Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 273

267. Cute

 

The drinking party became increasingly chaotic thanks to Hwang Misoon who had joined in.

 

It was because Hwang Misoon had walked in with an armful of expensive and strong liquor. 

 

“Wow… Isn’t this bottle worth a million won?”

 

“This is a drink I’ve never even heard of before.” 

 

“I raided the pantry for today!”

 

Hwang Misoon was in a state where it was impossible to tell whether she was just in a good mood or completely drunk out of her mind. 

 

Thanks to her, the team’s excitement reached its peak.

 

“I know the truth!”

 

So no matter how desperately Kang Sojin cried out, it was useless. 

 

“Yeah. Our Sojin… Let’s just drink first…” 

 

Kang Sojin was soon dragged away by other team members, her rant soothed with alcohol, while Han Woohyun took the opportunity to slip away from the group gathered around the dining table. 

 

Since Kang Sojin seemed likely to spill everything about Junghyo if she kept looking at his face—and given that she seemed to have some kind of misunderstanding—Han Woohyun thought it best not to let her keep talking in front of Kim Junsoo and Hwang Misoon. 

 

Han Woohyun sat down on the sofa under the bed, which was less chaotic.

 

There, Kim Junsoo, who had brought the drunken Hwang Misoon to this place, was already settled in. 

 

“You crazy brat! I left this with you for safekeeping! Why the hell did you bring this too?!”   

 

“Ah, I don’t know. Maybe I’m getting old or something—I keep seeing things that aren’t there. I couldn’t finish it all by myself anyway, so I just brought it.” 

 

Hwang Misoon said that as she examined Han Woohyun with a peculiar expression. 

 

“I’ll check if he’s okay.”

 

It was as if she was worried that Han Woohyun might disappear or go somewhere far away. 

 

For Hwang Misoon, who was usually the most wary of him among the baby Junghyo fans, this was something she had never done before.

 

“What are you talking about? Woohyun has been right here all along.” 

 

Kim Junsoo patted Han Woohyun on the shoulder as if he were saying something strange. 

 

“Woohyun? Since when did Han Woohyun become just Woohyun to you?”

 

“…Right?” 

 

As Han Woohyun watched Kim Junsoo tilting his head in confusion, he recalled what Junsoo had said earlier. 

 

It was a question asking if he remembered something.

 

There had indeed been an event just moments ago that suited the word “memory,” but Han Woohyun was confused. 

 

It was even more so because Kim Junsoo had shut his mouth again after Hwang Misoon appeared. 

 

Moreover, it wasn’t something that could be described as “remembering.”

 

Rather, it was closer to a fantasy or delusion.

 

The scene where Junghyo appeared in front of him, trembling in a shelter-like place after losing his parents around the time of the great disaster, and Junghyo said “Happy birthday” and patted his head, saying “Thank you for being born.” 

 

It was a delusion so embarrassing that even dreaming of vulgar desires would have been slightly less shameful. 

 

However, it wasn’t that the delusion reflected his desire.

 

It wasn’t that Han Woohyun didn’t have a desire as a child for someone to appear and take him out of this hell. 

 

Especially in that car where he had lost his parents, he had been young and powerless.  

 

He had been nothing more than a helpless kid, unable to utter a single word of protest as he watched the scene unfold. All he could do was struggle and cry out for someone to save him.

Without even knowing what it truly meant to live, he had desperately begged for his life in the ugliest way possible. 

 

He didn’t know what kind of weight the rest of his life would have on him, and he just wanted it.

 

Did a young child who hadn’t even started elementary school know?

 

That every time he saw a car, a specific blood-soaked scene would resurface in his mind. That every birthday, the moment he had begged for his life would return as humiliation and disgrace. That every time he rested comfortably at home, the guilt of having saved no one would seep deep into his bones. 

 

He probably didn’t know.

 

The fear of a terrible death was too great for him to know such things.

 

As he lost consciousness inside the car, he desperately wished—over and over again—for someone to protect him from that kind of death. 

 

He desperately waited for someone who would not only save his life but also erase everything that had happened, as if it had never been. 

 

Back then, even if that someone had been a devil, he would have taken their hand. 

 

But now, he hoped that at the very least, that someone was not Junghyo. 

 

It was his old habit to not want anyone to see the frightened version of himself when he was stuck in the muck. 

 

If Junghyo heard this, she would probably call it a bad habit—but… 

 

‘Still, I want to be the one who reaches out to you first. I don’t want to be the one who gets stuck in the mud with you and struggles.’

 

So for a while, he tried to let go of her hand, desperately trying to avoid it. 

 

But now it was different.

 

The moment he heard Junghyo’s words about getting tired of living without loving anything, he too became tired of trying not to love her. 

 

Now, he wanted to be with Junghyo in the healthiest way possible, no matter what. 

 

In order to do that, he tried to somehow get out of the mud, and that effort made him stronger little by little. 

 

The promise to be happy together is what changed him, as he felt the need to keep that promise. 

 

For him, now, it was not something he wanted—having his past weakness discovered by Junghyo. 

 

‘…Cute.’

 

But when he thought of Junghyo’s face, smiling at him, it was true that a corner of his heart felt a little tingly. 

 

Are you crazy? Have you finally gone crazy?

 

Did Junghyo giving him a little space today make him this careless? 

 

Perhaps it was because Junghyo accepted his gift with an unexpectedly cute expression. 

 

He put on the ring he had given her and thought about Junghyo’s face, smiling happily. 

 

Thinking about it again, it was a sight that made heat rise all over his body. 

 

“…What are you thinking that you’re not answering?”

 

It was then. 

 

Hwang Misoon called him.

 

Han Woohyun came to his senses and looked at Hwang Misoon.

 

He naturally raised his glass upon seeing the large bottle of foreign liquor that Hwang Misoon was holding. 

 

He remembered that Junghyo had told him that Hwang Misoon particularly hated when the flow of alcohol was interrupted. 

 

And another thing Hwang Misoon hated was creating things that didn’t satisfy the user.

 

When he thought about that, he said to Hwang Misoon. 

 

“Ah, the ring you made was a great gift.”

 

Hwang Misoon stopped drinking at those words.

 

“…You gave it to Junghyo, right?” 

 

Hwang Misoon let out a sound of acknowledgment, “Mmm,” as she asked. She had known ever since Han Woohyun asked her to make the ring. 

 

That was why she was even more wary of Han Woohyun—

 

She couldn’t refuse to make the ring. 

 

Hearing Hwang Misoon’s words, Kim Junsoo spoke with a horrified expression.

 

“What? What is it? What kind of ring? Is this an engagement already…!”

 

Kim Junsoo glared at Hwang Misoon with a face as if the sky were falling. 

 

However, Hwang Misoon casually responded, picking at her ear.

 

“I don’t know, either.”

 

“You…! No matter what, already with our Junghyo…!”

 

Kim Junsoo, with an angry expression, tried to grab Han Woohyun by the collar, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

 

His brow furrowed as if he had a headache.

 

That was the moment. Hwang Misoon slapped Kim Junsoo’s hand away and said.

 

“You’ve never been good at parenting. What if you yell at a child?” 

 

“….?”

 

“….?”

 

Hwang Misoon looked at the two with a bewildered expression after saying what she said. 

 

Kim Junsoo tilted his head and pointed at Han Woohyun. 

 

He aimed precisely at the thick body that was a head taller than him and asked.

 

“Child…? Parenting…?”

 

Han Woohyun couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked the two in a lowered voice. 

 

“Do you two remember the same thing as me?”

 

* * *

 

0

 

 

Yeah.

 

If things go this well, something is strange.

 

I looked at the boy sitting in front of the chocolate cake made from Choco Pies, his face filled with fear, doing nothing.

 

The Choco Pie dough was reborn into a bear shape through the manager’s hands.

 

The bear-shaped chocolate cake, with its dough brought by Geumdong and baked to a golden brown with a lid on the wok as a substitute for an oven, was placed in front of the boy. The face was drawn with finely sifted powdered sugar. 

 

To be honest, I thought it was as good as any cake from a regular bakery—

 

0

 

The boy was sitting on a chair, his cheeks red from crying in the room, and his legs that didn’t touch the ground were shaking.

 

Of course, his satisfaction level was 0.

 

When I mentioned chocolate cake, he opened the door and came out, so I thought maybe his satisfaction would increase a little, but was that just my misunderstanding? 

 

It’s only natural that after such a huge event just a few hours ago, he couldn’t happily eat the chocolate cake with laughter. 

 

Kim Junsoo, who was sitting next to him, blew out the melting candle.

 

“….”

 

Everyone glared at him, but Kim Junsoo muttered, “What should I do? Leave it to melt?”

 

“Don’t you want to eat it? It’s even tastier than it looks. You can eat just the cake instead of rice.”

 

The manager subtly pushed the bear-shaped cake toward the boy, saying tempting words. 

 

I knew that the words “You can just eat cake instead of rice” were incredibly tempting to kids around this age, especially after seeing Hyeyu. 

 

“….” 

 

But the boy shook his head without even meeting the manager’s eyes.

 

The manager and Geumdong both looked disappointed for a moment.

 

“Then how about something else… Hmm… Is there anything you want to do? I can show you around Seoul!”

 

At that moment, Hwang Misoon bravely stepped forward. She took out the goggles she had hidden from the manager’s arms after being scolded enough.

 

The Seoul tour she was talking about was really ‘Seoul tour.’

 

“….!”

 

But the moment she held out her goggles, a drop of blood stuck to the goggles fell onto the tablecloth.

 

The boy’s eyes widened when he saw that, and he went under the tablecloth.

 

I followed the boy, who made a sound like a trapped young animal and went under the tablecloth, and I lifted the tablecloth slightly. 

 

Then I heard the boy’s eyes wide open, his ears covered, and his body curled up mumbling.

 

“Please save me…”

 

Tears quickly gathered in his large eyes, but no sound of crying was heard. Instead, tears just flowed down from his reddened eyelids.

 

It was a part where you could tell what the boy had been doing in the hotel room.

 

Hwang Misoon, upon lifting the tablecloth and seeing it, bit her lip for a moment. 

 

“…Damn it.” 

 

Hwang Misoon’s face distorted.