NOVEL NEXT 14. Long Time No See (2)
The drinking party was still tense with Minsu and Habin facing off. Breaking through the palpable tension, Habin asked:
“But you’ve never actually tried to contact Kang Taeseo, have you?”
“……”
“You never intended to contact him or apologize from the start, right?”
“……”
Minsu didn’t answer, just clenching his fist tightly. Habin continued, smirking as if she hadn’t expected anything:
“…Right. It’s obvious you haven’t. You probably lived ignoring it and pretending not to know because of your pride. You probably applied to Solaris to avoid Caligo where Taeseo is.”
Minsu, finally coming to his senses, shouted:
“N-No, that’s not true! What do you know! I actually got along well with Taeseo! I didn’t bully him… friends can play around like that!”
“Play around?”
Habin tilted her head. Minsu added with a guilty expression:
“Besides, I didn’t avoid him on purpose, you know? I was planning to apologize for everything if I got the chance!”
“Really?”
“A-And I applied to Solaris because an acquaintance asked me to come! An acquaintance at Solaris! Even an executive there…”
In fact, Minsu had no acquaintances at Solaris. This was just a lie to escape the situation. Hearing this, Habin replied:
“Oh really? That’s interesting. I happen to know their vice guild master too. What a coincidence!”
At those words, Minsu turned pale.
‘Gasp, Hyun Habin knows Solaris’ vice guild master?!’
“Th-That can’t be! How do you know them? How! How did you get to know each other?”
Habin casually looked down at her phone. A number saved as ‘Chae Jiseok’ was visible.
The conversation content was:
Jiseok
Hyun Habin did you watch the movie I recommended last time?
Yeah
Jiseok
Was it good?
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Super fun
Good recommendation bb
Jiseok
ㅋㅋㅋ Today’s special is Yeomdan pork cutlet ok?
Yeah!! Ok ok!!!!
Add curry too
Jiseok
Add curry you say?
Hyun Habin sent
15,000 won to Chae Jiseok.
Jiseok
Your payment is so prompt, really;;
“…Hmm, an acquaintance I sometimes Dutch pay for pork cutlets with?”
“?”
“What kind of relationship is that…?”
“Pork cutlets…? Dutch pay…?”
Murmurs spread. Even people sitting across were thrown into confusion. Minsu desperately shouted:
“What? Pork cutlets? Ha! You’re just messing with me again, right?”
“Hmm, then how should I put it? It’d be troublesome if I said it directly and things got bigger…”
Habin tilted her head with a troubled expression. As her silence lengthened, Minsu’s expression grew increasingly fierce.
‘So it was a lie after all!’
Just as Minsu was about to open his mouth triumphantly.
An Sewon, who was at the opposite table, urgently cried out:
“G-Guys! That’s not the issue right now! K-Kang Taeseo, Kang Taeseo is!”
“Kang Taeseo…?”
At the sudden exclamation, all the reunion members turned their heads. An Sewon spoke again with a pale face:
“Did, did you all see the chat? Kang Taeseo! He says he’s coming!”
“…What?”
“Really?”
Everyone hurriedly checked their phones. Sewon continued:
“S-Suddenly, he asked in the chat if Habin was here, so I said she was, and then!”
“And then?”
Sewon added in a breathless voice:
“He said he’s coming right away! He’s on his way!”
Bang!
It was before her words even finished. The restaurant’s entrance door swung wide open. Everyone in the restaurant looked in that direction.
Thud, thud.
A tall figure in a pitch-black combat coat walked into the restaurant.
His hair was disheveled with blood stains, as if he had just finished a raid in a hurry. But his eyes were piercingly alive.
In the silence, someone murmured:
“…I-It’s Kang Taeseo!”
“Kang Taeseo?”
Not just the reunion members, but other staff and customers belatedly covered their mouths.
“It’s really him!”
“Taeseo!”
“Wow, Kang Taeseo! I’m a fan!”
“Oh my goodness, it really is Kang Taeseo!”
“He’s even more handsome in person!”
“Why is he here?”
“……”
The national Hunter.
Korea’s #1 ranked Hunter, Kang Taeseo.
He had finally appeared in the restaurant.
◆◇◆◇◆
A little before that time, Hyun Habin’s situation.
‘Did you all see the chat? Kang Taeseo says he’s coming!’
‘I’m screwed?’
As soon as An Sewon mentioned Kang Taeseo was coming, Habin was packing her things faster than anyone else, and differently from others.
“Guys, thanks for the hour, let’s meet again with smiles later! Bye, I’m going home!”
Her cheerful farewell was buried amid the commotion, though.
‘I have a bad feeling. If I stay here, I feel like it’s going to be troublesome again! My intuition has never been wrong!’
Habin thought as she got up resolutely from her seat.
‘Let’s quickly leave this place, let’s leave quickly before Kang Taeseo arrives…!’
Park Minsu, frozen beside her, was no longer her concern.
Tap tap, Habin patted Minsu’s shoulder and turned her head. Now she just needed to quietly run to the door.
But at that moment.
Bang!
Thud, thud-
…Ominous footsteps coming from the entrance.
“I-It’s Kang Taeseo!”
“Wow, Kang Taeseo! I’m a fan!”
“He’s even more handsome in person!”
And even more ominous cheers from people!
“……”
Habin slowly shifted her gaze. In the midst of everyone cheering and gasping in shock.
A friend she hadn’t seen in a very long time was standing there.
Kang Taeseo.
As if he had been looking at Habin all along, their eyes met immediately when she saw his face.
“…Damn it.”
‘Why did this bastard come so quickly?’
“……”
Habin cursed internally. Kang Taeseo approached this table silently.
The reunion members, who had been frozen stiff, seemed to come to their senses and awkwardly threw out a few words.
“T-Taeseo, do you want to sit here?”
“Kang Taeseo, how have you been?”
“Uh, my younger sibling is your fan, could I get an autograph…”
But barely listening, Taeseo walked straight ahead in a beeline.
And stopped right in front of Hyun Habin.
“…It’s been a while.”
Habin quickly replied:
“Oh yeah, long time no see, well, goodbye!”
“Wait,”
“I’m going home. You enjoy the rest of the reunion, okay?”
“……”
Taeseo wasn’t shaken by Habin’s sharp farewell. He finally threw out another word.
“Hyun Habin, I came because of you.”
“……”
“I want to propose recruiting you to ‘Caligo’. We’ll match all the conditions you want.”
“……”
Why do sad premonitions never fail?
Habin barely held back her expression from crumpling and answered very politely:
“Yeah, I’m not going!”
With that statement, the others sitting around were shocked.
“W-What? What was that just now?”
“Caligo? Did she just get a proposal to join Caligo? Hyun Habin?”
“Why Hyun Habin?”
Looking around at the buzzing people, Kang Taeseo asked quizzically:
“…Do you all not know yet?”
“Know what?”
“What is it?”
“That Hyun Habin is an A-rank Hunter.”
“Gasp?”
“W-What did you say?”
Minsu, who was getting up from his seat, heard those words and collapsed back down, his legs giving out.
Thud.
“A… A-rank…? No wonder, so that’s why…”
He muttered with an unbelieving expression.
Habin sighed.
‘Sigh. Is this Kang Taeseo guy clueless? Can’t he think there might be a reason I didn’t say anything?’
Habin’s modest plan to just quietly eat some meat and see her friends’ faces before she died,
Had already been ruined.
◆◇◆◇◆
“Hey, at this point we need to go with Plan B. You there, Minsu?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Pour me some drinks.”
“Okay…”
Glug.
Receiving the glass from the soul-drained Minsu, Habin made a bitter expression.
That’s right.
In the end, Habin couldn’t escape the drinking party.
‘Habin please stay just a little longer. From the looks of it, Kang Taeseo came to scout you, and if you leave, he’ll probably leave right away too!’
‘What does that have to do with me?’
‘You know the people here have been holding out for 5 years to see Kang Taeseo…’
‘Huh? That was real?’
Hearing the class president’s desperate plea, Habin decided to stay seated for just 30 more minutes, considering her old friendship with the others.
“……”
“Hyun Habin, I don’t know what offers you’ve received from other guilds,”
And Kang Taeseo, sitting across from her, was still in the middle of his recruitment proposal.
“Whatever the conditions, I’ll double them.”
“Yeah, I’m still not going.”
“……”
Murmur murmur.
‘Why on earth is she saying she won’t go?’
‘Didn’t she say earlier that she knows Solaris’ vice guild master?’
‘Gasp, then has she already joined Solaris?’
Gazes of admiration and bewilderment fixed on Habin. Enduring that attention, Habin brought up an important topic she had forgotten.
“Ah, right, Taeseo!”
Taeseo flinched at Habin’s sudden calling of his name.
Habin smiled brightly and pointed at Minsu beside her.
Swish.
“Park Minsu says he has something to say to you.”
“M-Me?”
Minsu, who had been crouching beside her, raised his head trembling. He had been thoroughly intimidated, caught between an A-rank and SSS-rank since earlier.
The very epitome of strong versus weak.
Minsu, who always bowed his head deeply to strong opponents and endlessly looked down on weak ones. The past where he had acted arrogantly towards Habin just because he was C-rank belatedly flashed through his mind.
‘Oh no. Why on earth did I do such a crazy thing…’
While Minsu was recalling his dark history, Habin continued:
“Minsu says he wants to apologize to you, Taeseo!”
“Uh… huh?”
Minsu, who had been shouting confidently at Habin just moments ago.
‘I didn’t avoid you on purpose, you know? I was planning to apologize if I got the chance!’
Habin smiled with an extremely pleased face.
“What a coincidence, here’s your chance?”
In front of Kang Taeseo, a chance to apologize.
“……”
Minsu couldn’t answer and hid his sweat-drenched hands behind his back.
His legs trembled.
Now that Kang Taeseo was right in front of him, even making eye contact wasn’t easy. He used to think Taeseo was a pushover.
“Minsu…?”
“……”
How could he have failed to recognize such a monster?
The huge shadow, the piercing gaze, the inhuman aura were all too much to bear.
As Minsu froze, Habin patted his back energetically as if to encourage him. She had a very kind expression.
Tap tap!
“Minsu. This is your chance! A chance to wash away your past and become Rehabilitated Minsu!”
“……”
“Let’s go, Rehabilitated Minsu!”
Park Minsu trembled. When he tried to open his mouth, his last remaining pride held him back.
Above all, the numerous gazes directed at him now.
‘What’s Minsu doing now?’
‘He’s going to apologize to Kang Taeseo!’
‘Really? What’s going on?’
‘He’s no different after all’
The gazes of his friends, once full of admiration and envy, had now changed to curiosity and disdain.
‘Ha, where are all those people who envied me and tried to look good before, now they’re just here for the show?’
Trying to apologize in front of everyone staring at him like this, he just couldn’t get the words out.
“S-s-s-so…”
As Minsu shut his mouth again, Habin asked with interest:
“How fresh! Is this the EDM version of apologies these days?”
“Eek…”
Minsu, who had flinched back, finally opened his mouth in a shrinking voice:
“…S-s-sorry… Before, I’m sorry. I was really wrong. I have nothing to say…”
Minsu, who had squeezed out an apology with all his might, raised his head. And the moment his eyes met Kang Taeseo’s-
“Gasp!”
Unable to withstand that aura, he collapsed sideways once again.
Thud-
“Minsu? Park Minsu?”
“Park Minsu collapsed!”
“Someone move him!”
“…?”
Habin poked the fallen Minsu in confusion.
‘W-What? Did he really faint? Why?’
She frowned as if troubled.
‘This means I’ll be left alone with Kang Taeseo again?’
Park Minsu, she thought he’d hold out a bit since he was so full of bravado and confidence today. It seems his true nature was just a coward. Habin muttered with a regretful face:
‘I told him to bow his head and apologize, but I didn’t expect him to collapse and hit his head right after apologizing…’
Unbeknownst to Habin, she had already achieved 2 kills today with Kim Gaemi (+1) and Park Minsu (+1)!
“……”
Habin glanced at her watch. There was still a long way to go before reaching 30 minutes.
“Hmm…”
And Kang Taeseo, sitting across from her, showed absolutely no signs of backing down. He had been observing only Habin’s attitude all along, not even paying attention to Park Minsu’s apology.
‘Why has Kang Taeseo been acting like this from earlier? Don’t tell me he’s noticed I’m a power-hider too? Is that why he’s so desperate to recruit me?’
Habin opened her mouth indifferently:
“…Alright, fine. Let’s hear what you have to say first? Why do you want to recruit me, what are the advantages of joining Caligo, I should at least hear that much briefing before deciding, right?”
‘I hope that takes more than 30 minutes. Then I’ll reject right after listening!’
Habin picked up some meat with a satisfied face. She planned to focus only on the meat throughout the briefing.
If only it weren’t for Ahezar’s words intruding into her mind.
[Hyun Habin! What on earth is this guy?]
‘…Kim Jaljal?’
Ahezar, who had been quiet throughout the reunion. He had promised to keep his mouth shut during the reunion and was hiding in the inventory.
Habin asked Ahezar, who had broken his promise, carefully:
‘Oh no, even you’re troubling me now, Jaljal. Jaljal, are you perhaps curious about Mariana?’
[No, no, no! I know the promise well! But that’s not the issue. What on earth is that Kang Taeseo human!]
‘What about him?’
Habin chewed her meat peacefully to avoid showing signs of conversation. Ahezar continued:
[The constellation that human possesses is strange!]
Habin’s hand stopped mid-chopstick movement.
‘What…? That can’t be.’
[Believe my words!]
‘But,’
Habin slightly tilted her head. As she did, her eyes met Kang Taeseo’s, who was still staring directly at her.
‘…Kang Taeseo, he originally doesn’t have a constellation.’
[W-What did you say?!]