First Member (6): Inferiority Complex
Inferiority complex. Just three syllables, but Yoo Seo-ah knew all too well how terrifying that word could be.
Back in the day, right after enrolling in the Hunter Academy, during a one-on-one mock battle. Yoo Seo-ah had unleashed her brilliant talent there, securing a perfect victory over her opponent cadet. The thrill vibrating from the tip of her training sword. The power dwelling in her very limbs, something she'd only just discovered about herself. And the exhilarating sensation of her first-ever victory. That day, Yoo Seo-ah felt an overwhelming sense of omnipotence, like she could do anything.
But before she could even properly savor that feeling—
Kwachik! Kwak! Kwak! Kwak!
“This fucking commoner bitch dares to?!”
“You hillbilly with no family, no backing, nothing!”
“Stomp her!”
Yoo Seo-ah was lynched. By the noble-born cadet she'd just beaten and his cronies he'd been tight with from the start.
Yoo Seo-ah's talent was undoubtedly radiant, but she was still just an unbloomed flower bud. At seventeen, her body and mind were far too fragile to withstand the kicks fueled by inferiority complex. In the end, she couldn't fully bloom her talent until she graduated from the Hunter Academy.
Inferiority complex. The poison of the masses that those who can't accept anyone superior to them inevitably harbor. Having endured that poison for a full three years at the Hunter Academy, Yoo Seo-ah had come to fear others' inferiority complexes deeply.
※ Four years after graduating from Hunter Academy.
Yoo Seo-ah was fortunate enough to forget the bad experiences from the academy once she teamed up with Kang Jinseong. There were so many good memories with him that there was no room left in her head for the bad ones. Those painful past recollections sank into the depths of her subconscious.
It would have been great if she'd found eternal peace of mind that way, but...
Kang Jinseong's phone screen.
The moment she saw Park Bong-su, vice captain of Cheongmyeong Guild's 1st Unit, the old wounds buried in her subconscious began resurfacing. Memories from four years ago that she'd forgotten. The eyes of those cadets, driven mad by inferiority complex, losing their reason to rage and trample her—they flooded Yoo Seo-ah's mind.
Rage and jealousy born of inferiority complex, impatience and haste—they turn people into weapons. In the past, Yoo Seo-ah's spirit had been broken by that weapon, and just hours ago, she'd nearly lost her life to it.
Yoo Seo-ah was angry and felt wronged about nearly being stabbed in the back by a teammate. But the main emotion making her body tremble was fear. Stronger than anyone who'd ever harbored inferiority complex toward her, the Park Bong-su on the screen terrified her beyond measure. The fact that she could die—not because of any fault of her own, but because of someone else's inferiority complex—was utterly horrifying.
Yoo Seo-ah felt her vision blur, her breathing quicken, her body shake uncontrollably. She couldn't control her emotions because that man on the phone screen terrified her so much. Death. Cold, lonely, utterly horrific—the end of life. The primal terror no living being wants to face. And the man who'd nearly forced that terror on her was brazenly claiming devastation from the screen.
Yoo Seo-ah couldn't accept it. It was too unjust, too scary, too infuriating. All those heavy emotions mixed with tears and fell to the floor.
Tok. Plip. Tok.
“Hic, h-hic... Euuk.”
“...Team leader?”
As she shed tears and sobbed, Kang Jinseong's gaze shifted from the phone screen to Yoo Seo-ah. She met his eyes, tears streaming down, filled with worry. In that moment, Yoo Seo-ah realized just how precious the past four years with him had been.
“U, uuugh, J-Jinseong s-si...”
With him, it had felt so natural she hadn't noticed. Only after parting did she realize. How rare it was to have a trustworthy comrade. How miraculous his act of throwing himself into the Grim Reaper's curse had been.
Realizing it now, filled with regret and longing, Yoo Seo-ah said,
“I-I w-want to go back to being on the same team as you, Jinseong s-si...”
Tears poured down, snot dripping, as Yoo Seo-ah wailed like a total baby. For an A-rank hunter hailed as a supernova of the era, it was an utterly childish sight.
'I didn't want Jinseong-ssi to see me like this... He was the one who advised me to go to Cheongmyeong Guild and spread my wings—what am I doing saying this to him? You idiot, stupid Yoo Seo-ah...!'
She knew it herself, which made her feel even more foolish.
“Hweeeeng... B-being on the same team as Jinseong-ssi was so much better...”
But the dam of her emotions, once broken, wouldn't stop the torrent until everything was poured out.
'Jinseong-ssi even saved my life, how can you throw a tantrum like a baby, you fool... Hwiiing!'
As she bawled, Yoo Seo-ah feared Jinseong might get sick of her. Especially after being stabbed in the back by a teammate just hours ago—she desperately hoped he wouldn't hate her. Because he'd risked his life for her before, and this time saved hers too. He was the one truly reliable person she could trust, aside from her parents.
To be hated by Kang Jinseong, the only one she could trust?
“Hic, h-hic! Hweeeeeeng!”
Just thinking about it was horrific enough to burst into more tears. A true hellish spiral of tears calling forth tears.
'Wh-what do I dooo? The tears, the tears won't stooop...'
Her mind going blank amid this endless emotional flood that seemed like it wouldn't stop until she cried herself to sleep—
“Hahaha.”
Kang Jinseong burst out laughing right in front of her. Not the exasperated or annoyed kind. It was like the involuntary chuckle when seeing something unbearably cute. At least, that's how it felt to Yoo Seo-ah.
“I thought our team leader had become this huge person way beyond me.”
Kang Jinseong curved his lips softly, looking at her with eyes full of affection.
“But seeing you cry like this... You're not that different from when we first met.”
And then he said that.
Yoo Seo-ah struggled to grasp what he meant.
'I thought you'd grown, but you haven't at all.' Is he mocking me? Or 'You're the same as ever. What am I gonna do with you, haha,' comforting me gently?
If it was the former, it'd be devastating—tears welling up again—when
Thub.
His incredibly warm hand gently cupped her cheek.
Swipe.
His thumb wiped the tears from her eye corner.
“Our team leader's still a baby, huh.”
With a soft eye smile, he uttered that absurd line.
“...Heuk.”
The moment she met that smile, Yoo Seo-ah felt her heart thud drop. Heat flooded her face, her fallen heart pounding wildly, her mouth parched dry.
The tears that had seemed endless stopped in an instant. The fear, anger, and injustice from Park Bong-su on the screen were long forgotten.
Now, her eyes reflected only Kang Jinseong before her. The only thing she felt was his warm touch.
Yoo Seo-ah was no longer afraid. She couldn't be afraid.
“Huh? Tears stopped. Our team leader, all done crying now?”
Because this man right here, just one year older, was pulling off this insane older-bro vibe.
In the face of his warm touch and gentle voice, she really did feel like a baby, just as he said.
“Y-yeah. A-all done cwyiiing.”
Her face beet red, Yoo Seo-ah nodded at his question. Answering that she'd cried her fill at 24 felt mortifying, yet somehow addicting.
'Wh-what's wrong with me? I don't know this feeling. I don't knooow...'
As her mind turned to mush from this unfamiliar heart-fluttering, Jinseong grinned and said,
“Good, then. All cried out? Get up. We gotta go before it's too late.”
“Y-yes? Where to?”
“Where else.”
Kang Jinseong pointed at the phone screen he was holding.
“Here. The press conference for the Gangnam Station incident, right nearby.”
Cried enough? Now it was time for revenge.