“…….”
I had nothing to say to that… But it was unfair. The last time we met, I barely managed to carve out some free time.
Normally, a popular A-rank Hunter like him would be busier, but oddly, I was busier than him. Was it because I worked all week?
Eventually, the words that escaped my lips were mixed with a sigh.
“I’ve been busy. Unlike someone leisurely.”
“Well, I’ve been quite busy too.”
“Too busy to contact me every day?”
“No, it’s just once a week. I just feel like, if I don’t check in, you might suddenly die somewhere…”
What does he think I am? Of course, when I was working all week, I didn’t have time to check messages. Even on my days off, I just slept like a corpse.
While we chatted and walked, we soon arrived at the chicken place. The initial awkwardness of meeting after a long time had vanished.
“Order something expensive.”
“Don’t you earn enough now that you’re in Cheonrang?”
“There’s a heaven and earth difference in income between an A-rank Hunter and a non-awakened like me, Mr. Hunter.”
“Well, I could take you somewhere even more expensive than this.”
“I don’t like that.”
“Yeah, I thought so.”
Settling into a comfortable seat and after ordering, a complex feeling arose.
It wasn’t Baek Yi-Hyun’s fault.
We were the same age, both returnees, with similar backgrounds and training.
He, an active A-rank Hunter scouted by a major guild, and me, barely getting by with part-time jobs without any notable achievements.
…Facing Baek Yi-Hyun, I always felt utterly insignificant.
“So, what’s up?”
While I was sorting through my thoughts, Baek Yi-Hyun asked me. His ever-kind tone only irritated me more.
Baek Yi-Hyun was always like this: kind to everyone, helpful, with a great ability but never showing off.
Was it really right for me to open up to him about my situation?
If I did, he would definitely listen with all his heart, worry about me, empathize without understanding, and think of the best solutions.
That’s why I disliked it. It was a one-sided feeling of inferiority. I couldn’t be as good as him.
“It’s nothing.”
So that was the answer I gave. Powerless words, to which Baek Yi-Hyun looked into my eyes.
“Ha-young, you are….”
Just as he gently started to speak,
“The world will face destruction again! Wooo, almighty God has judged this world. Humanity, not facing its doom, will now receive its hammer…”
Someone outside the store was loudly proclaiming, dressed in a robe with a placard and even a megaphone. A thoroughly prepared cultist.
“Judgement upon this world…!”
Why here of all places? I’m already tired and my head is pounding. Can’t the police be called?
“These days, cultists are rampant.”
“Didn’t you hear? Those people are…”
The people at the next table, who had been drinking, started murmuring too. I turned and locked eyes with Baek Yi-Hyun’s icy blue gaze.
“Uh, sorry, I didn’t hear. What did you say?”
“…Never mind. It’s good that you’re not involved.”
Baek Yi-Hyun murmured with an ambiguous expression, even taking a sip of his beer which seemed more for show. He looked quite disheartened, so I felt I should change the subject.
“Really sorry, I’ve been tired lately. But how have you been?”
“I’m always fine. Nothing much.”
“You’re brushing it off like that? There must be something happening with an A-rank Hunter like you. You even went to an A-rank gate, right?”
“…….”
After a brief silence, he gave a forced smile and swirled his glass.
“Really, there’s not much to say. I didn’t do much in the gate, and I’m the youngest in the guild… There are some talks about the guild master in the guild, but I’m not really interested in that…”
“You’re the youngest?!”
“…..You really didn’t care about me, did you?”
A gentle smile spread across his face. Feeling a bit guilty inside, I laughed it off as if it was nothing.
“How could that be? You were among the top returnees, and you’re skilled too.”
“Ha-ha, it’s nice to hear you think so highly of me, but… it’s true. Maybe it’s because Amwol is a big guild. There are many more amazing people than me.”
If that’s the case, I’m also the youngest in Cheonrang, which is also a major guild, yet I’m busy.
Are the benefits different even in the same top four guilds? I briefly pondered about Amwol but decided to let it go as nothing came to mind.
Baek Yi-Hyun being the youngest felt like a waste of talent.
The conversation that followed was about trivial updates.
Baek Yi-Hyun said he was the youngest in the team, backing up his older teammates, and not doing much. It seemed unbelievable that people who were at least a decade older than him would call him a younger brother or sister.
It was just that, such talks. How are you doing these days, as usual, fine. Do you dislike anyone, no. Do they treat you well, yes, and so on.
I didn’t mention getting caught up in a gate or getting entangled with Cheon Woo.
I just felt like it.
But then…
“By the way, Ha-young. What’s your relationship with Cheon Woo?”
“Pfft, cough, cough. Cough, cough.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
