Solo Leveling : Sung Jin-Woo x Cha Hae-In (English Version)

Back to usual daily life

Diling, liling, Lilililing, dililing, ding.

Like every morning, Hae-In slowly opened her eyes at the sound of the melodious chime of her alarm clock. She sat up without hurrying and stretched for a long time.
The skylights of her apartment provided an unobstructed view of the city in the dawn — rising with the sun was a habit she had made even before she became a hunter.

In one leap she jumped from her bed and crossed the room to enter the bathroom. Quietly, she brushed her teeth and washed her face.
She was one to take a bath in the evening rather than a shower in the morning ; the bath relaxed her aching muscles at the end of a long day spent fighting monsters in a dungeon.
She brushed her hairs and arranged her locks, before taking clothes from her closet.

It was a peaceful morning as she liked them. Everything that had happened the day before seemed far away, almost unreal.

And yet, she had indeed spent the day at Hunter Sung's house.
« No, she mentally corrected herself, at Jin-Woo's.  »
Once again, she herself couldn't believe the development of their relationship.

A smile formed on her lips as she remembered the conversation they had had the night before while he was driving her home.

« — Is there a problem, Hunter Sung?
— No, quite the opposite. I was thinking that I hadn't seen Jin-Ah looking so radiant in a long time. As annoying as she can be, thank you for befriending my little sister. »

She had guessed that he was referring to the famous incident she had heard about : a dungeon break in Jin-Ah's high school, a real massacre from which her brother had narrowly saved her. That kind of experience tended to leave a deep trauma, especially for a teenager...

« — I really liked getting to know her, she replied, smiling. Jin-Ah is a very nice girl, even if she is a little mischievous.
— Is that so, then it's a relief, had sighed the raven-haired young man. He was silent before resuming in a pensive tone. But it disturbs me. »

She had looked at him without understanding.

« — You're speaking informally with Jin-Ah, but you still call me Hunter Sung.
— A-ah, well... she stammered. I woudn't dare... Hunter Sung is... you are...
— You said we're friends, didn't you ?  He said smiling. So it's Jin-Woo for you.
— When...
— In front of that kind of bizarre statue, remember ?
— Ah... She had blushed at the memory.  Did you hear me?
— Yup. I have better hearing than most people.  »

He flashed her a smile.

« — So call me Jin-Woo, Hae-In. »

It was really true. Hunter Sung, who always seemed so unapproachable, considered her a friend. That thought erased the bitter memory of the day he had refused to take her into his guild.

She wasn't childish enough to resent Yoo Soo-Yun.
« Well, she admitted, I can't deny I was resentful with the SNS selfie thing. »

At first, she had felt violently hurt. But, by following — avidly, she should admit — all the articles and news that directly or indirectly concerned Sung Jin-Woo and his Ah-Jin guild (as well as those on Yoo Soo-Yun, by extension), she noticed that these two had never been seen together again, or even associated with each other : Yoo Soo-Yun kept going about her business as a supermodel, while Sung Jin-Woo had people talk about him starting to solo clear gates at a mind-boggling rate, to the point that other guilds were complaining about the loss of their business.

Hae-In didn't claim to know everything Jin-Woo had in mind. She was aware that the secrets of his, a Nation rank hunter, and even probably the strongest in the world, were completely beyond her — whether it was the mystery of the double dungeon with the giant statues or the protection he had promised to grant to the most powerful hunters in the world.