“Ah, I’m tired.”

Go Hyung-geon glanced at the rearview mirror.

“Couldn’t sleep last night, sir?”

“Tossed and turned.”

“You seem to have trouble sleeping often these days.”

“Must be because there’s a lot on my mind. Especially……”

Hwang Tae-su trailed off as he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

“Sir?”

“Never mind. Just drive.”

“If you’re really tired, you should get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

“This bastard’s finally being helpful for once. Alright, wake me up when we get there.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hwang Tae-su extinguished the cigarette and sank deeply into the seat. Then the light turned red.

Without much thought, Hwang Tae-su looked out the car window.

In the next lane, an old man with a hunched back was struggling to pull a cart piled high with wastepaper.

In the past, he would’ve just glared and ignored it……

“That looks damn dangerous.”

For some reason, it bothered him. The mountain of wastepaper looked perilously unstable.

Just then—

HOOOONK—!

Suddenly, a car horn blared. It didn’t stop with just one honk.

HOOOOOOOOOONK!

“Shit! Hey, old man! You own the road or something?!”

It was the car behind the cart. The old man, flustered, froze up, unsure what to do. The car owner, fuming, got out of his car.

“Shit, old geezer! Move, will you? I can’t go because of you!”

“I’m sorry. Will it be alright if I move this way?”

“Can’t you see how big the car is? You think that’ll help? And what the hell is this?”

Thud!

The driver touched the pile, and the wastepaper collapsed in a heap. The old man looked utterly crushed, like his whole world had collapsed with it.

Just then, the light changed. As the car started moving forward—

“Pull over.”

“Sir? We haven’t arrived yet.”

“I know. Just pull over.”

As soon as Hyung-geon pulled over, Hwang Tae-su got out of the car. He wiped his nose and looked at the driver and the old man.

“Should’ve tied it down tight, damn it. All I did was get my hands dirty. Shit.”

The driver muttered curses as he turned back to his car, but Hwang Tae-su called out to him.

“Hey, kid.”

The driver, seemingly a stranger to the area, didn’t recognize Hwang Tae-su and responded with an annoyed look.

“What.”

“What?”

“Ha, shit. Today’s just my fucking unlucky day. What, you got a problem?”

“Did you self-teach your manners, kid? Your words are as short as your dick.”

“Whether I self-taught or not, what’s it to you, old man?”

“Apologize to this old geezer—no, this grandfather.”

“And if I don’t?”

Hwang Tae-su ran a rough hand through his hair with a heavy sigh.

He opened his mouth, very slowly.

“If you won’t…”

“……?”

“You get hit.”

Thwack!

In an instant, Hwang Tae-su landed a right hook.

One punch.

Just one punch sent the driver flying.

Still full of bravado, the driver tried to pull a gun from his waistband. But Hwang Tae-su was faster.

Smack!

“Let me give you a free lesson in manners.”

Hwang Tae-su kicked the gun away and ground his foot into the driver’s abdomen.

“Guh!”

“Repeat after me.”

“……”

“I’m sorry!”

“……”

“You won’t even accept a free education? Damn kid.”

Hwang Tae-su removed his watch to start the real lesson. Startled, the driver shouted urgently.

“I’m sorry!”

“Then repeat after me again: ‘I will never attack the elderly again!’”

“I—I will never attack the elderly again!”

“Good.”

Hwang Tae-su squatted down and lightly tapped the frightened driver’s cheeks a few times.

“From now on, don’t attack—respect the elderly. Got it?”

“Y-yes……”

“Then scram.”

He kicked the driver’s rear, and the man scrambled up and dashed back to his car.

Then, with full acceleration, he sped off the road.

“Thank you.”

Hearing the aged voice from behind, Hwang Tae-su turned around. The already hunched old man bowed his back even further.

“Hey, old man, don’t do that on the road. You’ll get hurt acting like that on the street.”

“……”

“Hyung-geon!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s pick these up.”

“Pick what up, sir?”

“What do you think, you punk? The wastepaper.”

His hands got dirty from the wastepaper. Hwang Tae-su blankly looked down at his stained hands.

“Ha, shit.”

Reading the mood, Go Hyung-geon cautiously handed over a wet tissue. Hwang Tae-su scrubbed his hands irritably.

“Then I’ll start the car.”

“What, you got honey smeared all over the office or something? What’s the rush? Hold on a sec.”

“……”

Hwang Tae-su took out a cigarette and lit it.

“This is bullshit.”

“Sir?”

“Not you, punk.”

“Yes……”

“Haa.”

After smoking one cigarette all the way, he lit another. His throat stung from chain-smoking, but his hand kept reaching for another cigarette.

At the same time, someone’s words kept echoing in his mind.

-Theoretically, the opposite case shouldn’t occur either.

-Does that really matter?

-I doubt anyone would believe me if I said it.

-It’s because of Park Yeon.

“Shit.”

With a muttered curse, Hwang Tae-su spoke to Hyung-geon.

“Turn the car around. Let’s go to One Drink.”

Seo-jun was planning to eat dumplings today.

To do so, he went to the supermarket. Thinking back, it had been nearly half a year since his return, and yet he hadn’t had any dumplings.

Seo-jun, when it came to dumplings at least, preferred factory-made over homemade.

Especially among factory-made dumplings, he favored the long-standing gohyang dumplings.

“Seo-jun, long time no see!”

Just as he was picking up the dumplings and heading to the register, someone greeted him. It was the lady at the sampling corner, the same one he had visited with Kang Min-hee before.

“Yes, how have you been?”

“I was about to feel sad since I haven’t seen you in a while. But today… dumplings?”

“Yes. I suddenly had a craving.”

“Ah, gohyang dumplings. They’re good. Tasty when pan-fried, or in dumpling soup.”

“You really know your stuff.”

“Of course. I only ever buy gohyang dumplings.”

“Pan-fried, or……”

Before Seo-jun could finish his sentence, the lady said—

“Gohyang dumplings should definitely be grilled.”

“You have the same taste as me. Gohyang dumplings are pan-fried dumplings.”

There wasn’t a particular topic to the conversation. But even for such a mundane exchange, Seo-jun felt grateful.

In the Demon Realm, he had been called the Demon God. No one dared to treat him carelessly, and no one tried to get close to him casually.

No—no one could have. But here, things were different.

Conversations without any topic… ones that even felt leisurely, like this one, were possible.

“Oh, that reminds me, Min-hee unnie contacted me a while ago.”

“From the lady?”

“Yeah. She said, ‘Let’s have a drink. How’s the family doing?’ and I told her everyone’s well. She said she’d visit sometime.”

“Please tell her that if she gives us a heads-up, we’ll be well prepared and waiting.”

“Of course. Well then, have a good day today too.”

“You too, ma’am.”

Soon after, Seo-jun returned to the store.

As he had said to the supermarket clerk earlier, Seo-jun personally believed that gohyang dumplings absolutely had to be pan-fried.

Especially when the thin wrapper unique to gohyang dumplings was fried to a golden crisp—the flavor was indescribable.

The crunchy texture, followed by the juicy filling that had been perfectly seasoned!

This was a taste only those who had tried it would know.

Seo-jun poured oil into a frying pan and turned the heat down low. When the pan seemed hot enough, he carefully placed the dumplings onto it.

Sizzle!

As soon as the dumplings touched the pan, the oil splattered.

In times like this, a lid solves everything.

He covered it with a lid.

From here, there were two paths to take.

The shortcut—cooking only one side.

The long route—cooking both sides evenly.

Seo-jun chose the latter. Of course, flipping each dumpling one by one with chopsticks was no easy task, but he was willing to put in the effort for delicious dumplings.

Once one side had turned golden brown, he flipped the dumplings.

After flipping all of them, he covered the pan again and waited.

About 3 to 4 minutes passed.

Seo-jun opened the lid. The dumplings were perfectly golden and crisp. He could have taken them out right then, but he wanted an even crispier texture.

He turned the heat up to high and covered the pan again.

Now it was all about timing. Leaving them on high heat for too long would dry them out instead of making them crispy, and they might end up tasting bad.

20 seconds.

Just 20 seconds on high heat.

When the time was up, he quickly turned off the heat and moved the dumplings onto a plate.

The dumplings were beautifully fried to satisfaction.

As for the dipping sauce, he didn’t need anything fancy—just soy sauce with chopped Cheongyang peppers would do.

With the soy sauce ready, Seo-jun sat down with the dumplings and the sauce.

“Hmm.”

Staring blankly at the dumplings, he felt something was missing.

Ah, of course—the alcohol.

He didn’t particularly want to drink so early in the morning, but to enjoy greasy pan-fried dumplings without getting tired of the flavor, alcohol was necessary.

This was like the relationship between chicken and cola, or fresh sashimi and cider.

Standing in front of the fridge, Seo-jun fell into a pleasant dilemma.

Shochu? Beer?

Or maybe… Erguotou?

After a brief moment of hesitation, Seo-jun chose Erguotou. High-proof liquor was the way to go with greasy, heavy food.

First, a bite of the dumpling.

Crunch!

As expected, gohyang dumplings never disappointed. The texture was truly a work of art.

But the real highlight was the burst of juice from the filling.

The perfectly seasoned filling inside the crispy wrapper brought a natural smile to his face.

When a hint of greasiness lingered in his mouth, Seo-jun opened the bottle of Erguotou.

A fragrant fruit aroma rose up immediately.

Pour—

He filled about two-thirds of a soju glass and downed it in one shot.

The fruity scent washed away the lingering grease in his mouth. Then came the sharp burn down his throat.

“Kuh!”

This was the charm of strong liquors. Especially with Erguotou, the sensation of it sliding down your throat was amazing.

Seo-jun picked up another dumpling.

Just as he was enjoying the beauty of solo drinking—

Ding-a-ling!

“Anyone here?”

An unexpected person entered the store.

When a person feels a sense of foreboding about something, it ultimately means the situation contains uncertainty.

In other words, as long as that ominous feeling remains outside the realm of certainty, it can always turn into something fortunate.

However, the moment that ominous premonition enters the realm of certainty—

A person falls into panic.

That’s exactly where Hwang Tae-su was now.

‘It was true?! How… how! That I’m becoming kind?! This makes no sense! Shit, this makes no damn sense!’

With a pained expression, Hwang Tae-su clutched at his own head.

Seo-jun, glancing at him indifferently, picked up another pan-fried dumpling. Fortunately, the crispy texture was still intact.

After eating the dumpling, a bit of greasiness lingered. That’s when Erguotou was most needed.

Gulp!

“Kuh!”

The combination of Erguotou and pan-fried dumplings was excellent.

Especially that burning sensation down the throat—absolutely fantastic.

He picked up another dumpling, poured more Erguotou into his empty glass, and was about to pick it up when—

Whoosh!

Clatter!

Hwang Tae-su snatched the glass, downed the drink in one go, and slammed the glass down with a shout that sounded somewhere between awe and a roar.

“Kuaaaaah!”

Then, suddenly, Hwang Tae-su bowed his head deeply.

“Boss, please!”

“What’s with the sudden plea?”

“Please… please tell me it’s not true! That this man, Hwang Tae-su, hasn’t become kind! That it’s all a misunderstanding! Please say it!”

“……”

“This… this can’t be happening! It absolutely can’t! Boss! Please say it’s not true! Say it was a joke… just a prank! That’s all I want to hear, please!”

Hwang Tae-su looked downright desperate.

It really showed how fickle people could be. He was the one who had wanted to know the truth—yet after hearing it, he now begged for it not to be true.

‘What the hell am I supposed to go along with…’

Shaking his head, Seo-jun gave him the answer he wanted to hear.

“Yeah. It was a joke. Just messing with you.”