CH 25

Eventually, the secretary, who heard the loud noise, cleaned up the chief’s office.

“Kang Hara, have you suddenly gone mad?”

Kwon Wook burst into laughter at Chief Jung Yoojin’s words. In the meantime, Hara was abruptly kicked out as a meeting was about to begin in the chief’s office. She went down to the first floor of the Mapo branch office building.

“What is going on…….”

“I know right, what’s going on here?”

“Uwaagh!”

Hara let out a scream inadvertently when she heard a voice next to her. Kwon Wook. The idol-turned-hunter, who was kicked out with her, laughed by her side.

“S—since when…” 

“Since Kang Hara-ssi was kicked out. Oh, by the way.”

Hara hurriedly covered her face with her dishevelled hair. This was because she was worried that Kwon Wook might recognize her. Of course that was already ten years ago, but. Even so, it still exists, even if it was a thousand to one chance. A thousand to one…

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

A thousand…

“Have you been well?”

Hara swallowed her saliva. She then asked carefully while reading Kwon Wook’s mood through her hair, which hung down like a curtain. 

“Do you know me?”

“Haha.”

Through Hara’s thick glasses, she saw Kwon Wook’s bright smile. She didn’t expect the dyed red hair would actually suit him so well. 

“Then, you don’t know me?”

“……”

“1st grade in the mock tests.”

Hic. She started hiccupping. Kwon Wook folded his arms and opened his mouth again. 

“You said that you’d come as soon as the CSATs have ended. I’ve been waiting.”

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ screams, Oh my, what’s this, isn’t this awesome]

Her face became indescribably hot. Hara flushed to the roots of her hair and stammered, “Oh, oh, how…”

Kwon Wook shrugged his shoulders.

“How can I not recognize you?”

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ waves his lightstick]

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ laments that if he had known, he would have chosen him as the designated user]

She didn’t think that it was true, but Kwon Wook had really looked for Hara. Hundreds of words quickly came to mind in Hara’s head. How is it that you remembered me? Since when? But nothing came out of her mouth. 

Instead of the stammering Hara, Kwon Wook smiled and spoke.

“It’s a little hard to forget you.”

“Ah……”

Of course, Kwon Wook didn’t actually recognise Kang Hara off the bat. Hara remained in the same place ever since she left the dungeon, but Kwon Wook just passed by Kang Hara.

However, when Hara broke the lightstick with an, “Uwah!” in front of Chief Jung Yoojin, Kwon Wook caught her snapping the lightstick and shoving it in between the sofa with his unique S-class senses.

While the chief’s office was in utter chaos, Kwon Wook retrieved a piece of the lightstick. And he saw it clearly. The letters that were written there.

Mandolin 1st Fan meeting for Wooki

There is no way Kwon Wook will forget this name. ‘Mandolin’ was the name of the group that he, who was once filled with ambition, made his debut in. Later, it was frequently called ‘ruined idol’ by others. 

In any case, this lightstick was an unofficial good that Kwon Wook’s individual fans brought to Mandolin’s first fan meeting, and was added to gifts for him. 

The reason Kwon Wook knew about it was because he still kept that lightstick somewhere in his house.

‘What’s this? Is she my fan? And a longtime fan at that.’

In such a situation, the way she desperately tried to cover her face in front of him was somewhat familiar. She wouldn’t have acted that way unless she was confident that Kwon Wook would know her face. 

He was a member of a doomed group for four years, and after he became an S-class hunter, he did promotional activities for the Seoul Regional office for 10 years. His sense of tact had naturally reached a high level, and it had been a while since he was flustered by his fans’ silly words. 

It was no wonder his fans would memorise the three-line acrostic poem repertoire. “Oppa, shall we play a two-line acrostic poem? Jang-eo.” Upon hearing those words, Kwon Wook would smile and say, ‘Oh, I’ll go and get married~’, so he came to a realisation rather quickly. 

[T/N: the two-line acrostic poem is usually used to make long/short and funny/serious sentences. Jang-eo means eel, but in this case Kwon Wook has to start each line with ‘Jang’ and ‘Eo’.]

“So you’re one of my original fans. And a long-time supporter.’

Kwon Wook watched Hara, who was repeatedly apologising to Chief Jung’s secretary, but also secretly watching his mood at the same time. And then he realised.

[Uhuhuhuhuuuu, Ahjussi, is our Wookie-oppa safe and sound? Yes?]

The fact that she was the fan that cried and clung to the reporter.

On the day he awakened as an S-class, the entire world showed him a video of that sobbing high school girl.

As he watched it, he realised, ‘So there were fans that liked me this much’, and he also recalled. That day, there was a fan that bragged to him that she’d obtained 1st grade in the mock tests. It was a meaningful day to Kwon Wook in various ways, so he still had a vague impression. 

A familiar and ancient object. The name, Kang Hara. A familiar photo. One plus one is two. But Kwon Wook pushed all those stories aside and smiled.

“Is it because you’re afraid that others will catch you holding a lightstick with my name on it? Because you’re acting like an ordinary person?”

“……Ah……”

He got his answer just by looking at her face, which turned red with shame. But they couldn’t hold a long conversation here.

Kwon Wook glanced around. The first floor of the Mapo branch of the Hunter Agency was where there was high foot traffic. While it wasn’t a lot as it was currently working hours, a few passing government officials glanced in their direction.

Not only that, complainants were standing there and watching them openly.

“Oh no. Shall we change the venue?”

“Ah, ah, yes!”

Hara followed Kwon Wook hurriedly. Kwon Wook left the building with a smile and went down the stairs.

While following behind him, Hara wanted to cover her face because she wanted to die of embarrassment. Kwon Wook didn’t look back at Hara despite walking ahead of her, perhaps because he knew what Hara was thinking. For some reason, that made her rather touched. 

“It’s a little hard to forget you.”

The words she’d just heard felt like it came out of a dream. Hara suppressed her pounding heart and looked at Kwon Wook’s back.

‘I can’t believe Oppa remembered me!’

Her slightly ugly look from ten years ago was bothering her, but she was touched by the fact that he remembered and waited for her. She even felt sorry for lying to her friends that Kwon Wook was her former Oppa. 

At that moment. 

“Ahh, whose car is this, seriously!”

A middle-aged security guard was clicking his tongue at the Mapo branch office’s main gate. Someone had pulled up in front of the main gate and left without leaving behind a contact number.

At first glance, it was a huge car. In addition, it was difficult to tow it away recklessly because it was an expensive car.

“Leaving a car here without making a sound!”

To think that someone dared to leave their car in front of the Hunter Agency like that. Just as Hara was about to let out an admiring sigh. 

“Haha, sir, I’m sorry. It’s because I was in a hurry!”

Kwon Wook quickly ran over. The security guard was about to yell loudly, but his face changed as soon as he spotted Kwon Wook.

“Oh my, this is Kwon Wook-ssi’s car?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. The Chief called for me urgently, so I headed in quickly.”

“Gosh, then you should have just told me. I would have recognized it if it was the white car that you’d driven over previously…”

“I should have done that, but I wasn’t sensible. I’m sorry. I’ll remove my car from this spot quickly.”

Hara’s eyes widened. In the ten years that she’d worked in the Mapo branch office, she’d never seen the security guard Ahjussi smile, but he was currently smiling at Kwon Wook.

“I’m already used to not leaving a contact number in my car. You’ll understand, right?”

“Of course, of course. What if a strange person peeps at Kwon Wook-ssi’s number and contacts you?”

The next moment, Hara seemed to understand the mechanism behind the security guard’s smile. Kwon Wook skillfully took out his wallet and handed two 50,000 won bills to the security guard.

“After paying for the parking fee, take the rest and buy yourself a cup of coffee. I was originally supposed to buy coffee.”

“Oh, my. What’s all this for?”

In the first place, S-class agents had free parking at branch and regional offices. Therefore, settlement of parking fees was merely an excuse, and it became a bribe to let him off the hook. 

That’s a violation of the anti-graft law… However, Hara was also tactful enough to refrain from saying those words there. 

“Hara-ssi, get in.”

“Ah, yes!”

Kwon Wook, who’d started the engine in the meantime, called for Hara. Hara rushed over and got into the passenger seat.

It was such a nice car that she felt embarrassed about recklessly riding along it. Although it was an off-road vehicle, it was such an expensive car that Hara would never drive it off-road if she bought it.

‘It smells good…’

As soon as she sat down, Hara detected a strangely good scent that she’d never smelled before.

Just then. Kwon Wook leaned towards her. Hara inadvertently jumped in surprise and almost screamed. It was because his face was too close. Heok, when she gulped, Kwon Wook laughed. 

“Seat belt.”

“Ah……”

Then, Hara realised that Kwon Wook was reaching out to fasten her seat belt for her. Hara’s face turned red and wriggled with her seat belt a couple of times.

“I, it’s firm.”

“Hm? The seat belts? Haha, of course they have to be. Let’s go now.”

Come to think of it, Hara didn’t even know where they were going. However, Kwon Wook started the car without telling Hara anything. 

Vroom…… She thought the rebound would be quite big since this was a large car, but the car’s movements were quite smooth. Was it because it’s an expensive car? As she was looking at the luxurious-looking interior and the latest navigation panel, Hara’s gaze turned outwards.

Through the side mirror, the security guard could be seen in a deep bow. He was a security guard that never spoke to Hara.

‘Maybe it’s because of the S-class…’

If you were asking if she wanted to chat with the security guard in particular, then that wasn’t exactly the case. But Hara felt restless. This was because the security guard that kept standing there expressionlessly like an NPC could be so friendly and amicable. 

Hara turned her gaze again and looked at the car’s interior and the driving Kwon Wook. An expensive watch was worn on Kwon Wook’s left wrist, which was holding the steering wheel. The earrings he was wearing were also quite expensive.

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ asks if you’re jealous and says temptingly that you could also live like that if you listened to him]

I’m not. 

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ asks, what do you mean you’re not?]

Wasn’t it because she was glad to see her oppa, who’d ranked number one in ruined idol groups on the brink of dissolution, doing well? 

Hara kept quarrelling with the constellation internally as Kwon Wook took the  Gangbyeon Expressway from the Mapo branch office to Sangam-dong. 

Thanks to that, she didn’t realise the fact that Kwon Wook kept looking sideways at her until the end of the car ride.