Chapter Text
Woo Jin Chul looked at the phrase his mother had posted on her social media. “10 encounters are enough to move a heart.” And then a private message for him with links to different jewelry stores
His mother kept making those passive aggressive comments and suggestions ever since he got together with his girlfriend and introduced them. He didn’t expect Sung Jin Woo to get along with literally his entire family. Even his father’s stern face was happy to see her on his video calls
Normally introducing his girlfriend to his parents would be something that would only happen after deciding to get married, but with both being hunters who couldn’t guarantee they would still be alive by next week, things had sped up a bit for them. Which was good in many ways. It had been four years since he met Sung Jin Woo, two years since he asked her for their first date as a couple and now…
Woo Jin Chul breathed slowly to calm down. Now he had gone to ask for the approval of Sung Jin Woo's parents and younger sister. He had asked for the father's approval when he and Sung Jin Woo had gone to the cemetery to clean Sung Il Hawn's grave. Now it was Sung Jin Woo's sister and mother's turn. Although the mother was imprisoned in the Eternal Sleep it was important to ask these things.
He watched as Sung Jin Woo's sister entered the room and had a small feeling of Dejavu when he saw her. Like the first time he saw his adorable girlfriend.
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The first time he saw Sung Jin Woo, she was twenty years old and he was twenty-seven. He had awakened less than a month ago and was an A-Rank. He had decided to work in the Hunter Association due to his past as a police officer. The Woo family had a history in law enforcement.
His grandfather had been a military policeman, his father was the police chief who controlled the Seoul area and Woo Jin Chul had been a detective at a surprisingly young age. But Woo Jin Chul's police career had been cut short by his awakening as a hunter. According to law, hunters could not be part of the police, the army or other law enforcement agencies. The only exception was prison guards who watched over awakened people.
Hunters were supposed to hunt and solve the portal problem, the politicians had said. So Woo Jin Chul had resigned from his position and signed a contract with the Association. The President of the Association, Go Gunhee, was an old friend of his father and grandfather, so he took him under his wing. Although he still had to do basic training like every member of the Association.
Then he saw her. She was crouching behind a flower pot, obviously hyperventilating and sweating profusely. Her long, thick black hair fell around her almost like a curtain that hid her from the world. She looked like an ordinary college student. Woo Jin Chul could have ignored her, walked past her and not spoken to her. But something stopped him from doing so, and he later thanked the gods for that
She raised her grayish blue eyes to him and Woo Jin Chul thought she was very cute
-Are you okay?
-Yes, just very nervous. – The girl's hands trembled as she tried to get up and she was about to fall if it weren't for Woo Jin Chul helping her stabilize. Her face blushed in a very adorable way. – Thank you
-It's nothing. There's a coffee machine over there and I'm on my break, I can keep you company for a few moments.
-Thanks again for that. I wouldn't want to bother
-It's not a bother, helping hunters is my job, literally. – Woo Jin Chul could barely sense a hint of magic in the girl. An E rank, without a doubt.
They went to the coffee machine and Woo Jin Chul invited her to her cup.
-Why are you so nervous? The evaluation doesn't hurt, it's not that big of a deal
-My father died in a portal almost nine years ago. – Woo Jin Chul understood. His father must have been one of the first hunters, at that time the mortality rate was close to 95%, even President Go Gunhee, as an S rank, had many scars from that time. – I'm afraid that if the same thing happens to me I'll leave my sister and my mother alone, they barely endured when my father died. A second loss would destroy them completely.
Woo Jin Chul understood. He had also lost friends at that time. They had all lost someone who had awakened during the first wave. Things were better now, they had the right weapons, the magicians knew how to use their magic, the healers knew how to heal, ...
Even so, many hunters did not overcome their first foray being arrogant and foolish
-You don't have to go into the dungeons if you don't want to. – The girl looked at him with wide eyes in surprise. – People are no longer forced to hunt, we have enough hunters for that. Even if they include you in a hunting group because you are in the area where there is a portal you can decline. And the truly dangerous portals are taken by the larger guilds, so even those are easy portals with weak monsters
-I don't have to hunt if I don't want to? – The girl began to cry and hugged him tightly. Woo Jin Chul blushed at that moment when he noticed that she smelled very good. She also seemed to notice what she had done and pulled away with her face completely flushed. – I'm so sorry, I got excited. I'm Sung Jin Woo, by the way
-My name is Woo Jin Chul, from the Supervision Department. – Both of them separated as Sung Jin Woo went to the crowd waiting to be evaluated and Woo Jin Chul returned to his table
Later that day one of Woo Jin Chul's companions mentioned that they had evaluated a girl with the lowest amount of mana ever detected, only 10 units of mana. Woo Jin Chul looked up the name of the girl he had met and saw it. The weakest hunter in the world.
Luckily, she didn't seem to need to hunt
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Sung Jin Ha looked towards the door when it opened and saw Woo Jin Chul enter with some flowers.
-Big brother Jin Chul. Did you come with my sister? – Sung Jin Ha looked behind him expecting to see his older sister appear
-No, I came alone. I want to talk to you and your mother
Sung Jin Ha looked at Woo Jin Chul curiously but pointed to the chair to the side for him to sit down.
-What did you want to talk about?
-I… - Woo Jin Chul blushed. – I've known your sister for four years, I've been dating her for two. I think it's time to make our bond closer.
Woo Jin Chul watched as Sung Jin Ha opened his mouth in surprise and joy
- Are you saying that…?
- I'd like to ask permission to marry Sung Jin Woo. She's sweet, kind, tender, a little clumsy, she keeps forgetting names and, frankly, I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. I'd like to receive the blessing of both of them to propose to the most wonderful person I know
Woo Jin Chul bowed respectfully to Sung Jin Ha and his mother.
- You have my blessing, Brother Jin Chul. My sister has been much happier since she met you, you brighten up her life. And I think our mother and father would think the same as me
Woo Jin Chul nodded and bowed again to thank him. At that moment Sung Jin Ha's phone rang with a bounce tone that meant his sister was texting him. Having lived with the sisters for quite some time Woo Jin Chul knew well the tone of messages they used for each other
-My sister asks if it's okay if I invite you to dinner tonight
-I would love to have dinner with you two, I'm free
-Should I tell her that you're with me? – Sung Jin Ha looked at him with some emotion in his eyes
-No, please. I want to ask her on our second anniversary of dating, in five weeks. So, for now, it's a secret for her. I want to give her a perfect night. – Sung Jin Ha nodded and gave him a thumbs up indicating his approval for his plan
Sung Jin Ha typed quickly and after a few seconds Woo Jin Chul received a message on his cell phone from Sung Jin Woo asking him if he wanted to go to dinner. Woo Jin Chul sent her an affirmation and a kissy face emoji
Sung Jin Woo quickly responded with several heart emojis. Then Sung Jin Ha's phone rang and she made a face
-She sent me to buy some ingredients.
-I'll go with you, we'll say we met on the way. That way your sister won't complain if I pay for the groceries
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The television was on and a very popular dating show could be seen rebroadcasting.
-They won't end up together, she has very strict values and he is very liberal in his opinions. – Sung Jin Woo said looking at the television as she finished putting the rice in front of them. – I hope you haven't been eating too much pre-cooked food while you were in South Jeolla.
-I mostly ate in restaurants, I've missed your home cooking so much. – Woo Jin Chul looked at his girlfriend sitting next to him. He had been on a trip checking on the monitoring of Jeju Island for the past month, today was the first day he was back in Seoul. His precious Sung Jin Woo knew perfectly well that he was capable of burning water before he could cook… Whatever.
-I don't cook that well. I'm glad you like it. – Woo Jin Chul looked at his plate. As an A-rank hunter he needed a lot more calories than a normal human. Between 8000 and 10000 calories a day. Sung Jin Woo always cooked food with a lot of concentrated protein for him to eat, that way he wouldn't have to eat large quantities constantly. But really the difference between his ration and that of the sisters was almost comical. And that was even though they both ate a lot.
-How are things going over there? They say it's almost a ghost region now. – Sung Jin Ha looked at Woo Jin Chul with curiosity
-That's true, only those who can't leave are left, the elderly and the hunters. It used to be a very rich and beautiful area, now it's almost abandoned because everyone is afraid that the ants might cross the ocean one day. But one good thing is that nature is recovering very well and the air is very clean. One day I'll take you there
-Wouldn't it be dangerous?
-I don't think so, the ants are confined to the island, they can't reach land. That's the only good thing about the S-rank portal emerging on a remote island.
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Woo Jin Chul had Sung Jin Woo on top of him as they kissed passionately, Sung Jin Ha had gone to his bedroom to study and the two were on the couch in the living room. Sung Jin Ha had already caught them doing things like this enough times to not leave his bedroom that night.
-I've missed you so much. – Sung Jin Woo smiled radiantly as she hugged him and was hugged in return.
-Me too, darling, but the trip was necessary. That region is too important to leave unsupervised.
-I know, but that doesn't mean I haven't missed you every day and every night. – Sung Jin Woo examined her face carefully and he did the same with her. – Do you want to stay the night?
-Yes, please. – Woo Jin Chul stood up with Sung Jin Woo in his arms and carried her to the girl's bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed before leaning over her in an almost predatory manner, although she laughed when he began to kiss her neck. – How lucky that I left one of my work suits here.
-It's not luck, a third of my closet is yours. – Sung Jin Woo looked at what was hanging from the ceiling, a device that prevented sound from leaving the room. That was well placed, the first time Jin Ha couldn't look either of them in the face for almost two weeks. – Today I want to be loud, I want to be able to be by your side so much that your absence will be erased from my mind.
Woo Jin Chul decided at that moment that sleep was something he could do without that night.