Not a "Job" at All
Brum.
Lee Do-hyeon stepped out of the taxi and looked at the familiar apartment complex where he had grown up. It felt good to be back.
He had taken a taxi all the way from Seoul, and the fare had come to fifty thousand won, but he barely felt it.
He could afford it now.
Still, a tiny twinge of guilt made him think seriously.
‘I’ll have to buy a car.’
It had been easy to say there was a need for one when he could afford it, so he figured he’d buy a decent used car.
As he carried the bulky bags toward home, he ran into an unexpected roadblock right at the door.
He stared at the doorbell for a long time, but there was no reply.
‘What was the number again?’
He had been gone so long that it slipped his mind.
After a moment of hesitation, he gave up and just pressed the button.
A familiar electronic chime rang out, and only a second later a voice came through.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
“Eh? If it’s you, just buzz in with the apartment number.”
Just as rough as ever, his little sister—no mercy for her big brother.
Lee Do-hyeon scowled at the intercom camera, and Lee Do-hee’s voice came back up right away.
“Forgot the number!”
Twoooong.
The sound of the front door unlocking accompanied Do-hee’s voice.
In his mind, Do-hyeon thought, ‘You’re getting no allowance.’
He had just been paid, so she better not forget that.
He stepped inside, took the elevator, and pressed the familiar floor.
The elevator hummed upward, and before long it reached the eleventh floor.
The moment he stepped out, Do-hee opened the door right away, as if she had been waiting.
“Heeeek? What is all this?”
Do-hyeon grinned with a cheerful expression and said, “Gifts from Mom and Dad.”
“Wha—! Wh- what?!”
Lee Do-hee’s eyes went wide as she stared at the piled-up bags.
Do-hyeon smirked and replied, “You got a job?”
Do-hee gave him a suspicious look, as if suspecting he had actually landed a real job, and Do-hyeon answered gruffly, “Just get out of the way.”
“Wow… wow……”
“Sigh.”
As he watched Do-hee’s disappointed face, Do-hyeon shook his head and clicked his tongue.
He had no idea why his sister acted that way, but since she always did, he ignored it and walked in.
The moment he stepped inside, a cheerful voice came from the kitchen.
“You’re here!”
Han Seung-hui bustled out of the kitchen carrying a pot and utensils, and Do-hyeon couldn’t help smiling.
He thought he would have to visit more often from now on.
Do-hyeon nodded, and Han Seung-hui’s eyes widened at the shopping bags Do-hyeon was carrying.
“W-what is all this?!”
She swallowed hard as she took in her son’s enormous bags.
She wondered if her son had actually gotten a job.
She looked at him and asked, “Did you get a job?!”
As always, Han Seung-hui didn’t beat around the bush.
Do-hyeon told her the answer he had rehearsed the whole ride over.
“Yeah, something like that.”
It felt weird to think of becoming a hunter as getting a job, but it was still a job that paid money.
At least it wasn’t a regular job.
Han Seung-hui’s eyes shot open in surprise.
“My mind— oh, the meat’s burning!”
“Eh?”
Still mumbling, she hurried back to the kitchen.
Do-hyeon thought she might start caring about him a little, but he just smiled to himself and remembered she was his mom.
He set the shopping bags down in the living room.
As he unpacked them one by one, Do-hee came over with a curious look and asked with a grin, “Is that mine?”
He had already seen too much of this cheeky kid.
Do-hyeon gave her a weird look, and Do-hee just kept staring at him expectantly.
Do-hyeon said, “It’ll be there.”
“Ugh. No, if you got a job you should give your brother allowance and presents too, right?!”
“Sigh.”
“Do-hyeon! Your brother just got back— don’t pester him!”
While cooking, Han Seung-hui scolded Do-hee, who whined, “But Mom! He didn’t bring me any presents!”
“How could you have done anything good for your brother to give you presents? You’re a slacker who just stays in bed during break while the sun is at its peak!”
“But that’s not fair!”
Do-hyeon didn’t care much, but since Mom was on his side, he washed his hands in the bathroom and sat on the couch.
He looked at Do-hee with a smug grin, and she started trembling in anger.
The familiar atmosphere settled over him like an old friend.
After a long time, Do-hyeon sat comfortably on the couch.
‘Yeah. This is the real deal.’
As he relaxed, Han Seung-hui yelled, “Do-hyeon! Do-hee! Set the table and put the spoons down!”
“Okay!”
“……”
Hearing the familiar clatter before dinner, Do-hyeon stood up from the couch and cleared the table, while Do-hee started putting the spoons away.
Once the spoons were in place, Han Seung-hui began placing the side dishes.
Do-hyeon’s eyes widened at the bulgogi, pink sausages, freshly made tangy radish salad, and all the other dishes.
He hadn’t eaten home-cooked food in a while, and even though he was making money as a hunter, this was different.
He sat down automatically, thinking it was better than hunter training school food.
Do-hee grumbled about the abundance, “You always make delicious stuff when your brother comes. You never make it for me?”
“When did your brother ever come here? You’re jealous?”
“Hmph.”
Listening to the sisters, Do-hyeon decided he really should visit more often.
It wasn’t like he had been coming much since he got a job. Even before graduation.
He had been too busy and neglected his family.
‘But at least I’m here now.’
He started using his chopsticks on the abundant table, and the dishes were all things he liked.
Maybe it was because it had been so long since he ate them, but they tasted even better than usual.
Kimchi especially was far tastier than the stuff from restaurants.
Do-hyeon ate with delight, and Han Seung-hui and Do-hee watched him eat like he was at a food show, both a little shocked.
After becoming a hunter, his appetite had far exceeded normal people’s.
Han Seung-hui asked, “Did your brother always eat like this?”
“W-well… maybe he turned into a food-streamer instead of getting a real job?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him…”
Do-hyeon tried to calm Do-hee down, but since he was eating so well, Han Seung-hui didn’t mind.
Do-hyeon had already eaten five bowls and the sisters were both staring in amazement.
It felt like watching a food-streamer live.
Once the meal was almost over, Han Seung-hui couldn’t hold back and asked, “So which company? What do you do?”
Do-hyeon chewed carefully and swallowed before answering, “I got into a decent company.”
“Where exactly?”
Han Seung-hui was persistent, but Do-hyeon had already prepared the answer.
“It’s a company that works with the Hunter Association, something that classifies items and textbooks.”
Since he was a hunter affiliated with the Association and had sorted items from the Black Gates, it technically wasn’t a normal job.
Han Seung-hui, who had no idea, nodded and said, “Oh, that sounds like a good company. Working with the Association should be pretty substantial, right?”
“Mom? The smallest company with the Association would still be a mid-sized enterprise. How did my brother get into something like that?”
Do-hee’s disappointed tone revealed her deep skepticism.
Do-hyeon grinned and said, “You’re really getting no allowance.”
“Waa! I’m sorry, big brother! Haha, I don’t know anything, haha!”
“Just eat. It was delicious.”
Do-hee was flustered, so Do-hyeon stood up and said, “I ate well. I’ll head back.”
He wasn’t full, but watching him eat had been like seeing a food-streamer.
Since he hadn’t exerted himself today, he wasn’t especially hungry.
As Do-hyeon stood, Han Seung-hui and Do-hee cleaned the dishes too, and Do-hyeon helped.
While tidying, Han Seung-hui said, “There’s some left— want to take it? Oh! Kimchi! Did your kimchi run out? Take some with you.”
“Ah, how do I carry it? I’ll come visit often.”
“Wow, a new worker already planning to visit often. Or I’ll bring it over.”
Those small words touched Do-hyeon deeply, and he didn’t know what to say.
Once the table was cleared, Han Seung-hui asked again, “It’s Wednesday today— did you take any annual leave?”
“We have flexible hours at the hunter academy, so I can come whenever I want.”
It wasn’t a normal job either.
Hunter work really was the essence of flexible hours.
Freelance and flexible hours were different, but they were close enough— not a normal job.
Han Seung-hui tilted her head, while Do-hee looked genuinely shocked and said, “Flexible hours?”
“Wow, such a great company???”
Do-hyeon shook his head at Do-hee’s doubtful expression.
Allowance was too good to pass up.
After eating home-cooked food and seeing his family again, Do-hyeon stood up.
He figured Dad would be home for dinner and would ask questions.
“I’ll be back.”
Han Seung-hui looked a little disappointed, but she let him go.
“Yeah, come back anytime.”
Do-hyeon smiled and nodded, then took out the prepared envelope.
It was a thick paper envelope containing one million won.
“Oh, you’re not even going to use it…”
Han Seung-hui received the envelope with a touched expression, perhaps thinking he had become an adult.
“Give half to your father too.”
“Okay.”
“Me too— me too— me too— me too— me too!”
Do-hee tried to grab it too, so Do-hyeon gave her a thick wad of cash and smiled.
“Here.”
“Wow! Wow! One hundred thousand?! O-oh brother, what’s gotten into you?! Y-you really do work at a mid-sized company!”
Do-hyeon smirked as he left home.
‘It felt good to come back after a long time.’
As he headed home, he was reading the hunter history textbook when he got a call from his father in the evening.
“Yeah, Dad.”
“You got a job?”
“Yeah, I gave Mom her allowance.”
“Haha, then kid, why give so much?”
Han Seung-hui and Do-hee had each taken fifty thousand, so it was still a big sum for an ordinary family.
But.
“Even if you’re working hard, thirty thousand each? I’m grateful.”
“Eh?”
“You must be tired. I’ll stop now. Work hard.”
“……”
Do-hyeon didn’t know what to say and scratched his head, thinking of his mom.
It seemed like she had added twenty thousand extra.
‘I’ll send the rest separately later.’
He smiled to himself as he hung up.