Chapter 96

"What's gotten into you? You have the taste of Heungseon Daewongun*."

Considering that Soram had barely touched Koreanized hamburgers or non-greasy pasta until now, it was truly an unexpected behavior.

"I guess my taste changes as I get older."

Min-ki also brought a piece of the pork cutlet Soram had cut to his mouth.

"It's delicious. Whenever I looked at the menu here, I wondered if there would really be anyone ordering pork cutlet at a soup specialty restaurant, but it's really tasty."

"I actually know someone who goes to haejang-guk (hangover soup) restaurants or sundae-guk (blood sausage soup) restaurants and only eats pork cutlet without ordering the soup."

"Who?"

"Han Tae-un."

Kuk, kuk. Min-ki, who made a sound as if his palate was being scratched, said after taking a deep breath.

"You said Ayoung? I must have heard wrong."

"It's Han Tae-un."

"...His appearance, hometown, and taste preferences don't match well."

"You shouldn't judge people by their appearance either."

How much he nags, how persistent and meticulous he is, how he pretends to be taciturn but is good at sarcasm... Ah, come to think of it, I haven't been replying to Tae-un's message asking if I could talk earlier.

Soram took out his phone from his pocket. He had deliberately avoided checking it, thinking there would be constant messages, but his message box with Tae-un remained the same. The last one was the lunchtime message that Soram hadn't opened yet. After staring at it for a while, he put it down upside down.

A little later, the bottoms of the soup pot and pork cutlet plate were visible. After finishing the meal, Soram wiped his mouth and flipped his phone over again. As expected, there was no contact. At this point, even Soram thought, 'Huh?'

"Jin Soram, are you done eating?"

"Ah, yeah."

"You keep looking at your phone, do you have someone to contact? Then do it before you go."

"No. I'll do it after I get to the accommodation."

"Is it something you can't say outside?"

"It's not like that, but I think it's better to do it later."

Then Min-ki looked at Soram with a subtle gaze.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Don't run away and just take the call."

"Huh?"

"You guys know everything about each other anyway... He probably observes and understands the most about you, so what's the point of avoiding him?"

Wh-what did he say? Soram's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know? That we're like that?"

"Why wouldn't I know? I've seen you for how many years."

"No... I don't think we know each other to that extent... We only met for the first time this spring."

The elbows resting on the table slowly retreated. Although quite a few things had happened between him and Tae-un, if Min-ki had noticed the atmosphere that even Ayoung didn't know, he was truly a scary person.

"Judging by your reaction, you did avoid contact. What's going on?"

"No. I was going to do it slowly, but it just got delayed, not on purpose."

"Sigh..."

Jin Soram. The voice calling him contained the intention to give advice, even though it was bothersome.

"As you know, Ga-eul and I have a tendency to avoid things. I originally dislike incidents and accidents, and Ga-eul is afraid to take on uncertain things because of her perfectionism."

"Hmm... That's right. True."

"We talked about this before, and the conclusion was that avoiding never made anything better. It's unconditionally like that in our situation, unlike ordinary people. There are many times when we can't solve things later because we have the biggest task of protecting the country."

"...Uh-huh..."

Listening to him, he found himself absentmindedly agreeing. He also felt like he was being pointed out and criticized. Min-ki pointed to the flipped phone.

"So call Director-nim quickly. He probably already thinks you caused some trouble. What did you do that you're even avoiding Director-nim's call? If you apologize sincerely, he'll let it slide."

Huh?

"Why are you suddenly mentioning Director-nim?"

"Isn't it Director-nim? I thought it would naturally be him. Don't tell me it's our director?"

"I already answered Director-nim's call earlier and said 'Long live pacifism' before hanging up."

"...Then who is it? Someone from the headquarters?"

"Well..."

Was he just feeling guilty on his own? Soram's shrunken heart expanded again.

"If you didn't cause trouble, is there something you abandoned and left behind?"

Abandoned. He had never thought of it that way, but hearing those words, it was also something that stung a little.

"I'll do it after I go in."

However, in the end, he was just avoiding it once again.

* * *

The accommodation Soram chose while staying in Busan was a house with blue tin roof tiles and bumpy white walls that had been repainted several times. The owner couple lived in a villa a little further up the road, and this place near the sea was remodeled into a guesthouse and rented out to travelers.

He calculated a year's worth of rent at the peak season rate and paid it all at once. As a result, he was able to gain the kindness of the owner couple. Receiving a pot of fish cake soup that they told him to eat as a late-night snack or breakfast tomorrow, Soram entered the square studio. The old bedding cover with a mix of fluorescent green and purple greeted him from the floor.

After putting down the fish cake soup, he took off only his jacket and threw it to the side, then plopped down on the bedding. The rough embroidery pattern of the old bedding touched his cheek.

Outside the window, the sunset had almost disappeared. Normally, around this time, he would be cleaning up the office, going to the dormitory, washing up, and resting. The sound of footsteps from the next room, the sight of someone moving around the room should have been visible through the open door, but none of that was here.

When he opened his phone, the last message box he had seen immediately popped up.

I can talk now. I wait┃

No, maybe he wasn't really waiting since there was no particular response after lunch.

Soram erased the sentence he had written. He didn't want to contact him with his honest feelings because he couldn't find an excuse for the sudden transfer.

"..."

With the message in his eyes, he pulled out his tie and threw it on top of his jacket. He also unbuttoned a couple of buttons that had been buried up to his neck.

After finishing the unnecessary rustling, he brought his fingers back in front of his phone, but still, no words came to mind. He didn't know what to say, and he couldn't guess Tae-un's reaction to it.

"Umm..."

Yeah, since when did he ask for permission? It was already a situation where he had acted arbitrarily.

Instead of a message, he pressed the call button firmly. The dial tone started.

When the ringing sound went over about six times, he tilted his head and took the phone off his cheek. It was time for him to be in the dormitory, but was he not there yet? Or maybe he hadn't finished a dispatch yet.

The call that kept ringing was terminated by Soram's hand. The tension also loosened weakly. Since he didn't answer, it's done now. He was about to forcibly cover up the lingering feeling.

Woong―

A vibration came to the turned-off phone.

Han Tae-un.

The caller was the person whose call had just been disconnected.

"..."

―...

The call was connected, but there was no word between them.

"...Have you been well?"

Even though he said it himself, it felt like a nasty question.

―You.

"Yeah."

―...

This time, what he heard was a sigh that sounded like suppressing something.

―Are you really in Busan?

"Yeah. I'm in Busan."

―...Did something happen there? Why can't I reach you?

"Uh... I was busy. Very."

Soram continued, not knowing why he was making excuses.

"The director made me buy coffee because I'm a newbie, and I followed a rookie chief, and he tried to make me spar with other 1st-grade hunters from the Busan Branch in the underground arena."

Tae-un reacted quickly to those words.

―Did you fight with 1st-grade hunters?

"No. I ran away."

―...I see.

I thought he would laugh, but maybe it's not that funny. Somehow, his voice seems to have gotten even lower.

"Now... um... you're off work, right? In the dormitory?"

―Yeah.

"Ventilate my room from time to time."

―Why would I go into a room without its owner?

"It's not locked. If mold or bugs grow in my room, they'll spread to your room too."

―...

Once again, the call time just went up quietly.

"Han Tae-un, are you angry?"

Tae-un didn't answer. Soram changed his posture and sat up.

"You said before that you wouldn't get angry at me."

―I said I wouldn't shout at you again, not that I wouldn't get angry.

"Oh, I see you really want to shout now."

―No, I don't.

"Then I see you really want to get angry."

―I said no.

The answer was firm and curt.

"But why didn't you answer when I called you the first time? You said you were in the dormitory."

―I checked it as soon as I saw it.

"What, you ignored me too."

―...When I saw your name, I felt like I would shout, so while I was calming down, the call ended. How long has it been that you couldn't wait for that?

Soram opened his eyes a little wider and then smiled narrowly.

"You keep your word. It's cool even though you're like a stickler for rules."

―Sigh...

A deep sigh that seemed to make the ground collapse burst out from the other end of the receiver. It also seemed to lose strength.

―From morning until now, I've thought of all sorts of things in my head, but you really...

"..."

―Was the dispatch to Busan urgent? To the point where you couldn't tell me in advance?

"It wasn't like that, but even if I had told you in advance, it would have only ruined the mood, and I wouldn't have not come here."

―When it comes to giving up, you were cold enough to be scary, but why is your judgment so cold this time?

"Well..."

Somehow, it felt like he was being interrogated persistently. At times like this, it seemed like being a lawyer who fights with words would suit him better than being a hunter who fights with a sword. Thinking that, Soram rubbed the back of his neck. At some point, this had become a habitual action. Now, he couldn't feel the stinging sensation that used to be around the back of his neck.

―When are you coming back to the headquarters?

"Everyone asked me that today. Do I really seem like I'll only stay for a few days and come back?"

―Do you have to stay for a long time?

"I don't know either."

―...Why the hell did you go there?

"It's my decision."

―There must be a reason why you made that decision.

"It's a secret."

It seemed like Han Tae-un would make an expression of suppressing frustration and sighing again, even though it couldn't be seen. And he knew that if Soram had run away this much, he would have no choice but to let it slide.

―Jin Soram, are you still listening?

"Yeah."

―I'm like a bear cub, as you said, and my personality is indifferent, but that doesn't work for you.

It was a statement that didn't connect with the context. Just then, there was a loud sound of water outside the window, perhaps because a wave had crashed. Tae-un's words slowly seeped in like a wave that had soaked the sandy beach.

"Han Tae-un, don't tell me you're thinking of coming here?"

―...

"You can't."

―Why?

"I came here after working full 8 years, but you haven't even been there for a year."

―I'm not thinking of transferring either. I can just visit you on holidays.

"That's not allowed either. Ayoung hasn't been appointed as a chief yet, so you're the only official flight team member. Do you think they'll give you permission to leave your jurisdiction?"

―...

At times like this, his adherence to principles and inflexibility was really helpful.

Even if the Busan Branch requested an emergency dispatch, Han Tae-un's turn would be at the very end. Unless a serious situation arose where they had to engage in an all-out battle, he couldn't move.

And if it got to that point, it would have to be considered a hopeless situation already.

"So don't come. You stay there."

*) Heungseon Daewongun is a historical figure in Korea. He was the regent of Joseon from 1863 to 1873 during the reign of King Gojong, the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty.

Heungseon Daewongun was known for his conservative policies and opposition to foreign influences during his regency.