In the morning, Seung-Eun went back to school as usual and was greeted by many students. Some asked the reason for his absence while those that already knew inquired about his fast-speed recovery.
The day went well until he noticed that his seatmate was ignoring him. Hae-Seong either ignored or gave him cold reply to his greetings, pestering and any other attempts to gain his attention. Seung-Eun gave Jin-Ah and Song-I a questioning look and only earned shrugs.
At lunch, Hae-Seong flirted with one if the popular girl in the school, Un Yu-Ri. Touching her long, wavy hair, whispering near her ear and sitting together like a couple in the cafeteria. Their intimate gestures earned onlookers and supporters, even teases from his other friends.
Suddenly, he was replaced by that girl.
Ah, is this what we call hoes before bros? That Yu-Ri had been chasing Hae-Seong for a while, and it seemed like the later had finally opened his heart. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Min-Su, the bullied junior the other day, blocked his sight of the two flirty people. "They are coming back to school today."
Seung-Eun remembered the people that he and his friend beat up and their duration of suspension. "Them? We beat those people pretty bad, so they won't pick on others anymore."
"That's not how it works, sunbae. They won't try to bother you but since I'm weak, they'll throw their frustrations and get revenge on me. What if they attack me outside school? They're resentful and I doubt they'll let it go, especially that pig- I mean, Tae-Won, if he went overboard, I might really die..." His eyelashes fluttered and he looked at him with glittering, watery eyes. "Can we walk home together?"
Seung-Eun pondered for a bit, it would be nice to have another close friend since the other one was busy with his new girlfriend. "Okay, but you have to treat me to a dessert once in a while."
"Sure! I can treat you everyday." Min-Su hugged his senior's arm and pressed his cheek happily, oblivious to the murderous look aimed towards him from across their table.
When they separated and went back to their classes, Hae-Seong's mood was bad and unapproachable as he sat on his seat with arms crossed on his chest. It was the first time that Seung-Eun see this side of him. "Did something happened between the two of you?"
Hae-Seong gave him a cold glance. "Why do you care?"
"Because... you are my friend? I understand that now you are in a relationship, but how can you just completely ignore me like this? I'm very hurt, you know. We spend more time with each other than you and her." Seung-Eun pressed his left chest dramatically, earning a glare from him.
'He ignored me but not the others. As far as I know, in this kind of relationship, the partner usually told the other to stay away from people that gave them bad influence or people that threatened their relationship. But in this case, I don't think that I've been bad to the others... ah, wait... is she worried that their time spent together since Hae-Seong is usually with me? Seriously, what am I? A boyfriend's stealer?'
After three days of failure in persuading him to talk with him, he gave up entirely and no longer batted an eyelash when his friend spent all of his time with someone other than him.
They no longer walk to school together, eat lunch together or joke around as usual.
Since Hae-Seong didn't want to communicate with him, then, so be it. Seung-Eun never let anyone entered his heart easily and played it, only to leave it broken, shattered and bleeding. In the end, like he always anticipated, people always leave him.
The tense silence between the two of them continued and during these days, he received a call from Jin-Ho, the rich Hunter that joined Hwang Dong-Suk's private raid, and asked to join another 19 private raids together with Jin-Woo. The payment for each raid was three million won, which was pretty good.
Seung-Eun wore a simple light brown set of tracksuit and a matching cap. He entered the living room on the right and saw that Se-Yoon was watching the TV, Choi Jong-In was explaining the A-rank Gate last night to the reporters in the live broadcast.
Soon, knocking on the front door could be heard and Se-Yoon was the one who opened it. Seung-Eun peered from the wall, holding a mug of chocolate milk, Se-Yoon was waiting for his explanation while Jin-Woo was standing outside.
Jin-Woo was also dressed in a black and red tracksuit and sport shoes. Comparing between the two men, he almost reach his brother's height.
"Let me see the application form."
Seung-Eun handed out the online form on his phone.
There were no criminal records of the members or the people his division was investigating. Most of them were C-rank Hunters and not in a private squad, unlike the case with Hwang Dong-Suk.
"You are raiding C-rank Gate, higher than your rank." Se-Yoon frowned when he noticed the other two members were the same people from the incident before. He was his only guardian so he always need to make sure the safety of his little brother. "And last time, you almost died. You were only lucky to survive. Do you think that I'll let it go? It's good enough that I let you stay as a Hunter, but it seems like you haven't learned your lesson yet."
If there was one thing that Seung-Eun was afraid, it would the wrath of his brother. He was always brave and fearless but when it came to him, he would turn back into a child that got scolded by his parents.
"Come on, hyung. Last time was a mistake, I won't repeat it again." He didn't show him the contract agreement, which stated that only Jin-Woo and Jin-Ho would raid the Gate while the rest only fill the members head count, and the other agreement included that they shouldn't reveal this secret to any other people.
"You should already know the danger of a C-rank Gate."
At some point, Seung-Eun genuinely was glad that he had someone that cared him this much. The only person that he trust whole fully was his brother. If something happened to him, he wouldn't hesitate to throw his life just for his brother, like a loyal dog towards his master.
Jin-Woo decided to defend his little neighbor, "Mister Han, don't worry, I'll bring home Seung-Eun without a single scratch."
The older man gave him a cold glare. "Last time I checked, he was sent into the hospital for an emergency surgery while you only suffer scratches."
Jin-Woo shrunk under the cruel reality, no need to remind his mistake, he remembered it very well. In the end, he himself couldn't find any excusable to help the other person.
Seung-Eun also had no choice but to use his final move; begging with teary eyes, the weak point of his brother. Even Jin-Woo suddenly felt guilty. After another attempts, he snorted disdainfully and finally let the two of them go.
"But if you got yourself hurt again, you'll quit being a Hunter."
Seung-Eun felt his back was drenched in cold sweat and forced a nervous laughter, "Okay, I won't get myself hurt."
"Thank you, Mister Han."
"Just be safe." He sighed.
When the two of them left the apartment and walked on the pavement, Jin-Woo glanced at the younger male. "If Jin-Ah was awakened, I wouldn't allow her to be a Hunter either."
"I've been working as a Hunter for six years, so in short, I'm your senior. Don't worry about me." He waved his hand dismissively.
That's the first time he heard this. "Doesn't that mean you already entered the Gate at the age of 13?" Jin-Woo gave him a look of bewilderment.
"Yep."
He lost his parents at early age and had to earn income by slaughtering monsters inside Dungeons. Suddenly, the view of a dignified figure was replaced by a pitiful person, yet he still had a bright nature, hiding the melancholic life behind that smile.
There was a phrase, 'the brightest smiles hide the deepest scars'. And Jin-Woo silently promised to support him when he had troubles.
"If you have any trouble, you can come to me. I'm no longer the same person."
Seung-Eun noticed the look of sympathy from the man and hid the cold look on his eyes. "I know. If you continue to become stronger, you can even be a National Level Hunter."
Jin-Woo was quiet about this. It was possible, but for now, he wanted to keep low profile to prevent malicious eyes. He was reminded about Hwang Dong-Su.
"About the S-ranker..."
"What about him?" Seung-Eun looked so carefree that Jin-Woo thought he wasn't taking this seriously while he was anxious for his safety.
"Aren't you worried? He can come at any time and..." as for the rest of the words, he didn't need to say it out loud.
He was getting stronger, but he wasn't sure if he would be strong enough to defeat that man if he appeared.
"I never say this before, but I'm an expert hacker. I'll hacked into his schedule and if by any chance he was planning on going to Korea, Se-Yoon hyung and I will hide somewhere far for a while until he returned back to his country." Seung-Eun lied smoothly. In truth, he was using the system to pinpoint the whereabouts of the S-ranker.
Jin-Woo couldn't help but feel as if he was only making unreasonable excuses and gave a doubting look. "You... Are you sure that you can hack into the Guild? He is the Guild Master of Scavenger, I don't think it's easy since S-rankers private informations are tightly secured."
"It's because you've never seen my abilities that you said that, hyung. I'll inform you when he makes any move."
Looking at the confident face, Jin-Woo sighed and didn't ask any further. When he thought that he knew enough about him, he was greeted by another surprise.