Woman's Complicated Feelings - Part 2 - 5 Minutes Before the Problem Erupts
Five minutes before the problem erupted, Go Yu-jin let out a sigh of her own. When operating out of Seoul, she often crossed paths with certain bad omens. Jeong Sang-hu from before was one such case, and now the Ice Witch Cheon Se-ah, whom she had to meet, was another.
For some reason, it hadn't started as outright enmity with Cheon Se-ah. She was just an awakener who used cold that inevitably interfered with cleanup work, leading to frequent complaints and tangles. But from some turning point, their relationship had soured dramatically, and now Cheon Se-ah treated her like an archenemy, leaving Go Yu-jin in a bind.
'I don't think I did anything wrong... It's just that after I hired Seong-chan as an employee, things got really bad between us. Does she have some grudge against him?'
She figured it might be because they were both second-gen awakeners whose battlefields had overlapped. Black magic was a power that didn't easily distinguish friend from foe, and its massive external impact often provoked aversion from other awakeners when used. It was a near-irrational situation black mages like her were all too accustomed to.
'Anyway... The gate's almost closed, so let's just smile through it. Smile...'
Go Yu-jin forced a smile, recalling last night's passionate heat. It was unfamiliar, but a happy memory—one she wanted to relive, like a cherished keepsake. Too recent to call a full "memory" yet, but its dreamlike haze drew her in deeper.
Soon after speeding toward the confrontation, she finally faced Cheon Se-ah.
"It's you after all, isn't it?"
Go Yu-jin asked seriously in a sharp tone.
"There's no reason for us to get in each other's way, so let's not act rashly."
"Do you have any idea how much stress you cause me?"
"The feeling's mutual. Why do you keep interfering with our work? Even if you have a deep grudge against Seong-chan, this isn't the way!"
"Hmph, it's not a grudge!"
"Then what is it?"
"It's... uh..."
Cheon Se-ah trailed off, unable to respond. Go Yu-jin channeled her mana and pressed on.
"Don't hide it without even a decent excuse. The gate's closing soon anyway—let's not do anything that'll hurt us both."
"Your environment, your situation, your very existence pisses me off..."
Cheon Se-ah growled softly, her aura surging sharply. Sensing it, Go Yu-jin raised her own mana in warning.
"Solving things with brute force is an outdated mindset. The world's stabilized and changed now. How about we talk it out smoothly?"
Go Yu-jin assumed Cheon Se-ah was trying to sabotage their work out of resentment toward Geum Seong-chan. Cheon Se-ah, meanwhile, hated the situation itself. If the woman before her weren't Go Yu-jin, she wouldn't be this agitated. It might even have excited her in another way entirely—hence the thick mix of regret and fury spilling out.
Awakening loosened a screw in every awakener's head. And now, these two loose screws were grinding against each other.
Cheon Se-ah suddenly began freezing everything around her, her Ice Witch moniker fitting perfectly in this display of power. Go Yu-jin responded by channeling mana to gather nearby debris into a golem.
The rubble was steeped in cold, making it a chore just to form the body, but she could push back the chill with mana. Accepting some damage, she shifted to a defensive stance.
"What can you do with those pathetic corpse golems?!"
Cheon Se-ah thrust her hand into the air, summoning a massive ice pillar that shattered into countless icy blades hurtling toward the golem.
But Go Yu-jin had no intention of taking it lying down. She lifted the golem's foot and slammed it down hard.
Boom!!
Earth shards erupted skyward, and with perfect timing, she swung the golem's arm to swat the incoming ice spears out of the air.
"Cheap tricks!"
Furious at her technique being blocked, Cheon Se-ah spewed more cold, forming countless massive pillars in the air. Go Yu-jin warned her.
"If you're serious, you'd better brace yourself. I won't hold back either."
No sooner had Go Yu-jin spoken than a torrent of mana erupted, swelling her already massive golem to enormous proportions.
Cheon Se-ah flinched but gritted her teeth, refusing to lose momentum as she unleashed her cold—
Snap!
A colossal surge of mana swept the area, scattering their powers as if precisely countering their output. Both women's gazes turned toward the source of the voice.
"Whew, I'm swamped with work already, and you two make me waste energy here?"
"Seong-chan."
"...Geum Seong-chan."
Go Yu-jin dispelled her golem and raised both hands in retreat. Cheon Se-ah stared piercingly at Geum Seong-chan for a long moment, her cheeks faintly flushing before she spoke.
"I apologize for the rudeness. I got too worked up..."
"Thanks to you, the schedule's a bit tight now."
Cheon Se-ah felt a pang of disappointment at his response but knew what kind of work Go Yu-jin and Geum Seong-chan were doing. She had to admit she'd caused trouble.
"Sorry. I didn't mean for this... I just get heated too easily."
"I'll stop you there. The subjugation seems done, so lead your people out of the gate."
"...You won't accept my apology?"
She gazed at him with the forlorn look of a rain-soaked puppy. Geum Seong-chan sighed and said,
"Same as always—your post-mistake face hasn't changed."
'He remembers...!'
Cheon Se-ah bubbled with inner joy, but his next words deflated her again.
"Get out now. You're in the way."
In the end, she slunk away with her tail between her legs.
Meanwhile, Go Yu-jin, who had watched closely, quickly realized it wasn't "resentment" driving Cheon Se-ah.
'...She likes Seong-chan?'
The emotion felt like that, putting her on edge for no reason. When her eyes met the dejected Cheon Se-ah's, she caught the fierce torrent burning in those pupils and could only sigh.
'It's real... Seong-chan. No wonder—talent like his is rare. And there's history too...'
Planning to ask him later, Go Yu-jin stepped back alongside Geum Seong-chan to defuse the situation. Cheon Se-ah, her expression softened by Go Yu-jin's actions, headed to her team—prompting Go Yu-jin to ask quietly,
"You and Cheon Se-ah go way back?"
"We fought together on the battlefield toward the end of the Three-Year War."
The Three-Year War meant the Great Cataclysm.
'Around the time I left the front lines...'
She actually had no memory of seeing Geum Seong-chan in battle—their zones differed. He'd mainly handled rear support, while she'd carved bloody paths at the vanguard. Hardly an easy encounter.
And it seemed Cheon Se-ah had been in the rear then too, crossing paths with him. From Geum Seong-chan's reaction, though, the memories were more negative than fond.
"She must've made a lot of mistakes, huh?"
"Less mistakes, more nuisances. She couldn't control her cold properly and went berserk often."
"Ah..."
Go Yu-jin instantly grasped it. With power like Cheon Se-ah's, she could've been frontline—but rear placement meant she was trouble. Gazing at the woman's slumped shoulders as she walked away, Go Yu-jin felt oddly sympathetic, but reminded herself competitors needed no boosting—then startled herself.
'A rival...'
She glanced at Geum Seong-chan, sorting her tangled thoughts.
* * *
The cleanup proceeded smoothly. With exactly fifteen minutes left until gate closure, they gathered every last remnant. The gate wasn't huge to begin with, but the mid-job mana drain had stretched things out.
The two government reps stared blankly at the debris pile, never dreaming it'd all be cleared. Geum Seong-chan approached, thrusting a document forward.
"Work complete. Sign here?"
"...How can you just leave it like this?"
He flashed a grin at government liaison Jo Sung-bin.
"I don't forget debts. Sign."
With that curt word, Jo Sung-bin grudgingly pulled out his pen, signed, and hurried off to harass the haulers. No one could complain to awakeners who'd pulled off such a feat. The world ran on merit.
"All done?"
As he finished signing, Go Yu-jin appeared, brushing debris from her body. He asked,
"Clean?"
"No thanks?"
"You stink. Orc blood and shit linger."
"I know. But if I take it, then again... You know."
"Well... Not that I hate it?"
Her face flushed at my words. Had I overdone the teasing? I brushed it off smoothly—"Say the word anytime"—just as Cheon Se-ah approached.
"Sorry about earlier. I get emotional when I heat up. I nearly caused huge damage, so I wanted to apologize properly..."
"It's fine. No accident happened, and things wrapped up okay. Just don't repeat it."
"...Okay."
She'd mustered courage to come, but retreated dejected once more. Go Yu-jin, overhearing, watched her go and said to me,
"Did you have to be so harsh?"
"Give an inch, she'll take a mile. Stay strict to prevent repeats."
Go Yu-jin eyed me with a complicated expression, but with the situation resolved, we headed back to the office together.
Afterward, media buzzed daily about the Yongsan orc remnants. Poor handling by officials played a part, but rumors swirled about the cleanup firm hauling several times the planned amount—turning it into a hot potato. Despite no crime, they faced endless grilling.
'Just for being black mages, this treatment... Do they not realize how horrific society would be if we all turned villain?'
The persecution-level coverage stressed them out—plain to see. Go Yu-jin and An So-mi were, at heart, ambitious, talented women with a girlish sensitivity. Unlike my own numb, rigid demeanor, they took each article comment to heart intensely.
"Spend that article time training instead."
"Doesn't it bore you, Seong-chan?"
An So-mi asked; I replied instantly.
"If mana-building's boring, quit being a mage."
"See? The madman's ruthlessness shines through."
"Isn't that too harsh?"
"Think objectively. Is Seong-chan a normal human?"
"Perfectly human."
An So-mi grumbled that only I didn't see it, then turned to Go Yu-jin.
"Yu-jin, where'd you pick up this weirdo?"
"I told you—he's a capable employee. An amazing mage."
"That's why I'm asking why he's at our company."
I interjected casually into their exchange.
"Even on the battlefield, they didn't welcome me much. After the Three-Year War ended, I lounged on my rewards till money ran low. This job caught my eye then."
"Ugh, so businesslike and weird."
An So-mi recoiled dramatically, but I couldn't fathom why.