Chapter 19 – Drinking Party (2)
Oil was boiling on the hot plate. The bright red pork simmered and shrank, and people were raising lettuce with friendly faces. People chatting while banging a bowl of soybean paste stew with a spoon, and a drunkard shouting another glass of soju with a red face. We poured our first drink in the middle of the crowded dining room, quietly setting the meat on top.
“Okay then. To commemorate the safe return of our Mr. Suhyeon…”
Senior Yoojeong poured a drink into my soju glass while making such a joke. It was a drink I hadn’t had in a long time. Upon receiving it, I carefully raised the glass. The sound of clinking glasses could be heard faintly, overshadowed by the sound of grilling chicken.
“Cheers.”
Senior Yoojeong was a person who laughed a lot. After she clinked her glasses, she said and laughed again. I poured soju and frowned. Senior Yoojung also emptied her soju glass and shook her head while frowning. Turn the cooked meat over once.
Senior Yoojung said.
“Hunter job. I did it right for the first time today, how is it?”
“I think it’s harder than I thought.”
“Yes? Does it feel different from broadcasting?”
“Yes.”
I once dreamed of being a farmer. A simple farmer living in harmony with nature. When I wake up in the morning, a cute puppy is wagging its tail in the yard, and when I go to the barn, a cow mooes and points to a haystack. While plowing leisurely in the sunlight, it’s lunch time and you spend time eating the prepared rice.
The farmer in my imagination was an unknown being surrounded by such vague romance and benevolent distortion. And in the countryside where I went down to help my relatives one summer, I had to experience the reality of being a farmer and give up my romantic dreams.
“It was so different from broadcasting.”
Hunter’s daily life shown by S-class hunters on the air and my appearance were very different. I didn’t expect a movie of wealth or honor, but there was more suffering than I thought in my daily routine. It wasn’t that I was disappointed with this job, but it was also true that a bewildered feeling as if waking up from a dream remained in my heart.
Yoojung sunbaenim poured another drink. She shook her head as I tried to follow her. She seemed to be the type to like viscounts. After placing her soju bottle on her floor with a noise, she raised her glass. My glass was not filled. As I poured the glass, senior Yoo-jeong watched intently.
And she opened her mouth.
“Nickname. Are you very embarrassed?”
I almost missed the soju bottle at those words. It was because I didn’t know that senior Yoojung would ask me about my nickname like this. People at the drinking party were still talking about me, but now I could only hear senior Yoojung’s voice clearly. I said, trying to control her expression.
“Yes. I need to change it quickly. That… They say you can change it if you become B-class.”
“Do you live quietly until you change?”
“Yes.”
I wanted to live as quietly as possible. It was better to live without a presence than to go around in the name of Ada Bomber. I wanted to quietly train, quietly accumulate results, join a good guild, and live as an ordinary hunter.
Senior Yoojeong touched a glass of soju and poured another glass into it. I didn’t even have time to toast her, so I had to drink another cup of her after her. Filling her empty stomach with a second glass made her stomach ache.
“You can’t do that.”
Senior Yoojeong put her soju glass down and she said so. It was her second drink now and she was blushing a little. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, so I had to ask again.
“Yes?”
“Then nothing will happen. Then, then nothing can be. If you don’t have a fancy name, you’d better be a jolly fool. To become a B-class hunter, she has to take on big requests, but who would entrust such a request to a hunter with a strange name and no traces?”
If you think about it, it was. Assuming that there is a mission to find an important material at a C-class gate, if there are two people with an ordinary nickname Hunter and Ada Bomber Jung Su-hyeon, and both are unknown, it was clear that the former would be much more reliable. I don’t want to work with someone whose name sounds strange. Senior Yoo Jung said.
“I want Suhyeon to be a little more confident about her nickname.”
“…Ada bombers?”
Even if I spoke in a low voice, I could feel that some people looked back. Senpai Yu-jeong also said with her face blushing when she felt the gaze.
“…Don’t say that here.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Senior Yu-jeong looked around like a spy. No one cared much about what she had just said.
“Anyway, that’s what I want to say. Suhyun tries too hard to hide her nickname. Hunter is also a job where self-appeal is important, but if you hide it like that, you can’t become anything. It’s nice to have a little bit of a name for yourself. You didn’t want to be covered in the news about the incident this time, so you just agreed to it, right?”
I couldn’t answer that. Because it was correct. I wanted to avoid needless disputes with giant guilds like the Black Dragon Room, but I was also afraid of spreading my name widely. Senior Yoo Jung said.
“When you have a chance, you have to grab it. I really hope Suhyun is doing well. He is very talented and is my first mentee.”
“Really, I think senior Yoojung is a good person. In fact, I wondered if my mentor might hate me because of that nickname.”
Yujeong sunbaenim drank another glass. She couldn’t tell how many drinks she had already. Contrary to what she said about her weakness, she was drinking her alcohol. Little by little her face was turning red.
Senior Yoo Jung said.
“My sister says, but.”
It was something she had heard before. What did I say When senior Yu-jeong said that she was a very nice person, she smiled and said,
“I am not such a nice person. Mr. Suhyun. A very, very selfish, bad, mean person. It makes sense to be close to Suhyeon, and it’s good to embrace both of them, and since Suhyeon is good at it, he’s revealing his face beforehand. It’s all a political story. Nothing comes for free in human relationships.”
Yujeong sunbaenim said that while she grinned. She seemed a little too drunk.
“But, still, senior Yoo-jung is a good person to me.”
“Am I? Am I very selfish?”
Yu-jeong sunbaenim inquired like that. Her face was stained red. I blinked her eyes and saw her tilting her head. You’re drunk. I felt like I was drunk too. It was because her eyes were slightly open.
“I think everyone has that selfish side. It’s natural to want to take care of your own gain. Still, senior Yoojeong smiled at me when I was intimidated by her nickname. You give me confidence, and you give me guidance on what to do in the future. No matter how much Yoo-jung blames herself for being a bad person, to me, Yoo-jung is a really good person.”
Senior Yoojeong closed her mouth and looked at me. Suddenly, the meat was overcooked. I was startled and said while serving the meat in front of Yoo-jeong.
“Senior. Eat the meat meat.”
She just stared at her meat on her plate. She said the overcooked meat was crisp, but she still didn’t burn it to the point of inedibility. Senior Yoojeong picked up one of her meat. Still, I was able to eat in earnest if she had to eat, so I watched her behavior.
I took one of her lettuce and put her meat on it, and she added pickled green onions, garlic ssamjang, and red pepper. Then, after putting the pork belly on thick, I folded it finely like a lotus leaf lunch box and held it out towards me. Embarrassed, I threw her head back. Senior Yoojung said.
“He said he was a good person. It’s a prize.”
“Sah, award?”
“Award. Eat quickly. Arm is off hot.”
Senior Yu-jeong’s arm was on the fire. The blazing heat soaked her arms. Surprised, I nodded her head and accepted the wraps. The pork belly I hadn’t eaten in a long time was fantastic with a crispy texture mixed with soggy lard.
Yujeong sunbaenim laughed once again when he saw me chewing on it. Somehow, her smile seemed much more relaxed. We ate three servings of pork belly. Senior Yu-jeong said that she could eat more, but she couldn’t do that as she was in a situation where she was being robbed.
Yoojung sipped her last glass and she laughed. I smiled at her
Standing in front of the checkout counter, we got drunk and walked strangely. Senior Yoojeong was walking like a puppet. She took her card out of her wallet and held it out with her body in front of her. I was startled and grabbed her tightly.
Senior Yoojung’s body always smelled good.
“I will help you pay 42,000 won.”
“Thank you.”
I accepted her card on behalf of senior Yu-jeong, and walked in front of her while supporting her. Senior Yu-jeong only blinked at her, but she did not show any resistance. She shouldn’t drink and drive, so she thought to call a deputy after she drove off.
Senior Yoojeong took a few steps and looked at me. As she looked up at her with a slight twist of her head, her face was flushed with blush, and her eyes were moist. I felt her heart pounding. Senior Yoojung said.
“…I’m tired.”
I resisted getting dizzy. She was drunk She’s fine now, but it was a bad idea to take her somewhere on her own. I said.
“I’ll call you by proxy. Go home soon…”
Senior Yoojeong suddenly turned around. I pushed myself against the wall and put my hand on the wall. Like a spider trapping her, her hands wrapped around my neck. Senior Yoojeong stepped up and closed her eyes. Her lips and lips met. She smelled of alcohol and cologne. Her wet lips pressed together softly, and she pressed against them. I couldn’t help but look at Yoo-jung with a bewildered face.
She said, avoiding my gaze.
“…I’m tired.”
I turned my head. At the back of the bar street, I could see a motel village. I carefully held her hand and started walking. Senior Yu-jeong clung to me and her face was blushing. I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.
*******
I paid the motel bill and went upstairs. A room as simple as the amount of money to rent for one night caught my eye. She looked around the room and sat down on the bed. She ran her hand over the bed as if it had been blown away, looked at me with an awkward face and said,
“Oh, wash first.”
I nodded and went into the shower. Even while getting hit by the water in the shower, even while brushing my teeth, I felt like this moment was like a dream. After taking a shower and putting on a gown, senior Yoojung went into the shower room without saying a word. Just the moment it passed by me, I felt a strain in my lower leg. Senior Yoojung tried not to make eye contact with me. When the shower door closed, the firm back and graceful silhouette of the hips were cast in shadow. I couldn’t contain my excitement at the sight of her taking off her underwear along her beautiful legs.
I heard the sound of pouring water. Steam rose again in the shower, where the water fell to the floor and showed a whitish silhouette. I just sat on the bed and listened to the sound of the water. It was a really tense moment.
Does senior Yoojung have experience? It’s my first time, can I do it well? I looked in the mirror For some reason, my body seemed weak. It was my first experience, and I wanted to do well and look good. I wanted my muscles to be clearer, and I wanted to show a little more strength.
Is there such a way? Shall we do some exercise from now on? If you do sit-ups, wouldn’t it make your abs look better?
At that moment, an amazing idea passed through my head.
I called the Almighty in my heart.
‘Almighty Emperor. Almighty Lord.’
[It’s been a long time since you woke me up.]
A familiar voice resonated in my heart.
