Artificial Demons and Natural Demons (3)
"Unexpected. I didn't think you'd pick a place like this."
"Do you hate pasta by any chance?"
The spot I'd chosen was a pasta restaurant run by an Italian chef. Fortunately, Yoon Isun didn't seem too displeased with my selection.
"No. I just thought guys might not like places like this. Ah, feel free to drop the formalities. It's easier for me that way too."
"...Alright?"
Suit me just fine.
"It's not that I hate it. It's just... not the vibe for a guys' night out, or a dude eating alone. Kinda awkward."
"...Yeah, I guess. A guy showing up solo to eat pasta does take some guts."
"Right?"
A man strolling into a gukbap joint alone, slurping down a bowl, and walking out? Totally normal. But pasta? Different story.
No matter how Korean food had surged in global popularity and flipped the script on Western cuisine, the cultural cachet of sushi joints or fine-dining spots hadn't budged.
Even if Korean food's blowing up worldwide, you don't wanna be on a date with kimchi broth splattering everywhere.
That was why places like sushi bars and Western restaurants had hung on by a thread. And with Sejong Island drawing in foreigners, the mainland had its share of spots catering to them—or straight-up run by expats. So the vibe of a pasta joint as a "date-with-a-girl" kind of place? It hadn't vanished from this world.
Thank goodness.
"Isun, you cool with rumors flying if word gets out we're grabbing dinner together? Scandal territory?"
"Scandal? Not at all. I've eaten with so many people running student council stuff. If having a private meal with a presidential candidate counts as a scandal, then sure."
"...Not a romantic one, then. More like a political stink."
"Hehe."
Yoon Isun was sharp as hell. Not just her high-rank superpower, but her political savvy too. That's how she'd steered the student council all these years—even now as a college student. And she'd keep at it post-graduation, probably diving into politics. For superpower human rights, no doubt.
But nah.
She still didn't know the world's underbelly. Demons, human experiments—she'd bloomed in a pristine flower garden, vaguely aware of the blood-soaked mud pit underground but clueless to its filthy, vicious depths.
No need to clue her in.
"If a scandal does pop up, how's this for a cover? Say student council's teaming up with the library on a project."
"Project?"
"Yeah. Book lending drive. Like a 'review contest' for library books."
"Won't that pile on your workload, sir?"
"Not my section. I'm talking 800-series lit novels over there."
"Ha. Dumping the grunt work on others? You pitch the idea and bail?"
"Obviously. I don't wanna hustle hard. I like it easy, long, and lean."
"You strike me as the thick, long, and girthy type."
"......?"
Did I hear that right? Was she messing with me on purpose?
If so.
I couldn't back down.
"Sure, I live thick, long, and girthy most days. But life's not always full throttle. You can't keep your head held high charging straight ahead forever. Sometimes you just wanna flop face-down on the bed and melt."
"Sounds like that's how you wanna live right now, sir."
"I get up when someone's calling my name."
"When they need you... That's a hero's answer. Kinda fun. Hehe."
Yoon Isun lightly charred her marshmallow over the flame.
"I thought about what you said last time."
"Huh? Oh, the demon contract bit?"
"Yeah. At first it sounded like you were telling me to turn villain. But I got the real point."
She popped the marshmallow in her mouth whole, then planted her fork straight up on the table.
"If you wield a demon's power but act no demon? If you look the part but live more heroic than anyone? Demon... or hero?"
"Hero."
I scorched my marshmallow a tad darker.
"Even if the shell's ugly as sin, if you're gunning to be a hero, you can be one. It's all about mindset and actions."
"Not convictions?"
"Convictions don't make you a hero every time. Like this."
I swallowed mine in one go.
"It's a marshmallow. But burned. How's it taste? Sweet inside, sure. But bitter and ashy too. I expected pure sweetness—what I got wasn't it."
"You do metaphors the hard way, sir."
"Straight talk: If your actions aren't heroic, you're no hero."
"Hm..."
Yoon Isun pondered.
"...Like Dokkaebi?"
"Dokkaebi, huh."
Tough one to judge objectively.
"Dokkaebi's a villain."
"But folks call him a 'dark hero' sometimes."
"What? Nah, that's straight-up nonsense."
Dark hero? Me? Bullshit.
"Dokkaebi just kills villains, period. That Gyeongbu Expressway mess, or the restaurant hit. Ugh, I was scared shitless back then."
"......?"
"Oh, I was at that restaurant. Got jumped mid-meal."
"For real? Sorry. I'd have checked on you sooner if I knew."
"Nah. You're alive—that's what counts."
It was a body count incident, after all.
"Anyway, Dokkaebi's no dark hero or whatever. Just a villain who offs people for his goals, no hesitation."
"Harsh rating."
"Facts."
"Hm... I think he's pretty cool, though."
"...Come again?"
What'd she just say?
"Dokkaebi's cool? You're defending a villain now?"
"Not villains. Dokkaebi."
"Defending a killer? You're playing with fire."
"Am I? I think what he does is right."
"......."
Testing me? Thinks I'm Dokkaebi? Or dead serious?
"Kill a man, get the death penalty. Gojoseon Eight Clauses."
"Ancient law. Doesn't fit modern times straight-up."
"But endless lockup without killing? Doesn't fix society much. Once a villain, mostly always... Not forever, but evil-doers deserve fitting punishment. And a life for a life—that's me."
"Ruthless. Careful, or you'll off a villain by 'accident' someday."
"I won't kill 'em."
She shrugged with a grin.
"Heroes arrest villains. Courts handle executions. If they resist arrest? On-site kill-shot's fair game—no blame."
"Never figured dinner with you would go this deep."
"You trashed Dokkaebi first."
Ah. Shit?
"You in some Dokkaebi fan club or what?"
"......."
Yoon Isun pulled out her smartphone, flashing some indescribable screen.
"Dokkaebi Fan Club, member #38. Saw him from his C-rank days. Know every single one of his moves."
Oh crap.
Dokkaebi otaku.
"Student council prez fangirling a villain? Allowed?"
"Yep. Tons of fans. Heroes fumbling Miranda rights while villains laugh? Dokkaebi smashes their skulls clean—people cheer. Some owe him their lives."
"Owe him?"
"Yeah. Families of victims killed by the villains he took out. Like, 'Thanks for avenging mine.'"
"......."
Something bitter churned in my gut.
"Sometimes I think: If demons walk this earth, they're not rampaging superpowered freaks. They're the ones committing crimes with malice. Killers for reasons no one gets."
"Reasons... Getting complicated."
"Has to. Better than randos ranting world conquest, right?"
"......What?"
Did she just.
Mock the Total Leader's dream?
"Can't let that slide."
"...You know who I mean?"
"Yeah. I get it. Imae Mangnyang. The Association."
"You really think an evil org ruling the world into one big nation is a good idea?"
"...Not exactly. But whatever the form, if actions and results prove it out?"
"You're fun, sir. Oh, you one of the Four Heavenly Kings? Or Total Leader's guardian squad?"
"......Something like that."
In the end.
We differed on targets, but agreed on the point.
"Demon on the outside, hero within? That's a hero."
"Yes. On that note, I brought some sketches."
"...Sketches?"
"Yep."
Yoon Isun beamed, opening her gallery.
"Thinking this for my new costume. Thoughts?"
"......."
One thing to say.
"Hot pink Doge Rider?"
Imae Mangnyang, oh my god.