Summer Break (4)
Han Min-ha yanked the phone away from her ear in a panic. Yoo Hee-won’s voice immediately grew even more intense on the other end.
I gestured urgently for her to answer. Han Min-ha shook her head desperately, but there was no way I could take the call for her. In the end, she opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
"U-um… Hee-won…"
"Ah… um, yeah… I’m in the middle of a meeting with Professor… Huh? Wait a second…?"
Han Min-ha held the phone out to me, stuttering.
"Professor… she wants to talk to you…"
"Give it here."
I took the phone from her.
"Hee-won."
"I was visiting Min-ha’s home for a parent-teacher conference. And we already agreed I’d come to your house in the afternoon, didn’t we?"
"I haven’t been here long. We’ve only just started talking."
Yoo Hee-won fell silent for a moment, as if thinking something over, then suddenly said something completely off-topic.
"That’s correct."
"I wouldn’t know. I didn’t ask."
I had no idea what she was plotting, but I switched to speakerphone as requested.
"Huh? No, that’s not true? I went out. I went to the mart to buy food?"
"To have fun… no, I haven’t."
Han Min-ha couldn’t figure out what Yoo Hee-won was getting at and looked at me with those big eyes. I shrugged, equally clueless.
"Umm… no, I don’t."
"Ehh?! To your house?"
Han Min-ha’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between me and the phone.
"Um… why?"
"Um… so why?"
But Yoo Hee-won had already hung up, so we never got an answer. Han Min-ha stared blankly at the darkened phone while I tried to guess what Yoo Hee-won’s intention had been.
It was simple. She was inviting Han Min-ha over because she considered her a friend. From what I’d observed of Yoo Hee-won so far, there wouldn’t be any ulterior motives beyond that. She might look like the most wicked and cunning person in the world, but once you got to know her, she was actually a strangely kind girl.
I figured this was her way of trying to make up for the careless comment she’d made about Min-ha’s parents at the beginning of the semester. The guilt and remorse must have been eating at her.
"Professor. Hee-won really told me to pack my bags and come to her house, right…? I didn’t mishear her, did I?"
"That’s what she said. What will you do?"
"Um… I don’t know…? Break does end in a few days anyway… but getting invited so suddenly is a bit overwhelming."
"There’s no need to overthink it. I’m sure Hee-won simply wants to spend the rest of the break with you."
"You think so?"
Han Min-ha nodded slowly.
"You seem confused because you don’t fully understand how Hee-won feels. She thinks of you as a friend. Just like you do with her."
"A friend…"
"Yes. So let’s go. Hee-won comes from a wealthy family, so her house is huge and she’ll probably feed you lots of delicious food."
At my little joke, Han Min-ha gave a small smile.
"Then please wait a moment. I’ll go pack my things and come right down?"
She jumped up and dashed up the stairs to the second floor. While I waited, I took the empty cups to the sink and washed them.
Yoo Hee-won, inviting Han Min-ha to her house… Really, the more I learn about her, the more surprising she is.
A short while later, Han Min-ha came clattering down the stairs dragging a large suitcase behind her.
"I’m sorry! Did you wait long?! Whoa!"
Her heel got caught in the suitcase wheel and she tumbled down several steps at once. I lightly circulated my aura and created a concave barrier halfway down the stairs to stop her fall.
"Thank you… whew…"
"You’re a hero aspirant, Min-ha. You should get in the habit of using aura in everyday life too."
"Understood!"
She adjusted her slipping glasses and smiled awkwardly. Her long hair, which usually reached her waist, was twisted up into a bun. She was wearing a white shirt and short shorts. It looked like she hadn’t turned on the air conditioner upstairs; she was drenched in sweat.
When she smiled at me like that, her face overlapped with her mother, Seo Ji-ah. She really was the spitting image of her mom. You could believe they were twins.
That thought brought up the face of her father, my senior Han Tae-woo, who always used to grin brightly whenever he saw me. A wave of emotion surged up so intensely that even my Mental Barrier couldn’t suppress it. Overwhelming guilt, longing, and sorrow.
Damn it. Those stupid bastards… With that ridiculous oath, they’ve completely saddled me with their daughter.
I smiled bitterly as dizziness washed over me.
"Professor!"
Han Min-ha abandoned her suitcase and ran over when she saw me stagger slightly while pressing a hand to my forehead.
"Professor, are you okay?"
She grabbed my forearm tightly. Even though she was only a freshman, her grip was surprisingly strong.
"I’m fine. It’s nothing, so don’t worry about it."
I gently placed my hand on her arm and pushed it away with a smile.
"Really, I’m okay."
"Are you sure you’re not about to start coughing again…?"
"In the middle of summer? Besides, my cough is completely gone. Thanks to you, Min-ha."
She didn’t seem to understand what I meant and simply smiled. When we first met, I rarely saw her smile, but lately she’s been smiling a lot more. It was a good look on her.
Despite those thick glasses, Han Min-ha was actually quite pretty. And more than anything, as her advisor, I couldn’t help but feel proud watching my student gradually brighten up.
It seemed that even the ultimate defensive technique, Mental Barrier, couldn’t completely dry up a person’s emotions.
"Then let’s go."
Han Min-ha turned off the air conditioner and lights, checked the windows, and locked the door.
"I won’t be back for another few months, after all."
Once everything was taken care of, we loaded the suitcase into the car and headed for Yoo Hee-won’s house.
The place where Yoo Hee-won lived wasn’t far from the Management Bureau. It was right next to the district where government offices, embassies, and the Management Bureau itself were concentrated. It was about two hours away from Han Min-ha’s house.
As we drove along the highway, Han Min-ha and I talked about various things. Mostly about the academy and the upcoming “field” training. The field practicum that would take place this semester. The curriculum for second and third years. Career paths that had to be chosen before graduation. Whether to join a current hero’s office as a sidekick or become a public servant under the Management Bureau, and so on.
Han Min-ha diligently wrote down everything I said in a small notebook. When I glanced over, I saw that the corners were frayed from how much it had been used and read. It seemed she always carried a notebook with her, even during our advisor meetings.
"Professor. I have one question."
"Go ahead."
"To join the organization called Secreto that you and my parents were part of, what do I need to do?"
"Ah, Secreto. There’s only one way to get in. Luck."
I explained to Han Min-ha how one could enter Secreto.
"Actually, even telling you about Secreto is illegal. If they found out, they might punish me. It’s an organization that’s extremely strict about keeping secrets. That’s why they don’t do open recruitment or anything like that."
"Then how…?"
"They contact you secretly right around graduation. They ask if you’d like to work for humanity."
"Ehh? They really ask like that?"
"They do. And it’s not like they contact everyone with good grades. Secreto handles special missions, so they only want heroes with the right abilities for those tasks."
"So that’s why you joined Secreto, Professor."
"Correct. There aren’t many heroes who specialize in defensive techniques."
Han Min-ha nodded and diligently wrote down my words in her notebook.
"Then did you join Secreto with the noble intention of working for humanity?"
"No. I joined because the salary was stable."
"Huk…"
Han Min-ha let out a small gasp.
"Surprised? But at the time, my graduation grades weren’t very good. I focused so much on defensive techniques that I neglected the abilities the academy wanted. So I graduated with a D-rank. As you know, Min-ha, the future of a D-class hero is uncertain."
If you weren’t even C-class but D-class, it was difficult to walk a normal hero’s path. Heroes sometimes used the idiom “talking heavy machinery” to mock each other, and that was exactly what D-class and below heroes usually ended up doing. Moving heavy materials at construction sites in place of excavators or cranes for low wages.
After suddenly receiving a D-class evaluation I hadn’t expected, when an organization under the Management Bureau offered me a position, who would refuse? That’s how I ended up in Secreto.
"Then what about Mom and Dad?"
"Your father fell for the nonsense about sacrifice and service for humanity like a fool and joined, and your mother got dragged in by your father’s coaxing."
"Ehh…"
Han Min-ha carefully wrote that down in her notebook too.
"But you must never join Secreto, Min-ha."
"Why not?"
"Secreto is a dirty place. It’s not somewhere you belong at all. And promotions there are extremely difficult. So don’t even think about Secreto and…"
Suddenly Han Min-ha dropped her pen and shouted.
"Professor! In front!"
I looked ahead and slammed on the brakes while deploying defensive barriers in front of and behind the car.
BOOOOM—!!
A car falling from the sky slammed into the barrier and bounced off to the other side.