Side Story 3. Free flight (4)

Even to Soram, who was a novice in cooking, it was clear that the students were clumsy in portioning and plating the ingredients. The students who were transferring steaming tofu onto disposable plates and asking, "Where's the sesame?" and "What about the sesame oil?" looked about the same age as Ayoung.

The sight of them fumbling around in front of the cooking station seemed to bother Han Tae-un (the official chef of a certain dormitory at the Rift Agency) as well. Leaving a word to wait for a moment, he went over there and exchanged a few words with the juniors. The students nodded busily as they received advice on the cooking workflow.

Soram watched this scene with curiosity, resting his chin on his hand.

Tae-un was among the younger hunters at the headquarters. Moreover, the Field Operations Bureau, which only included high-grade hunters, barely recruited two or three people a year. In other words, Tae-un had always been the youngest in terms of years of service. Now, he was the complete opposite of his image at the headquarters.

Noticing Soram's gaze, Tae-un returned and asked:

"Why are you looking at me with that smile?"

"Han Tae-un, you look like a senior senior."

"I'm a fossil since I took a long break. Most of them are probably 7 or 8 years behind me in school."

Tae-un looked around at the juniors and then fixed his gaze on one person.

"Except for that person. She's in the same year as me."

The student, whose face had become somewhat familiar after seeing her a few times, was now wearing a headband that said 'President'.

"What, are you introducing me now? Awesome. I'm Hong Ye-na!"

"Hello. If you're in the same year, does that mean you entered school in the same year?"

"Yes. I was in the same group as this guy during orientation too."

"Ah, I see."

Soram waved his hand, refusing Tae-un's attempt to explain. I know what orientation is, you fool.

"What was Han Tae-un like in his first year?"

"Oh, he was incredibly popular. I'm a living witness, you know."

Ooh, cutting straight to the main content without any preamble. As expected of someone fit to be a student council president. The president, having successfully captured Soram's attention, spoke with an excited voice.

"He's big, and his accent was strong, so everyone was a bit scared at first. But after a few group classes and MT trips, whenever we played truth games and had to name someone we liked, the number of girls pointing to Tae-un started to increase. He's simple and doesn't know how to be cunning, you know. He's handsome without trying, and around that time, rumors of the handsome freshman started spreading among the seniors too, so it was quite a frenzy."

"Hooh..."

"Don't exaggerate. In their early 20s, everyone's only interested in dating, so that's why there was talk, but I just lived normally."

"What's this, Han Tae-un's tongue has grown quite long for a change. Is there something I haven't heard?"

"There isn't. I just studied. I was at the library every day, remember?"

"Right, that's true. Posts asking if the guy in black clothes at the law school library had a girlfriend would come up almost every day on the love-finding board."

"What's the love-finding board?"

"It's a board on the school community site. The Love Finding Board."

"Ah, I see..."

On the surface, it seemed like he was laughing pleasantly while listening to memories of his colleague's fresh-faced days, but Tae-un could see. One corner of his smiling mouth was noticeably raised crookedly.

"Then Han Tae-un... must have received a lot of confessions, right?"

"Ah, of course. I think he blankly rejected most of them, but among them, did he date anyone... Oh, the food's ready. Just a moment."

Just then, the tofu kimchi and fish cake soup Soram had ordered were prepared, and the student council president stood up. Left behind, Soram, still not dropping his smile, whispered in a voice only Tae-un could hear.

"Didn't you say I was your first?"

"Of course...!"

"Here you go! Enjoy your meal. Where were we in our conversation?"

"We were talking about people Han Tae-un dated."

"Ah, right. Tae-un's girlfriend, girlfriend..."

Tae-un, who could no longer stand by, hurriedly waved his hand.

"There weren't any."

"Didn't you date Jiyeon back then?"

"I didn't. Noona, stop it."

"Was it Dohee?"

"I said I didn't."

"Oh... Ms. Jiyeon, Ms. Dohee... Are there more?"

Soram's eyes widened and his lungs filled with air. Though he was asking the student council president, his face, baring his teeth and about to pounce, was directed at Tae-un. Who else was there... The student council president, pressing her temples and trying to remember, suddenly clapped her hands.

"Ah, right. I don't think so. I remember on the day of his party before enlisting, there was talk about why he was still single with that face."

"After discharge, I didn't return to school and went straight to Guncheon."

Tae-un quickly added, lest other stories come out.

"That's how it was. It seems the conclusion is that he was a man with popularity but no substance."

Soram loosened the fist he had been clenching under his folded arms, and Tae-un secretly let out a sigh of relief. That person would never know that she had just manipulated two 1st-grade hunters.

"If you're considering a career as a civil servant, you might want to keep the Rift Agency's PR department in mind. I think you'd get along really well with the person in charge there."

"Oh... If you give me new aspirations and push me back into the swamp of taking a leave of absence, I'll have no choice but to become an unfilial daughter to my parents again..."

"I think it suits your aptitude, including that kind of wit. I'm serious."

"Really? I'm starting to waver for real...!"

"Um, unnie, should I put this up here?"

"Ah, right. Yes. That's good. Go ahead."

It seemed things weren't perfectly organized yet, as there was one more hardboard sign being put up belatedly. A student climbed onto a chair to hang the sign on the tent's fastener.

Almost simultaneously, someone walked in that direction from beside Soram. It was Han Tae-un, who couldn't resist a situation that needed help. He took the sign and easily hung it on the upper part of the tent without needing the chair.

It was a sign written in a somewhat bold font.

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[The domain of arm muscles bulked up by law books (6000 pages), challengers welcome]

[Win at arm wrestling and get "1 free side dish"]

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"Wow."

No, this is really cute. My goodness. It seemed he had somehow become rigid within the stiff frame of a civil servant too. Like the menu earlier, he was amazed by the unique ideas that could only come from fresh, pliable minds untainted by the world.

As Soram watched the broad back adjusting the slightly crooked sign, an interesting thought occurred to him, as if infected by that youthful creativity.

"Does that apply to me too?"

"What? Come on, that's too much. If a hunter joins in, it'll be a massacre of civilians..."

"Why? The law department has one hunter they can send out against me."

As Soram's fingertip pointed to the other hunter in this place, the student council president's expression suddenly widened, and she shook both fists vigorously.

"Wow...! Chief Jin Soram! You've got some showmanship...!"

"Ooooh!"

Judging by the good reaction, it seemed this wasn't just an interesting plan to him alone. Along with the cheers, students standing around also flocked over. Soram wiggled the finger that had been pointing at Tae-un to call him over.

Tae-un let out a deflating chuckle, then approached while rolling up the loose sleeves of his legal robe over his shoulders. Soram also unbuttoned his shirt and rolled up his sleeves above his elbows.

The two stood facing each other across an empty table. A circle of spectators formed around the table.

Their hands firmly grasped each other over a small hole punched in the center of the plastic table. They gripped each other tightly enough to make their palms ache already.

"Jin Soram, you're rich, why are you betting on free food?"

"Yeah. If I win, you're going to pay for everything, Han Tae-un."

Come to think of it, while they had sparred countless times, this was the first time they were playing around with something like arm wrestling. The student council president quickly stepped in between them.

"Then ready. Start!"

Crunch!

As soon as it started, the table under both their elbows dented. They both immediately recognized the problem and eased their strength to just lightly rest their elbows on the table.

Instead, they put even more strength into their clasped hands. Veins stood out from Tae-un's hand to his arm. His shoulder, half-hidden by the rolled-up prosecutor's robe sleeve, swelled thickly.

This bastard is serious.

Soram raised the corners of his mouth while putting strength into his aching wrist. Their clasped hands remained stopped at the midpoint, vibrating slightly as if to demonstrate their power struggle.

When he raised his head, his eyes met Tae-un's. Tae-un's eyes were also strained. The slight wrinkle at the front of his eyebrows was a change only Soram could recognize.

Soram bit the corner of his lip while maintaining a smile that feigned composure. In terms of pure strength, Tae-un was actually ahead of Soram. With their hands holding steady in the middle now, Tae-un was probably using less strength than himself.

But Soram wasn't using his full strength either. Soram raised the back of his hand even more. In response, the opposing force also strengthened. The muscles from his wrist past his elbow to his shoulder tensed achingly. The other's hand dug into the back of his hand as if to leave an imprint.

Crack.

As the table cracked under Tae-un's elbow, he quickly moved his elbow half a span to the side. Excited exclamations burst from around them. Soram brought his head closer to his opponent and raised the corner of his mouth.

"Han Tae-un, are you going easy? I'm still someone who comes here to lecture, should I lose?"

"You should go easy too. I have to attend school with these juniors for three years."

Both their right hands were clasped together, while their left hands gripped the table. The table around their hands had already become crumpled like tissue paper. The faces of the two, with veins standing out on their jaws, had also gotten closer than before.

As the distance with Soram shortened, Tae-un increasingly stopped hiding his expression. Both arms vibrated more roughly, affecting even the surrounding furniture. Students hurriedly pushed away other tables and chairs. It had become a bit more serious than a light-hearted game.