By Zephyria Clang!
Despite being a wad of paper, it made a dull sound as if hit by a baseball. The young man shuddered as if electrocuted, clutching his head and crouching on the floor. Eui-jae pointed at the crouching young man.
“Seriously, these days Hunters are all about appearances, huh?”
The next moment, he jumped up and punched the wall. Bang—hiccuping sounds mixed with the loud cracking noise. Another dark blue head appeared right next to where he punched. And the young man who came out of the wall also collapsed.
Eui-jae withdrew his fist and alternately looked at the man who had collapsed at his feet and the other man who was still rolling around clutching his head.
The hair color, build, and vaguely visible faces were surprisingly similar. Enough to suspect they were the same person. Eui-jae narrowed his eyes.
“…What is this?”
“Ugh…”
“Is something going on in there?”
Jang Mi-sook-ssi asked loudly. The crouching young man and Eui-jae raised their heads at the same time. Eui-jae grabbed his neck, pulled him up, and gestured towards the door. It meant he should answer appropriately. The young man nodded and replied.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
Jang Mi-sook-ssi’s presence gradually faded away. Eui-jae casually released the neck he had been holding. The young man grumbled, rubbing the area around his neck, which was already starting to turn blue.
“All the information was wrong. They said you were kind and good-natured, but you just threw a punch right away.”
“Well, who told you to hide in the wall like a rat?”
“I didn’t know you’d attack right away.”
“It’s not an attack, it’s a suppression. I don’t know if you’re an enemy or not, why would I leave you alone?”
“That’s true.”
“You have to eliminate dangerous elements, right?”
“You’re only saying what’s right. You leave me speechless.”
The young man approached the crouching young man and squatted in front of him. They looked even more identical side by side. The first thought that came to mind was…
‘A clone?’
That was it. Was it because he had seen so many strange things? Eui-jae asked them.
“So, which one of you is Mackerel?”
“Who else could it be?”
The crouching young man slowly stood up. The young man who had been chattering since earlier swept back his long bangs, revealing a handsome face. His dark blue eyes, similar to his hair color, were filled with laughter.
“We’re both Mackerel.”
After the situation was sorted out, Eui-jae and the two people who claimed to be Mackerel sat across from each other at the table.
It felt strange to have two identical faces sitting side by side. The Mackerel who had been hit in the head with the business card was still crouching and exuding a gloomy atmosphere, while the Mackerel who had been grabbed by the neck had swept back his bangs and was weighing a soju bottle and a cider bottle in both hands.
“What would you like? Soju? Cider?”
“Cider.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Mackerel who poured the cider with both hands smiled brightly and pushed the glass towards Eui-jae.
“Have a drink and a piece of sashimi. Hyung is really good at slicing it.”
The title Hyung caught his ear. Eui-jae picked up his chopsticks and asked.
“Are you two brothers?”
“We’re identical twins. Aren’t we incredibly alike? I feel like I’m looking in a mirror every day.”
“……”
The gloomy Mackerel nodded silently. Even though he couldn’t see because of his long hair, his build and vaguely visible face were quite similar. The talkative Mackerel drew two human shapes in the air.
“Well, let me introduce ourselves… We’re Mackerel. We’re information brokers, and I handle all the sales and customer service. Hyung is shy, so he only works behind the scenes. The Mackerel people talk about is me. Most people don’t know there are two Mackerels.”
“For someone who’s shy, you’re sitting here just fine.”
“That’s because…”
The younger Mackerel wrapped his arm around the older Mackerel’s shoulder and suddenly pushed him towards Eui-jae. Through the swaying bangs, his round, widened dark blue eyes could be seen. The older Mackerel trembled and pulled back. The younger Mackerel chuckled.
“We’re J’s fans. Especially my Hyung.”
“Huh?”
The older Mackerel rummaged around and took out horn-rimmed glasses. The younger Mackerel pouted.
“But you throw business cards at your fans. And use violence.”
“No, who threw it first?”
“Old fart.”
At this point, Eui-jae was dumbfounded. This was too much! Eui-jae had simply returned the favor to the rude bastard who had thrown something at his face at the table. The younger Mackerel waved his hand. The wall that had been punched through was replaced with a new wall, as if the store had changed.
It was probably an Awakening ability. Eui-jae, calming his anger, asked.
“Are you both Awakened?”
The two Mackerels looked at each other. The younger Mackerel scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
“Wow… you really came here without knowing anything. This is new. Didn’t Lee Sa-young tell you anything?”
“Nope.”
“Like rules or something?”
“I don’t know.”
The Mackerels began to whisper. Judging from Jang Mi-sook’s reaction and the younger Mackerel’s reaction, Eui-jae seemed to have come here without knowing something obvious. Did Lee Sa-young deliberately not tell him?
‘…It’s scary that Lee Sa-young might do that.’
Eui-jae rolled his eyes anxiously. Usually, in movies, shouldn’t you deny that he would do that at this timing? But Lee Sa-young was the kind of guy who would do that and more. Lee Sa-young had more secrets than Cha Eui-jae. It was infuriating. He could roughly guess what kind of excuses he would make.
‘You’re going to be with me anyway, right?’
‘I’ll explain everything when the time comes.’
‘Don’t you trust me….’
Damn it. Eui-jae gritted his teeth. I know Lee Sa-young too well!
While Eui-jae was newly enraged by Lee Sa-young’s infuriating attitude, the Mackerels were still whispering to each other. The younger Mackerel’s voice became a little louder.
“So Lee Sa-young just dumped J here and left? What nerve? Are they really not on good terms? Then why are they together? Or does he want to see J turn the seafood market upside down? Is he trying to screw him over?”
The nuance of the words was a bit strange. Wasn’t this completely treating J like a bomb? One of Eui-jae’s eyebrows shot up. Although it wasn’t visible because of the Gas mask.
“Ah, no. Wait a minute.”
The older Mackerel stuttered and opened his mouth. He wiggled his fingers and mumbled.
“A customer, a customer looking for, Cha, urgently. I connected them.”
“Ah, right. Which room?”
“Number 4.”
“Is the conversation not over yet?”
“U-uh. Still in conversation.”
“Is that so? …Then we should attract customers.”
The younger Mackerel’s atmosphere changed. It was the look of a merchant he had seen countless times while being guided here. Vitality sparkled in his dark blue eyes. The younger Mackerel whispered subtly.
“Now then, customer.”
He put his fingertips together and smiled.
“What can I help you with?”
“What? Suddenly?”
Mackerel spread two long fingers.
“People who step into the seafood market fall into two categories. People who buy information, and people who sell information.”
“……”
“I wonder which one J-nim is…. Either way is fine, though. I think you have a lot of valuable information?”
“No.”
“Hmm?”
“There’s a third one too.”
Eui-jae threw his chopsticks. The light on the ceiling shattered. Crackle…. The light went out and darkness fell. He didn’t miss the short gap, took off his Gas mask, and put on his black mask.
He loosened his hands. The sound of cracking knuckles was clear.
The distorted voice said.
“The one who came to screw you over.”
The black shadow covered the Mackerel.
A little earlier, at the seafood market.
The hem of a black coat fluttered. The surrounding scenery was in a mess, but there was no hesitation in his steps.
How long had he walked? A small security office came into view. An old man who had been dozing off felt a presence and opened his eyes. A hand wearing a black leather glove took out an old wooden plaque from the Inventory and held it out. The plaque had the character for ‘death’ written on it.
“I’ve come to meet someone.”
“Hmm, go to room 4.”
The old man mumbled and inserted the wooden plaque into a gap prepared inside the security office. The tightly closed door slid open. A long corridor with red lights flickering appeared through the opening. Sa-young slowly moved his steps. There was a gap with beaded curtains hanging between the long rows of walls.
When he lifted the densely hung beaded curtains, small beads clattered and fell onto his hair. In the small room dyed with red light, there was only a square table, two chairs, and a long fish tank filling one wall. Several red goldfish were diligently swimming in the bright blue fish tank.
One of the chairs was already occupied. Blond hair sparkled under the scarf wrapped around her head. The woman sitting with her legs crossed slightly lowered her sunglasses to show her eyes.
“You’ve finally come?”
“……”
“It’s so hard to see your precious face.”
It was Honeybee.
Lee Sa-young didn’t answer and walked leisurely. Then he sat down on the chair opposite Honeybee and crossed his legs. As if waiting, a black shadow appeared and placed a glass in front of them. Steam rose from the glass. When the hazy steam subsided, Sa-young opened his mouth first.
“I guess you received a message that I would be visiting.”
“Don’t worry, the word didn’t leak. I’ve just been coming every day. Until you came.”
“…You’ve been coming every day?”
“There was a reason to.”
Honeybee took off her scarf. The hair that had been gathered together fell out.
“I asked them to connect me when you came here. To Mackerel.”
“It must be urgent.”
“It is urgent. And serious.”
Honeybee, who had been tapping the table, said.
“Matthew is in critical condition.”