Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Energetic Senior
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‘What’s this little kid?’
Suddenly, a girl appeared.
This wasn’t a place for kids, so I almost tried to stop her.
If I hadn’t overheard her conversation with Jegal Yeong.
From the looks of it, she seemed to be a senior with more years under her belt than even Jegal Yeong.
“This is the guy from the rumors...”
So even though she was pacing around me restlessly, I didn’t stop her. It was a bit distracting, though.
“Heard you knocked out a senior right after joining?”
A blunt question came flying.
Was she picking a fight right now?
She was smiling brightly, so I couldn’t read her intentions.
“If we’re just looking at the results, you could say that.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t exactly turn down provocations that come my way.”
“Oh, just to clear up any misunderstanding, I’m not trying to chew you out or anything.”
I answered loud enough for her to hear, and she waved her hand dismissively.
She was incredibly expressive with her emotions.
“What’s your name?”
“Baekyang Unit newbie, Yi Se-woong.”
“Junior-of-juniors’ name is Yi Se-woong! Nice to meet you. I’m Hwangbo Seyul!”
She beamed and extended her hand to me. Her movement was so natural that I almost shook it without thinking, but I hesitated.
Hwangbo Seyul?
I’d heard that name somewhere before.
‘Hwangbo Chung!’
It hadn’t been that long.
Hwangbo Chung, who had tried to play matchmaker to make me his son-in-law from the Hwangbo Family. The person he’d mentioned, around my age, was Hwangbo Seyul.
‘Don’t fight the waves—ride them.’
Sima-hyung’s voice echoed in my mind whenever I was about to forget.
That’s why I hesitated on the handshake.
“Junior-of-juniors is so shy?”
Grab.
Hwangbo Seyul suddenly seized my hand. She grabbed my arm and swung it around like a pinwheel.
“What’s with ‘junior-of-juniors’?”
“You’re a junior’s junior, right? Calling you just ‘junior’ would be confusing since I already have one, so junior-of-juniors! What do you think?”
Couldn’t she just use my name?
This was even more confusing.
I held back from pointing it out, worried it’d drag me in deeper.
“Knocking out a senior without a care—who wouldn’t be curious how bold a newbie could be!”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I can tell just by looking. Neungjapil wasn’t even a match for you. I was gonna sort him out myself anyway—thanks!”
Murderous words paired with a smiling face.
Even though I’d only just met her, she was already draining my energy. Maybe it was her overwhelming liveliness. Just being around her was exhausting.
“So, wanna spar with me?”
“Spar?”
The conclusion was weird.
“Yeah, spar. Don’t like it?”
“Not that... I’ve been holding back since the last incident.”
“What? So you haven’t fought anyone besides Neungjapil?”
“No.”
Hwangbo Seyul’s eyes widened in surprise as she asked again.
Was it that shocking?
Even if Baekyang Unit folks seemed like battle-crazed lunatics, they had a subtle gentlemanly side. They didn’t hound you if you refused a spar. They’d look a bit down, sure.
“Really? That can’t be.”
“They backed off when I refused, didn’t they?”
“Guys who shove their fists in your face if you want to fight?”
Are you from a different unit?
As she pondered, Jegal Yeong spoke up.
“Senior. We can’t just brawl recklessly forever.”
“Did you stop them, Junior?”
“...”
“Knew it. Yeah, your glare does make people back off a bit!”
Yeah, that’s right.
Hwangbo Seyul nodded to herself, as if convinced.
Her eyes sparkled as she patted my shoulder.
“Junior really cares about junior-of-juniors, huh?”
“Senior, it’s not like that...”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. So don’t touch junior-of-juniors, right?”
“Are you even listening to me?”
They were clearly talking to each other, but their words weren’t connecting.
“But I refuse!”
“?”
“I won’t be satisfied unless I spar with junior-of-juniors!”
A miraculous breakthrough.
Jegal Yeong clutched her head, looking pained.
“Senior. Should I go to the squad leader about this?”
“That’s dirty! You always pull that card, Junior!”
What is this.
It wasn’t even like soothing a whining kid.
“Hmph. If you’re gonna play it that way, I’ve got my own plans.”
“What are you scheming now?”
“Admit just one thing, and I’ll back off!”
She put on a stern face, like she was laying down the law.
“You blocked the spars. The reason other seniors had to watch out for you!”
“...”
“It’s because you care about junior-of-juniors so, so, so much. Right?”
Hwangbo Seyul pointed accusingly at Jegal Yeong and shouted.
Like a detective who’d caught the culprit.
“That it?”
“Yep!”
“...Senior’s right.”
Hwangbo Seyul nodded triumphantly at Jegal Yeong’s response.
“I knew my guess was spot on!”
“Yes, yes. He’s the first junior I’ve been in charge of in a while, so I’ve been extra protective. So can you leave now?”
“So heartless!”
Hwangbo Seyul whined, but Jegal Yeong wasn’t budging. She handled it with practiced ease, like this happened often.
“See you next time!”
With that, Hwangbo Seyul waved and vanished. In her wake, a heavy silence remained.
Jegal Yeong, utterly drained.
And me.
“Ahem. Who knew Senior cared about me this much...”
“Please, can you just shut up for once?”
I tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
But Jegal Yeong looked like her soul had checked out—no energy to play along.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Hwangbo Seyul.
She was already a longtime senior by the time they met.
But Jegal Yeong always found her difficult.
It wasn’t a big age gap. In the Baekyang Unit, seniority was strictly by enlistment date. Even if she was much younger, a senior was a senior.
‘Her mischievousness is the problem.’
The first time she saw her.
A tiny girl who’d barely passed adolescence was swinging a massive greatsword taller than herself. It was shocking.
Even the battle-mad Baekyang Unit members shrank back from her monstrous strength.
Are all Baekyang Unit freaks like this? That was the awe she felt.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hwangbo Seyul!”
She remembered her extending a hand with a bright smile. A stark contrast to the ferocious fighter from moments before. She must have shaken it back then.
“Junior!”
Hwangbo Seyul was very affectionate.
Maybe from growing up in a warm family—she had no reservations about getting close to people. Bright and energetic, her innocent face reminded Jegal Yeong of the siblings she’d left back home, making her feel a natural fondness.
“Gah!”
“Senior, that’s booze, booze!”
Hwangbo Seyul was hopeless at everything except martial arts.
Whenever she looked away for a second, disaster struck. Watching her, Jegal Yeong understood the anxiety of parents letting their kids play by the water.
The complete opposite of her own personality.
That’s probably why she looked after her more.
And that became the root of the problem.
“Junior, Junior!”
No one had warned her.
That the closer you got to Hwangbo Seyul, the more mischievously she’d act.
Had the others already been through it and thrown her to the wolves?
She even suspected that.
Of course, she knew it was her way of showing closeness, but sometimes it was troublesome.
Like today.
Hwangbo Seyul showing up out of nowhere for Yi Se-woong.
As she’d said at first, it was surely to spar with him. She never refused a fight that came knocking.
No, she was the type to go hunting for fights.
“Junior really cares about junior-of-juniors, huh?”
Hwangbo Seyul looked at her with shining eyes.
Like a kid who’d found a new toy.
‘How did she know?’
Was it obvious?
Did my face give it away?
She just didn’t like seeing someone else rough up the junior she was in charge of. Whether Hwangbo Seyul grabbed his hand or not wasn’t her business. She just wanted to rescue the troubled Yi Se-woong.
That’s what she’d tell anyone who asked.
But Hwangbo Seyul didn’t miss the opening she’d shown.
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. So don’t touch junior-of-juniors, right?”
It was always like this.
Clear eyes full of innocence.
With those eyes, Hwangbo Seyul always pierced straight to the heart of the matter.
She knew from long experience that she wouldn’t stop until she got the answer she wanted. So Jegal Yeong had no choice but to placate her and shoo her away.
“Ahem. Who knew Senior cared about me this much...”
Yi Se-woong’s joking remark was the final blow.
With her mind blank, Jegal Yeong unwittingly spat out something rude.
“Senior. You mad?”
“No, no. Just a bit...”
“That senior Hwangbo Seyul’s kinda unique, huh.”
My words.
“She’s always like that, so don’t take it too personally.”
“Yeah, she was a bit hyper. But not enough to upset me.”
“Keep your distance. That’s my advice as a senior.”
The best warning she could give.
“That necessary?”
“You have no idea. How valuable this advice is. Why didn’t any other seniors warn me soonerwhy did they let me sink into this pit of suffering why me...”
Glitching Jegal Yeong.
Yi Se-woong spoke to her as she muttered blankly.
“You two seem pretty close, though?”
“You too, scram.”
This guy—does he know and do it on purpose?
Jegal Yeong brusquely chased Yi Se-woong off.
She wanted to be alone.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After that day, Hwangbo Seyul came looking for me every day.
“Junior-of-juniors! Let’s spar!”
“Don’t you seniors have work?”
“On vacation. You get leave after long missions! Didn’t Junior tell you?”
It was her call how to spend her vacation.
But showing up at the workplace?
I sensed a glint of madness in her clear eyes.
That explained how she’d lasted so long in the Baekyang Unit.
No sane person could survive here!
“Senior. I did warn you. This is the last time.”
“Waaah, Junior’s here!”
Hwangbo Seyul bolted at Jegal Yeong’s icy words.
Quick as if she’d spotted a monster.
“Thanks for saving me.”
“Haa...”
Jegal Yeong let out a deep sigh.
Good thing she was around.
The last sane person left in the Baekyang Unit.
‘She’s fun to tease, though.’
Understanding a bit of Hwangbo Seyul’s feelings meant I wasn’t normal either.
If anything, perfectly suited for the Baekyang Unit.