Chapter 8
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Tense Encounter at the Gukbap House
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With cautious movements, Sejin settled at a table as far from Do Jaegyu as possible.
'Wait, but why am I avoiding him in the first place?'
She hadn't done anything wrong, yet here she was trembling preemptively like a guilty fool—it was ridiculous. Sejin chewed her lip.
At least sitting with her back to him felt a little better. She tugged her hat brim down firmly and hunched her shoulders tight.
But wasn't this place supposed to have fifty years of tradition? It was peak dinner time—why were there so few customers?
Excluding Do Jaegyu's table, there were barely three groups in total.
Unlike the daytime crowds, the evening shop felt starkly desolate.
"Ugh, why'd a gate have to pop up right near the shop... Tch. What'll it be?"
The elderly owner peered out the glass door at the gate response vehicle with a displeased frown—the same grandma from earlier.
'Ah, no customers because of the gate.'
Sejin had forgotten that disaster alarms blared in gate outbreak zones. As the one who'd closed that very gate, she murmured her order softly.
"G-Gukbap, one bowl, please."
The owner grandma scribbled the menu on her notepad with a flourish and bustled off.
'Why does my back feel so hot, though? Am I imagining it?'
Sejin pulled one earbud from her bag and popped it in.
"We're kinda screwed, huh?"
She didn't forget to lower her voice to a whisper.
[Stay calm. You have to stay calm especially now!]
You stay calm!
You're the weird one, yelling to stay calm in that hyped-up voice?
[For starters, that guy's got no idea who we are.]
"Right."
[And he's got no reason to grab us. Isn't that so?]
"Mm. Yeah."
But why did it feel so off? Her gut, honed by experience, was flashing warning lights.
Get out of here quick.
Logically, Breaking Army Star's reasoning was flawless.
Do Jaegyu wasn't a government hunter, so there was no reason for him to nab her. He might step in for the public good, sure.
But would Do Jaegyu actually bother?
Sejin wasn't completely cut off from the world—she kept up with news and the hunter forums buzzing with info.
Everyone in Korea knew Do Jaegyu had bad blood with government agencies.
The century's rivals: Do Jaegyu and Han Kitae. They were sworn enemies with abysmal relations.
He probably wanted to watch the government and Han Kitae squirm more than bother turning her in, right?
The rift started when Do Jaegyu ditched government service.
His exposé on how the government treated hunters like public property and exploited them was legendary.
People latched onto his revelations, siding with him and slamming the regime.
Families of hunters dying to close gates seized the moment too.
Do Jaegyu dropped the bomb, then smoothly founded his guild with full backing from a massive corporation.
Riding public opinion, he'd shattered the mold that hunters belonged to the 'government' collective.
It was revolutionary.
Years later, it still felt vivid—people brought it up whenever they gathered.
Even Sejin's classmates had split into Team Han Kitae and Team Do Jaegyu, bickering fiercely.
None of them were the hunters in question, but whatever. Sejin had just crossed her arms with a pitiful look while they went at it.
With that level of scrutiny, the nation opted for negotiation over punishment.
Unable to ignore public eyes, the government grudgingly recognized the first guild ever.
Of course, they tacked on clauses securing priority rights to gate byproducts and first dibs on hunter recruitment.
Sejin vaguely recalled the Do Jaegyu fans cheering 'Justice prevails!'
His whistleblowing changed everything.
Guilds sprouted like mushrooms afterward, and government hunters got better treatment too, naturally.
It was huge news globally—headlines everywhere, sparking guild booms worldwide.
Thinking about it, what a powerhouse of a guy.
Sejin poured water from the pitcher into her glass and took a sip to wet her throat.
At any rate, Do Jaegyu was undeniably pivotal in revolutionizing and advancing the hunter industry.
Plus, he was famous for his handsome face.
"Whew."
Sharing space with a figure like that dried her mouth out.
[Don't tense up! Act normal! Just like always!]
You act normal!
If that ringing in her head weren't mental, her eardrums would've burst ages ago.
"So, probably just... a coincidence?"
Yeah, definitely a coincidence meeting like this.
[Do Jaegyu just knows good fifty-year gukbap too. Sejin, stay calm!]
Sejin pressed her forehead with her fingers at Breaking Army Star's voice, more excited than anyone.
"Got it. Calm down."
She soothed him—he was carrying on enough to give himself high blood pressure any second.
Good thing he's a god. No hypertension worries.
Despite her laid-back thoughts, her back still burned.
Sejin cleared her throat needlessly and ran a finger over her dry lips.
There's no proof I'm Black Shadow anyway. If there were, that hardass Han Kitae would've spotted me first and chased me down. Don't freak. Don't freak out!
Sejin lightly slapped her cheeks with her clammy palms.
Act natural. Pretend to eat casually and bail. Even as she pep-talked herself, sweat beaded on her forehead.
'Ugh, this is why you don't live a life of crime.'
Huh?
'Wait. Am I the one living a criminal life?'
Now she was getting pissed again.
"Oh my!"
The owner grandma—who seemed utterly uninterested in worldly affairs beyond her shop—suddenly clapped her hands loud.
Startled by the abrupt noise, Sejin twisted around with a squeak of her chair.
"No way! I wasn't sure, but... What is it? Do Jaegyu the hunter, right?!"
The grandma, spotting him quick as ever, patted his shoulder with hands laden in chunky gold jewelry.
"You're way handsomer in person."
"Is that so? Thank you."
"Nah, these days everyone's dyeing their hair red copying you—even dogs and cats. That's why I didn't recognize ya at first. Hohoho."
Do Jaegyu took the owner grandma's know-it-all vibe in stride, like it was routine, pink lipstick and all.
"The original's definitely different!"
The few customers turned at her hearty dialect and fussing.
"Real deal Do Jaegyu hunter?"
"Whoa, what's Do Jaegyu doing here?"
"Related to that gate opening nearby?"
Sejin sidelong-glanced the murmuring scene.
"Gotta comp it for Do Jaegyu hunter. Guy rushes to every gate no matter the distance. Some braised beef too?"
"No, that's fine."
"I'm not fine with it! Kitchen auntie! Big pork belly here. Our braised beef's the best."
Her voice drowned out Do Jaegyu's polite refusals.
"Mind signing and snapping a pic before you go? Pretty please?"
"Of course."
Do Jaegyu agreed amiably with his easygoing smile, drawing a delighted cackle from the owner grandma.
"Holler if you need anything else."
"Yes. Thank you."
Sejin perked her ears at his gentlemanly reply, wiping sweat trickling nonstop, praying this moment would end soon.
'Lady! Gukbap, hurry!'
She chanted inwardly, legs jittering anxiously like a fugitive's.
'Why's my back burning?'
But Sejin lacked the guts to turn around.
"Hm."
Does he plan to pray over the gukbap or something?
Kim Myeongjin sighed softly, eyeing Do Jaegyu stirring his bowl vigorously.
"What's wrong? Food not to your taste?"
"Not that."
Not that, yet you're not eating? You picked this place! Myeongjin swallowed a yell, composing himself again.
What the hell's bugging him? She bit back the blunt probe, her mouth filtering it smoothly.
"People recognizing you bothering you?"
"Mm."
Not quite, from the look of it. Do Jaegyu propped his elbow on the table, chin on his hand. Playing twenty questions?
Irrelevant thoughts aside, his aura made Myeongjin gently set down her spoon.
Same gukbap joint?
With Do Jaegyu there, the cheap decor suddenly felt like a luxury hotel restaurant.
Wearing a pensive frown, Do Jaegyu picked up the stainless steel water cup.
'Looks like a wine glass.'
The cup tilted at his fingertips, his throat bobbing as he drank.
"Something's off."
"What? What's off, sir?"
Unable to wait, Myeongjin pressed—what could ruffle him?
"I smell something."
Myeongjin sniffed.
"Gukbap smell?"
Do Jaegyu raised one brow pityingly at her duh face—like, obvious in a gukbap house?