# Chapter 88
A terrible late monsoon season continued. The rain clouds that had belatedly rushed in at the end of August blocked the sky day after day, creating a gloomy atmosphere as if determined to ruin the autumn harvest.
The rain wasn’t supposed to last this long. News about abnormal climate patterns echoed through Lee Hwan’s empty apartment every morning. He felt like he’d already seen at least a dozen interviews with farmers complaining in frustration.
While preparing for work and combing his hair, Lee Hwan had the pointless thought that humanity would have perished eventually even without the monster wave.
‘My hair has gotten too long.’
Pulling a few strands, he realized he was well past the time for a haircut. The problem was that he had barely gone out except for work and training due to being so busy.
He had visited a barbershop once since his regression. But after about three months, his hair had grown long again, forming a messy magpie’s nest if not properly groomed.
“Hmm.”
Besides, why was there no shine to his hair these days? Previously, it would flow nicely even if he just roughly washed it with any shampoo in cold water, but now it felt like it was losing vitality and becoming like dog hair.
“Maybe the dungeon water didn’t agree with me.”
That tentacle fish monster—it looked unpleasant from the start. Lee Hwan mumbled curses while wetting his hair and neatly arranging it.
But even while blaming the innocent monster, deep down he knew. Brittle nails, dry hair, constant hunger, and quick fatigue—what an ill-fitting description for an Awakened person. Could there be a more unsuitable modifier for a former B-rank Hunter?
He was simply ignoring minor anxieties. Even knowing there was a problem, there was nothing he could do about it. At least he had a general idea of the cause, so things hadn’t completely fallen apart.
“I need to eat some nutritious food.”
He spoke to the mirror as if it could hear him. Ginseng chicken soup would be good, and so would beef. Perhaps this time he could finally recreate that taste of steak from his memory.
He’d come home with heavy hands tonight. Lee Hwan finished grooming his hair and left the bathroom.
* * *
It was a lunchtime when LA galbi ribs were served in the company cafeteria for the first time in a while. For some time, whenever ribs were on the menu, he’d had field work, so he had sadly only imagined their taste while eating doenjang-wrapped rice or pine mushroom chicken soup instead.
It was entirely according to the team leader’s taste, and Lee Hwan always silently grumbled to himself about what kind of middle-aged hiking enthusiasts’ menu this was.
Finally, he reunited with the beloved ribs. Lee Hwan unconsciously hummed as he stacked the meat neatly on his tray.
It might have seemed annoying if it had just been side dishes piled high, but since he had scooped up an equally large mound of rice, he only occasionally received curious glances.
Team 3 colleagues who had flocked to the cafeteria at the same time were now accustomed to his overeating and were filling their own meals without any reaction.
‘Ah… healing.’
If there was anything remotely acceptable about Naru, which had nothing else to like, it would be exactly the company cafeteria. Despite all the things they had done that should have ruined his appetite, somehow his enjoyment wasn’t affected while devouring lunch.
Yes, it was this kind of peace that made a life full of all sorts of incidents somewhat satisfying. Lunch meals funded by company money were the best of all the arbitrary things in his life.
With an existence already lacking in reasons to be happy, Lee Hwan inwardly muttered that he wished this peace would last.
That’s when it happened.
‘…?’
Had he jinxed it by thinking about peace? Before he could finish his thought, a shadow suddenly fell over Lee Hwan’s head.
Wondering what it was, Lee Hwan looked up and froze stiff as if he’d seen Medusa.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Shall we step outside?”
A low, quiet voice that only one person could hear. The man’s thumb pointed towards the cafeteria exit.
As he walked down the corridor, Lee Hwan recalled his past memories.
The last time he had met Jade was at Taesung’s house. Despite rumors about him being an experimental subject or being taken somewhere, he had appeared healthy and stuck a needle in Lee Hwan’s arm.
Even that encounter had been during such a chaotic time that, in reality, he hadn’t seen him since they worked gates together.
Jade, whom he met again, still had a face without blemish and was wearing a loose cotton t-shirt with his eyes hidden behind heavily coated sunglasses. Though the scorching heat was subsiding, it was still muggy weather—truly fitting for an Awakened person to be wearing long sleeves.
“…What’s the matter?”
The somehow comfortable atmosphere was quite different from when they had met in the research building, making it easy to tell that he hadn’t come to find him for company business.
Since his face was exposed, he had thought something like this might happen someday. Thanks to having already imagined twelve worst-case scenarios in his head, this situation wasn’t so bewildering.
So Lee Hwan followed him without exchanging any pleasantries. He had no intention of ruining what little image he had left by squabbling with a clearly suspicious-looking man in front of others.
“Should I take this as picking a fight?”
Lee Hwan asked with a stiff face as they left the building, but Jade showed no sign of being affected. With no response, it felt like talking to a wall.
Since their first meeting, he had noticed that Jade rarely showed emotional fluctuations. It was beyond just good control of expressions, making him curious about what kind of life this person had lived.
“Sigh… Did Kang Taesung send you?”
“No, there would be an uproar if he knew I was here.”
That definitive answer was somewhat reassuring. Unfortunately, being still near the building meant people passing by kept glancing at them.
The sunglasses were especially conspicuous. Long sleeves in this season would make anyone look like either an Awakened person or someone mentally disturbed.
“Let’s go somewhere quieter to talk. I don’t know what you want, though.”
Despite Lee Hwan’s cold attitude, Jade seemed unconcerned. He remained expressionless without any particular emotional change.
Glancing at his phone, Lee Hwan saw about 45 minutes left until lunch time ended. During that time, he needed to find out why Jade had sought him out, whether he would quietly leave if told to, and then send him away nicely.
And if he could extract information about Taesung, that would be good too. He had been curious about what he was up to, appearing in strange places.
Lee Hwan left the Naru premises and took a seat on the third floor of a franchise café. It was bustling with people, so no one would pay attention to their conversation, and even if someone they knew stopped by for coffee, they wouldn’t run into them.
What serious conversation could he want to have? After taking a large sip of his ordered drink with tension, the other finally began to speak.
“Are you still spouting that nonsense about coming from the future?”
“PUKUKH!”
He quickly covered his mouth to prevent the drink from spraying out. Though, thinking it could have hit that person’s face, he wondered if he should have just spat it out.
Coming all the way here to call him out only to bring up his embarrassing past?
“Cough, hack, what are you…”
“I’m curious about something.”
Whatever he was curious about, that day wasn’t a particularly good memory for Lee Hwan.
Not believing that Taesung didn’t recognize him and was therefore being cold to him, he had gone to find him empty-handed and ended up being followed. As a result, Taesung came to his neighborhood and cracked his head, and Lee Hwan, feeling wronged, had shouted something like a Hollywood movie line.
No matter how disoriented he had been after just returning to the past, it was too reckless. Even now, thinking about it made his face burn, and he didn’t want to bring it up.
“You’re being too brief.”
“Should I bow and speak formally to someone who could be my child?”
“…Whatever you want.”
So he had tried to pick a fight and didn’t even get his money’s worth. The “could be my child” comment was probably exaggerated. But with an attitude suggesting at least a fifteen-year age gap, Lee Hwan, born and raised in a country that respects elders, stopped his counterattack with an aggrieved expression.
He acted normal in front of others, but always took this attitude when alone with him. He seemed to be around Kang Taesung often—it was worrying enough to wonder if that personality had rubbed off on him.
“If you’re curious about something, you should contact me first instead of just showing up. It’s not like you’re trying to mess with someone.”
“I apologize for that. I haven’t been free enough lately to make appointments with anyone.”
“Who said I was doing this because I’m free?”
“Stop deflecting and just answer what I’m asking. I won’t cause trouble and will let you go.”
Let him go? Was he saying he would confine him somewhere if he didn’t do as told? Lee Hwan glared sharply.
Somehow, even though he had realized his identity, he hadn’t come looking for a long time. Now it seemed he was going to use his weakness to cause trouble.
But since Kang Dongha had once defiantly turned away, he wouldn’t really reveal his identity to everyone. Instead, he didn’t know what creative things he might do using this as leverage.
While steeling himself against his threats, the casually thrown question was so unexpected that Lee Hwan furrowed his brow.
“How far in the future did you come from?”
“What?”
For a moment, he stuttered as if experiencing a buffer. He couldn’t understand the meaning. Was he actually asking about his claim of coming from the future?
“Surely, you don’t believe that absurd statement?”
“In a world where people fly around, what else is there not to believe?”
Was he serious, or was he probing to do something else? It was a statement embarrassing even to himself. When he was bleeding and begging to be believed, they tried to take him away in a strange van, but now that he’d given up, they were asking about it again?
Lee Hwan stared at Jade with a complicated expression, then decided to speak, thinking he had nothing to lose.
“…7 years. Why do you need to know this?”
“What was I doing there?”
The immediate follow-up question felt like a test of truth, which was annoying. Why keep prodding if you’re not going to believe it anyway? Lee Hwan held back the sneer that was about to escape and answered in a fierce tone.
“I don’t know. I don’t know someone like you. Never saw that weird tied-up hair or those sunglasses.”
After hearing the curt reply, Jade closed his mouth. Lee Hwan also didn’t bother to speak, so silence fell for a moment. As Lee Hwan glanced at the remaining time and took a couple more sips of his refreshing coffee, a calm voice floated over again.
“How long did you know Kang Taesung?”
“3 years.”
“Acting like you were dying for him, and it was only 3 years?”
“What are you picking at now…!”
“No, that’s good. The shorter, the better.”
Jade picked up Lee Hwan’s coffee. Like a bandit, he took a few sips of someone else’s coffee, frowned as if it was too sweet, and muttered in a monotone voice.
“Seems like it was about 4 years at most.”
