episode_0153

“What happened?”

“I ate dessert.”

Eunha finished eating at [Euncheon Restaurant].

She put cola in her mouth while receiving the stinging gaze of Seoksangnam, who returned again.

A July evening when the texture of tofu steak disappears in the tangy cola.

The giant’s eyes, unable to hide his embarrassment, look alternately at Eunha and Soaryeong, who are sitting across from each other at the table.

“… … .”

A juvenile scout known among scouts for his abuse of power and money-spreading.

She, who always looked for prey with sharp eyes like a wild beast, was sitting on a soft table chair, fiddling with the restaurant menu.

In the sight of So-ryeong wearing a pink beanie pressed up to her eyebrows and quietly opening her mouth,

The gaze that looked down on others and the confidence that took one’s own superiority for granted disappeared.

I just read the menu over and over again like an emotionless doll.

Seoksangnam frowned after checking Soahyeong’s condition.

And of course, his gaze could not help but turn to Eunha, who was with So-aryeong.

“It became strange. It looks like my head is broken. Did Eunha make it like this?”

“I only had dinner.”

“… … .”

Eunha finished drinking Coke and wiped her mouth with a wet tissue.

She took the photos of Eun Bang-ul and Kang Na-ri that So-ryeong had brought as threats and put them in her suitcase along with the [Black Book].

After tidying up his place with his usual smiling face… he adjusted the handle of the carrier while carefully examining So-ryeong’s condition.

“… … Please wait a moment.”

The man, who felt something strange, rang the call bell on the table.

Uuuu. An alarm sound was heard from the kitchen along with a vibrating sound, and a restaurant employee who had been away for a moment rushed to the table.

A middle-aged man dressed in a chef’s uniform approaches the members of the [Blue Dragon Guild] with a nervous look on his face.

“Yes! What’s going on?”

“CCTV, check.”

“Yes?… No, yes! Please come to the checkout counter!”

Are they trying to find out what happened at the restaurant?

Eunha stared blankly at Seoksangnam, who followed the staff to the cash register… then quietly got up from her seat and approached Soaryeong.

Sigh…

Eunha gently lifts the pink beanie that So-ryeong had written on, quietly covers her mouth and returns the beanie to its original state.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

goodbye.

Mr. Lovely Chicken.

Please come again next time,

I’ll be waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Does he want someone to eat his ‘food’?

Because I hope you come back,

Rather than killing them, are you sending them back alive?

However, the result of such actions is a resentment that makes you feel sick to your stomach, boiling like maggots.

Eunha looked at the woman who threatened her and even tried to touch her with complicated eyes.

‘I would have felt better if it had ended cleanly.’

I wanted to protect my precious people.

What a flimsy excuse.

“… … You can blame me.”

I mutter quietly.

A voice that no one heard escapes Eunha’s lips, passes by Soahyeong’s pink beanie, wanders around the empty restaurant… and returns to Eunha again.

The voice that came back had a faint smell of blood.

“Um… I’m sorry. I misunderstood. I really just ate rice.”

The man who returned after checking the CCTV scratched the back of his head and offered an apology.

What video was captured on the restaurant’s CCTV and what he saw… Eunha didn’t know.

Since I didn’t have the courage to check the video yet, I quietly waited for the giant’s words and rubbed my bloated stomach.

The man motioned for So-ryeong, who was fiddling with the menu like an idiot, to stand up, then took out a business card from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and handed it to Eun-ha.

“I forgot my business card. I’ll give it to you, so please contact me if you need it.”

“… … As I said before, the guild…”

“I know. Even if you don’t join the guild, you still remain close. Everyone lives by helping.”

Despite checking So-Ryeong’s condition and watching CCTV,

I felt a small sense of discomfort… but as if I didn’t ‘recognize’ the cause of the feeling of discomfort.

We continue the conversation casually.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4. Cognition is the connection of existence.​

– Have you heard the saying, ‘Knowledge is power’?

– With every action you take to recognize and get to know each other, ‘they’ will become closer to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Is it true that people who don’t recognize strange things act that way?’

As if someone invisible was covering his eyes.

We converse naturally amidst the unnaturalness that fills the restaurant.

Eunha wiped her goosebumped arms.

“Don’t pay attention to what this woman said. There’s already a lot of talk in the guild. If he threatens you again, call that number.”

Soahyeong, who is strangely quiet, gets up from his seat and hides behind Geohan.

The man who cleared the table for her prepares to leave.

“… … Goodbye.”

I turned my eyes away from the cloying smell of blood.

Eunha sends off the guild scouts with a smile that hides her complexities.

In the texture of the tofu steak, I find the smell of warm corn soup and quietly savor it.

It was that kind of evening.

… … .

… … .

… … .

“There was a reason why the master ordered us to be recruited. This face has a lot to hide.”

“… … .”

A man who broke up with Eunha and left [Euncheon Restaurant].

With a face as hard as a stone statue, he walked around Euncheon-gu and talked to So-aryeong while trying to get out of the boat.

So-A-Ryeong, who was quietly following behind him, tugged on his pink beanie.

“It’s a shame that I don’t like joining the guild. Still, we can be friends. People are gentle.”

“… … .”

Leave the car parked at the restaurant and take a short walk.

A dazzling twilight sinks beyond the horizon.

They say that even bad luck is fate.

The man thought of a beautiful woman with the happiest smile in the world as she ate the sushi he gave her.

A ‘rare hunter’ protected by the association.

How rare of a skill must she have for the country to pay for her?

As a guild scout, he often went to the association’s promotion exams, and for the past three years, he was tired of seeing ‘Ji Park-ryeong’ fail the physical fitness test.

I have heard rumors that muscle mass does not increase due to skill recovery, but

I had no idea that it was a skill with enough ‘resilience’ that the association would be interested in it.

‘What level of resilience is this? ‘Do you know something?’

Even after his meeting with Eunha ended, his worries deepened.

An unrecognizable sense of discomfort grabs hold of one’s ankles and casts a long shadow.

“… By the way, what’s going on? It’s too quiet. Did you confess to a rare hunter and get dumped? So stop ripping people off.”

“… … .”

“Last time, a guild member jumped from the rooftop. It was buried without a word, but it was because I couldn’t meet the quota you set. Is money that good?”

walk on the road

Looking up at the beautiful sunset sky.

A man with a distorted face like a statue yawns loudly.

“… … .”

Soaryeong,

She ate steamed pumpkin at a restaurant.

Like a person whose soul had escaped, he hurried his steps to follow the giant ahead of him.

Because of the setting sun, a man’s long shadow covers her.

As I was walking around Euncheon-gu…

A man passing by the park entrance suddenly turned his head.

Euncheon Park.

There is a circular, open space in the center, and in the center of it is a statue of a blue dragon, the symbol of the [Blue Dragon Guild].

A symbol of a large guild placed in a public facility in the city… This alone should be enough to tell you how strong the influence the [Blue Dragon Guild] has.

A man proudly caressing the blue dragon mark on his leather jacket looked around the park.

As expected, time is running out, so there are few signs of popularity.

The only remains are a few young people out for a jog in the late evening and office workers sitting on benches drinking coffee.

“… Oh, look there. This is Lady Kang Nari. I’m sitting alone in the park and blanking out.”

“… … .”

Then a familiar face catches my eye and I let out a small exclamation.

In the center of the park, where the blue dragon statue shows off its majestic appearance,

On a bench placed in a circle along the stone statue… Nari Kang is sitting alone, drinking beer.

‘Miss Nari. It’s so pitiful. I barely managed to repay the private loan…’

The sight of bright yellow twilight falling on Nari Kang’s blue hair was like looking at a painting.

He stops walking and looks at the shabby appearance of Kang Na-ri and swallows the bitter taste in his mouth.

“… … What are you doing there?”

I looked back at So-aryeong.

The strangely calm girl who quietly follows behind her.

“… … .”

So-aryeong was standing blankly at the entrance to the park.

Just stay still,

Looking up at the sunset setting over the horizon.

Put one hand to your ear,

I was listening to the sounds coming from me.

“… … Sound.”

“Hmm?”

“Bell sound.”

Soahyeong, who was strangely calm, opened his mouth.

… … .

Deengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

It resembles a bell.

Flowing from the clock tower that tells time to all things,

A sound filled with time.

So much so that I thought it might be echoing throughout Euncheon-gu.

The solemn sound of a bell.

“Sound? I can’t hear anything.”

The man focused his hearing and looked around.

However, the ‘bell’ that So-Ryeong had mentioned was not heard. A cat lying comfortably on a park wall only occasionally meows.

The setting sunset is just beautiful.

From now on, Soahyeong has been acting strange.

The man, who felt uncomfortable, looked back at her again.

“… … huh? has disappeared. Where did it go?”

But when he turned his head,

Soahyeong had already disappeared like a ghost.

Deengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

It was the approaching twilight.

… … .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ha… I still feel bloated.”

Slap–.

9 p.m.

Eunha returned home before the sun set.

She rubbed her smooth abdomen and looked up at the ceiling blankly as she soaked in the warm bath water.

The water vapor that hits the ceiling clumps up and becomes cold water droplets that drip down.

Eunha lets out a cool sigh as she embraces her large breast that keeps rising above the water.

[Blue Dragon Guild] Finished dinner with scouts.

The anger in my angry heart, the polite voice of the [chef], and the warmth of the corn soup remained.

I smiled languidly as I splashed bath water on the [Black Book] placed next to the bathtub.

The corners of my mouth hurt today. Is it because I applied too much force?

As I brush my skin without a single scar, I feel like the day has ended safely.

‘I managed to get rid of it… but it’s a shame. There must have been a better way.’

The core builds up.

It resembles regret, it resembles resentment,

It becomes a mirror that reflects on things that have already passed.

I hope So-ryeong went well.

Now that I’m aware of ‘those things’, they will go away sooner or later, but I hope it doesn’t hurt at all.

“It’s okay. It’s okay as long as Bell is safe.”

Thinking positively, Eunha soaked in the bath water and stretched.

My already soft body feels tired and I feel drowsy.

It’s similar to back then.

In the past, when a loan shark named [Heukbungpa] came to visit.

At that time, the loan sharks were also bringing up Jeongbul-i, so they suddenly opened the lid and gave him a friendly ride on the [blood donation bus].

‘Nothing has changed… It’s actually better. It means not losing your original intention.’

Eunha was always looking back at herself and bursting into laughter.

Mulberry bread~ Mulberry bread~.

As I was about to take a bath in the hot bath with my usual smile on my face, I heard a ringtone coming from my cell phone that was sitting on the sink.

Eunha woke up to the ringtone echoing from the bathroom and picked up her cell phone.

A phone call from Nari Kang.

I lie down in the bathtub again and answer the phone.

“Hello.”

ㅡ Ah, hello Eunha. It’s me.

Kang Na-ri’s wrinkly voice tickles Eunha’s ears.

The smell of alcohol seemed to come from his heavy breathing, as if he had been drinking.

Eunha quickly checks the bath time and fixes her phone.

“I can call for about 7 minutes. What’s going on?”

– Just, well… I just got back home, and I was thinking about Eunha.

Is it because of my mood that Kang Na-ri’s voice seems heavy these days?

I was just in a good mood.

Eunha spoke on the phone with Kang Na-ri while splashing the bath water with her fingers.

Knock. Knock.

The steam accumulated on the ceiling turns into water droplets and falls.

They must have called while they were really thinking about it, as light chatter like steam passed between the two people’s lips.

ㅡ … … Mr. Eunha.

“Yes, please say so.”

ㅡ Eunha, can you do anything for someone precious to you?

can do.

Today too, I came back after soaking someone for Bell.

Eunha nodded and added hot water to the bath water.

“You can do it. I don’t feel good though.”

– Wow… really? It’s the same as me. Hehehe…

Kang Na-ri’s voice disperses like a haze.

He seems happy to have something in common. He speaks in a much more relaxed tone than when he called and bursts out into a hearty laugh.

– Me too, Eunha. I can do anything too.

Hiding unspeakable worries.

Two troubled women make small talk.

“Anything about Kang Nari sounds very dangerous…and I’m running out of time, so I’ll just stop.”

– Ah! yes Sorry for calling you suddenly! see you tomorrow! I will do my best too!

“Have a nice dream.”

Beep.

The short phone call ended.

It was a conversation that fellow cafe employees could share with laughter.

Eunha placed her cell phone on the sink, submerged herself in the bath water and took a deep breath.

Something… an uneasy energy came out of Kang Na-ri’s words, but I decided to move on, thinking that nothing bad would happen.

Because she’s a debt-laden girl who quietly makes coffee in a cafe.

Nothing will happen.

『Sloppy. It’s my place.』

“Yes. Yes, heojeop. I wasn’t feeling well, but I took a bath to listen to your suggestions.”

『It’s my place.』

” Feel free to blame.”

with a plop!

The moment the bath time exceeded 30 minutes, ‘Eunha’ reflected on the surface of the water pushed Eunha’s shoulder and dropped her into the bath water.

‘Eunha’ lies down on top of Eunha and presses down on Eunha’s shoulders and head, causing it to sink to the bottom of the bathtub.

Their soft skin touches each other and shares warmth.

Eunha calmly turned on the shower with one foot, adjusted the temperature of the bath water to the appropriate temperature… and held her breath with a complicated expression.

with a splash! with a splash!

A day that started with a happy mood.

It was a day when, after a happy dinner, an unpleasant bitter taste remained.

… … .