Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: An Awkward Collaboration
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Though polite in tone, her words were a blatant dismissal.
But Haon had experienced her fair share of hazing in university and research labs. This was nothing.
"W-well, I'll help you fix this quickly, and then I'll move to another workstation."
In her experience, standing her ground made the hazing end faster than backing down.
"What needs to be done?"
"Huh? Oh, right here..."
As Haon leaned over the workstation and opened her bike repair kit, Deputy Team Leader No Hyejeong finally pointed out the areas that needed fixing in a dazed voice.
When they removed the bike's crumpled frame, they found a tangled mess of magnetic netting.
"..."
"..."
An awkward silence settled between them as they snipped away at the net with nippers.
Even though she was the one who had decided not to run, Haon found the tense atmosphere unbearable and wanted to flee to another workstation immediately.
On top of that, she could feel the other woman's gaze occasionally glancing at her face from under the low-brimmed cap, making her break out in a cold sweat.
With her eyes hidden by the cap and her lower face by a mask, Haon couldn't see Deputy Team Leader No Hyejeong's expression, but it seemed the woman wasn't the type to hide her feelings well.
It felt like she was working with a stranger who was clearly uncomfortable with her presence and was dropping hints for her to leave.
For Haon, this was an incredibly difficult collaboration. Unable to bear the prolonged silence any longer, she finally spoke up.
"D-Deputy Team Leader. If my face makes you uncomfortable, should I wear a mask tomorrow? There are a lot of fun ones out there. Like for Halloween."
"Ah... N-no, you don't have to do that. Did it bother you? I'm sorry."
The atmosphere grew even more awkward as Deputy Team Leader No Hyejeong stiffly turned her head away.
Haon was flooded with regret, feeling she had said the wrong thing.
'What was I thinking, mentioning Halloween? I'm not here to play around. Why do I always say unnecessary things when I'm nervous...!'
She wondered if she should have just gone to a different workstation, but a glance around told her it would have been the same anywhere else.
Everyone was focused on their repairs and fabrication, but whenever they stretched their stiff backs or necks, they would inadvertently glance in her direction.
The feeling of gazes filled with hostility and curiosity boring into her back.
It reminded her of her first day in her advisor's lab.
"..."
It was a sensation she had grown used to, but could never welcome.
Haon silently snipped away at the netting. No matter how much she cut, more of the tangled mess appeared.
'It's not like I came here to make friends, anyway. I just need to help Headquarters deal with Bae Anjae.'
The only sound at the workstation was the steady snipping of the nippers, and amid the quiet hostility, Haon contemplated her own usefulness.
* * *
After fixing two bikes, two grappling guns, and three receiver bands, her assigned tasks for the day were complete.
They had said they were short-staffed, and the workload for one person was indeed immense, yet there were still plenty of engineers who couldn't leave their workstations.
'They must have given me less work since it's my first day.'
As Haon muttered to herself while taking off her gloves, Deputy Team Leader No Hyejeong spoke in a small, whisper-like voice.
"Good work."
"Y-you too. Good work."
Caught off guard by the unexpected acknowledgment, Haon hastily bowed her head.
'So she does say goodbye. I should have said it first.'
Deciding she would initiate the greeting tomorrow, she washed her hands and noticed Juyeol talking with Team Leader Kim Songmi near the entrance. He must have arrived at some point.
Perhaps because she had just endured a day of subtle hostility, she was unusually happy to see him, even though she had seen him earlier.
"Juyeol!"
Just as she was walking toward him with a bright smile, a small explosion, *pop*, went off behind her.
Startled, she turned to see black smoke rising from the workstation right next to hers.
"W-what, why did it suddenly...!"
"Move."
Pushing the flustered engineer aside, Deputy Team Leader No Hyejeong sprayed a fire extinguisher.
The small flame was quickly extinguished, and the other engineers went back to their work with nonchalant expressions.
The engineer who had caused the explosion looked around awkwardly, and her eyes met Haon's.
She immediately scowled, openly displaying her displeasure.
Haon flinched and looked away. It was the engineer from the next workstation who had been glaring at her all day.
"Eun Haon."
As Haon scurried over at Juyeol's call, Team Leader Kim Songmi, who was with him, suddenly called out to the other engineer.
"Seo Seungyeon! Bring your tablet over here!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
She approached with an expression completely different from the one she'd used to glare at Haon.
"What was the problem?"
"I don't think the calculations were wrong, but I'm not sure why the motor blew out..."
After looking over the schematics and formulas, Team Leader Kim Songmi held the tablet out to Haon.
"Dispatch. Check this."
Taking the tablet in a daze, Haon scanned the formulas and pointed to a specific part.
"H-here, the calculation is wrong from this point on. According to the formula, it can't handle this much voltage."
At her words, Seo Seungyeon didn't hide her annoyance and took out a calculator to punch in the numbers.
"What are you talking about? The calculation was precise! It was definitely—"
But as soon as the result appeared on the calculator, she fell silent, her face turning bright red. It seemed Haon had been right.
"...I don't normally make mistakes like this."
Team Leader Kim Songmi chuckled as the woman snatched the tablet from Haon's hand and grumbled.
"I know! So pull yourself together and get back to your workstation."
"...Yes, ma'am."
Seo Seungyeon shot Haon one last glare before turning on her heel and walking away.
Juyeol, who had been silent until now, muttered with a displeased expression.
"Did I make a mistake putting you here?"
"Not at all! I love working with machines here. Really."
As Haon shook her head vigorously, Team Leader Kim Songmi clapped her hands.
"That's a relief. Starting tomorrow, you'll be involved in fabrication, so be prepared."
"What will I be making?"
"A decompressor or an EMP device. Which do you want to build?"
"…!"
Haon gasped, falling into deep contemplation.
Repairing machines without mana engineering felt incredibly analog. How much more exciting would fabrication be?
"They both sound fun..."
As her deliberation dragged on, Team Leader Kim Songmi casually remarked.
"The deputy team leader will be making the EMP device."
"…?"
Haon wondered about the intention behind her words.
She must have seen how uncomfortable Deputy Team Leader No Hyejeong was around her all day, yet she was suggesting they work together again tomorrow.
As if sensing her thoughts, the team leader let out a hearty laugh as if it were nothing.
"It might take the deputy team leader a little more time to get used to you, but she's a really good person."
"Hmm. Okay, I understand."
Although she gave a positive response, Haon inwardly wondered if that was really true.
After all, no one she had met in this dimension who spoke kindly had ever turned out to be genuinely kind.
"So, make sure you come to work tomorrow! If you run, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth."
Team Leader Kim Songmi grinned, her eyes glinting strangely.
Swallowing hard at the sight, Haon felt a baseless conviction.
The conviction that she should never, ever do anything that would make that woman chase her.
* * *
Leaving the engineering room, Haon let Juyeol lead her on a tour of the headquarters.
Until now, when she came to meet Hunter, she had only ever been to the lobby and the small meeting rooms, so this was her first time properly looking around.
Stabilizing the headquarters must have been the priority, so they couldn't have paid much attention to interior remodeling, yet it was hard to believe this place had once been a gang's hideout.
It felt more like a small public corporation building.
That was thanks to the employees and Heroes bustling through the hallways, talking on the phone or shuffling through documents.
'Only the people inside have changed, but the whole atmosphere is completely different.'
As Haon marveled at the change, she noticed employees startling upon seeing her and instinctively shrank back.
"Juyeol. Am I allowed to wander around like this?"
"You gave us this building. What's wrong with looking around? It's not like you're going into their workspaces."
Juyeol said it so casually that Haon thought, *Is that so?*
"Want to see the dorms too? They're a bit messy, though."
"Can I? I'm curious!"
Juyeol couldn't hold back a smile as Haon's eyes lit up with curiosity.
When she seemed to be ostracized by the engineers, he had worried that his decision had only made things harder for her.
But even after leaving the engineering room filled with machines and tools, her eyes were still sparkling with life.
A sense of joy and pride swelled in his chest until it ached.
"Let's go."
Juyeol led her out of the main building and toward the residential hall.
Just as she had in the main building, Haon looked around the residential hall with fascination. This place, too, was already quite tidy.
They went up the stairs and reached the floor where Juyeol's room was, just as a door swung open.
Haon spotted Bell coming out and was about to greet her when...
Juyeol clicked his tongue softly, grabbed Haon by the waist, and quickly pulled her into the shadows.
"…!"
Suddenly in his arms, Haon was startled and tried to pull away, but he held her back and head tighter against him.
Haon felt a dizzying sensation and squeezed her eyes shut.
She had never been particularly conscious of it before, but the firm, defined muscles of his chest against her cheek and the thick forearms wrapped around her back were suddenly all she could think about.
But even more distracting was her own heart, which had started pounding at some point.