04. Uncomfortable cohabitation (6)

That was the day before Yoon Seo-hee came to visit.

Lee Byung-jun came to visit the hospital alone.

With a very embarrassing greeting, he bowed his head first.

“Kim Yi-jin! Thank you very much!”

“… No, what is it all of a sudden?”

“I almost died when the gate opened, but I barely survived because you gave the boss a big blow. You are my lifesaver!”

Ah, that’s what I was talking about.

Come to think of it, Lee Byung-jun was also present at the fair. He must have been worried at first that he might be caught in a terrorist attack.

Byung-Jun Lee must have been among the people chased by the Banshee.

No, I haven’t forgotten. It’s just that from the middle there was no rush… I knew he was there emotionally, but he was so tense that he couldn’t even pay attention….

Anyway, I’m glad you were safe. Thinking about that, he smiled shyly, so Lee Byung-jun belatedly raised his head.

“At that time, I was so distracted that I couldn’t even say hello. I wanted to see your face and tell you… I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“No, what… don’t mind too much It’s not something I did alone.”

It’s not that I cut the boss by myself, it’s more like a desperate attempt to catch something that almost died several times with the help of countless people.

Until the grand words of being a lifesaver. It was just embarrassing.

“No. It would have been really dangerous if it wasn’t for you. Thank you again. My older sister also wants me to say thank you instead. He was very sorry that he couldn’t come to see you because he was busy.”

“Your sister?”

“Uh. Did i talk My older sister is a civil servant in the special affairs department. We were together in the exhibition hall that day too.”

Your sister is a special officer? Somehow, I thought he was doing something like a daily security for the fair.

If you think about it, the other day, I strangely wanted to know more about the special government department, but there was such a connection.

Considering how Lee Byung-jun usually tried to hide his family and how he had the authority to put his family in even if he was a low-level security guard, he said he was a civil servant normally, but his older sister seemed to be a fairly high-ranking official even within the special government department. .

“Okay, tell your sister not to worry too.”

“Can you do that? They say it’s not enough to lower your head to you and Yoon Seo-hee.”

I couldn’t hide my wonder at the sudden name.

It was because the name of the person who hadn’t been contacted and hadn’t seen the face came up.

“Why Seohee?”

“Why? He is the one who broke the barrier and closed the gate. Oh, do you still not know?”

“… ?”

“I don’t know. No matter how many days I passed out, how dark was the news? Wait for a moment.”

Read at noblemtl.com

Guessing something from my expression, Byung-jun Lee took out his smartphone and started browsing the news.

“Now, read this.”

Yoon Seo-hee’s face was hanging on the screen of the smartphone Lee Byung-jun handed over.

[Who is the academy student who was active with the guild of 10,000 guild fair terror “Shock” Suseong?]

[Arrest of A+ rank criminal Namgoong-min, the person who subdued him is Yoon-mo, a freshman in the academy… ]

[Breaking the barrier and closing the gate. Incumbent Hunter “Fast swordsmanship like a flash… That skill is already S-level”]

[Yoon Seo-hee, is it the birth of the youngest S-class hunter?]

“… Eh, what is all this?”

There was no place on any portal site where Yoon Seo-hee’s name was not mentioned.

“What is it? Wherever you go, everyone is talking about Yoon Seo-hee. He must be very busy right now?”

I flipped through my smartphone and quickly checked the news.

At first, it seemed like he was trying to protect his portrait right because he was a student, but from a certain point on, photos and even names were being exposed nakedly.

“I’m trying to cover up the incident by creating a hero.”

Lee Byung-jun said that with a bitter face.

“Ten thousand people left this country completely messed up. A lot of people died at Shinseoul Station, and there was even an unprecedented incident of gate terrorism at the fairgrounds.”

Yes, that’s right.

To be precise, the demon worshiper created a barrier by activating a ritual along with Manna, but people won’t see much of a difference.

From their point of view, it is all the more shocking that there is a ‘technology that artificially generates a gate’, whether it is a devil worshiper or a demon worshiper.

Until now, everyone knew that gates would randomly occur once in a while as the monsters in the tower piled up.

However, this terrorism revealed that a group that harms society, such as Manma-ri, can artificially open the gate.

It was not unreasonable that people were anxious.

“I caught famous criminals like Kung Tao and Namgoong Min, but many hunters also died. In the midst of that, a fresh face like Yoon Seo-hee appears, so he’s going to sprinkle it all over the media and make a new hero to calm people’s anxiety.”

“… Do you think it works? No, more than that, did Seo-hee know about these articles and agree to them?”

“Okay. Isn’t it because there’s a story that has come and gone to some extent, so I’m pushing it so hard? I don’t know if they actively cooperated or tacitly agreed.”

Lee Byung-jun clicked his tongue briefly and looked at me with a sad expression.

“So anyway, your capture of the banshee is completely buried. It’s not that the article didn’t go out, but A-class hunters like Sang-woo Sang-woo and Ah-ran Im stood out more.”

This is what Aran Im said yesterday. But I didn’t really care about that.

If you only read her news articles, everyone was holding her up as if she was a new hero who would stand against the Mann provision, such as the birth of the youngest S-class hunter and the genius who would succeed Cha Soo-hyeok.

I don’t know how to take it because it’s so sudden.

Should I celebrate this or should I worry about it.

“Anyway, wouldn’t it be a bit busy to visit the hospital? Now everyone is going crazy trying to take a picture of Yoon Seo-hee.”

“I see…” .”

When I woke up a few days ago, I hadn’t received any other contact from Seo-hee other than a greeting asking how she was doing and a message that she would visit me soon.

For some reason, he never came to see me in the hospital.

I talked to Lee Byung-jun a little more, and then we decided to meet at school, not at the hospital, and we parted ways.

After that, I wondered if this would be the end without anyone visiting the hospital….

–

“Yoon Seo-hee?”

“Hello, Jinah Lee. Am I very late?”

She smiles awkwardly as she takes off her black sunglasses and mask.

She came into the room and took off her hat, her long hair flowing down.

“What are those sunglasses? I thought it wasn’t you for a second.”

“Oh, this? In the past few days, too many people have recognized me. Now I can’t even ride the bus without it.”

Criminals dressed like that? Rather, I think it will stand out more in a bad sense.

I thought you managed to come all the way to the hospital with that look.

“Sit down for a moment. Would you like something to drink?”

“Ah, are you okay? I think I came too late.”

“It doesn’t matter. What if you leave a little late?”

It’s not a hotel, it’s a hospital, so if you use a little more private room, nothing special will happen.

When I opened the refrigerator, there was juice that Byung-jun brought to the hospital the other day, so I handed it over.

The season has just passed August and entered early September. The summer weather was still prevailing outside. Perhaps because it was hot or because she was nervous, Yoon Seo-hee drank a bottle of juice coolly.

“Ah, I think I will live a little longer. It was so cramped I almost died.”

“Drink slowly.”

I handed her another bottle of juice and sat down on the bed, and Yoon Seo-hee also sat down on the chair across from her.

She leaned back against her back and fluttered, clutching the collar of her draped T-shirt.

I looked at the defenseless figure and said,

“I saw the news. Suddenly I became a celebrity.”

“Ah… Yes. That’s right, that’s how it happened.”

What do you mean by that?

“I was a bit surprised. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“It’s burdensome because everyone already treats me like I’m an S-class hunter. I am still a student.”

“I heard you single-handedly caught an A+ criminal. Because of the equipment, the actual threat level was equivalent to that of a semi-S class.”

“Oh, that bear? The news is exaggerated. Not quite like that. He seems to be a little weaker than the old Maengju uncle.”

Even so, the fact that Yoon Seo-hee single-handedly caught a vicious criminal comparable to an A-class top hunter does not change.

Even considering that alone, it could be said that his skills were far beyond the student class.

As the conversation progressed to some extent, Yoon Seo-hee put her empty juice bottle on her lap and looked at me with a worried expression as if she was finally getting to the point.

“Lee Jin-ah. How are you feeling?”

“Huh? I’m fine. Today is the day of discharge, so what?”

“Yes… thank god. I was very worried when I first found you collapsed. My body was very tanned, but I was very surprised that it healed in an instant.”

Come to think of it, Baek Ji-soo also said that.

Perhaps it was caused by the rapid increase in regenerative power caused by the demon in my heart.

“Don’t worry. You are all better now.”

“That… ! I heard about Baek Ji-soo. I became one with the devil… Are you really okay?”

Oops. You already knew it.

I didn’t mean to hide it, but I didn’t want to worry about it.

If you know everything, there’s nothing you can do about it. I shyly rubbed the nape of my neck and said.

“I was a little surprised at first, but now it’s okay. I’m in control now.”

Yoon Seo-hee looked down at her with a downcast look.

“I’m sorry. If I had arrived earlier… I wouldn’t have let you be parasitized by such a guy.”

“What are you talking about? You were able to break the barrier because you were outside.”

In that situation, that was the best.

In the end, because of Yoon Seo-hee, she was able to break the barrier and close her gate.

It is meaningless to assume what if. It could have led to worse results than now, and I’m satisfied enough with the results the three of us have achieved now.

Because no one died and I was able to see my face safely like this.

“I am more than happy that you are unharmed like this.”

She showed a blank expression at her sincere words, but then she was startled and averted her gaze again. Then she lowered her head and muttered to herself in a low voice.

“…… With that said… Kill me.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing….”

Yoon Seo-hee sheds her eyes with a fresh gaze.

“Lee Jin-ah. Do you remember our old promise?”

“If it’s a promise… That I make a masterpiece and you become a great hunter?”

“You remembered. That promise is true.”

Yoon Seo-hee smiled softly as if recalling her happy memories.

Then she looked at me again with her determined look.

“… I’m not close to my goal yet, but I’m getting pretty great. You will become stronger in the future. Enough to protect you even when destruction approaches.”

I suddenly remembered a conversation she had with her one day.

Yoon Seo-hee’s motivation was that she wanted to prove herself by becoming a better hunter than that person.

She has been working steadily to achieve her goal since the beginning.

“To do that, I’m going to use whatever I can, whether it’s the fame I don’t want or the family I thought I abandoned. Because I’m still not strong enough to protect you by myself… Therefore….”

Yoon Seo-hee licks her lips and hesitates for a moment, then takes a deep breath and slowly connects to her words.

“When I become strong enough to think that one day I have achieved my goal… then… With me… !”

[“You really do fuck!”]

“Damn it… What?”

Crazy. I gasped and covered my mouth, but it was already too late.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the room cooled.