🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 6. First Impressions of the ‘Black Shooter’ Team Members (2)
Jaehyuk immediately helped Doyoon back onto his feet and checked to make sure he hadn’t been hurt.
Doyoon was dressed more neatly than before, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black slacks with a navy-blue hooded vest over them, the hood pulled over his head.
“Do you fall often?”
“Hahahaha, thank you for catching me.”
Seeing Doyoon avoid the question by lowering his head and looking away, Jaehyuk casually pulled off Doyoon’s hood.
“A hood again today?”
Doyoon hurriedly put it back on while glancing around nervously.
He had worked so hard to defend his hood from Nayeon and Taeyoon, only for Jaehyuk to take it off immediately.
At Jaehyuk’s comment, Doyoon immediately took a few more steps away from him.
“Please don’t.”
“Hmm. All right. Shall we go meet the team members first?”
Doyoon hurriedly straightened his clothes.
Although he had run away halfway through getting ready, this was the style he had eventually agreed on with his siblings, so he really hoped he wouldn’t look too bad.
“We’re not going like this, right? Like yesterday?”
“Of course not.”
Jaehyuk opened the passenger-side door of a domestic-brand SUV parked nearby.
“Your Majesty, please get in. I’ll drive safely.”
“…Is this your car, Hunter?”
Jaehyuk waited for Doyoon, who approached the car with a bewildered expression.
“Hmm, ‘Hunter’ sounds so distant. How about ‘Sir,’ a title fitting for a knight serving Your Majesty? If you don’t like that either, just call me Hyung. I strongly recommend Hyung.”
“I’m comfortable calling you Hunter.”
Before Doyoon could get into the car, Jaehyuk closed the door and lamented,
“Ah, but I want to be your Hyung. It would be nice to have a younger sibling. I used to be jealous of people who did.”
“You’re acting.”
“I’m not. I’m serious…”
Jaehyuk draped an arm over Doyoon’s shoulder, leaned against him, and even let out a deep sigh.
Doyoon flinched at his sigh.
Well, what was the big deal?
Jaehyuk had helped him a lot today and treated him kindly, so surely Doyoon could do at least that much.
“…Hyung.”
“Okay, shall we get going?”
Jaehyuk immediately raised his head and opened the car door.
His movements were filled with excitement.
Doyoon let out an incredulous laugh and got into the car.
Jaehyuk, who had taken the driver’s seat, drove surprisingly smoothly, completely different from the reckless movements he had shown earlier.
Inside the quiet car, Doyoon cautiously watched Jaehyuk’s reactions.
There were so many things he had been curious about all night.
It would be nice to ask him now.
“Why? Do you want to see my handsome face? Or my body?”
Doyoon knew that Jaehyuk was aware he couldn’t see, which made him think Jaehyuk had a rather mean streak.
Still, Nayeon had never stopped praising Jaehyuk’s appearance like this before, so Doyoon was a little curious.
At the very least, Go Jaehyuk seemed to be handsome enough to rival a celebrity.
Rather than touching him, Doyoon wanted to see him with his own eyes.
“Where does that kind of confidence come from?”
“If you’ve been hearing it your whole life, it just comes naturally. Like the compliments Shin Nayeon gave me today?”
“…How did you find out about me? And how did you find out where I live?”
“I searched the Hunter registration list by occupation, and I found out where you live by asking around. I may not look it, but I’m a bounty hunter, you know? There’s nothing easier than finding people.”
So basically, he had done a background check on him?
Doyoon nodded awkwardly and stared straight ahead.
“Then, am I going to participate in bounty hunting from now on?”
Dealing with people carried a completely different weight from dealing with monsters.
Doyoon began worrying about whether he would be able to do well.
“Our team mainly does bounty hunting, that’s true. But we also do Gate hunting quite often. You’ll mostly be providing backup, so you won’t be going to the front lines. Don’t worry. Didn’t I tell you? I’ll treat you like the emperor of emperors, like royalty among nobles. You can look forward to it!”
The more Doyoon listened to Jaehyuk’s confident voice, the more he felt his anxiety settling down.
Jaehyuk glanced at Doyoon as he nodded and calmly began explaining the team.
“There are five members besides me. By the time we get there, everyone should be gathered at the base. You can introduce yourself then… Hmm, and if you want, I can show you the contract terms and the contract itself right away. Check everything and tell me if there’s anything you want changed. We can change it immediately and then sign. This is something worth taking your time with, so look it over carefully before you decide.”
The road was wide open, and every time they reached an intersection, the traffic lights seemed to stay green without stopping them.
It almost felt as though the road itself was telling them that they were going the right way.
The gentle spring-breeze quality in Jaehyuk’s voice seemed to seep into Doyoon’s heart as well.
The team’s base was located on the fifth floor, the very top floor of an old villa-style apartment building.
The first floor contained shops, while the second through fourth floors were residential.
There was a gym in the basement.
Each floor contained two households, and the fifth floor was arranged just like the others, with two separate front doors.
Jaehyuk strode over, swung open the front door, and waited for Doyoon.
Seeing Doyoon approach with light, bouncing steps as he checked the floor with his cane, Jaehyuk smiled.
“Are you feeling good?”
“A little… I’m excited, too. And a little worried.”
Perhaps embarrassed, Doyoon gave a shy smile.
Jaehyuk gently stroked his hair, fiddled with Doyoon’s ears, which stuck out slightly like monkey ears, and gave him a little push inside the base.
“You’re here? It took longer than I expected—huh?”
Doyoon, who had entered the base first without really knowing what was happening, came face-to-face with a man.
The man’s voice carried a different kind of warmth from Jaehyuk’s.
If Jaehyuk’s voice was like the excited flutter of a spring breeze, this man’s voice had the solid strength and reassuring stability of an autumn wind lifting fallen leaves back into the air.
“Yeah. Something came up. Where are the others?”
“They’re all in the living room.”
“Then…”
Ring-ring—
Jaehyuk had just put an arm around Doyoon’s shoulder again when he stopped and answered a call on his Hunter Watch.
“Yes. This is Go Jaehyuk. Ah, Team Leader. Yes. No, it’s fine. Please go ahead.”
Apparently expecting the call to take a while, Jaehyuk left Doyoon with the man in front of him and went into a room.
The man looked at Doyoon, who was standing there blankly, and smiled.
“My name is Park Yul. I’m in charge of meals for the team.”
“But his food tastes terrible!”
Another person suddenly appeared beside Park Yul.
“Juina, that was a little rude.”
“Yul’s introduction was boring. And I told you I don’t like people using my family name. Just call me Ina~. Okay?”
It was obvious from Park Yul’s voice that he was a man, so hearing the woman who had just been called Juina refer to him as ‘Mom’ left Doyoon slightly confused.
He seriously wondered whether they were making fun of him because his vision was different from everyone else’s.
“I’ll change that once I get more comfortable with you, Juina. And now, shall we go introduce the Healer to everyone?”
Park Yul gently placated Juina before extending his arm toward the living room.
“I’ll introduce the team members. This way… Ah, let me guide you.”
As though remembering his mistake, Park Yul approached Doyoon and grabbed his arm to guide him inside.
Doyoon took off his hood and shook his head.
“No. I’m not completely blind. I can follow you if you walk ahead of me.”
Park Yul and Juina’s gazes briefly became fixed on Doyoon’s distinctive appearance, which was different from everyone else’s.
Park Yul was the first to look away.
“Okay. Then let’s do that. Juina, go ahead. He’ll follow you.”
“Huh? What? Uncle Gam can actually be wrong?”
At Park Yul’s urging, Juina, who had been observing Doyoon, headed toward the living room with quick little steps.
After following her for only a few steps, they entered a spacious living room.
There were four people in the living room, including Juina.
The only thing Doyoon could clearly tell was that they were all different heights.
As soon as Doyoon found himself standing in front of the team members, he felt a rush of nervousness.
Still, since he had arrived late, he thought it would be better to introduce himself first.
With all his strength, Doyoon bowed deeply.
“Hello! I’m Shin Doyoon.”
“Puhahaha! You sound like a robot!”
Doyoon became embarrassed when he saw Juina practically choking with laughter.
He had put way too much effort into it.
“As I introduced myself earlier, I’m Park Yul. And the rest of you should introduce yourselves.”
After Park Yul’s gentle voice finished, a short, chubby man sitting on the sofa stood up.
“I’m 41, Gam Dawon. I’ll probably be the oldest one on this team, so I’ll speak casually. You can comfortably call me Uncle. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can call me Hunter Gam like Park Yul does.”
“I’m a one-syllable surname. Hunter Gam.”
“I know. I know everything. But ‘Park Yul’ rolls off the tongue better than just ‘Yul.’ It’s all because I want to feel a little closer to people.”
As Gam Dawon continued talking, Park Yul cut him off after deciding he had heard enough and moved things along.
Meanwhile, Juina had recovered from her laughter and stood beside Gam Dawon, raising her hand high.
“I’m Juina. I’m 19, and I heard you’re 24, Oppa? You can just call me ‘Ina.’ But you absolutely cannot enter my room without my permission. Got it?”
“I’ll remember.”
Swept up by her forceful personality, Doyoon nodded.
At 19, she was the same age as Doyoon’s younger brother, Taeyoon.
Thinking that she was the same age as Taeyoon made Doyoon feel a little more at ease.
“…Ha Jihyun.”
“Hunter Ha is a little quiet.”
Doyoon had tensed up at the stiff, low voice that was almost enough to make him think Jihyun was angry, but Park Yul’s explanation helped him relax.
Now there was only one man left.
He was tall and slender like a model, standing in a crooked posture while staring intently at Doyoon.
The man raised his chin.
“They say you can’t see. Are you actually in a condition where you can participate in hunting?”
His voice was high for a man, and it scraped against Doyoon like rough sandpaper.
It felt a little painful.
