Chapter 114

I didn’t care what kind of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} unpleasantness might happen between them, but if they really had to fight, I did have one small wish—that they do it without dragging me into it.

Anyway, Sung Uijae’s request was really unfortunate, but I had no choice but to refuse. The problem was that the night market was run by a lunatic who made it a habit to collect everyone’s personal information.

Going separately would be one thing, but together? That’d basically be advertising to Im Haekyung that I was friendly with Sung Uijae.

“That place only allows entry with a referral code. And it’s not even famous... it’s more like a hidden spot. How’d you even manage to find the name?”

—You don’t have a referral code?

I lied smoothly.

“No. It costs money to register, and low-rank Awakened can’t go there in the first place. They only sell to high-rank Awakened.”

—You’re not just a low-rank Awakened, are you? You’ve got that thing in your hand.

“Careful, someone might hear you....”

Looked like Sung Uijae was just dying to broadcast that I was a beast-fusion hunter.

He sighed in disappointment at my reply.

“Forget it and just go to another hunter market. Spend big, help boost the domestic economy while you’re at it.”

—Well... can’t be helped. Then how about we meet up soon anyway? For something else.

“Something else?”

—You said go to another hunter market.

I figured even if I turned him down, he’d keep sticking to me, so I accepted after weighing the timing.

“Then after January. I’m busy over the holidays.”

—What the hell are you so busy with?

Honestly, it was stranger that Sung Uijae, who should be getting called up all over the world, wasn’t busy. Ignoring his question, I drifted into thought.

What the hell was he doing here, hanging around in Korea this long? Back then he’d acted like he was just going to make a deal and leave.

'Does he even have a visa? Not overstaying illegally, is he?'

Anyway, we set a meeting for sometime in January, then I cut the call.

—Make sure you reply.

“Then don’t send me more than two messages a week.”

Once the call ended, peace returned again.

'If I could get just one week a month this quiet, that’d be perfect.'

Any more and I’d probably get bored.

***

December 31, Seoul.

Christmas had passed without incident, and now it was the last day of the year.

Who’d have thought I’d be spending my twenty-fifth birthday here. Adding another year didn’t mean much, but the fact that it brought me closer to meeting Kwon Taehan gave it a slightly special weight.

Though today, I had something else on my mind.

The last day of the year was the day I’d promised to go out with Do Yehyun. I’d figured the day before the holiday would be less crowded than New Year’s itself, but once we stepped out, the streets were overflowing with people.

I couldn’t afford to take the whole day off, so after a short shift in the morning, I headed out.

“I’ll say this in advance.”

“Yes.”

“No alcohol. Drink if you want, but I won’t.”

“...Why don’t you drink?”

“People who get hooked on those kinds of pleasures usually don’t end well.”

“You mean alcoholism?”

Something like that. My mother’s alcoholism hadn’t been the usual kind, but what came of it was still a corpse, wasn’t it?

'Well... at this point it’s more habit than reason.'

I’d also never had any curiosity about how alcohol tasted. Just the smell was enough. Probably like breaking an alcohol lamp and drinking straight from it.

I brushed it off with a quick answer.

“Family history.”

“...Really? On your mother’s side, or father’s?”

“You really want to know everything, huh. Mother’s side.”

“Then why not smoke...?”

“Because too many people do both. I don’t do either.”

At my simple answer, Do Yehyun nodded quietly.

Still, it had been so long since I’d spent a holiday like this that I had no idea what we should do. Asking him what he wanted to do would be useless.

I felt his eyes on me while I thought about the schedule.

“Let’s eat first.”

“Okay.”

Yeah, always best to start with food.

Before we headed for a restaurant, I offered him a choice.

“I’ll give you two options. One, a moderately priced place kids your age usually go to. Two, a more ‘interesting’ priced place I’d take you to.”

“Which did you go to more often?”

“Depends who I was with. You mean when I was dating?”

“Did you date a lot?”

I told him to pick a restaurant and he veered off into irrelevant questions. I withdrew the choice and decided quickly.

“Fine, let’s go with the moderate place. Honestly, the fancy ones are probably fully booked by now anyway.”

Getting his question ignored made Do Yehyun frown for once. I stared at his sulky expression for a moment, then looked around at the nearby restaurants. What should I feed him?

In the end, we picked a place with open tables. Whether it was Korean, barbecue, or Western, everything was packed, so the deciding factor was simply an empty seat.

“Can you eat sushi?”

“Probably.”

“Then that works.”

We were lucky to get a table, sat down, and ordered quickly.

“If you want anything else, just add it. Rice with fish slices won’t fill you up.”

“Yes.”

He was quiet for a moment, then asked again.

“Did you date a lot?”

He really wanted to know this stuff? Dating? I thought back over the faint memories and answered.

“Sometimes.”

“How many times?”

“After becoming an adult? Three.”

“Were they long relationships?”

“Two lasted about six months, one was two months.”

Nothing impressive, but he reacted like I’d just said something outrageous.

“You dated that long?”

What was that supposed to mean?

“You want to date?”

“I never thought about it.”

“Really?”

Sure, his life had been too rough until now, but he was still at the age when people usually obsessed over dating.

'There are plenty of female hunters in SH Guild too.'

His answer didn’t ring true. He quickly added, as if to explain himself.

“...Really, I have no interest in dating.”

“Oh... that much?”

“I’ve never been interested. Really.”

“Shame.”

That worked out for me. It meant he wouldn’t be distracted and would just focus on work.

Still, dating right after turning twenty was the most fun. The more you think, the less fun dating—or friendships—becomes.

'You’ve got to play before you start overthinking.'

Then Do Yehyun suddenly froze and asked, bewildered:

“...Why?”

“What?”

“Why what?”

What the hell was he on about?

At his dumb question, I humored him. He stammered as he pushed on.

“Why is it a shame?”

“Because dating at twenty is fun.”

“...That from experience?”

“Yeah.”

Right then the sushi we ordered arrived. After the waiter left, I took a sip of tea and picked up my chopsticks. But Do Yehyun just sat there like it was some kind of memorial ritual.

“Eat.”

“What kind of people did you date?”

The voice that had firmly declared no interest in dating was now shrinking away. Maybe because this counted as a “date,” he sure had a lot of questions today.

Instead of picking up sushi, I just stared at him, thinking it over.

'Hmm... isn’t this line of questioning kind of suspicious?'

“Yehyun.”

“Yes.”

“Are you curious about dating, or about my dating?”

He froze. Yeah, no answer needed. I smirked and set a piece of sushi on his plate.

“Why would I tell you about my exes?”

“Well... you could be curious.”

“Then you should ask about my type, not my exes.”

“......”

Not like I had much to say anyway—just short flings when I was twenty and after military service. And besides, his questions were all so pointed that it was ridiculous.

I cut in before he could recover.

“If you were about to ask my type, I’ll save you the trouble. I don’t care about type. I’m not interested in dating at all.”

“...Okay. Please don’t.”

Exactly. Who knew when the world would end, or when I might die again. Dating dopamine was only fun in your early twenties; now it barely tempted me.

I raised my brows at him and popped a sushi piece into my mouth. Hm... not great.

I left Do Yehyun to insist on paying for dinner and waited outside. The streets had that New Year’s Eve feel. Many places still had their Christmas trees up, and some were even playing carols.

“Hyung.”

“You done? Was it good?”

“Where to now?”

“Anywhere you want to go?”

“I’m not sure.”

Honestly, I didn’t know where to go either. So I admitted it.

“Yehyun. I don’t even remember what I used to do on days off. I’ve got no idea where to go now.”

“That’s fine.”

“Really, I was just about to suggest we go look at artifacts, but that feels too much like work, doesn’t it?”

“I’d like it.”

“Feels like an extension of work. Or we could go buy something else.”

“Something else?”

I considered maybe getting him clothes or shoes as a year-end gift. But unlike Seowon, Do Yehyun didn’t seem like the type to care for expensive stuff.

'Or maybe I should get him into the habit now?'

I looked him up and down. His build had improved, and with all the places he was tagging along to, a suit—even an off-the-rack one—would suit him.

'And I could pick something up for Seowon too.'

Year-end atmosphere is best enjoyed with money. I tugged at the corner of my mouth and said:

“Let’s go get you some clothes fitted.”