Chapter 185: A Woman's Enemy Is... (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: A Woman's Enemy Is... (7)
Rubbing her dry eyes as she rose from bed, Seira felt the chill in the room and wrapped the duvet tightly around her body.
Living in an apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, she was greeting a day off from work. She stared blankly out the window, wondering what she should do today.
"It's cold."
Having no particular plans, she decided to start with a cup of coffee. Leaving the master bedroom, she crossed the spacious living room to the kitchen, popped a capsule into the machine, and turned it on.
While waiting for the coffee to brew, she walked to the window and looked down at the road, where cars were already beginning the early morning commute. Normally, she would have given a refreshing stretch and looked forward to a relaxing holiday, but today felt different.
She had something on her mind. Until just a few days ago, her old friend A had been completely unaware that Luche, a fellow Team Leader, was actually A.T. But very recently, A had found out the truth.
In the office, she had acted as if it were no big deal, but the fact that A hadn't known Luche's identity had served as a perfect shield, allowing Seira to procrastinate on making up her own mind about her feelings.
In hindsight, it was all just an excuse, but A’s ignorance had been a very convenient justification for her not having to take any immediate action.
Now that A knew everything, Seira found herself in a position where she could no longer use that convenient excuse.
Her mind had gone cold and heavy starting the day after A found out about Luche.
Even when eating with the other Team Leaders, Seira felt as if her brain had turned to stone. Whenever she tried to think about what she should do next, it felt as if someone were slamming on the brakes of her thoughts.
As if possessed, she looked at the smartphone in her hand. It wasn't even 9:00 AM yet, and she wondered if he would even pick up if she contacted him now.
Just in case, she left a text for A.
"……He’s not looking."
Watching the '1' next to the message remain stubbornly in place, she figured A hadn't woken up yet. Hearing the sound from the coffee machine signaling that her drink was ready, she headed back to the kitchen.
After eating and spending some time watching TV, noon had already passed. Thinking he must be awake by now, she checked her phone again, but the '1' next to the text still hadn't disappeared.
"Just how long is he sleeping?"
She knew all too well that A was the type of person who couldn't manage himself properly unless she interfered. However, after Seira became a Team Leader ten years ago, a strange distance had begun to form between them, and from that point on, she had stopped meddling in his life.
Yet, because she was always worried about him, she couldn't lose interest entirely. Consequently, the warnings she used to give him about not doing anything reckless had gradually become more blunt and curt.
It was only recently that she realized her behavior had been so abrasive and that it had been causing A stress. Seira herself felt that her actions hadn't changed much over the years, but the subtle distance between them had magnified the impact of those slightly altered behaviors.
The day she realized her actions were stressing A out was the same day he had suffered a major injury that nearly cost him his life. She had watched over him for two weeks while he remained unconscious back on the ship.
After A woke up, they had moved around the ship together to collect data, and during that process, Seira felt as if they had returned to the way they used to be.
Because of that, she tried to maintain that same sense of distance after returning to Seoul, but things didn't go as planned. She couldn't help but worry that A might act independently again and come to harm.
The last time Seira had directly interfered with A was ten years ago, and now she felt unable to suddenly start hovering over his actions and contacting him like before. She could do it, but her heart hesitated to make the move.
There was the difference in rank between a Team Leader and a regular soldier, of course, but she also worried that if she started meddling again, it would only cause him more stress.
She had agonized over sending even that single text this morning, worrying if even that would be a burden to him.
Time continued to tick away, and the text she sent A remained unchanged, with no sign of having been read.
"What is he even doing?"
A hint of irritation seeped into her mutterings. After debating what to do, Seira finally called him. The dial tone rang for over a minute, but A did not answer.
Is he avoiding my calls on purpose?
Once that thought took hold, the emotion Seira felt wasn't pity or worry, but irritation.
"Is he really ghosting me?"
Even though ten years had passed since she stopped directly interfering, Seira's feelings for A hadn't changed in all that time.
To be precise, from their childhood on their homeworld until now, Seira's feelings had never wavered for a single moment.
"What on earth is he doing?"
Staring at the smartphone that showed no sign of a callback, her initial irritation began to shift back into worry. She called him again. A still didn't pick up.
Leaving a text, making a call, leaving another text, making another call. As she repeated this cycle, the sun began to set.
Seira's worry was now turning into anxiety. The A she knew wasn't the type to go out and party wildly, nor was he the type to sit around drinking with friends.
Unless something was happening, he was an extreme homebody who minimized external activities and spent all his time at home.
This wasn't the first time Seira had felt this kind of anxiety.
She had already felt it when A first said he was going to investigate Superhumans.
A, who never took the lead unless a task was given to him or it directly concerned him, had suddenly started investigating Superhumans on his own.
However, because so much time had passed without her interfering, she couldn't say much about his investigation.
Aside from telling him not to do anything, she said nothing else. Carrying only an anxious heart that feared he might get caught up in trouble, she did her best to help him with what he wanted to investigate.
And while she kept that anxiety buried deep inside, she learned that her words were stressing him out, and then A was critically injured in an ambush by the very Superhumans he was investigating.
"Fine. Do whatever you want."
Piqued by the thought that her worrying might just be seen as stress by A, Seira threw her smartphone onto the sofa and went to her dressing room to find something to wear.
I'm absolutely not obsessed, and I'm definitely not doing this because I'm worried. I just wanted to see him since it's my day off, and since I can't reach him, I'm just going to go check on him.
Hypnotizing herself with those thoughts, Seira dressed for going out, grabbed her phone and wallet, and left the house.
She tried calling him again on the way to his place, but she gave up after hearing the automated message saying the power was turned off.
She had known the location of his house for a long time. She had never visited, but she had kept track of the location so she could go there immediately if a problem arose. Standing before his door, Seira looked at the electronic lock.
She had never asked him for the passcode, but she already knew what kind of numbers he would use.
She placed her hand on the lock and entered the code; the door opened as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Seeing the lights on through the slightly ajar door, she became certain that A was home.
"Hey! Why aren't you answering—"
Before she could finish asking "your phone?", a stranger caught Seira's eye. It wasn't someone she had never seen before. However, it was someone far too out of place to be in A's house.
Rather than wondering why the red-haired woman in front of her was here, her nerves spiked with hostility first.
Reaching into the air, Seira summoned her sword. The moment she gripped it, Red drew her own blade as well. Seira was a beat faster in her approach, and as their swords clashed, Red was pushed back into the house.
"What? Why are you here?!"
As soon as the front door clicked shut automatically, Seira demanded to know why Red was in A's house, tightening her grip on her hilt.
"What about you? Why did you come here? Are you insane? This isn't an official duel."
"You set foot in Spacetro territory and say what? What did you do to A?!"
As Red said, it wasn't an official duel, but in Seira's eyes, Red was someone who had trespassed into the home of a Spacetro member. That was reason enough to attack her.
Meanwhile, Red hesitated upon seeing Seira. Now that she knew the whole situation, she could understand why Seira might come to A's house, even if she didn't know the specific reason for this visit.
But to Seira, it looked like a Superhuman had broken into a Spacetro member's home. It was only natural for a Spacetro executive, whose organization had suffered great damage from Superhumans just a month ago, to be on guard.
"Why would I tell you that!"
Red, locked in a stalemate with their swords crossed, shoved Seira back with all her might. As A's girlfriend and the person who had promised to spend the day with him, Red had done absolutely nothing wrong by being in his house.
Furthermore, she saw no reason to explain anything related to A to Seira.
She knew Seira was a Team Leader, a rank above A, but that didn't mean she had to disclose private matters to her.
"Spacetro territory or whatever, this is a civilian area. You should know that making a scene won't benefit anyone."
Red, who was at least able to view the situation somewhat calmly, spoke to try and settle Seira down, but Seira looked like she was on the verge of losing her mind.
"Why are you in A's house? Because of you people... because of you!"
A deep-seated hatred for Superhumans was blooming inside Seira. She had traveled to many planets and felt various emotions each time.
Naturally, there had been many planetary natives who broke the rules they proposed. She had plenty of experience, but in all those experiences, A had never been seriously injured.
But Earth was different. She hadn't cared about the duel with the Superhumans dragging on, but because they broke the rules, A had been gravely wounded. It was the first time such a thing had happened in Seira's life, and this experience forced her to think negatively of Superhumans.
Seira adjusted her grip and swung her sword at Red.
The thought that A, who had only been back in Seoul for about a week, might have been caught up in something because of the Superhumans wouldn't leave her head.
Red quickly rolled to the side, dodging Seira's blade. Seira’s sword slammed into the spot where Red had just been, splitting the living room table in half.
Seira grabbed a broken half of the table and hurled it at Red. Red had no intention of just taking the hits, so she sliced the incoming table half in two with her sword.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Seeing A's furniture being destroyed by Seira's hand, Red's temper finally hit its limit. She couldn't stand that the table—filled with memories of the time they had spent together since they started dating—had been ruined.
"Will you stop?!"
Red lunged at Seira to subdue her. Seira tried to counter as she dodged to the side, but Red's blade swung toward her with terrifying speed.
Giving up on her attack, Seira retreated once more, but Red didn't stop, closing the distance and swinging her sword relentlessly.
Their movements were restricted within the narrow studio apartment, but they could still manage strikes powerful enough to be lethal.
The swords drew large arcs, slicing through various parts of the room. As one swung, the other dodged; as the dodger counterattacked, the other evaded again. The cycle repeated.
Retreating a step or two brought them to the kitchen. When Red's sword slashed the sink, water began spraying from the severed pipe.
When water sprayed into Red's face, obscuring her vision, Seira seized the chance and kicked her. Red was sent flying through the door and into the bathroom, but she immediately regained her stance, charged back out, and swung her sword at Seira.
In the heat of the exchange, both saw an opening at the same time and swung with all their strength. Their swords collided so violently that both weapons were knocked from their hands, clattering to the floor and bouncing off the walls.
Realizing an opening would appear the moment they tried to retrieve their weapons, Seira and Red engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Neither was willing to listen to the other anymore. Consumed by their emotions, the only thought in their heads was to take the other down.
I came up the elevator and arrived in front of my door, sensing a presence inside.
"Are they here already?"
I had planned to charge my phone as soon as I got home and contact Yubin, but it seemed she had arrived first.
She must have tried to call me. I thought about how I should apologize for not charging my phone beforehand and for missing her calls as I pressed the passcode into the lock.
"Yubin... a?"
I called out her name as I looked inside, then froze.
Not a single piece of furniture was intact, and water was spraying from a pipe, soaking the floor.
"Let go, you wench! Let go! Do you really want to die?!"
"What are you talking about? You let go first, you fucking bitch!"
And there, in the middle of the room, were Yubin and Seira, grabbing each other's hair and screaming curses at the top of their lungs.
Faced with that sight, my choice was to escape reality.
What is this? Is this some kind of epic hidden camera prank?