#56
Early in the morning, Ha-seong slowly opened his eyes to the sunlight streaming through the wide window. Unfamiliar air and a strange ceiling. After blinking several times like that, he soon recalled the fact that he had been unintentionally kidnapped to Cha Do-hyeok’s house last night.
Ha-seong slowly rubbed his eyes and naturally looked for his phone. Then, realizing that his broken phone was smashed, he looked at the clock on the wall.
8 AM.
If he had been at his own home, it would have been time to get up, slowly wash, and prepare for work, but as a result of yesterday’s discussion with Cha Do-hyeok, Ha-seong had decided not to go to work for the time being.
‘It would be better to take a few days off work. If you show up in that condition, everyone will ask this and that and think it’s strange. Especially Kang Won-hyeok.’
‘Yeah. That’s probably true.’
‘I’ll make good excuses, so just rest while your wounds heal.’
‘What excuse are you going to make?’
‘……I’ll figure it out.’
The pause before he said he’d figure it out was a bit concerning, but there was no way he could go to work. Anyway, until he could use his arm, he couldn’t do informant work either, so rather than moving awkwardly and delaying recovery, it was more efficient to rest quietly and promote quick healing.
So Ha-seong, who had somehow become unemployed for a few days, stared blankly around the room with eyes that had opened early, then slowly came outside. And the savory aroma that gently stimulated his nose.
‘It’s coffee smell.’
Ha-seong slowly approached the kitchen. There, he could see Cha Do-hyeok with one hand stuck in his pocket, brewing coffee with a coffee machine. It was like a scene from a coffee commercial on TV. The leisurely entering sunlight looked like lighting.
“……Did you wake up?”
Perhaps feeling the staring gaze, Do-hyeok turned his head. Perhaps because it was morning, his voice was more hoarse than usual.
“Ah, yeah.”
Somehow feeling like he had been caught secretly peeking, Ha-seong felt a bit awkward.
“Should I give you coffee?”
“No.”
Do-hyeok picked up a cup containing smooth latte and slowly approached Ha-seong.
“But you wake up really early.”
Do-hyeok’s appearance was neat. He seemed to have finished washing and preparing everything. Then it meant he had gotten up and moved much earlier than Ha-seong, which was honestly a bit unexpected. Having seen a lot of Cha Do-hyeok’s indifferent behavior usually, he naturally couldn’t think that he would be diligent. Is this why they say usual impressions are important?
“I don’t sleep much.”
Do-hyeok put down the coffee he had brought and pointed to the bathroom. Ha-seong made a blank expression as if he didn’t know what he meant.
“Wash your face.”
“I can wash my face myself.”
Washing hair belonged to somewhat high difficulty, so he could borrow someone’s help for that, but not face washing. He just needed to use water and soap, and he could do that much with his left hand. Moreover, having face washing done for him felt somewhat…… embarrassing.
Ha-seong was twenty-seven years old. He was five years older than Cha Do-hyeok. He didn’t want to ask for such things to be done like a kindergarten child.
“So……”
He was about to say he would do simple things like face washing himself, but the front was empty. The figure of the guy who had been standing in front just moments ago had disappeared completely. Just in case, when he turned around, sure enough, the sound of cool water flow could be heard from inside the bathroom.
“Hyung.”
And even a hurrying sound. Ha-seong sighed deeply and entered the bathroom. Do-hyeok was standing crookedly in front of the sink with his sleeves rolled up.
“Korea is a water-scarce country. You can’t use it if you waste water like that.”
Ha-seong turned off the faucet that was coolly spewing water. But Do-hyeok didn’t show any particular action. He just alternately looked at Ha-seong and the sink.
“I’ll do it myself from tomorrow.”
When Ha-seong bent his waist, Do-hyeok turned on the faucet again and caught water in his hands. Cold water touched his skin. At the same time, he also felt Cha Do-hyeok’s touch. Perhaps because it touched cold water, the warmth of his hands was quite cool.
That was very Cha Do-hyeok-like.
“Should I rinse too?”
“Want to die?”
Do-hyeok raised the corners of his mouth and shook the water off his hands. He brought a towel from the side and finished wiping the remaining moisture from Ha-seong’s face.
Still, washing his face with cool water made him feel a bit more alert. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. Since the human body is different yesterday and today, he had hoped just in case, but it couldn’t get better in just one day.
“I’ll be back at lunch. Let’s go out together then.”
Do-hyeok only brought the coffee to his mouth after helping Ha-seong wash his face.
“To meet Yoon Woo-bin.”
Ah, Ha-seong made a low sound. Going to meet Woo-bin meant, in short, that they needed to discuss the series of events currently happening. Well, he did need to inform him about what he had experienced.
“I’ll come back at lunch, so rest until then.”
Do-hyeok picked up the jacket and car keys that had been hanging on the chair beside him.
“Don’t do anything useless and rest well. Watch TV if you’re bored.”
Looking closely, Cha Do-hyeok was speaking politely to him, but lately he felt like he was being treated like a child. Was it enough just to add the ‘yo’ ending?
“I’ll do that even if you don’t tell me.”
Do-hyeok slowly walked toward the entrance. He goes to work earlier than expected too. Somehow, in just one day, he felt like he had discovered quite a lot of unexpected facts about Cha Do-hyeok.
“Hey, Cha Do-hyeok.”
Ha-seong shuffled after him to the entrance.
“Have a good day.”
Then he waved his left hand instead of his painful right hand. Do-hyeok stared blankly at the sight of the long, white hand waving busily in his vision. Then, as if coming to his senses, he slowly nodded his head.
“……Yes.”
Do-hyeok slowly opened the front door and went down the stairs leading to the garage. With each step he took, he kept thinking about how Ha-seong had waved his hand earlier. What was it? What was that? It was a common greeting, but it gave him a strangely odd feeling.
Was that what people commonly call seeing someone off? Do-hyeok couldn’t suppress his curiosity as he finished going down the stairs.
Ha-seong, who had unintentionally given Do-hyeok something to think about, slowly looked around the spacious house after he left. He had thought that being so spacious, it wouldn’t matter whether someone was there or not, but still, with just one person, Cha Do-hyeok, gone, the house felt a bit empty.
Ha-seong leisurely walked to the living room. For someone who had unintentionally ended up recuperating in someone else’s house, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Even though this was his first time at Cha Do-hyeok’s house, it felt like his own home and was comfortable. That was probably not because of familiarity with the house, but because he had grown closer to Cha Do-hyeok to that extent—such a vague thought occurred to him.
“Should I watch TV?”
Since Cha Do-hyeok had told him not to do useless things, he did want to look around this spacious house a bit, but doing so without the homeowner’s permission wasn’t polite. Ha-seong approached and sat on the wide sofa placed in the center of the living room. Whatever the sofa was made of, it was as soft as a bed.
He picked up the remote control placed on the table. The TV size was also extraordinary. To exaggerate a bit, it was on par with a movie theater. When he turned on the TV like that, the empty house felt a bit better. While changing channels like that, Ha-seong stopped his hand that was touching the remote control.
The channel that happened to come up was showing morning news.
<Yes. I’m sure everyone knows about the attack incident that occurred a few days ago in Jongno 3-ga, the so-called item street. Particularly, this incident shocked the public because the victim was an active hunter. This street is a holy site for hunters, and despite the presence of numerous hunters besides the victim, the fact that such a crime occurred blatantly is causing even more controversy. This is reporter Lee Seong-bin.>
The screen switched and a familiar street came into view. Although processed with mosaic, that place was item street. And there, a reporter with a microphone was constantly talking about the incident from a few days ago.
<Yes. The Hunter Management Bureau side answered that they are still investigating this case, and nothing has been revealed about the perpetrator either…>
Ha-seong watched that news indifferently and then opened the laptop placed on the table. It was something Do-hyeok had given him, saying he could use it if he got bored while watching TV. He had sarcastically asked if he was a kindergarten teacher throwing toys to children, but it was more useful than expected.
Ha-seong immediately opened the internet and entered a hunters’ community.
[Living and living, a hunter gets shot]
[Hunter Attack Incident Summary]
[Wow, item street is still under control?]
[Information on the shot hunter]
Even at a glance, the community was plastered with all kinds of stories about the hunter attack incident.
[But a few days before this incident too.]
There was a post that caught his eye, so he went in to look.
Title: But a few days before this incident too.
Author: Anonymous
Content: An attack incident happened on item street this time. But I heard that a few days before this happened, another hunter was also murdered
Is that real?
Huh, isn’t that a lie? But why is it quiet?
⌙ It’s one of two things. Either there weren’t many witnesses to the incident, or the Hunter Management Bureau might have blocked the information.
Wow, if this post is real, it’s a bit scary. Who could the perpetrator be?
⌙ Wouldn’t it be another hunter?
⌙ But this time they shot a gun. Could be a civilian.
⌙ If this is true, hunters need to be re-educated.
Looking at public opinion, there was a strong possibility that the first incident would also be revealed. Yoon Woo-bin had said so from the beginning. The fortunate thing about the first incident was that it wasn’t known. If people started taking interest in this case, they might notice the connection between the perpetrator of this case and the one who artificially manipulates gates.
10 years ago, if people felt the fear of that incident again, what kind of reaction would they show? It certainly wouldn’t be a good sight. With the thought that catching the perpetrator as soon as possible was the priority, Ha-seong went around various communities.
In a cafe he accidentally entered, where posts criticizing hunters were frequently posted, there was another post that captured Ha-seong’s attention differently.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
