VSP 68

No one could miss that Seo Sejun was close with his family after watching them interact just for a while.

He called them all the time, and he said without hesitation words like he missed them or he loved them.

Dogyeong thought of his own barren family ties, and with nothing else to do he leaned back in the car seat and looked around inside Sejun’s car.

The car was clearly a high-class foreign brand, but for some reason Seo Sejun’s presence had to be buried in it, so all kinds of character goods filled the interior.

From car air freshener to wireless charger and parking phone plate, every piece was plastered with cute characters, and even between the seatbelts of the driver and passenger hung a character doll whose use he could not even guess.

‘What are you staring at!?’

Dogyeong looked at Sejun with eyes that asked what all this was, and Sejun yelled at him because he was membarrassed, so Dogyeong kept his mouth shut, though honestly. How should he put it?

“…It really is cute.”

He could not understand why a grown man was so cute, but Seo Sejun was indeed cute, to a degree Dogyeong wondered how he had not realized it before.

The way his thoughts showed plainly, the way he pretended to be nonchalant while being obsessed with cute things, the way he stuffed chocolate into his mouth while driving on the way here and saying he was drowsy until his cheek bulged, every bit of it.

So Dogyeong grew restless because he could not keep himself from touching him.

He blamed Sejun for the way he poked him lately, but now he turned his eyes again to the window.

He was late.

After a moment of thought, he focused on his hearing. The noisy sounds inside the shop flowed into his ear clearly thanks to his senses that had risen past S-rank to EX-rank.

“…Junie-hyung thinks so too, right?”

“Right, right.”

“Ah, if you have any conscience really~.”

The youthful voices seemed to be speaking to Sejun. They brimmed with mischief, but anyone could notice that they were mocking him, and Dogyeong frowned, but Sejun answered calmly.

“Shut up and eat quietly before you leave.”

“Huh? You’re dodging the answer.”

“Hyung, are you embarrassed?”

“Sejun-hyung is embarrassed!”

The ones laughing sounded immature. Anyone could tell the students who had come as customers had spotted Sejun and thrown him troublesome questions.

So that was why he was late. He wasn’t simply held up because he had to explain Dogyeong’s presence to his parents.

Meanwhile the students continued chattering.

“Hyung, just say you’ll step down from the S-rank list.”

“Even kids in our class say they’re embarrassed that you’re on Korea’s S-rank list!”

“Streamers call you the worst too! Hyung, do you know Hunterism TV? Want us to show you the video where they analyzed your ability?”

“Hyung, how did you even become S-rank? I want to do it too.”

The young voices carried plenty of jeering, yet it did not seem like they spoke with any malice toward Sejun. They were only children without sense, who spoke whatever came to mind without care for whether the other would be hurt or not.

Dogyeong held the car door handle, but he hesitated and did not get out.

He did not know what kind of look Sejun wore now.

He knew if he stepped in they would calm down somehow.

But would Sejun want that?

He was proud and easily wounded, the sort who would brood and fall into gloom if Dogyeong took it upon himself to settle matters.

Normally Dogyeong would have chosen the easy and quick path no matter what response hid in the other’s heart, but this time he could not decide and he wavered.

“Eat and enjoy yourselves. Don’t trust what you see on internet too much.”

But unlike Dogyeong’s fears, Sejun did not seem badly hurt, and he did not show much reaction even to the immature taunts of the kids.

“Mother.”

Sejun ignored the students and seemed to be speaking to his mother.

“Sejun, you said you came with a friend, where is that friend?”

“Ah, he’s…”

Sejun tried to answer when his mother asked that question, but the middle schoolers who got no attention added more careless words.

“Sejun-hyung doesn’t have any friends!”

“We told you last time he’s an outcast among S-ranks!”

Cha Dogyeong opened the car door and stepped out as he heard that.

No matter how parents were proud of their son, once they put their famous child on display, commotion was inevitable.

Perhaps his parents knew that and still did so.

Cha Dogyeong walked straight into the shop. The inside packed with customers was noisy, but everyone was looking at the noisiest place.

His gaze too fell there, toward Seo Sejun who stood out most.

The kids looked no older than middle school. In their school uniforms they faced Seo Sejun caught before them, and a middle-aged woman stood beside him. She seemed to be his mother.

Seo Sejun was a man who caught the attention wherever he stood, to the point no one could ever belittle him for looks, even if they hated him. Facing students who said only cruel words, he face showed no visible change.

Instead, the middle-aged woman beside him stared at him with a restless look.

Ah, no mistake. Seo Sejun took after his mother’s side.

Cha Dogyeong walked toward them without hesitation.

People who had been watching the conflict, or not-quite conflict, with interest turned when a tall man with a strong presence passed by, and when they realized the figure was none other than Cha Dogyeong, their eyes widened in shock.

Cha Dogyeong? It’s Cha Dogyeong!

Dogyeong didn’t care about the commotion around him closed the distance between him and Sejun quickly.

Cha Dogyeong’s appearance made the trio of middle schoolers who had been pestering Sejun freeze.

Their faces brimmed with mischief, as if the word rascal was written on them. They were only children of that age who teased regardless of whether the other was troubled, but the problem was that the one receiving it, Seo Sejun, was placed in an awkward spot.

Not that it mattered.

“Sejun-hyung, I got bored waiting. I came out wondering when you’d call me.”

Dogyeong spoke in a deliberately playful tone and smiled at Sejun.

“……?”

Seo Sejun looked at Dogyeong with a face that said, ‘What’s wrong with this bastard, did he lose it?’ since Dogyeong acted far more familiar than expected.

That look asking what’s wrong with him had lately become an expression Dogyeong often saw on him.

But the one who showed a stronger reaction than Sejun was Sejun’s mother. She smacked her son’s back.

“Ah! Mom!”

“You said you brought a friend, and that friend is Hunter Cha Dogyeong?”

She immediately recognized him. How many people in this country, no, on this earth, would fail to recognize the world’s only EX-rank hunter? Besides, she had even spoken directly with him on the phone that morning.

“Oh my, now that I think about it the voice sounded familiar, so it was Hunter Cha Dogyeong. Sorry I didn’t realize sooner.”

“No, I’m not that famous.”

Adults never dislike a famous person who shows modesty. When Dogyeong joked, her eyes turned to hearts.

A person with a face resembling Seo Sejun looked at him with pride, and Dogyeong almost lost control of his features from the strange feeling, but he pulled himself together with practiced ease.

Of course Seo Sejun couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

“Mom, no…”

“What do you mean no! Why did you make Mr. Dogyeong wait outside? Oh dear, Hunter Cha Dogyeong, sorry about that. Did you eat? Do you want something?”

“If you offer, I’ll gladly eat.”

Dogyeong was the type who didn’t refuse in such moments, and those words made Sejun’s mother’s face brighten.

“Then wait a moment. Sejun, take Hunter Cha Dogyeong upstairs. The renovations are almost finished.”

“Uh, uh…”

While Sejun stammered, she hurried back into the kitchen. With no less than five staff already, she still handled the cooking herself and began scooping food inside.

Dogyeong started feeling hungry as he watched her. He ate a lot to maintain his size, and even without an EX-rank hunter nose, he could smell the savory aromas filling the shop.

“Sejun-hyung, I’m hungry.”

He complained at Sejun, who stood frozen as if he had forgotten his mother’s instruction to lead him upstairs.

“Hey! Excuse me!”

The middle schoolers who had been staring blankly suddenly brightened and spoke to Cha Dogyeong.

Their faces showed none of the mockery they had for Seo Sejun, but an excitement filled with heat. The man standing before them was Cha Dogyeong, not Seo Sejun, who you might spot sometimes in this neighborhood if you are lucky.

And right before their eyes. It was fascinating to young teenagers who idolized hunters. Dogyeong knew it well.

“Are Hunter Cha Dogyeong and Hunter Seo Sejun really friends?”

That was the thing they wanted most to confirm. Dogyeong nodded with a smiling face.

They immediately started shouting without caring about how loud they were.

“Really? Really? Why?”

“Why? Because we’re close, so we’re friends.”

“Wow, amazing!”

They exclaimed just from hearing that the two were close. What was so astonishing about that?