Chapter 53 — Stop Clinging to My Oppa.
Chapter 53 — Stop Clinging to My Oppa.
Translation: GodTL
After the long phone call with Min-jun.
Sia found herself in an extremely complicated state of mind.
It was because other Dragons who viewed her relationship with Min-jun with disdain might interfere and do who-knows-what.
Perhaps they might even dare to harm an innocent human man guilty only of loving a Dragon.
The probability was high that they wouldn't actively harass him outright, given their concerns about her, her grandfather, and the few Dragons who supported her—but that didn't mean she could let her guard down.
After all, it wouldn't be strange if someone, at some point, harmed Min-jun in some way.
Still, her heart wasn't entirely filled with just tangled emotions.
There was Min-jun's warm concern for her, the steadfastness in his determination to overcome any adversity that might come between them.
And then there was his thoughtfulness—sending her tteokbokki, gifts, and even a handwritten letter because he had been worried about her.
Strangely enough, because of all that, a fluttering excitement coexisted within her heart even in this situation.
At the very least, that much was a comfort to her.
'No matter how much I think about it, I just don't understand.'
Though she had lived far longer as a Dragon than she ever had as a human, she still couldn't fully comprehend the way Dragons thought.
Did Dragons really have to love only other Dragons?
To clear her tangled thoughts, she decided to eat the tteokbokki Min-jun had personally cooked for her.
The moment she turned on her messenger to take a picture and send him a thank-you message—
A message from an unexpected person was already waiting for her.
[Hello! It's Go Yu-na, the noona you met at the restaurant last time—the one who knows Min-jun.:) Remember me? I've been wanting to get closer to you, Sia, so I thought I should reach out at some point, and I finally mustered up the courage to message you hehehe. I think you mentioned you're a Hunter too, right? If you're okay with it, would you like to spar sometime? I'd love to have a match and grab a meal together too!]
"...Go Yu-na?"
Just when her head was already spinning with complications, a message from that woman had arrived.
How had she even gotten her number? And what was the point of sending this message?
Sia furrowed her brows as she reread the text carefully.
"What the hell is this bitch up to?"
Since she hadn't yet heard about what had happened between Min-jun and Yu-na yesterday morning, Sia couldn't guess why Yu-na had messaged her.
'She didn't even ask me to come with Oppa.'
Why, of all things, did she want to meet her alone?
It probably wasn't as simple as just wanting to get closer to her, like the message suggested.
Was she trying to drive a wedge between her and Min-jun? Or did she have some other ulterior motive?
Amidst her confusion, Sia sent Min-jun a message along with the picture of the tteokbokki she had just taken.
[By the way, Oppa. Did you give my number to that Yu-na noona?]
Min-jun's reply came immediately.
[No. Why? Did she text you?]
It seemed she had gotten it through a third party.
The process didn't matter—what was more important was the fact that Min-jun hadn't given her number to Yu-na.
[No, I was just curious. I'll enjoy the tteokbokki, Oppa!]
For now, Sia decided to hide the fact that Yu-na had messaged her from Min-jun.
So then, what was the best course of action from here?
Should she ignore the message without responding? Or openly express her displeasure? Or should she reply in a way that didn't reveal her true feelings?
At first, none of the options seemed particularly appealing—but the more she thought about it, the more she realized this was actually a golden opportunity.
A chance to deliver a firm warning to that woman and make sure she never came back.
Since they would be meeting without Min-jun around, she wouldn't have to hold back for his sake—in fact, it might even be better this way.
'I'm already tired of worrying about that woman.'
Though Min-jun had already handled the situation appropriately, Sia—unaware of that fact—resolved to put an end to this matter herself.
'My mood is already ruined because of all this.'
If Yu-na had sent this message the other day, before Sia had met with the other Dragons, she might not have reacted so sharply.
In that sense, Go Yu-na was spectacularly unlucky.
With the intent to show her what she was really dealing with, Sia wrote a reply to Yu-na.
The next day.
Sia waited for Yu-na at a café near the promised sparring location.
Of course, she hadn't told Min-jun about today's meeting—and she likely never would.
Today, she intended to sever this tangled, unpleasant connection with that woman for good.
Not long after Sia had taken her seat and begun waiting, Yu-na spotted her from a distance, waved, and approached with a bright greeting.
"Ms. Sia!"
"You're here, Unnie!"
The moment they met, the two exchanged warm greetings in the brightest tones possible.
"Had I known it would be like this, I should've reached out sooner. I worried so much that you might feel burdened."
"Oh, you could've just contacted me casually. I actually had a lot I wanted to ask you too, Unnie."
To an outsider, they might have looked like the warmest of friends—but beneath the surface, both harbored a seething hatred for each other, their lethal claws carefully sheathed.
"Shall we head to the sparring arena now?"
"Sounds good!"
The two made their way to the underground training hall in the same building.
The arena was eerily empty.
Since Yu-na had reserved it in advance, they were able to enter immediately.
After changing into sparring gear and equipping their safety equipment, they stood facing each other in the center.
"It feels refreshing to do this after so long. Brings back memories."
"Same here. It's been a while since I last sparred, so I'm a little nervous. Please go easy on me, Unnie!"
"Yeah, same here."
Amidst the seemingly cheerful exchange, Yu-na silently reaffirmed her resolve—over and over again.
Today, I'll make sure this clueless woman feels the crushing difference in our strength.
Normally, even if a retired Hunter faced an active one, the gap in rank would be so vast that the stronger party would naturally hold back.
But Yu-na had no intention of holding back.
She planned to crush Sia mercilessly with everything she had.
If Sia questioned why she was going so hard, she'd just brush it off—"It's been so long, I'm having trouble controlling my strength."
'And with that excuse, I can drag her into another match.'
She could even say something like, "I'm sorry about last time, so this time I'll adjust properly."
The more matches they had, the more opportunities she'd get to vent her fury on Sia.
"Unnie, should we start now?"
"Sure."
As they channeled a trace of mana into their equipment, a signal chime rang out—marking the start of the match.
The moment the spar began, Yu-na, a Spirit Mage, immediately summoned her Salamander.
"Unnie, you're a Spirit Mage?"
"Yeah. Did I not mention that?"
Sia watched with interest as the Salamander materialized.
Yu-na's Salamander, naturally aggressive, had been grumbling about the dull monotony of post-retirement life.
Instead of thrilling, blood-pumping battles, all it got was... cooking?
It had complained more than once about being reduced to "adding a little fire to dishes."
But today was different.
This wasn't a real battle, but it was still a thrilling fight—a proper match against another Hunter.
The moment it grasped the situation, the Salamander flicked its tongue excitedly, practically vibrating with anticipation.
It impatiently nudged Yu-na, demanding orders.
'Salamander, blast fire straight at her face. Put everything you've got into it.'
Yu-na relayed the command through their mental link.
Since Sia was wearing protective gear, even a full-powered attack wouldn't kill her.
But what if the gear failed and she got burned?
'That... wouldn't be so bad, either.'
She could just brush it off as an accident, feign some half-hearted apologies, and cover the medical bills.
Money wasn't an issue for her anyway.
In fact, it'd be downright satisfying.
Suppressing a dark chuckle, she imagined Sia's reaction.
'Let's see how she handles this.'
But—
Her expectations, of course, were doomed to fail.
The Salamander gathered Yu-na's mana to its limit, preparing to unleash a devastating torrent of flames at Sia.
However—
For some reason, the Salamander suddenly felt its power being suppressed by an immense, unfathomable force.
'...?'
Utterly bewildered by the unfamiliar sensation, the Salamander hesitated.
Panicking, it tried to gather its strength again—
But in that instant, an overwhelming terror clamped down on it.
"...!"
Having never encountered a Dragon before, it didn't recognize the sensation as Dragon Fear—
But one thing was painfully clear.
The being before it was no ordinary human.
If it dared attack, something unthinkable would happen.
The salamander tried to relay this fact to Yu-na through their mental link, but it had already been forcibly reverse-summoned to the Spirit Realm by some unknown force.
"Kkh—!"
While reverse-summoning a spirit to the Spirit Realm wasn't common, when it did happen, the contracted spirit mage would suffer excruciating pain and mana backlash as a side effect.
They wouldn't die. They would only writhe in agony for a few minutes.
As the salamander vanished, Yu-na—overwhelmed by the long-forgotten torment of mana reflux—collapsed to the ground, limbs flailing as she let out ragged, pain-filled gasps.
Showing such a pathetic state in front of Sia, of all people, was humiliating beyond words—but right now, she didn't have the luxury to care about that.
Abandoning all pride, she choked out ragged breaths, stretching a trembling hand toward Sia in a desperate plea for help.
But Sia only looked down at her with eyes as cold as the moment before their duel had begun.
"Kkh— S-Sia— Kkh—!"
Just calling her name alone was this painful, this suffocating.
Beyond the physical agony, Yu-na was drowning in sheer terror.
No spirit mage in history had ever died from the backlash of a reverse-summoning—but what if she became the first?
Yet that wasn't the end of it.
Another torment awaited her.
The Dragon Fear that had instilled overwhelming dread in her salamander—
This time, it was directed at her.
Drowning in a terror so intense she had never experienced before, Yu-na's face turned deathly pale, her breath hitching as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
Thud. Thud.
Sia stepped closer, gazing down at the broken woman before her.
How in the world could a D-rank Hunter emit an aura like this?
"Unnie."
Her voice was soft, but her eyes—those of a contract killer sizing up her target—were utterly devoid of warmth.
Yu-na wanted to scream, What the hell is this? Why are you doing this?! But her voice refused to form, dissolving into nothing but a weak, trembling whimper.
"Why did you take an interest in my oppa?" Sia asked, her tone eerily flat. "You knew he had a girlfriend. So why?"
The complete lack of emotion in her voice only made the terror worse.
In this moment, all Yu-na could do was tremble in fear and listen.
Everything was a mistake.
Not securing Min-jun's heart when they were younger.
Rushing into things when they reunited.
And worst of all—trying to take her anger out on Sia.
All of it.
She wished she could just pass out, but her mind remained unnervingly clear.
"Just in case you were thinking of pulling something," Sia continued, "I should warn you—those CCTV recordings you saw on your way in? You'd better not try anything with them."
Unbeknownst to Yu-na, Sia had already woven magic throughout the training hall. The security footage would only show an ordinary sparring match.
So—
"Even if you go around crying about what happened here, no one will believe you."
Behave.
Terror for her life forced tears from Yu-na's eyes as she desperately nodded in submission.
Only then did Sia release the Dragon Fear and step back.
The pain from the mana reflux gradually dulled, and her ragged breathing steadied.
But the indescribable horror remained, lodged deep in her chest.
Though everything had seemingly returned to normal, the hollow, unfocused look in Yu-na's eyes proved that what had just happened was no illusion.
"You worked hard, unnie."
Sia—now back to her usual self—cheerfully addressed Yu-na, who was still too shaken to even fix her disheveled hair.
"That was a great experience! I learned a lot, too. When else would I get to spar with an A-rank Hunter?"
She spoke as casually as if they had just finished a normal training session.
"......"
The sheer unnaturalness of it sent another wave of paralyzing terror through Yu-na's body.
Too afraid to even ask why this was happening, she could only give a small, numb nod.
Sia then pulled her into a tight hug—as if expressing gratitude for arranging this match.
Holding Yu-na close, she whispered something just loud enough for her to hear:
"If unnie ever catches my oppa's—or my—attention again..."
"This won't be the end of it."
And then—
As if nothing had happened at all—she cheerfully asked:
"You must be hungry, unnie! It's almost lunchtime—should we go grab something to eat?"