Summer Break (6)
“…I’m so glad both of you are safe…”
Han Min-ha mumbled, her fingertips tightly clutching the sleeve of my shirt.
“Heeeeng…?”
The silver-haired hero stared fixedly at Han Min-ha’s chest and let out a strange exclamation. It was understandable. Han Min-ha was wearing a thin white t-shirt that had become completely soaked with sweat, making the fabric cling transparently in a rather embarrassing way.
“Your girlfriend… is really… well-endowed, isn’t she…”
At those words, Han Min-ha flushed in panic and hung her head low.
“I’m truly sorry to say this, but… what on earth gave you the nerve to come here alone without a single sidekick? For someone with your type of ability, unless your power is overwhelmingly strong, you absolutely need at least one assistant to handle restraint and immediate elimination afterward.”
The silver-haired hero blinked like an idiot, as if she had never heard such a thing before.
“Heeek? Is that so?”
“Of course. With half-baked strength, even if you manage to bind the target with vines, you’ll just end up locked in a stalemate where neither side can finish the other. It would be best to find a sidekick specialized in one-hit kills. You restrain, the assistant finishes them off.”
“Ah… um…”
The hero scratched her cheek and smiled brightly.
“I am the sidekick, though…”
“You’re the sidekick? You’re telling me a sidekick was sent out on a solo mission?”
“The hero said she was busy and told me to go alone…”
Hmm… So they sent a sidekick by herself without even considering the villain’s compatibility. Of course, such cases weren’t unheard of, and it wasn’t illegal, but… if I hadn’t been here, this sidekick might have died.
No matter how much most heroes treated sidekicks as disposable tools, what kind of brainless hero would pull a stunt like this?
“Which hero agency do you belong to?”
“Goshawk’s office.”
Ha. Goshawk, of course. That woman was closer to a villain than a hero—a completely insane one at that. Yet she was famous enough to open branches all over the place, hiring heroes with similar tendencies and raking in money. Her extremely distinct style attracted a manic fanbase. This silver-haired sidekick was probably assigned to the branch that oversaw this area.
Still, she didn’t seem like the type who would fit in at Goshawk’s agency at all. But I had neither the right nor the reason to comment on that.
“Compatibility is crucial in fights against villains. It’s good if you’re strong enough to ignore it, but most people aren’t.”
“I understand. As expected of an academy professor, your advice is on another level. Thank you for helping me. If it weren’t for you, I might have really been eaten alive.”
The silver-haired sidekick shuddered as she looked at the bisected mutant bio-villain.
“If it’s not too rude, may I ask your name? Since you saved me, I feel like I should at least know that much.”
“I’m Professor Kyo Suhyeon.”
“Kyo Suhyeon… Kyo-kyo… What an interesting name. I’m Ivy Runner!”
“A very straightforward name. Well then, I wish you good luck.”
I bid farewell to Ivy Runner and gently pushed away the arm that was gripping my shoulder.
“Let’s go, Miss Min-ha.”
“Yes, Professor.”
People here would probably remember today’s battle like this: a hero who had gotten right up to the giant bio-villain’s maw had sliced the monster cleanly in half with some unknown technique. In that story, the sickly grey academy professor would never be mentioned. And I had no complaints about that.
If I had truly wanted credit, I would have taken control of the scene long before the hero arrived.
“Professor. But you really don’t know that sidekick at all?”
Han Min-ha asked again once we were in the car.
“I don’t. Today was the first time I’ve ever seen her. She seems to work at one of Goshawk’s branch offices.”
“Goshawk… you mean that scary hero, right?”
“It would be more accurate to call her unpredictable rather than scary. Though in the end, both words mean roughly the same thing.”
Han Min-ha nodded slowly with an expression that suggested she wasn’t sure whether she understood or not.
“By the way… was that you who took down the villain earlier?”
“I dropped a circular-saw-shaped barrier right onto the villain’s head. If you compress the thickness to the extreme, it can produce an effect similar to a sharp blade.”
“Haa… I see… So barriers aren’t just for blocking attacks after all.”
“As I’ve told you before, aura must be used creatively. That way you can exploit the enemy’s weaknesses, and it’s also good for drawing the public’s attention.”
“Understood!”
Han Min-ha pulled out that notebook again and diligently jotted down my words.
Having been exposed to the midsummer asphalt heat for so long, Han Min-ha was now sweating profusely. I watched as droplets ran down her chin and neck, gathering along her collarbone before sliding into the deep valley between her breasts, and turned the air conditioner up higher.
“Open the dashboard in front of you. There are tissues—wipe yourself down.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
Han Min-ha pulled out a few tissues and carefully wiped her forehead, the back of her neck, and—while stealing glances at me—her upper chest.
“I’m not looking.”
“Ah, yes…! I know you’re not looking, Professor…!”
After confirming that I was indeed keeping my eyes forward while driving around the dead villain’s corpse, Han Min-ha slipped her hand a little further inside her collar to wipe the sweat between her breasts.
“But… why don’t you sweat, Professor?”
“I do sweat. I just naturally sweat less than most people.”
“I see… Even a little heat makes me pour like this. Summer is always such a struggle for me.”
Han Min-ha folded the tissue she had used and gently dabbed at the faint sweat on my forehead.
“Thank you. And put your seatbelt on.”
“I already did?”
When I turned to look, Han Min-ha really was wearing her seatbelt. It had simply disappeared completely between her breasts, which was why I had mistaken it.
As we passed the dead villain’s body, Ivy Runner waved at us. Han Min-ha waved back on my behalf.
“Do sidekicks sometimes fight villains alone?”
“It happens occasionally. If a sidekick is skilled enough to handle solo missions, then it’s possible. But that Ivy Runner doesn’t seem to be at that level yet.”
“Then why did she come alone?”
“Probably because all the heroes and sidekicks at the agency were busy. Plus, Goshawk has an especially strong tendency to do things like that. If you’re thinking of starting as a sidekick after graduation, make sure you absolutely avoid Goshawk.”
“Understood! Goshawk… avoid at all costs… bad person…”
Han Min-ha carefully wrote it down in her notebook as she repeated my words.
“By the way, have there been any calls? Yoo Hee-won should have called at least once by now.”
“Huk! That’s right! Just a moment, Professor?”
Han Min-ha fumbled around in a panic, twisting her body this way and that as she searched for her phone. The scent of her heated body wafted toward me as she moved. Even though she was sweating so much, there wasn’t the slightest hint of body odor—only a pleasant fragrance.
Soon after pulling out her phone, Han Min-ha let out a gasp.
“Hiiik?! Professor… what should I do? There are so many missed calls?”
“Call her back. Explain the situation and tell her we’re on our way.”
“Understood… Haa…”
Han Min-ha dialed Yoo Hee-won with trembling hands, and I could faintly hear the torrent of verbal abuse coming through the speaker.
“Sorry… the villain… huh…? No… that’s not it… we’re coming now… no! I really didn’t do anything! I can swear it! Eek?! Why would you even suspect that?!”
Han Min-ha finished the call looking utterly drained.
“Whew… We should hurry… She says she’s been waiting to eat lunch together, and since we’re late she must be getting hungry and cranky.”
“I suppose so. It’s already this late. Let’s get going. By the way, what exactly was she suspecting?”
“Ah?!”
At my question, Han Min-ha let out a strange noise and abruptly turned to stare out the window. I didn’t know the exact details, but judging by how red her ears had become, Yoo Hee-won must have said something ridiculous. She probably assumed our delay was because Min-ha and I had been doing something inappropriate.
Honestly, that girl really is something else.
“Wow…! Is that the Management Bureau?!”
Han Min-ha kept exclaiming in awe as she stared at the massive Management Bureau headquarters, a towering fifty-story building with its entire façade covered in glass.
“A hero just flew onto the roof!”
“They must be returning after finishing patrol duty in the area.”
“I see… I wonder how many heroes work inside there?”
“No one knows. And we probably never will.”
“Amazing…”
Besides that, Han Min-ha chattered excitedly for a long time as we passed government offices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters, embassies, and the main buildings of major corporations she had only seen on the news. Had she always talked this much? In my memory, Han Min-ha had been a quiet, reserved, and somewhat gloomy girl. Maybe that hadn’t been her true self—maybe she had simply been suppressing it all this time. After all, both Senior Han Tae-woo and Seo Ji-ah had been quite sociable in their own ways.
“Waaah…! Rich people neighborhood…!”
As we entered Yoo Hee-won’s district, Han Min-ha blurted it out bluntly. This was the area where the mansions of corporate chairmen and generational wealth families stood alongside the official residences of high-ranking officials and diplomats. Yoo Hee-won’s house was here.
“I thought our house was nice, but compared to this, it would look like a shipping container.”
“Haha.”
The navigation led us to a grand mansion surrounded by high walls that resembled castle ramparts.
“Huk? This… is a house?”
Han Min-ha leaned forward against the windshield and looked up. To be honest, even I was a little surprised. I knew Yoo Hee-won’s family was wealthy, but this was on another level. At a rough estimate, the entire administrative and research buildings of the academy could fit inside.
As if they already knew we had arrived, the gate that looked like a castle entrance began to rise slowly. Beyond it wasn’t a garage but a long driveway leading into the estate. The passage was as wide and long as an underground tunnel, with bright lights lining the ceiling.
“This doesn’t look like a house… it looks like a secret research facility.”
“You’re not wrong. Stick close to me so you don’t get lost.”
“Hehe… Understood…! I’ll stay right beside you.”
Han Min-ha giggled softly even though it wasn’t a particularly funny joke.
As we emerged from the driveway, Han Min-ha whispered, holding her breath.
“P-Professor… over there… Hee-won is standing…”
Up ahead, Yoo Hee-won stood with her arms crossed, watching us approach.