Chapter 236: An Unexpected Family Reunion (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 236: An Unexpected Family Reunion (4)
In a small smoking room tucked away in a corner of the shelter.
Kim Ji-won stepped inside, pulled a cigarette from the pack in her pocket, and placed it between her lips. Then, she held the pack out to me.
“You’re out, aren’t you?”
Her tone suggested she already knew.
Interesting.
“How are you so sure?”
She pointed to the tip of her nose with her index finger.
“Because you don’t smell.”
“Smell? You mean, of cigarettes?”
Kim Ji-won gave a slight nod.
“People who smoke regularly have a certain scent.”
“…Ah.”
She seemed quite confident in her sense of smell.
I took a cigarette from the pack she offered and put it in my mouth.
Click!
“Here, a lighter.”
She lit her own cigarette, then offered me the lighter.
“I’m good.”
It’s not like lighting a cigarette is hard.
When I conjured a small flame at my fingertip and lit my cigarette, she stared at me with a look of surprise.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s just a little strange. I heard mages hate using magic for things like this.”
“Some do, I suppose.”
In fact, it wasn't just some, but a great many.
Because magic is a skill where talent trumps effort, they wrap it up as some sacred discipline and carry an absurd sense of entitlement, as if they’re the chosen ones.
I call those people fools.
Anyway.
That wasn’t what was important right now.
I took a long drag, a feeling I hadn’t had in a while, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke as I studied Kim Ji-won.
Sensing my gaze, she asked with a faint smile.
“So, what’s your impression?”
“Hmm…”
My impression, huh?
Her eyes held a look that was just the right amount of haughty and just the right amount of bold.
She was like an aloof cat, yet her alluring eyes sometimes left a little room for hope.
A high-bridged nose that, if it were a mountain, would not be an easy climb, and plump, red lips.
On top of that, a firm body sculpted through meticulous care.
If I had to sum it all up in one word…
“A luxury brand?”
As the word left my lips, she laughed.
“Hohoho! Me? A luxury brand? Like a Chanelia you’d find at a department store?”
“That’s how you look to me.”
Yes, that kind of luxury brand.
The kind they display reverently in department stores, boasting that it was made stitch by stitch by a master artisan.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard a compliment like that. Should I say thank you?”
But you know what?
Even luxury brands have tiers.
She was definitely a luxury brand.
But… a luxury brand of a surprisingly lower tier than one might expect.
You know the type, right?
A brand everyone recognizes by name, but whose price tag isn’t set all that high.
The kind that makes you think, ‘Huh, at this price, maybe I could afford one…?’
The way I saw it, Kim Ji-won was exactly that kind of woman.
Maybe that’s why the Ajeossi was so smitten with her.
He probably thought that if he played his cards right, if he really tried, he might actually be able to have her.
Hiding these thoughts, I smiled lightly and replied to her.
“I’m glad you’re happy.”
Whatever my true intentions were, as long as we were both feeling good, that’s all that mattered, right?
However, there was one thing that puzzled me.
“That’s why I don’t quite get it.”
“What is it?”
“Why a woman like you keeps a middle-aged, married man around.”
It was true she was a luxury item worth taking a shot at, but she wasn't a woman just anyone could reach for.
For a middle-aged man, a married one at that, to make a move was a bit…
For that to be possible, the Ajeossi would have to be a chaebol or a handsome silver fox that could even make women in their twenties swoon.
To my rather obvious question, she answered with a bright smile.
“We’re not as close as you think.”
With that opening, Kim Ji-won tossed her cigarette butt into the trash and continued.
“Did you know? The facilities in the shelter are tiered.”
“I know.”
The shelter was equipped with various facilities to prepare for a potential long-term situation.
The most prominent among them were the lodgings, and surprisingly, these lodgings were divided by class.
“A woman who runs a small bar was assigned to Building D. Can you believe it? They crammed four people into one tiny room.”
Building D.
The four-person rooms where the majority of people were assigned.
Just because it housed four people didn’t mean the room was large. It was a pitifully cramped space with two bunk beds installed on either side of a room the size of a shoebox.
It was like the four-person room I was assigned during the Hunter qualification exam.
Actually, it’s easier to understand if you imagine it as being even smaller and more wretched than that.
“Honestly, the people I lived with were more of a problem than the facilities. They were ajummas from the neighborhood, and every single one of them was dying to tear me apart.”
“…Is there a particular reason?”
“There is, yes.”
A confident smile formed on her face as she continued.
“Because, as you said, I’m a luxury brand? Hoho!”
“Ah…”
Just hearing that, I got the picture.
Kim Ji-won was certainly a beauty rarely seen in a provincial area like this.
If a woman like her ran a bar, wouldn’t all the men in the neighborhood drink there?
And according to what Jeong-hee saw, she seemed to have no problem with a little light touching.
The ajummas must have hated that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them already saw Kim Ji-won as their husband’s mistress.
“So I went to Agent Shin, who I was close with, and sweet-talked him into letting me sleep at his place.”
Oh, Ajeossi…
A pretty woman asks for a place to sleep, and you fall for it hook, line, and sinker.
He probably pictured himself fucking her brains out right then and there.
Placing a new cigarette between her lips, she continued.
“Well… unlike me, who just wanted to sleep, it seems our dear Agent Shin wanted something more.”
The most interesting topic of our conversation so far finally surfaced.
“So, did you give him what he wanted?”
She smiled, one corner of her mouth curling up.
“What do you think?”
“Oh dear…”
Judging by her reaction, she clearly led him on but gave him nothing.
Honestly, that was unexpected.
It would have been better if they had definitively crossed the line, giving me a powerful card to play.
As a wave of disappointment washed over me, the lust that had been building up for the past few days began to stir.
Take it, it whispered. Devour what that other man so desperately craved.
“Hmm…? Why are you suddenly smiling?”
Ah.
I had failed to control my expression.
In that case, I had no choice but to be a little more blatant.
“I was just thinking how fortunate this is.”
“Fortunate in what way?”
She smiled, her eyes holding a strange, sensual gleam.
She already knew, yet she was making me say it.
“Who knows.”
After finishing my cigarette, I stepped closer and looked down at her.
Just as my eyes were filled with desire, hers didn’t seem much different.
A faint flush of heat bloomed in her gaze.
“Let’s grab a drink after this is all over. As for the place… I was hoping it could be your bar.”
There was no way she didn’t understand the hidden meaning in my proposal. The smile on her lips deepened.
That smile was all the answer I needed.
* * *
“I’m so glad nothing happened, honey.”
“Ah, I was so worried! When something like this happens, don’t you think about how worried we’d be?!”
Jeong-hee, worrying about her husband in a dry tone.
And Shin Yu-jeong, showing her usual personality even to her dad.
After reporting the Ajeossi’s survival over the phone and parting ways, I called Director Kim Seong-tae, who was down in Haenam managing the operation and the accident site.
I had only one request.
“Please leave me out of the team composition.”
“…Are you saying you’ll be operating solo?”
“That’s right.”
It was time to remove the shackles that would be placed on me.
“I know you’re highly capable, Mr. Do-jin, but the Kraken Junior is not an opponent to be taken lightly.”
As expected, Kim Seong-tae politely refused my proposal.
Well, it made sense.
It would be a problem for him to simply accept a mage’s request to act alone without a vanguard.
“Director.”
“Go on.”
But it was fine.
I knew how to change his mind.
“Have I ever made an empty promise to you? Have I ever failed to meet your expectations?”
“……”
That was all it took.
“I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Thank you, Director.”
I didn’t forget to thank him, who always seemed to grant my requests as if he couldn’t help it.
After that, I had lunch.
“Do-jin, try this too! Isn’t it delicious?”
“Y-Yes, it is.”
I had originally planned to eat alone, but Ju-yeon called just before lunchtime, asking to eat together.
“Mom, you’re making Do-jin uncomfortable.”
“Oh, was I…?”
“…No.”
The moment she heard my answer, Son Seo-yeon glared at me with a look of betrayal.
Come on… how was I supposed to say anything when she was looking at me with tears welling up in her eyes?
As lunchtime was ending, the team compositions were finally announced.
There were over fifty teams, each consisting of one A-rank and three B-rank Hunters.
Among them, my name stood alone.
“That man really gets things done.”
When facing an opponent like the Kraken Junior, it was better to be alone.
If I had to trust some weirdos as teammates, I had no idea when a crisis might strike.
And I didn’t want to waste time and mana trying to save them.
The raid was set to begin at dawn, so I sat in my room meditating to get my condition right.
Ding-dong!
The cheerful chime of the doorbell echoed through the room, abruptly pulling my deeply submerged consciousness to the surface.
“…Who is it?”
Was I expecting anyone?
I went straight to the door and opened it to find a familiar face.
“Sunbae, what brings you all the way here…?”
The visitor was none other than Son Seo-yeon.
“I have… a favor to ask.”
Judging by how difficult it was for her to speak, it didn’t seem like a simple request.
“What is it?”
When I asked out of curiosity, she forced her eyes, which kept drifting downward, to look up at me and parted her lips.
“…Can I go with you to the battle tomorrow?”
Ah, so that’s it.
I wondered what the favor was, but it was just that?
I was startled for a moment, thinking it was something incredibly important.
With a relieved expression, I smiled brightly and gave her my answer.
“No.”
Then I immediately closed the door.
Thud!
The nerve of her.
What an absurd thing to say.