The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 209
As the two approached, Ham Seok-jeong smiled gently.
“You’re here. The suit looks good on you.”
Cha Eui-jae didn’t respond and simply bowed his head. It was best to speak as little as possible in formal situations. This was a survival rule taught to him by Ham Seok-jeong. She tapped the seat to her right. Cha Eui-jae moved to sit in the designated spot without thinking much. However—
A hand suddenly grabbed his arm. A gloved hand held him firmly.
‘What the—?’
Lee Sa-young, instead of sitting, tilted his head with an air of rebellion and crossed his arms, clearly showing displeasure.
“How generous… assigning seats for everyone.”
“I arranged them with care. You know, it’s not ideal to sit people with bad blood next to each other.”
Proving her point, Honeybee and Gyu-Gyu sat at the seats farthest from Ham Seok-jeong. When Lee Sa-young’s gaze met Gyu-Gyu’s, he grabbed his shoulders, looking like he was about to cry. But when Jung Bin leaned in and whispered something in his ear, Gyu-Gyu shrugged it off. Honeybee, on the other hand, looked at them with a scornful glare.
Ham Seok-jeong observed the situation with a relaxed smile.
“What, are you upset because you can’t sit next to the guy who’s been avoiding you for three months? You don’t like it?”
“Since when did we get so chummy… Whatever.”
Lee Sa-young motioned towards Cha Eui-jae with his chin.
“I’m the one who brought him here… I should sit next to him.”
Out of nowhere?
Cha Eui-jae widened his eyes in surprise at Lee Sa-young’s words. Ham Seok-jeong chuckled.
“Oh, was that the issue?”
“He wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t for me.”
What brazen confidence!
Ham Seok-jeong shook her head in disbelief.
“Since when were you two so close… Fine, do as you like.”
She waved her hand dismissively as if to say, “Do whatever.” Cha Eui-jae, however, didn’t like the idea of sitting next to Lee Sa-young under everyone’s watchful eyes. He was about to refuse when his gaze met Lee Sa-young’s deadly glare. His violet eyes were menacing. Cha Eui-jae swallowed back a curse.
‘What the hell is his problem now?’
Again. Once more, Lee Sa-young’s mood was twisted up like a pretzel. Curious eyes turned toward them. Hong Ye-seong even pulled out some popcorn from somewhere and began munching on it. His overly keen hearing caught every whisper; I thought it was just for attention, but they’re actually close? He grabbed J like that. So that rumor’s true…
If he kept listening, his mental fortitude was going to run dry. Gritting his teeth, Cha Eui-jae muttered quietly enough for only Lee Sa-young to hear.
“Shut. Up.”
Lee Sa-young let go of his arm and dragged the chair that was originally next to Ham Seok-jeong to his side, placing it next to his own. The hunter assigned to sit next to Lee Sa-young gasped in shock and quickly moved his entire chair away. The person next to him followed suit, and then the next— drag, thunk, drag, thunk— the sound of chairs being moved rippled down the line like a wave.
With a single action, Lee Sa-young had shifted half the hunters in the room. He shrugged, the gas mask on his face tilting slightly, as if to say, “Satisfied now?”
‘Nothing’s fine about this!’
Cha Eui-jae clenched his trembling fists. Unable to shout, all his rage was channeled into his hands. When was the last time he’d felt this level of anger towards Lee Sa-young? Probably not since the days at the hangover soup restaurant, when Lee Sa-young was messing with his business.
But any more attention on him was even more burdensome. If he lost his temper here, there might be another article tomorrow, something like “J Knocks Out Lee Sa-young at Conference Hall.”
Cha Eui-jae did his best to act like everything was normal and sat down in the seat Lee Sa-young had prepared for him. He heard a low chuckle near his ear.
It was at that moment—
“Oh, it looks like everyone’s gathered. Even some familiar faces! Am I too late?”
“No, you arrived just in time.”
“Haha, you all must be working hard as usual. Oh wow, today’s meeting room is quite impressive!”
Song Jo-heon entered the room with a kind smile. Fortunately, everyone’s attention shifted to him.
Now that they were no longer the focus, Cha Eui-jae lowered his hand under the large table, extended his index finger, and pressed it hard against his thigh, writing letters into his flesh, applying enough pressure to cause pain.
Do you want to die?
Lee Sa-young turned sharply to face Cha Eui-jae. Cha Eui-jae glared back. He’d never felt so resentful of the mask covering his face as he did now. Lee Sa-young’s eyes narrowed beneath the gas mask lenses, as if he found the situation amusing.
Instead of writing anything, Lee Sa-young’s fingers touched Cha Eui-jae’s thigh, playfully tickling him, tracing random zigzag patterns as if testing a pen to see if it worked, or doodling nonsense.
“…”
Wait, this actually feels kind of…
As Cha Eui-jae stiffened, Ham Seok-jeong rose from her seat.
“Now that Guild Leader Song Jo-heon is here, and everyone’s arrived… Shall we begin the meeting?”
“…”
“I won’t waste your time. Let’s just discuss what’s necessary and finish quickly.”
Song Jo-heon responded.
“That’s what I like to hear.”
Ham Seok-jeong looked coldly at Song Jo-heon. He fiddled with the handle of his cane and smiled gently.
“Alright, let’s get this over with.”
***
“Oh~ these incorrigible people~”
A lively, folksy tune filled the air. Shrrrk, shrrrk, a whetstone sharpened a knife. As Jang Mi-sook sharpened the blade while listening to trot music, she suddenly stretched her neck out long, peering outside. The fish market was, as usual, constantly shifting in fragments, but there were few lost wanderers or customers looking for stores today.
“It’s unusually quiet today. What’s going on?”
“Ah… there’s a meeting.”
“A meeting?”
She turned to look inside the room. In the dim room, Mackerel, wearing a shirt and slacks, was lying down, using a cushion as a pillow, tapping away on his phone. From the horizontally held phone came the swoosh of a game sound.
“The big shots are gathering to whisper amongst themselves. Most of our regulars are probably there.”
“Why aren’t you going? You’re ranked pretty high, aren’t you?”
“We’re from a rogue faction, so we can’t go. That place is only accessible to those from the orthodox sect. And there’s no need to go anyway— we can find out everything discussed in the meeting later.”
Yawn, Mackerel opened his mouth wide in a stretch. Jang Mi-sook clicked her tongue at the sight of the lounging Mackerel.
“Why are you the only one out here? Where’s your brother?”
“I came out to keep our dear Mi-sook from getting bored. My hyung’s still holed up in his room.”
“Tell him to get some sunlight.”
“Oh, come on. You know him. Going outside is a big deal for him.”
Just then, Mackerel’s phone vibrated loudly. He sprang up and held the phone to his ear. With a warm tone, he asked,
“Hello, hyung? What’s up? Do you need me to bring you something? Or… do you just miss me?”
—No… something feels off outside.
“…Off?”
Mackerel narrowed his deep blue eyes. He slipped on his shoes, nodded toward Jang Mi-sook, and quickly crossed the alley, asking as he went,
“What do you mean by ‘off’?”
—Th-there are strange people holding signs, lining up from Noryangjin Station all the way to the entrance here.
“…”
—I think it’s Prometheus.
Mackerel stopped in his tracks. His voice dropped low.
“What’s written on the signs?”
—They’re saying we should stop the end of the world with human power. It’s not just here… they’ve appeared in other places too.
“Where exactly?”
—In the main shopping districts.
“Did they time this to coincide with the general assembly?”
Mackerel ruffled his hair roughly and started running toward the exit. From the phone came a shaky voice, muttering in confusion.
—H-how did they gather so many people? There was nothing on the website about meeting up.
“That’s not the point right now, hyung.”
The moment he stepped outside the exit, what came into view was…
Hundreds of people dressed in white, standing in a long, orderly line.
“Are they out of their minds?”
Mackerel adjusted his grip on the phone. With a flick of his fingers, a few goldfish appeared and swam leisurely toward the crowd. However, the people paid no attention to the bright red goldfish. They just stood there like robots, eerily still. Despite the hundreds gathered, it was strangely quiet, making it hard to tell if they were even alive.
Each of them held the same sign, with red letters scrawled across it.
[Let’s save ourselves from the apocalypse]
[Overcome the end of the world with human power]
[The end]
The end?
The moment he saw the words, his vision blurred. His head spun. The air around him felt heavier.
“…Ah, damn it.”
Mackerel cursed under his breath and leaned against the doorframe, feeling nauseous, as if he was about to throw up. His vision wavered. He barely managed to speak.
“Hyung…”
—Wh-what’s wrong?
“Don’t come outside. No matter what.”
And then,
Thud…
An eerie silence settled in, so quiet you couldn’t even hear a breath.
