Although Lee Sa-young had proposed a deal first and even given his phone number, he didn't come back to the store for several days. During that time, Cha Eui-jae didn't delete his number. Nor did he sell it on Tomato Market. Instead, Cha Eui-jae found himself staring at Lee Sa-young's contact information, lost in thought more often.
As Lee Sa-young had ominously predicted, strange individuals started flocking to the store like carp chasing food.
For example…
"Yes, this is the hangover soup restaurant."
—Hello, this is Kim So-young, a writer from MBB Broadcasting. May I speak with you?
"I'm sorry, but we don't do deliveries."
—It's not about delivery. I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in appearing on a show. Our program airs live on weekdays at 7 PM, and…
"We don't appear on broadcasts."
—If we promote your place as a hunter's hotspot, it would help with…
"I'm not interested. We're busy with customers, so I'll hang up now."
Or there were incidents like this happening once a day,
"Sir."
"Yes?"
"Turn off the camera in your bag."
"What? Where do you see a camera? Did you see it? This is ridiculous."
"Unauthorized filming is illegal."
"Hey, punk! I can hear the camera running. This guy is underestimating hunters' ears."
"Why are you filming people eating soup? Who is this guy?"
"…Damn, that guy makes controversial content for YouTube!"
"What did you say?"
"Damn it, just you wait!"
"If we don't catch him, two people here will get wrapped up in an online article."
"Why are you just sitting there staring? Catch that guy!"
"Don't clear my soup. I'll go catch him before it gets cold."
"I have a warming artifact. Your soup will be safe."
"Lee Won-ho-ssi…!"
"Kang Doo-chil-ssi…!"
"It seems those two will end up in a dating rumor."
Not to mention all sorts of incidents and accidents happening frequently…
xxYeahsungH Sometimes, I…
I cry…
Sometimes I can't hold back my tears because it hurts…
Crying out loud…
Is a good thing.
#daily #communication #magicstone #waitingforcontact #tears #sadness #depression #cantfocusonwork
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—Don't cry YS
—(Crying emoji)
—Damn it, Ye-seong, I'm looking for your magic stone, so just wait a bit. When you cry, my heart tears apart too ㅠㅠ;;
—Jung Bin, please confiscate Hong Ye-seong's phone.
—Ye-seong, I love you, but this InHeart is a bit overwhelming.
And then there were emotional posts on Instagram from Hong Ye-seong, along with a tearful selfie, and…
[This is really delicious ^^ – Hunter Jung Bin]
There was even an autographed picture of Jung Bin that arrived in a registered mail. After encountering such things, Cha Eui-jae couldn't even be bothered to worry about them anymore.
An autograph from Jung Bin could be quite valuable. Cha Eui-jae considered selling it on Tomato Market but decided against it to avoid another barrage of messages. Instead, he quietly stuck it on the wall. Park Ha-eun liked it, so it turned out well in the end.
Recently, people with telephoto cameras had started hovering around the store, likely trying to get photos of famous hunters. Instead of a quiet life, Cha Eui-jae found himself increasingly entangled with the wider world, which was starting to annoy him.
At 12:24 PM, during a brief moment of free time, Cha Eui-jae was sweeping the front of the store when he frowned. He could feel a camera from afar taking pictures of him. Unfortunately, he didn't have the ability to manipulate electricity to destroy the camera from a distance. He could throw the broom to hit the camera, but…
'Should I just throw it?'
"Sir! We need more kimchi!"
"Yes."
'I am a weak civilian. Civilians can't break cameras with brooms. I am a weak civilian…'
Fortunately, the timely call pulled Cha Eui-jae out of his bad thoughts. He trudged back into the store, reminding himself that he was a good-natured civilian working at a hangover soup restaurant. This situation couldn't be simply because of one magic stone.
A very rare magic stone listed on Tomato Market in this area? That might cause some buzz among hunters. Some crazy person listed an A+ grade magic stone for a giveaway price, so they decided to search the area for the owner of the stone. And while they were at it, why not try the famous soup?
But if Korea's number one ranked hunter Lee Sa-young and the national public servant hunter Jung Bin both ate at the same hangover soup restaurant? That's a big deal.
From that moment on, the store was bound to receive all kinds of attention. Unknown cyber stalkers and people with telephoto cameras started showing up after Jung Bin's visit, so the timing matched up.
'It must be because of Jung Bin and Lee Sa-young…'
Cha Eui-jae was taking out the kimchi container while half-listening to Jung Bin's voice giving tips on preventing frozen pipes on TV.
Vroom—
"Ahh!"
"Damn!"
"Help!"
The loud exhaust and piercing screams shattered the quiet of the alley. Cha Eui-jae glanced outside. He prided himself on not being easily surprised anymore, but seeing a sleek black motorcycle blocking the door was a new sight.
The hunters waiting in line outside were pressed against the wall to avoid the motorcycle, and the hunters eating soup craned their necks to see what was going on.
Someone wearing a black leather rider jacket, dark blue jeans, black boots, and a helmet stood in front of the sliding door. The rider briefly peeked into the store, then roughly took off the helmet. Lustrous golden hair tied high fell gracefully.
The hunters holding their breath watching the rider gasped.
"The Hornet…!"
"Why is the Hornet here?"
"Who called her the Hornet? Do you want to die?"
"Sorry!"
Without bothering to hide her menacing aura, the Hornet flung the sliding door open and stormed inside. High-tied golden hair and the nickname Hornet. She was someone Cha Eui-jae had seen while looking up information about Lee Sa-young.
—Ranked 5th in South Korea, A-grade hunter, hunter name Honeybee. Real name Yoo Chae-hyun. Despite the hunter name Honeybee, many call her the Hornet because of her combat style and personality.
…But why would a 5th-ranked hunter come to this shabby hangover soup restaurant? Could it be to eat soup? Cha Eui-jae's thoughts were cut short by Honeybee's booming voice from her diaphragm.
"Lee Sa-young, come out!"
Alright, so it was Lee Sa-young causing trouble again. Cha Eui-jae's expression turned icy as he thought about how he would have to put another hunter's autograph on the wall.
Honeybee noticed his gaze and whipped around to face him. Her pretty face scanned him up and down, and her voice became relatively kind, perhaps thinking he was just a civilian.
"Is there a problem?"
Did she really not know? Cha Eui-jae thought there were already too many problems to count. This wasn't just a problem; it was a catastrophe.
Parking a motorcycle at the entrance! Shouting for Lee Sa-young and barging in!! Blocking the door arrogantly!!! Making the waiting customers stick to the wall like gum!!!! And lastly, a bad feeling that a Honeybee ZONE would soon appear!!!!! Everything was a problem.
When Jung Bin showed up, Cha Eui-jae was just flustered to meet someone he knew after a long time, but handling such hunters was actually easy for him. With a dumb, innocent expression like when he called the Rift Management Bureau, Cha Eui-jae said,
"Wait a moment."
"…"
[Trait: Poker Face (B) activated.]
"You're Honeybee, right?"
If it's come to this, I'll use my civilian disguise strategy.
The stronger and more famous a hunter, the more they care about their reputation. They tend to be kind and soft towards civilians. Cha Eui-jae employed a sure-fire line to prove that he was an ordinary, kind-hearted citizen.
"Wow, I'm a big fan."
Hearing about a fan, Honeybee quickly shifted gears. She let down her tied hair, brushed it back smoothly, and struck a signature pose from a hair dye commercial. The heater blew just at the right time, making her hair flutter.
"Change your color!"
'Really?'
Cha Eui-jae hesitated briefly but quickly collected himself. He beat on the kimchi container like a drum and cheered, "Wow!"