Chapter 78 (1/2)

No. 78

The sound of something clicking and locking into place awakened Seoyu. She opened her eyes slowly.

“Ugh!” she groaned.

She tried to rise, but it felt like she was restrained. Seoyu was unable to move to either side.

She glanced down. There was some kind of medical contraption placed around her torso.

At this point, she had realized her ribs were broken.

Yoo-seong must have called an emergency team to help her while she was unconscious.

“You’re awake,” she heard Yoo-seong’s voice.

She moved her eyes towards the direction where the voice came. As soon as she saw Yoo-seong, she was fascinated.

He had just finished ‘mounting.’

It was the process to fully deck out with the battle suit to try it out. He should have done it sooner, but due to various circumstances, it had only been delivered to him the day before.

‘It’s been a long time,’ Yoo-seong thought, as he checked himself in the mirror.

He was finally wearing the Queen’s Hug once again.

Yoo-seong tested its mobility.

As always, it was perfect.

What’s more, it had undergone several reinforcements to suit Yoo-seong’s new requirements.

“Was it your first time to faint?” Yoo-seong asked her.

She did not respond immediately.

“The doctor said you have no serious fractures, but she said it would be better if you rest for a while and be careful about eating. It would be best if you stay at the hospital…”

“But… I haven’t done all of my duties. The Dive is going to happen soon…” Seoyu felt helpless.

Yoo-seong shook his head.

“Don’t pressure yourself. If everything goes well, this could be my last day here. ” Yoo-seong smiled at her.

Seoyu felt that something was different with Yoo-seong.

The man before her was completely different. It was not just his tone.

Something felt weird. Then, she realized what it was.

Yoo-seong had been kind to her. It felt like this was his real self.

It was as if he had been wearing a mask all this time.

She thought hard about it.

During their first meeting… Yoo-seong was in a foreign country, where he couldn’t trust anyone. He had to break Seoyu’s spirit.

Then, he had to face people like Lee Hwi-min, and the Red Dragon Society.

Seoyu sighed.

Yoo-seong had been playing the image of an arrogant hunter to fit in. Now, before his last mission, he could finally relax and be himself.

Yoo-seong poured a glass of lukewarm water and brought it to Seoyu along with a pain reliever pill. “Take it,” he spoke gently.

There was no made-up pride or toughness.

All Seoyu felt was the gentleness and courtesy that Yoo-seong originally had.

“I have not yet filled up the pre-Dive forms. We only have six hours left, so time is pretty tight,” Yoo-seong said.

He brought Seoyu’s laptop to her and placed it gently on her lap. Seoyu’s lips trembled.

It was Yoo-seong’s first and possibly last act of courtesy toward her. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. She couldn’t seem to understand why she was crying.

Filling up the forms was indeed not a difficult task.

Yoo-seong could do it himself, with the help of the translator app. However, he was giving her the chance to do her job.

It was very trivial, but…

She felt that her value had been recognized. In terms of administrative skills, there had been a lot of better candidates than her for this position.

Like her uncle thought, Jin Wei-baek’s reason to choose her over them was probably that he wanted her to seduce Yoo-seong.

However, Yoo-seong had treated her as a professional, not just a body to use.

She was respected.

Yoo-seong noticed Seoyu’s tears, but he did not say anything. After a few moments, Seoyu opened the laptop and started doing what she had to do.

“Meanwhile,” Yoo-seong told her. “Thank you.”

He was sincere.

It was thanks to Seoyu that he had been able to focus solely on his personal affairs. Yoo-seong turned and left the room as soon as Seoyu stopped typing.

”Boss…”

She wanted to say something.

However, even after she heard the door close, she couldn’t open her mouth.

She wanted to say goodbye to him. She knew what she wanted to say.

‘Thank you. I am honored to be your acquaintance.’

Once again, feelings overwhelmed her.

She tried to focus on something else. She checked her work on the laptop screen again. Suddenly, she noticed a couple of programs open on the taskbar.

The first one was a PDF file.

The other was the notepad.

The PDF file was a copy of her resume, but translated into 100% Korean.

She felt confused.

Then, she opened the notepad.

‘If you lose your job because of what happened yesterday,

It wouldn’t be bad to try changing jobs.

I will consider hiring you.’

***

“Nothing changes. Whatever happens. You know?” Lee Hwi-min spoke.

At this, Ha Yuk-il remained silent.

“When the Dive is over, I will reclaim the rights I gave you.”

There was still no answer. Lee Hwi-min looked at him with disgust.

‘The man’s eyes are dead,’ he thought.

‘This is what happens to guys who use fame as their driving force. When they get attention, they develop fast. However, when they lose their popularity, it looks like this.’

Since the last broadcast, Ha Yuk-il had wasted away.

How could he not?

Everyone all over China had witnessed him getting embarrassed in front of Yoo-seong. For Lee Hwi-min, there was no other choice.

The ‘Heir to the Volcano’ title, which the Goryong Company gave him, must be handed over to others.

“If you don’t want to be like our five hundred friends, it would be better for you to cooperate with the take over as much as you can,” Lee Hwi-min tried again.

“Although the value of your name has fallen to the ground, you would not like to live the rest of your life without your core…” he said ominously.

At last, there had been a reaction.

Ha Yuk-il’s eyes widened.

“I will do my best… I will do whatever you instruct me to.”

It was clear how valuable CE was to hunters, even those who had fallen.

Removing their core was like breaking a bird’s wings.

“Please! Sir! I will-…” Ha Yuk-il pled.