Creating Hidden Endings

I closed my eyes tightly at the sensation of falling from the air. After a while, I felt a soft touch on my back. I expected it to roll on the hard floor, but it wasn’t.

When I opened my eyes in a strange situation, I saw a high ceiling. It must have been the familiar ceiling that I had seen with squinting eyes a few hours ago.

“….”

“Are you sleeping?”

“…No. I’m holding back my anger.”

“Why do you look at me?”

I tried not to be as honest as possible in front of Lee Jehee, but a too honest answer came out. While flustered by him, I heard a small leak of wind from him.

Did he laugh at me?

I turned my gaze at the ceiling and looked at Lee Jehee with narrow eyes. I saw a long neckline leaning against the sofa head. The expression was hard to see because he raised his chin with his face toward the ceiling like me.

I think he laughed at me? I didn’t check what expression he was making, but it was when I just stood up from the sofa with half confidence.

“Kind human!”

“Haa!”

Suddenly, something heavy rushed toward my chest and swallowed my breath.

Is this a body bump? Is it a monster’s attack skill?

To the extent that I could think of that, my chest and back hurt when I bumped into the Keymaster.

“Ugh… It hurts.”

I rubbed the painful area by removing Keymaster who was crying sadly while holding the collar. I groaned as I pushed the area that seemed to be the forehead with my palm, but I heard a presence in front of me.

Lee Jehee, who sat upright, came out with an expressionless face and stared at the Keymaster and me silently.

Wow, he’s scarier than monsters.

Maybe it was only me who was scared of that gaze, the Keymaster who struggled with his body blocked by my hand and came out of the gap, dug into my arms again. His sad eyes filled with tears now turned to Lee Jehee, and then he looked up at me, like a child reaching out to his mother, coming in from nowhere. 

“No way. Did you call me because of him?”

“….”

Even to the question I asked with the intention of changing the atmosphere, Lee Jehee didn’t give any answer. He just stared at the Keymaster with a quiet face.  

Of course I understand. How much trouble did he go through to defeat an S+ level Keymaster in the game? In the eyes of Lee Jehhee and the others who would have actually done it, the same Keymaster couldn’t look good.

But he’s a bit too easy, right? I feel sorry for him and I don’t think he needs to be that wary.

In that sense, I called the guy who didn’t answer once again.

“Hunter Lee Jehee-nim?”

“…It’s not that loud. But he kept looking for Yeon Seonwoo-ssi.”

It was then that Lee Jehee opened his mouth. Annoyance at taking on a nuisance was etched in his voice. I didn’t have the courage to talk to the sensitive guy anymore, so I asked the Keymaster directly. 

“Did you really look for me?”

“K, kind human… That human is so scary. I want to stay with kind human.”

“….”

I understand that feeling so much. Yeah, because there were only the two of us, Lee Jehee was a very burdensome person, and most of all, he was scary. 

But on the other hand, I didn’t want to admit that I felt a sense of identity with this lively monster.

“First of all, my name is Yeon Seonwoo. And I’m not a kind person.”

“…Yeon Seonwoo?”

“Yeah. Call me Seonwoo from now on. What’s your name?”

As I tell my name since it’s impossible to continue to call me a good man or a bad man, Lee Jehee’s eyebrows, sitting opposite him, went up at an angle. I didn’t turn my eyes on him as much as I could because he seemed very dissatisfied.

I said I would tell him my name, but I don’t know why I have to be cautious. 

“I, I’m the descendant of the great Typhoon…”

“Oh, I’ve already heard that story in my ears. Is it a Typhoon or a coupon? Other than that, what’s your name?”

“…I don’t have it yet.”

“What?”

“I haven’t been given a name yet…”

For a moment, the Keymaster lowers his shoulders with a gloomy face. I can’t believe monsters feel depressed. Feeling new, I calmly took a look at his appearance. 

Even compared to when I saw it in the dungeon, nothing had changed. He was still clumsy and rough, and he was reluctantly holding it. 

“Let’s go with Ddari.”

“…What did you say, human?”

“Because I’m Seonwoo. Let’s just go with Ddari for your name.”

“…..”

His surname Bo, and his name Ddari. It’s perfect. 

When I give him a name to call him temporarily without thinking deeply, that brat blinks his eyes. Tears in his eyes, which were already half-tipped, looked at me with a very heavy burden.

“Name… My name? Did you just give me a name now?”

“It’s temporary. Temporary. Let’s make the official name pretty later, and for now, let’s say it’s Ddari. If I call you Ddari, you should understand roughly and answer it well.”

It was named without sincerity. Nevertheless, he still stared at me with a burdensome look.

At that time, Lee Jehee, who was watching it without saying a word, opened his mouth as if he was dumbfounded.

“What are you doing now?”

“About what?”

“You’re giving the monster a name?”

“…What’s wrong with that? It’s too long to call it a Keymaster, and it’s kind of weird to call it a Keymaster. Ddari, it’s nice. Short, comfortable, and fitting.”

“Why? Do you want to put an identification tag on his neck?”

Whoa. This twisted bastard. 

I wondered why he was acting like a jerk again, and he came up with a tackle. I looked at the person sarcastically but Ddari, who had been quiet until then, suddenly stepped forward. 

“Name! I like it!”

“Right?”

“I’m Ddari!”

“Oh, you’re adaptable.”

“Bad human, call me Ddari!”

“But don’t go out too far. What do you mean a bad person—. By the way, you lost to that person. Even if you die and wake up, you can’t win.”

The gaze following the small whisper in the ear is directed at Lee Jehee and then towards me again. The eyes were filled with anxiety.

I don’t know who’s worried about who.

“Seonwoo, are you weak?”

“Yeah. I’m very weak.”

“Tsk tsk. It’s okay. You give me a name, so I’ll protect Yeon Seonwoo!”

“…Just protect yourself. You.”

“Not ‘you’, but Ddari!”

…even if you have good adaptability, is it too good?

When I heard that his name was Ddari, I unconsciously looked at Lee Jehee’s eyes. He was just lying on the sofa with a ridiculous face, perhaps giving up now.

But the more calm he becomes, the more anxious he makes people feel—.

“Is Seonwoo bad with head too? You give me a name—”

“Ddari-ya.”

“Ung!”

“Anyway, the important thing is that you shouldn’t call that person a bad person, a person with no conscience, or a damn person.”

At that moment, I felt a gaze from the side of the guy I believed was closing his eyes. But I didn’t turn my head to that side on purpose. 

I admit it. There was a little bit of selfishness. A person who is close to being angry.

“Then what should I call him?”

At Ddari’s question, I rolled my eyes, wondering if this would be okay. Considering that it was not particularly sanctioned, it seemed like it was okay to tell his name, but I couldn’t be relieved because he was so fickle.

“Master. If you call Master—”

“Was he a member of our guild? I didn’t know.”

Ah, what else don’t you like? Just in case, I gave his name instead. After all, he’s a picky and crazy bastard.

“Jehee-nim. Call him Jehee-nim.”

“Jehee-nim?”

“Yeah. You can call him Jehee when we’re together, but in front of that person, you have to call him ‘nim’. That’s how you live long, okay?”

“Ung!”

“You’re telling good things.”

I heard a small sarcastic sound from Lee Jehee, but only his shoulders shrugged. Because I told him something really good. 

I gave him the know-how to lead a long life, but without even knowing it.

With that in mind, I stroked Ddari’s head and looked at Lee Jehee once. Then, fearing that our eyes would meet, I quickly lowered my gaze to Ddari again and said.

“And I have my own house. It means that it’s very difficult if you keep looking for me. You know what I mean, right?”

“…No.”

“Hey!”

“Seonwoo, don’t leave me alone with Jehee-nim… It’s scary.”

“….”

Ddari in a crying voice dug into my arms again. I could feel a tenacity not to miss out on the grip of the collar.

But I’m scared, too. What should I do?

“Hey, this is not going to work.”

“First, just sleep here today.”

“…Yes?”

What? 

I frown at Lee Jehee’s sudden suggestion. But Lee Jehee, who didn’t even open his eyes, let alone look at me, was still lying on the sofa.

“Is there any other way?”

“If I take this kid with me—”

At that moment, Lee Jehee raised his head. A voice like a frost fell from his expressionless face.

“You know how that will come out. If he runs away, can you catch him? With Yeon Seonwoo’s ability?”

“…No. I can’t.”

Damn it. He’s the kind of guy who can kill people with his mouth. Someone who will stab you in pain and die from excessive bleeding.

“T, the descendants of Typhoon don’t run away…”

On behalf of me, who was at a loss for words, Ddari, who was trying to make his own protest as if it was unfair, stopped speaking in surprise at Lee Jehee’s eyes. I thought I would be in big trouble at this rate with Lee Jehee’s brutal momentum, so I hurriedly got up with my own hands.