13. 채주아
13. Chae Ju-ah
Chae Ju-ah suddenly appeared and sat down next to Ga-eun.
She seemed to have a friendly personality, just like the image she usually projected.
Sitting next to her, Chae Ju-ah chatted about this and that.
Things like how hot it was, or how nice it was to be back at school after so long.
Most of it was small talk like that.
Ga-eun looked at Chae Ju-ah, who was quickly closing the distance between them, with a puzzled expression.
“Ahaha, I guess you’re wondering why I’m acting this way, junior?”
“Huh? Oh, did I give it away?”
“Hmm, it’s not that I gave it away—it’s just a feeling?”
“A feeling?”
“I just had a hunch.”
“Is that so?”
Ga-eun tilted her head, indicating she wasn’t quite sure.
“Oh, don’t overthink it. I was just guessing.”
“Still, that’s pretty amazing.”
Cha Joo-ah scratched the back of her head as Ga-eun looked at her.
“By the way, are you curious why I’m acting like this?”
“Oh, yeah. A little bit.”
“It’s nothing. Do you remember that boring guy—I mean, Cha Ji-won?”
“Are you talking about the investigator from the Association?”
“Yeah, I heard he was assigned to you a while back.”
Cha Joo-ah shook her head and explained about Cha Ji-won.
His tone was stiff, like a soldier’s, so it was no fun talking to him, and if you joked around even a little, he’d get serious and glare at you.
She said he was, in so many ways, the embodiment of “no fun.”
“I bet that’s the person you’re thinking of. If there were one more person like him in the Association, that would truly be hell.”
“Ah, I see…”
Hearing that, Ga-eun gave an awkward smile.
“So, what’s your relationship like?”
“Us? I guess you could call us hunter classmates.”
“Classmates?”
“We became hunters around the same time, more or less.”
Chae Ju-ah said with a faint smile.
“So we used to go through the Gates together quite often.”
“But now you’re an investigator, right?”
“She said she preferred office work and left on her own. I just couldn’t handle an office job at all.”
Cha Joo-ah shook her head from side to side as if the mere thought gave her a headache.
Leaning against Ga-eun’s shoulder and listening quietly to the conversation, I thought to myself.
She’s definitely right.
I guess she’s not an S-rank for nothing, huh?
She definitely seemed to have a strong sense of self-awareness.
Cha Joo-ah hadn’t been able to sit still for a while now.
She kept shifting her sitting position or touching her face and hair.
She really was quite the scatterbrain in many ways.
To think that someone like Chae Ju-ah was stuck in an office job where she had to sit still and just process paperwork.
It seemed highly likely she’d end up dying of frustration.
Chae Ju-ah was a bit like a tuna.
Tuna are known to die of suffocation because they can’t breathe if they stay still.
That’s why they’re fish that constantly swim through the ocean to breathe.
In that sense, I thought Chae Ju-ah was a lot like a tuna.
“Sorry, I’ve gone off on a tangent. Let’s get back to the question.”
“No, it’s fine. That was interesting.”
“Really? Anyway, he mentioned there’s a junior at our university who’s going to be a big deal.”
Wait, is this a breach of privacy…?
“I’m just saying this in case you’re worried, but it’s not like that. He really just told me exactly that.”
“Really?”
“It’s true. He didn’t even tell me the person’s name or what they look like.”
Chae Ju-ah seemed flustered and waved her arms wildly in the air.
Ga-eun chuckled softly, amused by Chae Ju-ah’s reaction.
“Hmm, you’re wondering how I know that when I don’t even know the name or what they look like, right?”
“Yeah, a little bit?”
“It’s nothing special this time either. I just knew the moment I saw you that you were the one she was talking about.”
“Is there a reason you thought that?”
“I don’t know? Just a hunch?”
Ga-eun looked at Chae Ju-ah’s answer with an expression that said she didn’t understand.
But Chae Ju-ah just shrugged.
It was simply a matter of intuition—something even she found hard to explain.
Is there really a reason or explanation for “I just had a feeling”?
In the end, Ga-eun set her curiosity aside and changed the subject.
And so, Chae Ju-ah and Ga-eun went back to chatting about this and that.
“Oh, it’s getting late. I guess I should be heading out now.”
“Yes, I need to go back inside, too.”
With that, Chae Ju-ah stood up from her seat.
“Alright then, see you later, junior.”
“Yes, I’ll see you in the classroom later.”
“If you run into any trouble, give me a call at the number I gave you.”
Ga-eun and I watched Chae Ju-ah’s back as she walked toward the end of the hallway.
[“Wow, she’s like the wind.”]
“You’re right.”
[“Should we go, too?”]
“Yeah, it’ll start soon.”
====================
The class Chae Ju-ah had prepared was surprisingly well-organized.
From what I’d seen earlier, she seemed like the type to be a bit careless and scatterbrained.
But the way she was standing in front of the students right now was a completely different story.
Her explanation was easy to follow, and the PowerPoint presentation she’d prepared was well-organized.
“Most of that is just a script, and the PowerPoint is something they reuse at the university.”
Ah, hmm.
[“Of course I knew all that.”]
“Oh, yeah…”
[“I told you it was true.”]
Did I really not know? I was just trying to make a joke.
Take a joke as a joke—don’t take it so seriously.
Hmm, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known.
Don’t you think so?
“……….”
[“Hey, don’t you agree?”]
“There are a lot of people around, so I can’t really talk.”
[“Hey, hey, you’re talking just fine.”]
“I’m not sure.”
Ugh, seriously. Like you don’t know.
I tapped my new leg and glared right at Ga-eun’s face.
But Ga-eun kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, her expression unchanged.
To anyone else watching her, she just looked like a student attending a lecture.
Of course, the truth was…….
[“Hey, can’t you see me?”]
“You’re invisible because the sparrow used a hiding spell.”
[“You can hear me, though.”]
“My hearing isn’t very good.”
[“This is telepathy, you know?”]
“I don’t understand because my Korean isn’t very good.”
I was bickering with the sparrow, who was perched on my shoulder but invisible due to the hiding spell.
A little time passed like that.
“Alright, juniors. That’s all for today’s lecture. You can go home now.”
Chae Ju-ah, standing at the lectern, clapped her hands and said.
Most of the students looked disappointed that the lecture was over.
Well, of course—a famous S-rank hunter was right there in front of them.
It was only natural to want to hear just one more word from her.
Perhaps that was why, even though the lecture had ended, hardly anyone was leaving the classroom.
“Everyone, I’m sorry, but Hunter Chae Ju-ah has other commitments later today, so it won’t be possible for her to stay any longer.”
It wasn’t until an organizer wrapped things up that people finally began to leave.
[“Should we go too?”]
“Yeah, everyone else seems to be leaving, so let’s head out too.”
[“I’m going home to get some more sleep.”]
“Is Bapsae naturally nocturnal?”
[“No. I’m just sleepy.”]
Ga-eun looked at me with an expression of utter disbelief.
Her gaze seemed to be saying exactly this:
“After sleeping like that, you want to sleep here some more?”
[“You—that look in your eyes. It’s totally suspicious.”]
“It’s probably just my imagination.”
[“Hmm……”]
I couldn’t really say anything about that.
Instead, I glared at Ga-eun with a look of deep dissatisfaction.
Anyway, it was about time for us to head out of the lecture hall.
“You’re Hunter Han Ga-eun, right?”
“Ah, yes. What can I do for you?”
A woman in a black suit approached us and spoke politely.
She seemed to be an Association official accompanying Chae Ju-ah.
“The reason I’m here is that we’re planning to conduct on-site Gate training exclusively for the student hunters who attended this lecture.”
“Then what about Hunter Chae Ju-ah…?”
“Hunter Chae Joo-ah is scheduled to enter the Gate with you all as an instructor.”
Ah, so this was the plan after that?
Speaking of which, “Gate field training”…
As I listened to the Association representative speak, one word immediately came to mind.
I’m not sure if it’s the right term, since it’s one often used in RPG games.
[“To put it simply, it’s just a bus, right?”]
“……….”
[“Wait, is that wrong?”]
“No, it’s not completely wrong, but….”
Even as she said that, Ga-eun’s expression was a bit ambiguous.
“I didn’t expect you to put it that way.”
[“Seriously, doesn’t anyone else think this?”]
“Not until now, anyway.”
[“That’s really strange.”]
It was a bit surprising that no one in Korea—a country so full of creativity—had ever thought of it that way.
It felt a little strange.
An official from the association explained the details of this field training to Ga-eun.
They mentioned that participation was free, that she didn’t need to bring anything, and that it would be very safe, among other things.
The explanation was so long-winded that it was starting to bore the listener.
“Hunter Han Ga-eun, are you interested in participating in this field training?”
“Yes, I’d be happy to if you’d like me to.”
“Thank you. Please follow me.”
With that, Ga-eun and I followed the staff member.
We arrived at a parking lot.
“Please board this bus.”
“This huge bus?”
“Yes, it’s the Association’s bus for Hunters.”
An enormous bus was parked in the lot.
It was at least twice the size of a regular public bus.
“Wow, this is already the third time today, isn’t it?”
As Ga-eun stepped onto the bus, a familiar voice from inside caught our attention.
“Hunter Chae Ju-ah?”
“Come on, I told you to call me ‘senior.’”
Chae Ju-ah greeted us with a bright smile.