Chapter 23

Ding dong.

Finally, the message arrived.

“Wow. Did she get there already?”

Hyungseok was in awe.

“No way. How did she arrive this fast? It’s impossible on a normal route…”

He kept glancing at his wristwatch, looking puzzled.

“Well, it’s obvious. Whether it’s speeding or driving on the shoulder, if she has a goal, she won’t care about the means or methods.”

I wasn’t too surprised.

Having spent a lot of time with her, I could roughly predict how she would act.

However, even so, she couldn’t get past the 30-minute barrier.

‘Now, what did she say? Let’s take a look.’

[Oppa~ I’ve arrived, but where are you? I might be a tiny bit late, right?]

A faint smile escaped me.

‘Looks like she’s really in a hurry.’

Seeing her talk like this definitely indicated that she was flustered.

“It’s clear. She seems very anxious. What did you do to make Hunter Chae Suhyeon this way?”

Hyungseok was looking up at me, confused.

Combining Chae Suhyeon with Hunter Lee Sooah from earlier, I was gradually becoming a suspicious figure.

It felt like S-Rank Hunters couldn’t move freely around me… someone who could corner them.

“Let’s throw a punch back at her.”

“Okay.”

[You’re late.]

I decided to keep it very brief.

Without any further explanation.

Words that are annoying yet not overly verbose.

“I wonder how she will react.”

*

[You’re late.]

A very short reply came back.

It felt like there was zero affection in it.

‘What the hell?’

Chae Suhyeon stood still in the middle of the store, looking as if she had just been hit on the head with a hammer.

‘No, I know I’m late. But you weren’t even here in the first place, you bastard?’

She was barely holding onto her sanity, but she felt herself slowly losing grip.

‘Are you joking? You didn’t even come and you completely played with me? And now you say I’m late? Ha…’

Deep within her chest, anger was surging like crazy.

“Ha… Chae Suhyeon… Just hold on… Getting angry right now won’t solve anything. In fact, it will only harm you.”

Her hands trembled like crazy.

But she managed to calm down and sent a message calmly.

[Oppa, I’m sorry for being late. Where are you now?]

It was practically her first apology in life.

For Chae Suhyeon, there had never been a need to apologize to a guy.

But right now, there was no other choice.

She just needed to solve the problem in front of her well.

*

I couldn’t help but smile. In this situation, laughter was the only thing that came out.

“Chae Suhyeon is apologizing?”

This girl had never been like this before. Sure, she’d mix in apologies when trying to get what she wanted, but that was different. This was the first time she had apologized for something she had done wrong.

In fact, I might say that Chae Suhyeon was at fault in this situation.

“Unbelievable. Look at this shift in attitude. She was living life just as she pleased until the day before yesterday.”

“Still, senior, it seems like she finally got her act together. This is what she should have done. Well, of course, it can be hard to get out once you fall for a succubus.”

Unfortunately, it was unavoidable. The past was the past.

“So what should we do now?”

“Let’s send one final message to get her even more riled up and then stop contacting her.”

Hyungseok picked up my smartphone and started typing a message for me.

[There’s no chance left. Don’t contact me again.]

*

Tremble, tremble.

Her eyebrows twitched as she unleashed her anger with her entire body, right in the middle of the store.

“Um… Why is that person acting like that?”

“I don’t know… Did something upset her? It’s scary…”

“It feels like something’s about to go down… Hey, let’s get out of here.”

The people in the store were staring, focused on Chae Suhyeon, who was dangerously breathing heavily. She was exuding a terrifying aura that even regular people could feel. One by one, the customers began to exit the store in fear.

“Um… Excuse me, miss. Is something wrong?”

The boss, sensing the atmosphere, approached with a very worried expression. It was evident that the store’s sales were steadily declining. However, in Chae Suhyeon’s eyes, the store owner didn’t matter at all.

[There are no chances left. Don’t contact me again.]

Not knowing how to respond and feeling an indescribable sense of anger and frustration, she pushed everyone aside and stormed back to her car.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!”

“Baek Jihoon, you f*ing bastard!!!!!!!!!!!”

“You played with me!!!!”

“This f*ing bastard!!!!!!!!”

She screamed as if completely insane. The sound inevitably leaked out of the car. She was making such a ruckus and screaming that the horn was honking intermittently. Passersby could only stare at Chae Suhyeon with puzzled looks.

*

“Ha. Let’s not worry about Chae Suhyeon for now and have some drinks.”

I thought I had dealt a good hit. It was an act I had never attempted in my life until now. But after doing it, I felt so relieved.

‘Ha, that f*ing slut.’

‘You think this is just the beginning? Have you been playing with me until now?’

‘Succubus Queen? Ugh.’

I shook my head. Now I was very certain. It wasn’t just a breakup; it wasn’t just being dumped.

The Hunter Blacklist, the press conference, the Succubus… There were countless things that made me furious.

‘I will definitely make you pay.’

I made a firm resolution.

“Senior, let’s make a toast. Here’s to starting a new life.”

Today, I decided to ride this mood and enjoy myself.

*

“Let’s go go go go…”

It seemed I had gone too far yesterday, feeling too good. It was hard to gather my thoughts.

“Ha… what time is it now…”

Stretching a bit, I checked the time.

“Huh? Shit. This is bad. I’m late.”

It was the kind of moment that snapped me back to reality. I was supposed to head to the Guild, but it was already late for my arrival.

‘Oh f*ck. I’m receiving the same treatment I gave to Chae Suhyeon yesterday.’

I had no choice but to hurriedly get ready for work.

*

“What the hell are you doing right now!!!!!!!!!!”

A tremendous scream echoed through the air. I was slowly entering the office.

“I… I’m sorry.”

30 minutes. I had already arrived 30 minutes late on my second day of work.

‘Ugh. Seriously, Baek Jihoon, are you crazy? Why did you drink so much that you couldn’t even keep the time promise?’

I must have been too excited because of Chae Suhyeon yesterday. This was the first time I had ever been late like this.

“Ugh… Jihoon! What are you going to do now!!”

“You’re late, you know. Oh no… We’ll help you no matter what.”

“Jihoon, we had the morning off yesterday, but you still came to work. Can we just let it slide…”

My team members rushed out with completely pale faces upon seeing me.

“Is that a thing to say right now!!!”

The screams were still ringing in the air. It was clearly Lee Sooah’s voice.

‘What’s going on? Why is she like this?’

She looked completely different from what I had seen yesterday and the day before. She seemed quite rough.

“Ha. Hunter Lee Sooah has returned.”

The team members looked sad.

“What do you mean returned?”

I could only ask cautiously.

“No, she was fine for just yesterday, right? It’s been years since she acted like that.”

“Yeah, it would be great if things could just go like yesterday.”

“I don’t know why she’s acting like this today.”

Everyone looked bewildered.

“Anyway, Jihoon. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your head stays attached to your body, so just lay low, got it?”

The manager patted me on the back. Everyone else looked as if I was about to die, creating a glum atmosphere.

“Hunter Lee Sooah really, really hates tardiness. She considers keeping time extremely important. Didn’t someone die because of a delay in a past application? That’s why she’s a bit sensitive.”

Everyone seemed to be in shock and horror. Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like everyone thought I was about to be killed.

‘Ah, damn. What’s going on? It’s my fault for being late, but it’s not like I’m going to die over this, right?’

‘And Lee Sooah, why are you speaking so loudly? This meeting room should be soundproof, right?’

I thought it was completely soundproof, yet her voice seemed to pierce right through.

Then suddenly, a thought struck me.

‘Is this because of a status ailment, perhaps?’

I opened my status window. Naturally, Lee Sooah’s status window was covered in red marks.

‘Just as I thought. So that’s what happened.’

I don’t know when those red marks will disappear either. It was always like this with Chae Suhyeon too. Sometimes they would go away in one day, sometimes in ten. There didn’t seem to be any discernible pattern. It just seemed like it happened when there was a change in her mood.

‘First, I should get rid of the status ailments. Then I’ll just have to prostrate myself and beg for mercy. At least that way I might save my life…’

‘Sigh. Baek Jihoon. Get your act together. Who shows up late for two days straight?’

Yesterday, I had been so absorbed in my victory that I made a huge mistake. But water has already been spilled. I need to get things sorted, no matter what.

I quickly started removing the red marks from my status window.

‘Phew. I hope this helps a bit.’

Creeeak.

The meeting room door opened. And then a certain department head stumbled out with a completely drained expression, as if his soul had been harvested.

“Ugh.”

Hearing the door open, my team members hurriedly returned to their seats, pretending to work.

*Click clack.*

The fearsome sound of Lee Sooah’s heels grew louder. Slowly approaching.

Gulp.

I wonder what she will say. Please, just don’t kill me.

“J… Jihoon ssi…?”

As the sound of her high heels stopped, I caught a glimpse of Lee Sooah smiling slightly with a faint blush on her cheeks.

“You were a bit late today, huh? Hmm. That’s okay. It could happen to a rookie like you.”

Then she quickly disappeared, as if flustered.