IH Ch 60

Chapter 60

Chairman Jang had first appeared in this village around this time two years ago.

At first, he wandered around pretending to be kind, but his true intentions were quickly revealed. Using money he had received from Seoul, he hired Hunters and thugs engaged in illegal activities to forcibly drive people out. After clearing out the neighborhoods up north, he had now come down here to the coastal area.

The people who had no intention of leaving refused Chairman Jang’s offers. After several rejections, he resorted to violence. There had already been several major confrontations, but bringing Hunters this time meant he was serious. Still, the fact that those punks dared to show up and cause a scene in broad daylight just showed how little they thought of them—at least that’s what the elderly were muttering while leaving behind traditional sweets as thanks. Thanks to the people who never came empty-handed, a pile of fruits, snacks, and drinks sat in front of Jae-i and Dohwa.

“……”

Staring blankly at the offerings, Dohwa turned to look beside him. There sat Hwang Jae-i, leaning against the wall with one arm draped over a raised knee. At first pretending not to care, Jae-i eventually frowned and turned his head when he felt Dohwa’s persistent gaze.

“Come eat. This one’s good.”

As if waiting for a cue, Dohwa lifted a cup of sweet rice drink with a calm demeanor, prompting Jae-i to sigh heavily.

“You—”

He was about to say, “How can you drink that right now?” but stopped when Dohwa placed the cup to his lips. As he sipped, all the rice grains had settled at the bottom. You’re supposed to mix that. Jae-i thought to ignore it, telling himself it wasn’t worth bothering about—but the sight of Dohwa sipping while the rice still sat untouched at the bottom began to nag at him.

In the end—

“……Give it here.”

“Hm?”

Dohwa blinked, the cup still at his lips.

Holding the cup of sikhye in one hand, Dohwa crawled over on his knees. Since they were in the same room, it didn’t take long. Naturally seating himself right beside Jae-i, Dohwa handed the cup over, and Jae-i gave it a few quick swirls with just his wrist. The rice grains that had settled at the bottom slowly floated up. Once they were mixed well enough, he handed it back.

Dohwa took a sip. Amidst the sweet and nutty flavor, the crushed rice grains offered a chewiness. At first, it had tasted odd, but the more he drank, the more addictive it became. As he enthusiastically drank, Dohwa looked at Jae-i with sparkling eyes.

He doesn’t even know how to drink sikhye properly. Jae-i scoffed quietly but soon frowned at himself, wondering what he was even doing. Just then—clunk—the door opened. This time, two people entered: the elderly man from the knife-cut noodle shop, and—

“Good afternoon. I’m Lee Kwonsu, the head of the youth association!”

As soon as he saw Jae-i, the young man removed his hat and bowed deeply. The old man shot him a sideways glance, as if to say, “Was all that necessary?” Flustered, the youth quickly dragged a chair over so the elder could sit.

Lowering himself onto the chair with slow movements, the elder rubbed his knees and looked down at the two of them. Realizing this was no longer the time for sweet drinks, Dohwa quietly set his cup down. At the same time, the elder spoke.

“Seems like you’ve figured out what’s going on around here.”

“Sir…”

The youth leader, sensing the elder was rushing things, tried to intervene, but was quickly silenced by a sharp glare. With that, the elder turned his head back.

Unlike Dohwa, Jae-i seemed utterly disinterested in whoever entered the room. Watching his indifferent face, the old man asked:

“Did you run away from home?”

“……”

A silence descended, awkward and hard to explain.

Dohwa remained blank-faced, but Jae-i’s eyes widened slightly, and the youth leader startled a beat late.

“Sir! Run away from home? Do you even know who he is? Someone like him would never—”

“You think I said that without knowing who he is? S-rank or whatever, he’s still a kid at twenty. When everyone’s yammering in your ear, even you’d want to storm out.”

Then he gave Jae-i a look that seemed to say, “Am I wrong?”

Only the youth leader seemed flustered by the elder’s attitude. It seemed he only knew Jae-i’s name, not his face. Otherwise, he wouldn’t speak like this to his face. But the elder wasn’t done.

“Jaehyun says he sent the invitation and that’s why you came—but that can’t be right. If you really did run away, you should quietly leave on your own.”

“Sir, wait—just a moment—”

Startled at the elder’s blunt suggestion that Jae-i leave, the youth leader tried to intervene again.

“No need to say more. You think if we ask for help now, he’s really going to step in? People like him don’t care about our problems. If anything, getting involved would just be a hassle.”

“……”

Unable to refute, the youth’s face stiffened. The elder slowly rose to his feet. With one hand on his waist, he looked at both Jae-i and Dohwa and expressed his gratitude.

“If it weren’t for you two today, this old man would be buried underground by now. Those bastards really came here with the intent to kill.”

“……”

“After receiving this much help, asking for more would just be greedy. We’ll handle the rest on our own. You should leave before things get more complicated. I heard you’re dealing with lawsuits—no one’s immune to that, not even Hunters. Lawsuits wear you down.”

Muttering like it was a soliloquy, the elder left the room. The youth leader flinched. Given the atmosphere, he knew he should follow—but he had come here today with a resolve. Even knowing it was shameless…

Wearing a resolute expression, the youth leader got on his knees in front of Hwang Jae-i.

“…I believe you’ve seen enough to understand our situation. So I won’t say much more. I have just one request: please stay here for just one night—just tonight.”

“……”

“I know it may seem strange, but you saw for yourself, didn’t you? That man, Chairman Jang, is extremely dangerous. It’s one thing if he only used thugs, but he’s threatening people and using violence with hired Hunters. In the neighborhood up north, people actually died. He spent so much money that the local officials and even the mayor are all turning a blind eye and deaf ear… And honestly, who would care? Once we’re all driven out and a new hotel or amusement park is built here, people will only react with a ‘Wow.’”

Would anyone care about what’s happening here? Those who lost their homes, got hurt, or died—only they had cause to grieve.

Just like the food laid out on the floor, people came and went, quietly sharing the state of the village. It seemed like Chairman Jang had chosen today deliberately. The village had prepared for it as best as it could, but with Hunters on his side, there was reason to worry.

While it seemed like they were just sharing information, there was also a silent hope that Hwang Jae-i would stay and help. Even if he didn’t do anything, just having an S-rank Hunter present would be immensely reassuring. That was all they hoped for.

As explained earlier, it was illegal for Awakened individuals to get involved in civilian affairs. Depending on the severity, they could be stripped of their powers and imprisoned for life. But that only really applied to C-rank or below. From B-rank up, even restraining their abilities was nearly impossible. Let alone S-rank. Forcing a Hunter with such power to do nothing for life was a national loss. In any case, high-rank Hunters didn’t get involved in things like this—they had far more important matters to handle.

Given what Chairman Jang had done today, tonight would be the real test. The ones he sent earlier were all detained at the community center and being monitored. Jang surely knew by now.

The neighborhood up north had burned in a massive fire. Homes, forests—everything had gone up in flames, but only the original residents mourned. For those who took over, the fire was a blessing. They would’ve had to demolish everything anyway to start construction. Maybe the same fate awaited this village tonight.

The youth leader looked at Hwang Jae-i with the faintest glimmer of hope. The S-rank Hunter, whose features were so flawless they seemed unreal, showed no change in expression.

“……”

The courage to ask one more time quickly vanished. The youth leader bowed his head.

It wasn’t something he could force. For them, it was about whether they’d lose their homes—but not for Hwang Jae-i.

“…Please forget what I said. I was being foolish. I’m sorry.”

Mumbling weakly, the youth bowed and quietly left the room. Jae-i, who had kept an impassive face the entire time, turned his head at the sound of slurping beside him. Now that they were alone again, Dohwa resumed drinking his sikhye as if he had been waiting for the moment. A furrow slowly formed on Jae-i’s brow.

“You—”

Is this really the time to be drinking that? He was about to say something, but held back. It wasn’t like it was forbidden. Making a fuss over something so trivial would just come off as needlessly argumentative.

Dohwa subtly scooted over and picked up the cup of cinnamon punch.

“Here.”

You drink too. That gesture made Jae-i’s face stiffen even more.

“I hate cinnamon.”

The moment he saw the sujeonggwa, his instinctive disgust flared, and the words flew out before he could think. Realizing it too late, he winced, but it was already said. Dohwa blinked once at his response, then tasted the drink. After smacking his lips, he turned back to Jae-i and said:

“It’s good.”

“…Is there anything you don’t like?”

Jae-i found it ridiculous and was embarrassed for having blurted out that he hated cinnamon. So he lay down on the floor and turned away. He stuffed one folded arm under his head and let out a small sigh.

He could leave now if he wanted, but too many people had seen him. The villagers might keep quiet if he asked them to—but those thugs working for Chairman Jang were another story. One look, and you could tell they were scum who moved only for money. You couldn’t count on them to stay quiet. They’d probably use him to stir up publicity around this area.

Of all times… With strange rumors already circulating, adding this incident on top would be a mess. That damn Ahn Yuna’s going to have a heart attack.

“……”

This was exhausting. Why did things keep getting more complicated? The more he thought, the more his emotions spun out of control. He had no one to blame, yet still wanted to pick a fight with someone. Abruptly, Hwang Jae-i sat up. Turning around, he saw Dohwa leaning against the wall.

The cups of sikhye and sujeonggwa were lined up neatly beside him as he sat cross-legged. His face was half-covered by a mask, and his long hair was loosely undone. It was the usual sight—nothing unusual—but somehow, it felt suffocating. Feeling that irritation, Jae-i called out.

“Hey.”

And now, without hesitation or flinching, Dohwa simply rolled his eyes toward him. That look—almost like asking, “What?”—made Jae-i lower his voice.

“Just like you said, I’ve paid my dues. So now it’s your turn to keep your promise.”

“……”

Dohwa said nothing, only blinking slowly. He didn’t look like he planned to deny or feign ignorance.

Thinking back, Dohwa never really tried to lie or hide anything when asked. Which meant—if you asked him head-on, he’d probably answer everything eventually.

Sitting upright, Jae-i quietly stared into Dohwa’s black eyes and slowly opened his mouth.

“You—”

“Someone help—!!”

Jae-i flinched as a panicked shout overlapped with his own voice. His expression hardened in an instant. He shot to his feet and burst through the door, sprinting outside.