“Really… what the heck…?”
Chae Suhyeon kept grumbling.
It seemed like she had expected something, but it had strayed far from her expectations.
“Sigh… I was just going to bury Baek Jihoon…”
“How did he avoid the blacklist? I’m sure he was properly registered.”
“How did he manage to join a guild? Especially the Blue Guild?”
“Sigh… so annoying…”
She frowned at her reflection in the mirror, clearly displeased.
It seemed nothing about herself was to her liking.
“Lee Sooah…”
A name that immediately came to mind when mentioning the Blue Guild.
She was one of the women Chae Suhyeon despised.
“Sigh… I can’t stand the sight of that woman. Of all places, why did he go there?”
“Could it be that Baek Jihoon had feelings for Lee Sooah?”
She was curious why he had chosen the Blue Guild of all places.
“It seems deliberate. If not, then what is it?”
“Is he trying to get under my skin by intentionally joining the Blue Guild? Right?”
“Tsk. I should have added him to the blacklist sooner. Stupidly lingering after that press conference. Ugh.”
She was throwing things around in frustration.
“Ugh. I don’t care anymore. For now, I’ll just go shopping.”
With a sulky expression, she looked outside.
*
“Are you kidding me?!”
In the department store, Chae Suhyeon was making a scene.
“Don’t you know who I am? I’m Chae Suhyeon.”
“Um… Ms. Chae Suhyeon, the product you mentioned is out of stock…”
“What?! Then you need to bring it to me right now.”
“Um… it’s a product coming from overseas, so it’s delayed due to customs procedures…”
“Who do you think you’re talking back to? You want me to show you my power?!”
Chae Suhyeon was causing a ruckus.
If anything didn’t please her, she tended to create a scene like this.
She seemed to be venting her frustration over Baek Jihoon.
“Sigh… Didn’t you watch TV yesterday? I’m going to marry CEO Lee Jinhyeok, you know? What’s your name? What’s the store manager’s name? I should fire them all. Clear the store!”
“Huhhh… Miss Chae… Chae Suhyeon, customer…”
She was shaking and unable to say anything.
“What’s going on?”
Suddenly, Lee Jinhyeok appeared. He must have sensed that the atmosphere was unusual because he approached from a distance.
After all, it was planned to meet Chae Suhyeon today.
“Ah, oppa!”
Chae Suhyeon spotted Lee Jinhyeok and quickly changed her attitude.
“Un! There’s something I had my eye on that wasn’t ready in advance. This is the best department store, isn’t it? How can they be out of stock?”
She clung to Lee Jinhyeok, acting all cute. Then she crossed her arms and sulked.
“Hmm…”
He vaguely glanced around.
“It would be a problem if there’s no stock. We can’t have our VIP customers disappointed. I’ll take care of it.”
“Phew…”
Chae Suhyeon looked utterly disappointed.
“Let’s just go eat something. Don’t vent your anger here unnecessarily.”
“Okay.”
“Suhyeon, no matter how angry you are, you can’t display it like that. We have an image to maintain.”
“But… phew…”
Chae Suhyeon continued to act adorably while sulking.
Lee Jinhyeok focused on calming her down.
‘Well, being an S-Rank Hunter, she may have a bit of a temper. She can’t have a tofu-like mental state.’
He thought it wasn’t a big deal.
After all, for him, it was only important to secure Chae Suhyeon, who held the title of top S-Rank Hunter.
A stable succession structure.
And maintaining the image of the nation’s top corporation.
It was a carefully calculated plan.
He had coordinated with Chae Suhyeon in advance and held a press conference on the day she achieved the top S-Rank.
‘Once I marry Chae Suhyeon… I’ll hold the top position not only in the corporate world but also among Hunters.’
‘After that, I’ll turn the Baekho Guild into a corporation. I’ll swallow up all the small to medium guilds and commercialize it.’
He had his own business plans.
Using Chae Suhyeon as a stepping stone to expand in the Hunter world.
‘Alright. Everything is going smoothly.’
“Perfect.”
“Unlike other S-Rank Hunters, Chae Suhyeon does not have any mental disorders.”
She felt very fortunate about this.
At the same time, she felt it was a perfect situation.
“Let’s go, Suhyeon. Aren’t you hungry?”
*
“Uh??? Huh??????????”
After finishing her date with Lee Jinhyeok and returning home, Chae Suhyeon appeared as if her eyes were about to pop out.
“W-What is this… what… what the hell!!!!!!!!!”
She was screaming in a voice so loud it felt like the house was shaking.
She was looking at her status window with a shocked expression.
She had just discovered the details about the recovery.
“R-Retrieval? W-What… what retrieval? What does this even mean? This makes no sense!?!!? No!! What the hell is this!!!!”
Just earlier, while dining with Lee Jinhyeok, she had been steadily dreaming of becoming a part of the chaebol.
“Hehe.. It’s all over now… There’s nothing that can block my way…”
“As long as that bastard Baek Jihoon doesn’t say much…”
“I just have to keep his mouth shut…”
“Maintaining my position as the top S-Rank shouldn’t be too hard to catch Lee Jinhyeok.”
“Looking at it, it seems other S-Ranks aren’t even thinking of coming up…”
She was indulging in a completely happy dream, enjoying her imaginative thoughts.
However, after returning home and turning on her status window for the first time in a while, she was shocked.
“Ah… no… what… what the hell…? Retrieval? Didn’t he say retrieval is impossible? Damn Baek Jihoon. You bastard, did you trick me? You clearly said it couldn’t be retrieved, right? What the hell?!!!?”
She was flustered and started searching the internet here and there.
Desperate to find any relevant information.
“Ha.. Retrieval… Retrieval… Retrieval… Points.. Retrieval… um… Hunter… Ha… No, there is nothing!!!!”
Crash.
In her frustration, she smashed the monitor with her fist.
“Ah, damn it… Baek Jihoon…”
She quickly found her phone and started calling someone.
*
Ring ring ring.
It was Chae Suhyeon’s face.
“Hm? What is it? This damn girl. Why is she calling and making a fuss?”
[ Decline ]
Ding ding ding.
‘What the hell. Why is he calling again?’
I had just pressed the decline button, yet Chae Suhyeon’s name and phone number appeared on the screen again.
‘What an eyesore.’
Since I hadn’t fully sorted out my feelings about Chae Suhyeon, her smiling face popped up on my smartphone call screen.
‘Damn it. I don’t even want to see that face, why does it keep appearing like this.’
I almost threw my smartphone out of frustration.
[ Decline ]
Ding ding ding.
The calls kept coming.
‘No. What the hell is going on for real.’
‘It’s just ruining my mood. So annoying.’
I decided to simply turn off my smartphone.
Then, I refocused on my guild duties.
*
Thud. Dee dee dee.
“What… what the hell????”
Chae Suhyeon’s expression was one of utter disbelief.
She had clearly called Baek Jihoon, but he had hung up on her.
This had never happened before.
Even while showering, in the middle of the night, during drinking sessions with friends, or while gaming, he always answered her calls.
‘No way. Damn. Is Baek Jihoon crazy? How dare he not answer my call?’
Chae Suhyeon kept calling again.
But he continued to hang up.
‘Damn it. What the hell!!’
She was about to throw her phone in frustration.
‘Ah, did that bastard do this?’
Seeing him not pick up, she was sure it was Baek Jihoon’s doing.
[ Hey, you bastard. Are you not going to answer the phone? Do you want to die? Seriously? Pick up the phone. ]
Chae Suhyeon quickly typed a text message.
After huffing in anger, she deeply contemplated and decided to delete it without sending.
[ Jihoon oppa, you’re not answering. Are you busy? I have something to ask you, when do you have time? ]
Then she crafted a new message.
‘This… this should work…? Damn…’
She bit her lips tightly.
She seemed to feel utterly humiliated.
‘What on earth… What kind of situation is this…?’
Chae Suhyeon checked her status window again.
[Retrieval Progress: 2% ]
‘It’s still alright. It’s only 2% gone.’
‘I just need to ask him to stop for now.’
‘2% is nothing to fuss over.’
She was trying hard to reassure herself to calm down.
‘Anyway, Baek Jihoon is a pushover, so I can probably just sweet-talk him. It’s nothing serious.’
‘Sigh… Seriously. I can’t stand that Baek Jihoon.’
‘I’ve been putting up with him so far, but… sigh…’
She shook her head, expressing her frustration.
‘He must have hung up because he was busy.’
‘Once he sees my message, he’ll rush to get back to me.’
Chae Suhyeon was lost in her own thoughts.
Then she decided to sit quietly on the sofa and wait.
*
“Oh dear. Jihoon, you’re already out…?”
“Right? Why did you come out so early…?”
As afternoon approached, members of Team A began to arrive one by one.
They all seemed to be suffering from a serious hangover.
Though their bodies were at work, their minds seemed to be elsewhere…
“Yeah, I came in a bit early.”
“When did you come in?”
“Oh, I arrived in the morning.”
“Huh? Didn’t anyone contact you?”
The manager glanced around.
“No, I did receive calls, but I just came in early to get some work done.”
“Oh dear, why are you so diligent? This is when you should be resting. But are you feeling okay? You seem pretty normal?”
“Yeah…? Jihoon seems totally fine.”
“Haha… yeah… luckily, I’m doing okay.”
He answered with an embarrassed smile.
“Um… Jihoon!”
While he was exchanging greetings with his team members, he suddenly heard Lee Sooah calling him.
“Yes!”
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