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VIP Guest Management
By the way, is Han Woohyun coming to the reunion? Hmm—.
I’m sorry. I had to do something for a second. Then I’ll go to the link address.
I gave Minji a simple answer and took a taxi.
Toto still looked tired, so I had no choice but to stop by Pyeongchang-dong again.
I have to keep the items I bought at Aunt Misoon’s store.
“Toto, thank you for today. Take a good rest.”
I said goodbye to Toto and left the Dogok-dong house again.
When I arrived at the Itaewon pub that Minji mentioned, it was 8 o’clock, well past the original appointment time of 7 o’clock.
Perhaps because I was late, I couldn’t find the faces of the children who looked like my high school classmates, so I called Minji while walking around the entrance.
“What~ I almost didn’t recognize you!”
Choi Minji walked towards the entrance for me, who was wandering and made a fuss.
Minji pointed to the two-piece I was wearing and said.
“Whoa. How did you buy this? I heard these are clothes that even money can’t buy…! You’re so pretty, Junghyo. The kids will go crazy again.”
Minji told me that my clothes cost more than 5 million won and were luxury items that were hard to buy even with money.
I expected it to be expensive, but it was that expensive.
I was puzzled. I can’t even change it because I’m already wearing it—.
It was when I was standing there hesitantly. The kids greeted me enthusiastically.
“Whoa, Junghyo is really coming. Lee Junghyo.”
“What day is it today? How did Junghyo come?”
“Junghyo…! It’s nice to see you!”
Perhaps because Minji tended to get along well with boys, about 70% of the alumni were boys.
The problem wasn’t that. No matter how I look at it, the faces I know don’t exceed the majority.
“…You all were in class 6 in your first year of high school? Really?”
This is why I couldn’t find a table for the reunion right away.
As soon as I sat down, Minji giggled as she looked at me with a dumbfounded face.
“Pfft… Hey, I told you, didn’t I? She doesn’t remember you guys.”
“I’m disappointed, Junghyo. Still, I thought you would remember….”
The bills came and went in front of me as if they had made a bet.
I thought I would remember all the girls’ names, but I couldn’t remember the girls’ names, although their faces were familiar.
It was a surprise. It’s only been 8 years since I was in my first year of high school, so how can I not remember like this?
“…It’s not like that, it’s because you weren’t very interested in people. But do you say guesthouse? It’s really amazing.”
Sehwan, who was sitting across from me, said while filling my glass with beer.
Sehwan, who went to the military after graduating from school, was a vacation soldier who was about to be discharged from the military.
I replied moderately and looked around the table. For some reason, Han Woohyun was nowhere to be seen.
Minji talked to me, probably because she saw that I was looking around a lot.
“Oh. It seems like you’re waiting for someone? Could it be Han Woohyun?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s…”
“What are you guys? Both of you feel out of place in high school, so were you close? He also asked if you were coming and said he was coming, and so are you.”
Minji narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
I finally realized the meaning of Minji’s suspicion and waved my hand.
“We weren’t close.”
“We all know that.”
As if asking for consent, Minji tapped Sehwan’s glass. Sehwan nodded his head with a nervous expression on his face.
“That’s right. You avoided him.”
Avoiding…? Was it obvious that I was uncomfortable with Han Woohyun?
“All the time since he first went out for a raid.”
Ah. I remember when Han Woohyun was praised for going on his first raid in high school.
Hearing everyone in the room congratulating Han Woohyun, I felt a little suffocated for some reason.
It wasn’t like the kids were acting out of malice.
‘Don’t die.’
That’s why I left the place like that.
After that, I had to feel the sympathetic eyes pouring down on me from time to time, and I avoided Han Woohyun a little more because it was painful.
“It’s just… we bumped into each other a few months ago. When we actually talked about it, it seemed to be okay.”
“Then you can talk more today. He says he’s coming now but is stuck in traffic—huh? There he is. Oh~ it’s a celebrity. Celebrity! Hey! What’s your MBTI? There are so many people around me who are curious about Han Woohyun’s MBTI~.”
It was then.
All eyes were on the entrance to the pub. There stood a tall man in a thin jacket and jeans.
The man who took off his black mask as soon as he saw me was Han Woohyun.
Han Woohyun stood there staring at me to the point where it was burdensome.
As if he couldn’t hear anyone calling him.
Then Han Woohyun, who hesitated for a while and then walked straight to our table, had small beads of sweat on his forehead as if he had just run.
* * *
As soon as Han Woohyun arrives, the seat gets hotter.
The heat led to a fast-paced toast, and everyone got drunk little by little.
Is it because they’re drunk? Sehwan, who was across from me, suddenly brought up an unexpected story to me.
“I… I actually liked you!”
As soon as I heard that, I heard something crackling.
I think Han Woohyun was sitting on the side, but I couldn’t turn around.
It was because I was so embarrassed that my face turned red.
“Thank you…”
As I answered, I heard someone muttering.
“He got dumped again now.”
I don’t know what they’re talking about.
I was a little drunk after that.
I walked to the convenience store to get some fresh air because I thought I had to sober up a little bit so that I wouldn’t worry Uncle Minhyuk at home.
‘Chupa X is the best for a hangover.’
With that thought in mind, I put a Coke-flavored lollipop in my mouth, stuffed the rest in my pocket, and walked back to the pub.
At that time, someone called to me from the railing of the road going uphill above me.
“Lee Junghyo.”
I raised my head and looked up.
There was Han Woohyun holding a white stick.
That guy. I’ve been saying I can’t see him for a while—.
“Do you smoke?”
“No?”
Han Woohyun pulled out the stick he was holding.
It was the same candy as mine.
It looked like a cigarette to anyone because that big guy was biting it.
‘Anyway, this…is it a chance?’
A chance to manage a VIP guest who might be my helper?
I stood at the bottom, thinking for a moment.
Han Woohyun leaned a little more on the railing he was holding and looked at me with a slightly loose face.
“Do you want to come up? I can go….”
Han Woohyun pointed at Namsan across the street with his chin.
“You can see better here.”
I went uphill.
Han Woohyun leaned against the railing and watched me come up, then turned his head and looked back toward Namsan.
Were you looking at the mountain?
I leaned against the railing together.
My breath smelled like alcohol, but Han Woohyun’s body smelled like autumn wind.
Thanks to everyone’s recommendation, he didn’t touch a drop of alcohol.
Han Woohyun didn’t just refuse to drink.
Every time everyone asked Han Woohyun about this and that, he couldn’t answer anything properly.
At first, those who were agitated by Han Woohyun’s appearance lost interest little by little whenever Han Woohyun continued to say he didn’t know, frowned, and answered shortly.
‘Why did he come…? No talking, no drinking…?’
As I recalled Minji’s muttering, I felt a similar absurdity to Minji’s and looked at Han Woohyun’s side face and asked abruptly.
“Are you standing here… to see the mountain?”
I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought about Han Woohyun, who must have come out to look at the mountain with a blank face.
“I…don’t mean to only look at the mountain.”
Han Woohyun hesitated before answering.
I laughed lightly again.
Han Woohyun asked without even looking at me.
“Why?”
“No, just because. It looks like you’re watching the mountains here and the kids in the pub. In the sense… of just watching?”
“Because I have no choice but to watch.”
Han Woohyun replied in a serious way that made me stop laughing.
Sometimes I felt like I didn’t know where his mind was wandering.
“Are you going to get a blind date?”
Yeah, at times like this.
When he suddenly asks a strange question.
Even with such a strange expression.
As if he was holding something back, he bit his lips as if he were impatient.
‘Blind date?’
It seemed like he was referring to the invitation from Minji to go on a blind date earlier.
I had no reason to refuse.
I can’t meet anyone in Yeongchun-myeon, and there are expectations of my affectionate fans who want me to be more stable.
“Maybe?”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a Hunter?”
“Hunter?”
I looked at Han Woohyun. This time, Han Woohyun also looked at me.
Ah, that’s right. Minji asked me to introduce her friend, who is a hunter earlier…?
I said it didn’t matter.
“Does your job…matter a lot?”
“Hunter might have something to do with it. For you.”
For you.
It was when I tried to read Han Woohyun’s expression at the resolute nuance of those words.
Han Woohyun turned his head again.
Even though the wind stopped just in time, his expression seemed as if a cold wind was blowing in his eyes.
“Not now. You know I have a hotel in Dungeon. I’m the Hunter.”
I said, a little bewildered by what had happened to me in less than a month.
Yeah. Now I’m not in a position to be uncomfortable with Hunter.
“I like our hotel and our guests. Even if it’s not because of Dad…Now I’m happy because I feel like I’ve found something suitable for me.”
I remembered Doyoon’s happy eyes today.
I definitely felt it then. That’s what a professional sense of accomplishment is.
It’s the first time I felt it.
“So what I’m saying is….”
Will you come to our hotel more often in the future to increase my EXP?
How can I say that so it doesn’t sound like a businessman?
I still found it difficult to make pure sales without skill correction.
It was then. A car made a lot of noise in the driveway.
“…Again…”
At the same time, Han Woohyun looked at me and muttered something.
I think I vaguely saw the mouth’s shape, but I couldn’t figure out what he meant.
But his eyes look sad for some reason, and—.
For some reason, I felt strange because I had seen this expression somewhere else.
“What are you saying?”
After the car passed, I asked.
Then Han Woohyun hid his expression again and said.
“Let’s go down. The kids will be worried.”
I don’t think it was meant like that.
Looking at Han Woohyun’s back, I followed him and suddenly realized.
About what did Han Woohyun’s mouth shape mean.
You said you’d never love anything again.
Did I say that?
Where? When?
When I tried to ask him, he had already entered the pub.
* * *
“Han Woohyun, did you see that? An S-Class Paladin.”
As soon as Han Woohyun and I came in, someone asked Han Woohyun a question.
I was going to sit down, but I saw Han Woohyun, who was frozen.
He nodded his head without looking in my direction.
“I saw it.”
Han Woohyun also read the article.
“Is there really S-Class Paladin? Don’t you know?”
“I don’t know. There is no line with the association.”
Han Woohyun’s answer seemed trivial to everyone.
Everyone said as if they were bored by Han Woohyun’s answer.
“That punk. He keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t talk.”
“But I thought it was fake. Is it easy for S-Class people to live in hiding when Korea is not wide? I heard that person even designated a sanctuary in the dungeon.”
“Ah, I also want to go into the dungeon and see the Paladin Unnie. She’s a cat-like beauty Paladin who protects the sanctuary…! Take me!”
I looked at Minji’s fuss and turned my head.
Why would I have you…?
The conversation that continued from then on was about the S-Class Paladin.
Will an S-Class Paladin appear and reorganize Korea’s S-class into 6 people?
In the first place, can an S-Class live hiding in this narrow land?
“What do you think? Like that Paladin, you’re living in exile these days, right?”
Minji asked with an innocent face. I gulped down the water I was drinking and answered.
“She can… live.”
But that S-Class isn’t S-Class, it’s an E-Class, guys.
After a while, the atmosphere was like it would be over.
While the atmosphere became chaotic after the second round, I approached the hanger in the pub’s corner to pack my bag.
There was so much luggage that it was hard to find my clothes.
My mind was impatient.
I need to find it soon— Choi Minji, if I get caught in that fly hell—.
It was then. Someone picked up my jacket.
“Huh…?”
I squeezed the edge of the jacket with my hand. Because of that, the hand trying to lift the jacket overlapped with mine.
I saw a familiar face above my head.
Han Woohyun’s face turned red even though he didn’t drink.
“…I tried to… take it out…”
“Ah. Thank you.”
I took the jacket from Han Woohyun and smiled slightly.
Han Woohyun saw my smile and somehow closed his mouth.
“Can I… take you?”
I stopped putting on my jacket and froze for a moment.
Don’t you usually say, ‘Can I take you home?’
I replied, rolling my eyes again.
“Pro…bably?”
Well, it worked out anyway. Thanks to him, I can manage VIP guests.