The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 202
For some reason, Yoon Ga-eul wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew there had to be a reason J had come in such a covert manner. Although, she wasn’t entirely sure how covert it really was. She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“I’ll tell my teacher and come out next period. It’s recess right now…”
“Is that okay?”
“If I say it’s for the Awakened Management Bureau, it should be fine. Just wait a little bit.”
J’s eyes, hidden in the shade, smiled coolly. Nodding slightly, Cha Eui-jae raised his voice a bit and asked,
“Should I pack it in a carrier? You’ve got a lot to carry.”
“Yes!”
The friends behind the fence screamed back eagerly. He skillfully took out a paper carrier like the ones used in cafés, folded it, and placed the tteokbokki cups and wooden skewers inside. Yoon Ga-eul took the cups, bowing her head slightly. Da-yeon clung to the fence and shouted,
“Oppa, how long are you staying here?”
“Huh? Me?”
Oppa? Does she even know who he is?! Yoon Ga-eul was horrified by her friend’s casual way of addressing him. Cha Eui-jae pointed to himself with a puzzled look, and Da-yeon nodded enthusiastically. Rubbing the back of his neck, he answered,
“I’ll be leaving soon.”
“No, you should keep selling! I’ll spread the word like crazy. I have tons of friends.”
“No, no need to spread the word. Lots of people already came by.”
“Can we come back during lunch?”
“Shouldn’t you be eating school lunch then?”
“Tteokbokki looks better than the school food.”
“Eat what the nutritionist worked hard to prepare. Don’t eat junk like tteokbokki.”
Cha Eui-jae waved them off as if telling them to get going. Yoon Ga-eul nodded, passed the carrier over the fence, and once again hopped over it with ease.
Checking the time, she saw that recess was almost over. Yoon Ga-eul hurried her friends back to the classroom. As she glanced back one last time, Cha Eui-jae had stepped out of the truck and was packing things up.
In the end, they had to eat the tteokbokki while sprinting up two stairs at a time, but the taste…
“Hey, what the heck? This is crazy. It’s so good.”
“…”
“Ugh, damn it. I should’ve asked for ten thousand won’s worth. I’m going to regret this forever.”
“I should’ve skipped lunch and just eaten this…”
“They’ll still have some at lunchtime, right? Oh, please.”
Why is this so good?
Could J really be some kind of superhuman who excels at everything? Yoon Ga-eul, wearing a serious expression, chewed and swallowed the tteokbokki. It was the best she had ever tasted.
***
Yoon Ga-eul crouched down and glanced around. Fortunately, it seemed she was the only student skipping class and making an escape. She quickly jumped over the fence. Although the truck was closed, the lingering scent of the tteokbokki made her mouth water. Knowing the taste only made it harder to resist.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Yoon Ga-eul knocked on the passenger-side door of the truck. A black baseball cap suddenly popped up from behind the window. Cha Eui-jae lowered his mask to his chin and mouthed the words,
“Get in.”
Yoon Ga-eul opened the truck door and climbed into the passenger seat. Cha Eui-jae glanced at her.
“What did you tell them?”
“I said the Awakened Management Bureau had an urgent call for me, but it was classified, so I couldn’t share the details. They processed an early leave for me.”
“…Can you just do that? Isn’t attendance important? You’re a senior in high school.”
Yoon Ga-eul shook her head firmly, wearing a resolute expression.
“But… if J came all the way here, it must be something important.”
“…”
Cha Eui-jae tapped the steering wheel with his fingers before speaking in a serious tone.
“If you miss out on your dream school because of attendance…”
“…”
“I’ll ask Lee Sa-young to scout you.”
“No, no, it’s fine. That’s really not necessary.”
Yoon Ga-eul quickly shook her head. Just thinking of Lee Sa-young’s cold tone and purple eyes sent chills down her spine. She’d rather join the Awakened Management Bureau. Hugging her bag tightly, Yoon Ga-eul stole a glance at Cha Eui-jae. Up close, he looked quite tired. Dark circles hung under his eyes.
Unable to bear the awkward silence, Yoon Ga-eul blurted out,
“That tteokbokki…”
“Yes?”
“It was really delicious. All my friends said so too.”
“Really?”
A tired smile appeared on his face as Cha Eui-jae chuckled quietly.
“Looks like it was a success. It was my first time making it.”
“Some of them even said they’d rather eat that than school lunch.”
“That’s not good. They need to eat proper meals.”
“It’s just their way of saying it was that good.”
“Glad to hear that. Maybe I’ll open a shop if I quit being a hunter.”
Cha Eui-jae joked as he fastened his seatbelt. The way he started the engine seemed second nature. Come to think of it, J’s identity was supposed to be classified. Did he get his driver’s license? Under his real name? Yoon Ga-eul fastened her seatbelt as well and asked,
“When did you get your license?”
“I don’t have one.”
“What?”
The confident answer left Yoon Ga-eul in shock. He just admitted to driving without a license? Was this okay? Should she call Officer Jung Bin right now? Of course, even if there were an accident, neither J nor Yoon Ga-eul would be hurt. Still, Yoon Ga-eul pressed herself against the door just in case.
“Then how did you drive here?”
“A goldfish drove for me.”
Was that a joke? He looked far too serious. As soon as Cha Eui-jae placed his hands on the wheel, five red goldfish popped out from the center of the steering wheel. They scattered throughout the car, and soon the truck started moving on its own. Yoon Ga-eul’s mouth dropped open.
“H-how does this even work?”
“I don’t really know either… The truck was lent to me by Mackerel. I think it’s up to some kind of trick.”
“Wow…”
Self-driving goldfish.
Yoon Ga-eul swallowed the joke that rose to her throat. Familiar scenes from her school and the morning commute passed by outside the window. Once the school was far behind, Yoon Ga-eul finally spoke.
“About what we talked about… I don’t think I can speak with the other version of me anymore. It feels like I’ve completely merged with her… Since that day, even I haven’t been able to have a conversation with her.”
“I see.”
“But I can share what I’ve seen. I don’t know everything, but… hmm, the clock…”
Yoon Ga-eul closed her eyes and focused. Ever since merging with her other self, she would occasionally recall memories that didn’t belong to her.
She extended her thoughts, like drawing a mind map; the clock, a ruined world, the end, J, Lee Sa-young…
Suddenly, a bright light switched on in her mind. Yoon Ga-eul opened her eyes. Her hands were glowing in vibrant colors. She hurriedly grabbed Cha Eui-jae’s arm. Though he looked at her with a puzzled expression at first, he quickly understood and closed his eyes. Yoon Ga-eul did the same. Their consciousnesses began to sink deeper, into a faraway place.
“You’re saying you want to meet Lee Sa-young?”
A damp, muffled voice echoed in a stark white space. After the sound of rustling paper, a sharp voice shot back.
“Why would you want to find that guy who never leaves his house? Just think of him as dead.”
“Honeybee.”
“What? Am I wrong?”
“Calm down—”
“Answer me, Bae Won-woo! Am I wrong?”
“Let’s talk outside. Come on, let’s go.”
A towering shadow led the sharp voice away. When Yoon Ga-eul blinked, she found herself in a dim room, surrounded by bookshelves. The flickering candlelight cast a shadow that swayed ominously, distorting into grotesque shapes.
“…”
“As harsh as her words were, Honeybee’s right.”
A hoarse, cracked voice spoke. A figure snapped a book shut. Strands of white hair, unkempt and wild, fell over his face. Cha Eui-jae looked up and his eyes widened.
It was Nam Woo-jin— but not as he remembered. Nam Woo-jin’s body was emaciated, almost mummified. A heavy breath escaped him as he blinked his pale, burning eyes— those were the only signs he was still the man Cha Eui-jae knew. His rasping voice muttered,
“When I make plans, I leave him out. He’s not a viable asset anymore.”
“…”
“Maybe things would’ve been different if J were still around. But…”
His bony fingers pressed against his temple. After a weak cough, a white liquid oozed from his mouth, accompanied by the metallic stench of blood. Though it was white, it was unmistakably blood. Struggling, he finished his sentence.
“…We don’t have J anymore.”
“Are you alright?”
Standing beside Cha Eui-jae, Yoon Ga-eul asked with concern. She was older now, an adult, just as she had appeared in the fragmented visions. Nam Woo-jin wiped his mouth and replied,
“Alright? No, I’m faithfully dying, day by day.”
Nam Woo-jin leaned back heavily into his chair.
“But don’t worry. I’ll hang on as long as I can.”
“…”
“If I die, this place collapses too… So I’ll endure. Though it seems parts of it have already started crumbling.”
Cha Eui-jae glanced around. A library, full of books— it had to be the Seowon Guild. But why was the library’s master in such a frail state? And then Cha Eui-jae realized the truth.
There was no way someone could heal others without cost.
Nam Woo-jin’s ability to heal must have come at the expense of his own life. Such was the law of the system.
Yoon Ga-eul bit her lip so hard it nearly bled. After a long hesitation, her hands clenching and unclenching, she finally spoke, her voice tentative.
“If, hypothetically…”
“…”
“Just hypothetically…”
“…”
“What if we had already experienced the end of the world, and just before it all ended, time was turned back… and that’s how we ended up here? What would you think?”
Nam Woo-jin muttered with his eyes closed.
“If that were true…”
“…”
“Then we’ve already failed.”
A heavy silence fell. Yoon Ga-eul, her voice tense, pressed on.
“But… what if we could turn back time once more?”
