How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 93
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 93】
“…Lee Hyun-woo! Are you alright?”
When our eyes met, Lee Hyun-woo’s lips slowly curved upward. Soon, the brightest smile I’d ever seen bloomed across his face.
“I knew it had to be you.”
He pulled me into his arms without warning, holding me close against his chest.
“H-Hunter!?”
Startled by the sudden embrace, I patted his broad back. Each time he laughed, a deep resonance traveled through where our chests touched.
“I’m so relieved you’ve recovered your memories….”
His low voice trembled with emotion. Only then did I stop struggling and quietly accepted his overwhelming joy.
After holding me for a long time, Lee Hyun-woo finally shared the memories he’d recovered.
“So you’re saying the person you were looking for… was me?”
He nodded. He told me that after my father left and my beloved mother passed away, he lost all will to live and existed like a walking corpse.
“Without the small hand of Ha-neul—the Hunter who guided me through that time—I don’t think I could have endured much longer.”
His large hand carefully wrapped around mine. The rough, calloused palm of a Hunter who’d gripped a sword for years pressed against my skin. I stared at him blankly, unable to grasp the reality of it all.
Of course, the incident he described was a vivid memory etched into my own recollection.
My parents often closed the shop and volunteered for free to help people who’d lost their homes to Gates. Sometimes just for a day, sometimes for up to two weeks. Naturally, I’d often stop by after school to lend my small hands to the effort.
The day I remember most clearly was the day I met my first love. Short-cropped hair, a school uniform with frayed sleeves, a body so thin it looked like it might break at a touch. A fragile boy who seemed like he could disappear at any moment. The instant I reached out and tugged his sleeve, those clear, deep eyes that gazed back at me.
‘But that person was Lee Hyun-woo?’
I slowly examined the man standing before me. What filled my vision was a massive, mountain-like frame.
How tall was Lee Hyun-woo again? I think his profile said over 190 centimeters…. I muttered absently.
“But that person back then wasn’t nearly this large.”
He’d been so pitifully thin that I thought he’d need at least two bowls of rice soup. At my words, he threw his head back and laughed heartily.
“That was when I was at the Orphanage. After my awakening, I entered the Management Bureau for training and built muscle. My height increased as well.”
Now that he mentioned it, his gently curved eyes did seem identical to the older brother in my memories. I found myself scrutinizing his face as if under a spell, when I suddenly realized how close he’d come.
“It’s… really amazing! I never could have imagined that person was actually Lee Hyun-woo….”
Flustered, I rambled incoherently, when Lee Hyun-woo asked softly.
“By the way, I’m terribly sorry I was so late. Were you alright after falling into the water? You’ve recovered from the cold?”
Faced with the worry dripping from his eyes, I hastily nodded.
“Oh, yes! I was fine. I was just startled….”
In truth, my memories of that time weren’t clear, perhaps because of the sudden immersion. When I came to, I was in my home’s inner room, with only vague recollections of lying ill for several days.
How thrilled I’d been to hear that the older brother I’d admired had saved me? I’d written a letter pouring out my sincere feelings, and I’d counted the days waiting for him to visit the shop.
“…I wondered why you never came to the shop, but you’d awakened. I thought you never saw the letter I left. Or maybe you saw it and threw it away.”
At my words, Lee Hyun-woo urgently waved his hand.
“Never! I treasured it so carefully. I held it so tightly in my hand while sleeping, afraid I might lose it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I thought I’d visit right after graduation, and I spent the day with such a racing heart….”
His expression darkened.
“On graduation day, my awakening fever suddenly began. I couldn’t withstand the mana and lost consciousness. When I came to, days had passed… and the school uniform I’d been wearing had already been sent to the Laundry.”
Hunter Hyeonwoo Lee took out his wallet from his pocket. From the depths of the wallet came a business card with a tattered end. Almost all of the writing was blown away, so I could barely make out the words ‘Ssssssssssssssssddang’.
“The letter disappeared, and only the business card, which had been laminated, remained in this state. I have no memory of it, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. So I’ve kept it all this time….”
“…This is our shop’s business card.”
Though the text had nearly faded, I recognized it instantly. It was the business card we always kept displayed by the register at our shop.
I accepted the worn card from his hand and carefully wiped the surface clean.
‘Even without remembering, he kept it so carefully.’
I could barely make out the shop’s name from the faint remaining letters, so there was no way Lee Hyun-woo could have known it despite his lost memories.
‘He didn’t intentionally stay away.’
With just that one fact, the hurt feelings from childhood melted away completely. It was good that the misunderstanding was cleared up, but….
‘Wait, that means my childhood crush was Lee Hyun-woo? This can’t be real!’
The handsome older brother I used to cry and whine to Mother about was Lee Hyun-woo all along. The protagonist of that first love story I’d told Shin Hye with flushed cheeks was standing right in front of me!
“….”
Of course, I wasn’t naive enough to think I should marry that childhood crush now.
‘Hmm. Something feels strange about this.’
I rolled my eyes slightly to steal a glance at Lee Hyun-woo. The moment our eyes met, he softly curved his lips into a smile. Struck by that graceful face, I found myself lost in thought.
‘Besides, he said the person he was looking for was me anyway. So isn’t that enough?’
…Of course, the ‘person he was looking for’ probably wasn’t romantic feelings like my first love. It was likely just curiosity about a younger sister from childhood memories. But… what if it wasn’t?
‘What if it isn’t? What would I do then? What are you thinking, Jung Ha-neul!’
Suddenly heat rushed to my face, and I was fanning myself with my hand when Lee Hyun-woo called out to me with a serious expression.
“By the way, Ha-neul.”
“Y-yes?”
“We’ve had a connection since childhood, haven’t we….”
He paused for a moment, then furrowed his brow as if troubled.
“Isn’t it a bit stiff for us to keep calling each other ‘Hunter’? I think we need to settle on a proper way to address each other.”
“A way to address each other?”
“Yes. Because we’re… ‘special’ to each other.”
Was it my imagination? The word ‘special’ seemed to carry a subtle emphasis. My heart fluttered strangely, and I carefully asked while trying to steady it.
“Then… what kind of address would you prefer?”
Lee Hyun-woo seemed to ponder for a moment, then looked directly at me and opened his mouth.
“How about we call each other comfortably, like we did when we were young? For instance… Ha-neul.”
He tilted his head slowly, looking at me as if asking if it was okay. It was just my name, so why did it sound so strange? His voice seemed to echo in my ears like a broken record.
“N-no, that won’t work!”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. Too much had changed since we were children to suddenly speak so casually. Besides, it would feel awkward to drop formalities so abruptly….
“We’ll keep seeing each other at the Management Bureau… and there are other Hunters around, so if only the two of us spoke casually, it might seem a bit… uncomfortable….”
I fumbled through my excuses, waving my hands, when I heard Lee Hyun-woo’s low chuckle. Peeking through my eyelids, I saw him resting his chin on his arm, gazing at me.
“I think it would be fine… but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can’t help it. Then would ‘Ha-neul’ be acceptable?”
Hmm, that level might be okay. I pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. Delighted by my consent, Lee Hyun-woo’s face brightened considerably.
“Thank you for allowing it. It feels like we’ve grown closer.”
“Haha… me too, Lee Hyun-woo.”
“Surely you’re not the only one changing how you address me?”
Lee Hyun-woo’s shoulders drooped with a dejected expression. Using such a shameless beauty trick! But I couldn’t resist that face. I barely managed to move my reluctant lips and murmured.
“I’ll change mine too! L-Lee Hyun-woo… ssi….”
Lee Hyun-woo’s low chuckle reached my ears. For some reason, all the fight drained out of me, and I slumped face-down onto the dining table.
*Ding.*
Just then, Hyun-woo’s watch chimed loudly. After asking my permission and checking the message, his brow furrowed sharply.
“I need to head to the Management Bureau right now. You should come with me, Ha-neul.”
“Right now? At this hour? What happened?”
Hyun-woo hesitated before answering.
“Do you remember those Hunters who impersonated Investigators before?”
“The ones who ate at our shop, claimed a Hunter died, and tried to extort me? Of course I remember. Don’t tell me they’ve identified the mastermind?”
Hyun-woo shook his head gravely.
“They apparently triggered a mana runaway in the Interrogation Room.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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