* * *
Since it was such an unusual scene, people were clearly excited—without anyone needing to say anything, phones started coming out left and right.
The massive crowd had now split neatly into two camps, launching into a ridiculous, frenzied filming competition.
Normally, they wouldn’t even glance in my direction, but I guess the whole kidnapping incident had raised my public profile.
This wasn’t good.
Like I said before, I was someone who just wanted to live quietly with my father.
All this attention was far from welcome. I wanted the store to do well—but I didn’t want the spotlight.
A bit of a contradiction, sure, but that’s how I felt.
Strangely enough, not a single journalist was in sight, even though they’re usually the fastest to show up at stuff like this.
Even the reporters who’d shamelessly been lined up earlier had all disappeared without a trace.
Given that the guy who’s always been cozy with the media showed up, I could kind of guess what happened.
Maybe Do Soohyuk had done something ahead of time to keep reporters away from our house too.
“Where the hell do you think you’re sneaking off to again?! Get lost, you f**ing Chnk bastard!”
“We’re not handing over Seo Inho! Get the hell out of here!”
While all this chaos was unfolding, our side of the crowd had grown so worked up they started throwing stuff.
A random collection of objects came flying down around us, landing right at our feet.
Even the hedgehog, who’d been wide-eyed up to this point, finally snapped and yelled back.
“Why the hell are you yelling at me?! I wasn’t the one who kidnapped—mmph!”
Before he could finish, I clamped a hand over his mouth.
Thankfully, my body reacted just in time, stopping him right before he said something dangerous.
“Shut up and get out of here.”
I whispered through clenched teeth, forcing a smile for the crowd like everything was fine.
Strangely enough, the hedgehog’s cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.
I didn’t know why, but the reaction left a sour taste in my mouth.
The closeness between us was making me uncomfortable, so I quickly pulled my hand away.
The guy started rubbing his flushed face as if trying to scrub it clean.
“F-Fine. I’ll come back later when there aren’t people around. In the meantime, think about what’s actually in your best interest.”
He stuttered his way through the sentence and hurried off, disappearing from view.
Compared to his cocky entrance at the Chinese restaurant, his exit was pretty pathetic.
Maybe he’d figured he might get humiliated again and decided to retreat early.
‘I really hope I don’t see him again.’
Worried he might try following me, I glanced back at the three others.
Luckily, none of them looked like they had any intention of going after him.
From their total disinterest, it seemed like they just saw him as a nuisance.
Scratching the back of my neck, I walked over to the three.
“So… Do Soohyuk, what brings you all the way out here?”
“I heard there was a crowd forming in front of your shop.”
“Bullshit. Like hell you didn’t already know.”
Woo Jaehyun sneered openly, standing with one leg lazily cocked to the side.
Even though the two of them had already gotten into a fight earlier, he still seemed full of complaints and wasn’t hiding his attitude.
Do Soohyuk, for his part, didn’t even react.
Still, I found myself watching the people around us, feeling oddly self-conscious.
“You really came just to check that out?”
“…”
“Or… don’t tell me you came to help out at the shop too?”
At that, Do Soohyuk gave a small nod.
Seeing this, I looked between the three men and swallowed hard.
Just the two of them were already enough of a handful.
If Do Soohyuk joined in too, there was no way I could manage all this on my own.
It didn’t feel like gaining a helping hand—more like gaining another burden.
“This is getting to be too much…”
“Is that a problem?”
As soon as Do Soohyuk lowered his gaze, I heard someone mutter “fox bastard” under their breath.
But his expression had this strangely pitiful look to it, and for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
“It’s not that it’s a problem, but… you’ve been away from your post because of the dungeon, right? Don’t you have a lot to catch up on?”
“I’m fine.”
Seriously… do Guild Masters even have work to do?
Just thinking about having to train him from scratch made my head throb.
But in the end, I let the burden join the team.
I couldn’t afford to make the customers wait longer, and I didn’t want to turn away someone who came to help.
An hour passed after we reopened the shop.
And I had to admit—I’d completely misjudged Do Soohyuk.
Turns out, he was the only one of the three with actual part-time experience.
And not just one or two places—he’d worked all over.
He picked things up fast too, not like a burden at all, but more like someone doing the work of two people.
Thanks to him, everything went much smoother, and the store was running nicely.
If there was one downside, it was that all three of them were huge.
In a space barely 10 pyeong (about 330 sq ft), it felt even more cramped.
I didn’t even try to go inside—I just stayed outside, stirring tteokbokki non-stop.
“We really need to expand the place…”
The building was so old that remodeling wasn’t an option.
If Dad agreed, moving to a nearby location could be a good alternative.
Not that I’d go ahead with it if he didn’t want to.
“Hyung, table 2 wants three more tteokbokki sets. I did good, right?”
Woo Jaehyun fluttered the order slip as he walked over, bowing his head like he wanted to be petted.
People were already staring—what the hell was he doing?
Still, if I didn’t give him what he wanted, he’d stay like that all day.
I had no choice but to ruffle the back of his head.
“Yeah, good job.”
He looked satisfied, but the people watching all gasped softly.
If I hadn’t overheard that one guy earlier, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.
But now I was paranoid. Hopefully I wouldn’t get attacked by Woo Jaehyun’s fans…
I was already on bad terms with three of Korea’s top guild members.
I really didn’t need any more enemies.
Pretending not to notice the attention, I went back to scooping tteokbokki when a question that had been bugging me since the first day popped back into my head.
“By the way… what happened to the Hunter Association President? I heard he went missing.”
“Oh, I meant to tell you earlier, but I got busy and forgot.”
“…”
Busy my ass.
You barely did anything.
I squinted at him, but Woo Jaehyun just chuckled, clearly entertained.
Then, with a bright, innocent smile—completely at odds with what he was about to say—he dropped a bombshell.
“I think the Hunter Association President leaked your info to North Korea. He went into hiding because he thought he’d get caught.”
“What?”
I whipped my head around, startled—and saw that, at some point, a barrier had been set up around us.
The Association President… leaked my info?
Even though I’d just heard it with my own ears, I couldn’t believe it.
The thought that he’d actually colluded with North Korean rebels had never even crossed my mind.
That combo just didn’t make any sense.
Even if we’d had a falling-out, we were still bound by contract.
I didn’t think he’d go that far behind my back.
Now I knew how those North Koreans got their hands on No-Chung.
He must’ve passed it on to them instead of giving it to me.
Which meant the reason I was kidnapped… was because of the Association President’s betrayal.
That hit me like a freight train.
“So no one knows where he is now?”
“The media’s already assuming he’s not in Korea anymore. Since the North Korea connection is top secret, they probably think he got involved in some other crime. A huge chunk of money’s gone, too.”
“⋯⋯.”
In other words, he’d run off with enough money to live comfortably, likely hiding out somewhere in Southeast Asia or South America—someplace hard to track.
He was probably building himself a little house on a remote island and living the easy life.
Meanwhile, just the thought of North Korea still made my fingers throb with pain.
Imagining him living it up in another country without a shred of guilt made my blood boil.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
When my expression hardened visibly, Woo Jaehyun furrowed his brows and cautiously checked my face.
“Just irritated. After all I went through because of him.”
But honestly, finding someone who was hell-bent on disappearing was close to impossible.
Maybe it was better for my mental health to let it go than to keep holding onto it.
Though, I knew sleeping peacefully would be a challenge for a while.
I forced myself to clear my head and handed the tteokbokki bowl to Jaehyun.
“Customers are waiting. Go get to work.”
Before I knew it, four hours had passed since we opened the stall.
It was just past noon, and to my shock, we’d completely run out of the massive amount of ingredients we’d prepared.
The students who had eagerly lined up to match their lunch breaks let out a collective groan, like the world had ended.
Honestly, they were probably more excited to see S3 up close than to eat tteokbokki, so their disappointment was understandable.
But we couldn’t magically restock what we didn’t have.
I barely managed to calm them down and send them off with a kind lie about how there’d be another chance next time.
Still, a huge crowd continued to gather outside the stall.
Most of them had come just to catch a glimpse of the three of them, so they were just camping out until they reappeared.
You’d think they’d be overwhelmed, but the three of them were busily cleaning like it was nothing.
Even now, it felt strange and oddly impressive.
They claimed they were fine, but I was sure the Guildmaster’s office had a mountain of tasks waiting.
So what on earth were they still doing here?
Especially Do Soohyuk—his phone had been ringing nonstop since earlier.
* * *
