The Returner

"Y-yeonggam-nim? Are you referring to the party leader Song Jeong-Su??" (director)

"Can you think up of another ‘yeonggam-nim' other than him in this situation?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"….The party leader Song Jeong-Su is in the Blue House at the moment. I heard that he's currently having a private meeting with Mister President." (director)

"….Annnd that's where I'm going to." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"aigo, please calm down, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk. Please tell me what seems to be the problem so I can quickly fix it." (director)

What do you mean, what seems to be the problem??

It'll be faster to actually think about what's not problematic here. (Yi Ji-Hyuk's inner monologue)

"Why don't you deliver this message to him, then? Tell him to stop meddling in the okay life of a guy and leave him alone." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"I shall definitely deliver the message." (director)

"Alright. And also…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk glanced at Choi Jeong-Hoon, and the latter whispered quietly to the former.

"Additional personnel." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Oh, and bring in more personnel, too." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Expenses." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"And also, all those unpaid bills? Take care of them." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Higher pay." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"….Feels like something weird is trying to slip in there just now." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon could only lick his lips in ruefulness.

"Bring in more people and pay for all the unpaid expenses, please. Hopefully, you understand what I'm talking about here." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Crystal clear." (director)

"I'll speak through Mister Choi Jeong-Hoon from now on, so if he's saying something, take it as it's coming from me and go along with it. Ah, for the record, I ain't asking you to raise everyone's salary." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"….Eiii." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon openly lamented this missed opportunity, but Yi Ji-Hyuk didn't even pretend to hear him.

"Is there anything else?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Seo Ah-Young's hand shot up.

"What is it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Not enough vacations." (Seo Ah-Young)

"Well, you heard the lady." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The NDF office, suddenly turning into a customer complaints centre, grew heated in no time at all. Yi Ji-Hyuk pa.s.sed along all the complaints other agents were expressing and while tightly holding the director's hand, he spoke in no uncertain terms.

"I hope that you can get things done." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"….Some of the problems can't be handled by myself alone…." (director)

"I hope that you will get them done." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"I shall discuss with the higher-ups and make them happen somehow." (director)

Yi Ji-Hyuk nodded his head.

For sure, it did feel somewhat more convenient after Song Jeong-Su decided to support him. Seriously, he felt that the NDF was getting a bit of a cold shoulder in the past, so this was indeed a much-needed improvement.

"Okay, that's that. Why did I come here in the first place, though?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head, only for a deathly pale-faced Kim Dah-Som to trot forward and stand before him.

"Ah, right." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He looked at her before sighing grandly.

"Affeldrichae." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Of course." (Affeldrichae)

Affeldrichae, commuting to the NDF as if it was the most obvious thing in the world nowadays, understood what Yi Ji-Hyuk was implying in a heartbeat and cast a healing magic spell on Kim Dah-Som.

"Wait, don't you know how to use healing magic yourself?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"I didn't learn it to cast on myself." (Kim Dah-Som)

"…………"

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out yet another sigh. A person consistently behaving this way would be pretty tough, but this….

"Whatever, it's fine. Let's go." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Yes, let's!" (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Som stood next to Yi Ji-Hyuk with a truly content expression.

"W-where are you going??" (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min asked him in fl.u.s.ter, prompting him to reply bluntly.

"Shopping." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"To buy what exactly?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Clothes." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"I'll go with you, then." (Jeong Hae-Min)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stuck his tongue out.

"No thank you." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Why not? Why is it okay for Dah-Som but not me?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"You're still on duty yet you wanna go out shopping?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

At the end of those words, the director's unforgiving glare landed on Jeong Hae-Min. She flinched and hurriedly plopped back down on her seat.

‘Now that I think about it, this girl, she's been trying to lord over me lately, hasn't she?' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It was kind of amusing to toy with her in the past despite all her nagging but nowadays, her head had swollen up far too much and she had been displaying certain hints of trying to manipulate Yi Ji-Hyuk.

Now would be a good time to manage this situation and turn the relations.h.i.+p dynamics around.

"Let's go." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stepped forward, and Kim Dah-Som chased after him in a cheery trot.

"I might get a panic disorder at this rate." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scanned all these crowds of people filling up his surroundings and tutted unhappily.

"There are less people today, though." (Kim Dah-Som)

"I wouldn't feel so bad if there were this many monsters, instead." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Well, he'd just sweep them all away, that's why.

He felt tranquil when surrounded by hundreds of millions of monsters yet he was almost at the point of freaking out just by being near a few thousand humans.

"Let us hurry." (Kim Dah-Som)

"….We gotta jump into that sea of people?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Eii, they'll avoid us on their own." (Kim Dah-Som)

"Euh, euh…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk looked at Kim Dah-Som with a really unwilling expression, but she remained adamant.

"I have no idea how I used to live in the past." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Being surrounded by this many people was an experience he hadn't gone through in quite a while, as he mostly stayed in the ability user residential area after his return from Berafe.

"You're going to purchase the tracksuits first, right?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"Ng." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Then, this way." (Kim Dah-Som)

"Groan…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"If you hate shopping so much, how did you buy your clothes until now?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"You see, this thing called the internet shopping can be truly marvellous." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kim Dah-Som ended up giggling just then.

To others, internet shopping might have been an obvious thing to do, but for some reason,

Still, it was fine for her either way.

"Let us get going." (Kim Dah-Som)

"N-ng." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Led by Kim Dah-Som's hand, Yi Ji-Hyuk trudged inside the department store.

It was already so tiring trying to break through the sea of people to get this far, so just thinking about how many more were stuck inside the department store was giving him the case of hibbie-jibbies.

They eventually managed to pierce past the wall of humans and reach the store they were looking for, and almost right away, Yi Ji-Hyuk's eyes began burning up fiercely.

"So much trouble just to buy some d*mn clothes!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"It's the same for everyone, you know." (Kim Dah-Som)

"….I can't make heads nor tails here. Not at all." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

There were literally thousands of varying designs hanging on the walls, and he was supposed to find the prettiest ones among them? Trying to find the best-looking Ogre out of a pack of five hundred would be simpler than this.

"This brand is the one you usually buy, isn't it?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"I think so." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Please select from here." (Kim Dah-Som)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was dauntless in this case.

"Excuse me, miss!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The shopgirl grew slightly tense at the entrance of a young man emitting a somewhat strange atmosphere, and cautiously approached him.

"Good day, sir. Is there something you're looking for?" (shopgirl)

"Tracksuits!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"It's this way, sir." (shopgirl)

The shopgirl directed him towards the corner displaying the tracksuits. Yi Ji-Hyuk sniffed out the exact same type of tracksuits he normally wore and shouted out.

"Size 95, five of them, please!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"….Five sets, sir??" (shopgirl)

"Yes!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"W-will the colours be the same as well?" (shopgirl)

"Of course!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"…….."

The shopgirl stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk, wondering what kind of a man he was, only to realise something right then. Well, it'd make somewhat of a sense if he was buying five as some sort of uniform.

Too bad, her a.s.sumption was completely shot down the next second.

"Oppa, if you're planning to buy five sets, how about varying the colours a little? I mean, if you keep wearing the same things, I'm sure you'll get bored of them sooner or later." (Kim Dah-Som)

"But, I haven't grown get bored of them yet?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Still, trying out different colours may change your mood a little." (Kim Dah-Som)

"R-really?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Think of it as being blindsided and try the ones I pick for you." (Kim Dah-Som)

"N-ng." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kim Dah-Som coaxed the naïve-sounding Yi Ji-Hyuk and got to purchasing clothes with varying colour schemes. In the middle of doing so, she even found opportunities to sneak in a few tracksuits not featuring his preferred ‘three-lines' design, too. Feeling satisfied now, she asked him.

"Will this much be fine?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"Ng." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was currently operating like a mindless robot.

‘Department stores are a weird place.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

A normal man would become a blabbering idiot after entering such a store. And he would suddenly start suffering from this strange obsession of escaping from his imprisonment.

Yi Ji-Hyuk felt this formless pressure of needing to conclude this shopping trip ASAP and escape from this place, so he hurriedly nodded his head.

"We should get you new shoes, too." (Kim Dah-Som)

"Ng?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"I noticed that you wear the same pair all the time, and they are worn out really badly now." (Kim Dah-Som)

"….You think so?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head.

Sure, he did wear the same shoes most of the time, but he hadn't really paid attention to that part of his attire. He looked down to spot a pair of sneakers about to fall apart.

‘Makes sense.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Ever since his return from Berafe, he went around with this pair of sneakers almost all the time. So, them not being torn to bits was a miracle, to say the least, considering that he hadn't really been careful with his actions.

When he looked back, these shoes had some history too, since they even endured life-or-death battles against demon kings.

"Let's go somewhere else to get you new shoes." (Kim Dah-Som)

"A different store??" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk's expression crumpled, prompting Kim Dah-Som to start pacifying him once more.

"It's right next door. I'll pick them out for you quickly." (Kim Dah-Som)

"N-ng." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Just like pacifying a child, she managed to coax and soothe Yi Ji-Hyuk before dragging him to the shop next door. He only managed to escape from the department store after buying three more pairs of shoes while making an expression of a man needing urgently to breathe.

"T-that sure was tough." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"We've been shopping for less than thirty minutes, though? Was it really that tough?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"…..I just can't breathe in a place like this. Maybe it's a neurosis or something."(Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kim Dah-Som giggled again.

"Oppa, I'm starving." (Kim Dah-Som)

"Ng?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Buy me dinner." (Kim Dah-Som)

"N-ng, sure. Why not." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk observed her and a soft grin sneaked up on his lips unbeknownst to him.

‘She's now more like a normal person.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

She used to be a bit too icy and gave off this strong awkward vibe in the past, but now, she was acting more like her age.

‘She's changed a lot.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

So much so that, when compared to how she was like the first time they met, he couldn't help but wonder if this was too much of a transformation.

"What will we eat, though?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"Ng? We'll just try whatever you want." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"In that case, let's go with traditional Korean." (Kim Dah-Som)

"….You like traditional food?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Ehehe." (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Som didn't say anything else and simply held onto Yi Ji-Hyuk's arm, pulling it closer.

"H-m-m-mm." (Erukana)

Erukana was observing Yi Ji-Hyuk and Kim Dah-Som with an uncharacteristic expression on her face.

No normal person would be able to see the duo from her current vantage point - the rooftop of a skysc.r.a.per - without the aid of binoculars, but she was a demonic being so their figures were vividly reflected in her naked eyes.

"Isn't this unexpectedly dangerous?" (Erukana)

"W-what is??" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"It's been really a long time since I saw my darling make that face. That means he's currently feeling this sense of stability." (Erukana)

"…..Seriously??" (Jeong Hae-Min)

Panic began clouding Jeong Hae-Min's expression.

This was so completely out of the blue. It was none other than her whom he went through all those hards.h.i.+ps together, yet he was going on a date with Kim Dah-Som without a single warning??

"Indeed, that's a rare face he's making." (Affeldrichae)

Even Affeldrichae was agreeing with Erukana.

"Hmm, I guess it's time to get ready." (Erukana)

"Get ready? For what?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"You know, the position of the second wife." (Erukana)

"S-s-s-second wife?!?!" (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min yelled out loudly.

"What are you even talking about?!" (Jeong Hae-Min)

Erukana laughed out and replied.

"If my darling wishes for it, then it's the duty of his faithful wife to accept it. Actually, it's normal for a man of outstanding abilities to hold a harem of hundreds of females back in the demon world." (Erukana)

"H-h-hundreds???" (Jeong Hae-Min)

The difference in the scale of what const.i.tuted as an ideal marriage left Jeong Hae-Min thoroughly dumbfounded. Hundreds of wives???

"Ng? From what I can gather, even human kings take on hundreds of concubines, do they not?" (Erukana)

"That's all in the past. If you do that now, you'll get beaten half to death." (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Whatever the case may be, humans too possess such a nature, don't they? From where I stand, welcoming the second wife is not an issue. Especially so, if it's a human female. With another demonic being as a wife, I'd have to share my darling for a long, long time, but a human won't hang around for long before dying." (Erukana)

"Dying?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Well, she'd last for around a hundred years at a push." (Erukana0

Jeong Hae-Min promptly gave on conversing with Erukana just then.

A regular human like her simply couldn't understand the demonic being's concept of time or the concept of an ideal marriage.

"I-in any case, both of you think Ji-Hyuk-ee is being attracted to Dah-Som, right?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Ng." (Erukana)

"It seems that way." (Affeldrichae)

Jeong Hae-Min couldn't accept this.

"But, why so suddenly??" (Jeong Hae-Min)

Erukana burst out into a peal of laughter and replied.

"Even if it's attraction, it hasn't developed into anything emotional. However, it's true that my darling feels comfortable around that human female. All feelings start from something like that, don't they?" (Erukana)

"Ah….." (Jeong Hae-Min)

"And also, my dear human female. Feelings of affection don't start from a logical basis or through one's reasoning. Love can blossom just fine from a feeling you suddenly have on any ordinary day." (Erukana)

"S-so, are you just going to let it happen?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Ng." (Erukana)

"Aren't you jealous?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Of course I am." (Erukana)

Jeong Hae-Min tilted her head after hearing Erukana's answer. Now normally, shouldn't one reply "I'm not jealous" to match what she had been saying earlier?

"Even then, there's nothing much I can do about it." (Erukana)

Erukana murmured bitterly.

"Because, it'll soon start." (Erukana)

Erukana's words caused Jeong Hae-Min to fall further into the pit of confusion as the latter stared at the ground below.

Fin.

(TL: the Korean men's size 95 is equivalent US/UK 15~15.5. Or "Small" in the international standard. Our MC is fairly small, it seems. Or, maybe the author made a mistake. I can't be sure.)

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