I was Kicked Out of the Hunter’s Guild

I had a dream.

It was… a memory of the past, one that had been forgotten for a long time.

In that memory, noona looked at me when I was still young and asked with her usual warm smile

“Jinhyun, what do you want to do when you grow up?”

“Me? I…”

As I said that, my eyes turned to my noona standing in front of me.

It was a time when I had not yet matured.

Even so, back then, whenever I looked at her, my face would flush slightly, and I’d feel a gentle warmth spreading in my heart.

The problem was, I didn’t know how to muster the courage or find the words to express that feeling.

So, instead of speaking about what I truly wanted while looking at my sister, I ended up saying something else, something that came to mind at the moment.

“I want to have adventures when I grow up. Travel to cities I’ve never seen before, experience new things, and meet different people. I want to live freely and full of excitement.”

“Really? That’s… I think that’s a wonderful dream.”

She smiled warmly at me as she listened to my words.

Seeing her like that, I felt a bit shy and cautiously asked,

“Uh… then… what about you? What do you want to do when you grow up?”

“Well… there are so many things I want to do… but I…”

And then…

As she spoke those words, her face showed a mixture of emotions.

Anticipation and joy… and an unexplainable hint of sadness.

***

“!…”

An unfamiliar ceiling.

That was the first thing I saw when I automatically opened my eyes.

“What… what time is it?”

I instinctively reached out to look for my phone, worried that I might soon hear that damned wake-up alarm blaring in my ears.

But then… as I slowly started to recognize where I was, I froze mid-motion.

“Ah… that’s right… I was discharged…”

A wave of relief washed over me as I realized that what lay before me wasn’t the suffocating sight of a luxurious executive office or drunken couples passed out like corpses. Instead, I was greeted by the simple, cozy surroundings of a family home.

Once again, it hit me.

I had finally escaped that hellhole.

With that comforting thought in mind, I sat up slowly.

‘Is noona still asleep?’

It was 6 a.m.

Since preparations for opening wouldn’t start until 8:00, it would probably be a while before she, who was sleeping in the master bedroom, woke up.

Considering how much we drank last night, it wouldn’t be surprising if she slept in a little longer.

I washed my face to shake off the grogginess.

Still feeling the lingering effects of my hangover, I decided to head downstairs to the café for a glass of water.

Even though I was indoors, the cool, fresh air of dawn greeted me when I opened the door and stepped out.

Taking a deep breath, I started descending the stairs.

And as I walked, memories from the night before, of the stuff noona had said to me, began to surface.

‘Noona’s younger sister…’

In my memories, I couldn’t recall anything about her having a younger sister, or even an older sister, for that matter.

I’d always known that she lost her parents at a young age and grew up living with relatives, but I’d never once heard about having any blood siblings.

The existence of a younger sister that my sister had mentioned… It left me puzzled, and I couldn’t help but start thinking about various possibilities.

‘For now, it feels like she’s treating me almost the same as her own brother. If that’s the case, does she mean that the “younger sister” she mentioned is someone she knows?’

Given the situation, that assumption seemed the most natural.

Regardless, one thing was clear: if my sister wanted to introduce that person to me about her plans, as she’d mentioned last night, I didn’t have any particular reason to refuse.

‘It’s my sister who’s bringing this up, after all. What’s the harm in meeting them? If it doesn’t work out, I can just decline.’

With that thought, I resolved to view the matter as positively as I could.

After all, I had no intention of lounging around unemployed, burning through my severance pay.

While mulling over these thoughts, I arrived at the café before I even realized it. I grabbed a glass from the counter and filled it with water.

At that moment…

“….”

“Huh?”

I turned my head toward the faint sensation of someone’s gaze.

And there…

“… noona?”

“….”

Sitting there, in the dim light of the café, was my noona. She was dressed in a sharp black suit.

But immediately after-

‘… Wait, what? Huh? No… hold on…’

I suddenly realized something.

The woman sitting there wasn’t the Sooyoung noona I knew.

She was someone entirely different.

Her facial features were strikingly similar to noona’s.

But something about her seemed entirely different.

However, in terms of appearance, there was one distinct difference.

Unlike my older sister, who had dark, black eyes, this woman’s eyes shone with a bright red hue that was impossible to miss.

But beyond the eye color, the most decisive difference was the atmosphere.

While her older sister had a calm and warm presence, the woman standing before me radiated a cold, detached aura.
It was strange, almost disorienting, to stand before someone so similar yet so fundamentally different.

Just as I was processing these unusual feelings, the woman spoke.

“Are you… Lee Jinhyun?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. That’s me. My name is Lee Jinhyun, but…”

“I see…”

She nodded slowly, then began to approach me. Her calm, measured steps brought her closer, and as she stopped just in front of me, my heart suddenly began to race.

The woman, who bore such a striking resemblance to my older sister yet felt so different, bowed slightly and greeted me with a polite, composed voice.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Lee Jinhyun. My name is Iare,” she said. “I’m the younger sister of Ms. Han Sooyoung. She told me about you.”

“Ah… yes… it’s nice to meet you too.”

As she spoke, I couldn’t help but feel that her resemblance to Sooyoung noona was undeniable. It was so strong that the idea of them not being related would have been even stranger.

‘Still… I never knew noona had a younger sibling. Could it be more complicated than I realized?’

I considered the possibility that, because noona had lost her parents when she was young, Iare might have been separated from her during that time.

But just as I was piecing it all together, Iare looked at me and spoke in a slightly hesitant tone.

“By the way… it seems I’ve come at an awkward time.”

“Huh? Oh… uh…”

Her words made me realize something, and embarrassment hit me like a wave.

At this very moment, my appearance was… far from ideal.

I had just rolled out of bed after sleeping on the sofa. My face was unshaven, with thick stubble darkening my chin. My hair was a mess from washing up in a hurry, and my shirt was only half-buttoned, leaving me looking disheveled. To top it off, I was wearing slippers, lazily dragging them across the floor.

“Ah… um… I’m sorry. Uh… just give me a moment…”

“Alright. Take your time,” she replied with a small nod.

Blushing furiously, I rushed back upstairs.

‘Damn it… She’s someone I might be working with in the future, and this is the first impression I leave? Seriously?’

Although her visit had been unannounced and at an early hour, part of me knew my current state was still inexcusable.

But even as I berated myself, I felt a subtle, almost childish desire to leave a good impression on her, especially because she resembled my older sister so closely.

It wasn’t anything significant, just a small, selfish wish to appear better in her eyes.

After I hurriedly retreated upstairs, Iare, now left alone in the café, quietly sat down. She poured herself a glass of water and stared at it for a moment.

At first glance, her expression seemed calm and composed.

But at that very moment, her hand, which held the glass of water, was trembling ever so slightly.

She rarely felt nervous, but now, the tremor in her hand betrayed her unease.

Without allowing her feelings to show on her face, she quickly brought the glass to her lips and took a sip of cold water, trying to steady herself.

‘Lee Jinhyun…’

The name echoed in her mind.