111 Weekend

“……Did you happen to hit someone?”

Seeing Mosco Vichakos's swollen face, Yoo Yena asked in a low voice.

I knew she'd only asked to make sure, thinking surely not.

But who would have thought she'd actually ask that?

“What do you mean, hit someone? It's not like they'd just let me hit them.”

“Ahem.”

Perhaps this was Vichakos's first experience like this too, because they awkwardly looked away.

Yoo Yena didn't ask any further. Instead, she looked up at the sky and urged them on.

“We really have to go back now. You can't claim you didn't know because of the time difference.”

“You're taking me home first, right?”

“Of course.”

Come to think of it, it would take another eternity just to get home.

I thought we'd get straight into the car, but then the sound of a helicopter came from far away.

Judging by how it was heading straight this way, it seemed to have been sent by the Tower Management Bureau.

“They came to pick up Mosco Vichakos. You can take that back, and we'll go by car.”

The helicopter drew closer and closer.

I was staring up at it blankly, without much thought, when Vichakos suddenly poked me from the side.

“What is it?”

“……Take care of the children from time to time.”

“Oh, that won't be difficult.”

Our employees liked playing with the children too.

“Ahem, and if you need a job, call me.”

“A job? Does the owner of a matchmaking agency need one?”

Vichakos let out a short sigh and grabbed the rope hanging down from the helicopter.

“The children think of you as their father.”

“Me? I was good to them.”

When I nodded in satisfaction, Vichakos, who had been staring at me, suddenly flipped me off, then climbed the rope to the helicopter above.

The helicopter flew away.

Yoo Yena pointed toward the car with her chin.

“Let's go home.”

* * *

An unusually long week passed, and the weekend finally arrived.

I was boiling ramen in comfortable clothes: pajama pants and a loose short-sleeved T-shirt.

The pajama pants had been a gift from Ryuseoram a long time ago. The design wasn't great, but they were surprisingly comfortable, so I wore them often.

“Hmm-hmm, raaameeen.”

I sat in front of the TV with the ramen. It was a small studio apartment, but this sort of thing had a modest charm you couldn't get in an apartment.

Still, apartments were the best.

As I flipped through the channels, a familiar face caught my eye when I passed the baseball channel.

It was Ryuseoram, cheering with all her might.

[LIVE]

[Daeheung Bear Force VS Silla Tigers.]

- Yes, today as well, Hunter Ryuseoram has come to visit the stands of the Daeheung Bear Force.

- There are even people saying Daeheung fans can't leave Daeheung because of Hunter Ryuseoram.

- There are rumors she's actually the team owner, too, aren't there?

- Haha, is that so?

“Doesn't she ever get tired?”

It was amazing to see her sweat and cheer even harder than the baseball players.

Slurp.

While I was eating ramen, another commotion came from next door.

“Did you eat mine?! Do you know how much I love pudding?!”

“N-no...! I'd never eaten anything like that before. But it was delicious.”

“So you ate all three?!”

They're so damn noisy.

Maybe it was because Renea and Baek Yeonhwa lived together, but it was noise pollution every single day.

At first, I tried confronting them about it, but now even that was a hassle, so I just gave up.

Slurp! Slurrrp!

I was enjoying my little happiness when my phone rang.

I hesitated briefly at the unfamiliar number, but eventually answered.

“Hello?”

- Hello. Is this Meracle?

A low voice and an awkward manner of speaking.

Rather than naturally being a low-pitched voice, it sounded as though the caller's throat was hoarse.

“Yes, this is Meracle. May I ask who's calling?”

- My name is Min Hwayoung. I'm Min Hosang's younger sister. My brother was a Meracle member.

Min Hosang?

As I remembered it, he was a hunter who had received around a B rank.

I didn't remember everyone, of course, so I wasn't certain.

“Yes, yes. What can I do for you?”

- Sob... My brother died while hunting in the outskirts. How do I cancel his membership?

“Ah...”

I naturally let out a sigh as I set down my chopsticks.

“You must be devastated. My condolences for your loss.”

- Sob... Thank you.

“I'll begin the refund process first thing Monday. You must be heartbroken, so thank you for contacting us.”

- No, it's okay.

After hanging up,

I stared down at the ramen, which had swollen from sitting too long, and sighed.

I didn't feel like eating anymore.

In the end, I picked out and ate only a little of the noodles, threw the rest away, and finished washing the dishes.

As I got dressed, planning to stop by the office for a little while, the TV I'd left on began broadcasting the news.

- This year's ‘Spring Great Outbreak Season’ is expected to begin earlier than last year. In particular, those living in the outskirts are advised to exercise special caution.

The Spring Great Outbreak Season.

An annual event that takes place in April and May.

The outskirts of Neo Seoul are crawling with magical beasts, and hunters are the ones who hunt them.

As spring arrived, the number of magical beasts suddenly increased. Territorial disputes intensified, of course, and fights among the beasts over food grew more severe, making them more ferocious.

The hunter industry also called this period Outskirts Cleansing Season.

It was a lucrative season, but a dangerous one at the same time.

Even for Meracle, which operated under the name of a hunter-specialized matchmaking agency, it was a season when all kinds of tragic news came knocking.

* * *

Click!

I turned on the lights in the empty office.

The place, usually so lively, felt cold and desolate with not a single person there.

I immediately found Min Hosang in the customer list binder.

He had a dependable face that suited a soldier more than a hunter.

Seeing his square jaw reminded me of the consultation I'd given him.

“Tsk.”

Even though I'd just come in after smoking, I wanted another cigarette.

While organizing the documents and preparing to start the refund process first thing Monday—

Bzzz!

When my phone buzzed, I checked it and saw the Meracle group chat.

- Renea: Boss? Where have you gone?

- Renea: I made tuna-mayo rice balls!

- Baek Yeonhwa: Don't hold back!

“…….”

I couldn't see them since it was just text, but I could picture the grandmother and granddaughter laughing themselves silly.

Their comedy tastes were a little old-fashioned, so they tended to crack up at the same things.

- Kim Juseon: I just came to the office.

- Kim Juseon: Something came up that I need to take care of.

- Renea: No wonder you weren't home.

- Kim Juseon: ?

- Kim Juseon: You didn't go into my house, did you?

- Baek Yeonhwa: Don't worry, Great Hero!

- Baek Yeonhwa: I just left!

Baek Yeonhwa had quickly mastered how to use a phone, and now she could type messages fairly fast too.

Well, if she said they were outside, it should be fine.

I ignored it and went back to work, but then I sensed a presence from the hallway.

“Hmm?”

I raised my head to see who it was, and Kim Yang entered through the opening office door, dressed in civilian clothes.

“B-boss. G-good afternoon.”

“What the hell? Why are you here?”

“I-I was passing by.”

“Passing by?”

I wondered what business she could have passing through here, but Kim Yang subtly held out the coffee in her hand.

“D-drink.”

“Thanks, but... I won't pay you if you work right now.”

“N-not working.”

Saying that, she sat down in her own spot, turned on the computer, and looked over at me.

“Why, why come to work?”

“Well, you know, it's just—”

When I briefly explained what had happened earlier, Kim Yang nodded with a shadowed expression too.

“Th-that's too bad.”

“It can't be helped. That's what being a hunter is like. That's why even matchmaking agencies tend to avoid them.”

No matter how much money they made, hunters could die suddenly one day.

Once they became high-ranking hunters, they hardly ever went on dangerous hunts in the outskirts for that reason.

Like Ryuseoram's Blackline Risk, they preferred getting hired by a corporate-style company where they could work for a stable salary.

In the end, there were only two kinds of hunters who hunted magical beasts in the outskirts.

Those who really needed quick money, or those who lacked the ability to get into a company.

“Mr. Min Hosang was the type who worked as a hunter on contract for a small or mid-sized company before going independent.”

“……”

“Sigh, there will probably be a lot of cases like this during this season, so let's steel ourselves. We're in a profession where we can't let emotions sway us.”

There were times when I felt a strange disconnect while working at a matchmaking agency.

Even though we dealt with the most emotional thing of all—love—we had to make judgments more rationally than anyone.

Though it would be more accurate to say we sold marriage, not love.

I didn't particularly like that choice of words.

“B-boss.”

“Hm?”

“I, I've been curious about something for a, a long time.”

“Go ahead.”

As I leaned back in my chair and looked at her, Kim Yang set down her coffee and asked.

“Why, why a matchmaking agency?”

“……”

“It, it doesn't suit you.”

Her blunt remark made me laugh.

I did think so too.

No, when Yoo Yena and Ryuseoram heard that I was going to start a matchmaking agency, they had similar reactions.

“I don't know. I just wanted to find out.”

“F-find out?”

“Whether marriage was worth leaving home for.”

“……”

Since I had to make money in the process, starting a matchmaking agency could be called a fairly realistic compromise.

[I command you.]

[Sword-Sheath Officer.]

The hallucinations that had grown more frequent since last time continued to ring in my eardrums. If the Seventh Floor really opened... what would I do?

“Kim Yang.”

“W-why?”

Kim Yang, who had been drinking her coffee through a straw, merely rolled her eyes slightly.

She had struggled so much at first, so I was a little proud to see how well she'd adapted.

“If I disappear, do you want to become Meracle's boss?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“No, it's just... Seeing Mr. Min Hosang made me realize I might suddenly disappear too.”

“The o-owner of a matchmaking agency?”

“I could get into a car accident or something.”

When I chuckled and brought up the hypothetical, Kim Yang frowned and snapped irritably.

“B-boss. I still stutter.”

“……”

“You s-said you'd stay with me. Until I got u-used to it.”

That was right.

When I first brought Kim Yang here, I'd made that promise.

“But you need to study a little. You don't even know your words properly, and you keep stuttering. How long are you going to keep this up?”

“K-Korean is h-hard.”

Not an imitation of a foreign laborer... no, she really was a foreign laborer.

I chuckled at Kim Yang's clumsy foreign-worker act and stood up.

I'd stopped halfway through my ramen earlier, so my stomach was starting to feel empty.

“Hey, want to go get lunch?”

“B-boss. Buy it.”

“Sure, sure. Gukbap on the first floor?”

“D-do you want to die?”

I turned off the office lights, and we headed outside while choosing what to have for lunch.