Damn Hunter Life Chapter 80
Ja Hyeong-woo muttered with a peaceful expression.
“I have something to say.”
“Then would I block the way if I had nothing to say? If it’s not important, I won’t let it slide, okay?”
People don’t change, and I still bring up training or nitpick when I encounter Ja Hyeong-woo.
As always, Ja Hyeong-woo was burdensome to me, and the weight of being the original protagonist was heavy. Since vividly seeing the past, the burden has grown even bigger. And…
‘Now I can’t help finding it amusing when Ja Hyeong-woo’s face crumples.’
I seemed to be naturally born with this kind of personality. Aren’t I a self-proclaimed and widely-acknowledged troublemaker?
Having built immunity from being criticized so much, Ja Hyeong-woo ignored my provocation and said what he had to say.
“You said water attribute doesn’t help even when fused with attack skills. I think it would only be meaningful if fused with other miscellaneous skills.”
Fortunately, it was business-related, not nonsense.
“That’s right, but why are you worrying about that? Are earth and water the only attributes in the world?”
“……”
He could mix other attributes, but he insists on stepping forward to prove the usefulness of the water attribute he belongs to.
Did he take it to heart because it was called weak? How petty.
“Come follow me to experiment now.”
Ja Hyeong-woo turned around as if to show his back, then stopped with only half his body facing forward. Standing askew, Ja Hyeong-woo subtly pressured me.
The intent was to keep standing like that until I showed intention to follow.
If Ja Hyeong-woo’s stomach hadn’t growled then, he would have stood like that and really gotten on my nerves.
Looking at the clock, it was lunchtime. There’s no way he wouldn’t know he was hungry, but Ja Hyeong-woo stood there nonchalantly, feigning ignorance.
I suggested with a sigh.
“Let’s do it while eating.”
Whether the current Gyeon Gang-hyeon has become trash or not, that bastard still cherishes Gang-hyeon… so I expected he’d comply with the suggestion itself.
But I didn’t know he’d express opposition like this.
“We could do it after eating too. Is the time you spend with me that precious?”
“Ah, why are you nitpicking over something like this!”
Without responding, Ja Hyeong-woo walked toward the opposite corridor from where I came. He stopped exactly like before and sent pressure for me to follow.
Probably the path to the cafeteria.
“No. Rather than eating with you, it would be better to just eat first then do it. Cancel.”
Ja Hyeong-woo’s eyes narrowed. It was a signal that his patience was running low.
The bastard who trudged over finally snatched my wrist.
For something so forceful that I couldn’t immediately pull away, it didn’t hurt because he made his grip round and held weakly.
The space was forcibly changed. I naturally thought I was dragged to the cafeteria, then belatedly realized the teleportation function’s destination didn’t have a cafeteria.
‘Ah shit, crazy.’
I was kidnapped to Ja Hyeong-woo’s house.
* * *
The morning training with Ja Hyeong-woo ended. Hae Mi-jun walked down the training ground corridor with quick steps and a bright face.
Since he considered mealtime his only rest time, he preferred eating alone while watching movies. But there was only one exception – meals with one person.
‘If Gang-hyeon hyung is at the training ground today, I should ask him to eat together…’
Excited with anticipation, he hurried his steps, then stopped abruptly in the corridor where the earth attribute training room was located.
He almost shouted “Gang-hyeon hyung!” He barely closed his mouth because he discovered Ja Hyeong-woo behind him at the last moment.
‘Thank goodness I wasn’t caught.’
It would be rude to eavesdrop… Though he felt somewhat sorry, he was curious about their conversation. Hae Mi-jun quietly listened from behind the wall.
The two had a brief, loud argument. It wasn’t a serious topic. Honestly, it was a quarrel with no content. Hae Mi-jun felt embarrassed and laughed.
Both Gang-hyeon hyung and Hyeong-woo hyung are wonderful people who are affectionate and cool in their own ways… Why do they act like they can’t stand each other whenever they’re put together?
Then suddenly it became quiet on the other side.
Hae Mi-jun slightly poked his head out to look where the two had been.
‘Where did they go?’
The corridor was unbelievably empty. It seemed like they used teleportation, and if they disappeared simultaneously, they went together, right?
‘Moving to a wider place to seriously fight… doesn’t seem like it, but it looks like they ended up eating together anyway.’
That’s good. Then naturally, he should happily step back. He could yield Gang-hyeon hyung to Hyeong-woo hyung anytime.
‘Maybe their bickering like that is also because they’re really close friends? Hyeong-woo hyung even knew Gang-hyeon hyung’s birthday…’
Yield… Why did I use the word yield? Hae Mi-jun suddenly felt strange. It seemed like he had just been rude to Gang-hyeon hyung.
Yet on one hand, the stuffy psychology of not wanting to think of it as ‘rudeness’ wouldn’t disappear…
The fact that the two were together at someone’s house was welcome, but somehow his mood was lukewarm. He felt self-loathing at his contradictory feelings.
‘If I train harder later, I won’t have such thoughts anymore.’
* * *
Damn… I’m already inside, but backing out now would look bad.
I have no choice but to change course.
‘I absolutely won’t help with setup and won’t clean the dishes to properly act like a troublemaker.’
I want to make Ja Hyeong-woo think of me as ‘as long as you’re alive, that’s enough.’ In other words, becoming someone who’s sufficient just being alive and never someone he’d want to get close to.
‘Ah, instead of this, should I spill something on the sofa?’
But Ja Hyeong-woo’s house was spotlessly clean despite the sudden visit, with nothing to be ashamed of. Deliberately making it dirty seemed too much of a bad thing to do.
‘Why does he live so well-organized? It was neat when I barged in last time too. Is there just no clutter at all?’
I briefly recalled the view of my house. Did I run ‘house cleaning mode’ yesterday or the day before…
Forget it. Ja Hyeong-woo will never see the state of my house anyway.
Since I was just sitting at the dining table tapping my feet, Ja Hyeong-woo prepared meals for two people on his own. He set out chopsticks and water, then Ja Hyeong-woo headed to the kitchen again.
“Do you still eat egg yolks fully cooked?”
Why is he making fried eggs when there are plenty of side dishes?
“What are you talking about?”
“Can you eat two eggs? Just one?”
“I won’t eat it! Why would I eat what you made?”
However, a fried egg plate was also placed in front of me.
Having overcome his timid and gloomy childhood, Ja Hyeong-woo, who grew up so well even though I didn’t raise him…
His temper got worse. Now he just does whatever he wants.
‘Ugh.’
I couldn’t waste food, so I cut the fried egg with chopsticks and put it in my mouth.
The center was soft and the edges were slightly charred and crispy. It was unnecessarily delicious, making me even more annoyed.
Sitting across from Ja Hyeong-woo alone, it was truly an uncomfortable meal in a long time.
If it weren’t for the purpose of trying skill fusion again, I had no reason to sit here.
‘Let me try training in a new way. Whether skill implementation is possible while eating.’
“Hey, so about the skill…”
The moment I looked straight ahead, I completely forgot what I was saying.
So in front of my eyes, the most unbelievable expressionless eating show of my life was unfolding.
A whole braised chicken leg was devoured in one bite. Ja Hyeong-woo tossed the deboned bone with his left hand while shoveling rice into his mouth with the spoon in his right hand. He didn’t hesitate to use both hands at once.
His flat cheeks bulged with food. His cheeks moved up and down well.
After swallowing everything in his mouth, Ja Hyeong-woo looked at my side where only half the fried egg was gone and said.
“Should I make more?”
I couldn’t come to my senses easily, then jumped up belatedly.
“I don’t need it! I ate the most tasteless thing first!”
Feeling like I was losing somehow, I also started eating aggressively. But my gaze kept going toward him.
Lettuce, rice, glass noodles, braised chicken, and ssamjang were layered in order. A huge wrap that I couldn’t even fit in my mouth just disappeared from the world. Ja Hyeong-woo’s eyes relaxed a bit after fishing out and eating sweet potato from the braised chicken. He drank bean sprout soup from a bowl. Side dishes also steadily decreased.
“…Were you starving?”
Ja Hyeong-woo, who was chewing with his mouth closed, just shook his head.
Soon Ja Hyeong-woo poured braised chicken broth over his remaining rice. Seaweed powder appeared from who knows where. He sprinkled sesame oil and mixed it with fried egg to eat.
“You can eat like this too if you want.”
“No…”
I don’t understand. Kids like Hae Mi-jun and Yang Pyo eat well too. When I watched them eat, I didn’t feel particularly moved…
I kept staring at Ja Hyeong-woo, who was absorbed in his meal.
His black hair sometimes appears blue too. That subtly matched his dark skin.
His shoulders, which moved intermittently from busily working his utensils, were large but didn’t look clumsy.
Just as I was following the tendons standing on his thick neck with my gaze, I locked eyes with Ja Hyeong-woo.
“What are you looking at!”
I shouted first. Actually, it was something I was saying to myself. Why am I looking at Ja Hyeong-woo?
Ja Hyeong-woo, who had swept his plate clean, calmly wiped his mouth. He glanced at my plate.
“Not enough?”
At those words, I unconsciously looked down and was surprised.
How did I eat all this? Usually, this was an amount I ate half-forcibly to intentionally gain weight…
Having eaten like that was enough, but Ja Hyeong-woo, who got up from his seat, brought a basket full of baked eggs. He offered me some too, asking “Will you eat some?”
I was dumbfounded.
“Did you make these baked ones yourself?”
“With the rice cooker.”
“Then you have a rice cooker at home too?”
With a thud! sound on the table, an egg hit and rolled under Ja Hyeong-woo’s palm. When he cracked the shell, a shiny egg the exact color of Ja Hyeong-woo’s skin came out.
It went straight into Ja Hyeong-woo’s mouth whole. One cheek bulged round as expected. Munch, munch, the egg was deleted in an instant.
“Give… me one.”
When I answered hesitantly, Ja Hyeong-woo placed an egg on my hand. Then he went to get salt.
I was blankly peeling the eggshell as if bewitched, then suddenly realized.
‘Ah, the skill.’
I had forgotten what I originally intended to do.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
