# Chapter 103
“No way… Why does he look so similar?”
Hyegang muttered in disbelief. Sua was still staring at Hyeseong as if she couldn’t tell whether she was dreaming or awake.
The Family Glory Dried Pollack and Hyegang didn’t look very much alike. If one had to classify their similarities, it would be that their features were both delicate. The Family Glory Dried Pollack had thin, elegant customization, not a face with strong cute features like Hyegang’s.
Hyeseong’s face remarkably filled that subtle gap.
“What’s this… Who is this dried pollack?”
Sua greeted them, unable to even finish her sentences properly. Her voice sounded somewhat dazed. Iyeon cleared his throat with a “hmm” and introduced him.
“This is Lee Hyeseong-ssi. Hyegang’s older brother. He’s a famous hunter, don’t you know him?”
“I’m not really interested in hunters… You say he’s Hyegang’s brother?”
After responding reflexively, Sua quickly turned her head to look at Hyegang. Startled by her intense gaze, Hyegang unconsciously avoided eye contact.
“Is something wrong?”
Hyeseong asked with a gentle smile. He seemed to behave normally when Hyegang wasn’t directly involved. Well, when they met on the street, he had approached politely at first too.
At his question, Sua barely regained her composure. She quickly put on her professional service mask.
“Ah, please sit down. You resemble someone I know, so I kept you standing too long.”
Her business smile and slight nod of the head were as warm and elegant as usual.
However, the fact that she seated all four of them in a row at the bar suggested she wasn’t quite in her right mind yet.
“I’m Han Sua, Hyegang’s close noona.”
…Was that intentional?
The seating order was Sano, Iyeon, Hyeseong, and Hyegang. As soon as Hyeseong took his seat, Sua promptly stood in front of him with a smile. Though they had been regulars here for a long time, Iyeon had never seen Sua being this proactive. Iyeon and Hyegang stared at her in bewilderment. Only Sano remained indifferent, simply gulping down his water.
“So, Hyeseong-ssi, you’re planning to rest for a while?”
“That’s right. I’ve worked for 5 straight years, so hopefully the work will leave me alone for at least a week.”
“Just that much? You should rest for a month!”
“Haha, I need to earn as much as I can while I’m in demand.”
Sua quickly became friendly with Hyeseong. Considering the fact that she still hadn’t become very close with Sano, this was an impressive speed. —In Sano’s case, it was partly due to his personality.—
“What’s a dried pollack?”
Taking advantage of her temporary absence to prepare food, Hyeseong whispered to Iyeon. It was natural for him to be curious, since she had mentioned the word “dried pollack” more than ten times the moment she saw him.
“It’s Sua-ssi’s ideal type.”
“Oh my, Iyeon-ssi. It’s not just my ideal type.”
Sua, who was only a few steps away, had somehow heard and jeered.
“The dried pollack was created by Iyeon-ssi, so isn’t it your ideal type? I’m just a fan.”
“No, well. It’s not exactly my ideal type…”
When Iyeon rejected the idea with a disgruntled expression, Sua blinked as if to say, “Isn’t it obvious?”
“You customized the character with a face you like, and that’s how the dried pollack came to be. Were you aiming for Hyeseong-ssi’s face when you did the customization?”
“No, back then… I didn’t think about that kind of thing.”
“See? It is your ideal type. Looking at Hyeseong-ssi, doesn’t it feel like the dried pollack has come to life?”
“Well…”
Is that so? Since Hyeseong’s face basically resembled Hyegang’s quite a bit, Iyeon hadn’t immediately thought of the Family Glory Dried Pollack upon seeing him, but after listening to Sua and examining him carefully, Hyeseong and the Family Glory Dried Pollack did have a very similar overall impression. Now Iyeon understood why Sua had frozen like a stone and stared blankly when she first saw Hyeseong.
It was kind of fascinating that he had just customized a game character, and someone who looked similar actually existed in real life. Well, technically speaking, Hyeseong-ssi was born before the Family Glory Dried Pollack was created, but…
“…Dried pollack?”
Just then, a somewhat ominous voice interrupted. Turning to the side, Iyeon found Sano glaring at him.
“W-what?”
Pressured by his intensity without knowing why, Iyeon stammered.
“What is this dried pollack?”
“It’s a game character Iyeon hyung created. We played the game together before.”
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Hyegang hurriedly interjected. Despite hearing the explanation, Sano’s expression remained tense. If anything, he stared at Iyeon even more intensely with sharpened eyes. He looked as if he might pierce through Iyeon with his gaze at any moment.
“Here, let me buy you all a round to celebrate Hyeseong-ssi’s safe return.”
Sua refreshed the mood with perfect timing. It was extremely fortunate that there was at least one person who was socially unaware.
Everyone’s attention turned back to the beer glasses being set down with a light clink. As Hyeseong received his drink with bubbling carbonation rising to the top and expressed his gratitude, Sua nodded with a smile.
Around that time, another customer entered the restaurant. With the sound of the door opening and Sua greeting them in the background, a cheerful “cheers” resonated.
“So I’m your ideal type?”
Taking advantage of the momentary silence as the conversation paused, Hyeseong abruptly leaned in. His face was covered with mischief. Iyeon responded dispiritedly.
“No, not exactly my ideal type…”
“I understand. A face like mine isn’t common.”
“There are plenty of them here.”
Iyeon gestured toward Hyegang and Sano with his chin, but Hyeseong pretended not to hear.
“So I’m the best among the three types.”
Is he crazy? They were speaking Korean, but somehow the words weren’t connecting.
“It’s a bit surprising. You like faces like mine, but you’re actually dating him.”
Hyeseong nodded toward Sano. Well, that face is more handsome though… Iyeon was about to answer without thinking but quickly shut his mouth. He had almost said something strange, caught up in the atmosphere.
“…Ideals and reality are different.”
That feeble response was the best he could come up with.
“Oh my, you two are dating?”
Even Sua, who had been preparing side dishes, heard that. She clapped her hands with wide-open eyes.
“Congratulations! You look good together.”
“Excuse me?”
“I feel great! I’m ringing the golden bell! I’ll buy everyone a round of beer~”
“What?”
“These two are dating! Everyone, please congratulate them!”
“Wow, congratulations!”
“Congratulations~”
Before Iyeon could say anything, the restaurant instantly filled with warm applause and cheers. Looking around in confusion, there was no one to help him. Even Hyegang was excited about the free beer.
“Excuse me… Are you perhaps the Hunter Lee Hyeseong?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Wow, I’m a fan! You’re so handsome.”
“Thank you.”
Riding the lively atmosphere, people gradually gathered around Hyeseong. As expected of an influencer… This was the first time someone so famous had been in Iyeon’s circle, and the scene was quite fascinating. Hyeseong took photos and signed autographs as they requested. He seemed very accustomed to this situation, joking that they shouldn’t misuse his signature for credit cards.
Hyeseong’s fans sent him passionate encouragement and praise, and to wrap things up, they always turned to Sano and Iyeon to add congratulations. At first, Iyeon just halfheartedly nodded his head, but after repeating the same process about three times, his heart grew heavier.
“…Do we really have to go this far?”
He hadn’t planned on lying to so many people. Feeling somewhat self-conscious, Iyeon glumly whispered to Sano. Sano snorted and replied:
“Are you still on about that?”
“No, it’s just that this has gotten too big.”
“If you have a better solution, then tell them it’s a lie.”
“…”
He had neither a better solution nor the guts to confess it was a lie at this point. Above all, Hyeseong’s presence was too overwhelming as he nodded with satisfaction at people’s encouragement. The chaos in the office would surely return the moment Iyeon tried to deny it. At the very least… he wanted to eat his meal in peace.
“Congratulations, really!”
“…Thank you…”
How did it come to this? Why did it turn out this way? In the end, Iyeon couldn’t provide any explanation and dejectedly downed his beer like a defeated soldier. The beer tasted unusually sweet today.
Since it was a small restaurant with few people, the impromptu fan meeting wrapped up quickly. As the atmosphere returned to a cozy one, Iyeon awkwardly started a conversation.
“People really recognize you a lot.”
“Well, that’s how it is.”
“Isn’t it uncomfortable?”
“Nah, they’re all nice people.”
True, there probably weren’t many people foolish enough to be rude to a superhuman who could easily throw ten people with his bare hands if things went wrong.
Hyegang deliberately didn’t participate much in the conversation, hoping his brother, whose first impression hadn’t been great, would get along better with others. He only occasionally chimed in with a word or two. Since Sano didn’t talk much to begin with, naturally Hyeseong and Iyeon led the conversation.
“Given that it took five years, I guess this mission was difficult?”
“It wasn’t extremely difficult, but when people are involved, the procedures tend to be lengthy. To be honest, almost all long-term missions are like that. The actual use of abilities doesn’t take much time; it’s all waiting periods.”
“I see.”
“Thanks to that, I got to do a lot of sightseeing. They even provided me with a guide. Though they kept talking about trust and only gave me permission to use a personal cell phone in the fourth year… But surprisingly, once you get used to not using it, you continue not using it much. I guess it’s all about habits.”
As the alcohol took effect and the mood relaxed, Hyeseong gradually entered the realm of normal people in Iyeon’s perception. Hyeseong seemed to have a hasty personality, was hard of hearing, lacked perceptiveness, and might have a touch of narcissism, but he didn’t seem like a bad person. This evaluation included a significant bonus point for being Hyegang’s brother.
Of course, grabbing someone by the collar upon first meeting was strange… investigating someone behind their back was really strange… Iyeon considered Hyegang a good colleague, and naturally wanted to get along well with his family.
And there was an unexpected commonality between them.
“Wow, you’ve been to all those places?”
“Of course. Mission meetings are usually over meals. I know all the F&B places in Seoul and Choho hotels inside out.”
“Oh…”
Hyeseong enjoyed eating delicious food. He wasn’t a big eater like Iyeon, but he was a gourmet who visited various restaurants both for work and as a hobby. Hyeseong also said it had been a long time since he met a friend who enjoyed eating, and excitedly talked about various things.
“There are many good places in Chohosi too. Even in this area. If you have time later, would you like to go eat together? It’ll be my treat.”
Iyeon’s eyes lit up brightly.
Considering that long-term commissions were extremely rare, and even more so for high-ranking individuals, Hyeseong was undoubtedly wealthy. A meal paid for by a rich person. That was extremely appealing.
