I'm a Hunter? (3)
Dad was already flustered, and Mom—who had shown up at some point after catching wind of the talk—was there with him.
I was face-to-face with my parents at an hour when I would normally have been asleep, and the air was anything but good. It brought back the day I'd told them I was taking a job at the factory.
"Son. Say that again."
"I awakened as a hunter, so I'm going to work as one."
Mom's face had already hardened before I finished.
"Son. You understand what that means, don't you?"
"Your father's right! Son! Working as a hunter... come to your senses!"
I already knew why they were so shaken. However little interest I'd ever taken in hunters, I knew this one thing. A hunter did the work with their own life on the line. In other words, it wouldn't be strange if they died at any moment.
"I'm fine."
"Son!"
Mom struck the table and shot to her feet, and Dad reached out from beside her to hold her back. It felt as if the whole thing might blow at any second, but thanks to Dad we got past it. Even so, it was the sort of moment that wouldn't have been strange if it had exploded right then.
"Dad doesn't want you working as a hunter either. That's how I really feel."
"Yes."
"But you want to do it, don't you? Hunter work."
"Yes."
Dad let out a long sigh. Mom, beside him, was visibly swallowing whatever she wanted to say.
"All right. If our boy says he wants to do it, how are his parents supposed to stop him?"
Unexpectedly—far too unexpectedly—permission came easily. Dad's permission. When I'd told them I was going to work at the factory, talking them around had taken forever. And now they were allowing this, just like that?
"H-honey!! What are you saying right now!"
Mom, at least, showed no sign of agreeing.
"Dear. He's come this far saying he wants to do it. How are we, his parents, supposed to stop him?"
"—The factory wasn't dangerous, so that was fine. But hunter work isn't! It's dangerous!"
"True. I've heard it's dangerous, but that's an old story now."
"...Even if it's an old story! How can you do this..."
My parents were unusually close, nothing like most couples. From the stories that went around online, plenty of marriages soured before the kids were even grown, but mine were the kind who still got lovey-dovey right in front of their son. And now, because of me, that closeness was threatening to crack. It might have been my imagination, but that was something that could not be allowed to happen.
"Ah..."
"Son, hush. Dear. These days, I hear hunters learn a great deal before they ever enter the Tower. I've heard people don't actually die going in anymore."
"It's still dangerous, though! That's a fact!"
"That's an old story now. You know it too. Times have changed."
"......"
Mom looked as if she still had more to say, but in the end she couldn't get a word out, and lowered her head.
"Son."
"Yes."
"You're an adult now, and the choice to do the work you want will always be yours. So Dad—so we, your parents—will support you."
"...Thank you."
"Nothing to thank us for. But I want you to remember this one thing. If hunter work gets too hard, if it feels too dangerous, it's all right to quit anytime."
"Yes!"
"Good. And Dad—your mother and I—we don't want to see our son die before we do. So remember. You won't push yourself too far."
"I'll remember. I promise."
"All right. Then we're dismissed. You must be tired, coming all this way. Let's get some sleep."
And so I managed to win my parents over. More precisely, I got Dad's permission. Mom still didn't have the air of someone who had agreed.
"Mom will allow it too. You working as a hunter."
"...What?"
"I'll allow it. The moment it feels dangerous, you quit. Understood?"
"...Yes. I don't want to die either."
"Good. I love you, son. I'm heading out, then."
"...Okay. Have a good day."
"Right. I'll be back."
My parents left for work.
As for what had happened—picking up where last night left off, Mom had, since morning, given me permission to work as a hunter. I had no idea what could have gone on between falling asleep and waking up to make her agree so easily. At any rate, I had my parents' blessing to do the job.
"Hah."
In the worst case I'd even considered walking away from hunter work, so I was glad I hadn't had to give it up.
The reason I'd decided to become a hunter was simple, really. It would get me out of military service, and the money was good. Not that I was doing it truly for those reasons. I knew well enough that a hunter's work meant staking your life—that it was dangerous, and hard.
Even so, I was doing it for myself. For my parents. If I could earn enough that they wouldn't have to worry about growing old, and I wouldn't have to worry either... To make that kind of money, the only way was to use the chance already sitting in my hands, however I had to. And since I'd awakened as a hunter, that chance was hunter work.
"Ha. Done."
I set the stray thoughts aside and checked the door lock. I'd just swapped the batteries, and sure enough it worked perfectly. So yesterday it really had been dead batteries.
"Good. All fin—"
♪
"An ad?"
I shut the door, went into my room, and checked my phone. My friends were calling me out. Right—now that I thought about it, we'd agreed to go drinking.
It was still morning. I had my doubts any place would even be open for drinking this early.
Apparently there really was a place that would pour this early.
Lying in bed last night, I'd thought it over. Even my parents had been that shocked to learn I'd awakened as a hunter. So what about my friends? There'd be some fun in messing with them, but it was obvious things would just turn into a hassle. Better to simply tell them I'd awakened? I figured that was the right call.
I took a picture of myself reflected in the full-length mirror in my room. My face, of course, was hidden behind the phone.
The obvious reaction, I supposed—but the two of them knew the layout of my room. They at least knew this was my room.
I was curious what kind of reaction I'd get. Curious—and then more than a minute passed without a single message.
Not long after I sent that, stickers came up.
This time I took a photo that actually showed my face and uploaded it to Katalk.
The two of them launched a joint spam assault. I hadn't been able to believe my own reflection at first either, but I'd had no choice but to accept it. So they had no choice but to accept it too.
Short-dan-hwa—the crew the three of us had formed. It was disbanded now.
Back in middle school I'd been bullied over my height, and I wasn't the only one. The three of us, all struggling because we were short, had banded together, and we'd stayed close right up to the present.
Maybe the facts had landed, because nothing came back from Sungjun. Still, scrapping like this was an ugly look. Grown men, acting like children.
The two of them were college students, and unlike me, they were broke. Which was why—as I'd come to realize scrolling through old chats—they turned infinitely weak the moment money entered the picture.
Something truly shocking had happened, but I got Soonjae on the phone and made it to the meeting spot in a hurry.
"Hey. You're here?"
"I'm here. More importantly, where are we watching from?"
"That thing, you know? Let's watch from behind it."
"Sure."
The two of us moved fast and ducked behind a container—one that had been converted into a shop. The reason was simple. We'd already seen the photos, but a photo and the real thing were different beasts. I couldn't stand not knowing what Haseong actually looked like in person, and Soonjae was fully on board.
"Shouldn't he be here soon?"
"...Any minute. Oh. Isn't that him?"
"Where, where?"
I looked where Soonjae was pointing.
"...Is that really Haseong? That Haseong?"
"...It matches the photo exactly. That's the short, ugly Haseong, right?"
"Shit..."
I couldn't believe it. Like Soonjae said—that short, ugly Haseong had turned into that?
Hidden behind the container and watching how things played out, I caught on immediately. Everyone who passed—man or woman, it didn't matter—gave Haseong a look as they went by. The ones staring hardest, of course, were the women.
"...Hey. Shit. Let's go."
"...R-right. Let's."
I grabbed Sungjun and strode out into the open, straight to where Haseong was.
"Huh. What? Why are you coming out of there?"
"—Ah. That was the bathroom! Right?"
"Y-yeah. Just got back from the bathroom. H-Haseong? You've changed so much I barely recognize you?"
"Right? You stood out even from way over there."
It wasn't a joke. Even while we'd been watching, people passing by had pointed at Haseong and whispered about whether he was a celebrity.
"It's that bad? ...This is embarrassing."
Getting this much attention, it was no wonder that Haseong couldn't keep his head on straight. I could understand it. His height and his face had changed, but he was still the Haseong I knew.
"Anyway, I know a place, so let's just go," Sungjun said.
Sungjun was thinking the same thing I was.
"Yeah. Let's go right now."
"Let's go."
And so we headed for the place Sungjun knew.