Damn Hunter Life Chapter 89
While the table became calm again with the scholar’s aura in his dopo, only one person remained.
What had to come, came.
“Myo Cho-hui, you…”
Woo Sae-geon stopped mid-sentence and pressed his temple.
Whether he was deliberately showing his displeasure or really had a throbbing headache. Both possibilities were likely.
“I have nothing to say. You tell me. What exactly is the problem?”
As expected, Woo Sae-geon had also properly grasped what happened on the stage, just as I had seen. Down to how badly Myo Cho-hui had messed up.
The atmosphere, which had been tense since my argument with Ja Hyeong-woo, was now completely frozen solid.
Myo Cho-hui wasn’t someone who would be discouraged by Woo Sae-geon’s criticism all of a sudden, but…
She seemed to have no intention of revealing the cause of her condition deterioration to the end.
After confirming that Myo Cho-hui’s lips were tightly shut, I quietly opened my mouth.
“It started with that breaking news a few days ago, didn’t it?”
The corners of Myo Cho-hui’s eyes, which had been quietly downcast, definitely flinched.
Getting my final confirmation from that reaction, I decided to expose Myo Cho-hui’s secret right now.
The impact was even greater since all the Twelve Zodiac members were gathered.
<Some hunter’s parents acted carelessly in front of a gate, causing another hunter to be seriously injured.>
“But Successor Myo Cho-hui isn’t the type to get angry over someone getting hurt or someone interfering with rescue work.”
Woo Sae-geon furrowed his eyebrows deeply. The room stirred slightly due to the others who didn’t understand.
Looking directly at Myo Cho-hui, I spoke to her wavering eyes.
“Hearing that breaking news made you think of your own parents, didn’t it? You miss your parents.”
For a moment, a faint shame crossed Myo Cho-hui’s expression.
“Or not.”
I immediately rolled my eyes and feigned indifference to appear unconcerned, but inside I trembled slightly with elation at having my speculation proven correct.
Even in the original work, there were very few descriptions of Myo Cho-hui’s private life. Even those were only conveyed as small props in passing.
Nevertheless, gathering the small clues allowed one to infer one fact.
—A Hunter School phone with only her parents’ phone numbers saved.
This meant there was no point in remembering any other acquaintances’ numbers besides her parents’.
—Dialect expressions and accents occasionally visible.
If you search for Successor Myo Cho-hui online, her hometown is in the metropolitan area. In other words, the dialect comes from the influence of her parents who came up from the provinces.
—Traditional tastes like pickled cucumber and fermented soybean paste.
Same as above. She takes after her parents’ tastes.
—Majoring in food nutrition.
If you search online, Myo Cho-hui’s parents run a restaurant. …It’s presumed she intends to help or inherit her parents’ restaurant.
—Counting down the days until retirement.
An extension of the first clue. Despite not having any particular acquaintances to contact after entering school, she still hopes and eagerly awaits only the day she can go outside.
To return to her parents’ side.
This was… the one and only weakness that Myo Cho-hui, who was described as similar to a psychopath in the original work, possessed.
<Some hunter’s parents acted carelessly in front of a gate, causing another hunter to be seriously injured.>
Someone’s parents. Foolish yet pitiful beings who lost their reason and rushed in out of longing to see their child.
‘Did Myo Cho-hui’s parents do exactly the same thing?’
I thought while watching Myo Cho-hui’s shoulders tremble finely.
For the first time, Myo Cho-hui’s poker face crumbled. Raw emotions she had never shown before… burst out. Her chair was pushed back with a crash.
Myo Cho-hui glared at me as if she could kill me. Her eyes were red.
“You’re really reckless. Voicing speculation without evidence. What if I had been even more shaken than this?”
Myo Cho-hui hung her head and stormed out the door.
Ma Cheon-ah immediately stood up. She sent me a look of contempt and hurriedly followed her out.
I thought Won Ha-ri would immediately follow unni too, but for some reason she kept glancing between the door and me, and ultimately didn’t get up.
‘They’ll see me as trash who knowingly and maliciously touched someone else’s wounds.’
I didn’t make eye contact with anyone. I just crossed my arms as if nothing had happened after digging up wounds.
‘But Myo Cho-hui can take a step toward becoming a true companion by being understood by the successors through this incident.’
After all, humanity’s most universal and powerful emotion is anger.
And the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
‘By having me as a common source of irritation, they’ll become a little closer to each other.’
I straightened my back. I’m always ready to become a villain for the growth of the successors.
* * *
“Cho-hui. Baek Cho-hui! Our daughter!”
She knows that only two voices in the world can move her.
Even when the dirty kids in kindergarten, the noisy kids in elementary school, the insignificant kids in middle school, and the sensitive kids in high school called her heartless and tearless, her parents were different.
“Our Cho-hui is so pretty and smart. Cho-hui is mom and dad’s pride.”
‘They really are irrational.’
For Myo Cho-hui, who had difficulty forming relationships with others, only the blood relation of parent and child was different. It was the only unbreakable thread connecting her to the world.
Once, seeing her parents close the restaurant and make “aigoo” sounds while patting their backs, she had decided to become a celebrity. To utilize her greatest strength.
“Is this really what Cho-hui wants? Mom and dad just don’t want our Cho-hui to be stressed.”
So becoming a successor at Hunter School was an opportunity.
Currently 23 years old, she just needed to endure this unique celebrity activity for only 2 years, then return to being an ordinary person.
‘No more dishwashing or ingredient prep. I’ll make you proper restaurant owners.’
Even after falling into Hunter School, Myo Cho-hui moved while gripping only that thread.
‘Acting nice? Being cute? Winking? I can do it all.’
I’ll be the successor with the most retirement funds.
To Myo Cho-hui, whether people caught up in gates lived or died had absolutely nothing to do with her.
But while reaching out to bleeding, collapsed people, she often thought:
‘This person is probably someone’s parent too.’
‘They might become someone’s parent in the future.’
‘This kid’s parents would want them to live.’
Even when supporting injured people and her hanbok got dirty with their sweat and blood, she didn’t feel it was filthy.
Because there were those two characters: parent. With just that, she would fight with all her might hundreds or thousands of times…
“You miss your parents, don’t it?”
At Gang-hyeon’s single sentence, embarrassingly, tears welled up.
* * *
Myo Cho-hui, who had left, returned with red-rimmed eyes. The interrupted feedback meeting resumed.
As soon as it ended, Gang-hyeon was the first to storm out the door.
“Hyung…”
Hae Mi-jun got up hesitantly, trying to catch him.
In an instant, swish, someone brushed past Hae Mi-jun’s clothes first and got ahead.
Hae Mi-jun saw Ja Hyeong-woo chasing after him and stopped trying to call Gang-hyeon.
Myo Cho-hui also immediately left the meeting room, and Ma Cheon-ah followed her again this time.
After that, in the meeting room with those who remained.
Yang Pyo, who had been crumpled up in the cold atmosphere all along, finally carefully spoke up.
“Gang-hyeon hyung, no, why did Gang-hyeon act like that earlier?”
His tone suggested he hadn’t noticed anything.
Sa Ye-ho suddenly smirked and looked at Yang Pyo.
“Funny bastard, isn’t he?”
“Huh?”
“It’s funny. He has to let us know about Myo Cho-hui noona, but he doesn’t care about becoming the bad guy himself.”
Yang Pyo’s expression became strange as he mulled over Sa Ye-ho’s words several times.
Soon, Jin Seol-woon’s voice followed, his hand covering half his neat jawline as he rested his chin.
“Gang-hyeon-ssi isn’t a bad person. Strategic, maybe.”
Hae Mi-jun nodded slightly in agreement.
“I also think Ye-ho hyung and Seol-woon hyung are right. Gang-hyeon hyung sometimes acts mean on purpose. He tries to handle all the unpleasant things himself…”
He had so much more he wanted to say but barely managed to express just this much.
“He is originally someone with an annoying personality, but sometimes… yes.”
Won Ha-ri also trailed off similarly. Her eyes were complicated.
And the table fell quiet once more.
All the people here had encountered Gang-hyeon at some point. Even without expressing it in words, everyone shared strange feelings toward the person who wasn’t present.
Except for one person.
Woo Sae-geon just listened silently. His eyes and hands organizing documents.
* * *
Gang-hyeon, who had been stomping down through the Twelve Zodiac central building, suddenly stopped in the middle of the corridor.
And turned around abruptly.
Blue hwarang robes were visible. Ja Hyeong-woo, who had been following behind him, also stopped.
Gang-hyeon’s unfriendly gaze sharply swept over him.
“Go ahead. Say what you want to say.”
Having chased after him from that situation, what else could he have to say besides curses? Gang-hyeon, making assumptions, became even more sarcastic.
But Ja Hyeong-woo’s eyes were strangely sunken.
“I have a question. I’d really like you to answer it.”
Ja Hyeong-woo gazed long and deeply at those clear, bright eyes that showed a hint of surprise.
And asked a question Gang-hyeon hadn’t considered at all.
“Are your parents doing well? Auntie and uncle.”
Gang-hyeon froze solid as if he wasn’t even breathing.
“I asked once a long time ago but you didn’t answer properly. And then we… fought.”
He seemed to be talking about when they fell into Hunter School, Gang-hyeon thought even in his confusion.
‘The real Gang-hyeon back then might well have avoided giving an answer and been evasive.’
Gang-hyeon dropped his gaze down and told Ja Hyeong-woo what he knew from investigation, though he hadn’t experienced it directly.
“…Both of them passed away. Mom from illness when I was in first year of middle school. Dad the following year in a car accident.”
Ja Hyeong-woo couldn’t continue speaking for a while.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
It was the first time hearing about Gang-hyeon’s life during the time when he wasn’t with him.
Ja Hyeong-woo’s pupils, which had been wavering in confusion, disappeared under his eyelids. He closed his eyes and whispered.
“I’m sorry. …I’m sorry.”
Gang-hyeon held his breath at the somehow aching sensation in his chest.
His head felt strangely hot. Every time he blinked, he could feel the throbbing clearly.
‘Why? My parents aren’t… either. Was I always this good at empathizing with others?’
At this moment, a third party’s presence stirred from the corner close to Ja Hyeong-woo.
Myo Cho-hui, who had been listening to their conversation from behind, quietly disappeared instead of continuing to chase Gang-hyeon.
Unaware of this fact, Ja Hyeong-woo took a deep breath to calm his heart. His softened, affectionate gaze touched Gang-hyeon.
“After retirement, could you take me to where auntie and uncle are? I was indebted to them a lot before. I’d like to pay my respects.”
Gang-hyeon’s eyes trembled. Ja Hyeong-woo quietly watched Gang-hyeon like that.
In the end, not knowing what to do, he turned around and left without a word.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
