209 – HGL 209

209

Ham Seok-jeong smiled as the two approached.

“You’ve arrived. The suit looks good on you.”

Eui-jae didn’t reply, simply bowing his head. It was best to keep his words to a minimum in official settings. It was a survival tactic Ham Seok-jeong had taught him. Ham Seok-jeong tapped the seat to her right. Eui-jae, without a second thought, was about to sit in the seat she designated. However— His arm was seized. A hand clad in a leather glove was firmly gripping him.

‘What?’

Sa-young, instead of sitting down, tilted his head at an angle. He also crossed his arms. A posture that clearly showed dissatisfaction.

“How gracious… to designate seats for everyone.”

“I arranged it with consideration. It wouldn’t do to have people who had unfortunate incidents sitting together, would it?”

As if to prove her point, Honeybee and Gyu-Gyu were seated the furthest away from Ham Seok-jeong. When Sa-young’s gaze reached him, Gyu-Gyu clutched his shoulder and made a tearful face. However, when Jung-bin approached and whispered something in his ear, he shrugged and gave up. Honeybee glared at them both as if they were pathetic.

Ham Seok-jeong watched the flowing situation and smiled leisurely.

“Why, I just thought I’d let you see the guy who hasn’t shown his face for three months up close. Do you dislike it?”

“Since when were we such close acquaintances…? Never mind.”

Sa-young gestured with his chin towards Eui-jae.

“I’m the one who brought him here… so I should have him sit next to me.”

Suddenly?

Eui-jae stared at Sa-young with wide eyes. Ham Seok-jeong chuckled.

“Ah, so that was your dissatisfaction?”

“He wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for me.”

Such blatant confidence!

Ham Seok-jeong shook her head.

“Since when have you two been so close…? Well, do as you please.”

Ham Seok-jeong waved her hand as if to say, ‘Do whatever you want.’ No, I don’t want to sit together while receiving this much attention. Eui-jae raised his head to express his refusal, but his eyes met Sa-young’s, who was glaring at him as if to kill him. His purple eyes were ominous. Eui-jae swallowed the curse that was about to come out.

‘Ah, why is he acting up again!’

Again. Lee Sa-young’s mood was twisted like a pretzel again. Curious gazes were focused on them. Hong Ye-seong even took out popcorn from somewhere and started eating it. His overly good ears even caught the small whispers. I thought it was just noise marketing, but they’re really close? He’s grabbing J’s arm. So that rumor is true….

He felt like his mental strength would hit rock bottom if he listened any longer. Eui-jae gritted his teeth and muttered in a small voice, just loud enough for Sa-young to hear.

“Ugh, eu-jjeu-reu-geu eu-reu.”

Sa-young, instead of replying, released Eui-jae’s arm and dragged the chair placed to Ham Seok-jeong’s right. Then, he placed it side by side with his chair on the left. The Hunter who had been assigned the seat next to Sa-young gasped and hurriedly moved his chair to the side. And the one next to him, and the one next to him, and the one next to him… Clatter, thud, clatter, thud, clatter, thud, the sound of chairs moving continued like a wave.

Sa-young, who had moved half of the Hunters with a single movement, shrugged. As if to say, ‘Is that okay?’ His Gas mask tilted slightly.

‘What do you mean, okay!’

Eui-jae trembled, his clenched fist shaking. He couldn’t even shout, so all the anger was focused on his fist. When was the last time he felt this much anger towards Lee Sa-young? Probably back in the Hangover Soup restaurant days, when he was interfering with his business.

But receiving any more attention than this is also burdensome. If he gets angry at Sa-young here, there might be another article about it. With a title like 「J Knocks Lee Sa-young Down at the General Assembly」.

Eui-jae, trying his best to act nonchalant, sat in the seat Sa-young had prepared. A low chuckle brushed past his ear.

It was then.

“Oh, everyone’s already gathered. I see some familiar faces! Am I too late?”

“No, you’re right on time.”

“Haha, you’re working hard today too. Oh, this General Assembly hall is quite impressive!”

Song Jo-heon entered the hall with a good-natured smile. Fortunately, people’s attention was focused on Song Jo-heon.

At this distance, even whispering would be heard by others. Eui-jae lowered his hand under the wide table and raised his index finger. Then, he began to press letters into his firm thigh. Pressing hard enough to hurt.

Want to die?

Sa-young turned to look at Eui-jae sharply. Eui-jae glared. It was the first time he had ever felt so frustrated that his mask was covering his face. The eyes behind the Gas mask lenses narrowed. As if he found it amusing.

Sa-young’s finger touched Eui-jae’s thigh. But instead of writing, he simply tickled it lightly. Like drawing zigzag lines to see if the pen was working, or like making meaningless doodles.

“…….”

No, this, it feels a bit.

The moment Eui-jae stiffened, Ham Seok-jeong stood up from her seat.

“Now that Guild Leader Song Jo-heon is here, and it seems everyone who’s coming is here… shall we begin the General Assembly?”

“…….”

“I won’t waste your time unnecessarily. We’ll only talk about what’s necessary and finish.”

Song Jo-heon replied.

“I like your straightforwardness.”

Ham Seok-jeong looked at Song Jo-heon with a cold face. He smiled as he fiddled with the handle of his cane.

“Yes, let’s finish quickly, as the Director says.”

Ah~ What an incorrigible person~

A folksy and cheerful tune echoed. Squeak, squeak, the whetstone sharpened the knife. Jang Mi-sook, listening to trot music while sharpening her knife, suddenly stretched her neck out. The fish market was being rearranged piece by piece today as well, but there were few people who were lost, and few customers looking for stores.

“It’s strangely quiet today. What’s going on?”

“Ah…. There’s a meeting.”

“A meeting?”

She turned her head and looked inside the room. Inside the dim room, Mackerel, wearing a shirt and slacks, was lying down using a cushion as a pillow and tapping on his phone. The sound of a game could be heard from the horizontally held phone.

“It’s a gathering of high-ranking people. Most of our customers are there.”

“Aren’t you going? You’re quite high in the rankings or whatever, aren’t you?”

“We’re unorthodox, so we can’t go. That’s a place only for the orthodox. And I can find out all the meeting contents without going, so what’s the point….”

Haaam, Mackerel yawned, opening his mouth wide. Jang Mi-sook clicked her tongue at Mackerel, who was lounging around like a loafer.

“Why are you the only one out here? Where’s your Hyung?”

“I came out to play because I thought our Mi-sook would be bored. Hyung is still in his room.”

“Tell him to get some sunlight.”

“Hey, you know how it is. It’s a special occasion for Hyung to come outside.”

It was then. Mackerel’s phone vibrated for a long time. Mackerel sat up as if he had been shot up, then put the phone to his ear. He asked in a gentle voice.

“Hello, Hyung? What’s wrong? Should I bring you something? Or… do you miss me?”

—No… the atmosphere outside, it’s strange.

“…Atmosphere?”

Mackerel narrowed his aquamarine eyes. Mackerel shoved his shoes on and bowed to Jang Mi-sook. Then, he quickly crossed the alley and asked.

“What do you mean by strange?”

—S, strange people are holding signs, lined up from Noryangjin Station… to the entrance here.

“…….”

—It seems like… Prometheus.

Mackerel stopped in his tracks. His voice lowered.

“What do the signs say?”

—T, to stop Doomsday with human power. It seems like they’ve appeared in… d, other places too.

“Where?”

—M, mainly in downtown areas.

“Did they target when the General Assembly is in session?”

Mackerel roughly ruffled his hair. Then, he ran towards the exit. A panicked, trembling voice muttered from beyond the phone.

—H, how did they gather so many people? There was no message on the website to gather, there wasn’t.

“That’s not what’s important right now, Hyung.”

The moment he stepped out of the exit. What came into view was….

Hundreds of people dressed in white, lined up in rows.

“Aren’t these guys crazy?”

Mackerel readjusted his phone. When he flicked his finger, several goldfish appeared and swam leisurely towards them. They didn’t pay attention to the bright red goldfish. They were just standing still like robots. It was strangely quiet, even though hundreds of people were gathered. It was as if they were not even alive.

They were all holding the same signs. Letters written in red.

Let us save ourselves from Doomsday

Let us overcome Doomsday with human power

Doomsday.

Doomsday?

The moment he saw the letters, his vision distorted. His head spun. The surrounding air seemed to have become heavier.

“…Ah, damn it.”

Mackerel cursed roughly and leaned against the doorway. His stomach churned as if he was about to throw up. His vision spun. Mackerel barely opened his mouth.

“Hyung…….”

—Why, what’s wrong?

“Don’t come out, no matter what.”

Soon,

Thud….

A silence so quiet that even breathing could not be heard descended.