Damn Hunter Life Chapter 44
‘This damn Hunter School store. If it’s not daily necessities, it’s ridiculously expensive.’
Looking at my point balance that had become empty, I hugged the items I’d purchased and called someone on the phone.
[“Yes, hyung! What did you call me for?”]
Still taking less than 5 seconds to answer my calls…
At this point, Hae Mi-jun had become genuinely fascinating to me, and I’d reached the point where I wanted to experiment by calling him randomly several times to see if he really answered that fast every time. Does he answer other people’s numbers this quickly too?
My curiosity was piqued, but I didn’t actually plan to put it into practice.
“But why haven’t you been calling me first lately?”
I was just asking out of curiosity, definitely not interrogating him. Even if he said he was busy, I would have accepted it. Though Hae Mi-jun isn’t the type to say something like that outright.
[“Did I… upset you…?”]
“No, I’m not telling you to deliberately call me. I might be being overly self-conscious, but every time I call, your voice brightens and you seem happy, so I was wondering why you don’t call first.”
There was a sound of him choking on his breath from the other end.
[“I li-like, no! I, well.”]
“Why are you stuttering? I don’t think I said anything weird.”
[“Of course not! I, I like phone calls! Phone calls! But I was worried I might disturb you while you’re working…”]
Since Hae Mi-jun was always the one chattering while I was the one listening, honestly I had the mindset that I wouldn’t be the one feeling disappointed.
That thought wasn’t wrong – Hae Mi-jun spoke as if there were times he wanted to call me but held back out of consideration for me.
“I have nothing to do, man. Just call if you want to.”
[“Really?”]
Hae Mi-jun was overjoyed as if he’d received some great gift. You shouldn’t be happy yet though?
“Anyway, right now, if you have something you want to talk about, let’s meet in person and discuss it.”
[“Huh, what?”]
“Can I come give you something? It’s something you really need.”
[“What?! What kind of thing? Is it something that helps with training? Thank you!”]
“You’ll know when you see it.”
What’s he thanking me for when I haven’t even given it yet? As if he knows what this is.
[“I’ll come pick it up!”]
“No need. Where are you now? Can I teleport to your coordinates?”
[“Yes, that’s fine!”]
Though he said it was fine, I waited about a minute first. I remembered the mishap that happened when I teleported to Jin Seol-woon carelessly last time.
“Here.”
The place where Hae Mi-jun was turned out to be his house’s yard. There shouldn’t be any civilian surveillance cameras here. I felt relieved and handed him the large paper box I’d been holding.
Hae Mi-jun’s eyes became completely round. I secretly massaged my hand that had gone numb from carrying the box behind my back.
“What did I do well to deserve this…?”
“You’re always doing well.”
Then Hae Mi-jun’s cheeks turned red.
I knew Hae Mi-jun was shy and weak to compliments, but at that level, shouldn’t I suspect some kind of blushing syndrome?
“Can I open it?”
“Yeah.”
Actually, I wasn’t confident this item would really hit Hae Mi-jun’s heart, so I had to rely on the significance of the gift. Therefore, I quickly spoke before Hae Mi-jun opened the box.
“Tomorrow is your birthday.”
When have I ever given anyone a birthday present? Having no choice, I searched on the crappy internet, but even that process wasn’t smooth.
====
Search terms: men’s birthday gifts
-perfume
-sneakers Â
-watch
-anyway, luxury brands
-anyway, name brands
====
‘How am I supposed to get name brands at Hunter School! Even if I could get them, where would I use them!’
If I had been completely unaware and passed by, that would be one thing, but the original work gave me the exact date. It bothered me to just pass by when I knew exactly when it was.
‘He’s just a kid. Isn’t he at an age where he’d want to be looked after? His skills have been steadily improving lately too, which is admirable.’
He’s the only one who’s completely opened his heart to me, so I want to do something for him.
Hae Mi-jun opened his mouth. Since he’d never told anyone about his birthday, it was natural.
His face full of anticipation made the giver feel rewarded. Hae Mi-jun was about to open the box, then suddenly closed it again and sent me an earnest look.
“Can’t I open it somewhere else?”
“It’s your birthday present, so it’s up to you where you open it… Where?”
Looking puzzled, Hae Mi-jun dragged me outside the house. We didn’t go far. Just to the street right in front.
‘I can see right through you, I can see it all.’
Hae Mi-jun’s scheme – hoping that the scene of me giving him a birthday present would be caught on CCTV, and through this, the citizens would think a little better of me.
I’ll let it slide since it’s his birthday. Hae Mi-jun carefully examined the diffuser, hat, mood lamp, and other items that filled the box without context, like he was encountering objects he’d never seen in his life. I didn’t really know what would be most useful, so I just randomly swept everything in.
…I can’t do this kind of thing twice. It’s burdensome when the other person’s face shows excessive joy. What if from now on, every time Hae Mi-jun calls or I see his face, he constantly says thank you?
At that moment, Hae Mi-jun suddenly made an unexpected request.
“Can I hug you just once, just once?”
Hmm, that’s better than hearing thanks a hundred times. I roughly nodded and spread my arms. Hae Mi-jun set the box down on a bench.
Despite me being much taller, Hae Mi-jun hugged me with his arms up high, as if trapping me. The subtly annoying point was that this was possible because Hae Mi-jun had a bigger chest than me.
…Is this okay to broadcast live to Korea?
“Why are you sniffing? Do I smell like something?”
“No! No!”
Hae Mi-jun, who had been chattering excitedly about when he’d wear these shoes and when he’d light this candle, suddenly looked up with a bright face and asked.
“When is your birthday, hyung?”
…I don’t know.
If you ask why I can’t just look at my ID, when I first possessed this body, I searched the entire house but couldn’t find it. The setting must be that I left it outside when I was kicked out of Hunter School!
In front of Hae Mi-jun’s earnest eyes, I faced the biggest crisis of my life.
Where in the world is there someone who doesn’t know their own birthday?
“It’s a secret, man—”
“December 6th.”
A quiet voice popped out from behind.
Ja Hyeong-woo, who had appeared from somewhere, walked toward me but didn’t give me a single glance. He conversed with Hae Mi-jun.
“I didn’t know it was your birthday. You should have told me.”
“No! I didn’t want to burden you…”
“It’s hastily put together, but take this at least. Sell it and buy what you want.”
Ja Hyeong-woo handed over a small magic stone the size of a finger. Hae Mi-jun strongly declined, saying he couldn’t accept it, but Ja Hyeong-woo’s stern face was stronger, so he eventually accepted it.
“You…”
Still not making eye contact with me, Ja Hyeong-woo’s movement came to a complete stop at my voice. Only silence flowed until I continued speaking.
“Do you also know my resident registration number?”
I was about to ask him to tell me, but fortunately it only stayed in my thoughts.
Ja Hyeong-woo, who dismissed my question with silence, showed me his back and left. Why does that guy deliberately come out to ruin the mood and then leave?
Then I realized something.
Ja Hyeong-woo had been eavesdropping from behind for quite a while, from the part about today being Hae Mi-jun’s birthday.
* * *
The day the D-rank maze gate was conquered.
Yang Pyo went on his own to find the conference room where Woo Sae-geon was. Even though he hadn’t specifically ordered it, Yang Pyo reported in detail every move of the raid team members in the gate.
When Yang Pyo began to relay details down to the raid members’ casual clothes, Woo Sae-geon drummed his fingers on the table to give him a hint.
“I told you not to ramble on without focus.”
“Yes!”
A gate that was settled smoothly without incident. It was different from when he’d sent in Myo Cho-hui and the two newcomers last time. Perhaps because of this, Woo Sae-geon showed interest in something other than the gate itself.
“The gist is that Gyeon Gang-hyeon made a bet and fooled around, caused confusion with unrelated chatter, acted pretentious toward Ma Cheon-ah and gave unwanted advice, plus contributed nothing to the raid?”
“Yes.”
“But the magic stone from the boss monster has Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s energy on it.”
“That’s… Cheon-ah killed it all and he just delivered the final blow…”
The advice the dog successor had given outside the gate, or the fact that he’d shot his arrow faster than even Ma Cheon-ah – these facts disappeared into Yang Pyo’s mouth.
“Get out.”
The leader didn’t probe further. Yang Pyo inwardly sighed in relief and timidly closed the door.
The sound of scratching paper with a pen echoed in the conference room. He was filling out paperwork to hand over the magic stones from this gate to the association and receive them back as school assets.
Then suddenly Woo Sae-geon’s lips moved.
“The atmosphere is… loosening up.”
His hands were still working and not a single facial muscle had changed, but there was one subject he’d been thinking about all along.
“How should I crush that bastard?”
Meanwhile, Yang Pyo was walking down a slope, as if taking a light stroll.
The hands clasped behind his back trembled lightly. Woo Sae-geon, who was imprinted on all hunters with such a fierce image, was still a source of tension for Yang Pyo.
Then his phone rang. Yang Pyo checked the text message.
[Hey come right now]
[Need to talk]
The sender was an actual friend who had come to Hunter School with him. Among Yang Pyo’s friends, the person he’d known the longest.
The trembling that had stopped started up again with a flutter. Yang Pyo bit his lip. It was a reaction far from joy.
Even while making a face like he wanted to abandon everything and run away, his feet hurriedly went down the hill.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
