“We’re closed for the day, you should go home now.”
“I came as soon as I finished filming, you’re being too much.”
“You mean to tell me that while I was working part-time at Super Buff Coffee in that disguise, you went to shoot a film?”
I glared at him with resentment, but Oh Seoho didn’t blink an eye.
“Hahaha, you looked really good in that disguise, what’s wrong with it?” He replied naturally, pulling out several film posters from his bag, “The noir action film ‘Despicable Hunter 2‘, starring this Oh Seoho as the lead role for the first time in a long time, is coming out soon. I’ll send you a premium premiere ticket later, so please come see it, hahaha.”
The poster had a large close-up of Oh Seoho’s face. Part of me wanted to say no, I don’t need this, but I accepted the poster anyway. The reason was obvious.
“Meow, waeoong (Premium premiere)…….”
It was because my cat was very much looking forward to it.
But aren’t cats not allowed in cinemas? Even if I accept the invitation to the premiere, Mieum won’t be able to go … as I thought about how to break the news to Mieum without hurting her feelings, I came up with an idea.
“Hunter Oh Seoho, do you happen to be allergic to cat fur?”
“No. I don’t have any allergies.”
“Meoooow……” Mieum’s eyes widened in happiness. But she didn’t bother to come over to him, just stole a glance at him from afar. What an eccentric cat.
“Do you hate cats or have cat phobia … anything like that?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then.…”
I walked over to the corner and scooped up our heavy house cat. Mieum struggled for a moment in confusion, but soon came over to me meekly.
“Would you like to hold her?”
“U-unyaa…..”
It was a tense moment. For a few seconds, Oh Seoho’s gaze was focused on Mieum, and even Ash and Lime stopped their actions to watch Oh Seoho and Mieum.
“…….”
“…….”
Soon, Oh Seoho’s fingertips touched the back of Mieum’s head slightly. Mieum looked like she was about to faint.
“Good. What’s the name of this cat?”
“She’s Mieum. Kwon Mieum.”
Oh Seoho hugged Mieum and stroked her back, “Okay. Mieum-ah, hello. Your fur is smooth and you look so cute.”
“……unyaaah.”
Oh Seoho seemed to have a soft spot for animals, he hugged and stroked Mieum for a long time. Mieum, who didn’t know what to do at first, slowly relaxed and purred in his arms.
I have to do all these things for you guys. It’s really hard to raise animals. You know that this is all thanks to me, right? You should thank me, right?
However, Oh Seoho, who patted Mieum to her heart’s content before placed her on the floor, added,
“As expected, cats are cute, too. I’m actually more of a dog person than a cat person.”
“Waeooolgh?!”
Oh, I wish you hadn’t said that…….
Mieum, who had gone back and forth between heaven and hell in a matter of moments, huddled in the corner, and Ash and Lime went over to comfort her.
I’m sure he didn’t mean to, but to bring chaos to our peaceful cafe with a single word, Oh Seoho is truly an amazing person. He smiled and cut to the chase, not knowing knowing what our animal thought.
“You know, those Super Buff Coffee guys.”
Oops. Oh Seoho was supposed to tell me how the case went today, but he got sidetracked by Mieum. I sat down across from him and asked.
“How did it go?”
“Well, shall I say as expected?” Oh Seoho took a sip of cold water I had served instead of coffee and continued, “A few days ago, a body was found in the site of the Super Buff Coffee building.”
“……!”
“They said it took a while to identify the body because it was in a bad state. It was someone who was commonly referred to as Dia-nim in the Order.”
Dia’s true identity had been identified as a fraudster with multiple convictions, but it’s unclear who killed him or how.
“What about the rest?” I asked, recalling Sapphire’s crew being held up by the branches.
“They’re all fine, they were captured as they were, and as you can probably guess … they didn’t know anything about the Sephiroth branch.”
“I see….”
Well, they were just like extra villains, so that was to be expected.
“There’s also one testimony that’s troubling. There’s someone who said they saw the deceased leader and C&L’s CEO Lee Sein together.”
“As expected, it was her who staged the incident?”
“That’s what the authorities believe.”
“But isn’t it a little, now….” I trailed off, unable to find the right words.
“Yes, it’s not a situation that deserves to be investigated, but the arrests are ongoing for now.”
“…….”
For a moment, I thought of Choi Cedric and his sister. They’d made it out of the dungeon safely that day, but so much had happened to them. I wondered if they were okay.
“That’s all the information I could find so far. I thought you might be interested.”
“Thank you.”
After finishing his explanation, Oh Seoho studied my expression and spoke cautiously, “Something must be bothering you.”
Was it that obvious on my face? I opened my mouth after a short hesitation.
“Uh, Yoohyun-ssi … I mean, it seems like Muwon’s identity has been leaked to the reporters.”
“Oh, that’s true.” Oh Seoho tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. It was a measured response, “Take a look at this.”
Suddenly. Oh Seoho took out his phone and held it out to me. When I picked it up, a pictorial of Oh Seoho was displayed on the screen.
He was handsome as he was famous for being a handsome actor …. umh. The picture of him on a white cloth scattered with red flower petals, making a solemn expression, was extremely burdensome to look at.
I don’t think we’re close enough for him to show me a picture like that, and I prefer a more modest look. I shakily handed the phone back to him.
“What’s this……?”
“Oops, my mistake. I forgot to unlock it. Wait.”
“You have a picture of yourself as your lock screen…….”
“It’s some sort of campaign to love yourself.”
“Oh, I see.”
I felt the distance between me and Oh Seoho grow.
I picked up his phone again and saw an article on the Hunter Channel. It was written by HingHungHong, umh….
Unintentionally and without malice, he spilled Muwon’s identity and the fact that he was a regular at our cafe.
HingHungHong-ssi, what could I say about the fact that it ended up like this even though you didn’t intend it … it was amazing. It also felt like I was being stabbed in the back.
So far, there hasn’t been much damage to me other than reporters making a lot of buzz, but I was wondering what that person would think. I didn’t think of contacting him today because I was busy running the cafe. I asked out of the blue.
“Do you know how Yoohyun-ssi is doing?”
“I’m sorry. It’s hard to answer that question.”
“What?”
Did something happen to Ki Yoohyun? I asked back in surprise.
“That person doesn’t answer my calls, or if he does, he immediately hangs up on me.”
“Oh….”
“…….”
I looked at Oh Seoho with a pitying glance.
“Please don’t look at me with such pity.”
“That …. cheer up. Fighting.”
Oh Seoho added in a lighthearted tone, trying to change the mood, “Well, if it’s about Muwon, don’t worry about it so much.”
“How can I not worry?”
“They’re just reporters, and whether it’s the Cheongna Guild or the Dungeon Management Office, it would be easy if they want to stop them. They probably didn’t think it was a big deal that they left it as is, or they had some idea.”
“I’m glad if that’s the case….”
Oh Seoho gulped down the last of the cold water in his cup and stood up, though I couldn’t figure out why he was drinking it in a beverage CF-like pose when it was just water. The only person here who would welcome his behaviour is Mieum, who was practising her puppy howl in the corner.
I hesitated for a moment, then called back Oh Seoho, who was getting ready to say goodbye.
“Wait, Hunter Oh Seoho.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to ask you something. Hunter Oh Seoho is a friend of Yoohyun-ssi….”
“We are best friends. Best friends! It’s important, so please get it right.”
Is that important? Anyway, I said it again as he said.
“….Yes, you said you were his best friend.”
According to Ki Yoohyun’s words, before the regression, Oh Seoho went with Ki Yoohyun to the Great Dungeon Abyss and died. I could understand why Ki Yoohyun would want to avoid him at all costs now.
But now, after the regression, all of that is history. Why does Oh Seoho consider Ki Yoohyun close to him? Just because he wanted them to be wannabe best friends with good chemistry?
There was one thing that bothered me about that.
As if he’d guessed the question I was about to ask, he pulled his lips into a smile. It was an awkward, clumsy laugh, unlike his refreshing smiles I’d seen in the beverage CFs.
I found an indescribable sadness in that smile.
At last, I blurted out the question that had been lingering on the tip of my tongue.
“Hunter Oh Seoho, can you tell me how you came to know Yoohyun-ssi?”
“…… if you wish.”
And the story that followed was shocking. I felt my heart sink.
***
The third day of the Cafe Rieul’s Ginger Festival.
I was in the middle of completely getting rid of the ginger. Today, we closed earlier than usual since I decided to meet my uncle and Kwon Jiwoon for a family dinner.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go with me?”
“I said it’s fine. This is the thousandth time you’ve asked.”
“But you’re part of the family, so you should go too, Ash. Kwon Jiwoon also asked me to bring you.”
“Forget it, you’re going to be late. Get ready to go.”
This conversation had been repeated several times since yesterday. I wanted to take Ash to the family dinner, but he refused.
Instead, Ash decided to hang out with the twins at the store while I was gone, it seems like he’s gotten quite close to the male of the twins, Shinwoo. Although, of course, Ash himself didn’t want to admit it.
Actually, it’s true that it would be more fun to play with twins his own age than eat with Uncle and Kwon Jiwoon. Did I sound too much like an overbearing employer asking people to join the company dinner? I gave up trying to persuade Ash, took off my apron, and got ready to go out.
“Eonni, hello! How have you been doing?”
“…Hello!”
Just then, the twins arrived. The twins had been assigned the role of standby in case of an emergency rift from the last monster branch incident. Joo Shinwoo grumbled that they were just guarding the house, not doing any actions, and Jo Shinhee lamented that she was disappointed for not being able to see my performance in person.
Anyway, it’s good to see the twins still so energetic. Hopefully they’ll stay that way.
I set the snacks I had prepared for Ash and the twins on the table and said, “Thank you for playing with Ash today.”
“I’m not playing with them!”
A shout came from the side.
“Ash, you can’t talk to your friends like that.”
“We’re not friends!”
“Friend, no……?”
Joo Shinwoo asked back with a shocked expression. Aha. The unexpected reaction caused Ash to panic and widen his big eyes. Then, he hurriedly corrected it.
“Uh, that! So, not a friend, but a best friend. Best friends!”
Ash, you learned something from Oh Seoho.
It’s just in time for me to leave. As I put on my coat and searched for my shawl, Jo Shinhee spoke to me.
