A Windfall, a Sleepyhead, and a Midnight Message
“I didn't do anything wrong, though?”
My sister smiled awkwardly.
“Ah… haha. Did I… did that really happen?”
I waggled my chopsticks and tilted my head.
“I wasn't even lecturing you or anything, so why's your face gone so stiff?”
“It's not stiff.”
Apparently her throat was dry, because she grabbed her water glass and downed it in one go.
“I've just been so swamped with work lately. Sorry. I'll make kimchi jjim for you next time.”
“You don't have to apologize. It's enough that you cook for me at all.”
“Anyway, how's the bulgogi? Not to your taste?”
My sister was watching my reaction with almost comical anxiety.
Her reaction felt way too careful. I wondered why for a moment, but the answer came quickly.
That's it.
Of course — I was the one who gave my sister her allowance!
She was clearly walking on eggshells because she was afraid the money would stop.
‘Hmm.’
In that case, I should test whether the allowance stays or goes.
I took a bite of the beef.
A savory, faintly sweet marinade and rich, nutty juices wrapped tenderly around my tongue.
The meat wasn't tough at all.
“It's incredible. This is delicious.”
“Phew….”
“Honestly, with flavor like this, I could rank it second — right after kimchi jjim.”
Only then did my sister's rigid shoulders slowly relax.
“Second place, my foot… All you've got is a mouth.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you for the meal.”
As she ladled more side dishes onto my rice bowl, my sister pulled her smartphone from her pocket.
She tapped the screen a few times, then thrust it in front of my face.
“Hyunwoo. Look at this.”
“What is it?”
On the screen was a news article that had just gone up online.
The article's body recounted the whole story of how I'd saved the mother and daughter in surprisingly moving prose.
The interview with the kid's mom, in particular, was… quite something.
She described me as a noble hero who had protected civilians even at the cost of paying with his own memories — painting me as practically a living saint!
‘Whoa, it's not quite to that extent.’
I meant it, though. But acting humble here would just come off as smug, wouldn't it?
If not now, when else am I supposed to be smug?
“Behold, dear sister. This is the caliber of your little brother. Pretty insane, right?”
“….”
“You should consider yourself honored to have a brother like me.”
My sister's reaction, however, was quite different from what I'd expected. For a moment her lips quivered as if she'd been struck speechless.
Then she said: “That's right. I'm proud. Truly. I should be….”
Her voice was trembling faintly, and I couldn't help but find it strange.
She'd been deathly pale earlier, then smiled just now, and now she looked like she was about to cry.
Her mood swings were a rollercoaster with no equal.
‘Is she bipolar?’
Thinking I should stop by the pharmacy tomorrow and buy her some sedatives or supplements, I picked my spoon back up.
The next morning.
Warm sunlight spilled through the gap in the curtains and tickled my cheek.
Zzzt— Zzzt—
My smartphone buzzed. I groped for it, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and checked the screen.
[ABC Bank: Deposit Alert]
[Korea Hunter Association — Settlement Payment]
21,340,000 KRW deposited
“Ahhh….”
An admiring sigh escaped me on its own. Sleep vanished in an instant, and my vision sharpened.
This. This is it.
This is exactly why I work as a Hunter.
Twenty million won in just thirty minutes.
Sure, it was a profession where you risked your life and rolled around in the dirt — but the sight of that account balance swelling was sweet enough to make me forget every ounce of that pain.
‘Where should I spend this money to make the best use of it?’
I rolled around in bed, lost in a delightful dilemma.
My eyes drifted to the computer sitting on my desk.
It had been nearly three years since I'd built the thing.
I remembered the communities buzzing not long ago about a brand-new graphics card launch.
I shot upright and plopped myself down into the computer chair.
I hit the power button, and the moment it finished booting, I pulled up an electronics shopping site and a gaming news site.
A cutting-edge CPU, a high-end graphics card, even a 240Hz gaming monitor — I swept them all into my cart.
The estimate came out to roughly seven million won.
Normally my hands would've trembled at that number, but against the power of the twenty million that had just landed, it felt like pocket change.
‘What new games are worth playing these days?’
I whiled away the time browsing shop pages and skimming recommendation threads on gamer forums.
Somewhere in the vast ocean of internet surfing, clicking away at my mouse, I happened to glance at the clock in the corner of my monitor.
[11:14 AM]
It was already that late? And no sign of my sister anywhere this whole time!
‘Don't tell me she's still asleep.’
I got up from my chair and headed out to the living room.
The kitchen was deserted, and my sister's door was firmly shut.
I approached carefully and gripped the handle.
Click.
The door swung open silently, and at the scene inside the room, my brain simply stopped working.
Incredibly, my sister was sprawled out across the bed, still dead asleep!
“Unbelievable. She's actually sleeping.”
My sister's sleeping condition was, to put it generously, a disaster.
The blanket had been kicked down past her waist and trailed half onto the floor, and her long, straight hair was splayed every which way, damp with sweat, sticking haphazardly to her lips and cheeks.
Whatever sleeping habits she had were evidently violent — her loose gray cotton t-shirt had ridden up completely, leaving her stomach fully exposed.
Her belly rose and fell with every breath, and the whole picture radiated an almost painful kind of helplessness.
I clicked my tongue and strode briskly to the bedside.
“Hey there, Ms. Seoyeon. The sun is high in the sky, and you're still lying around like this? Up you get.”
I was about to bop her on the forehead, but settled for kicking the mattress lightly with my foot instead.
“Mmm….”
She grimaced and grumbled.
Then, like a half-asleep bear, she rolled over and slowly blinked her eyelids open.
My sister's unfocused eyes drifted through empty air before finally landing on me, standing beside the bed.
She asked in a dazed voice:
“What time is it…?”
“It's eleven. Eleven o'clock. Past eleven in the morning. Is this the hour a grown adult woman gets up? You nag me about never being late, then go and pass out like the world doesn't exist.”
My sister, still processing, slowly looked downward.
Her face flushed crimson in an instant, like a ripe tomato.
“…!”
Instead of answering, she flung her arm up and covered her eyes and face.
Then she desperately dragged the fallen blanket up with her toes and wrapped herself into a tight cocoon.
“Ah… get out! Get out right now!”
The voice burst out from the muffled blanket bundle.
“Well, well? Talk about chaos.”
“Get out, I said…!”
“Fair enough… barging in without knocking was rude of me. I admit it.”
I stood at the door and waved at the blanket lump.
“I'll throw something simple together for brunch today, so just lie there in peace.”
I closed the door, and faintly from inside, I could hear my sister screaming into her pillow.
And so we had a simple brunch.
.
.
.
There was no special summons today, and no need to report to the Association — a genuine day off, plain and simple.
All afternoon, we shuttled between the living room and the bedroom, sprinting the full marathon of laziness.
‘Wait, isn't she going to work?’
Come to think of it — I might be on leave, but why wasn't my sister going to work?
She was lying on her stomach in the corner of my bed, scrolling through webtoons, and the thought struck me.
‘She'll figure it out.’
I paid it no mind, passing the peaceful hours playing mobile games and swiping through Shorts.
Even without conversation, it wasn't awkward — comfortable, familiar air, if you'd call it that.
Time flew by like an arrow.
At some point darkness had swallowed the view outside, and the clock hands pointed to 1 AM.
My sister, exhausted, had long since retreated to her room and crashed out, and just as I was about to turn in myself—
Ding.
Someone had messaged me.
‘Who the heck at this hour?’
I checked the sender's name displayed at the top of the screen.
“What is this….”
She'd always had her eccentric moments, but this was over the line even by her standards — several lines past over the line, in fact.
I called her immediately.
Ring—
Before the ringtone could sound even once—
Ding.
As if the hour of 1 AM meant nothing at all, she picked up instantly.
[Hello?]
“No, Licia. This is a nuisance. A genuine nuisance.”
[So what? I'm allowed to do this to you, Mr. Hyunwoo.]
“Could you at least preserve the boundary? Before I sever it myself.”
[My apologies.]
“So what's so urgent you had to message me at this hour?”
[Recontract season for hunters is coming up, remember? I texted to talk to you about that. Oh, and you asked me to look for an artifact related to your memories, didn't you? I have something to say about that, too.]
“Doesn't sound like a phone conversation. Want to meet tomorrow, then?”
[I was about to suggest the same thing. Our minds are in sync.]
“Yes, yes.”
[Isn't it amazing, our minds syncing like that?]
“Yes, it's amazing.”
[It's not amazing to me.]
“??”
[Anyway, like it or not, I'm your Dedicated Manager — if you get dragged through the mud, so do I. I'll get you fitted for new clothes tomorrow, too. On my own dime.]
What was this? Was this the fabled date invitation I'd only ever heard about?
Had the light of salvation finally come for me?
Was I escaping the life of a single, friendless, forever-alone loser?
[You're not thinking of this as a date invitation, are you?]
I jolted in shock.
No — how did she read my mind?