“Right. Let’s eat the pork jowl like Ju-eon said.”

“I’m going to eat the pork neck meat though?”

“Ju-eon-ssi is the guest of honor, why are you getting the pork neck?”

While Kang No-hun was chattering away trying to lighten the mood, saying since pork neck was the most expensive here Ju-eon should have that, Lee Ho-yun spoke in an impressed voice.

“Wow. This is my first time at a place like this.”

Though it didn’t seem sarcastic, everyone knew Ho-yun was the second son of L Corporation, so his comment came across as implying this was his first time at such an unremarkable place. No-hun, who had been excited about coming here, muttered in a deflated voice.

“Maybe I should have paid out of pocket to treat everyone to beef instead.”

“It’s just a team transfer dinner, I’d feel too guilty if you spent your own money.”

“That’s right. It’s not like we’re saying farewell forever. Those of us on duty who might get called away can’t drink anyway, so the rest of us will drink together.”

“I’m on duty though.”

“Then just Ju-eon-ssi and me.”

Yun-jin flipped through the menu, saying they should drink properly together while eagerly scanning the alcohol pages.

Ding.

Fortunately, Attack Team 2 arrived with good timing. As soon as Team 2 entered, the restaurant became lively. They seemed to have brought over 10 people. Among them, a man who appeared to be in his early 30s caught the eye first, and after briefly surveying the interior, he spotted No-hun and came straight over.

“It’s been a while, Team Leader Kang.”

“Team Leader Han. It has been a while.”

Kang No-hun vigorously shook hands while greeting the arriving people. While Attack Team 1 was an elite small team formed of complementary abilities, Team 2 was a large-scale team that operated with over 10 internal sub-teams. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Team 2 handled over 80% of the dungeons assigned to the agency.

“We couldn’t bring all of Team 2, just the ones who’ll be working with Ju-eon-ssi a lot in the future.”

“If everyone came, we wouldn’t all fit in the restaurant.”

“That’s true. Haha.”

The jovial-looking man introduced himself as Team Leader Han and naturally sat beside No-hun. The other team members also naturally took seats at the adjacent tables.

While the busy restaurant owner took meat orders with a big smile, Team Leader Han extended his hand to Ju-eon.

“Woo Ju-eon-ssi. This is our first greeting, right? Since we’ll be on the same team now… I look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise, I look forward to working with you.”

“He’s still in Team 1, you know? Until next week, he’s our team member.”

Team Leader Han grinned, brushing off No-hun’s words.

“An elite from Attack Team 1 coming to Team 2. When I heard Ju-eon-ssi was coming, I bought a new chair for the office. So you can sit comfortably for a long time.”

“Team Leader Han. Don’t pressure him.”

Yun-jin filled Ju-eon’s glass to the brim, saying everyone was being too burdensome.

“I wasn’t trying to pressure him?”

No-hun teased Team Leader Han, snickering that he probably wanted to leave before even starting.

Team Leader Han added an explanation, as if feeling wronged, saying he hadn’t meant to pressure him.

“Our Team 2’s main guide for the first unit recently retired, so everyone’s been working hard.”

Though Team Leader Han seemed to hope Ju-eon would become their new ace, Ju-eon wouldn’t be active in Team 2.

According to Yun-jae’s explanation, Ju-eon’s death would be disguised as an accident. Living normally, so that no one would know he had weathering syndrome.

“I’ll work hard.”

“Well, Ju-eon-ssi always works hard and does well, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

So he couldn’t act like he knew about his death in advance. He had to act like tomorrow would come for him too. Though he felt sorry for Team Leader Han who would have more difficulties ahead, Ju-eon couldn’t say anything.

Perhaps because there were many people, the atmosphere quickly became lively. Loud laughter echoed everywhere. No-hun stopped teasing Team Leader Han and they exchanged drinks while throwing their arms around each other’s shoulders, talking about how work was tough these days. Though he hadn’t had a single sip of alcohol, No-hun’s face was bright red as he laughed.

“Ah, right.”

Yun-jin rummaged through her bag, saying she had forgotten something. She pulled out a small wrapped box and suddenly handed it to Ju-eon. When Yun-jin suddenly held out the box to him, Ju-eon accepted it in a daze.

“What is it?”

“It’s a gift.”

“A gift? Why for me…?”

“Open it.”

When Yun-jin urged him with a nod, Ju-eon opened the gift. After unwrapping the paper and opening the box, a teddy bear came out. Though it seemed like a simple stuffed animal at first, Ju-eon was startled when he touched it.

“Isn’t this an item?”

“That’s right.”

An item – something that drops when defeating monsters in dungeons. Though lower in rarity and grade than artifacts, items could only be obtained from dungeons and were quite expensive. Even though prices had dropped recently since items could now be made by processing mana stones, it still wasn’t something you could easily give as a gift.

“This is expensive. Why give me such a gift… I can’t accept this.”

“I got a huge discount. And since it’s processed, the grade is low too.”

“…Still.”

“It’s really hard to find good colleagues at work, you know? This is to thank you for being a good colleague.”

Yun-jin forced the gift on him. Feeling that refusing further would hurt her feelings more, Ju-eon hugged the bear to his chest.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t prepare anything.”

“I didn’t give it expecting anything in return.”

“What?”

“Since we’ll probably be too busy to see each other for a while. You’re the first one I’m telling this to – I’m getting married.”

“What? I had no idea. Congratulations.”

Just as Ju-eon was about to ask more about Yun-jin’s surprising news, No-hun’s phone started ringing loudly in his pocket.

Rrrrrr.

“Ah. Why is the agency calling?”

“What?”

No-hun’s arm-shaking of Team Leader Han stopped abruptly. After answering the phone and responding a few times, No-hun hung up. The shadow that instantly fell over his face made it possible to guess the content of the call.

“Of all days… when I’m on duty.”

It was an emergency call about a dungeon appearing. He wasn’t the guide on duty today. Glancing at the next table, there were several bottles of alcohol in front of Ji-woo.

Which meant Lee Ho-yun, sitting next to Myung-hwon, would have to go. No-hun gathered his jacket and stood up from his seat.

“Ho-yun-ssi. Let’s go.”

Ho-yun glanced at the attention focused on him and shrugged nonchalantly.

“I don’t want to go unless it’s with Myung-hwon-ssi.”

“Ho-yun-ssi!”

“It’s best to go with the esper I have the best compatibility with.”

When No-hun raised his voice, even the Attack Team 2 table at the end went quiet. While even Ji-woo, who was quite drunk from drinking quickly alone, was reading the atmosphere, only Ho-yun seemed unfazed.

“This is urgent, we don’t have time for jokes.”

Being on duty didn’t mean much for Attack Team 1. There were almost no cases where they had to urgently handle unusual or tricky dungeons. So much so that people on duty worried about how to spend their day at the agency with nothing to do. They had so little to do that they could think like that, and calls like this were especially rare. So getting a call now meant it was that urgent. Where every second counted.

“I’m not joking. Can’t Myung-hwon-ssi go instead?”

Instead of getting up, Ho-yun turned his gaze to Myung-hwon. Myung-hwon, who was beside him, put down his chopsticks.

“I’ll go instead.”

After Ho-yun’s persistent insistence, Myung-hwon finally decided to go together.

“Ho-yun-ssi. Come here for a moment.”

No-hun was saying with a serious face that he needed to have a separate talk with Ho-yun, while Ho-yun was openly showing an annoyed expression.

“I need to use the bathroom for a moment.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

After quietly whispering to Yun-jin, Ju-eon quietly slipped out and followed Myung-hwon, who had headed to the bathroom saying he needed to sober up a bit.

As soon as he opened the bathroom door, he saw Myung-hwon’s back as he stood in front of the mirror. Their eyes met through the mirror as Myung-hwon looked behind him. His bangs were slightly wet as if he had washed his face.

“What?”

“What do you mean what… Are you going?”

Ju-eon was the first to speak.

“I have to.”

“You’ve been drinking.”

“I had one beer.”

“Still, it’s dangerous to go after drinking.”

“You know one beer isn’t dangerous.”

“It’s against regulations too.”

“They don’t worry about that for emergencies.”

“Still…”

“……”

Myung-hwon’s lips tightened. Continuing this conversation wouldn’t change his decision for these reasons.

“And we were supposed to talk when we got home today.”

Only then did Myung-hwon’s expression waver slightly.

“Let’s talk another time.”

“I want to talk today.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Then I’ll wait at home without sleeping.”

Myung-hwon furrowed his brow at Ju-eon’s firm tone.

“Why are you acting so unlike yourself?”

Maybe because he had drunk a few glasses, but heat rushed to his head at Myung-hwon’s words. Being told to act like himself irritated Ju-eon’s nerves.

‘Acting like myself means just enduring it, sending you off again, and only watching your back as you leave.’

Though he knew Myung-hwon had to go for work and that he was being uncharacteristically stubborn, he hated it. They say people change when they’re about to die. He deeply understood what that feeling was like.