#142
As observed earlier, Dan Joo-hyuk had his usual expression. This time, he even wore a more playful smile. His tone was also incredibly light, as if he was just throwing words out casually.
Yes, he seemed normal. Yet Yoon Pa-ran felt something strangely unsettling.
Why does Dan Joo-hyuk look anxious?
It was an odd impression to have. But thinking about it, he had been acting quite strange today. Suddenly coming all the way to the bunker to see her, and then bringing her to such an important place.
With a subtle expression, Yoon Pa-ran continued to stare directly at his face. But the more carefully she studied his relaxed demeanor, the more her judgment became clouded. He was always so unpredictable normally, so maybe this was just another of his pranks.
After organizing her thoughts, Yoon Pa-ran carefully pushed Dan Joo-hyuk’s arm away.
“No.”
As if he’d just been testing her, Dan Joo-hyuk readily released Yoon Pa-ran. His touch gradually retreated.
Perhaps she had been overthinking things. Pushing aside a vague feeling of unease, Yoon Pa-ran turned around and pressed the elevator button.
The elevator came up quickly. Just before the doors opened with the guidance announcement, Yoon Pa-ran slightly furrowed her brow.
“…”
There was still that pulling sensation at the back of her head. She couldn’t understand why his face, smiling as usual, kept lingering in her mind.
Finally, as Yoon Pa-ran stepped into the elevator, she glanced back slightly. She casually greeted Dan Joo-hyuk, who was leaning crookedly against the wall watching her.
“Merry Christmas.”
“…Merry Christmas.”
With those words, the elevator doors closed.
Yoon Pa-ran’s presence gradually faded away until it finally disappeared outside Dan Joo-hyuk’s building.
“…”
Until then, Dan Joo-hyuk remained standing against the wall, motionless. His gaze toward the floor was intense, as if he could see through the wall and track Yoon Pa-ran’s movements.
Only after feeling Yoon Pa-ran’s presence completely disappear without returning did Dan Joo-hyuk let out a soft exclamation.
“Ah.”
Only then did he straighten up from leaning against the wall. After taking a few steps, he reached the living room sofa. As soon as his knees hit the sofa, Dan Joo-hyuk collapsed weakly.
Just moments ago, all sorts of tasks had been swirling in his mind keeping him busy, but not anymore. A sudden feeling of emptiness struck his body, overwhelming him in an instant.
He simply didn’t want to do anything.
❖ ❖ ❖
Yoon Pa-ran spent the entire Christmas enjoying time with his family.
On Christmas Day, people were bustling about from the morning. Although they had minimized the number of attendees, it was quite lively compared to the orphanage’s usually quiet atmosphere.
By afternoon, all the guests had left. However, the excited voices of the children still filled the space like birds chirping.
“Brother, look at this…! When I do this, the wings come out!”
“Yes, yes. It’s cool.”
As soon as Christmas morning arrived, every child at the orphanage received Santa’s gift by their pillow.
Among them, Min-woong received a transforming robot said to contain a magic stone. It was exactly the robot he had been carefully mentioning quite frequently days before, saying it would be fine if Santa was too busy, but he would still like to receive it.
It had been an expensive purchase that made his hands tremble, but Yoon Pa-ran couldn’t not buy it. He knew it would make Min-woong smile so brightly.
Min-woong had been carrying his dream robot around all day, showing it off everywhere. Even now, he was explaining the robot’s cool features to Yoon Pa-ran for the fifth time before running outside.
Yoon Pa-ran, having just found the empty box he’d been looking for, followed after Min-woong.
“Min-woong, don’t run.”
“Yes!”
Min-woong gave a cute response but still didn’t stop sprinting. Being so excited since morning and unable to contain it was just like a pure-hearted child.
Smiling slightly, Yoon Pa-ran hurried after Min-woong with the box in one hand. He was quite worried that the boy might fall.
In the orphanage yard, security company personnel were checking the CCTV. Min-woong ran up to a familiar security company director to show off his robot.
“Look, the wings come out!”
“Ho ho, yes. How wonderful.”
The elderly security company director had always been very fond of the children. Despite being busy with more visitors than usual today, he smiled and played along with Min-woong.
Not just him, but all the security company employees were kind to the children. Especially the only employee around Yoon Pa-ran’s age, who actively played with the children.
“Here, give me your hand. This is how you fly it.”
“Wooow…!”
Having two younger siblings, the employee was skilled at dealing with children. When one child couldn’t properly fly the plane they received as a gift, he stayed after work hours to demonstrate and spend time with them.
With his military-short hair, that employee had a face as innocent as the children’s.
“Min-woong. Don’t disturb the men while they’re working. Go play with your friends.”
“Okay!”
The employees had placed a ladder against the wall to check the CCTV. Yoon Pa-ran sternly stopped Min-woong from hovering around that area.
Only after seeing the child run toward his friends did Yoon Pa-ran hand the box he was holding to the director.
“Director. Is this size okay?”
“Oh, thank you, Hunter.”
The director had needed an empty box to organize some broken CCTV equipment. Receiving it, he smiled kindly, making Yoon Pa-ran awkwardly scratch the back of his head.
Thanks to these people, he could enter the gates with peace of mind. Although he had adequately compensated them for coming even on holidays like Christmas as Yoon Seul had advised, he still felt it wasn’t enough.
“Just call me if there’s something that needs strength.”
“Yes, I’ll definitely call you if we need Hunter’s strength.”
When Yoon Pa-ran tried to make additional conversation, the director responded with a sly smile. His attitude reminded Yoon Pa-ran of Kwak Sang-wook, the guild leader of the Fish Cutlet Guild.
Come to think of it, Kwak Jung-min had contacted him asking what he was doing for Christmas, but he forgot to reply.
“Go and rest. You must be tired from watching the kids all day.”
Although it wasn’t particularly tiring, Yoon Pa-ran nodded and stepped back. He would just be in the way for work he didn’t understand anyway.
Crossing the yard again, he looked around. They had held a small sports festival here earlier, so there were quite a few items scattered about. While picking them up, Yoon Pa-ran observed the faces of the children passing by.
They all looked happy. It made him feel a genuine sense of accomplishment for earning money.
“Phew…”
Ju-hee had approached him earlier, coolly saying thank you before disappearing. Unlike Min-woong, who still believed in Santa, she seemed to have grown up too quickly, which worried him.
Thanks to the orphanage director’s efforts, adoption homes had been found for two children. Yoon Pa-ran had secretly checked what kind of people the new parents would be. Fortunately, they were sincere and ordinary people.
It wasn’t honorable work, but thinking about what happened with Ju-hee and Min-woong, he couldn’t just sit by without checking.
“Hunter!”
While lost in thought with his arms full of items, someone called out to him.
It was that employee who had been playing with the children.
“Are you going to the gate now?”
“Probably.”
Yoon Pa-ran nodded. Although it wasn’t certain yet, he was thinking it would be good if he could enter a gate.
He had taken several days off, and with many hunters taking breaks during the year-end, there were likely to be gaps in gate personnel.
“I thought you were off duty.”
“Yes, I have many appointments for the year-end.”
It was well past quitting time, but he had been working hard playing with the children.
With a serious face, Yoon Pa-ran expressed his gratitude to him as well.
“Thank you. Even though it’s a holiday.”
“It’s my job, so it’s natural. Plus, you gave us a hefty bonus, so it was actually a great help to me.”
He laughed loudly while joking. Yoon Pa-ran sometimes thought how fortunate it was that he had money these days.
Is it thanks to Dan Joo-hyuk?
“Well then, have a good trip.”
“Take care.”
Dan Joo-hyuk’s face suddenly came to mind again. Pushing aside that face that had appeared in his thoughts countless times over the past two days, Yoon Pa-ran moved on.
Feeling an inexplicable tickle at the tip of his ear, he rubbed one ear with his shoulder.
“I’ve finished cleaning the yard. Anything else to do?”
“Oh, Pa-ran, is that you?”
After organizing the items in the storage room, he went looking for Yoon Seul next.
She was standing in the kitchen, looking down at the table. For some reason, she had a subtly concerned expression, which made him curious.
“What are you doing?”
“Hmm, there’s an entire cake left. I think I ordered the wrong number.”
“Ah.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t anything serious. The children had eaten plenty of sweet cake over the past two days to celebrate Christmas, so having leftovers would be a concern.
“I wonder if I should give it to the security teachers? It should be good to eat until tomorrow… But there’s only one, so it’s awkward.”
At that moment, Yoon Pa-ran thought of Dan Joo-hyuk again. Making his previous effort to push away the thought meaningless.
In fact, since leaving Dan Joo-hyuk’s place, Yoon Pa-ran had occasionally thought about him. More precisely, he kept thinking about that face that had playfully asked him not to leave.
It should have been his usual joking, so why did it keep bothering him? Dan Joo-hyuk was probably having a great time at the gates he loved so much by now.
Even while thinking this, Yoon Pa-ran impulsively spoke up.
“I’ll take it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
