Chapter Text
Ever since Jinwoo was little he was often hit with a need to groom those he laid claim on. This had been a thing he never really tried to question when it was his family, it was just a thing he did every so often. It was only after his dad had been declared missing/dead that he noticed that he was strange, at least in the eyes of their neighbors. Eomma had once told him that she liked his love language, and Jinah had never complained about him running his fingers through her hair or his attempts to style and groom her when he was feeling overwhelmed. It didn’t take long to figure out he was different from the boys in his classes but it never stopped him from grooming his sister’s hair or braiding his mother’s, after she fell under the Eternal Sleep. Every time he had a problem or concerns he would go and see her and talk to her while he wove flowers and ribbons and occasionally her wedding gifts into her hair. Jinah often found him here even when he himself was injured, just talking to her, and grooming her as if it was a special day. They had so many photos of his finished work that it almost hurt to think about losing her. She lay there so still and calm that it was like looking at her corpse, but they chose to believe that she was soothed and content with their presences and could hear or understand them.
Four years of this lifestyle and Jinah was getting bolder in her pursuit of getting a medical scholarship, the walls were getting more baren as they packed up the most precious of their memories into boxes. He knew that they didn’t have much time to find a good college with dorms for her, but they had decided to minimize the photos and freshen up the apartment. Jinwoo was struggling to get the last frame packed gently when the association sent out their mass text about a gate close by, looking at his little sister studying in the photo he was packing, he smiled and sent her a quick text letting her know he was going to a gate and to wish her luck on her tests. He knew that the hunters would be expecting him after all he was a “good-luck” charm to them(that was so much bullsh^t!). At least most of the association women and even some men knew about his little quirk and they always made sure he had at least one braid tassel or provide him with one.
Apparently if he shows up then the association deems the gate fairly safe and easy, but if he gets hurt more than ten times then there is a high ranked boss. All the hunters didn’t hide their jeers and jokes anymore making him want to run away and cry out in frustration, he knows he isn’t the best but by the gates he gives two hundred percent in every gate. However just showing up guaranteed that the association gave them enough for one week of homecooked meals, something he always used for Jinah, and he knew that it could affect his performance but she needed it more than him right now. Once there the reception was much like he thought it would be, cold, rejectable, and basically boring by now, he was disappointed about the coffee but he knew that being late was like this. It seemed like they would be pulling more weight for this one as they just barely made out the party and had retired hunters coming out for that large payday. The raid went as smoothly as they could expect considering how unbalanced everything had become with Park Gi-Sool (An:1) pulling the rank card every time he could with the E- and D- ranks, as well as the constant injuries. All together it wasn’t too bad of a haul for the others but Jinwoo was starting to get that itchy feeling that this dungeon was about to get much worse. In his experience if he felt that feeling, you get the hell out. He has had times in dungeons where he blacked out only to find a pile of monsters and sometimes scared hunters. The association had assigned him a “caretaker” who assigned him his gates and did a checkup after, this sometimes meant letting Jinwoo have access to his long hair. Do-Yun , bless his poor soul, had told him if he felt like this to get out no matter how, and to come see him, this time Jinwoo thinks it is too late.
Jinwoo was focused on the strands between his fingers weaving them back and forth while JooHee was healing him, as the tension pulled him closer to that dark hall on the edge of his conscience. JooHee stood close by, her concern a small blessing in this cavern, Jinwoo was very tempted to run his hands through someone’s hair mostly JooHee’s. When they heard the voting they were quick to voice their votes leaving Park-ssi to break the tie, with the majority for the boss’s room, the group made their way down the hall. (Chapter 2 - I Alone Level-Up)The passageway went on and on forever. In front, Mr. Song and other strong Hunters had taken the lead. Song had summoned a small flame on top of his palm to illuminate the way forward. Mr. Kim asked him as he walked alongside Song.
“We’ve walked really far, haven’t we? Shouldn’t we consider the time we need to escape from here as well?”
“How long have we been walking?”
Mr. Kim looked at his wristwatch.
“Around…. forty minutes.”
“A Gate shuts down completely one hour after the boss is killed, so we have a window of twenty minutes left or so.”
“If we can’t see the boss in the next twenty minutes, I suggest that we should just give up.”
“I guess so.”
Song nodded his head for a while, before pointing to his back with his thumb.
“Mr. Kim? It’s dark out in front, so why don’t you position yourself behind me?”
Kim stared at Song’s flames for a second or two, before he wordlessly pulled out his smartphone and switched on the screen. And then, the passageway got illuminated rather brightly.
“…”
Song alternated his gaze between his flame and the smartphone before he too wordlessly began searching for his own phone.
-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-
The very back of the group was the spot reserved for Sung Jinwoo, who was injured pretty badly not too long ago, and Lee JooHee, who didn’t have any combat skills whatsoever. Jinwoo scratched the back of his neck.
“Pardon me, I… I’m really sorry.”
“About what?”
“About, you know, you being dragged here against your wishes.”
“I’m fine with it, so you don’t need to mind me.”
Jinwoo cautiously studied JooHee’s expression. She definitely did not look fine at all. Jinwoo tilted his head this way and that, while trying to read her mood better, before he asked her again, even more cautious than before.
“Are you… really fine?” That prompted JooHee to shift her gaze towards him.
“Of course I’m not. Are you of a sane mind?! If you were stabbed a couple of inches higher, you’d have a hole in your heart right now! And, what about those injuries on your arms and legs? I worked so hard to heal you somehow, yet they wish to throw you into yet another dungeon?? Plus, they don’t even know where we’re going, too!”
She spoke so quickly that Jinwoo felt like his mind was getting numb from hearing her. However, she was right about everything. If it weren’t for the presence of the outstanding B- ranked Healer, Lee JooHee, Jinwoo wouldn’t have been able to continue living unaffected, never mind working as a Hunter. It was no small wonder why such high ranked and hard-to-find Healers were valued so greatly within the halls of the Association.
‘Wait, now that I think about it, I owe Miss JooHee a lot, don’t I?’
JooHee was a Healer-type Hunter, a rarest of the rare breeds. Not only that, but she was also a genius ranked at ‘B’ as well. The Association always asked her to heal the injured Hunters whenever a Gate opened up. And whenever Jinwoo took part in a raid, he’d almost always end up sitting down next to her.
“Are you in pain? Please hold on for a little while longer.”
“Haven’t I seen you before….? By any chance, are you the person from the last time?”
“You’re injured again?”
“It’s like, we’re running into each other quite often nowadays, isn’t it?”
“You said that your name is Mr. Jinwoo? Well, that… Is it going to be alright?”
“Maybe, uhm, this life of a Hunter doesn’t really suit you….”
“….You’re here again.”
“Show me your arm. No, not that one. Use bandages on that arm. I meant the other one with the bone fracture.”
At the moment, it was way past the point of Jinwoo feeling grateful for everything she had done, and firmly into the territory of him being apologetic for inconveniencing her.
“…”
When Jinwoo looked dispirited, JooHee also felt a bit bad about scolding him just now and her attitude softened up considerably.
“You’re really sorry?”
“Yes, I am.”
JooHee fell into a deep contemplation for a bit before she began gazing at him with the corner of her eyes and her lips slowly arched up.
“If you’re really sorry, then… how about you buy me dinner sometime?”
Now that was a totally unexpected offer. Jinwoo looked at her with an expression of surprise and found a teasing smile etched on her.
-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-
The Runic ‘alphabet.’ A form of words that could only be found within dungeons; only magic class hunters could decipher them.
“Laws of the Karutenon temple.” Mr. Song read the first line of the tablet. Jinwoo was listening to him carefully, with a nervous expression on his face and still braiding the tassel. He was glad he had had the chance to make a belt that he could clip a key-ring with braiding tassels, right before Appa’s disappearance. He would often braid it while in dungeons and if he was coming down from a nervous high. Jinwoo looked at the god statue several times, but nothing seemed to have changed. There was no visible change to the god statue, but he knew something was strange
‘Hang on a sec here.’ Jinwoo picked up on this strange but ominous sensation now. The world was eerily quiet. So much so, it felt just too bizarre. ‘No sounds….?’ Even the sounds of the flames burning on the torches could not be heard anymore.
“First law.” In the meantime, Song’s voice continued on as he read the contents of the slate. “Worship the god. Second law. Exalt the god. Third law. Prove your piety. Those who do not keep to these laws shall not leave this place alive.” It was then, the doors slammed shut with a terribly forbearing bang.
Oh, how he wishes he had listened to his gut