“Um…?”
At Chae Suhyeon’s voice calling me, both Yoo Hana and Lee Sooah turned to look at her.
“Eh? Chae Suhyeon? What’s going on? Hunter Chae Suhyeon? Why are you here?”
“Huh? What’s this? Why is Hunter Chae Suhyeon here?”
Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana looked quite flustered, their expressions twisted. It seemed like they completely forgot about the argument they were just having.
Chae Suhyeon’s sudden appearance looked to have shocked them considerably.
“Uh??”
Chae Suhyeon also seemed to be panicking. She must have come to find me, yet here I was beside Lee Sooah and facing Yoo Hana.
“Ah, sh*t.”
I was just as flustered.
“I’m in deep trouble.”
My ex-girlfriend and two women clinging to me.
What kind of situation is this?
“What’s going on? Why is everyone here?”
Chae Suhyeon broke the awkward silence, her expression showing both confusion and anger as she glared at Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana.
“Sh*t…”
“Wait, but what I want to ask is, why is Hunter Chae Suhyeon here? You’re obviously part of the Baekho Guild, right?”
Lee Sooah looked utterly incredulous. She seemed very uncomfortable and sensitive about the appearance of an S-Rank Hunter from a rival guild.
“No, more importantly… didn’t you just call Jihoon oppa?”
Yoo Hana caught onto this very sharply.
“Sh*t. I’ve been caught.”
“Ah, that… uh…”
Chae Suhyeon showed an extremely flustered expression. It looked like the most flustered I had ever seen her while we were dating.
“Uh… I have a habit of calling all men oppa.”
She seemed to be scrambling for an excuse that sounded rushed.
“You call anyone oppa?”
“Yes. And right now, that’s not important, is it? Ms. Yoo Hana, why are you here? You said you were done being a Hunter, right? You clearly said you wanted to focus solely on your broadcasting work?”
It seemed Chae Suhyeon wanted to protect her image of being pure for the audience.
That was a relief. If the topic about Chae Suhyeon opened up here, I had no idea what kind of chaos would ensue.
“Oh, you are right. I wanted to focus solely on broadcasting. That’s why I’m here today.”
“Why?”
Chae Suhyeon looked at Yoo Hana as if she couldn’t believe it.
She seemed to deduce that I couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Yoo Hana.
“This is about Baek Jihoon. I need him for my work.”
“What?”
Chae Suhyeon frowned.
“Ha… this is getting worse.”
S-Rank Hunters had pretty strong egos. They tried not to show it, but the competition was palpable among them.
And of all times, these three were gathered in one spot.
With me in the middle.
“Hey, everyone seems to be misunderstanding something. Jihoon is mine. He’s on Team A of our Blue Guild. Please don’t forget to mention me when speaking about him.”
Lee Sooah took the opportunity to chip in as she moved a bit closer to me, trying to link arms.
“Uh, excuse me. Why is Baek Jihoon yours?”
Chae Suhyeon snapped back at Lee Sooah, visibly angry. It was the angriest I had ever seen her.
It looked like she was genuinely shocked to see Lee Sooah so close to me as if she believed I was completely hers.
“I just told you. He’s on Team A of the Blue Guild, which means he’s mine. I have to take care of him.”
She answered rather brazenly.
“Ah, guild affiliation doesn’t matter if he transfers, right? Baek Jihoon, come with me. I’ll treat you generously. What’s your salary at the Blue Guild? I’ll match all of it.”
“You know our starting salary is 8,000, right?”
“Then I’ll give you 100 million.”
“How about 200% bonus this time?”
“I’ll give you a signing bonus.”
“I promise a 50% salary increase next year.”
“How about 60 vacation days a year?”
Yoo Hana and Lee Sooah were bickering over me.
It was almost as if I were an auction item, and the bidding for my “value” was rising.
“Excuse me, what… what are you guys doing? Stop all this nonsense. I have something urgent to discuss with Baek Jihoon, so please let go. We can just go to that cafe over there.”
Chae Suhyeon interrupted and jumped in when she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I’d rather not… here?”
Of course, I wanted to say that casually but subtly glanced at Yoo Hana and Lee Sooah.
Chae Suhyeon also pretended not to know me, so I played along.
Because, hey, I needed to survive in this situation.
If a fight broke out here, Sillim Station would become a battlefield.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something, Chae Suhyeon. We need to negotiate first, and you’re third in line.”
Lee Sooah placed her hands on her hips and questioned.
Chae Suhyeon seemed more shocked by my previous rejection than by Lee Sooah’s words.
“Uh… Baek Jihoon? I’m Chae Suhyeon. You know, the S-Rank Number One Chae Suhyeon. You must have seen me on TV…”
She completely ignored Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana and began to stare at me directly. Her facial expressions and gaze were sending a desperate signal, as if pleading me to comply with her.
“I’m not familiar. I don’t watch TV. I’ve been busy lately.”
I cut her off neatly.
“Sigh. Chae Suhyeon, you should have appeared on the broadcast sooner. Among the three of us, our Jihoon has the least recognition, you know? Hoho. You see your position now, right? Now, please leave~”
Lee Sooah seemed to be actively trying to shake off Chae Suhyeon.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
Chae Suhyeon looked visibly upset.
It appeared that she was irritated not only by Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana being close to me but also by my nonchalant attitude toward her.
“Excuse me, Chae Suhyeon? You’re ranked lower than both Lee Sooah and me as a Hunter, and in broadcasting as well. So naturally, you’re third in line, right? What do you have that makes you better than Baek Jihoon?”
Yoo Hana joined in.
Perhaps understanding Lee Sooah’s intention to take Chae Suhyeon down, she started a joint attack.
“What else… She’s my ex-girlfriend.”
However, Chae Suhyeon’s expression was pure bewilderment. If she publicly acknowledged our past relationship here, her broadcasting persona would be shattered, and if she said nothing, she would undoubtedly remain third in line.
She bit her lip.
Seeing Chae Suhyeon looking so flustered, I felt a secret thrill.
“See? Chae Suhyeon isn’t all that impressive after all.”
Thanks to Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana, it seemed like everything was getting resolved neatly.
“Well then, let’s leave Chae Suhyeon out and speak again, just the two of us.”
“Yes, sounds good.”
Yoo Hana and Lee Sooah turned their bodies to each other, indicating that they intended to speak privately.
“First of all, could you explain why you’re here, Lee Sooah? This is absurd.”
“I already told you, right? As the team leader of Team A, I’m here to manage. But I’m actually more curious about you, Yoo Hana. Why are you trailing a dispatch person? This is outright stalking. You shouldn’t be doing this when you’re not even part of the agency.”
Lee Sooah moved closer to me, trying to completely contain Yoo Hana.
“Hey!!! You crazy women!!!”
Suddenly, a loud shout pierced through as Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana attempted to talk privately, causing all three of us to turn in surprise towards Chae Suhyeon.
“You crazy…?”
Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana looked utterly astonished.
“Do you want to have a go at it here?”
Chae Suhyeon was in a furious posture, her fists clenched, ready to charge.
“What’s going on? Honestly, can you keep it down?”
“Let’s be quiet. Who are you?”
“Who’s shouting like that!!!”
“Who are you? Let’s see your face!”
It seemed Chae Suhyeon’s shouting had drawn the attention of local residents, who started to complain.
“Ah.”
The three S-Ranks looked quite flustered and quickly took off.
“Ah, I-I’m sorry.”
Left alone, I had no choice but to apologize vigorously.
“Wow… Is today the end of all this…”
The S-Ranks didn’t return, perhaps not wanting to be seen clinging to a man by the local residents.
“Phew…”
*
“No, seriously. What is all of this?”
Back home alone, I clutched my head and started pondering. What had just happened outside my house was almost surreal.
Lee Sooah, Yoo Hana, and Chae Suhyeon had all gathered and argued over me. To make things weirder, Chae Suhyeon pretended she didn’t know me for the sake of her image.
“What in the world are they all trying to accomplish?”
Already, it was a headache watching Yoo Hana and Lee Sooah fight over me, and now Chae Suhyeon had joined the fray.
“Oh, by the way, Chae Suhyeon was my girlfriend. We dated for four years.”
That couldn’t happen. If I spoke the truth, I could easily predict how Lee Sooah and Yoo Hana would react.
“Dammit. How did I end up in this situation?”
Just last week, I had been dumped by Chae Suhyeon, left feeling like a detached string. Yet now, I had three S-Rank Hunters sticking to me, turning me into a quasi-celebrity.
“At times like this…”
There were few people I could discuss this with. The first person that came to mind?
“I wonder what Hyungseok is up to right now.”
To be continued…
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