Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 322 - Side Story 1. An Ordinary Romance (17) 

Side Story 1. An Ordinary Romance (17) 

 

They said that when the liver starts to fail, the skin naturally darkens like this.

 

The man, dried up like an old tree, no longer resembled the beast he had once been in his memories.

 

It wasn’t that he suddenly seemed kind now—just that he no longer looked like someone capable of destroying an entire family.

 

A man who couldn’t even lift his own arm to place it where he wanted.

 

‘Hideous.’

 

He had wished for this man’s end to be complete ruin, but poetic justice had never come.

 

It was simply the result of what he had brought upon himself.

 

Even though he knew something was wrong with his liver, he drank alcohol as soon as he left his post, and was rushed to the emergency room with acute liver failure. His condition never improved, and he ended up in a coma.

 

Han Woohyun impulsively reached out and placed his hand near the back of the man’s neck.

 

He was so thin that it seemed he could be suffocated with just one hand. 

 

In fact, there had been a chance to do that a long time ago.

 

‘Don’t.’

 

It was around the time when his grip had grown quite strong.

 

It was a day when, after being beaten all day, there wasn’t a spot on his body that didn’t hurt, and having been hung upside down for a while made his face bloodshot—so much so that even looking in the mirror, he hardly looked human.

 

Yeah. Even I don’t look human today.

 

So maybe today it’ll be okay

 

What broke his resolve was his aunt, who had only run away to a friend’s house for a few days and then returned.

 

‘Why? Why shouldn’t I? If we leave him alone, he’ll end up killing us.’

 

Because his aunt answered Han Woohyun’s question like this without the slightest hesitation— 

 

‘Because you’ll get hurt.’

 

‘….’

 

Han Woohyun had forgiven his aunt for a very long time.

 

Even when she took everything away from Han Woohyun.

 

‘If that person isn’t here, we’ll end up on the streets.’

 

Even her weak excuses, and the fact that she had once abandoned him and Jinsoo for a while, were all forgiven because of that one sentence.

 

‘You’ll get hurt.’

 

I will never let myself get hurt.

 

I’ll live my life as myself so that I won’t be damaged.

 

He had endured for a long time on that tiny thread of hope.

 

In a way, it could be said that his aunt’s single sentence had protected him.

 

Han Woohyun, without moving a finger, looked down at the withered man lying still and then stood up.

 

He felt like he finally had a rough idea of why he was here.

 

He wanted to see it—this person’s death.

 

At the moment he finally saw with his own eyes that this man had disappeared from the world, he felt he might be able to let go of the illusion of violence that had tormented him for so long, as well as his warped ideas about love.

 

He had suffered for a long time because he believed that love never changes.

 

He had always loved his family consistently, and because he couldn’t betray that love, he ended up hurting himself.

 

But he learned from Junghyo that love isn’t always constant.

 

That love has many different textures and can keep changing.

 

That being together can be joyful, yet the time apart can feel regretful; that their strength can be admirable, yet when confronted with their most vulnerable side, they can become irresistibly lovable.

 

I miss you.

 

Han Woohyun pressed down his longing and sent a message.

 

If he could, he wanted to call her immediately and hear her voice, but doing so would probably just disturb her precious vacation.

 

What’s the big deal? What’s so extraordinary about this person dying?

 

Thinking of Junghyo, he became a little more certain.

 

I should’ve spent this time seeing you more.

 

Even if I don’t hear this person’s final breath with my own ears or witness it with my own eyes, I can still live well enough now.

 

I want to hear your voice.

 

It was just as Han Woohyun finally picked up his phone to leave.

 

A voice could be heard from outside the door.

 

“You’re here.”

 

Through the window above the door, he saw the side profile of a tall man.

 

It was Han Minhyuk. 

 

In the end, it was clear that he had been bothered.

 

Guardian.

 

Ever since he accidentally said those words, it had been strange how he was genuinely acting as a guardian.

 

Thanks to that, he even heard Kang Sojin say that she might really have a ‘secret of birth.’

 

‘So that’s why you even threw punches back then? Was it like a successor training or something?’

 

‘Mind your own business and do your work.’

 

‘Yep. I already thought you wouldn’t answer me~!’

 

It was a problem that Kang Sojin was becoming more and more lively.

 

Maybe because of such strange rumors, whenever he found himself surrounded at a BJF meeting and under the full attention of the BJF, somehow—

 

‘It feels like we’ve become a family.’

 

It was an arrogant thought.

 

To him, family meant—

 

At that moment, a familiar voice came through the slightly open door.

 

“How did you get here?”

 

It was Aunt. 

 

Han Woohyun realized it immediately. 

 

She had flatly refused to see him, as if she would never come.

 

In the end, this is what happened.

 

As if on an invisible leash, his aunt returns to this person.

 

That is his aunt’s love.

 

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m the guardian.”

 

Han Minhyuk’s brow furrowed. 

 

Han Woohyun was about to open the door and leave.

 

It was because he remembered that the last time the two of them met at the guild building, it hadn’t ended well.

 

He was worried that his aunt might lose control and rush at Han Minhyuk.

 

Even so, it wouldn’t hurt a single hair on Han Minhyuk—

 

But then his aunt said,

 

“Yes. It’s really fortunate that the child has a guardian.”

 

Han Woohyun’s hand stopped. 

 

Her voice was sincere, yet strangely, his heart remained completely unmoved.

 

Just like when he saw his uncle’s unmistakably sickly appearance, he was simply calm.

 

“That’s a useless remark.”

 

“Hey…!” 

 

“You’ve already caused all the harm you could, and now it just sounds like you’re trying to ease your guilt. Does one have to hit a child for it to be considered abuse?”

 

“What do you know…”

 

“Breaking countless promises, leaving someone alone when they’re lonely, not rescuing them from a beastly man, and even making that child protect their own young cousin—all of that is abuse.”

 

A brief silence.

 

Then a sob was heard.

 

What could that be?

 

It was the heart of someone who no longer cared about anyone.

 

Han Woohyun stood still.  

 

“In any case, you’re finally free from that man now.”

 

“…sob…”

 

Han Minhyuk let out a sigh, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and then, with a look of contempt, crouched down and held it out to the woman.

 

“Don’t get me wrong. This is a product of the manners ingrained in me.”

 

“…Sniff… sniff…”

 

“This funeral will be handled by Hanwoon Guild for similar reasons. But you should be clear about one thing.”

 

“…Euph…” 

 

“Your nephew no longer exists in this world.”

 

“….”

 

“Han Woohyun is my son now. When he gets married, I’ll be sitting in the front row, and if anything happens to him, I’ll be the one to step forward.”  

 

Han Woohyun’s fist tightened.

 

My son.

 

The words sent a chill down his spine.

 

“From this moment on, you disappear completely from his life. You’d better keep that in mind. It means that once this funeral is over, you should never show yourself in front of us again. Now wipe your tears and go inside. My child—not your nephew—is waiting in there.”

 

It was when Han Minhyuk disappeared, having left one last instruction to throw away the handkerchief.

 

Han Woohyun heard the tearing sound of machinery coming from the bed.

 

Beep— Beep—

 

The door opened, and his pale aunt came in.

 

Han Woohyun and his aunt’s eyes met.

 

His aunt passed him and went to the bed. Frantically, she grabbed the man’s hand and began crying, rubbing her face.

 

It was a swift and certain grief, as if she had been waiting for this day.

 

Still, Han Woohyun knew.

 

That, at least, today she was also free from this love.

 

* * *

 

Jinsoo didn’t come. 

 

He said he had even been offered a leave of absence as a direct family member but had declined it.

 

And that’s how it was.

 

Han Woohyun felt a bit embarrassed as he looked at the plastic sheets laid out on each table by the funeral service company contracted by Guildmaster Han Minhyuk, along with soju, beer, snacks, and fruit placed on them.

 

“…No one’s coming.”

 

“No one told them to come.”

 

Han Minhyuk looked down at him sitting on the floor, as if he were stating the obvious.

 

Han Woohyun put his aunt, who had fainted from crying, to bed in the room and came out to sit on the floor.

 

Meanwhile, Han Minhyuk sat upright in his chair, perfectly composed in his three-piece suit.

 

‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry to you.’

 

He couldn’t tell whether she was crying because she was truly sorry to him or because of her husband’s death, but in any case, he received her apology.

 

Thanks to that, he felt as if something had finally been resolved in his heart.

 

It seemed possible to leave the past in the past.

 

“Then why…”

 

“It means that we are better people this way.”

 

Han Minhyuk smoothed out the slightly wrinkled collar and spoke.

 

“Even if the deceased lived without any virtue, you are different from that person. Funerals aren’t for the dead—they’re for the living. We’re just taking advantage of that.”

 

Han Woohyun stared at Han Minhyuk’s stiff jacket collar. 

 

“Every morning, I tell the staff to iron the bedspread. But when I get into bed at night, the bedspread is wrinkled again. Still, I have it ironed every morning. I pay for it. The reason is simple: I know. I know whether I slept on a crisp bedspread or a wrinkled one.”

 

Han Minhyuk looked down at Han Woohyun. The moment Han Woo-hyun met his calm, dark eyes, he strangely saw Junghyo reflected in them. 

 

Because those eyes, filled with pride that seemed impossible to break, were also in Jeonghyo.

 

“This is that kind of event. Keep it in mind. There are moments when, even if it costs money and energy, even if it’s a pointless effort, you have to iron it crisp.”

 

With those words, Han Minhyuk reached out as if to pat Han Woohyun on the back, then abruptly withdrew his hand.  

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

It didn’t seem right.

 

Both of them turned their heads awkwardly.