interview. It was the same for Lee Juwon who did not make small talk with others. Why was there a need for small talk at work…?
A mixture of shame, tension, and anxiety made him feel stuffy and nauseous. What if he lost grasp of him? He couldn’t let Kang Inheon go like this, though…
Pretending it was a job interview, he asked a series of useless questions, such as how long he had dreamed of being a hunter and what his goals were as a hunter, and listened to Kang Inheon’s ideal answers through one ear and out the other, worrying about how to catch him.
Should he subtract the villa’s security deposit and raise the down payment? But the security deposit was not that much money… Should he sell an organ? Will it be okay even if he’s missing a kidney? Should he live as a one-eyed person? Take out a loan?
Lee Juwon’s head was filled with thoughts of preparing for the down payment, so he chattered away, unaware of what he was saying, trying to fill the silence in line with Kang Inheon’s idealism.
When he was listing all the conscience-stricken words he hadn’t even thought about, such as pursuing public good, giving back to society, and having a positive impact… Kang Inheon said,
‘Can I start working tomorrow?’
The carol he thought was noisy rang in his ears like a song of joy.
The moment Kang Inheon signed that contract, Lee Juwon felt joyous as if he had everything in the world. To the point he decided to name the company, which had a tentative name up until now, December because it was the month he met Kang Inheon.
To add on, Kang Inheon wasn’t even an A-class. At that time, there were no S-class hunters in Korea, so the highest hunter rating was only A-class. It was like the 999 points on the punch machine; if the scoreboard went up to the thousands, there was no telling how high it would go.
Looking back on it now, it was no different from a job scam from Kang Inheon’s position. It was understandable why Kang Inheon was dispirited in that Christmas dream where they had a huge fight.
orcinus comments:
man inheon has got to stop freezing up every time juwon smiles its causing so many misunderstandings 💀
Thank you for the chapter! ♥️
why is kang inheon always so cold just to him… how will it be justified🤨 im so excited for their relationship to growwwww
Inheon: he looks so good when he smiles, im nervous now that i inally see him again, be cool inheon, be cool you worked so lhard an long for this day! gushing inside
Juwon:ah looks like he doesnt like me
Inheon: he doesnt remember me pout
Juwon:looks like really doesnt like me
raising his hopes with that middle school comment just to bring it all crashing down again
100%
HUHU THATS HOW IT TOTALLY WENT HAHA
The whole premise of them meeting in middle school through a time paradox caused by a dungeons is such a mind fuck. Like Kang Inheon is in love with him for something he hasn’t even done yet?? Can you imagine?? Also if we’re really thinking about it what happened to the real Juwon at that time? Did the older Juwon just enter his body and possess him?? The whole plot is just so meta its the craziest unrequited love fr 😭
Yeah it’s so sad tbh. KI basically fell in love with a person that doesn’t exist and clung to them all these years never wanting to accept how bad they truly were.
Thank you for the chapter!!! I CAN ALSO SEE HOW EVERYTHING IS ADDING UP TO EACH OTHER NOW, so excited for the next chapter!
This is such a sweet story. Inheon clearly remembers that one special day when they were kids but Juwon probably hadn’t experienced that day yet. So much room for misunderstandings. 🤭 So sweet how he immediately applied to his company. I bet none of the big companies got to see that resume. 🥰
Thanks for the chapter ❤️
I love this 😭 thank you translator!
He even remembered the exact date and time 😩
So true LMAO both of them not smiling to each other because of some misunderstanding