Chapter 36: Safety Zone (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36: Safety Zone (6)
There are certain relationships where you think you’re reasonably close, yet once you’re left alone with the other person, you have no idea what to say. In those moments, some people wonder, Are we actually close? while others simply feel there’s no need to force a conversation if there’s nothing to say.
Of course, the latter only works if both parties are naturally taciturn, so I suspect most people fall into the former category.
That was exactly Green’s situation right now.
It was Monday morning, the scheduled time for the Hunter Killer meeting. For once, every single member was present, and the proceedings went smoothly.
Usually, the members would leave the headquarters to attend to their own business as soon as the meeting ended. True to form, Yellow and Blue clocked out immediately to go about their day.
Red, as the leader, typically stayed behind to handle administrative tasks. Ever since Pink started clearing her schedule to attend the Monday meetings, the two of them could often be seen chatting.
Though they had only grown close over the past three weeks, they seemed to have plenty to talk about.
“Red, look at this.”
“Hmm?”
It was usually Pink who initiated the conversation. While Red was quite outgoing herself, Pink was even more hyperactive and could strike up a conversation over the most trivial subjects.
Pink showed Red her smartphone screen. As soon as Red saw it, she let out a soft, “How cute.”
Curious, Green drifted over behind them and saw a video of a cat playing on Pink’s phone.
“What kind of cat is that?” Red asked.
“I just found this channel. Apparently, this stray kept following the owner around, so they ended up adopting it.”
Green stood there silently, unsure of how to jump into a conversation about cat videos. After a moment of hovering, she gave up and returned to her seat.
“You really do watch a lot of cat videos. Do you watch them while you’re working, too?”
“What? No way. Believe it or not, I’m all business when I’m on the clock.”
“I guess work has been treating you well lately?”
“Yeah. It’s even better than before.”
Lately, whenever the topic of the cafe came up, Pink’s expression would brighten noticeably. Every time that happened, Red would give her a meaningful smirk.
“It’s a guy, isn't it?”
“Huh?!”
Hit right where it hurt, Pink couldn't hide her flustered reaction. She avoided Red’s gaze for a moment before breaking into a grin.
“A boyfriend? Or just a crush?”
“A-ah, no. It’s nothing like that~”
Pink, who was terrible at lying, denied it in a way that made it obvious to everyone that something was going on. Red leaned in closer, pressing for more.
“From the look of it, it seems like a pretty deep relationship.”
“What about you?! You said no before, but you definitely have a guy too, don’t you?”
Now it was Red’s turn to look flustered. Pink returned the meaningful smirk. To any observer, it was clear both had met someone, but they were both holding back, as if the first one to confess the details would lose. Green watched the two of them back and forth.
“Um…”
When Green spoke up in a small voice, the eyes of the two women—who had been dodging each other’s questions—snapped toward her. Startled by the sudden attention, Green clamped her mouth shut.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
Red and Pink looked at her curiously, wondering what she had been about to say, but when Green withdrew, they eventually let it go.
The relationship between Red and Pink had progressed to the point of casual banter, but the others weren't there yet. It was as if they were being overly cautious with one another. It wasn't that they were on bad terms.
It was more that they didn't know each other well enough, so they remained careful, maintaining a professional distance despite having worked together for a long time.
If they had been at this stage when they first met, it might have been easy to become friends. But now, everyone in Team Hunter Killer was so accustomed to the status quo that initiating a conversation or suddenly closing the distance felt awkward.
Red and Pink had found a catalyst to bridge that gap, but Green hadn't found hers yet. She wanted to be close to them, but she had grown so used to the current atmosphere that she didn't know how to approach them.
“So, what’s the deal with the guy?”
Pink was the one to break the brief silence. She turned back to Red, interrogating her about the man she was seeing. Unable to dodge the direct hit, Red finally opened her mouth.
“It’s nothing serious. Just someone I got to know while working my part-time job.”
Pink’s face lit up, sensing she had hooked her prey. She began to grill her further.
“At your job? A coworker? Or a customer?”
Though she looked troubled, Red began to answer Pink’s questions one by one. Green sat quietly by their side, listening to their exchange.
Then, she recalled what A had told her at the park two days ago.
‘Listening.’
He had said that in a conversation, there is a speaker and a listener, and that being a good listener is just as important. He told her that if she listened well and reacted, people would open up more. Remembering this, Green began to nod slightly whenever Red spoke.
As they talked, Red and Pink eventually noticed Green’s focused attention.
“Green, you’re curious too, right? About Red’s boyfriend!”
“I told you, he’s not my boyfriend!”
When Pink shouted, Red denied it vehemently. To Green, that very denial made it seem even more certain that there was a boyfriend involved, and she couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
“…What’s it like, having a boyfriend?”
It was a simple question, but Green had summoned all her courage to ask it. Red’s face turned beet red at the fact that even Green, who usually stayed out of such topics, was questioning her.
“I said he’s not my boyfriend…”
Watching Red mumble with her head down, both Pink and Green found her adorable for the first time. They say a woman in love grows beautiful; perhaps it was because Red was only twenty and just becoming an adult, but she radiated a sense of fresh, youthful romance.
Of course, neither Pink nor Green had much dating experience themselves, but a lack of experience didn't mean a total lack of empathy. Pink, in particular, was in a relationship that was practically dating, so she could relate to Red’s reactions perfectly.
“What about you, Pink?”
With that one question from Green, who was now curious about Pink’s situation after seeing Red’s reaction, the tables turned instantly. The spotlight shifted from Red to Pink. Caught off guard by Green’s question, Pink’s eyes darted around, unsure of how to start.
“Why don’t you just come clean? You’re not going to keep your mouth shut after hearing my story, are you?”
As Red leaned in close, Pink thought of A’s face, and her own face flushed a deep crimson.
“It’s written all over your face. It’s the person you work with at the cafe, right?”
“Yeah.”
Under Red’s pressure, Pink finally nodded. Green pulled her chair closer, focusing on Pink’s words.
“It’s not what you guys think! We’re not officially dating yet…”
In her heart, Pink was certainly dating him, but she hadn't received a definitive answer from A yet. That was why she told them they weren't at that stage, but seeing the color of her face, the other two were convinced they were already together. Their curiosity only grew.
“So, you’re in the ‘some’ stage?”
“I guess you could call it that… I do like him, though.”
The moment the word “like” left Pink’s mouth, Red began tapping her thigh in excitement, leaning in even further.
Green found their stories fascinating, but more than that, she was happy to finally be part of the conversation.
Hearing about how they met their potential boyfriends sparked an interest in romance that Green had never really felt before. She suspected they were still hiding the most important details, but she was certain that if they kept talking like this, she would hear even more interesting things.
“Do you have any stories like that, Green?”
After Pink finished, the arrow of inquiry pointed toward Green.
“Me?”
She briefly searched her memories for the people she had met in her life, but unfortunately, there wasn't a single person who had ever made her feel the emotion of love.
“Not really. I don’t have a job like you two, after all.”
Seeing her reaction, the other two realized she truly didn't have anyone and nodded understandingly.
“Well, it’ll happen someday. I never imagined things would turn out like this with my Oppa, either.”
“Oho. So he’s an older guy, then?”
Red, who had accidentally let slip that her guy was an “Oppa,” felt Pink’s piercing gaze trying to see through her and quickly covered Pink’s eyes with her hand.
“The rest is for later.”
“Cheapskate.”
“Fine, I’m a cheapskate.”
Having shared such fun stories, the two were in high spirits, smiling and teasing each other. Green thought that if she ever met someone, as Red said, she would be able to have even more fun conversations with them.
“It’ll definitely happen, just like Red said. I never expected things to go so well so suddenly, either,” Pink added.
“Yeah.”
Listening to Pink, Green smiled and replied, looking forward to more conversations like this in the future.
*
Unlike Red, Green didn't have much to do even if she stayed at the headquarters. She had wondered if there was anything she could help Red with, but lately, Pink was always stuck to Red’s side, making Green feel like her help wasn't really needed.
She didn't think this was a bad thing. Green knew that from Red’s perspective, it was probably easier to ask Pink—who was energetic and constantly asking about the work—than to ask her.
After leaving the headquarters, she soon arrived near her house, but she didn't feel like going inside.
Out of habit, she went to the park. Thinking about how well the conversation with her teammates had gone, she wondered if A, who had given her advice two days ago, might be there. She glanced toward the bench where he usually sat.
“Sigh…”
Only a sigh escaped my lips.
It had been two days since I first borrowed the account from Seira. I had spent yesterday and today digging through data, but after finding the broad strokes, I was struggling to find the more detailed, critical information.
The sheer volume of twenty years' worth of records was beyond anything I had imagined.
The process of how Superhumans first appeared, the early and rapid replacement of the first generation, the reasons behind the current compensation levels—these were all difficult to grasp. It was uncertain if the information I needed even existed within the Spacetro Archive.
“Incidents and accidents, huh.”
I was able to confirm recent incidents caused by Superhumans. There were cases where radical Superhumans had harmed civilians, but because they were Superhumans, they weren't held accountable, and the incidents were quietly swept under the rug.
Since things weren't going my way, I didn't even have an appetite. Luche had asked to grab a meal together, but I turned her down and came to the park to clear my head.
I wondered if Green might be here, but since today was a meeting day and I didn't know when it would end, I tried not to get my hopes up. Still, seeing the empty bench where she usually sat made me feel a bit deflated. I had hoped I might be able to glean some information through her.
As I was organizing my thoughts, I felt a gaze from the side and turned my head. There stood Green, with her voluminous green bob.
“Hello.”
Her expression was noticeably brighter than it had been two days ago. It seemed the conversation with her teammates had gone well.
“Hello. It’s a bit hot today, isn't it?”
“It is.”
As I accepted her greeting and made small talk about the weather, she smiled and sat on the bench next to mine.
“You look bright. Did something good happen?”
“Ah, is it that obvious?”
“A little.”
Whether she was embarrassed or just shy about her happiness showing on her face, she laughed awkwardly and scratched her cheek. My eyes drifted to her face; the bruise I had seen before was gone.
“I did what you said and just listened, and the conversation flowed naturally.”
“The first attempt is the hardest. Once you do it, it’s not much, right?”
“Yes. It was really fun, just talking together.”
Yubin is my girlfriend, and while Yura and I haven't made it official, we’re basically in that kind of relationship. I became a little curious about what they had discussed.
“What did you talk about?”
“It was about those two and their boyfriends.”
Of all things, that had to be the topic today. I felt a sudden wave of phantom indigestion, despite not having eaten.
“B-boyfriends?”
“Yes. They both denied it, but even I could tell just by looking at them.”
Neither of them has a personality suited for lying, so it was obvious they would fail miserably at hiding it.
The problem was, indigestion or not…
“Is it the story you mentioned before?”
“Yes! Those two!”
An excited Green began to recount what she had heard from them.
It was the story of how Yubin and I, and Yura and I, had first met. Looking at what she told me, they had cleverly omitted any identifying details about me, so it seemed neither of them realized they were talking about the same man.
And, hearing about myself through someone else was actually quite entertaining.
Since Green had no idea the man in the stories was me, she didn't hesitate to share.
Green had seemed to have a lot on her mind lately, but as she spoke about the stories and the reactions of the other two, she seemed to be speaking freely, without a care in the world. Seeing her like that, I felt a small sense of relief.