Chapter 54 – The Mysterious Neighbor

Although she was currently living in ‘Home Sweet Home,’ Hee-na was also technically a resident who had moved into a new apartment.

Since she had newly moved in, she thought it would be nice to distribute madeleines, which were similar to rice cakes, to her neighbors.

Hee-na took action right away. Holding a beautifully packaged bag of madeleines, she rang the neighbor’s doorbell.

Ding-dong, ding-dong. She rang the bell and waited for a long time, but there was no answer. She tried ringing the bell once more, but no presence could be felt.

‘They must have gone to work, so no one is home.’

Failing to achieve her goal, Hee-na had no choice but to go down to the security office. Fortunately, there was someone in the security office.

“Hello, sir. I’m the new resident in unit 1211.”

When she knocked on the window and greeted him warmly, the security guard greeted her back.

“Oh, hello. What can I do for you?”

“I baked some pastries today. I wanted to give you some as a moving-in greeting.”

As she handed over the packaged madeleines, a smile spread across the security guard’s face. Indeed, there was no gift better than food to melt someone’s heart.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have… Thank you, young lady. I’ll enjoy them.”

“I should be the one thanking you if you enjoy them.”

Hee-na bowed her head and was about to turn around when she remembered the neighbor’s door that wouldn’t open and asked.

“Ah, by the way. Do you happen to know when the person living in unit 1212 gets off work? I went to greet them, but they weren’t in.”

“Ah. You mean unit 1212?”

At the question, the security guard’s expression changed oddly.

Just as she was wondering if unit 1212 was one of those troublesome residents.

“Even though I work here, I have never once seen the resident of unit 1212.”

“You’ve never seen them even once?”

Hee-na opened her eyes wide at the unexpected answer.

“It seems they moved in a long time ago, but they’re quite a ghostly person. Looking at how people come and go to do the housekeeping periodically, it seems they do actually live there. Well, they also do a lot of minor construction work.”

It was a peculiar person who had absolutely no interaction with their surroundings. To Hee-na, who always greeted her neighbors wherever she went, it was a type of person she found quite fascinating.

“Then, I guess I won’t be able to give them this…?”

Hee-na looked down at the madeleines she had packaged separately for the neighbor.

“It’ll probably be hard. A while ago, the building representative visited them a few times to get some consent form, but they said the resident never once came out.”

‘I wanted to get acquainted with the neighbor on this occasion.’

Regrettably, she had no choice but to give the madeleines made for unit 1212 to the security guard, telling him to share them with his colleagues.

At this, the security guard thanked her repeatedly, saying he would enjoy them. Then he said in passing.

“Unit 1211 had been vacant for a long time, so I’m really glad such a nice young lady moved in.”

Sincerity was mixed in his voice. Hee-na smiled gently and greeted him again, saying she looked forward to working with him.

Although it wasn’t a house she would actually live in, she felt glad that she seemed to have found a good site anyway.

The place she headed to after the security office was the Blue Dragon Guild.

One might ask why she was going to work during her vacation, but Hee-na wanted to deliver the madeleines on the day she baked them if possible.

Because whatever is made on the day itself is always the tastiest.

Fortunately, when she arrived at the guild, it was the afternoon break time.

The first place Hee-na visited was the environmental sanitation team’s office. She handed out the madeleines one by one to the team members along with a belated farewell.

“I’m sorry for leaving before even completing half a year. You taught me so much, but now you have to hire a new recruit again, right?”

She felt a great deal of personal guilt. They had trained her well until she became useful, only for her to slip away to another department.

“Oh, no. We were extremely comfortable during the time you were here, Hee-na. Thanks to that bed skill, the Hunters became much tamer. They slept so well without throwing tantrums.”

“Right. What is there to be sorry about? You’re leaving because things went well. How outstanding must you have been to get fast-tracked from an employee to a team leader? Hee-na, you mustn’t forget me! Let me build a golden network too.”

At someone’s joke, the team members burst out laughing.

“Yes. Hee-na, thank you for your hard work all this time. You are diligent and meticulous, so you will do well even after going up to a higher position.”

Team Leader Kim Hwa-soon held her hands tightly and patted them.

‘They’re good people…’

Her nose tingled at the warm wishes of the environmental sanitation team members.

Thinking that she would no longer work with these people, a corner of her heart felt empty. This was because they were the best colleagues Hee-na had ever met.

“Thank you so much for treating me so well. Working together was truly enjoyable too.”

Hee-na’s eyes grew moist.

“You talk as if we’re parting forever, even though we’ll keep working in the same building?”

Then, one of the team members teased the sentimental Hee-na, changing the atmosphere.

“I know. We’ll be able to see each other often in the future… but I just felt sad since I’m leaving.”

Hee-na snorted, sniffling, and promised to stop by the environmental sanitation team frequently.

“When I have time, I’ll come down to the Hunter lounge and cast ‘Comfortable Bed’ before I go.”

“Oh, thank you just for the words, so there’s no need to overdo it.”

Hee-na shared farewell greetings with the environmental sanitation team members for a long time.

* * *

After Hee-na left, the environmental sanitation team members shared the madeleines and had a lively conversation.

“My goodness, she has such good dexterity. How did she make the pastries taste so delicious?”

“Her fingertips are clever, and she’s so sociable too. If only I had a son, I would have definitely introduced them.”

“Right, right. Whoever marries Hee-na is blessed.”

At someone’s comment, the room became noisy.

“Actually, I wanted to introduce a good person to Hee-na, but I was careful since we were on the same team. Since she went to another team, should I arrange a blind date on this occasion?”

“Hee-na is a team leader of the Blue Dragon Guild now. Do you think you can find someone of matching status?”

“Of course. I know a decent guy. Good-looking, and his ability is decent…”

It was the moment one of the team members raised her phone, making a fuss.

An uninvited guest intervened.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Kang Jin-hyun had appeared without a sound.

He stared blankly at the team members who were chatting excitedly for a long time, then slowly opened his mouth.

“…I spilled slime solution in my office, so I would like to request cleaning.”

“Is that so? Slime solution is trouble if left for too long.”

The environmental sanitation team members quickly got up from their seats. Thanks to that, the talk of Hee-na’s blind date seemed to be forgotten in an instant.

“Let’s go clean it up quickly!”

Kang Jin-hyun gazed at the backs of the people moving away noisily. The strange emotion that lingered in his eyes lasted only a moment.

The cell phone vibrated, and a message flashed on the screen.

[Lee Hee-na: Jin-hyun! I made some snacks. I’ve arrived at the guild now, would you like some?]

It was a kind message, typical of Hee-na, who was nice to everyone. For some reason, it was difficult to take his eyes off the letters, so Kang Jin-hyun looked down at the message for a long time.

* * *

After leaving the office after a long greeting, she sent text messages to Woo Min-ah and Kang Jin-hyun. The content asked if they would like to have some snacks she had made and brought to the office.

Rrrr…

As soon as she sent the text, a phone call came from Woo Min-ah immediately. When she hurriedly answered, an excited voice was heard.

– What did you make like that on your day off? I’m done with all of today’s work, so do you want to come to my office?

She had sent a text beforehand in case she was working, so it was great that she had nothing to do.

“If you tell me where your office is, I’ll go there.”

Woo Min-ah told her the location of her office in a somewhat excited voice. Looking at the screen after hanging up, there was no reply from Kang Jin-hyun.

‘He must be busy.’

Hee-na decided to gift the madeleines to a passing Hunter if she couldn’t get in touch with Kang Jin-hyun at all. Since she couldn’t just take the gift back home like this.

Arriving in front of Woo Min-ah’s office with various thoughts, the office door suddenly flung open.

“Hee-na!”

Hee-na was startled by the door opening before she could even knock. Woo Min-ah dragged the arm of Hee-na, who looked like a startled rabbit, inside and sat her down in a chair.

“Sorry. Were you surprised because the door opened suddenly? I was waiting since you said you were coming.”

Woo Min-ah laughed and brewed a cup of mix coffee in a paper cup. At the sweet smell spreading in the office, Hee-na finally came to her senses.

“Did you realize I arrived just by listening to the sound of my footsteps? High-rank Hunters are truly amazing.”

Woo Min-ah waved her hand.

“Oh, come on. Unless it’s during battle, if I’m zoned out normally, I can’t really sense that. I was staying alert because you said you were coming. Someone like Kang Jin-hyun would have to be the one to sense a presence beyond a room without much concentration.”

“Ah… If one senses such things in daily life, it must be very uncomfortable.”

It was dreadful just imagining how tiring it would be to be more sensitive to surrounding noise or presence than others.

“Well, he probably has his own way of coping.”

Woo Min-ah replied with a shrug. Meanwhile, she kept glancing at the paper bag in Hee-na’s hand. She seemed curious about what was inside.

Hee-na chuckled and placed the bag of madeleines on the table.

“I did quite a lot of baking, so I brought some to share with the people around.”

“Baking? You do things like that too? Amazing!”

Woo Min-ah sniffed and stared intently at the madeleines.

“I tried it for the first time today. Still, it turned out better than I thought.”