Welcome to Dungeon Hotel

Han Woohyun and I decided to meet again near the public parking lot and went our separate ways for now.

Minji strongly insisted to Han Woohyun that they go to the second round, so Han Woohyun seemed to need some time to get away with it.

“Can I upload the group photo we took earlier? Actually, I already uploaded it… see? It already has 400 likes. Woo Destiny people are in tears asking if you are healthy….” 

“Woo Destiny…?” 

“That’s your fan club name. Don’t you know? It’s called Woohyun Destiny….” 

Han Woohyun’s face looked like his soul was being sucked in.

I smiled slightly, thinking of Han Woohyun, who was looking at the mountain earlier.

Is he also convinced of the IABC? What, is it like that?

Anyway, I can easily get out of it thanks to Han Woohyun as attention.

“Junghyo, will you join us for the 2nd round?” 

Then, a slightly drunk Sehwan appeared in front of me.

I wrinkled my face.

* * *

Thanks to that, I was held longer than Han Woohyun.

The fortunate thing is that Minji, who discovered that Se-hwan’s attitude was going over a bit, blocked Sehwan’s actions in the middle.

“Thank you. I’ll text you when I get home.”

“Hey, hurry up and go. He’s the worst.”

I walked to the parking lot. While thinking that Han Woohyun may have already gone. 

However, Han Woohyun was easily found near the parking lot.

It wasn’t just because Han Woohyun was tall, reaching 190cm.

It wasn’t even because the car in which Han Woohyun was standing with his face on the door with a stiff face was meaninglessly idling without a driver. 

“Ooh~ Hyung-nim. Did you have a meeting in Itaewon? You even upload photos to social media. You look happy. Then you should tell me. I was drinking nearby, too.”

It was because the tone of the man who kept touching Han Woohyun’s chest with a flushed face caught my attention. 

“So I told you to unblock me, huh?”

The hand holding the man’s cell phone brushed Han Woohyun’s cheek very lightly.

Even if it doesn’t hurt, the situation was insulting enough.

Even so, Han Woohyun stood still with a face as if the man in front of him was invisible.

Why? Why does that situation seem familiar?

I couldn’t walk any closer and stood there.

Han Woohyun, who had been as stiff as a statue until then, let out a short sigh until we finally looked at each other.

As soon as our eyes met, Han Woohyun’s brown eyes filled with despair, nervousness, and anxiety.

“Just go.”

Han Woohyun opened his mouth.

“What?”

The man, with a frown, tightened his grip on the strap of his small bag. At that moment, something could be seen through the incision in the cloth bag.

That—.

Han Woohyun said again while I hesitated.

“Just go.”

The man burst into laughter.

“Do I just have to go if you weigh me and say that? What did you say when my mom asked you to stop dad from being arrested? Ah crazy, if I wasn’t….” (t/n: hold the weight or weigh me means: To take a sententious attitude and make the atmosphere serious.) 

I realized that this was a story I shouldn’t hear anymore.

That you’re telling me just to go is also what you’re saying to me.

That it’s not my business to interfere.

So I turned around and headed toward the bus stop.

I ignored the man’s angry voice from behind.

But soon, the man’s voice faded little by little.

I tried to button up my jacket because the cool autumn wind made me feel cold.

But it was still a little cold.

Ssrrk. 

A well-dried plane tree leaf crunched under my feet.

I’ll never love anything again.

That moment.

I realized that I didn’t say that to Han Woohyun.

That was what I said to myself.

* * *

That was 8 years ago.

“Do you want to take care of this cat?”

The school janitor asked me when I was sitting on the ground in front of the school.

I raised my squatting body.

There was a little kitten at my feet.

Someone had fed it and given it water, washed it, and cared for it so it was clean.

“It’s not good because the kid has been messy for a few days.”

The Uncle muttered a few words about the cat and returned to the janitor’s room.

It was when I was just in high school.

I was vaguely aware that I would have to become independent in three years.

Three years is a long time for a young cat, but—.

“Meow…” 

I slipped away from the little cat approaching me.

Three years wasn’t a long time for me.

I couldn’t be responsible for bringing life into Uncle’s house.

And if I take in a weak and sick thing and it dies in my arms—.

“Go away.”

I murmured briefly and went back home in Dogok-dong.

And sitting in my room, I kept thinking about the little cat.

The little cat was trembling with fear. 

I kept imagining how the downy fur would feel.

Even if I hadn’t touched it, it was as if I had already touched it.

Even if I didn’t bring it, it was as if I had already brought it.

Then it started raining outside.

Whoosh—.

The moment I heard the sound of rain, I jumped up and hurried back to school.

Regardless of the rain pouring through my umbrella, I ran.

So when I arrived at the school, when I climbed over the fence and entered the school grounds, the cat was already dead. 

I stared down at the little ball of fur, which was clearly alive until a few hours ago.

I couldn’t even reach for that little mouth.

I just covered the cat’s wet body with the blanket I brought.

Would it have been alive if I had taken it earlier? 

What if I had taken this child without hesitation?

Why did I hesitate?

Am I afraid Uncle won’t let this child go? Do I have to be independent after 3 years?

No. It’s all wrong. 

I hesitated because of fear.

Because I was afraid that I would be in love with that little thing.

No, it was because I already loved the little cat the moment I saw it.

Because I was afraid of losing the one I love again.

So in the end… It was because of my love.

My love killed that little thing.

Then I muttered with a miserable face.

“I’ll… never love anything again.” 

When I finally tried to bury the cat after crying for a long time, someone suddenly raised his head from a drinking fountain near the school grounds.

I wasn’t even in the mood to be surprised. I stared at the black shadow.

There was a person… maybe. 

The face was covered in blood, the lips were swollen where they had been hurt, the bridge of the nose was broken,  and even the corners of the eyes turned blue.

Even if it didn’t look like a human at all, it was definitely a human.

I realized that when I saw the canned cat food he was holding.

It seemed that he was the one who fed the cat.

I tried to ask him.

Would you like to bury this cat with me? But he hurriedly covered his face with his hands.

The covering hand was also full of scars.

He quickly ran away somewhere with his red ears like someone who had been caught.

I realized who that guy was after nine years.

* * *

Sssrrk.

I turned back, looking at the broken leaves under my feet.

I almost ran back the way I came.

It seemed like the first time that I was so nervous since eight years ago when I went to save a cat.

On that day eight years ago, I was thinking of Han Woohyun, just as I had been thinking of the cat I had left behind after returning home. 

The difference from that time was that I loved that cat then, but now I don’t love Han Woohyun.

So this time, I couldn’t hesitate.

“H, hey! Are you stupid? Is your mouth stuck? Why can’t you speak! Can you tell me?”

The man still pointed his finger at Han Woohyun in the parking lot. 

Without even breathing, I walked straight behind his back and snatched the bag the man was loosely carrying.

“….?” 

The man was taken aback for a moment by an unfamiliar touch that appeared from somewhere, and I didn’t miss the moment.

I threw the bag to the floor and stepped on a hole in the middle of the incision line of the bag.

There was a crunching sound, and something like electronic devices crumbled.

As expected. I heard something. It’s a relief. 

This was taken as I watched his suspicious and persistent anger.

Then, it seems that this man is definitely the cousin of Han Woohyun, who is said to be on YouXube. 

Looking down at the bag, I felt the gaze of the man and Han Woohyun and quietly raised my head. 

“I’m sorry. I stop by mistake. Really…I’m sorry.”

At my words, the man’s face grew red.

He paused for a while as if speechless, then burst out screaming when I overturned the bag and took out a tiny camera body that looked like a chip from inside.

“What are you? Are you crazy? Aren’t you completely crazy?”

He reached out to me and immediately tried to take what was in my hand.

But I didn’t take it easy. Instead, I strained my hand and crushed the camera.

As easy as breaking a fallen leaf.

Ah, right. 

I’m an E-Class stat now.

At that time, I realized my stats while watching the pieces falling from my hands to the floor.

Congratulations!

Achievement ‘Absolutely protect customers both outside and inside the dungeon!’ has been achieved!

Would you like to claim your achievement reward?