They took a walk in the park until their restaurant reservation time and then had a nice meal together at the reserved restaurant.
The date focused more on familiarity and comfort rather than anything special.
People who were observing the two of them felt like they were watching the everyday life of a couple who had been in a long-term relationship for years, rather than a couple on their first date.
“Is aglio olio enough for you?”
“Let’s order a pepperoni pizza today. I couldn’t even eat properly after being hassled by my sister at the shop this morning.”
“Then two aglio olio and a pepperoni pizza. And could I get sparkling water to drink?”
They knew each other so well that there was no need for unnecessary conversation.
They moved in perfect harmony, as if they had already divided their roles.
While waiting for the food to arrive, the two of them chatted, but it felt more like a family than a couple.
But if you focused a little on their conversation, you could tell.
“By the way, you’re wearing makeup after a long time?”
“Well, I couldn’t just show up looking all shabby after asking for a date, could I? It’s only right to show respect and make an effort for the other person, don’t you think?”
“Your talk is still as sharp as ever.”
“By the way, I’ve never seen you put this much effort into your appearance.”
“Well, I’ve never tried to look good in front of you.”
“Ah, that’s true. If you had dressed like this back then, I would have seriously tried to distance myself.”
“You wouldn’t have tried to distance yourself; you would have actually distanced yourself.”
In this seemingly insignificant conversation, there was affection between them.
It was a conversation where you could tell how much they cared for each other and how they treated one another.
It wasn’t a fiery love, full of passionate emotions, but rather a relationship that, like smoldering embers, softly but surely emitted warmth.
“By the way, what do we do after we eat?”
They had loosely planned the day, but not in great detail.
Given Yoo Ga-eun’s personality, she thought it was better to set the broad framework of the day and then just move freely as they wished, rather than sticking to a rigid schedule.
“Hmm, how about going to the movies? It’s been a while.”
“Not a bad idea. I haven’t had time to watch movies comfortably in a while.”
“I heard there’s a decent movie out. Even if you’re not really into movies, you’ve probably heard of the director. It should be at least somewhat enjoyable.”
“Hmm, if that’s the case, shall we go watch it?”
“Then should we book tickets right away?”
“No, I feel like if we see something interesting before going to the theater, we won’t end up watching the movie. Let’s book the tickets after we get there. It’s not like we’re in a rush, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Even when the server brought their order, their conversation didn’t stop.
Had they not met for a while, so there was a lot to talk about?
That wasn’t entirely wrong.
Meeting after a long time meant they had a lot of new stories to share and reminisced about the past, but even without that, the two of them could have kept talking endlessly.
No Matter How Many Times They Repeat the Same Story, No Matter How Many Times They Use the Same Patterns.
Just talking seemed to bring them joy as they exchanged words back and forth.
“Phew, it was better than I expected.”
“Right? Sometimes, there are restaurants that taste worse than before, but luckily, this place isn’t one of them.”
Yoo Ga-eun patted her full stomach and stood up, with Si-woo following her as they both got up from the table.
Thanks to having paid in advance, they left the restaurant without delay.
However, once they stepped outside, both of them wrinkled their faces in surprise.
Tok, to-dok…
Raindrops were falling from the sky.
It didn’t seem like it would get worse right now, but it wouldn’t be long before a heavy downpour started.
The two of them, with a heightened sense beyond that of an average person, sighed deeply as they predicted the weather.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if being sensitive enough to feel the weather meant I could also predict it?”
“Being too sensitive isn’t always a good thing. I once knew someone who became paranoid, constantly asking people about the weather every day, and it drove them to neurosis.”
“Huh?”
“I thought being overly sensitive and worrying about how exhausting every day felt was the problem.”
“That’s just a passive thing. Plus, with your senses, you wouldn’t fall behind even when compared to the real deal.”
“If that were the case, I would’ve brought an umbrella today, knowing it would rain.”
“Even if that wasn’t the case, you wouldn’t have come out without any precautions.”
“With magic so advanced now, why do weather forecasts still get it wrong so often?”
“Maybe the world’s problems are caused by changes in magical energy.”
Yoo Ga-eun, who had instinctively reached into her pocket to grab a cigarette, hesitated for a moment.
But her strong will to not give up on the post-meal cigarette made her reach for her lighter.
Seeing this, Si-woo quickly snatched the cigarette from her mouth.
“Ugh!”
“I told you, no post-meal cigarettes.”
“Why do you always say no, even though you don’t care about it most of the time? Why specifically after we eat?”
“If it’s because you really want to smoke or you’re stressed, that’s fine. You started smoking as a way to relieve stress, didn’t you?”
But this wasn’t about relieving stress.
Grabbing a cigarette right after eating was more of a habit or addiction.
“No, I really wanted to smoke this time.”
“Even so, try to quit that habit.”
After a brief hesitation, Yoo Ga-eun nodded and put the lighter back into her pocket.
It wasn’t wrong.
The reason she started smoking was to relieve stress, and until a year ago, she only smoked when her stress reached its peak.
But once something becomes a habit, it slowly creeps in, and before long, she found herself reaching for a cigarette without thinking about it.
In the morning after waking up, before going to work, when dealing with people, after meals, the amount of cigarettes she smoked each day had slowly increased.
Yoo Ga-eun, with a thoughtful expression, lifted the cigarette pack from her pocket but then thought…
‘Yeah, quitting smoking really is impossible.’
It was still impossible.
Yoo Ga-eun’s resistance could detoxify the harmful substances in cigarettes.
In reality, the harmful ingredients in cigarettes should have been neutralized, and there should have been no symptoms of addiction.
‘Is it because it’s a mental issue, not a physical one?’
However, Yoo Ga-eun was still suffering from nicotine addiction.
A mental trauma.
Even though it had properties similar to a non-lethal poison, such as the venom of a snake, the problem was that her mind was no different from an ordinary human’s.
Tu-dudududu…
“Huh, it’s raining harder than I thought.”
“Yeah, I wonder if there’s a cafe around here?”
Fortunately, there were many cafes.
The problem was that it wasn’t just a few people who had come to escape the rain.
“I’m sorry. The dining area is completely full today…”
“As you can see, there are a lot of people here to avoid the rain, so we can only offer takeout.”
Because the weather forecast had been wrong, many people had been affected.
Every cafe they went to was already packed, and even the umbrellas sold at convenience stores were sold out everywhere.
They were using magical barriers to block the rain, but too many people had gathered, drawing attention.
“This is why it’s not good to have a recognizable face…!!”
“I really agree with that.”
The biggest issue was that their faces were well-known.
If an ordinary person used a magical barrier to block the rain, people would simply think of them as a Hunter.
But as soon as Si-woo’s face was recognized, people started whispering and approaching him, which made him uncomfortable.
If it was a matter of allure, he could have easily turned them down.
Because of the Mark of Demon Hatred, Si-woo could suppress his allure enough not to interfere with his daily life.
But even without the allure, Si-woo’s reputation still attracted attention from others.
“Next time, you should wear a disguise too.”
“Yeah, you’re right. In the past, disguises didn’t work because people would fall for the allure, so I never bothered, but now that my face is well-known, I realized that a disguise is essential.”
Si-woo and Yoo Ga-eun carefully made their way through the alley, being cautious not to hurt anyone as they left the crowd.
They shook off the dampness from their clothes and hair.
While they could stop the rain from falling on them, blocking the barrier for people would have caused a stampede, so they had to be careful, and as a result, they both ended up getting soaked.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.”
“I checked the news; they said it’s going to pour like crazy until dawn.”
“Hmm…”
If only their clothes hadn’t gotten wet, they could have taken a taxi and gone somewhere else.
For a moment, both of them were deep in thought, their eyes landing on a small building.
It was a place they had never been before.
However, it was a perfect place to take shelter from the rain and dry their clothes.
And it was a place where they didn’t need to worry about people staring at them.
“Do you think we can rent a room?”
The name of the place was a motel.