Sang-woong always worked hard to procure the necessary food supplies and materials for the tribe members, and to secure construction materials needed for their settlement.
Especially, purchasing food in large quantities was a particularly delicate matter.
If he included the amount needed for the Kahuka Tribe as well, the order volume would become suspiciously large and might draw unnecessary attention.
He would stop by the Wholesale Agricultural Market himself to check the freshness of the ingredients, and never forgot to pick up little things like snacks and toys that the tribe’s children would like.
Next, he headed to the building materials store.
Processing wood from the ground without tools was slow and inefficient.
He had to repair the fence and houses damaged in the last lightning strike incident, and since there would be more construction ahead, materials were always needed.
He carefully selected sturdy lumber and hardware.
After loading the necessary items into the car and driving back, Sang-woong stopped for a moment in front of the Convenience Store next to the Dungeon Disease Specialty Hospital.
He was thirsty and thought he would just grab a drink.
While browsing the drinks section, his eyes caught sight of a student.
“Hey, isn’t that…”
It was a student Sang-woong remembered.
Not long ago, that child had hesitated in front of the restaurant door for a long time before mustering up the courage to come in and cautiously ask,
“Excuse me… I’m sorry, but is it possible to pay for food with a Free Meal Child Card?”
Without hesitation, Sang-woong had responded with a bright smile,
“Of course! Absolutely. Come by any time. I’ll treat you as the restaurant’s most important guest.”
A few days later, the child returned to the restaurant, bringing along a stooped grandmother.
The sight of him carefully looking after his grandmother and bowing politely to Sang-woong left a deep impression on his heart.
“But now… what is he doing?”
The student looked obviously uneasy.
He was trying hard to act natural, but his anxious glances around and trembling fingers made it clear he was about to do something wrong.
Sure enough, the student quickly snatched a few items from the display and stuffed them into his bag.
The Convenience Store clerk seemed oblivious, eyes glued to their phone.
Even as the student left the store, there was no attempt to stop him.
Sang-woong paid for his drink and left the store, following the student at a distance.
He saw the student slip into a narrow alley, clearly familiar with the place, and Sang-woong slowly stepped in after him.
From deeper inside the alley, a rough voice echoed out.
“Hey, did you bring what I told you?”
Sang-woong immediately realized his guess was right upon hearing the voice.
Considering how polite the boy was to his grandmother, and his respectful manners, there was no way he would steal of his own volition.
Especially the look on his face in the store earlier weighed on Sang-woong’s mind.
A mix of guilt, despair, and deep intimidation.
Eyes full of terror, like a small animal caught in a trap, clearly hid another reason behind them.
And the voice he was hearing now, it was the thread leading to that reason.
“Here…”
The student called Kim Junsu opened his bag and took out a few cans of beer.
“What the hell, you punk! You brought the wrong stuff again!”
Nam Sungmin grabbed a beer can and smacked Kim Junsu on the head, mocking him.
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Huh??”
Kim Junsu flinched and bowed his head.
“N-no, really, I’m not.”
“Not what? Are your ears just for show? How many times do I have to say ‘Heineken’ for you to understand!”
“B-but, I swear you said… ‘Ashahi’ just now…”
Kim Junsu murmured a weak defense.
“What? When did I ever say Ashahi? Do you wanna die, you little punk!”
Nam Sungmin raised the beer can he was holding and threatened Kim Junsu.
Kim Junsu covered his face with his arms and stepped back.
“W-wait! I must have misheard! I-I’m sorry…”
Kim Junsu tried desperately to beg, but his voice didn’t last to the end.
Thud!
Nam Sungmin mercilessly smashed the beer can down on Kim Junsu’s head.
He hit him so hard that the can’s tab burst open, and beer foam splattered out.
Nam Sungmin then upended the nearly empty can, pouring the remaining beer over Kim Junsu’s head.
“Pwahahaha!”
“Kikikiki—”
Seeing Kim Junsu soaked and looking like a fool, the other kids standing nearby all burst into laughter.
“Hey, wait a sec—”
A boy named Myung Wonwoo stepped between them.
“Hey, the cigarettes will get wet. Take them first and do whatever you want.”
Myung Wonwoo tried to restrain Nam Sungmin and reached his hand out to Kim Junsu.
It was a silent pressure to hand over the cigarettes quickly.
Kim Junsu, terrified, lowered his head and mumbled,
“U-uh… the clerk was at the Counter, so I… couldn’t bring the cigarettes…”
“What? Are you messing with us now? Didn’t I tell you to bring cigarettes? Guess you haven’t had enough yet!”
Myung Wonwoo snatched the beer can from Nam Sungmin’s hand and threw it at Kim Junsu.
Thud!
The half-full can struck Kim Junsu in the stomach.
He doubled over from the impact and let out a painful groan.
“Let’s see how you like dying for real today.”
With a chilling voice, Myung Wonwoo raised his foot to kick Kim Junsu.
“That’s enough. Stop right there.”
Sang-woong spoke in a low, heavy voice.
There was a solid, steel-like force in his words.
The kids all stopped what they were doing and turned their gazes to Sang-woong in unison at the sudden appearance of an unfamiliar adult.
Their eyes weren’t filled with fear, but with irritation and annoyance.
“Who the hell is this guy?”
The biggest and most intimidating of the kids, Jang Taegun, flicked his cigarette butt to the ground and asked sharply.
The rough, openly threatening tone was hard to believe was coming from a mere student.
It felt like facing a gangster’s underling.
He already looked ready to pick a fight at any moment.
“You don’t need to know who I am. But it looks to me like you kids made him steal from the Convenience Store, which is a clear crime. Judging by the way you all act, this isn’t your first time, is it?”
Jang Taegun tried to act menacing, but Sang-woong didn’t shrink back at all.
Seeing his firm demeanor, the kids’ expressions hardened slightly.
Some avoided his gaze, while others glared at Sang-woong with even more hostility.
“What? What do you want from us?”
Nam Sungmin, the one who hit Kim Junsu earlier, shouted back angrily.
“We were just… playing together, that’s all!”
“Playing? Forcing someone to steal, threatening them, and using violence when you don’t like it? That’s your idea of ‘play’?”
Sang-woong’s voice was low, but the pressure it carried was suffocatingly intense.
“Don’t make me laugh! He stole that stuff on his own! Did we tell him to do it?”
Other students brazenly joined in, raising their voices.
“Yeah! Who are you to butt into someone else’s business!”
“That’s right! Whatever we do, what does it have to do with you!”
Sang-woong sensed that there was no point in talking anymore, given their blatant hostility and outrageous attitude.
Their eyes glinted dangerously, as if they’d lost all reason.
“If you don’t stop right now… you’ll regret it.”
Just as Sang-woong was about to give his final warning, Jang Taegun was the first to curse and rush at him.
“Bastard! Think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re an adult!”
His fist flew straight for Sang-woong’s face.
Sang-woong easily dodged and, in an instant, grabbed the boy’s wrist and twisted it.
“Agh!”
With a short scream, Jang Taegun lost his balance and fell to the ground.
The other kids froze for a moment, shocked by Sang-woong’s quick and precise movement and his strength.
But soon, swept up in rage, they shouted and all tried to rush him at once.
“Get that bastard!”
“Kill him!”
At that, Sang-woong picked up a thick, adult forearm-sized branch that had been lying on the ground.
The kids, about to rush in, all stopped in their tracks, flinching.
“Bastard! There’s way more of us! Bring it on!”
Nam Sungmin tried to bluff, but none of the kids could bring themselves to approach.
At that moment, Sang-woong clenched the thick branch in his hand and snapped it in half with a loud crack.
Crack!
Seeing the sturdy branch break in his grip like a twig, the kids were completely terrified.
“Shit… he’s a Hunter!”
Jang Taegun muttered a suppressed curse as he got up from the ground.
No matter how reckless they were, none of them dared rush at a Hunter who had just displayed monstrous strength right before their eyes.
Not that they were scared, though.
If anything, their faces were filled with annoyance.
They knew well that if a Hunter used violence on ordinary people, it would be a serious crime, and if it involved minors like them, the consequences would be even more severe.
“Let’s go.”
Jang Taegun belatedly realized the situation and led the others out of the alley.
The kids scattered like water, vanishing in an instant.
Their brazenness left Sang-woong momentarily at a loss for words.
They ran away, blaming the situation instead of reflecting on their own wrongdoing.
Sang-woong silently watched their retreating backs for a moment, then turned his gaze to Kim Junsu, who was still collapsed on the ground.
As soon as Kim Junsu saw Sang-woong, he desperately got up and bowed deeply.
“T-thank you… sir.”
But his face was still dark.
No, if anything, a deeper despair had settled over him than before.
Sang-woong immediately understood why.
No doubt, the kids would use today’s events as an excuse to bully Kim Junsu even more harshly.
In the end, his attempt to help might have put the boy in even greater danger.
“Hey, student. Would you mind talking with me for a bit?”
Sang-woong took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over, speaking gently.
Kim Junsu accepted the handkerchief, and when he finally looked properly at Sang-woong’s face, his eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“Oh… you’re the Gentle Breeze Restaurant owner…”
“Yeah. ‘Owner’ sounds too formal. Just call me mister, okay?”
Sang-woong approached Kim Junsu as casually as possible, trying to put the frightened boy at ease.
Now that things had reached this point, he couldn’t just leave the boy alone.
He was determined to take responsibility to the end.
Besides, recalling the wild behavior of those kids just now, he felt a fire burning inside.
The world could be terrifying, and sometimes kids needed to learn what happened when they messed with an adult.
“You haven’t eaten, have you? Let’s go to my restaurant and get you a meal. You know the food there is good, right? Today I’ve got a special dish ready just for you.”
With a bright smile that suggested there was nothing to worry about, Sang-woong offered Kim Junsu the invitation.
Kim Junsu hesitated and replied,
“Uh, it’s… it’s fine, really…”
“No, I’ve got something to say, and you need to eat. Don’t worry.”
Sang-woong ignored his weak refusal and gently insisted.
In the end, Kim Junsu gave in to Sang-woong’s firm attitude and nodded his head.
Sang-woong put Kim Junsu in the passenger seat and headed to the restaurant.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Lee Miju, who was wiping the tables, spotted them and quickly came over to greet him.
“Boss, you’re back!”
“Yeah. Thanks for your hard work today.”
“No, it’s just what I should do. But, who’s this student…?”
Lee Miju asked cautiously, glancing at Kim Junsu, who entered together with Sang-woong.
“Oh, just a kid I know. I have something to discuss with him. You can head home first today.”
“Alright.”
Sensing the situation right away, Lee Miju quickly gathered her things and left the restaurant.