Chapter 66 - Second Lesson

' Should I touch last night's subject? Should I thank him? Should I question what he was doing in my neighborhood, and how did he know where I was? Or might he answer, '... I am a Hunter, Jung.' like it was the most obvious thing in the world?' the young fairy was hurrying toward him.

They're meeting at the capital's most famous secondhand bookstore.

The Hunter looked up from the book to watch Eun Ha's arrival. He was standing near a low shelf, in his Yohji Yamamoto style black clothes; his hair tousled as usual. Eun Ha couldn't understand why her heart sped up at that gaze of him. It was broad daylight, and they were surrounded by people. He was not even in his intimidating mode. Yet...

'Aish, who does he think he is? Constantine? Wolverine? ' A little annoyed she thought. She bowed with the necessary deference as she reached her tutor, who closed the book he was reading with a snap.

"Jung."

"Professor Shin."

Eun Ha looked around anxiously. 'Do I speak up my mind or not? Well, I think he'll broach the subject first. Not that I expect him to be polite to ask how I am. In any case, when he speaks, I will take advantage and expose my complaints! I will demand that he must be less evasive when he's teaching me. And especially, don't be: '...Ainn, tell you soon, Jung. ' '...Ainn, not now, Jung. ' Even in her mind, she couldn't help but imagining a pathetic voice to those lines. But with a sigh, Eun Ha looked back at her tutor, who was watching her with a curious gaze, "Shall we have our class here?"

He nodded and showed a table where they could sit. Eun Ha peeked at the title he'd been flipping through when he put it back on the shelf. She was surprised to recognize that it was a famous poetry book.

As they sat facing each other, she clasped her hands together and looked up, with a good student beaming smile on her face, waiting for him to begin.

"Do you have something to say to me, Jung?"

The fairy thought she was going to die right there and now.

"I... I... No," her voice came out small and shy.

"Ah. I thought you had. Yesterday you said you'd tell me a few things."

"Uhm... I said so, is it?"

"Uhhuh."

"Well, hahah. I forgot what it was. It shouldn't be anything important," Eun Ha mentally reproached herself for being such a coward.

"Well," He seemed to wrap up the subject, with a slightly amused glint in his eyes.

She flashed an embarrassed smile, just wanting to slip into some hole there.

"So, about the things you saw that other night..."

"I don't ever want to go through that again!" she suddenly exclaimed, because it sure needed to get out of her chest. She had spent anguished nights sharing a bed with Ye Rim because she was afraid of sleeping alone.

Her assertive exclamation made the hunter lean his back against the back of his chair and look one way, and then the other, in a boring manner:

"This most likely means that we can no longer make business."

Eun Ha realized that she had just opened a door that led to a dangerous path.

"Hey Seonsaengnim… Wait! I just meant that…"

"What…?"

"Well, I'm not ready. After all… What do I know? I was a burden there. Professor Shin himself said that it was a problem having to look after an amateur while doing his job. And I didn't even understand why I needed to be there…"

"Because you owed me a favor."

"Yeah, well, that's what we agreed. And then I thought maybe…"

"Maybe you want to give up."

"Ah, well… Maybe I'm disturbing your activities…"

"We agreed it would be in my free time…"

"Professor Shin! I want to learn, and I want to pay for my classes. But that… made me scared! Is it wrong to be afraid?" Eun Ha felt too pressured to maintain her composure — after all she realized that the Hunter would use all her ridiculous responses against her. She just didn't know for what purpose. The fairy just wished her voice hadn't sounded squeaky like the last sentence.

"No, Jung. It's not."

'So…"

"I won't change my terms. But… If you can't afford it, I should use my free time in other ways."

"Ahhh, Professor Shin…"

"Don't even start with that sneezing bunny face."

Offended, Eun Ha crossed her arms, wondering what to do. The Hunter was one of the most annoying person around; but he was the only fairy she knew. And now she knew that the supernatural world was far more dangerous than she had imagined.

The fashion designer felt herself dense and unprepared_ thinking that, despite having the wand since she was 16, she never imagined anything about the dangers of the supernatural world. She kept herself inside an eggshell that was her innocent and ignorant little world. 'Is this how I'm going to live life after I had the opportunity to learn?'

"Professor Shin, give me a class now. Teach me about the things I saw. I don't want to go through that anymore; or let other people go through it, for what matters."

Shin stared at her again, and then leaned across the table toward her. The movement was sudden and blunt; and Eun Ha was startled, putting her hand to her heart in a reflexive move, with a gasp. Then she was embarrassed and tried to fix her pathetic expression by taking a deep breath. But the hunter seemed to care nothing about it.

"I am not a teacher, Jung. You already know that. I can tell you things as I know them, but that's all. Maybe you should go out and find someone else to teach you."

"Ah… I… where could I find someone? I mean, I asked for your help… And you're a Hunter, so…"

"But you're not."

' Why… Look at those eyes… You even have a little sense of responsibility, don't you, Hunter Shin?' The young fairy was surprised to learn that Hunter Shin knew very well the danger she had been exposed to, even if he would never admit it.

"Can't I be trained to become a huntress?" she asked, suddenly being overtaken by a crazy action fantasy. 'Wouldn't it be awesome ?!'

"It won't happen, Jung," The Hunter popped her whimsical thought bubble with a simple, straightforward sharp sentence, which made Eun Ha grumble to herself grudgingly,

"Oh, frankly… so rude…"

"What?"

"Nothing. I didn't change my mind, Professor Shin. We have a deal, and I'm not a woman, I say, fairy, to back down," she shifted her posture and expression to that of a resolute a.d.u.l.t woman, though inside she didn't have much idea why she was doing it. Deep down, she just followed her instincts.

It really took a surprised expression from Hunter Shin, who muttered to himself,

"Crazy little thing…"

"What?"

"Ahem…" he turned again, watching the surroundings around them, "Well… what to do? If I can't get rid of you...?"

Before Eun Ha could reply, he continued, as if he'd never said that:

"Come on, tell me something about this place. What do you see?"