Closed Door

“672 people? Could you have gotten an autograph today?”

Cha Yeseung snorted and asked with disbelief.

“Of course! I made it into the first thousand, and so…”

“What number were you?”

“992nd!”

“You barely made it, barely.”

“Exactly! I miraculously made it into the first thousand. I had a chance to see Angel Hunter up close, shake hands, get an autograph, and say hello! Oh, how frustrating.”

“Angel Hunter, what a name. Do they hunt angels? Want to go to hell?”

“Tsk-tsk, Angel Hunter are four girl hunters who look like angels. It means ‘angels and hunters, hunters and angels’, you uneducated woman. This is why you shouldn’t talk to such ignoramuses.”

“What kind of hunters are they if they haven’t even entered the gates. And what? Uneducated woman? Ignoramus? Do you want to get uneducated beatings from an uneducated woman today?”

Cha Yeseung jumped up from the sofa and grabbed Park Cholsu by the throat. Park Cholsu’s face first turned blue, then white, and he started waving in the air.

“Have fun, have fun.”

Since this wasn’t the first or second time, Sa Gongwoo shook his head and tapped on the table.

“Alright, sit down. You’ve already heard about the call, right? I’m sure you all expect that we’ll enter the gates tonight or, at the latest, tomorrow. Before we go to meet with ‘Head’, I have something to say.”

When Sa Gongwoo spoke in an unusually serious tone, the team members obediently sat on the sofa.

“After we clear these gates and come out, we’ll move to a new office.”

“Why?”

The team members who had focused, expecting an important conversation, relaxed upon hearing the unexpected topic.

“We don’t only go to Seoul gates, we often travel to uninhabited areas. There’s no particular reason to stay in central Seoul. Only I go to meetings with Head, so for you, there’s not much difference between Seoul and the suburbs. Our current office is only good because it’s in Seoul, but the rent is high and the conditions aren’t great. Maybe it’s better to rent a more spacious office in the suburbs for this money.”

“Since Sa Siju pays for the office rent, I don’t care. Amitabha.”

Jaeyeon folded his hands and politely replied. When he tilted his head, his shiny bald head reflected the light of the fluorescent lamps. Although it might be possible to get used to this, Sa Gongwoo imperceptibly shifted his gaze to another team member, the pain in his eyes making itself known.

“It’s not great here, of course. But there’s no guarantee that we’ll get a much better office if we move to the suburbs. The area itself is backward there.”

“The rent is expensive. The leader needs to save money. …Poor.”

No, I’m not that poor.

Somehow this stung, but since saving money is always good, Sa Gongwoo didn’t object to Changgun.

“I don’t really care either way.”

Since Jaeyeon, Changgun, and Cha Yeseung didn’t express any particular objections to moving the office, Sa Gongwoo looked at the last remaining Park Cholsu.

“I’m against it.”

“Why?”

“Because this is my territory.”

It’s not at all.

“I can’t abandon my territory and go to another place.”

Even if you go to another place, no one will notice.

“If we move to the suburbs, your territory will become larger.”

“Hmm, that’s worth considering. A man needs a wider world.”

Not the world, just a district. But Sa Gongwoo didn’t want to say more and just nodded.

“Then I’ll consider that everyone agrees to move the office. I’ll look for a place near the seolleongtang restaurant.”

When the true reason was finally voiced, all eyes turned to Sa Gongwoo.

“What? It would be good to live near Choron.”

“So that’s what it’s about. That’s only good for you, what’s good for us?”

“You’ll be able to eat delicious seolleongtang cheaply.”

“Seolleongtang is delicious.”

Changgun quietly gave a thumbs up.

“If it’s a person you have a connection with, it’s right to help and care for them nearby. I don’t object.”

Although Choron is so smart that team members probably won’t have to help and care for him much.

“Ha, so this place will become my new territory? I should go there in advance.”

“Hold this bastard.”

Sa Gongwoo pointed at Park Cholsu, who was already about to jump up and run out. Changgun spread his arms and grabbed Park Cholsu.

“Let me go! Are you challenging me? Khe-khe, I’ll have to show you the flame of my pitch-black fire.”

“Cholsu, Cholsu, Park Cholsu. I told you not to make sounds like ‘khe-khe’ out loud. And the flame isn’t black, it’s red! ‘Flame’ and ‘fire’ are almost the same thing! I don’t even know where to start correcting.”

“I wonder where this came from?” – Cha Yeseung muttered, clicking her tongue.

“I’ll go to the meeting with Head, and you behave yourselves. Especially hold this Park Cholsu tightly.”

“I’ll keep an eye on this. Don’t worry and go.”

“…”

Somehow it’s impossible not to worry. No matter where you look, whoever you see – everyone caused concern, so Sa Gongwoo silently left the office.

3

“Did he give up?”

It had been about ten days since Sa Gongwoo, who had been coming twice a day for lunch and dinner to eat seolleongtang for a week, suddenly stopped appearing. Since he wasn’t a person worth worrying about particularly, at first I didn’t pay attention to it, but after a few days I suddenly thought: “Oh, where’s that scammer?”

Maybe it was because he had a memorable face, or because of his persistence, rare these days, albeit misdirected. Although he was an unwelcome guest, his presence was definitely noticeable.

Despite the fact that his goal was obvious, when he stopped coming, there was a feeling of emptiness. Although it would be better for my life if such scammers didn’t hang around nearby.

“So is this why humans were called social animals?”

Indeed, a useless feature of the species. They robbed each other, used and deceived, but at the same time felt lonely without living in society.

From now on, I will live alone. Except for me, everyone is a stranger. I decided that I would think only about myself, put myself first, live only for myself, but perhaps I won’t close grandmother’s restaurant, where I have to interact with people, precisely because of loneliness.

Although I really don’t want to admit it, this was proof that even I can’t escape human nature.

“Life is so meaningless.”

Before starting the evening work, I was calmly sipping coffee, enjoying the remaining thirty minutes of my break.

When grandmother was alive, the restaurant doors were almost never closed. Although it was preparation time for work, the doors were always wide open, and people passing by often came in not so much to eat as to drink coffee and chat.

Of course, it’s not like that now.

All doors, except for ventilation, were locked. In the apartment on the second floor, everything was tightly closed, from doors to windows, and the back exit of the restaurant on the first floor was carefully blocked. The restaurant door opened only during work hours, and was always locked at other times.

After grandmother’s funeral, I calmed down a bit when I replaced the facade glass and the glass door of the restaurant with reinforced glass for protection against monsters. Although it can only stop small monsters, it should be more than enough to protect against people.

And now, behind this glass door that gave me a sense of security, I saw a red-haired man peering into the restaurant, causing me concern.

“What kind of madman?”

His bright red hair, too bright to be natural, attracted attention in a bad way. Moreover, I didn’t like his glossy face either, but most repulsive were his eyes, which looked slightly insane.

I stood up and approached the closed door.

“How can I help you?”

“Not working?”

“It’s break time now.”

I pointed to the sign hanging on the door handle, and the man, after checking it, rolled his eyes.

“Come back in thirty minutes.”

Although I had already finished preparing for work, it’s necessary to strictly observe the start and end times of work. Besides, I had no desire to let this man, who looked a bit off, into the empty restaurant.

“I said it’s break time now.”

“Won’t you open the door?”

Maybe I should call the police?

If he’s crazy, they’ll take him away, and if he’s just not in his right mind… they’ll take him away anyway.

Yes, I should call the police.

I was about to take out my phone when a loud rumbling sound came from behind the door. This was not a deception or exaggeration, the sound was so loud that it resembled thunder, and for the first time, I learned that a human stomach could make such loud sounds.

“I’m hungry.”

“…”

Oh, damn. What kind of fate do I have.

Sighing and briefly cursing grandmother who raised me like this, I opened the locked door.

“Oh, will you give me seolleongtang?”

“Yes, yes.”

Looking at the back of the red-haired man’s head as he happily entered the restaurant, I opened the restaurant door wide.

It looks like I’ll have to open thirty minutes early. All that’s left is to pray to the heavens that this man will eat quietly and leave.