Chapter 65
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: An Air of Blossoming Romance
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“Coco… what?”
The gang members looked dumbfounded.
They wondered if he was mocking them, but Cheon Doun's expression was serious. The little girl, too, was remarkably confident.
“This clothing store is under the protection of our Coconut Family. You're stepping onto the wrong turf.”
Cheon Doun's words left the gang members bewildered.
They belonged to a fairly well-known organization in the slums. With that name backing them, everyone would bow their heads.
They had expected the same reaction this time, but faced with a completely different situation, their eyes darted around.
‘Are those guys really gang members too? Coconut Family? I've never heard of a gang with such a weird name.’
Though they talked of war and whatnot, they were just powerless, low-level members.
They hesitated, knowing they wouldn't escape unscathed if things escalated into a real conflict with another organization.
Sensing the mood, the man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward.
‘Idiots. There's no way they're a real gang with a little kid like that around.’
In times like this, seizing the initiative was crucial. With residents glancing over from all directions, they couldn't afford to look weak.
“Hey, pal. If you're going to joke around, you should pick your targets carefully. Don't you know you could lose your head for pulling a stunt like this?”
He stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. Cheon Doun also stepped forward and twisted his arm.
The movement was as fluid as flowing water, so natural that no one even registered it as strange.
By the time they came to their senses, the man was already groaning, his arm twisted behind him.
“As you can see, our Coconut Family has a child with us. As such, we have a policy of avoiding violence.”
His actions belied his words. The gang members wanted to retort but kept their mouths shut.
They backed away, seeing their leader subdued without even throwing a single punch.
‘Our boss is an Awakened. A D+ rank, no less!’
The slums, a gathering place for D-rank Hunters. Here, quite a few people, frustrated with reality, had strayed onto the wrong path.
The man whose arm was twisted by Cheon Doun was one of them.
Cheon Doun looked at the man and asked.
“Tell your men to back off. Or your arm will break.”
“Y-You heard him, right? Back off! All of you, get back!”
The man with the twisted arm shouted. The gang members exchanged glances before fleeing.
Yu Beom laughed at how they ran without a single look back.
“So much for loyalty. How is it that not a single one of them is stepping up to save him?”
Whether you call it a gang or a family, it's ultimately just a gathering of thugs. They turn their backs when it counts.
Forced to confront a truth he already knew, the man felt a sense of despair.
Cheon Doun entered the store, still holding the man's arm twisted.
“Ugh, wait. Wait a minute! Please let go of my arm… Ugh, ah, please.”
In the face of pain, there was no room for pride. The man groaned and pleaded as Cheon Doun dragged him to a corner of the store.
“You were harassing a child.”
“No, that's…”
“You scared this little girl. Didn't you?”
Cheon Doun said, placing a hand on Kim Nari's shoulder. Kim Nari put her hands on her hips and nodded.
“I was persecuted. I was frightened.”
*How, exactly?* The man swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
“So, I'll leave your punishment up to Kim Nari. Our Coconut Family doesn't like violence, but we do believe in paying back what we've received.”
“Since when did we have that policy?”
Yu Beom, who had been listening, asked with a laugh.
“Starting now. It's like the Coconut Family motto.”
Though it was a hastily made-up motto, Kim Nari's eyes sparkled. First a family, and now a motto. A motto must be followed.
“Then I shall pay back what I have received.”
“Alright. What do you want to do?”
“That man… um, that is. He must face the wall and stand with his hands up.”
At Kim Nari's words, the man's expression became complicated.
He would have preferred a few punches before being let go. What kind of humiliation was this, in front of the shop owner he'd been harassing?
It was even more embarrassing because people were peeking in through the shop's glass window.
“That's what she said. What are you doing? You're not going to do it?”
“No, it's just…”
The gang member's eyes darted around. *I should try to escape.* Getting caught and beaten unconscious would be better than enduring this humiliation.
The gang member quickly scanned the doorway.
‘One woman.’
Yu Jia was standing alone in front of the door. Seeing that, the gang member's eyes lit up.
If it was just one woman, he could easily shove her aside with his bulk and escape.
The moment he made his decision, Yu Jia stepped outside the shop. She picked up a stone from the ground and clenched it in her fist.
With a crunching sound, the stone crumbled. When she opened her hand, the pulverized stone scattered in the wind.
Yu Jia dusted the stone powder from her hand and looked at the gang member.
*Come here.* Her gaze seemed to say. The gang member looked at her with trembling eyes, then walked to the wall. He squeezed his eyes shut and quietly raised his hands.
‘That woman is scary…’
*If I go out there, I'll die. That look in her eyes isn't normal.* The gang member instinctively chose the path to survival.
He comforted himself with the thought that he just had to endure a moment of humiliation to live.
‘What the hell are these people? I… I may not look like much, but I'm a D+ rank Hunter.’
He'd fallen in with a gang because his earnings were poor, but he'd always been confident in his strength. So what in the world was this?
The gang member's inflated confidence rapidly deflated.
* * *
The owner, Mr. Bak, couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.
The gang member who had been harassing him was standing in the corner like a child being punished.
He secretly pinched the back of his hand, wondering if it was a dream. The fact that it wasn't made it even more unbelievable.
His work done, Cheon Doun turned to Mr. Bak.
“Do people like that come here often?”
“N-Not often. For the slums, the security around here is pretty good. There was never any protection money or anything… It's just started happening recently.”
Mr. Bak said, glancing nervously at the gang member.
He was afraid that while he'd gotten through today, this incident would lead to even more harassment.
Cheon Doun looked at him and asked.
“What's that gang's name?”
“Space. They were originally an organization that only operated in District 11. I don't know if it's financial trouble or what, but lately they've been extending their reach to this area.”
“District 11? Perfect. We were just on our way there.”
The siblings' hometown was District 11 of the slums. Since he planned to look around their old home anyway, he could stop by at the same time.
“The Coconut Family will be taking that over now. Things like today won't happen again.”
The words were spoken so casually that Mr. Bak was confused about how he should react.
Should he laugh it off as a joke? Or should he warn him of the danger and try to stop him?
As he hesitated, unsure of what to do, Cheon Doun spoke.
“Enough about that. Could you recommend some clothes for these two?”
Cheon Doun said, gesturing to the siblings. Shaken back to his senses, Mr. Bak scanned their sizes with his eyes.
‘Right, I should just forget about it. This kind of thing happens all the time in the slums.’
*If I got through today safely, tomorrow will be fine too.* You can't survive in the slums without that kind of mindset.
As a native of this place, Mr. Bak's mental recovery was fast.
‘By the way, I thought he was handsome when I first saw him, but the people with him are too. Are they celebrities or something?’
Seeing their unusual clothes, he wondered if they had come from a photoshoot. With that thought, Mr. Bak laid out some clothes in front of the siblings.
“These should be the right size. This gentleman here has a large frame, so this style should suit him well.”
He showed the clothes he'd brought to Yu Beom.
“And this lady has a slim build, so I think this style would suit her. I've brought both a dress and pants for now.”
He presented Yu Jia with a selection of pants and dresses.
She looked over the clothes before picking out a beige dress.
Having lived her life in loose, Egyptian-style clothing, she subconsciously chose an outfit with a similar feel.
“The fitting room is over there. Please change and come out.”
The siblings looked at each other, then entered separate fitting rooms.
A moment later, they walked out with subtle expressions.
Though they didn't say anything, both their faces were flushed. They were happy yet awkward to be wearing proper human clothes for the first time in decades.
“Wow, you both look great. Would you like to try on anything else?”
“No, I'm good with this.”
“Me too.”
Still feeling more awkward than anything, the two refused with sheepish faces. Even so, with their good looks, they appeared as a cool-headed, handsome man and beautiful woman.
Cheon Doun watched them, amused.
‘I expected as much when I saw Yu Jia's face, but why did that guy Yu Beom live with a bird head when he had a face like that?’
Even after hearing his reason for living with a bird head, his appearance now made the question pop up automatically.
Suddenly curious about Nam Giseok's reaction, he turned around.
As expected, Nam Giseok couldn't take his eyes off Yu Jia.
Feeling it might be rude, he would quickly look away, only to be unable to resist sneaking a glance back every so often.
Her cool-looking eyes were captivating. The light dusting of freckles combined with her cold image to create a unique atmosphere.
Her golden eyes were both eerie and mystical.
A person's heart isn't something that can be easily folded away. The feelings he had tried so hard to erase were once again stirring in Nam Giseok's heart.
“Rock star style… long hair… headbanging…”
He muttered something to himself, stroking his bald head.
*If I just confess and get rejected outright, will this lingering feeling disappear?*
‘Confess? What am I thinking? I've never even had a proper conversation with her.’
Nam Giseok chided himself.
Long hair like a rock star. A man who's good at headbanging. Her preferences were things he could work on once Manager Kim completed the medicine.
But friendship was another matter. Closing the distance between them depended entirely on his own efforts.
What in the world was he supposed to say to a woman he was interested in?
“M-Ma'am.”
Nam Giseok mustered his courage and approached her. When Yu Jia turned to look at him, his heart skipped a beat.
He'd been fine when she was wearing the bone helmet, but facing her bare face head-on, his heart began to race like a runaway train.
“Yes? Is there something you want to say?”
“Ah, well… it's just…!”
A cold sweat ran down his back. His heart was pounding so hard his head throbbed. He clenched his fists and steeled himself.
‘Ooh? Could that be… Ooh! You can do it, sir.’
The quick-witted Mr. Bak cheered Nam Giseok on as if he were eating popcorn.
There's nothing more entertaining than someone else's love life. Before long, Yu Beom and Cheon Doun had also silently backed away to watch the two.
*You can do it, Nam Giseok. I can do this.* Nam Giseok gave himself a pep talk. *Let's start naturally, maybe with the weather.*
“Th-The weather is really nice, isn't it?”
*Rumble.* Just then, thunder cracked outside. Cheon Doun and Yu Beom covered their faces with their hands as if they couldn't bear to watch.
Their mouths were smiling.
‘H-Hang in there, sir! It's okay. I had days like that too. That heart-pounding feeling when I first met my wife… I know. I know that feeling.’
Only Mr. Bak was cheering him on, his fists clenched tight.
His efforts to cheer without ruining the mood, hiding behind a mannequin, looked a little creepy.
He had even brought the young Kim Nari over to sit beside him so she wouldn't be a bother.
Thanks to him, Kim Nari also peeked out and watched the scene unfold.
‘What's going on? What is this situation? Why is it so interesting.’
Even the gang member standing in the corner with his hands up pricked up his ears.
Nam Giseok began to search for a topic in his blank mind. He wanted to continue the conversation, but he was too nervous for anything to come to mind.
‘Compliment her clothes! You have to approach her little by little, starting with everyday things like that!’
Mr. Bak cheered inwardly. As if his telepathy had worked, Nam Giseok spoke.
“Y-Your clothes look really good on you.”
“Really? Thanks.”
*Ah, she said thanks.* Nam Giseok clutched his heart. Just hearing her say thank you made his chest pound.
Yu Jia looked at Nam Giseok. Having received a compliment, she wanted to say something nice in return.
What was there to praise about Nam Giseok? Yu Jia didn't know much about him.
It was only natural, as they'd never spoken privately.
About the only thing she knew was that he was a good cook. A smile formed on her lips as she remembered the curry and ramen they had all eaten together.
“You're a really good cook.”
“Huh? Ah, thank you.”
“The food you made that day was delicious.”
“Th-Thank you.”
“Make it again when we get back.”
Nam Giseok froze. A thunderbolt struck his head. The words ‘make it again’ were gently carved into his heart.
‘Ooh…!’
Watching from the side, Mr. Bak clenched his fist. That soft smile. A sign promising a next time. Was this a green light?
Mr. Bak let out an excited breath. A fond smile spread across his face as he recalled the dates he'd had with his wife in their younger days.
*I should buy a bouquet of flowers on my way home tonight.*
‘Isn't she just telling him to cook?’
‘Nam Giseok is the one in charge of meals, after all.’
Cheon Doun and Yu Beom, who knew the truth, covered their faces and looked on with pity.
Their mouths, of course, were smiling.
‘Ah, what is it! I want to see too! I like romance movies, you know! Why did you make me face the wall!’
Unable to see the situation, the anxious gang member was inwardly stamping his feet in frustration.