CHAPTER 36: FLUFFY FEELING

YEJUN knitted his eyebrows while watching Wonhee fall to her knees while crying.

[What happened? Is she sick?]

He was about to check on Wonhee– who was already being consoled by Yeon Soobin– when Shin Geon suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to the side.

Yejun almost froze the guy, but he remembered Wonhee told him to be patient. "What?"

"Calm down," Shin Geon said in a hushed voice. He talked as if he was afraid to be heard even though they were already out of Wonhee and Yeon Soobin’s earshot. "Hee-ya isn’t physically hurt or sick."

Since Shin Geon was whispering, Yejun whispered back. "Then why is she crying like she’s been kicked by a dungeon monster?"

"That Hunter is Hee-ya’s ex-boyfriend," Shin Geon said while pointing at the black-haired guy being shown in the news. "They just broke up a few days ago, so she must still be hurting..."

He just had to read the line flashing on the screen to realize what was happening.

It wasn’t hard to figure out anyway.

Wonhee’s ex-boyfriend was a Hunter and the man next to him was a Guide.

The two went out of the APA Center, aka the motel for Hunters and Guides. There was only one reason a Hunter and a Guide pair would stay in the APA Center without an emergency: to have sex.

[So, Wonhee’s Hunter ex-boyfriend had sex with his Guide.]

But why was it in the news???

"Is having sex with your Guide newsworthy?" Yejun asked, genuinely confused and curious. He had been gone for a year, and many things could have drastically changed during his absence. "Are Hunters required to broadcast their sex life now? The last time I checked, many people still believe that the Advanced Treatment done between a Hunter and a Guide is immoral."

"That stays true even now," Shin Geon said. "Lee Seodam and Park Ruda’s case is a bit special. They’re a famous "ship" and many people support them."

"More famous than Graham and Ahn Kisoo’s ship?"

Back in his day, people were crazy about those two.

"You can say that. Graham and Ahn Kisoo rarely show up in public together these days," Shin Geon said. "On the other hand, Lee Seodam is a rising Hunter. Don’t you remember him?"

"I don’t remember every single weakling I meet, Hyung."

Shin Geon just smiled and shook his head. "Anyway, Lee Seodam is Hee-ya’s ex-boyfriend. They were together for three years before they broke up a few days ago. I’m only saying this to you because a quick internet search would already tell you the story. So, please don’t ask Hee-ya why she’s crying, okay?"

"Whatever," Yejun said, opening his hand as he summoned ice above his palm. "I just have to make Wonhee stop crying."

Shin Geon suddenly grabbed him by the arm. "You’ve destroyed enough equipment in my center, Hwang Frost. I won’t let you destroy more things when you don’t have the money to pay for them."

"I don’t?"

"Your money and other assets are frozen after you were demoted to being an X-Class Hunter. Worse, your guild and all the money it earned were confiscated by APA."

Pfft.

"Geon Hyung, I was the richest Hunter before my downfall," Yejun reminded him. "Do you think I don’t have a slush fund hidden somewhere the government couldn’t sniff?"

Shin Geon raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you just confess to a crime, Hwang Frost?"

"Am I the only Hunter here who has hidden wealth here?"

"What?"

"Hyung, the only thing I’ve hidden during my prime was money and some artifacts that I don’t want the greedy government to discover," Yejun said, smirking. "You and Soobin Hyung, however..."

Shin Geon cleared his throat. "I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything about your slush fund, Hwang Frost."

Pfft.

[As expected, it feels good to be sober again.]

"Don’t worry, Hyung," Yejun said, grinning while his hand was getting covered in a thin layer of ice. "I will never lose my mind around Wonhee."

***

WONHEE felt silly for breaking down in front of a huge TV showing the news about her famous Hunter ex-boyfriend being congratulated by their fans for having sex with his equally famous Guide.

As if people being way too curious about Seodam’s sex life wasn’t already weird enough, the reporters had to broadcast Seodam’s activity with Park Ruda on national TV.

[This is a dystopia, indeed.]

"Hee-ya, if you want to end Lee Seodam’s career as a Hunter, just say the word," Seobin, who was hugging her while rubbing her back, whispered in a serious tone. "I’ll take care of him. If you want, I can also make Park Ruda disappear."

Her brother wasn’t joking.

And Wonhee also knew that Soobin was capable of doing something like that.

[I need to calm down before Oppa commits a crime for my sake.]

Thank goodness Semi wasn’t there.

"No, Oppa. I’m alright," Wonhee said between sobs while wiping her tears off of her face with her hands since she wanted to get rid of them quickly. "Seodam Oppa and I are over already. It’s not his fault that I haven’t moved on yet, so please leave him and Ruda Oppa alone."

Soobin sighed while helping her get up. "Hee-ya, you’re really too nice for your own good."

She wanted to deny it, but she stopped when she shivered.

It suddenly got colder there.

Soobin clicked his tongue while glaring at the huge TV in front of them. "That crazy bastard is acting up again."

Oh.

Wonhee was mesmerized while watching a thin layer of ice quickly cover the huge TV.

Then more and more layers of ice were added gradually until she could no longer see the video playing on the large display.

But it didn’t end there.

The ice "moved" and began taking a form as if an invisible sculptor was creating a masterpiece.

It didn’t take long before the "ice statue" was finished.

Wonhee suddenly burst out laughing. "Yejun-ah, why did you make an ice statue of yourself..."

She looked over her shoulder because she thought Yejun was behind her.

But she didn’t expect him to be that close since she didn’t feel his presence.

As a result, Wonhee’s nose bumped into Yejun’s solid chest.

Hmm.

[He really smells good.]

"Have you stopped crying, Wonhee-ya?"

Wonhee looked up at Yejun and was a bit startled when she noticed that Yejun was looking at her face intently. "I didn’t cry," she lied with a straight face, hoping that Yejun would ignore her puffy eyes. "I just fell to the floor because I was hungry."

"Uh-huh," Yejun said, obviously not believing her. Fortunately, he didn’t say anything about it and simply changed the subject. "Did you like my ice sculpture?"

"Well, it looks like you. But what is that for?"

"For cleansing your eyes."

"What?"

"After you watch a gore film or anything unpleasant, you should cleanse your eyes by watching cute animal videos on the internet," Yejun said, smiling while moving her finger as if he was a conductor in an orchestra. "So, after you see ugly people on TV being congratulated for fucking each other like the horny, herbivore rabbits that they are, then you should cleanse your eyes by looking at the most handsome Hunter in Korea."

Oh.

Wonhee realized that Yejun already knew about her past relationship with Seodam.

[And it looks like Yejun also knows that Seodam Oppa dumped me for Ruda Oppa.]

Yejun probably saw the articles written about me when he looked her up on the internet.

For some reason, Wonhee felt embarrassed.

But she didn’t have the time to worry about that when Soobin and Yejun "talked."

Soobin scoffed. "When did Song Moonho die for you to become the most handsome Hunter in Korea?"

"Most handsome Hunter in Korea under thirty years old," Yejun corrected himself while glaring at Soobin. "Happy now?"

Wonhee got distracted while Yejun and Soobin were bickering.

She got distracted while watching Yejun turning her teardrops into ice. Now they looked like little pearls.

[Yejun didn’t dry my tears– he literally froze them.]

Wonhee suddenly felt warm despite the freezing weather.

Before she knew it, she was already smiling.

[Thank you, Yejun-ah.]

She wanted to thank Yejun verbally, but she couldn’t find the right timing because he was still bickering with Soobin.

"You two, stop fighting," Geon scolded Soobin and Yejun. "You’re catching attention."

Oh, right.

"We should go," Wonhee said while covering her face with a mask. "I wanna see my friends before I get busy with work."

And press conferences.

[Definitely press conferences.]

"I already called Ahyeon," Soobin said. "You’re going to meet your friend Gong Yool, right?"

"Yes, Oppa."

"Then you should head to Graham’s villa."

Hmm?

"Did I hear you right, Oppa?" Wonhee asked, confused. "Why would I go to Graham-ssi’s villa if I’m meeting Yool?"

"Oh, right. You didn’t know," Soobin said. "Your friend is currently living with Graham. It’s a safe place, and that’s the only reason why I allowed you to meet Gong Yool when you’re supposed to be resting at home."

Huh?

[Yool-ah, what are you doing at Graham-ssi’s house?!]

***

HI.

[This is Yool. You must be wondering how I ended up in this situation... nevermind.]

Yool wanted to make fun of his situation, but he quickly realized that nothing about it was funny.

"I-Is he still alive?"

Yool wiped the blood off his cheek with the back of his hand, then his gaze went from the unconscious Hunter bathing in his own pool of blood on the floor to the trembling pretty dude in front of him. "Do you want to help me bury that bastard, Ahn Kisoo?"

***

sola_cola’s thoughts on this Chapter: Wonhee, your (future) man is a criminal/tax evader. And your best friend Yool just (seemingly) killed a man??? LOL

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