Chapter 75
The story continues off the page
Floaties for Everyone
Swim lesson at the water park, and she's demonstrating on you
The day after drinking with Ophelia and Beloa.
“Ah, my head.”
I had come to work, but I was slumped over with my head buried on my desk. If I’d only drunk beer, I’d have been fine, but yesterday I’d naturally moved on to Japanese sake too, and ended up drinking way too much.
“R-right. I, I told you to drink in moderation.”
“You should’ve stopped me.”
“I-I did stop you. Y-you idiot.”
I took the hangover remedy Kim Yang handed me from the side and tried to piece together last night.
Right, she definitely had tried to stop me.
But the expensive liquor I’d had in a while tasted better than expected, and I just couldn’t hold back.
Sshh!
Kim Yang brought over deodorizer and sprayed it all over me. Of course she was right—I couldn’t meet customers smelling like alcohol.
For some reason, the feeling was oddly strange.
“Hey, Kim Yang.”
“W-what?”
“You know what I told you yesterday? Yeoeumhoe.”
“...Yeah.”
“We really shouldn’t be taking in people affiliated with that group—”
“B-but.”
There was only one reason Kim Yang was hesitating.
It was because of Meracle’s motto.
“We accept anyone. That’s our company policy. So let’s do this.”
“H-how?”
It was something I’d been thinking about all through my drinking yesterday.
“Pair up only fellow Yeoeumhoe members. From what I saw yesterday, it looks like their numbers are going to keep growing.”
“S-same pot?”
“Exactly. Clean, right?”
“U-understood!”
Kim Yang clenched both fists and answered that she understood.
I kept my face on the desk and only turned my head. I’d come to work, but I needed a little rest.
“...”
“...”
“What? Why are you still standing there? Go work.”
“B-boss. W-work.”
“I’m the boss.”
“W-work.”
“I’m the one paying your salary.”
“R-right! A-an annual raise.”
I immediately stretched and got up.
“Kyaaa! Shall we get to work!”
“Y-you want to die?”
“...Kim Yang, I’m in debt right now—”
Clank!
“The adorable and refreshing me has arrived!”
“What the fuck.”
Oops, I blurted out a curse without even realizing it.
But Renea didn’t seem to mind, because she grinned foolishly and ran over to me, then threw herself onto my back.
“Mmm! Boss! I’m in such a good mood todayyy!”
“Ah, damn.”
The ones who’d really gone hard on the booze yesterday were me, Ophelia, and Renea.
Renea said it tasted good since it had been a while since she drank, and she enjoyed it quite enthusiastically.
As an elf, alcohol breakdown isn’t as smooth as you’d expect.
If there were trees around, maybe it’d be different, but we were in the city, so it seemed the buzz was still lingering.
“Mmm! Boss!”
“Come on. You smell stale.”
Actually, she doesn’t smell stale, but the old lady rubbing her cheek against mine over and over is hard to handle.
Kim Yang, who glanced over here, started on her own work while shaking her head.
“Boss.”
“How did you even make it to work like this? Damn... I’ll give you some money, so go to a sauna or something.”
I pulled ten thousand won from my wallet, and she quickly bit down on it before leaving with a smile.
“What kind of part-timer comes to work drunk?”
“B-boss.”
“What.”
As I sat down grumbling, Kim Yang held out the trash can beside her seat.
“E-empty it.”
“...Why are you making me do it?”
“I-I sent the part-timer away.”
“But—”
“T-then the boss cleans it.”
“Doesn’t that logic seem bizarre to you?”
“A-a consultation came in.”
After getting a message from Raichen in the lobby downstairs, Kim Yang grabbed her tablet and slipped out.
With a sigh, I decided to empty the trash cans first.
‘Why is she changing her stockings here.’
After gathering and emptying the office trash cans, I sat back down. I started the day by pairing up yesterday’s customers and sending them messages.
Thanks to the elf grandma’s nagging and emptying the trash cans, my hangover had eased up a bit.
About thirty minutes passed.
Kim Yang came back in with an ambiguous expression.
“B-boss.”
“What.”
“They, they’re here again. Yeoeumhoe.”
“Huh, there are more of them than I thought. Still, they’re really out and about early this morning.”
As I nodded listlessly and kept working, my eyes drifted to the CCTV screen beside me.
“Hm?”
Usually, not many people come to a matchmaking agency early in the morning. Only those with reservations or the like do.
Another person comes in and receives counseling in the lobby.
“What kind of day is this, anyway?”
Good for me, since I’m making money.
* * *
When people think of religion, the first thing that usually comes to mind is buildings like churches.
People seek training for body and mind, peace, and find comfort in being together.
However, there is clearly a need to look at the other side.
Are people really believing in religion with only pure hearts?
No, they are not.
Otherwise, there’d be no need for an absurdly personal term like “church oppa.”
There were several complex reasons Yeoeumhoe believers ended up flocking to the matchmaking agency Meracle.
One.
Aranchino, the cult leader of Yeoeumhoe, blocked private gatherings.
He only does live broadcasts to raise awareness; he doesn’t hold gatherings or anything like that.
Two.
The reason he didn’t hold gatherings was because of his tic disorder.
Aranchino believed he was working for a greater cause, and he worried that if people saw his tic disorder, it’d hurt his credibility.
Three.
Yeoeumhoe was viewed negatively by most mainstream media. Even if what they said was persuasive, you couldn’t exactly react positively to a group raising voices that called for war.
Four.
People want to meet others they can relate to.
But Bishop Aranchino feared the cause would be tainted, and since he forbade it all, they couldn’t even make a community or group chat.
In the midst of all that,
rumors about Meracle spread.
They accept anyone here.
It even spread that Meracle matched Yeoeumhoe members with other Yeoeumhoe members separately.
For Yeoeumhoe, Meracle had by then become more than just a matchmaking agency.
Their only channel of communication.
A gathering place where they could meet people they related to.
And the only company that would accept them despite the world’s persecution.
Exactly one week after the live broadcast.
- Raichen: Boss, a customer is heading to Room 1 now.
“Yes, yes! I’m on my way!”
Meracle was so busy it didn’t even have time to sit down.
“Swish! Swish!”
Renea, busily cleaning the lobby, wiped the sweat from her brow and looked around.
“Phew! Since I’m working this hard, the day I become a full-time employee can’t be far off.”
Customers waiting while seated on the sofa.
Some of them were even sneaking glances at each other and chatting in bits and pieces.
For Yeoeumhoe believers, even the waiting time was a kind of meeting.
She slowly approached Raichen, who was now skillfully operating the computer.
“Ahem, how many customers are left? I’d like to clean the restroom.”
“There are still about seven people waiting.”
“Hmm, I guess I’ll have to wait a bit.”
Out of pride alone, Renea still refused to acknowledge Raichen as a full-time employee.
What right does a stone that rolled in from nowhere have to dislodge one that’s already set?
Especially for an elf who had lived 1,900 years, hierarchy... what you might call seniority, was extremely important.
Renea sat neatly in the chair she’d secretly placed beside the lobby. With work slowing down a little, Raichen took off his glasses and rubbed his eyelids before asking cautiously.
“...Lady Renea, is it really all right to keep this up?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“I mean Yeoeumhoe. I’m worried whether it’s really okay to keep accepting them like this.”
“...”
“I understand their feelings. If I had heard my master’s voice too... I might have joined them.”
Raichen still didn’t know that Yeoeumhoe had heard Gellerwind’s voice.
It wouldn’t do any good to tell him, so Kim Juseon had earnestly warned everyone to keep quiet.
Renea covered her mouth with both hands in case she said something unnecessary.
“On the contrary, that’s why I have doubts. Is it really okay to handle their feelings like this?”
“...The lingering ache of parting still remains in your heart, I see.”
Renea slowly took her hands away, crossed her arms, and nodded.
Raichen had lost Gellerwind only recently, so he was probably empathizing with them even more.
“This lady has lived for 1,900 years and experienced countless losses. Calling it parting is far too pretty; loss is truly the correct word.”
“Loss...”
“Then do you believe this lady overcame all those losses and stands here today?”
Raichen slowly turned to look at Renea. He suddenly remembered again that she had once been the queen of the elves.
“Not at all. How could it be? Loss is just that.”
“Then...”
The memory of the times she had sought wisdom from her master came back to her. Whenever there was something she didn’t know, she would ask like this.
“Then are you still suffering?”
“I am. And yet the reason I keep living is because there are meetings.”
“...”
“Loss and meeting repeat themselves. The pain doesn’t disappear, but meetings give us the strength to live.”
Those words were almost like—
as if she were looking at the World Tree, said to regenerate endlessly.
It keeps getting wounded, yet it keeps recovering.
In a way, that was wisdom.
However, when you think about the span of 1,900 years—
it was eerie.
‘So that’s why you’re pursuing love.’
Raichen realized that the things this elf named Renea possessed were deeper than she’d imagined.
“Look at you right now. Even you, a full-time employee, lost your master and are living on because of your meeting with Kim Dajung, aren’t you?”
“...Indeed, you are right.”
Raichen’s eyes widened at the deep wisdom that naturally applied to his own life as well.
In any case, from the perspective of a human with a shorter lifespan than an elf, her words were helpful.
“So these people are the same. They’re only trying to soothe the pain of loss with other meetings. Aren’t they pitiable?”
“...”
“Well, if there’s a problem, it’s—”
Renea added awkwardly, wiggling her foot.
“Yeoeumhoe has gotten too intense... so some people are starting to mistake this place for the cult’s headquarters or something.”
“...”
* * *
“...”
In front of the Meracle building.
Yu Yena saw former Yeoeumhoe members eating at the gukbap place on the first floor, chatting affectionately.
Standing there blankly, she turned toward the building entrance, where a blatant promotional signboard stood in front.
<The surest way to meet someone who shares your values.>
<Not taste, but conviction.>
<Across countless worlds, we will find your miracle.>
Meracle, the matchmaking agency for hunters.
“Hah.”
A short sigh.
The weight of the money bag in her hand suddenly felt light.
After a moment’s thought, Yu Yena called someone.
- Yes, Vice President.
“Bring another money bag.”
- Huh? You mean that still isn’t enough?
“...I’m going to say it isn’t enough.”
It seemed she would need much heftier preparation than expected to persuade that cunning ex-boyfriend.