Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Christmas Eve Dates
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“Miss Yesul, the director gave me this.”
Hyungbin handed over the restaurant reservation details. It listed the date and address.
“Oh my god... Isn’t this place ridiculously expensive?”
“The chairman told me to pass it along.”
“Oh, we’re always just receiving from the chairman.”
Hyungbin and Yesul both made good money. They received top-tier treatment in their league, and as hunters, their biggest expense—items—was supplied by Regen at cost. Still, they had too much to spend on.
Hyungbin wasn’t just paying off his own debts but his siblings’ as well, and he’d gone to compensate someone he’d hurt in the past.
Yesul donated everything beyond the bare essentials. Even when Regen urged her to spend more since she donated so much already, she had no greed for money to begin with. So for a pair like them, Jisok had booked the restaurant instead of handing over cash.
“Shall we go, since it’s been a while?”
“Sure.”
With zero dating experience, their interactions were still adorably awkward.
On Christmas Eve, Hyungbin stood before the mirror in a suit.
“Bro, you’re really going out in that?”
Sihwan pointed at Hyungbin’s outfit.
“I’m going to a fancy restaurant—don’t I need a suit?”
“That’s what debt collectors wear, not fine dining attire. With your build and face, black suits are banned.”
“You little punk, always with the mouth... So what do I do?”
“Let’s go buy some clothes. Leave this to the pros.”
His siblings dragged Hyungbin to the department store.
“Please coordinate it to make him look as non-intimidating as possible.”
Sihwan laid out the request to the personal shopper.
The personal shopper swiftly gathered outfits suited to Hyungbin and brought them to the private fitting room.
“I didn’t even know department stores had personal shoppers.”
“We never had dealings with this world before. Things are better now.”
“You think?”
In a sweater, light brown coat, and scarf, Hyungbin’s impression softened considerably.
“This should do it. Have a good time tomorrow.”
His siblings pooled their money to buy the outfit.
“Thanks.”
* * *
“It’s snowing...”
Hyungbin waited for Yesul at the rendezvous point when snow began to fall. With Christmas approaching, the weather had turned chilly, and people bundled up thicker.
“Hyungbin.”
Yesul called from behind.
“Oh, you’re...”
Hyungbin turned and froze upon seeing her. Yesul was pretty even in combat gear or casual clothes, but today she’d put extra effort into her date look.
In a beige dress and black coat, Yesul stood out beautifully amid the crowd. To Hyungbin, it was as if she existed in a separate space from everyone else.
“...Do I look weird?”
Yesul tilted her head slightly, seeing him speechless.
“No! You look beautiful!”
Hyungbin bellowed in the crowded street.
Yesul’s expression didn’t change, but her face flushed red. The stares around them embarrassed her, but more than that, she loved hearing Hyungbin call her pretty.
“Shall we go?”
Yesul hooked her arm through his.
“L-Let’s!”
Stiff as a board, Hyungbin walked with her. The streets teemed with Christmas crowds. Hyungbin wrapped an arm around Yesul, escorting her safely through the throng.
“Yakuza?”
“Oppa, see that girl? Her eyes look so fierce.”
“Birds of a feather.”
A couple passing by thought they were out of earshot and gossiped about Hyungbin and Yesul.
But those jerks...
Hyungbin didn’t mind insults aimed at him, but hearing Yesul—who’d done nothing wrong—called fierce made his blood boil.
“It’s fine. Let’s just go.”
Yesul wasn’t offended at all. She’d heard far worse growing up, even to her face. This was nothing.
If anything, she felt great today. Her first Christmas with someone she loved. It was the warmest holiday since her parents passed.
Last Christmas, she’d envied other families and couples. Today, she envied no one.
“It’s around here...”
Hyungbin gripped his phone, searching for the restaurant. The bustling area was disorienting since he rarely came here. Plus, with Yesul pressed close to his arm, he was tense. Her warmth and scent made him miss turns several times.
“Take it slow.”
Yesul didn’t mind the wandering. Just walking together was enough.
“Cough, cough...”
A weak, feeble cough came from behind.
“Hold on.”
Yesul released Hyungbin’s arm and headed into the alley.
“Yesul?”
A homeless man lay on a cardboard spread over the cold pavement, his face ashen. Even a hunter could catch something lying on concrete in this freezing winter snow.
He showed no response as Yesul approached. She crouched, casting Heal.
Warmth returned slightly to his face, and his eyes fluttered open, but he was too weak to respond.
“He doesn’t seem sick—just malnourished. Needs nutrients and warmth.”
Yesul had studied emergency aid in her spare time, giving her doctor-level knowledge in the field. A healer’s efficiency soared with such understanding.
She tried to help him up.
“What are you doing?”
“There’s a relief center nearby where I volunteered before. They do free meals, so he can get help.”
Hyungbin took the man from her arms.
“Which way?”
“One sec.”
Yesul gathered his belongings—ragged clothes and odds and ends.
“Lots of folks treasure things like this.”
Yesul led the way, Hyungbin followed. Date plans had vanished from their minds.
“Yesul? Didn’t you say you couldn’t make it today?”
Entering the free meal relief center, a volunteer lady appeared.
“Auntie, this man collapsed.”
Yesul asked her to warm him and feed him.
Hyungbin watched quietly as Yesul helped a stranger without hesitation, despite looking forward to their date. Snow and dirt had ruined his new clothes, but his eyes were only on Yesul.
Once other volunteers took the man away, Yesul approached Hyungbin.
“Sorry. Because of me.”
“No! I like you even more!”
“Huh?!”
Hyungbin’s loud declaration startled her, turning her face scarlet.
“...I like you too, Hyungbin.”
They stood there awkwardly.
“Aren’t you gonna hug her?”
A nearby volunteer auntie poked Hyungbin.
“Ahem!”
Feigning reluctance, he embraced her. His large frame enveloped her slender one perfectly. They melted into each other’s warmth, blissfully content.
“If you’re not getting a room, help out since you’re here. We’re short-handed.”
The pair hastily parted, shed their outer layers, and washed dishes at the soup kitchen. No fancy restaurant, but their faces beamed with smiles.
* * *
“You can see all of downtown Seoul.”
From the top of the building where Regen had booked the restaurant, he gazed out the window. Snow-dusted Seoul at night captured the Christmas spirit like a painting.
No trace of worry on the faces of families and couples strolling below.
“Peaceful. Like gates don’t exist in this world.”
“Oppa! No gate talk today~”
“Oh, sorry. But where are Hyungbin and Yesul?”
“They booked somewhere else. Told them to spend time alone.”
“The director’s got good sense.”
“Let’s sit.”
They sat at the table prepared in the scenic room, and dishes began arriving one by one.
“Oh.”
“Wow~”
Exquisitely plated, gorgeous food appeared. On plates that screamed expense came shrimp caviar veggie crackers.
“So pretty~”
Exactly the kind of pretty dish women loved.
“Shall we try it?”
Taste wasn’t bad either. Fresh ingredients, perfect balance.
A waiter appeared like a ghost with the next course each time they finished one.
“Twelve courses tonight. Should’ve picked a place with bigger portions?”
As I polished off a bite and stared at Nayoung, she spoke up.
“Oh, no, I don’t need to eat like before. Just admiring how pretty you are.”
“You’re getting good at lines like that?”
Nayoung’s smile lingered, her mood clearly bright.
Portions grew larger as courses progressed. Nayoung ate lightly and passed the rest to me, filling me up decently.
“Shall we head out?”
They went up to the hotel the director had booked. A room on the upper floors of the same building as the restaurant.
“Wow~”
Timed to their check-in, scented candles flickered in the hotel room. Korea really was paradise if you had money—this suite was luxury incarnate.
“Come here.”
Nayoung led me to the bedroom.
“Huh? No wine?”
“Later.”
Nayoung let her hair down and slipped off her dress. Heated from the date, she moved quickly.
She pushed me onto the bed.
Her soft lips covered mine. Amid deep kisses, her hands deftly stripped my clothes away.
“Last time we did this, we got bombed, right?”
“Don’t even mention that.”
Nayoung nibbled my lip.
Foreplay built slowly, but despite the high floor, noise from outside intruded. My head unconsciously turned toward the window.
“Oppa! Ignore it.”
Nayoung grabbed my face, turning it back to her.
Baaaaam!!!
Light poured through the massive window.
“Ah! What now!”
Nayoung bolted up, threw on a robe, and peered outside.
“Oppa, am I the only one seeing that?”
“I see it too.”
A pillar of light descended from the sky, and within it, an angel with white wings slowly descended.
Desensitized to monsters lately, people still gawked, dumbfounded at the angel from heaven.
Nayoung turned on the news.
“Oppa, it’s not just Korea.”
News showed angels descending worldwide.
“Let’s go down.”
“...Yeah.”
Nayoung’s head drooped, accepting the date’s end.
* * *
From afar, the angel didn’t seem aggressive or dangerous. Still, no way to confirm if it was truly an angel or a monster yet.
I’d never seen angels in my past life. At first regression, I thought my experience and memories would cover everything unknown. But whether from my actions or some tiny butterfly effect, unprecedented events kept happening.
Couldn’t blindly trust past-life info—had to stay vigilant and prepare for the present.
Nayoung and I stepped out to the street.
Kneeling worshippers already crowded before the angel, hands clasped, with hundreds more snapping photos behind them. No gaps on the road.
Christmas angel from the sky—people’s frenzy was natural.
The angel’s feet touched ground, the light pillar vanishing. The noisy street fell silent in an instant.