A few days ago, a meeting request came from Justitia.

“Emergency!!! Emergency―!!!”

Naturally, the Collector’s Guild went into crisis mode.

“What the hell?! Why the sudden panic? Did Black Cloak finally summon Cthulhu?!”

“Wasn’t Sergio Hunter already Cthulhu? Is he finally revealing his true form? No, but he’s such a gentleman... even the last meat gift was purely out of goodwill. So it can’t be that.”

“With all due respect, everyone shut your mouths so we can hear the actual issue. So what’s going on?”

A staff member, clearly shocked, briefly summarized the news.

“Hunter Seo Seo-Hee wants to meet with Sergio Hunter.”

“...Emergency―!!!”

They all tensed up.

“Ah... and lately, Black Cloak hasn’t been in the best shape.”

“He went through a lot recently—he’s probably still not fully recovered.”

“Wasn’t he taking time off right now for that very reason?”

They knew all too well about the state of their portrait lately. He used to at least haphazardly mimic humanity, but recently, whether from fatigue or indifference, even that had stopped.

“Anyone here know exactly how Sergio’s doing these days?”

Eyewitness testimonies were quickly squeezed out.

“He’s been walking around with literal holes in his shadow. If you don’t mention it, he’ll just go around like that. The only relief is that he doesn’t get angry when you point it out.”

“Fixing the holes isn’t even the whole issue. Sometimes there is a shadow, but it’s the wrong kind—like a deer or a sheep. Sometimes something like a mermaid flickers inside it.”

“He hasn’t been tracking human presences either. You can still hear rustling grass or hoofsteps, but honestly, it doesn’t feel human at all.”

“He’s got no weight. His energy is way too high. Maybe he’s just tired of managing it, or... I mean, maybe he really just has no energy left. I heard he’s pretty introverted...”

“Calling him ‘introverted’ always cracks me up, but that’s what I heard from Yoo Seong-Woon and Joo-Hyun. Honestly, his stiff tone is kind of endearing.”

It was a bit of a problem.

“Aigoo... Why has our precious flowerpot withered so much...?”

“You can’t call him a flowerpot when he still makes time to interact with us!”

“This is tricky... If a Symbol of Eternity requested it directly, it’s hard to refuse.”

“Can’t we just say no?”

“If word gets out, Seo Hunter’ll get even more famous, and that’s a no-go.”

“Yeah, I guess he wouldn’t like that...”

Stuck in the middle, Joo-Hyun looked terribly awkward.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up so suddenly. I’m not sure I’ll be much help, but is there anything I can do?”

“There is.”

“Ah, if you tell me, I’ll do my best...”

“Please teach Sergio Hunter how to be human.”

“Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”

“Damn.”

They brainstormed how to recover their portrait’s condition.

“What if we give him a crash course? He might get mad, but it’s worth a try...”

“Can’t we just send him back saying he’s sick? Sure, he’ll get famous, but sending Black Cloak out in this state feels wrong.”

“Doesn’t matter whether we send him or not. He wants to go. That’s why Joo-Hyun is here—to tell us. Maybe we can give him a user manual on humans?”

“God, this is a mess...”

That’s when Joo-Hyun dropped the brutal truth.

“I know you’re already thinking this through, but... canceling the meeting isn’t an option. The schedule hasn’t been formalized yet, but, well, Gio is currently... preparing galbi-jjim.”

“Did he slaughter something again?”

“This time he’s using Earth’s ingredients. His pantry’s full of meat already, so it looks like there won’t be any more slaughtering for a while.”

“Whew, I thought he got someone.”

“Gio doesn’t eat people.”

“I know that, but whenever the word ‘slaughter’ comes up around him, I get chills... Anyway, since he’s already making the gift, we definitely can’t stop it. That’s a shame.”

A mysterious being bound by rules was preparing a “gift” for a human. To interfere with that was to invite chaos. And the being’s mood would sour terribly.

“Eh, nothing we can do now.”

The conclusion came quickly.

“If Sergio doesn’t want to quit human society, I’m sure he’ll handle it himself.”

“It’s not like we can force him to do anything. What’s the point of trying?”

“Let’s just send him. The Symbol of Eternity must already know about our portrait. As long as nothing major happens during the meeting, it should wrap up quietly.”

“Still, how did this meeting even come to be...? Joo-Hyun, does this have anything to do with the reaction you mentioned before from Seo Seo-Hee?”

Joo-Hyun nodded.

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, he was quite friendly last time. I didn’t expect it to go as far as a formal meeting... but according to Curator Yoo Seong-Woon, he probably understands Gio’s circumstances well, so we don’t need to worry too much.”

Of course, even Joo-Hyun hadn’t expected Gio to bring a giant jar. She had to gather countless Earth-side references and hypotheses just to convince him to scale down the galbi-jjim into something reasonably sized.

And so, with everyone’s combined effort, the meeting was arranged.

***

“......”

“......”

And on the day of the meeting, Hunter Seo Seo-Hee was struck speechless by the incredible sight.

“...So you’re telling me this is galbi-jjim?”

“Yes. I wanted to bring more, but everyone kept stopping me, so I reduced the amount.”

“It still seems like quite a lot... No, that’s not what I meant.”

What truly caught Seo Seo-Hee’s attention was the silk wrapping and the container holding the galbi-jjim.

“Why does this silk feel like it radiates restorative energy?”

“Ah, restoration. Now that you mention it, the silk was made from the wool of a sheep with regenerative power.”

“Did you... make it yourself? That nuance sounds like...”

“I wanted it to look fancy, since I brought less. So yes, I wove it myself.”

“Then what about the container? Lacquerware? It feels different.”

“I found some pretty seashells during my last trip to the ocean and decided to use them.”

“So this was handmade too.”

Even the container carried the energy of both the sun and moon.

“......?”

Seo Seo-Hee felt a faint sense of confusion for the first time in ages.

“Um, I’m really sorry, but Justitia has a strict policy against accepting bribes...”

“I don’t seek anything from you, Hunter Seo Seo-Hee.”

“Then... this gift is purely an act of goodwill?”

“I’m very glad you understood my intention.”

“...I feel bad asking, but... were we ever this close?”

“To forget our deep and cherished friendship—how heartbreaking.”

“I can see you pretending to cry. Please don’t, it’ll make this harder.”

“If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”

Sergio Hunter smiled gently, as if he had never pretended to cry.

“I was excited at the thought of seeing you again. I remembered how thin you looked the last time we met, so I wanted to prepare a small side dish... though everyone said it was too much, so I had to reduce it. I tried to make up for it in other ways.”

At that, Seo Seo-Hee looked down at the pentagon-shaped container.

“......”

Then back at Sergio.

“There’s a lot I want to say right now.”

“No one’s stopping you.”

“First of all, I’m not thin...”

His smile was hollow.

“Just look at my muscle mass! I keep myself in good shape—nothing excessive, but certainly above average. To be told I’m thin is a little... embarrassing.”

“......”

“...You look like you’ve got plenty to say too, so go ahead. Say whatever—it’s not like I’ll take offense. I’m listening.”

“You look like nothing but bones.”

“Are you clairvoyant?”

Unless he literally saw only bones, there was no way this made sense. No one in the world would call Seo Seo-Hee thin. Especially not with that tone—it sounded like he was talking to a malnourished child.

“I eat just fine.”

He felt compelled to defend himself.

“To stay healthy, you have to eat three square meals a day. That’s how I live—eating well, sleeping well, exercising hard, studying diligently... I’m not sure why I’m defending myself like this, but I just wanted to say—I’m doing fine.”

Seo Seo-Hee suddenly felt like maybe he had been the one cared for in their past.

“...Was I the one being looked after?”

“You remember that much?”

“Ah. Not exactly—more like, data’s piled up. There’ve been cases where I forgot good and bad connections... and then met them again.”

“I understand.”

“Yes. I’m actually taking this all in quite easily. It’s strange—why does this feel familiar? I didn’t think I’d ever hear that kind of comment directed at me.”

His expression turned a little awkward.

“Maybe I met you during a time when I wasn’t eating well...”

“......”

“...So that’s it.”

Yeah, it was embarrassing.

It must’ve been quite a while ago.

He felt sorry and unsettled.

I don’t know exactly when it was, but... when I wasn’t eating well, I probably wasn’t a very decent person.

Seo Seo-Hee hadn’t always lived like this. Back when Earth was in chaos, he had been more broken. He figured he must’ve met Sergio during that kind of time.

“Losing memories is such a pain sometimes.”

“I believe there must’ve been a reason worth forgetting.”

“Thank you for understanding...”

His emotions were mixed.

“......”

Were they ever close enough for this kind of gift?

No, wait—even so, this is... a lot.

But still, it was a plausible gift of goodwill. Sergio had said he was excited to see him again—if that was true, then they must’ve been very close.

He couldn’t shake this ticklish feeling gnawing at his toes.

I hope it was a promise worth keeping, but... I really don’t know.

Usually, once a promise was fulfilled, its contents vanished from memory.

I wonder what I used that good relationship for.

He could only hope it had been one of the precious pillars holding up Earth.

“...And there’s one more thing I’d like to say.”

“I’m listening, Hunter Seo Seo-Hee.”

“You said you reduced the amount, but it really doesn’t look reduced.”

“I was always worried that you ate so little. To think you still...”

“Who said I eat little? Don’t pin that on me, Sergio Hunter.”

He gave a strange smile.

“You must be quite the big eater.”

“Yes. I hear that often.”

“To someone like that, most people must look like they’re starving. I actually eat more than average, but this is a bit more than that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You really do seem like you’ll just keep it in mind...”

Despite the guilt lodged in his lungs, the conversation was awkward in a not-unpleasant way.

“And you made this yourself? The silk and the container too? Never mind how—that’s impressive enough that I’d feel guilty even if you had bought it somewhere. It’s just too much.”

“Just to be clear, this really isn’t a bribe...”

“Yes, I know you don’t lie. So it’s one of two things. Either we were really that close... or you just have a very unique way of seeing the world. Maybe both...”

Daring as it was—it was a little delightful.

“...This is fun.”

It had been a very long time.