Chapter 197: Uh-Oh, That’s Not It
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 197: Uh-Oh, That’s Not It
“Ah, sorry, my mistake. It’s our first time meeting. Nice to meet you. I’m Shin Tae-hee. I’m still new to it, but I somehow ended up as this year’s department president.”
“I’m Si-ho.”
Si-ho replied to his introduction with the same indifference as before.
Although her behavior clearly showed a complete lack of interest, he didn’t seem to mind.
Tae-hee figured that if this was Si-ho’s natural way of acting, it was best to just go along with it.
“You’re with the Rodri Company, right? I heard your brother transferred there too.”
“So?”
“I actually got a scouting offer from the Rodri Company myself. What do you think, could I do well? If possible, I’d like to join your team.”
Hearing this, Si-ho finally tore her eyes away from her phone and glanced at him.
The moment their eyes met, Tae-hee gave a natural smile. Si-ho stared at him for a moment before nodding.
“Do your best.”
Do your best.
Did that mean he had a chance to be on her team?
After all, he was a talent on the verge of reaching S-rank.
If he joined the Rodri Company, they would most likely try to form a hunter team composed of S-rankers.
Tae-hee smiled, pleased with himself, thinking his chances of being included were high.
However, Si-ho’s thoughts were completely different from his.
‘He’s weak. He looks like he’s going to die.’
In Si-ho’s eyes, Tae-hee was far too weak.
Frankly, she thought he’d probably die if even one of the incidents that had occurred recently happened again.
Having gone through so much lately, Si-ho had spent her time among not just S-rank hunters, but S-rank returnees.
Even she felt hopelessly inadequate compared to those returnees and trained every single day.
And this was a hunter newbie who was barely about to become S-rank?
From Si-ho’s perspective, everyone here, with the exception of Ji-eun, was someone who needed protecting.
‘Ha-chan-oppa, I miss you.’
He had told her he had business at the World Returnee Association today and would be a little late picking her up. Si-ho swung her legs back and forth, slightly annoyed.
Going to the Association meant he was definitely meeting with Baek Seol-hyang.
‘In that case.’
Si-ho began to puff out her cheeks slightly.
“What’s wrong? Is your game not going well?”
Just as she was feeling disgruntled, a voice spoke from in front of her again.
Si-ho glanced up with an annoyed look.
Tae-hee was there, having taken out a glass at some point.
He was pouring a beer, and when his eyes met Si-ho’s, he smiled lightly.
‘He’s so annoying.’
Perhaps because she had grown up beside Seo-ho her entire life, Si-ho’s standards were, unbeknownst to her, incredibly high.
That was why, while the other girls her age were stealing glances at Tae-hee, Si-ho saw no difference between him and the other guys around them.
Annoyed, she turned her attention back to her phone.
Thump!
In that instant, Si-ho shot up from her seat.
Those who had been watching her closely flinched in surprise, only to realize that her expression had become brighter than ever before.
Seeing that look, everyone stared blankly for a moment.
Even when she was being indifferent and sharp, Si-ho’s beauty was on another level.
But the radiant smile she wore in that moment stunned everyone present.
The same was true for Tae-hee, who witnessed it from right in front of her.
While he stood frozen and dazed, Si-ho picked up her phone and walked straight outside.
“Whoa, that was insane.”
“So this is what true beauty looks like.”
While the kids who had seen it chattered in a daze, Tae-hee got up to follow.
What on earth had made her so happy?
Overcome with curiosity, he immediately opened the door and stepped outside.
There stood Si-ho, talking to someone on the phone.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m in front of the shop now. When will you be here?”
Her voice drifted over to him.
As if she were deeply in love, Si-ho’s voice was brimming with affection.
Hearing it, Tae-hee froze.
For the proud-looking Si-ho to use such a tone…
A jolt of shock went through his mind.
“Okay, okay, I’ll wait just a little longer. Hurry, but be safe.”
As he stared at her blankly, Si-ho’s call ended.
She cradled her phone as if it were a precious treasure, then glanced to the side as she felt his gaze, her eyes meeting Tae-hee’s.
Her expression as she looked at him was completely blank.
It was a stark contrast to the affectionate voice she had used just moments ago.
“Ah, sorry, I was just… getting some air.”
“Go ahead.”
Si-ho replied as if to say, do whatever you want.
Looking at her, Tae-hee cleared his throat, stood on the steps, and casually spoke.
“Was that your boyfriend on the phone just now?”
Hearing his question, Si-ho glanced at him.
“No.”
The moment he heard her denial, Tae-hee’s eyes widened.
She acts like that with someone who isn’t even her boyfriend?
“He’s not my boyfriend…”
“Si-ho.”
Just as Si-ho was about to answer Tae-hee, she looked up at the sound of her name.
Ji-eun was standing in the open doorway.
Holding her phone just like Si-ho, she looked at Tae-hee standing in front of them and winced.
“Oh, you’re Tae-hee, the department president. Hello.”
“Yeah, you’re Ji-eun, right?”
“You remember my name?”
“Of course, I remember the names of all the students in our department.”
Tae-hee smiled as he said it, but what Si-ho had said earlier was nagging at him.
It was because of her unfinished sentence after saying it wasn't her boyfriend.
“Si-ho, was that oppa who called?”
“Yeah, he said he’s parking since the car can’t get in here and told me to wait.”
“I just got a text, too.”
So someone was coming to pick them both up.
Hearing Ji-eun say “oppa,” Tae-hee realized it was a man and his mind started racing.
Someone Si-ho was so bright and cheerful with, but who wasn’t her boyfriend.
‘Could it be?’
Snow Mountain Wolf, Ha Seo-ho?
No matter how cold she was to others, she could be affectionate with her own brother.
Finding this explanation plausible, Tae-hee quickly checked his clothes.
The one and only Snow Mountain Wolf, Ha Seo-ho, was coming here.
Naturally, he felt he had to make a good impression.
“He’s here.”
Just as Tae-hee was thinking this, Si-ho leaped down from the steps.
Seeing her urgent footsteps, Tae-hee guessed Ha Seo-ho had arrived and looked up, only to see a completely different person standing there.
Tae-hee blinked.
A man with shaggy hair that looked like it had been recently trimmed but wasn’t usually well-maintained.
He was about 180cm tall and wore a suit. Aside from a slightly well-built frame, he was just a man with slightly above-average looks.
He smiled as soon as he saw Si-ho, and she ran straight into his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist.
‘That’s not Ha Seo-ho.’
Of course, it wasn't Ha Seo-ho.
Anyone could see he looked nothing like Si-ho, and more importantly, Tae-hee knew what Ha Seo-ho looked like.
An appearance so handsome he would stand out from a kilometer away. After all, Ha Seo-ho was called the jewel of Korea.
“Ha-chan-oppa!”
At that moment, Ji-eun also waved and ran toward them.
When she too casually ran up and hugged Ha-chan, Tae-hee grew even more flustered.
Both Si-ho and Ji-eun looked incredibly accustomed to such physical contact.
Not only that, but the expressions on their faces were even more bewildering.
Because affection was practically dripping from their eyes as they looked up at Ha-chan.
Having seen the faces of countless women who loved him, Tae-hee knew it well.
It was the look only a woman in love could have.
“Was it hard coming all this way?”
As if to prove it, Si-ho spoke with a cute, apologetic look in her eyes for making him come pick her up.
“Not at all. It wasn’t that far. Besides, it’s near my old university, so it was fun reminiscing.”
Though in truth, Ha-chan had never once participated in a drinking party.
Just then, Ha-chan looked up and his eyes met Tae-hee’s.
Tae-hee, who had been staring blankly at the unbelievable sight, belatedly let out a flustered “Ah,” and Ha-chan tilted his head at him.
“Ji-eun, who is that?”
“Oh, he’s a senior from our department.”
Hearing that, Ha-chan finally realized.
“You’re Shin Tae-hee, right?”
When he recognized Tae-hee and spoke to him directly, it was Tae-hee’s turn to be flustered.
“Ah, yes, I’m Tae-hee, but how do you know my name?”
“I work at the Rodri Company. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Kang Ha-chan, the manager for Si-ho and Ji-eun’s team.”
Hearing this, Tae-hee finally understood how the man knew who he was.
Since the Rodri Company had scouted him directly, they would have his information.
But even so, he couldn’t focus on the situation.
The expressions Si-ho and Ji-eun had shown just moments ago kept swirling in his mind.
At the same time, the question of why was written all over his face.
He could somehow come to terms with Ji-eun, but he couldn’t for the life of him understand why Si-ho would like the man in front of him.
“Um…”
Just as Tae-hee was about to ask something.
BEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Suddenly, a siren blared from all four of their phones at once.
It was the sound that went off when a dimensional gate appeared nearby.
“A dimensional gate?”
Surprised, Tae-hee quickly raised his phone.
“Si-ho, the location.”
“It’s close. I can teleport us there right now.”
“The evacuation alert is lagging. It must be a rapid gate. Let’s go now.”
Si-ho and Ha-chan were already calmly discussing how to handle the situation.
Seeing this, Tae-hee’s eyes widened as a small, golden girl suddenly appeared and sat on Ji-eun’s shoulder.
“Ha-chan-oppa, me too.”
“Alright.”
Now that Ji-eun had officially earned her hunter license, Ha-chan immediately deployed her as well.
It was time for the three of them—Si-ho, Ji-eun, and Yu U-jeong—to start operating as a real hunter team.
“Wait a minute!”
But Tae-hee hadn’t been briefed on any of this.
Naturally, the situation looked dangerous to him.
Si-ho might be S-rank, but she was just a kid who had recently become an adult, and Ji-eun was in the same boat.
He doubted it was safe for them to go with their manager, who, despite working for the Rodri Company, was taking two newly-minted official hunters into the field.
‘Si-ho and Ji-eun must have almost no experience with dimensional gates.’
Minors were issued hunter licenses, but that was just proof of their status; dealing with dimensional gates was another matter entirely.
Even at university, students usually had their first gate experience toward the end of their first year.
Therefore, judging that the two new hunters had no experience, Tae-hee raised his hand and spoke.
“Please take me with you. It might be dangerous with just the two of them. There was that whole mess in the US recently with a gate to the Divine Realm. You never know what might happen these days.”
Ha-chan blinked at his words.
If only he knew that they were the ones who had closed that Divine Realm gate in the US.
But since Tae-hee had no way of knowing that, Ha-chan scratched his head for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright.”
It was a rapid gate, and trying to explain and convince him would be a waste of time.
“Let’s go.”
And then, the four of them vanished.