TCHF 12

Chapter 12

After standing side by side in front of the bathroom sink, Jurim lifted Gru onto a stool. When Gru handed over the yellow toothbrush he had used last night, Jurim squeezed some toothpaste onto it.

“Too much toothpaste!”

Gru stuffed his mouth with the mountain of toothpaste and began brushing. At this rate, they’d need to buy toothpaste once a week.

Looking at Jurim in the mirror with a frown, Gru noticed him nodding dizzily like a sick chicken.

“Guild Master…”
“…Not sleepy.”

Jurim opened his eyes half-asleep and put the toothbrush in his mouth.

“There’s no toothpaste there.”
“Mm.”

Sleepily, he squeezed some more toothpaste and put the toothbrush in his mouth again.

[Quest: No Lazy Mornings!]
[Completed!]
[Filial Points +100!]

“Oh!”

Filial points could be used to raise stat points, just like leveling up in a dungeon.

Just by brushing teeth together, stats went up?!

It was incredibly efficient.

“Hurry, let’s get the next caretaker into the slot.”

Gru thought they’d become a top-tier “zi-Hunter” in no time.

Ding-ding—

The door lock clicked open.

“Who is it?”

Gru peeked his head out. Then, with a loud bang, footsteps approached the bathroom.

The person staring at Jurim opened their mouth in disbelief.

“Why…?”

Why? Gru stared at the man while brushing his teeth.

The calm and neat face was familiar. It was Uncle Yoon Seojun, who had been driving Gru to the orphanage whenever Jurim got kicked out of work in recent days.

“Why are you up? What’s going on? How?”

Seojun’s shocked expression looked so serious that Gru answered for him.

“Gru woke him up.”

“Eh? You mean this little body did such a dangerous thing?”

Gru whispered softly in his ear, recalling how Jurim had gotten up instantly. It hadn’t been that dangerous… but still, Gru felt proud for doing something so impressive.

“Maybe I’m actually helpful too?”

Seojun asked if Gru was hurt. When Gru groaned softly, Jurim spat out the toothpaste and gave him a sharp look.

“Stop overdoing it and get to work if you don’t want to get fired.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”

The man’s anxious face transformed into a poker face as if nothing had happened. Facing a job crisis, he regained his usual dandy composure.

“Guild Master, I’ve brought everything you mentioned yesterday. Shall I hand it over now?”
“Yes. We need it immediately.”
“Understood.”

Seojun said this while straightening Gru’s clothes that had slipped down.

…?

They soon revealed what they had prepared.

Hunter Yoon Seojun, a member of the String Guild, introduced himself as being responsible for waking Jurim up in the morning and delivering him to work.

“He’s really struggling because Jurim sleeps so much—” Before he could finish, Jurim appeared, annoyed, and shooed him away.

Then, Seojun and two assistants came in carrying loads of shopping bags. Following Jurim’s instructions from yesterday, they had practically raided the department store’s children’s clothing section, doing a full-scale shopping battle, and hurriedly brought everything this morning.

“Hello, Gru.”
“Gru is so cute today too!”
“Good morning!”

They were secretaries who Gru had gotten to know while visiting the company several times. The moment Gru greeted them cheerfully, their eyes sparkled mischievously.

…?

Gru was immediately dragged into the dress room.

“Let’s start with this.”
“Great! Next is this!”

The secretaries dressed Gru in various outfits like playing with a doll, exclaiming in delight.

“Oh my, so cute! Is it a doll?”
“Let’s try this one too, Gru.”
“This one too!”

“Changing clothes and being pampered feels good! But…!”

By the time it had been an hour just changing outfits,

“Hoo…”

Gru, unlike before, had half his soul leave his body, surrendering to their hands. Eventually, Jurim, unable to bear it any longer, knocked on the door, signaling them to stop.

The secretaries, looking displeased, picked a dress with a sailor collar.

“Changing clothes is exhausting…”

Gru, looking worn out, trudged out of the room and sat beside Jurim. Jurim, who was contacting someone, glanced at the exhausted child.

“You look pretty, so why the face?”

Pretty? Gru perked up. His previously gloomy expression brightened immediately.

“Do I look pretty?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”

The corners of his mouth relaxed.

“Guild Master, you’re handsome too!”

Gru patted Jurim’s shoulder heartily, and Jurim smiled faintly from deep in his throat.

Feeling happy, Gru wanted to give praise in return, and in the best way possible.

“Guild Master, you’re the kind of man who can make girls cry.”

Although full of sincerity, Jurim smiled coldly and pinched Gru’s cheek.

“Who taught you to say that?”
“Ho…ld…”
“You should or shouldn’t say things like that.”
“I shou…ld…”

Hing. It was supposed to be praise. Gru touched his stinging cheek.

“Gru’s eyes are a bit teary.”

Startled, Jurim gently touched his cheek.

“…Did it hurt?”

He lightly held and released it. As he fiddled with Gru’s soft cheek, he asked worriedly, and Gru mumbled softly with his small protruding mouth:

“A man who makes girls cry.”
“Want to cry again?”
“Nooo.”

Gru clung to Jurim’s arm. Jurim shook his head and returned his attention to his phone, while Seojun and the secretaries smiled at the scene.

“Of all things… why me?”

The clerk checked the name of the hunter assigned to field support on his phone and wiped his uneasy stomach.

All guilds in South Korea have a government-mandated quota for public support.

String Guild was no exception.

Large guilds usually sent newbies, but String sent anyone not busy that day, regardless of rank. Literally, anyone.

[String Guild, Gidan (S-Rank)]

He felt dizzy. Only String would send an S-rank hunter for routine support.

And Gidan, no less. He rubbed the stiff back of his neck.

Gidan was notorious: a crazy battle maniac, a nightmare berserker. Rumor had it that wherever Gidan passed, only ruins remained. Among civil servants, he was the #1 hunter they wanted to avoid due to cleanup issues.

Sighing, he began the first task.

“This support is Gidan from String Guild. Personnel, maintain a 10-meter radius from the suspect. Again, maintain a 10-meter radius from the suspect.”

The clerk spoke into his radio, then approached Gidan, who was staring at his phone with headphones on, checking messages.

“Gidan Hunter, welcome.”

Gidan lifted his head from his phone, met the clerk’s eyes, and smiled brightly while bowing.

“Hello, I’m Gidan from String Guild, here for the support request.”

He greeted cheerfully, then returned to tapping his phone. The clerk thought the music from his headphones would drown out his surroundings, but apparently not.

“So this is what makes him S-rank.”

Moreover, he was surprised by Gidan’s bright demeanor.

Compared to the infamous Gidan of String, he looked pretty normal.

“He’s a high schooler now, right?”

His middle school daughter had posters of Gidan all over her room, chattering constantly. Through her, he knew some surprising details: a rare underage S-rank hunter.

Unlike the crazy-eyed, berserk posters, the boy he met seemed fairly young.

Even as he thought this, Gidan’s chat window kept scrolling, filled with exclamation marks and shocked emojis.

“That way, follow me. The suspect is Kim Seungbeom, B-rank Fire Mage.”

“Sending an S-rank for a B-rank. Using a slaughterhouse knife to kill a bug.”