The Senior Slayer's Gentle Rescue
Even if it was just Kim Heejin, carrying a capsule and its linked devices all at once wasn't something anyone would consider normal.
Even for a physical enhancement-type Awakener, the burden would be immense.
But Seo Harang showed no sign of strain. She simply ran quietly.
She was far faster than Kim Heejin herself.
Yet the heart of the Kim Heejin being carried felt uneasy.
'This is working my body too hard...'
Crack.
Seo Harang's legs screamed in protest.
If it was just running, it would have been fine, but the real problem came when they reached a dead end and had to turn.
Shifting direction without slowing was hard enough on the joints, and with so much weight on her back, words were unnecessary.
Yet she endured it without a single complaint.
For someone who wasn't even family.
'I...'
Kim Heejin's head drooped.
She had always treated Harang better than the rest of the unit, but right now she wasn't.
Useless baggage. Her slow legs meant she was being carried like this, and the shame was unbearable.
Still, they barely scraped through the three-minute limit, and Seo Harang found the exit. She had truly done it.
Kugugung. Like it had been waiting for them, the vibration intensified.
One more step and she would have been buried alive. No matter how strong Kim Heejin's body was, she couldn't have survived being buried in the mountain. Especially not ordinary person Kim Huijeong.
"Exit...! Seo Harang! Get down—"
The moment she spotted the light, Kim Heejin tried to slide off Harang's back.
But Harang blocked her.
"...Don't try to apologize and get thrown off. We need to finish this properly."
Harang's body, legs forcibly extended, was enveloped in the light beam, and the entrance collapsed as if waiting.
Probably nothing of the previous form remained inside.
"Huff... ah..."
Terump. An abnormal sound came from Seo Harang's voice as she stepped down.
Her breathing carried the scent of something wrong.
"Ah, it's heavy. I really need to go on a diet. Noona."
Kim Heejin realized Harang was aware of her own condition, yet Harang acted even more energetic.
Kim Heejin quickly dismounted from her back.
The capsule and machine were both intact.
The real problem was Harang's body.
"Eh?"
Clunk.
"Eh, wait! Wait! Seo Harang!"
Harang's body staggered and collapsed with a startled word she hadn't expected.
It was the aftereffect of pushing her body hard while running and forcing sharp turns in direction.
The operation, which had started with two entry members, ended with only one casualty.
It was the best possible outcome they could have achieved.
...
Day two of vacation.
The first thing Kim Heejin saw when she opened her eyes was the unfamiliar ceiling of a hospital she had never seen before in her life.
Lying in the recovery bed, she immediately looked for Seo Harang.
'...She's sleeping well.'
Her legs were wrapped in casts, yet she slept soundly.
Even after getting injured because of someone else, her face showed no resentment.
Maybe it was just because she was sleeping.
Seeing her peaceful sleep made Kim Heejin's heart flutter.
It wasn't only because Harang had gotten hurt for her.
She picked up her phone and opened the messages.
This was a message from a place different from where she had been depositing money.
[Deposit confirmed. We will do our utmost to support Miss Kim Huijeong in recovering her health.]
It said the deposit had been confirmed.
After countless investigations, it was from a creditworthy—expensive—nutrition supply center.
Her life support was in place, but she couldn't worry about her health anymore.
She had noticed a warning sign for Kim Huijeong's health after the rescue and left it in their hands.
Where had the money come from?
'...Why are you working so hard. For real.'
Seo Harang had done it.
She had withdrawn money from the account she managed under the family name.
"Ah, um..."
Seo Harang opened her eyes.
Exactly 6:30 a.m. The morning broadcast was playing right on cue.
"Kim Heejin Superhuman-nim?"
Still half-asleep, she murmured like she was in the barracks.
That was fine.
Kim Heejin wanted to know Harang's true feelings more than anything.
She had received help without thinking, but looking back, it was an incomprehensible act.
A complete stranger. Someone she wouldn't have met if she hadn't come to the barracks.
She threw her body away for that person.
It didn't end there.
She covered her own hospital bills and even poured a huge sum into someone else's family.
No one in the world would have done something so reckless.
"Harang-ah."
"Superhuman Seo Harang... ah, this isn't the barracks. I was on vacation."
That bright voice kept poking Kim Heejin's heart.
Between the guilt, there seemed to be something unprecedented.
"Eh... how are your legs?"
"It's fine... fine. They're a little uncomfortable, but I can't stand it that much. It was my own doing, after all."
"...Yeah, that's why I wanted to ask you something."
"Huh? What?"
"Seo Harang, why did you do all that?"
"All that?"
"You pushed me away, drew a line, and showed me nothing even when I was looking at you with a bad expression."
Every time she spoke, Kim Heejin's heart grew colder.
The heart that had been pounding the moment before now seemed to have emptied of all its blood and frozen.
Yet her mouth kept moving.
The frozen tongue poured out meaningless self-hatred.
"There's no reason for you to care about me. I was just a strict senior you met at the barracks."
Kim Heejin knew perfectly well those words were meant as kindness.
She wasn't someone who should say such things to the person who had saved her or the one who had offered a hand without hesitation.
If she had helped her with good intentions, she would have been furious to hear those words.
Yet Seo Harang showed no negative emotion.
"Didn't I say? I wanted to exercise and train with you."
She was just trying to set an impossible reward, like before.
"Doing that much for something like that is strange. It's your own money. You lived hard. You wouldn't give away money like that. Even if you said you'd pay back, it's the same as the money leaving your hands."
"Ah, you've been thinking that the whole time? No wonder your face hasn't looked good since yesterday. Then I'll tell you the real reason."
Only now did she seem about to reveal her true feelings, and Harang smiled shyly.
"Last time you went on a mission, you praised me for how fast I could move. I didn't know I could do that fast. You said it was good."
A passing compliment that she had kept close to her heart.
"That feeling was really good. I remembered the last words my dad said. He told me to be the person who reaches out without hesitation to those who need help."
She had sworn to live like that, and at the right moment Harang had shown her that expression.
That expression of someone who needed help.
Someone who had inspired me showed that look. How could I stay still?
She spoke a little longer than necessary and turned her gaze away, looking embarrassed.
Kim Heejin's heart rang like a bell at that sight and those words.
It swelled so loudly that it felt like it could be heard, filling the chill that had been there before.
'Eh...? What...'
Heat rose.
The rising sunlight bathed Seo Harang's face.
Glossy black hair, sharp eyes full of resolve, beautiful body.
All of it seemed to embrace her.
'What...? What is this...? Really what...?!!'
A heat she had never felt before.
A deep emotion rising not from anger but from the very core.
Her entire body heated up.
The body temperature warming her face was strangely disorienting.
Unconsciously she looked at her and pulled her gaze away in surprise.
The moment she saw that expression, the heartbeat grew stronger.
Frightened by the heartbeat growing stronger the more she noticed, Kim Heejin clutched her chest.
"Eh? What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
At that sight, Seo Harang reached out a hand.
A slender, soft, gentle touch.
It covered Kim Heejin's forehead.
"Ah, ah! D-don't touch! Just a second!"
The sound escaped on its own.
A self-defense mechanism from the unknown emotion.
At that, Harang pouted her lips.
"What? I was worried, and now this. That's why blue-haired beasts are..."
Seeing no reaction, Harang examined Kim Heejin's eyes.
'Was I overdoing it? Too much? Should I apologize now?' she thought.
Kim Heejin was staring at her own lips.
Intently. As if she would be swallowed whole.
An awkward atmosphere settled.
Yet Harang felt relief when the usual energetic reaction returned, just like before.
"Still, it's a relief. It looks good on you, Heejin noona."
"What kind of look...?"
"The energetic one. You looked like you had been worrying for days, but now it seems like everything has truly been solved."
With a fresh smile, feeling her heart at the limit, sensing the heated body temperature, and feeling the embarrassment of facing it all.
'This is really impossible. Me, really...'
Kim Heejin had realized it.
'I really... like her...'
At this age, it was impossible not to realize the feeling.
She glared at Harang with defiance, but the more she did so, the clearer it became that the emotion she felt now was real.
'This is really impossible. Is this really true? For real? If this is really true, then this is my first love. With another girl. I'm a girl getting her first love. What is this...'
She couldn't stop it just by denying it.
Those eyes, that body, that heart—all of them had entered deep into her heart and stuck everywhere.
Kim Heejin's first love happened in a situation that perfectly matched the word irregular.
She kept muttering to herself, 'This can't be happening. This kind of thing can't happen,'
"Still, I'm glad. You can rest for the next four days, right? If the mission dragged on too long, we wouldn't have been able to enjoy the vacation we came for."
"Ah... well."
"Did you make any other plans? I don't have many close friends, so I'm pretty free without any commitments. If you're okay with it, I'd like to play together. Is that fine?"
"Th... yeah... I guess so..."
She spoke gruffly, but a shy smile appeared, as if she was only denying it with her head while her heart had already accepted the emotion.