BXBX NOVEL Chapter 62: Have we met? (2)
The question visibly confused Cheon Myung-seok.
“Seung-hyun? Yes! That’s him! He used to do Rifts with Myung-seok, but one day he left him to join a Guild!”
Lee Hye-sun exclaimed.
The god of war, Kim Seung-hyun, had grown up here? I didn’t know that.
“Cheon Myung-seok, what can you tell us about him?”
Although their fighting styles were very similar, I now realized that he wasn’t Kim Seung-hyun. Or was it? No, not it definitely wasn’t him. How disappointing.
“Oh, and give me back my bow, please. Thanks for helping with the Ogre, but you can’t just take someone’s weapon out of their hands.”
“Oh, sorry. It was urgent.”
“You shoot well.”
“I think Hye-sun is right, but I don’t remember it very well. It was such a long time ago. I don’t even remember what I ate yesterday.”
“Let’s finish this conversation after we’ve cleared the Rift.”
With that, our conversation was over. Cheon Myung-seok retook the lead, and we continued onward.
We cleared the Rift without any further incidents. I followed the others and helped where I could, but I was still thinking about Kim Seung-hyun.
“I can’t wait to tell my brother that I’ve met a celebrity.”
“…”
“When we’re done, would you mind taking a quick picture? My brother is a huge fan!”
“Yes?”
* * *
“Cheon Myung-seok, why are you so quiet?”
“I’m remembering…”
Jeong Si-woo gently laid his hand on the man’s shoulder. Under his clothes, he could feel the rock-hard muscles.
“Where did you go after he left? The Academy? A Guild?”
“I’ve lived a long life as an insignificant Hunter. If I hadn’t met you, Jeong Si-woo…I’d probably be grilling pork belly for the rest of my life.”
“Hahaha. With that Talent, you were destined to be an excellent Hunter. No matter what.”
“Maybe. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have probably died in some Rift.”
Unlikely. I may have reminded him of his true skill, but it had always been there.
Jeong Si-woo took another sip of beer before handing it to Kim Seung-hyun.
Shh. Jeong Si-woo, who had been smoking, took one more out and handed it to Kim Seung-hyun.
“You want one?”
“I quit.”
“You quit? Wow, that’s great. You don’t drink alcohol, you don’t smoke, and you don’t even drink coffee. Han Yeon-soo and Zhang Wei drink and smoke whenever they can. Even Yoo Ji-yeon is addicted to coffee.”
He set the end of the cigarette on fire, and smoke burst out. Kim Seung-hyun was looking at the sky with a distant expression. He seemed to be lost in thought.
“It’s because of the person who taught me how to be a hunter. I’m not going to start drinking or smoking while I am still able to work.”
“Wow, that’s great.”
“What’s even more amazing is that I’ve been an alcoholic for a long time. Until my daughter had fallen ill…”
“Ah…”
Usually, people did the opposite in these situations.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Kim Seung-hyun rarely spoke about his friend, the fearsome warrior.”
I had to look very closely, but it looked like he was smiling.
Cheon Myung-seok was a tough man. He might bleed if you stab him, but I wouldn’t know, for I had never seen him get wounded.
“If ever I can do anything for you, just ask.”
“…Thank you.”
Cheon Myung-seok was staring at the night sky, lost in thought.
Tuk. Tuk.
I put out the cigarette in the ashtray. I shouldn’t smoke in front of someone who had quit.
“Don’t worry, I will find him.”
“…Yeah.”
I laid my hand on his shoulder reassuringly, fixed his tie, and went back into the building.
Kim Seung-hyun sighed while he was staring at the sky, lost in thought.
.
.
.
“Mr. Si-woo, pay attention! You’ll burn it!”
“Sorry. I was distracted.”
Lee Hye-sun’s words snapped me back to reality. I saw the meat burning on the stove. I hurriedly went to flip it over, but she had already taken the tongs out of my hand.
“What were you doing? Stop daydreaming! Hye-sun, you’re not doing any better. Just hand me the tongs. You’re ruining perfectly good meat!”
“What?”
After watching her flipping the meat over constantly, Park Joon-hyuk flicked his tongue impatiently and took the tongs from her hands. Park Joon-hyuk seemed to be even better at cooking than at hunting.
“I had no idea that Seung-hyun was such a famous man. Do you think he’s alright? What happened to him? How do you know so much about him?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, and I’m looking for him myself. Seeing Myeong-seok fight like him…”
“It’s great that you’ve caught it. He might be a bit run down, but he used to be an excellent Tank. He’s simply overworked himself.”
“Well, I can’t afford to not work. I don’t make enough money hunting, so I have to work a second job. I need to pay my daughter’s hospital bills.”
The expressions on Park Joon-hyuk and Lee Hye-sun’s faces had changed. They seemed to know all about his situation.
Working two jobs to support his sick daughter.
‘I had no idea before I showed up here. If only we’d met earlier…’
It had been pure coincidence that I met him.
‘Kim Seung-hyun never talked about his past because he didn’t even remember it.’
What had happened to him?
“Joon-hyuk, let me do it. You all did well today. Sit down and eat.”
It smelled delicious. Everyone got a bowl of rice, and we shared a bunch of side dishes. I saw some ripe kimchi. It felt so strange sitting next to these simple Hunters.
“Jeong Si-woo, we have to thank you; you made our job much easier today.”
Kim Seung-hyun dished out the meat and threw more pieces on the grill.
“We eat in this restaurant every day and discuss our strategies. Eat!”
“You have to eat something, too. Come on, join us.”
“No, I’m not hungry. I had some soup earlier. You go ahead and eat.”
“I’m on a diet anyway. Take some of my pork.”
Listening to the three of them squabble, I ate my meat. It was a bit greasy, but it was delicious. It tasted even better in good company.
It was nice to be a part of this group.
They were like a family.
They seemed happy. They were only third-class Hunters, but that didn’t matter to them.
“I’m really not…Oh, hold on a second.”
The laughing Cheon Myung-seok pulled his phone from his pocket. His facial expression changed after seeing the number on display.
“Is it the hospital?”
He held the phone to his ear and listened intensely. His face turned paler as the conversation went on.
“Yes?”
Suddenly he stood up in a hurry. He almost knocked his chair over. In his eyes was panic.
“Yes, yes. I will be there right away…”
“Myung-seok, what is going on? Who was it?”
Lee Hye-sun asked anxiously. He hung up the phone and started packing his things in a hurry. His hands were visibly trembling.
“It was the hospital. They told me I had to get there immediately.”
“What can we do?”
“No. no. no.”
He had already stopped listening to us and was hurrying out of the restaurant. On his way out, he bumped into the table and fell. He mumbled an apology and ran out of the building. He didn’t even notice the soup dripping from his hair.
“There must be something we can do…”
After a long silence, I asked quietly,
“Do you know what hospital his daughter is in?”
Within seconds the mood had changed completely. While they were laughing and enjoying themselves a minute ago, now they looked sad and depressed. It couldn’t be easy living with this burden. The grim had now brought us all back to reality.
“Hospital? I’m not sure, but…”
Fortunately, Park Joon-hyuk knew.
I stood up.
It was hard for me to see them like this. As an Analyst, I had to be calm and rational, but I was a very compassionate person.
[No surprise there. If you were a rational person, you wouldn’t have stuck around.]
The traveler’s comment came unexpectedly. I distanced myself from people I didn’t know, but now that I had gotten to know these people, I had to try and help them.
I stepped out of the restaurant to make a phone call.
“Hello?”
It didn’t take long for him to pick up the phone.
Only
“Where are you now?”
“The room you got for me. I just had dinner and was planning to take a nap.”
“I could use your help with something.”
I could feel the cool night air on my face.
A father with a sick daughter: a poor man who had to work two jobs to scrape by barely. That sounded like a bad cliché.
“Are you there? Zhang Wei?”
He should be able to help her. He could heal anything from a simple scratch to late-stage cancer. I once saw him regrow someone’s limb.