* * *
It honestly would’ve been easier doing it alone.
Even though I had two people who came to help, it felt like there was more to do than when it was just me and Dad.
After a lot of mess and fuss, we managed to serve the customers safely—but I was starting to think it’d be better to just send those two home even if they showed up early in the morning again.
The shop was cramped as it was, but with those two inside, there was literally no space left to move.
“I’m not even sure if having more customers is a good thing anymore…”
I muttered softly, and looked up.
From a glance, the crowd outside the store had doubled since this morning.
Some people were clearly here out of curiosity after the kidnapping incident, but most seemed more interested in the two guys helping out inside.
At first, I figured it was good publicity, but the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.
They were basically taking over the sidewalk, and I could feel the stares not only from local residents but also from other nearby businesses.
God, seriously.
And there were even a few reporters pretending to be customers.
Thinking I wouldn’t notice, familiar faces I’d seen outside the gate last time were shamelessly lining up among the crowd.
In this whole mess, our regulars couldn’t even get close.
The ones who used to visit daily when Dad ran the shop were hanging back, hesitating.
That made me feel… off.
Well, there were some exceptions.
“Hunter Seo Inho! We were so worried about you!”
“Me too!”
A middle school girl and a little boy pushed through the crowd with goat-like shaky voices.
The onlookers immediately started complaining, but the kids didn’t care in the slightest—typical for their age.
It had only been a week, but seeing them again felt like forever.
A lot had happened in that short time.
“What, were you worried the shop would stay closed and you wouldn’t get your tteokbokki?”
“No!”
The little boy, who looked like he was about to cry a second ago, squeezed his eyes shut and shouted in protest at my teasing.
The girl glared at me fiercely in agreement.
“Everyone was seriously worried about you!”
Even as the onlookers kept filming on their phones, they nodded fervently.
Apparently, my kidnapping had caused more of a stir than I’d expected.
“Yeah! You’re the only S-class support, and people were freaking out, thinking China took you!”
The boy’s voice grew increasingly indignant.
Just from that, I could tell who everyone had already decided was behind it.
It wasn’t China though…
But I couldn’t exactly tell them the truth.
So I just gave an awkward smile, neither confirming nor denying anything.
Still, it was nice, seeing these kids genuinely upset on my behalf.
I figured I’d lighten the mood a bit.
I slowly stirred the tteokbokki and narrowed my eyes, pretending to be serious—like I was about to reveal some great secret.
“I wasn’t actually kidnapped by China.”
“…Huh?”
Adults and kids alike around me all widened their eyes.
Someone muttered, “Wait, what? What’s going on?”
But most were too shocked to speak.
One of the reporters, apparently close enough to hear, even slyly pulled out a recorder.
“Th-then where were you?”
The little boy, full of curiosity now, asked me first.
The frozen crowd around me started leaning in again.
Holding back a grin, I let out an exaggerated sigh and pointed dramatically at the sky.
“Aliens.”
“…”
As I watched their eyes follow my finger, I could almost see the light dying in their expressions.
The reporter holding the recorder muttered a curse and turned away.
I wanted to laugh out loud, but not everyone had lost interest yet.
The girl still stared up at me with a deadpan look, and the only one whose face had turned completely pale was the little boy.
“I told you the guy who kidnapped me was tall and super skinny, right? Yeah, he’s not human.”
I mouthed the word alien again.
The boy gasped like he’d just swallowed air and clamped his mouth shut.
I wanted to tease him more—his reactions were so cute—but if I said anything else, the girl looked like she might actually start swearing.
Her eyes had that cold, deadpan look people usually give to adults acting beneath their age.
I cleared my throat out of sheer embarrassment.
“Ahem. Anyway, shouldn’t you guys be in school by now?”
“Oh crap, you’re right!”
The girl’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she jumped to her feet.
As she checked the time and panicked, she still managed to stuff the vegetable fritters I gave her into her mouth like a pro.
“I spent all my allowance, so I can’t come tomorrow—but I’ll see you next time!”
The boy, still munching on his favorite seaweed rolls, bowed deeply in a 90-degree angle without a word.
His whole expression was still dazed, like he hadn’t returned to earth yet.
…Maybe I went a bit too far.
Watching the two of them hurry away, I let out a quiet laugh.
It had only been a short conversation, but I felt strangely more at ease.
But of course, that warm feeling didn’t last very long.
His lips dropped into a frown again as he saw the people who had quickly taken the children’s seats and were now shoving their phones toward him.
The shop had only been open for an hour, yet he was already beginning to miss home.
“Think I’ll actually make it back today…?”
He pressed his lips tightly together, suppressing a sigh, and focused all his attention on arranging the fried food.
How many minutes had passed?
While scooping tteokbokki into a pale green bowl, he glanced around the store and spotted the two others working hard.
Wait… are they really working hard?
Even though he’d reminded him several times before opening, Cha Rui still wore that same stiff expression.
No wonder the customers looked so intimidated, struggling even to place their orders.
“Uh-uhm, can I get two orders of tteokbokki, ple—”
“Two?”
“Eep! I mean, three please!”
Anyone would think he was forcing them to buy more.
Cha Rui, having accidentally taken an order for three, flashed three fingers in his direction.
He looked somewhat pleased with himself, but the surrounding customers were clearly spooked—even that small gesture made their shoulders jump.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the atmosphere was noticeably more tense than when he had first worked here.
The public image of Cha Rui probably had a lot to do with it.
More than the fact he could casually crush a cliff with brute strength, people seemed far more afraid of his red hair and razor-sharp gaze.
The difference was obvious.
He only had to turn his head slightly to see a completely different scene playing out.
“Normally it’s self-service, but I’ll bring it over for you today.”
“Kyaah!”
Just one gentle, smiling sentence from Woo Jaehyun was enough to make people melt.
Despite having a terrifying ability that could reduce anything to dust, his soft appearance and friendly image kept people from feeling threatened.
Though honestly, he hadn’t seemed this charming in the movies.
“Can we take a photo with you later?”
Some even boldly came right up and asked for pictures.
The younger students blocked Woo Jaehyun’s path, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Eating was never their goal—tteokbokki was clearly a secondary concern.
“Mmm… only if you leave a nice review?”
“Deal!”
The students clapped with joy at the cheeky reply.
He appreciated the promise of a review, of course, but seeing the food on the table slowly growing cold gave him a twinge of bitterness.
They hadn’t even taken a bite of the tteokbokki yet…
He narrowed his eyes at the scene, not quite able to shake the sour feeling, when one bespectacled boy leaned toward Woo Jaehyun and whispered something—like they were sharing a secret.
“Um… by any chance, are you close with Seo Inho?”
Naturally, being an S-class, he could hear the boy’s voice with crystal clarity.
Curious, he pretended not to care but perked up his ears.
Woo Jaehyun turned his eyes—still smiling—to glance in his direction.
“You shouldn’t hang around that trash too much. What if weird rumors start going around?”
“Weird rumors?”
Woo Jaehyun’s eyes lit up with interest, fixing back on the boy.
The word “trash” rubbed him the wrong way, but he had to admit, he was a little curious too.
What kind of rumor could even link him to Woo Jaehyun?
The next words were surprisingly outrageous.
“I heard… that Seo Inho doesn’t care if it’s a guy or a girl, as long as they’re pretty.”
…What?
Eyes wide, he whipped his head around.
Cha Rui, who had been walking over with an order sheet, had also stopped in his tracks and was now staring at him with a frosty expression.
There was a strange undercurrent of disgust in that gaze. He really felt like trash now.
There were plenty of rumors out there about Seo Inho, but this was one he’d never heard before.
This is so unfair!
He waved his hands at Cha Rui in protest, trying to deny it, while Woo Jaehyun slowly crouched to meet the boy’s eyes.
The boy flinched, though he also looked thrilled to have the attention.
Maybe that had been his goal all along.
“Well, that’s a pleasant little rumor.”
But only for a moment.
The boy’s excitement faded quickly, his face growing pale.
Woo Jaehyun’s calm demeanor only confused the students around him even more.
That bastard…
The moment he saw the boy’s pallor, Inho understood what was happening.
No doubt Woo Jaehyun was leaking his energy—just enough for one person to feel.
* * *
