* * *
“Shut up, you little punk.”
Do Hajun kicked Lee Moojin, who was rolling on the ground, and then listened intently.
The light, quick footsteps and the sound of running as if they were breaking the ground belonged to Lee Cheongmyeong and Ahn Eunseon.
Still glaring at Lee Moojin, as if his anger hadn’t subsided, Do Hajun threw an umbrella to one of his team members and said,
“Clean it up.”
“Aww, honey.”
“I said shut up.”
“Ugh.”
Lowering his voice so that Lee Cheongmyeong wouldn’t hear, but not reducing the force of his kick, Do Hajun swept back his hair and sat down.
“Jun!”
The door opened at just the right moment.
“You’re here?”
With a bright smile, as if he hadn’t just beaten someone, Do Hajun spread his arms.
“Honey…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Take him.”
Hugging Lee Cheongmyeong, Do Hajun pointed toward Lee Moojin with his chin.
The waiting team members grabbed Lee Moojin’s hands and feet.
“Let’s go. There’s still something you need to deal with.”
“You, you guys. Let go!”
“We’ll be back.”
“Take your phone.”
Do Hajun nodded. The team members took out their phones from their pockets, waved them once, and then carried Lee Moojin out of the office.
“Honey!! Save me! Honey!”
Ignoring Lee Moojin’s screams, Do Hajun looked down at the snacks Lee Cheongmyeong was holding.
“Hmm.”
There were things like chewy candies, round lollipops, and Apollo sticks.
These were all things that used to be sold for 100 won at old corner stores.
Out of curiosity, Do Hajun tried to check the nutritional information on the snacks, but there was none written.
‘Where on earth did you get these?’
He had asked for snacks but didn’t expect him to bring such junk food.
Do Hajun, who had expected at most some kind of candy bar or bagged snacks, let out a small groan at the junk food Lee Cheongmyeong was holding.
“Jun, let go.”
“Uh, okay.”
Do Hajun stared seriously at the junk food.
‘Should I let him eat that or not?’
Ahn Eunseon had left humming a tune along with the team members, so there was no one to take out his frustration on.
Glaring at the snacks like they were his enemies, Do Hajun opened a drawer and took out some chocolate.
“Cheongmyeong.”
“Yes?”
When Lee Cheongmyeong looked at him with a bright expression, Do Hajun tried to smile as kindly as possible.
“Shall we trade for this?”
“Why?”
“Uh, Jun wants to eat that.”
“Then you eat it!”
“No, there isn’t enough for Jun, so let’s trade.”
Lee Cheongmyeong’s big eyes looked back and forth between the chocolate and the junk food.
‘Please. Please.’
Contrary to Do Hajun’s desperate wish, Lee Cheongmyeong shook his head.
“No. I want to eat this.”
You say you love me.
You can’t give up one piece of junk food even with affection level 10. How did I raise you?
“I’ll give you two chocolates.”
“No.”
“Three?”
According to the rules Do Hajun had set, the maximum amount he could eat in a day was three chocolates.
Since he had already eaten one earlier, two was the maximum, but there were no other options now.
Even if it’s the same chocolate, the ones Chae Yiwon brought were organic baby chocolates with clear nutritional information.
He thought it was much better to feed him four chocolates than junk food, so he offered.
“No. Let go.”
Lee Cheongmyeong refused.
“Ugh.”
Holding back the tears that were about to come out, Do Hajun took the junk food from Lee Cheongmyeong’s hand.
Even if he tried not to look, the ingredients were all full of chemical additives.
“Quickly!”
His shaking hands trembled even more because of Lee Cheongmyeong’s bouncing on his knees.
‘Should I drop it?’
If he tore open the bag and dropped it on the floor, he wouldn’t be able to eat it.
After a brief hesitation, Do Hajun sighed, tore open the bag, and handed it to Lee Cheongmyeong.
“Thanks.”
Before Lee Cheongmyeong could start eating the snacks, Do Hajun turned his head away.
It was better to do some work than to watch him eat and be tormented.
But the crunching sound of chewing broke his heart.
‘Why did you have to buy such things?’
Vowing not to leave Ahn Eunseon alone when she returned, Do Hajun picked up the documents he had been looking at earlier.
Unlike private hunters, national hunters had to undergo training equivalent to special forces training once a year.
According to the document, Delta Team’s training would be split into Team A and Team B due to Do Hajun’s dungeon exclusion.
“Even excluded from training.”
Clicking his tongue, Do Hajun signed the document, wondering if all the excluded schedules would pile up once Lee Cheongmyeong turned into an adult.
As he reviewed documents related to supplies and cooperation requests for Delta Team, he suddenly noticed the lack of snack noise.
Without moving his head, he glanced down with his eyes.
Lee Cheongmyeong was holding a partially bitten snack and just staring at the bag.
His slightly crumpled expression indicated that he didn’t like the taste.
Suppressing a smile, Do Hajun called out to him.
“Cheongmyeong. Is it good?”
“Uh… yeah….”
The response was weak, and he couldn’t say it tasted bad because he had insisted on eating it himself.
Seeing Lee Cheongmyeong’s hesitant answer, Do Hajun took out the chocolate from the drawer again.
“Cheongmyeong, do you want to trade for this?”
“Huh?”
“This is bad for your health, so Jun wants you to eat the chocolate instead.”
At Do Hajun’s gentle persuasion, Lee Cheongmyeong eagerly nodded.
Holding back a burst of laughter, Do Hajun put the chocolate in his mouth and threw the junk food in the trash.
A feeling of relief, which he hadn’t felt even when beating Lee Moojin, made him smile.
“Cheongmyeong, do you want to go out?”
“Out?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
They used to take a walk in the park every day after work, but due to continuous rain and incidents caused by unruly kids, they hadn’t been able to.
Since the rain had stopped, he decided to take Lee Cheongmyeong to the rooftop garden.
“There’s a garden on the rooftop.”
“Wow.”
“Let’s go and play for a bit.”
“Okay.”
The rooftop garden wasn’t much, just some grass and a few trees.
But Lee Cheongmyeong seemed to like it, running around and squealing as soon as they arrived.
He giggled at the sound of his feet splashing.
“The kid runs well.”
“…You didn’t die, huh?”
Lee Moojin, with a neat face as if he hadn’t been beaten, looked at Do Hajun.
He had changed clothes and combed his hair, looking completely different from the wild animal he had been earlier.
“There’s no way I could die and leave you behind.”
“I see… It seems like you haven’t been beaten enough.”
Lee Moojin chuckled lowly, resting his chin on Do Hajun’s head as he spoke.
“I had no choice. They said they’d send you instead of me.”
“What a load of crap.”
“Still, you did well. Say thanks.”
As Lee Moojin hugged him around the waist and rubbed his head, Do Hajun sighed softly.
“Thank you.”
Hearing the sigh of forgiveness, Lee Moojin grinned and hugged Do Hajun tighter.
Lee Moojin was an orphan who awakened his abilities in his second year of high school, becoming the first hunter under Do Hajun’s care.
Since he awakened as a minor, the government arranged Do Hajun to be his guardian despite only a few years of difference in order to test Do Hajun’s Caregiving skills.
The result was a failure.
It was expected, given that the skill was known to be ineffective on hunters over the age of ten.
However, they couldn’t just leave a minor hunter unattended.
Knowing the skill wasn’t helpful, the government designated Do Hajun to protect Lee Moojin until he could fully control his abilities.
Lee Moojin thought Do Hajun would resist.
When they first met, Do Hajun’s gaze was full of annoyance.
But Do Hajun accepted Lee Moojin, put him in his care, took him to his house, and threw his wallet at him.
“I’m going to the dungeon. Stay here and order some food.”
Lee Moojin, catching the suddenly thrown wallet, realized Do Hajun’s car was already gone.
Grumbling about how he could rob the house and run away, Lee Moojin stayed inside and ordered food as Do Hajun had said.
After Do Hajun returned from the dungeon, the real management began.
Eating, dressing, sleeping, training—Do Hajun intervened in everything.
Lee Moojin fiercely resisted, telling him not to meddle, but Do Hajun coolly ignored the resistance.
When the resistance reached its peak, Lee Moojin used his abilities on Do Hajun, who collapsed.
Lee Moojin hadn’t intended to really attack, just to show off, but the result was much more serious than he had expected.
If not for a nearby healer, it would have been a severe injury that might have forced Do Hajun to retire.
The incident escalated to the disciplinary committee.
Discussions of isolation and revocation of national hunter qualifications were underway as Lee Moojin, handcuffed, stared blankly at the people.
He had only wanted to scare Do Hajun a little, not to hurt him.
But his skills attacked Do Hajun contrary to his intentions.
Unable to forget the sight of Do Hajun bleeding and collapsing, Lee Moojin covered his face with his hands.
Then, the door opened and Do Hajun entered.
Amid the astonished stares, Do Hajun glanced at Lee Moojin and spoke indifferently.
“A kid can make mistakes. Why so serious?”
“But you were injured.”
“I got more hurt in the dungeon than by the kid. What are you doing? Get up.”
Do Hajun chided Lee Moojin, who was staring blankly, and forced him to stand up.
After asserting that he would continue to take responsibility, he told them to stop having such pointless meetings and led the dazed Lee Moojin out of the room.
“It’s nothing. Even skilled hunters have moments like that. Don’t worry about it.”
With a nonchalant face and tone, Do Hajun reassured him.
That’s when Lee Moojin realized he had an ally he never thought he’d have in his life.
“Let go.”
Lee Moojin hugged him tighter, smiling slyly as Do Hajun squirmed irritably.
“Why? A happy couple is good for the kid too.”
“I’ve told you repeatedly, you’ll get stabbed by your lover later if you keep this up.”
“Would you stab me?”
“You little…!”
Lee Moojin dodged Do Hajun’s elbow aimed at his stomach as Lee Cheongmyeong approached timidly.
“Jun?”
“Are you done playing?”
Looking at the smiling Lee Moojin, Lee Cheongmyeong slowly turned and clung to Do Hajun’s pants.
He seemed frightened of Lee Moojin’s beast-like build.
“It’s okay. Jun is a friend.”
“What do you mean, friend? It hurts my feelings when you draw lines like that.”
“Stop talking nonsense and say hello.”
“Hello, Cheongmyeong. I’m Lee Moojin, the one who will live with Jun forever.”
Lee Cheongmyeong’s expression changed strangely.
“Jun, hug me.”
Though it was clear he was still scared, Lee Cheongmyeong didn’t hesitate and held out his arms.
“Hug me.”
“Okay, okay.”
Lee Cheongmyeong clung tightly to Do Hajun’s neck and glared at Lee Moojin.
“He’s mine.”
“What?”
“Jun is mine!! He’s going to live with me forever!!”
This was the beginning of the battle for Do Hajun’s ownership.
* * *
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BASTA AHHHHH QUE ES ESTA PELEA LLENA DE CARAMELO
HAHAHAAHAHAHA
Bueno un contrincante más