the shadow in the light
chapter twenty three; a king and his queen
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"i've tried so many times to think of a new way to say it, and it's still i love you."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
a/n: this chapter is by far the longest, 3.5k words! i tried to make this chapter as fluff as i possibly could so i hope you enjoy!
"excuse me, are you two hunter y/n and hunter sung?"
the couple turned around, looking curiously at the man who spoke their names. they were met with a foreigner, which surprised them since he spoke korean in such a fluent way.
"yes, we are," y/n said, looking at him with caution.
"it's a pleasure to meet you two. my name is adam white, and i'm from the federal bureau of hunters." adam introduced himself and passed his business card to y/n. "you can call me adam."
y/n looked down at his card while jin-woo continued to look at adam. "please excuse me for showing up like this out of the blue, but you two are hard to track down. i even stopped by your office, mister sung."
ah, is he the man jin-ho mentioned? jin-woo wondered.
"what business do you have with us?" jin-woo asked quickly.
"i would like to share some information with you, miss y/n and mister sung." adam spoke.
"information?" y/n questioned and looked back up at him.
"there's probably not a single country or institution in this world that can provide you with the information i'm about to share. besides us, that is."
"why would you like to share such information with us?" jin-woo asked.
"we benefit from sharing knowledge with special individuals, such as yourselves. i was originally going to be the only one paying you a visit today," adam began. "however, it seems that the raid in jeju island left an impression on our deputy director. he wishes to have a meeting with you two in person."
y/n and jin-woo both looked at each other, curiosity flooding their eyes.
"i must say this is unprecedented. the deputy director will explain the rest in detail. i have a car waiting nearby, would you like to meet him?"
jin-woo tugged onto y/n's hand, slowly backing away. "i don't know if the information you wish to share with us is reliable. we'll give you a call after giving it some thought."
"we are?" y/n innocently asked.
"how silly of me to forget. a good hand should never be kept hidden when striking a deal," adam said. "an upgrader... is an awakened being who can enhance the abilities of another awakened being. ever heard of them before?"
jin-woo's eyes widened at the mention of it. he looked at y/n, silently asking her if she wanted to go. the hunter merely shrugged her shoulders, wanting to follow jin-woo's decision.
jin-woo looked at adam and nodded his head. adam grinned and led the way to the van just around the corner. y/n kept quiet the entire way, only looking out of the window as she watched the scenery pass by.
she only looked back when she felt a hand on top of hers. she smiled, placing her other hand over jin-woo's. y/n found jin-woo to be someone who wasn't afraid of showing his affection in public. in fact, he seemed to like it. he didn't bother what the media had to say of their relationship.
adam paid no mind to their affection, knowing to mind his own business. after all, if he did anything out of line, he might be dead. literally.
minutes later, they arrived at a hotel. jin-woo noted that the name of the hotel was the same as the one from the memo jin-ho handed over to him not long ago.
jin-woo and y/n followed after adam and climbed up to the suite where the deputy director was waiting for them.
it was to no surprise that the deputy director failed to disguise his excitement at the sight of them behind adam. he smiled brightly and shook hands with them.
"it's a pleasure to meet you two. my name is michael connor, and i am the deputy director of the federal bureau of hunters."
"hello, i'm sung jin-woo and this is kim y/n," jin-woo introduced.
michael pointed to the couch opposite him, indicating for them to have a seat. jin-woo sat in the middle, with y/n on his right while adam sat on his left.
"let me get straight to the point, mister sung." michael began, "these here are immigration documents. they usually take a year or two to be processed. however, we're willing to make an exception for you. miss y/n here is already an american citizen from her stay years ago."
y/n nodded her head, confirming the fact. michael continued, "one second. just say the word and you'll become an american citizen in one second."
"y/n and i came here because mister white told us that you had some information to tell us." jin-woo abruptly said. "is it really possible for someone to upgrade a hunter's abilities?"
"actually, there is someone like this here with us now. please tell miss selner to come in," michael instructed.
almost immediately, the door opened and two agents escorted a middle-aged african-american woman out from the room beyond. jin-woo's eyes narrowed slightly after picking up a strange vibe coming off from her.
"i present to you, miss norma selner, the only one in the world capable of enhancing an awakened being's abilities." michael stood up, allowing norma selner to take his place. "miss selner, please explain to miss y/n and mister sung the scope of your powers."
"you must be sceptical about all of this. everyone gives me the same look of doubt at first." miss selner took a seat, her eyes glinting at them, "however, once you get a taste of my powers, you'll be begging for more."
"miss selner!" michael furrowed his eyebrows at her. norma laughed and waved her hand, "don't worry director. i know how important these two guests are."
with an alluring smile, she continued her explanation. "as you may already know, every awakened being has a limit to their strength and no one can reach past their limits. their rank will remain the same, unless they undergo a second awakening. this fact is common knowledge among hunters."
"but you can change that?" jin-woo asked.
"yes, i have the power to help awakened beings reach beyond their potential. through three stages, i can lift their limitations. i'm not so sure what to call this power though, i could be performing a forced second awakening. or perhaps i'm simply drawing out someone's true potential."
"what miss selner said is true. however, she requires a long period of time to rest every time she uses her powers. so, only three or four individuals are able to receive her aid each year." michael added on.
"how effective is this process exactly?" y/n countered.
"it's different for everyone but after going through all three stages, the individual will receive anywhere between a 20% to 30% increase in strength," norma answered.
"if anyone were to find out about her powers then..."
michael nodded his head, "that is precisely why she is under our care. we ensure her safety while also compensating her with a suitable salary. in return, she heightens the ability of the hunters we choose."
y/n continued looking at them, her eyes focusing on norma. "we wish to present this gift to you, miss y/n and mister sung."
"a gift? don't you mean an offer?" jin-woo raised an eyebrow at them.
"once you become a hunter of the federal bureau of hunters, you will become our top priority and receive preferential benefits," michael informed. "in addition, we will arrange a meeting with the guild of your choice and help you sign the best contract."
"you don't have to make a decision right away. we're just easing you into things today," norma spoke.
"excuse me?"
"as we told you, this is a gift." norma reminded. "will you allow me to lift your limit?"
"with nothing in return?" jin-woo repeated, looking at them with doubt.
"think of it as a complimentary service," michael suggested. "how about miss y/n gives it a go first?"
y/n looked at jin-woo, pursing her lips before looking back at norma. she nodded her head, indicating she was ready. norma took her wrist gently and began the process.
"look deep into my eyes, this will be the first step." norma instructed. y/n took a deep breath and did as what she instructed.
norma looked into y/n's eyes, using her powers at once. she looked around, realising she was in a garden. she was beyond confused, wondering why y/n's powers related to this particular garden.
"hello, norma selner."
norma turned around, having eye contact with lucia. lucia sat on a bench, smiling down at her pond.
"why don't you look into this pond?"
in an instant, norma was teleported next to lucia. she had no choice but to look down into the pond.
"what do you think of it?"
"it's deeper than a regular pond. deeper than an artificial pond," norma answered.
"correct. this pond has no end, it continues deeper and deeper until something rids of it."
lucia smiled and showed an image of y/n. "my dear y/n's powers resembles this pond. she has no end to her powers, she will continue to grow with or without your help."
norma turned around abruptly, her eyes widening when she spotted a dark area in the garden. it was a sore to the eye, contrasting with the white and pure effect of the garden.
lucia grinned, walking away as norma was left in a trance. she stared at the dark area for seconds, until an eye appeared from within it.
norma let out a gasp, letting go of y/n's wrist. she seemed nervous, scared even. y/n looked at her curiously, wanting to know what happened.
"now shall be mister sung's turn," michael announced.
norma hesitantly turned to jin-woo and he took notice of it. his eyes went back to y/n, wondering what happened when she looked inside of y/n's powers.
she held jin-woo's wrist, this time looking into him. she found herself in a dark abyss, being unable to see anything. she looked up, her eyes widening when she saw the same eye looking at her.
y/n was startled when norma screamed. this was further worsened when the agents surrounding them pointed their guns at her and jin-woo.
"you bastard! what have you done to miss selner?!" one of the agents shouted while pointing his gun at y/n.
jin-woo quickly held y/n in his embrace, ready to attack if the agent were to pull the trigger.
"stop! are you out of your minds?!" michael shouted as he jumped out of his position. "don't you know who these are?! you absolute morons!"
"but miss selner is-"
"if you're that worried, go and check up on her!" the agent quickly nodded his head and went to assist norma.
michael bowed to them immediately, apologising to them. "my apologies, miss y/n and mister sung. our agents stepped out of line."
"...it's alright," jin-woo answered after awhile. he too was shocked at what happened within a matter of seconds. he looked down at y/n who was still in his arms, "are you okay?"
"i'm fine," y/n answered with a nod. "it just surprised me."
michael quickly turned around to the agent who pointed his gun at y/n, "you're lucky she didn't do anything! she has close relations to thomas andre and liu zhigang! don't even get me started on go gun-hee! can you imagine the shit we would be in if you triggered the gun?!"
the agent shook his head in fear, "i-i apologise, sir!"
michael quickly walked over to norma, "miss selner, what's the matter? you're covered in sweat. are you not feeling well?"
norma didn't answer, only looking at y/n and jin-woo in fear. she was soaked in cold sweats from head to toe and was shaking uncontrollably.
"it seems that miss selner is feeling under the weather today. do you mind if we reschedule for another time? i'll be in touch, miss y/n and mister sung." michael said.
"sure," jin-woo replied and stood up with y/n.
"adam, please show them the way out." michael instructed.
"of course," adam said and led y/n and jin-woo out.
"miss selner, what happened?" michael asked.
"that man, h-he's a king. a powerful king at that," norma began. "behind every king is a queen, and she was a powerful one at that. she was as powerful as him."
"are you saying those two are as strong as national level hunters?" michael questioned in shock.
"n-no, i can't tell because...i've never experienced something like this before. t-they were no ordinary king and queen. while i was looking at him, he was looking back at me." norma stammered out.
"but other hunters-"
"no, not sung jin-woo! the thing that was staring back at me was an infinite darkness within him!" norma explained. "there was a woman inside of y/n, she knew of my existence! but not only that, there was a dark area in the white garden of hers! it was the same darkness inside of jin-woo."
michael's eyes widened, looking more puzzled than before. norma spoke with difficulty at the last sentence, "those two... they have no limit!"
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"of all times, why did there have to be a traffic jam?" jin-woo groaned as he leaned onto the steering wheel.
y/n snickered at him as she leaned back onto her seat, "i don't see anything wrong with this jam."
"we've been stuck here for five minutes, i want to go home." jin-woo said and looked at her with a pout. "this is why i prefer taking the subway."
"you don't want to spend more time with me?" y/n teased with a grin.
"of course i do," jin-woo quickly replied and turned towards her.
"i know of some ways to kill time," y/n said.
"what are they?" jin-woo asked.
"this," y/n grabbed jin-woo by his tie and leaned him towards her. his eyes widened at her sudden move but quickly relaxed when he felt her lips on his.
y/n smiled when she felt him kiss back and she moved her hands to his shoulders, wrapping them around his neck. jin-woo slowly inched his hand to y/n's waist, bringing her body closer towards his.
that was until the sound of jin-woo's phone vibrating rather noisily interrupted their session.
"that was our imagination," jin-woo said, voice eager as he focused onto his girlfriend. "we didn't hear anything."
"i heard nothing," y/n smiled and looked at him.
jin-woo's phone began to ring again. y/n was about to turn her head when jin-woo quickly turned her head and kissed her again.
"we could ignore it." jin-woo's hands travelled to y/n's neck, bringing her closer to him once again.
"we could." y/n's hands gently grabbed at jin-woo's hair, bunching it up in her hold.
when his phone rang for the third time, y/n laughed as she pulled away. "i don't think they will stop calling you anytime soon, jin-woo."
jin-woo groaned in frustration, "for gods sake-" he grabbed his phone and answered it.
"hello mister sung, this is go gun-hee speaking." the voice from his phone said.
"hi dad," y/n giggled as jin-woo cleared his throat.
"oh y/n, didn't expect you to be with mister sung. was i interrupting something?"
"no, not at all mister go. how can i help you?" jin-woo asked.
"well, i've gotten news of a gate in the middle of the road. i believe it's located near the neighbourhood where your office is. it's a b-rank gate. could you and y/n handle it?" gun-hee asked.
"that explains the traffic jam. i'm pretty sure the gate must be on the highway jin-woo and i are on right now," y/n informed him.
"is it okay for us to enter without an entry permit?" jin-woo questioned.
gun-hee laughed over the line, "mister sung, who do you think is in charge of those entry permits?"
"that would be the hunter's association." jin-woo responded.
"and who are you speaking to right now?"
jin-woo laughed and answered, "the chairman of the hunter's association."
"exactly, don't worry about it."
"alright, y/n and i will take care of the gate."
"thank you mister sung. y/n, don't go home too late okay?" gun-hee added on.
"alright dad, i'll see you soon." y/n replied with a smile. gun-hee ended the call and y/n turned, ready to exit the van when jin-woo held her hand.
"quick question," he said. "wanna be the third founding member to my guild?"
"so now you bring up the question? just before we enter a gate." y/n frowned at him, which caused him to grin at her.
"oops."
y/n rolled her eyes, "i was waiting for you to ask me that question. but yes, i will join your guild."
"great!" jin-woo exclaimed and quickly pressed another kiss to her lips with a smile. "love you."
y/n blushed at his words but he quickly left the van. "h-hey!" y/n got out of the van, quickly catching up to him.
the two hunters quickly approached the gate, seeing a few reporters and a few association employees.
"the gate you see behind me right now appeared on the seohaean expressway and..."
"everyone! we ask that you please follow our directions!"
jin-woo brushed past the wall of reporters and association employees, approaching the gate until a female employee stopped him.
"hey! hold it right there!" she shouted. "this is a restricted area!"
jin-woo looked down at her, eyes not wavering. "wait a minute, aren't you the s-rank hunter sung jin-woo?!"
y/n quickly approached from behind, holding her sword out after retrieving it from her inventory.
"that's sung jin-woo and kim y/n!"
"they must be taking matters into their own hands!"
"do you have an entry permit for this gate? just because you're s-rank hunters doesn't mean you can just ignore protocol," the female employee said. "even if you do, i can't allow you to enter this gate unless you come back with a party that meets the minimum number of members required!"
jin-woo sighed, taking out his phone to call gun-hee. "sir... y/n and i are at the gate right now, but there's a slight problem." he then passed the employee his phone, "here take the call."
"who's on the other end of the line?" she asked.
"someone you won't be able to argue with," jin-woo said.
"also known as my dad," y/n added with a wink.
"this is go gun-hee speaking."
"yes, yes! yes, of course. i will do as you say, sir." the employee replied to him through the call. the call ended and she passed jin-woo his phone back.
y/n grinned as she and jin-woo approached the gate. before he entered, y/n grabbed him by the hand.
"something wrong?" jin-woo asked.
"nothing, just wanted to say i love you too." y/n laughed before entering the gate first.
jin-woo looked dazed for a second, hearing those words repeat in his mind. he let out a smile and entered the gate as well.
"wait a minute, the gate is...!"
"the gate is changing colour!"
"a red gate!"
inside the gate, jin-woo took notice of y/n's crestfallen state. he looked around, noticing he was in a jungle.
"we entered a red gate didn't we?"
"yep."
y/n sighed and looked down at her dress, "i didn't even get to change out of this dress! now i have to fight in this and heels?!"
"you'll look quite badass fighting in them," jin-woo complimented. y/n smiled and kissed his cheek, "thank you."
"we're gonna clear this in a day," jin-woo said.
"maybe even less," y/n added. jin-woo summoned his shadows once he took notice of the monsters lurking behind the trees.
"or we could just hang out in the back while your shadows do the work," y/n whispered with a smile.
"i think i like that idea." jin-woo played along, grabbing y/n by her waist and pulled her towards him.
y/n chuckled, putting her arms around his neck as he leaned his forehead onto hers.
"i love you, y/n."
"i love you too, jin-woo."
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