Chapter 63: Something Big is Coming
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 63: Something Big is Coming
“So, what I’m saying is, I’ll teach you how to get on Ha Seo-ho’s good side…”
“Si-ho and her manager, together.”
As Si-ho puffed out her small chest, Jo Si-a turned away, her cheeks flushing red.
Though with her eyes narrowed to slits, I couldn’t tell where she was looking.
“…Really?”
She then turned to me and asked. I nodded.
“Really.”
If I don’t, you’ll just keep following me around.
“Alright.”
In the end, Jo Si-a meekly agreed to accept our advice.
After that, we found a break room. It happened to be empty, so we sat down and began to talk. Jo Si-a scratched her head.
“When did you start liking Seo-ho?”
“Since high school. It hit me at the graduation ceremony that I might never see him again.”
Seo-ho was twenty-five, which meant she’d had a one-sided crush on him for at least five years.
Hearing that, I glanced over at Si-ho.
“Si-ho, has Seo-ho ever dated anyone?”
“No. Because he’s an idiot.”
I wondered what kind of person Seo-ho was to Si-ho.
From my perspective, the biggest reason Seo-ho hadn’t dated was his sense of responsibility toward his family.
Maybe he’ll change a bit once Si-ho becomes an adult.
I figured that once Si-ho started becoming more independent, Seo-ho might be able to relax a little.
“Exactly. That’s the problem. Ha Seo-ho makes it painfully obvious that he dislikes women.”
Jo Si-a’s expression turned gloomy, as if that was the reason she hadn’t been able to confess all this time.
“It’s not like I’m just crushing on him for no reason.”
“Still, you two seem pretty close, don’t you?”
“He probably just thinks I’m unilaterally picking fights with him.”
She’s spot on.
“I’m sure if I stopped chasing him, that jerk Ha Seo-ho would forget all about me in a heartbeat.”
“Hey, I doubt that.”
“Student Kang Ha-chan, you just don’t know how narrow his social circle is.”
To me, he was just an affable younger brother figure.
He was the kind of guy who would politely text me every day, ‘Hyeong-nim, did you have a good lunch?’
“Is there even a way to get someone like Ha Seo-ho to see me in a good light?”
Jo Si-a hung her head dejectedly, as if she’d given up long ago.
Her crush had gone on for so long that she seemed to have no idea how to move it forward.
The problem was, I didn’t know either.
What would a guy who’s been single his whole life know?
When I looked at Si-ho, she spoke as if it were simple.
“All you have to do is hang out with my manager and me, and just avoid Ha Seo-ho.”
“Avoid him? Ha Seo-ho?”
“Yep, that’s right.”
Jo Si-a looked like she didn’t understand.
Naturally, I wore the same expression.
“Ha Seo-ho is an idiot with almost no social life, which makes him weak to people who get along well with those around him.”
Hearing that, I recalled how Seo-ho had been the one to approach me and ask for my number first.
It was definitely because of Si-ho.
“And if someone who gets along with others acts uninterested in him, he’ll try to get close to them himself.”
“But Ha Seo-ho and I have known each other for seven years already.”
“That doesn’t matter. Because Ha Seo-ho doesn’t really care about you, Jo Si-a-unni.”
For a moment, I felt a pang of pity for Jo Si-a.
She looked like her world had crumbled, shot down by Si-ho’s sharp words.
What a terrifying child.
“So, if you show him that you’re getting along with me and my manager, Ha Seo-ho will try to get along with you too, Jo Si-a-unni.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Once Ha Seo-ho starts approaching you and contacting you first, you can start acting friendly. He won’t reject you then. But you can’t follow him around every day. You have to make him follow you.”
As she said this, Si-ho glanced at me.
It was because everything she was explaining was exactly what I had unintentionally done to Seo-ho.
Was I unconsciously trying to win Seo-ho over or something?
Thinking I had a better shot than Jo Si-a, I let out a dry laugh and nodded.
“Si-ho’s right. If you do that, Seo-ho will definitely fall for it.”
I’ve experienced it myself, so I can guarantee it.
“Can I write this down?”
Listening to us, Jo Si-a even pulled out her phone and opened the notepad app.
She was dead serious.
And so, from that day on, Jo Si-a’s conquest of Seo-ho began.
Whenever she had a spare moment, she would appear by my side to chat.
She was a good talker to begin with, so she didn’t even need to pretend to be friendly.
As we’d be talking, Seo-ho would eventually wander over, and following Si-ho’s advice, she would naturally excuse herself.
“…Ha-chan-hyeong-nim, have you gotten close with Jo Si-a?”
“She’s not a bad person once you talk to her.”
So when Seo-ho subtly asked me about it, I made sure to emphasize that Jo Si-a and I were on good terms.
In between all this, Si-ho would also come to the academy, stick by my side, and let Seo-ho see her acting friendly with Jo Si-a.
Though it seemed her real reason for visiting the academy was something else, that’s how it looked on the surface.
I wondered if it was okay for her to come and go from the Hunter Training Academy without permission like this, but then I remembered she was a hunter, so what was the problem?
Besides, my original goal was to graduate from the academy quietly. Jo Si-a was considerate enough to read the room, chatting with me but leaving whenever a crowd gathered.
Thanks to her, I never became the center of attention.
“You’ve got a lot of people around you lately, Ha-chan.”
And so the days at the Hunter Training Academy passed.
Today, since neither Si-ho nor Jo Si-a was around, Eunnamu struck up a conversation.
“Ah, it just sort of… happened.”
I could fool others, but not Eunnamu, who shared my room and attended the same classes.
She had already noticed the situation between Jo Si-a and me.
Then again, she was the one who saw right through my relationship with Seo-ho, so it was impossible for her not to know.
I thought I’d have a quiet time at the academy, but I have no idea how I got swept up in all this.
“It’s fun being with you, Ha-chan.”
“I’m sorry for being so noisy.”
“That’s part of what makes it fun.”
Eunnamu looked at me with her usual languid smile.
Even though her face was that of a man, I knew she was a woman on the inside, which made me feel a little awkward and I had to look away.
“I’m glad I came to the academy.”
Come to think of it, why did Eunnamu come to the Hunter Training Academy?
I had a feeling she needed a Hunter ID, but I knew nothing about her.
Eunnamu wasn’t the type to talk about herself.
Was she like this in Baeksan’s world too?
I didn’t know.
I just often found myself thinking that it was quite comfortable talking with her.
She had a charm that put those around her at ease.
“Eunnamu.”
“Hm?”
“What are you going to do after the academy ends?”
Hearing my question, she blinked once.
Then, as if I’d said something strange, she began to chuckle softly.
“Isn’t it usually decided what you do after the Hunter Training Academy?”
“Well, yes, but.”
I trailed off.
Baeksan told me you go around killing returnees.
There was no way I could ask her that.
Beyond the sky, the sun was setting.
The shadows stretching from the sunset cast a shade over Eunnamu’s face, and for some reason, that sight bothered me.
Was it because I knew she was a returnee?
The returnees around me were all living with immense pain cradled in their arms.
If so, wouldn’t Eunnamu be the same?
“I was just thinking I should tell you to call me if you’re ever having a hard time, after the academy is over.”
“So you plan on keeping in touch with me even after the academy, Ha-chan.”
“What, you didn’t, Eunnamu? I’m hurt.”
“Sorry, want a bandage?”
We both said, and then we laughed.
“Fucking bullshit. I told you not to get involved, you bastard. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Hey! Don’t you pretend you can’t hear me! Kang Ha-chan!”
I decided to pretend I couldn’t hear him.
Four more days, huh.
Time really flies.
Before I knew it, the Hunter Training Academy would be over in just four days.
Just then, my phone buzzed with a text message.
I picked up my phone and had to doubt my own eyes.
[ Domi-oppa, I’m coming over tomorrow~ ]
Ahyu was suddenly coming to the academy.
*
16
Why was Ahyu suddenly coming to the academy?
Ever since I got her text yesterday, I’d been mulling it over.
Ahyu wasn’t a hunter.
While it wasn’t completely off-limits to civilians, the Hunter Training Academy wasn’t a place just anyone could walk into.
In that case, the only reason Ahyu would come is…
The answer was incredibly simple.
A returnee-related incident has occurred at the academy.
Realizing this, I was lost in thought.
The reason a returnee would have to step in is almost always because it involves another returnee.
And who was right next to me at this moment?
Eunnamu.
I looked at her as she nibbled on the sandwich she’d gotten for lunch.
Eating the sandwich with her small mouth, she met my gaze, glanced between me and the sandwich, and then held it up.
“Want some?”
“Are you treating me like a dog?”
“Your eyes looked like it.”
Watching her go back to eating her sandwich, I wore a complicated expression.
If Ahyu was really here to find Eunnamu, what should I do?
It’s not right to judge based on my own standards.
Even if I had gotten close to Eunnamu, I didn’t know what kind of life she had lived.
It was possible that, just as Baeksan had said, she had spent her life murdering other returnees.
Frankly, for someone who was cross-dressing and hiding her identity, that possibility was quite high.
Returnees were victims who had been swept up in dimensional shifts, but as Ahyu once said, not all of them were good people.
There were those like Girasung, who committed crimes without a second thought.
If that’s the case…
Should I tell Ahyu about Eunnamu right away?
As I was lost in these thoughts, I finished my meal and stood up from my seat.
Vrrrr—
Just then, my phone, which I’d set to vibrate, began to ring.
When I checked the number, it was Ahyu. Speak of the devil.
“Hello?”
[Domi-oppa, I’m here! I’m at the main gate.]
Hearing that, I glanced back at Eunnamu.
“Eunnamu, something came up. Is it okay if I step out for a bit?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Leaving the waving Eunnamu behind, I immediately started walking.
The area around the main gate was empty. I looked around, and a moment later, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Ahyu.”
When I turned my head, Ahyu was standing there, poking my cheek with her index finger.