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Jun-ho was quietly walking home after his shift at the station. His mind wandered back to…him. To his older brother, In-ho, who Jun-ho used to admire and worship as if he was a God-even if he wasn’t, he was far from it. But to Jun-ho he was, always was and that’s what mattered… at least before Jun-ho found the truth.
Instinctively, Jun-ho’s right hand went on his left shoulder, lightly touching the bullet scar left by his brother, covered by his light gray shirt into which he changed after finishing his shift.
As Jun-ho walked home, he heard a commotion which snapped him out of his sorrowful state. At first he thought it was a fight between 2 drunk people. As an officer it was his duty to make sure that everyone is safe, so he quickly rushed towards the sound, pulling his gun out.
That’s how he ended up near an alleyway where he could hear rapid gunfire and…inhumane sounds? It was strange. Jun-ho peaked around the corner and what he saw left him stunned.
An older man- he looked around In-ho’s age before he lost his wife-with striking white hair and bright blue eyes, dressed in a red leather coat was fighting what looked like a… grotesque red monster? The man-who was grinning as if this was an everyday occurrence- was using a long black sword that had a red gem at the end of its handle and a pair of twin pistols, one an ivory colour and the other an ebony colour, to fight the red demon.
The white haired man shot the monster-demon?- in its head. Jun-ho watched as the monster screeched and fell to the grown and then disintegrated. Jun-ho regarded the scene with wide eyes, a mix of emotions-confusion, shock, fascination, fear- dancing and fighting for dominance in his eyes. The stranger turned around and grinned.
“So, did you enjoy the show kid?” Asked the white haired man in perfect English.
Jun-ho steps out from his corner, steps forward and raises his gun
“Freeze! Put your hands where I can see them!” Said Jun-ho in his accented English-english wasn’t his forté, that was In-ho’s, who has always been good at languages.
“Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t use? The police?” Asked the man, amusement and a tint of annoyance present in his voice while he mockingly raised his hands in the air.
“Actually yes” replied Jun-ho sceptically, eyeing the man up and down. He was dressed in a navy shirt, his wrists were bandaged but they didn’t look injured, he wore a black pair of pants, his pants were fastened by a brown belt with a gold buckle and a dark brown pair of boots. His white hair framed his face and only reached his chin from where Jun-ho was he could see that the man had a slight stubble.
“Well mister police officer, there’s no need to crash this party. I’m allowed to use these things since I’m dealing with a pretty ugly demon infestation, actually the city hired me so I have permission” said the guy half heartedly.
The police officer steps closer, gun still raised and looked the guy in the eye-he had to look slightly up since the guy was taller than him.
“So, are you some kind of mercenary or bounty hunter?”
“Kinda, but I personally prefer the term devil hunter as I specialise in that” replied the red man, who then glanced at the spot where the monster stood a second ago.
“Name’s Dante. I run a little business, Devil May Cry, we mostly operate in Europe.”
Jun-ho glanced at the place where the disintegrated demon was and continued his pseudo interrogation “Then what are you doing here if you operate in Europe? And what the hell is that?”
“Well that is a very ugly son of a bitch or formally known as a Fury. Basically a demon, the town hired me to get rid of a demon infestation that none of the mercenaries here wanted to deal with” shrugged Dante.
Dante looked Jun-ho up and down and then said
“You look like you could use a drink, how about we go somewhere and I can answer your questions Officer?”
“So you run a business back in Europe?” Said Jun-ho after he bought them drinks and in an attempt to start the conversation with the mysterious man.
“Yep. Devil hunting. It’s kinda like a small family business. The main branch is run by me in England and we have a mobile branch that operates out of Fortuna” explained Dante.
Jun-ho looked at him and wondered ‘Fortuna? Never heard of that before, probably a micro-nation, Europe has a few of those ’ and then asks “Wait if you have a mobile branch why didn’t they come to deal with the… demon infestation?”
“They were already busy with another mission, so I came here since I was available. And I’ve always wanted to visit South Korea… you know when I was younger, my brother talked about visiting Japan -I guess it’s because his sword is inspired by Japan or something like that- but I’ve always wanted to visit Korea mostly because my mom mentioned visiting it before she had us and I was… intrigued. I thought ‘well, I’ll hit two birds with one stone’ so I took this mission” said Dante before taking a sip of the soju Jun-ho bought.
“You also have a brother?”
Dante looked stunned and then slowly chuckles.
“Yup, he’s my twin brother. But if you asked him he’d say he’s my older brother by a few hours” answered Dante.
Dante looked at Jun-ho who had a look of sorrow and grief, sighed and then asked.
“So… you’ve also got an older brother? Lemme guess… complicated relationship?”
Jun-ho gave the white haired man a perplexed look, surprised that he detected that and then scoffed.
“I guess you could say that… Spent years looking for him after he went missing, only to find out that he…”
Jun-ho paused and then turned his head away. In a slightly defeated voice he continued “he wasn’t who I thought he was, the man who I admired since I was young”
Dante gave the younger a look of full of…sympathy to Jun-ho’s surprise, who expected pity more than anything.
“I know how it is…” said Dante refusing to elaborate as he moved his glaze from Jun-ho and then took a sip of his drink.
The two sat in silence for a moment. Dante looked back at the police officer and then suddenly “He didn’t try to stab you, did he?” he questioned, trying to lighten the mood.
Jun-ho looks at the devil Hunter in a surprised manner. Then he gave a small chuckle and replied “Shoot me, actually. Off a cliff” while he slightly shook his head.
“Tsk, that’s rough… Mine sliced my hand open with what used to be our farther’s sword-the sword I mentioned earlier- and then let himself fall off a cliff in hell” sympathised the Devil Hunter.
A small flicker of shock could’ve been seen in the police officer’s eyes, his mouth slightly agape and said “… I don’t even know how to respond.”
A moment passed, Jun-ho quiet as if in thought. “By hell, you mean that he…died, no?”
“Nope.” Answered Dante while exaggerating the pop sound. He leaned back on his chair and watched as the younger of the two gave him a look of intrigue and surprise.
“He opened a portal to hell-you know, as in the place where demons come from- and then fell into it” clarified the Red Devil
“…How?”
“Well… long story short, he raised a demonic tower and using our blood, our parents’s gifts to us and the blood of a friend, opened the gate of hell which our father closed 2000 years ago. When I tried to stop him that’s when he sliced my hand and fell into hell. I don’t know what happened afterwards, I never asked, but I assume he went after our mother’s killer” explained Dante, eyes full of sorrow and grief, a look Jun-ho recognised well as he saw it a lot in In-ho’s eyes after his wife’s death.
Silence passed between the two, Jun-ho wondering if this man’s brother is somehow in back his life and wondered if maybe he could also have In-ho back in his life the same way this guy might have his.
“You know… it’s not the only time Vergil opened a portal to hell and I’d argue that’s not the craziest thing he has done” suddenly said Dante. Jun-ho assumes Vergil is the name of Dante’s brother, and then as the words registered in his mind he thought ‘What else could he have done that is crazier than opening a portal to hell more than once?’
“You wanna talk about yours?” asked Dante.
“Mine?” Questioned Jun-ho confused
“Your brother” clarified Dante
“What’s to say about him?” Barked Jun-ho, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
“He joined a death game, won like 4 billion won and then disappeared. I’ve sneaked in those games as a worker and then I found out that he’s the one who runs the whole thing now” continued the police officer, his voice laced with frustration.
He realised that he said more than he wanted to but he figured that after he said that, he felt like a weight was taken off him as his shoulders slumped. He realised that he hadn’t felt this relaxed since before his sister-in-law got sick. ‘Maybe it’s good to talk about unfortunate things like these’ thought Jun-ho.
Dante gave a short whistle as he crossed his arms and then said “Damn, no that’s fucked up. How about we go get some strawberry Sundaes somewhere else? To lighten the mood”
“Or we could go grab some pizza and you tell me about the crazier things your brother has done” replied Jun-ho.
“Now, you’re speaking my language, kid. You’re paying since you suggested it first” laughed Dante while he got up from his seat at the table and walked past the officer.
Jun-ho turned around to look at the other with an annoyed expression. He gets up and quickly follows the Red Devil after paying for the drinks.
“I’m not a kid! I’m in my thirties” exclaimed Jun-ho as he caught up to the devil.
“Really? Could’ve fooled me kid. Sounds like you’re older than my nephew yet you look like you could be his age.”
“Ugh stop calling me that”
“Well I can call you mister police officer or kid since I don’t know your name”
“It’s Jun-ho, Hwang Jun-ho… anyways, follow me I know a place where we can drink some good soju and eat some good pizza” then Jun-ho led Dante to a local restaurant, with bright neon lights that spelled the place’s name in Korean.
“You have…a nephew?” continued Jun-ho to interrogate as he looked the other man up and down before he sat down at a table towards the back. ‘He doesn’t look like an uncle…’ Jun-ho thought to himself.
“Yup, he’s in his 20s, he has a beautiful and kind girlfriend and he’s fostering 3 kids. He used to be part of a cult that was dedicated to worshipping my father-“
“Wait what” interrupted the police officer.
“And he was the one to help me take it down! I don’t show it or have told him but I do love him and I am very proud of him” said Dante in the same tone a proud father would talk about their kid.
“And why are you telling me this?”
Dante glanced sideways, sighed and then looked back at Jun-ho and said while shrugging “I guess you remind me of him”
That stunned Jun-ho. The two sit in silence. A waitress comes and asked for their order. Jun-ho orders for them in Korean and then in English Jun-ho asked with a quiet voice “Is he… Vergil’s son?”
Dante looked at Jun-ho with a surprised expression, a flash of confusion and agitation appeared in his eyes but they were gone quickly-probably confusion because of Jun-ho knowing his brother’s name but then he remembered mentioning it earlier. Dante moved his glaze down and nodded once, a small smile appearing on his face.
“Yep, I don’t have other siblings so he can’t be anyone else’s and I’ve never stepped foot in Fortuna so he couldn’t be mine, anyways I’ve told you about Nero, now tell me about this older brother of yours, anything”
Jun-ho stared at Dante for a moment and said
“Half brother actually, but really what’s the difference?”
“I get you” smiled Dante.
“Well, his name is In-ho”
“Wait, so you’re Jun-ho and In-ho? Damn not even me and Vergil have names that obvious and we’re twins, anyways continue” laughed Dante.
Jun-ho glanced downwards and smiled, a real smile and continued talking about In-ho. Describing him to Dante, telling the other stories from his childhood while Dante gave commentary here and there, telling him about In-ho’s wife and her sickness, but Jun-ho never mentioned the games-for once Jun-ho didn’t want to think about the man his brother had become, instead in that moment he chose to relive those good memories while Dante listened with a fond smile.
Jun-ho continued to talk about In-ho until the pizza came, to which they switched discussion subjects, from their respective jobs, to their friends to other family members, to random stories from their lives, at one point Dante even offered Jun-ho a job at the agency to which Jun-ho laughed and joked back by saying he’ll think about it.
Even though they started the day as strangers, now they basically knew each other’s lives (or well Dante knew Jun-ho’s life, he only knew bits of his but that’s fine).
As night fall approached the two realised they had to part ways. They both split the bill and then went outside.
“Well, kid, I guess it’s time for me to return to the shop. If you ever need help exterminating some demons call Devil May Cry. See you” said Dante.
Before Jun-ho could reply Dante was gone. And strangely enough Jun-ho felt alone again.
He hoped he can see the Devil Hunter again.