Chapter Text
The quiet swish of the sliding door could be heard as more customers entered the hangover soup restaurant. Through the front windows, dark gray clouds obscuring the sky could be seen. The cold air from the outside mixed in with the warm and cozy atmosphere of the inside anytime someone came in.
Sitting at a table on the far corner of the dining hall, two men seemed to be discussing something.
“You know, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just left it at your house. Why bring it here in the first place? It’s not like you have to carry it wherever you go,” replied Jung Bin, while stirring the leftovers of his soup with a spoon and glancing at the white porcelain bird, perched on the shoulder of the one seated in front of him.
As if to emphasize what he wanted to say, Hong Ye-seong began wildly moving his hands. “No, nope. It wasn’t its fault at all. When we went out, I didn’t think it would rain and…” searching for the right words, he added next, “Kkokko is afraid of thunders. I’ve always known that. So, when they actually came, it went a little bit…overboard. And well, you know the rest. It started flying like crazy and whenever I tried catching it, it went wild, scratching my arms and almost getting to my face.” One of his hands poked his own cheek as if wanting to make sure that it was really fine. “But I guess you’re right though, in the end it was my fault,” with a small pout, he then knocked his forehead on the smooth and polished table.
Jung Bin, closing his eyes for a moment while regretting even asking him to come along, sighed loudly at the antics of the other. Without responding any further, he then turned his gaze down to take another sip from his, now lukewarm, soup.
From the opposite side of the room, the part-timer Cha Eui-jae cast a quick look over the counter to check in on the situation. He had unfortunately overheard some snippets of their conversation, thanks to his enhanced hearing, and so he had the urge to see for himself whether his poor table had been smashed in half by Hong Ye-seong’s thick skull or not.
After confirming it was still in one piece, Cha Eui-jae mentally counted all the hunters at the tables who didn’t have a bowl of soup yet, including the artisan. He also noticed that one of his regulars, the one and only who could eat endless quantities of soup, hunter Bae Won-woo, had just finished his first bowl and was gulping down a glass of water. He automatically added to the list another portion for him too, as he always ordered two or even more.
Registering the exact number, Cha Eui-jae couldn’t help but instantly notice how, despite being lunchtime (and normally the most busy time of his shift at that), the restaurant seemed to be emptier than usual. Had something happened? Maybe a new rift had opened somewhere and hunters were suddenly needed? He wondered while going back to the kitchen.
Several minutes later, returning with a full tray, he began handing out the bowls and plates. As he was approaching where Bae Won-woo sat alone by himself, the hunter unexpectedly looked up from his phone and turned an apologetic smile at him. “Oh. I’m sorry, part-timer. I probably should have told you before, but I’m really not that hungry anymore. I think I’m gonna get just a small serving of kimchi from the automatic distributor for today and that’s it.”
Cha Eui-jae couldn’t really believe what he was hearing. He tried hiding his shock with a small cough behind his closed fist. Bae Won-woo? Not feeling like eating anymore? He never would have imagined something like that ever happening. “Are you sure?” he questioned him, with a barely perceptible tinge of concern in his voice.
“Yeah, pretty sure. Don’t worry about it, part-timer,” the hunter replied as he stood up.
Cha Eui-jae, feeling lost about what to do with the extra bowl of soup that he had prepared, perked up at the sudden shout that abruptly reached him from somewhere else behind him.
“Oi! Part-timer!” called Honeybee, waving her hand up in the air as if wanting to catch his attention. Seated next to Matthew, she was sporting mid-shoulder straight black hair with green ends instead of her usual pristine blonde hair. When she noticed him looking back, she pointed towards his colleague sitting at her left. “If you have extra soup left, please give him some too. He has already finished one bowl and was about to ask for more,” she happily stated.
“Oh, yes. Of course. Here it is.” Cha Eui-jae came near their table and offered that extra bowl to the man, taking away the empty one along with a golden spoon in the process. “Thank you. If you need anything else, just call me. I’ll be over there,” he politely thanked him. Matthew nodded slightly and, taking the dish from his hand, also thanked him in return.
Before he could move on to serve another customer, Honeybee added, only loud enough to be heard by him and the man next to her, “Part-timer, nice outfit you’re wearing today. Is it something you bought recently? Mmh no, wait… I feel like I’ve already seen it somewhere though.”
Cha Eui-jae instinctively glanced down, scanning his body. Partially covered by his worn plain apron, his common J outfit peeked out. He didn’t find anything special about it however: just his cropped jacket over his usual black fit long-sleeved shirt and pants. He gave the HB Guild duo one last glance as he turned back and shrugged, not really understanding the reason behind the comment. “Actually, it isn’t anything new at all. Only some clothes that I felt like wearing today. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
Cha Eui-jae then slowly walked to the artisan to give him the last bowl on the tray. Wiping his mostly free hands on said apron, his nose picked up a familiar scent, extremely sweet but at the same time a little sour, coming from somewhere outside the restaurant.
He didn’t have the time to actually think about what or who could be the cause for this particular smell, as he felt something inside one of his pants’ pockets vibrate. He took his phone out and saw a notification already showing up on the screen. It was a message from Yoon Ga-eul.
Yoon Ga-eul: Hello, J-ssi. Sorry for bothering you. I know you're problably working right now, but I need to tell you important info about some fragments that I saw this morning. When can we meet again?
A pang of anxiety creeped up in his chest at the thought of the possible bad news Yoon Ga-eul had to refer to him. Another disaster? How or when will the apocalypse arrive? As his fingers moved up to type a response, his phone suddenly flashed white before going off completely. He tried turning it on again. Ugh. Didn’t I just charge it this morning? Why did it already die on me like that? Nothing worked though. Cha Eui-jae mentally resolved himself to recharge it as soon as he ended his lunch shift and so he tucked the phone back in his pocket.
Walking to the counter, the sound of the door opening reached his ears again. He turned his head, just in time to see Seo Min-gi, with his regular black sunglasses and black work suit, crossing the entrance, followed behind by the source of the sweet scent that Cha Eui-jae had perceived moments earlier.
Lee Sa-young had his standard gas mask on along with his long coat and gloves. One of his hands ruffled thoughtlessly his already disheveled dark curls as the other stayed in his pocket.
As soon as the man himself set foot inside the room, his bored gaze landed instantly on the part-timer in front of him. A curious glint appeared in his eyes as he removed his mask and a mischievous smile slowly graced his lips. Strangely enough, although nobody in the dining hall had seemed fazed or worried by his entrance, he appeared to be up to no good.
Cha Eui-jae, in the middle of putting everything on the counter, stilled before them. Sensing a chill involuntarily run down his spine, he felt rather than saw the intense stare Lee Sa-young was giving him.
Nevertheless, he pointedly chose to ignore whatever shitty ideas that poor excuse of a guild leader was having, in favor of formally greeting the both of them. Holding the now empty tray tight against his chest, he gave them a small bow. “Nice to have you two here today. Sit wherever you prefer, I’ll get to you in a moment.”
“Good day to you too, customer,” Seo Min-gi replied, while looking around the hall.
“You seem pretty busy today, hyung. Sure you have some time to spare for us?” Lee Sa-young, still smiling, didn’t even have the decency to spare a glance to confirm whether his words were true or not, too busy not taking his violet eyes off him.
Cha Eui-jae couldn’t help but look up at the ceiling, inwardly asking whatever entities above why this man had to be such an unparalleled idiot most of the time. “Of course I do have the time. As you can see, many seats are obviously still empty. So do not worry about me being too busy. Just let me know what your orders will be.”
Rolling his eyes while silently hoping that idiot had gotten the message to stop messing around and being the main reason for a major headache, he then focused his attention on someone who, in the meantime, had stood up and was coming to him.
Jung Bin had long finished his meal. Deciding to straight up take his things, along with his empty bowl, he left Hong Ye-seong, who apparently had been far too engrossed in handling (or rather manhandling) his porcelain bird-like creation to even eat, alone at their shared table. With only as much as a dull “See you later”, the S-class worker, still debating whether to pay only for himself or the both of them, got up and looked in the direction of the counter.
Getting closer, his eyes met the part-timer’s across the room. Although by doing so, he immediately noticed the Pado guild leader, Lee Sa-young, standing beside him. Gesturing lightly with his hand, he signaled them to carry on with their conversation since he wasn’t in a rush and could wait a few more minutes.
Cha Eui-jae though, having nothing more to say to the man at his side, gave him a small pat on his arm as a sign for him to take a seat, at once fully turning to face the Association’s hunter who, in the meanwhile, had promptly arrived in front of him. “Oh, not at all. We’ve already finished anyway. Is there something else you need?” he asked, taking the empty bow from the other’s hold and putting it on the counter near the others.
Jung Bin then finally seemed to relax. “Aside from paying for our meals, I was wondering if it would be alright for me to take some soup as a takeout. You see, the director was hoping to pass by and eat it today but an emergency came up, so unfortunately she had to stay behind. As such, I wish to take some to her. What do you say?” while explaining the reason for his request, he had taken out, from the pocket of his jacket, his wallet along with a bright pink wool hat. Cha Eui-jae immediately noticed this. He wondered how on earth could all of that fit inside a single small pocket, yet barely ever considering the rather peculiar choice of color of the hat itself.
Finishing his explanation, the Bureau’s worker nonchalantly put the hat on his head as he waited for a response. Although, before Cha Eui-jae could go to the cash desk behind the counter to let the other pay or even think of something to say, he was abruptly stopped by a hand on his wrist. He spun back to see Jung Bin with an apologetic yet hopeful smile on his face. “Sorry, I was also going to ask if you would be up to…” however, what was likely to be an invitation, got suddenly interrupted by the surge of a powerful aura. Over one of the part-timer’s shoulders, Lee Sa-young was intently staring at the Association worker, his darkened gaze full of what seemed to be a mixture of killing intent and pure, unadulterated, annoyance. If looks could have killed, Jung Bin felt that, in the Pado guild leader’s mind, he had already been reduced to a puddle of blackish venomous poison on the floor.
Unaware of what was happening behind his back, Cha Eui-jae, taking it as a sign of having a change of heart by the last second when the other didn’t continue anymore, finally mustered up an answer. “So, yeah. We can do that. Although I’ll have to ask you to keep waiting here until it’s ready.”
At that, Jung Bin meekly nodded and, in the end, fished out a bill from his wallet. Having been handed the money, the part-timer turned around just in time to see Lee Sa-young’s relaxed expression and half lidded eyes directed at him. “Why are you still standing here, you idiot? Didn’t I already tell you to take a seat?” He asked him, while getting to the cash desk on the opposite side of the counter.
The guild leader pointedly ignored his question as he followed him back. Cha Eui-jae, for the time being, decided to let him do as he pleased, even though he still felt like the man was there only to cause more problems and headaches.