Reunited with Family After 15 Years
9,870,000 KRW has been deposited.
4,000,000 KRW has been deposited.
6,250,000 KRW has been deposited.
"Good."
After confirming the text messages about the money hitting my account, I grabbed a canned beer from my desk and downed it in one go.
22-year-old B-rank freelance Hunter, Yoon Suhyun. That’s my pathetic profile.
Fifteen years ago, my mother and father divorced. My father told me that Mom had abandoned him because his business failed, but by the time I reached middle school, I realized the real reasons were his infidelity and his bottom-of-the-barrel character.
After a mudslinging legal battle, my father succeeded in gaining custody of me, and that was how I was separated from my mother, older sister, and younger sister to live with him.
My last memory of Mom is her tear-streaked face, promising that she would definitely come back for me. But as so much time passed, her face had become a blur; all that remained was the faint memory that she looked utterly exhausted even as she said those words.
The scenery I always saw at home was nothing but the pathetic, powerless back of my father, who would leave soju bottles scattered across the floor and sit in front of the TV all day long.
Just as my own life was about to fall into that same abyss, the world changed drastically.
Eight years ago, portals called Gates began appearing all over the world. At first, nations deployed their militaries, but they were helpless against the monsters inside. Eventually, the monsters poured out of the Gates and began turning human territory into a wasteland.
But at the same time, beings known as Awakened appeared among humans. They were individuals with the strength to stand against the monsters... we call them Hunters.
I, too, awakened in my first year of middle school and was immediately designated as a state-protected asset. I was separated from my father and spent my school days in a government-run Hunter training institution. After I heard the news that my father had racked up private loans and fled overseas while I was in training, I never saw him again.
Once the situation stabilized to some extent, humanity realized that the resources coming out of the Gates were incredibly useful. The Gates, filled with materials that couldn't be explained by human science, were transformed into humanity's treasure trove.
Well, one way or another, that’s none of my business. All I want is a peaceful life. I work as a freelance Hunter, taking on requests to enter Gates and receiving high compensation. My life’s goal is to spend every day in peace, eating what I want and buying what I want with the money I earn.
'I should take a break for a while. Maybe go on an overseas trip.'
I was browsing through folders to find something to watch, as usual, when the intercom started ringing.
Ding-dong~
'Who is it at this hour? I didn't order any deliveries...'
A woman was standing on the intercom screen.
'She doesn't look like someone from the Hunter Association. Did she get the wrong address?'
"Who is it?"
When I opened the door, a beautiful woman was standing there. She appeared to be in her late 20s, with shoulder-length black hair and neat clothing that couldn't hide her voluptuous figure.
"..."
The woman stood silently, staring at me. I felt a strange sense of familiarity and closeness, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't place who she was.
"Excuse me...?"
At that moment, the woman hugged me and began to sob.
"Uh... excuse me, what is this..."
"Suhyun-ah, Mom is so late, isn't she? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
"What? What?!"
I gently pushed away the woman who called herself my mother and looked at her face once more. Memories from 15 years ago flickered in my mind.
'It really is Mom...'
Funnily enough, the thought that came to me after seeing my mother for the first time in 15 years wasn't joy, but admiration.
'I heard Mom married Dad after having an accident when he was her college tutor, but even considering that, she looks exactly the same as she did 15 years ago... She’s supposed to be in her late 30s, but no matter how I look at it, she looks like she's in her 20s.'
"*Sob*... *sob* Suhyun-ah, Mom is sorry. I'm so late, aren't I? I really wanted to find you as soon as things got better, but when I went to look, that bastard had fled overseas, and the police kept rejecting me, saying they couldn't tell me anything because you were in a Hunter training school under state protection... It's true, Mom kept trying to find you..."
Thinking I might resent her, Mom continued to speak while watching my reaction.
"Now we can really live together... my son... my son Suhyun-ah, Mom is so late, isn't she?"
"No, it's just... it's so sudden."
I was happy to see her, but I was flustered by the sudden talk of living together.
'Hunter candidates have strict security, so it's natural that a civilian without connections to the Association couldn't find me. I'm happy to see her, but I'm so satisfied with my current life... living together is a bit... I should reject her as nicely as possible.'
"It's been a while, Mom. I understand that you had your reasons. But suddenly living together..."
"No, we will never be separated again."
"What...?"
Mom suddenly spoke with a firm attitude.
"Let's go home."
"What?"
"Son~ come out and eat~."
"Yes."
A week has passed since I came to Mom's house. In the end, I couldn't refuse Mom's suggestion that day and ended up here. I don't know if I missed my family or if I was lonely, but I didn't mind having someone cook for me every morning.
"Hey! Come out quickly! Everyone is waiting because of you!"
The one nagging me as soon as I left my room was Yoon Jihyun, my younger sister I had been separated from 15 years ago. She's currently studying for a retake after failing her college entrance exams; I don't know if it's because she's a retaker or if she just hates me, but she throws a fit every time she sees me.
"Suhyun-ah, please understand. Jihyun is just shy and happy to see her brother after such a long time."
"Ah! Unnie! That's not it at all! You're so annoying!"
The blonde beauty teasing Yoon Jihyun is Yoon Nahyun, my sister one year older than me. Contrary to her soft voice, she possesses a voluptuous figure that looks like it might burst out of her blouse at any moment. She is a genius currently attending the Department of Hunter Administration at Korea University. She says her goal is to work at the Hunter Association after graduation.
'Wow... I can't get used to those breasts no matter how many times I see them.'
"Kids, let's eat."
"We'll eat well."
Finally, my mother, Seong Yuna. She is a possessor of a youthful face that still surprises me every time I see her.
'It's genetics, it's definitely genetics.'
For starters, all the women in this house are voluptuous beauties. If any man were to live with these women, it would truly be a utopia.
After breakfast, Yoon Jihyun went to her academy, my sister to university, and Mom to work. I had no intention of doing any Hunter work for a while, so I would have normally spent my days glued to my phone watching shorts...
"Ha... I'm going crazy."
I masturbate at this time. To a 22-year-old virgin like me, the very existence of the women in this house was too stimulating. We might be family, but in my situation, having met them after 15 years, it was no different from living with three beautiful, well-bodied women.
In particular, the deciding factor was when I accidentally saw Mom coming out in a bathrobe after finishing her shower a few nights ago when I came out to the living room to drink water. Since that day, I close my eyes at this time every day and masturbate, recalling that day.
"Haa... Mom... ugh...!"
Splurt-splurt-
'How is that the body of a woman in her late 30s?'
This damn body, which became stronger after awakening as a Hunter, isn't satisfied with just one release. Furthermore, the problem was that the first naked woman I had ever seen in my life as a virgin was a woman with such a violently attractive body.
That was how I masturbated every day, mixed with guilt and a sense of moral depravity.
'Right, I have to do what I need to do today.'
After disposing of the tissue filled with semen, I got dressed and left the house. Besides Mom, I had one more problem to solve.
On the first day I came home, I saw debt collection texts constantly arriving on Mom's smartphone. On a hunch, I searched Mom's room when no one was home and found out that Mom was in debt. And that she had even touched private loans...
I called the loan shark's number and heard how she had gotten into debt. Mom used to run a restaurant, and when things went better than expected, she decided to expand, which led her to take out bank loans. Perhaps thinking everything would work out, she even bought the house we live in now with debt. At first, business was good, but things gradually went downhill, and in the end, she had to close the shop, leaving only debt behind.
The money she earns working every day goes into paying the massive monthly interest, and the debt shows no signs of being paid off.
'Damn it... I'm going to become a separated family again as soon as I meet them.'
In the end, I went to talk to the loan shark to see if I could pay off the debt.
'I think it's the second floor of this building...'
I climbed up to the shabby, gloomy office and knocked, and a menacing-looking brute opened the door.
"..."
"I'm the person who called earlier."
"Come this way."
The inside of the loan shark's office was cleaner and brighter than I expected.
"Oh my, customer! Please have a seat here. Bring some coffee over here."
He was a loan shark who looked more decent than I had thought.
"No, the drink is fine. I'm here to settle the debt owed by Seong Yuna."
"All at once?"
"Yes."
The loan shark looked a bit surprised. Since they said they couldn't disclose the debt amount for security reasons unless I came in person, I didn't know the exact figure.
"Yes, how much is it?"
The loan shark began flipping through a file labeled 'Seong Yuna'.
'Well, at most, wouldn't it be around 100 million KRW? Maybe 150 million at most...'
"Let's see, customer Seong Yuna... The principal is 280 million, and including the interest, it's 434.32 million KRW."
"What?"
My brain froze at the unexpected amount. The loan shark kindly showed me the contracts one by one and explained them to me.
"Haa..."
"It might be a bit difficult to repay it all at once..."
"No, I'll pay it off right now."
With trembling hands, I went into my banking app and transferred the debt amount to the loan shark's account.
"Oh my, you've got guts... Seeing you transfer this kind of amount without any limits or restrictions, you must be a Hunter?"
"Yes, well. Seeing you receive this money into an account, you must be a Hunter too, sir."
"I'm retired."
It had been a long time since the underworld was dominated by the Awakened.
"Then, we have no more business, right?"
"Of course. Well, if you ever need quick cash, come visit anytime."
"Yes."
I left the office trying to act as cool as possible, but I couldn't shake the feeling of emptiness. The 450 million KRW I had saved over three years of working as a Hunter had vanished in an instant.
'I don't know anymore. Whatever.'
It felt empty, but the thought that I had protected my family for the first time in my life didn't make me feel bad.