#32
It wasn’t long before Ha-seong learned that the name of the man who had greeted him with mockery and sarcasm was Lee Hyeon-woo. He didn’t hear it directly, but caught a glimpse of the name written on the cover of a file folder that had suddenly appeared on Ha-seong’s desk.
And right now, that bastard had also earned the top spot on Ha-seong’s list of people he most wanted to beat up.
“Oh my, you haven’t been coming in so much that I thought you weren’t using that seat, so I put some of my stuff there. I’ll clear it right away.”
Ha-seong’s desk was messily strewn with various documents and clothes. They seemed to be Hyeon-woo’s belongings.
“Yes. Take your time.”
Ha-seong performed his usual bizarre act of cursing internally while plastering a bright smile on his face, then casually left the office.
But that wasn’t all.
“Hey, do you know what’s the most disgusting thing in the world? Someone without ability, you know? Coveting a position they don’t even suit.”
He would spout such words to fellow purifiers in a way that was obviously meant to be overheard. There was no mistaking that the words were directed at Ha-seong. It seemed that Hyeon-woo found it particularly distasteful that C-grade Do Ha-seong had joined Cha Do-hyeok’s direct team under the Guild Leader.
The two people who had been beside Hyeon-woo when they first exchanged greetings were the same. Among them, they subtly looked down on Ha-seong while agreeing with the words of Hyeon-woo, who was the eldest.
“Fuck, this is really pissing me off. If I put my mind to it, those bastards wouldn’t even be worth a single punch.”
Ha-seong came outside, confirmed no one was around, and pressed the vending machine button irritably. He didn’t want to waste energy hating people, but he really wanted to do something about that blabbing mouth. Maybe he should smack the back of his head while he was taking a nap. With such thoughts, Ha-seong went back into the office.
“Ah, really, I don’t know why food tastes so bad these days.”
As Ha-seong entered, Hyeon-woo, who had apparently been eating a lunch box, threw down his chopsticks with perfect timing. Just ignore it, just ignore it. Ha-seong thought this as he sat in his seat. The belongings he had promised to clear away were still scattered across the desk.
“Hah…”
Ha-seong let out a sigh. This was why he had preferred a quiet, solitary life. Groups and organizations always had irritating people like this.
“But how oblivious can someone be?”
Hyeon-woo muttered quietly, but Ha-seong heard it all. When he laughed unpleasantly with a “kuk kuk,” Ha-seong’s expression hardened. He couldn’t stand it anymore. Just as he was about to clench his fist and stand up with that thought…
“Hyeon-woo, stop it.”
The man sitting across from Ha-seong stood up.
“Huh? What did I do?”
“What do you mean what? You’ve been complaining about everything lately. Why are you making Ha-seong-ssi uncomfortable?”
“Hey, Geon Yu-han, you’re fucking ridiculous. What did I do?”
Ha-seong blinked while standing awkwardly, looking at Yu-han who was frowning over there. He had heard that the person acting as team leader of this purifier team was precisely Geon Yu-han. Before Ha-seong joined, there had been an A-grade person named Park Hyeon-jin with quite excellent skills who was the team leader, but after he left Nameless, Yu-han naturally took over the team leader position.
“You know best what you’re doing right now.”
Then Yu-han organized the documents in his hand with a tap-tap and turned to Ha-seong.
“Ha-seong-ssi, I’m going to report this. Would you like to come with me?”
The quick-witted Ha-seong didn’t fail to notice Yu-han’s intention to get him out of this uncomfortable situation.
“Ah, yes.”
Ha-seong nodded and slowly followed Yu-han out. As the two left the office, Hyeon-woo clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, how annoying… Hey guys.”
“Yes?”
“That Do Ha-seong or whatever guy, I think we need to give him a proper initiation.”
The two people who heard Hyeon-woo’s words exchanged meaningful glances. While such conversation was happening inside, Ha-seong followed behind Yu-han and casually asked.
“You’re not actually going to report those documents, are you?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
Yu-han asked in surprise.
“Just. It seemed like you were trying to get me out of that office.”
“Ha-seong-ssi is quite perceptive. Then you must know all about what Hyeon-woo is doing…”
“Mm…”
“Aren’t you angry?”
Yu-han asked worriedly. Still, the reason people form organizations and live together is probably because while there are people like Lee Hyeon-woo everywhere, there are also decent people like this everywhere too. Like Geon Yu-han.
“Well. I don’t feel good about it, but I just don’t want to stir up trouble unnecessarily.”
Actually, he had been angry enough to want to turn everything upside down. If it hadn’t been for Geon Yu-han, Ha-seong would probably be straddling Lee Hyeon-woo inside there right now, swinging his fists.
“Hyeon-woo wasn’t the type to act so spitefully… He really looked up to Hyeon-jin. But ever since Hyeon-jin suddenly left, he’s been acting sensitive. And it seems he doesn’t like Ha-seong-ssi who came in to replace Hyeon-jin.”
Though he didn’t know well why Park Hyeon-jin had suddenly left, he had roughly guessed that Park Hyeon-jin had some influence. Ha-seong, who had escaped the office thanks to Yu-han, said he had nothing to do so he’d stay outside a bit longer before going back in, and parted ways with Yu-han.
Still, he couldn’t just keep watching him act so annoyingly. Yu-han looked troubled too, so maybe he should subtly mention it to Cha Do-hyeok.
“Oh? Ha-seong-ssi.”
While he was thinking such thoughts, someone was waving a large hand and approaching from far away. It was Shin-woo, Cha Do-hyeok’s executive secretary, doing something that didn’t suit his build.
“Hello.”
“You didn’t bring the pig today, I see.”
At this point, it wasn’t so much greeting Ha-seong as it was asking after the pig.
“Yes. It would be troublesome if I brought it.”
Actually, he had thought about bringing the pig to secretly bite Lee Hyeon-woo’s butt or something, but decided to hold off since it seemed like a childish thing to do.
“Ah, but is the Guild Leader in his office right now?”
“Ah, the Guild Leader… went on something like a business trip.”
If it’s a business trip, then it’s a business trip, but what’s with the “something like”? Shin-woo also seemed unsure as he scratched his head.
“Where did he go?”
“Um… to the mountains…?”
Ha-seong’s expression crumpled. Does the Guild Leader of the nation’s number one guild these days go on business trips to mountains? It seemed truly bothersome.
* * *
Jirisan, a mountain spanning Gyeongsangnam-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeollanam-do, and Korea’s first national park. Do-hyeok, who had been looking irritably at its entrance, let out a deep sigh and turned on his phone. The text message Shin-woo had sent contained an address halfway up Jirisan.
Do-hyeok put his phone in his pocket and slowly began walking. Since a tall man not even wearing hiking clothes was climbing the mountain without showing any signs of difficulty, the middle-aged mountaineers passing by all looked at him curiously.
After walking up the mountain while receiving such stares, had he reached the middle? Do-hyeok changed direction and looked at a small shop near the waterside where valley water flowed.
<Dalping’s Chicken Stew>
Ignoring the sign that read “Closed for Business,” Do-hyeok entered the shop with steps that seemed quite familiar. As he looked around the dim restaurant interior, feeling something sharp flying from behind, Do-hyeok lightly turned his head to avoid it.
When he glanced over, a kitchen knife was cleanly embedded in the opposite wall, showing off its sharp form.
“…The old man’s got good strength too.”
“Kid, your manner of speaking is fucking rude.”
As Do-hyeok slowly turned his head, an elderly grandfather stood at the entrance with his hands clasped behind his back.
“You know whose rudeness it is, so why throw a knife?”
“I threw it to check, you brat.”
With that, the grandfather turned on the lights in the shop. The shop was quite spacious and clean, and considerably quiet. There was no sign of any other employees.
“Have you decided to settle down here now? What’s with this chicken stew business that doesn’t even suit you?”
Do-hyeok grumbled as he sat down anywhere.
“Hey, this place is famous as a restaurant, you know. Don’t look down on it.”
“Well, at least it was less trouble to find.”
“Want me to make you one?”
At the old man’s words, Do-hyeok immediately frowned.
“Look at that expression. That rude bastard really has no manners.”
While saying this, the old man brought ice-cold water from the inner kitchen and placed it down. Do-hyeok gazed indifferently at the clanking stainless steel cup.
“How are your eyes doing?”
In the old days, he would have immediately gotten annoyed at such crude words, but Do-hyeok found it a little funny as he suddenly remembered Ha-seong calling his eyes “eyeballs” just like this old man.
“Are they still hurting and such?”
“I got used to it ages ago.”
Do-hyeok said indifferently as he downed the cold water. Then the old man nodded familiarly. There was no conversation between the two for a while. Do-hyeok turned his head and looked around the shop again. A small picture frame on the counter caught his eye.
Since his eyesight had improved remarkably when his eyes changed like this, he could see it well despite the considerable distance from here to the counter. In that frame were the old man, a bit younger than now, and young Do-hyeok.
“But why did you come? Were you curious about whether this old man was alive or dead?”
“No.”
There was no need to worry about the old man’s health to begin with. He might look that old, but he would be healthier than most young guys. Just living on Jirisan showed that, and he had heard that before coming here, he had lived in some remote place in Africa. Thanks to that, he had worried about whether he would have to search determinedly this time too.
“Then why?”
“Please make it again.”
“Huh?”
The old man scratched his back with a back scratcher and asked back.
“The thing you gave me when I first created Nameless Guild. That grade measurement device. Please make that again.”
“Hey, you brat.”
Then the old man bonked Do-hyeok’s head with the back scratcher. At the sudden blow, Do-hyeok frowned and stared at the old man.
“One was enough, why are you trying to be greedy? Do you know how difficult it is to make that thing?”
“I’m not being greedy. It broke.”
“…What?”
The hand that had been moving the back scratcher stopped abruptly. The old man’s expression hardened as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have heard.
“I said it broke, that measurement device.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
