UUUUUUNG─
Han-yul Military Academy Educational Hospital, underground laundry room.
Choi Soo-eun was leisurely drinking beer as the laundry spun around.
Glug glug.
It was the beer she had confiscated from Shin Yoon-seong earlier. Since it would be wasteful to just throw away, she decided to drink it herself.
Anyway, it was the middle of the night. She wasn’t on emergency room duty today, so having one can of beer shouldn’t be a big issue.
“Ugh, it’s suffocating…”
She boldly took off the hairnet that had been keeping her hair in place, and also removed the red cross emblem from her right arm.
-Somehow, am I feeling jealous?
For a moment, Shin Yoon-seong’s voice flashed through her mind.
She had honestly been surprised the first time she heard that question. She never imagined that the word “jealous” could come out his mouth.
Until now, Choi Soo-eun had only pushed Shin Yoon-seong away. No matter how splendid the bouquets or how passionate the proposals, she never flinched.
But all of a sudden, jealousy?
That could only happen if she cared about him in some way. She didn’t have any feelings for Shin Yoon-seong.
To prove this, she had even hugged him personally. Of course, the result was as she expected.
She didn’t feel her heart flutter, nor did she feel any affection. Clearly, this was not love.
-KKYAAAAAAH…! I-I-I’m so sorry! How could I have come in without noticing…!
However.
That exact moment when Arna appeared was different. For some unknown reason, she could feel changes happening in her body.
The previously clogged mind felt suddenly refreshed, and a burden in her chest seemed to have disappeared.
She even felt a slight euphoria, similar to when she received an A+ on the regular exam.
Why?
When she was quietly hugging Shin Yoon-seong, her heart was calm, but why did it waver so greatly when Arna appeared?
Choi Soo-eun also couldn’t understand.
After all, it was a feeling she had never experienced before.
…
In the end, Choi Soo-eun failed to find an answer. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t define this exact emotion.
She could only desperately hold onto the now lukewarm beer can.
[Until now, I have never felt this kind of emotion towards anyone. Hiro, I love you.]
[Takuto…finally you said it. I also, love you.]
“Goodness gracious!”
At the same time, in Han-yul Military Academy’s dormitory.
Arna was in bed, enjoying a manga called “The Mechanical Boy Doesn’t Move,” a recent purchase she had made online – a shoujo manga.
By the way, it contains quite a lot of steamy scenes.
This is, in fact, Arna’s personal preference.
“Next volume…! Where is the next volume?”
Puffing out her nose, Arna started searching for the next volume.
Unfortunately, what she was currently reading was the latest one, meaning her binge-reading spree had just ended.
“YYYYYYAAAAR…”
This was the moment when she completely lost her momentum. She thought she would finally get to see the characters opening up to each other and becoming all cuddly.
Seems like she’ll have to wait until the next official release.
“Still, it feels like I’ve discovered a true masterpiece after a long time.”
Arna hugged all her manga books tightly and headed towards the wardrobe.
CREAK─!
She shoved the hanging clothes over to one side, and behind the flashy clothes, she found tall piles of manga books.
“These ones have a worth to keep.”
Arna’s secret hobby: collecting shoujo manga.
By the way, all of them are 19+ rated. Arna only handled 19+ content.
Click.
Today also, let’s stack up on mental nutrition.
Arna bowed her head slightly and carefully closed the wardrobe door.
“Haa…”
She immediately threw herself onto the bed. A wave of emptiness came washing over her.
It couldn’t be helped. After all, she had just woken up from the world inside the manga.
The world with Takuto and Hiro doesn’t have grotesque monsters or lesser monsters. Therefore, the characters could completely focus only on love.
Arna envied that greatly.
“Could I also… experience love someday…?”
She doesn’t know much about love. Arna never had any experiences of dating or unrequited love.
All she knows comes from manga.
To that extent, Arna doesn’t have any spare time.
She doesn’t even have time to love someone.
Look at her schedule for just tomorrow – pure hell.
After regular classes, she has to go to the broadcasting station for filming, then there’s a sports apparel photo shoot.
It doesn’t end there. When she returns to the dormitory, she must finish her personal training and studying that were not completed.
Twenty-four hours are simply not enough. How will she ever experience love at this rate?
“But… wasn’t that person… doing something…”
Thinking of love reminded her of someone – Shin Yoon-seong.
She saw him briefly when she visited the ward earlier. Shin Yoon-seong was hugging some woman.
At that moment, she was so astonished that she couldn’t say anything properly and rushed to leave. She fled immediately.
“…”
Upon reflection, it was absurd. Why did Arna have to awkwardly leave, her face flushed bright red, as if she had done something wrong?
Let’s be clear, a hospital is a public place. Doing something like that is the wrong behavior.
It’s all Shin Yoon-seong’s fault.
“The other party… was definitely…”
Though Shin Yoon-seong was surprising, what surprised her more was the other party.
She could immediately figure out who it was from just a quick glance. It was Choi Soo-eun from the Medical Division.
Even if they hadn’t exchanged many words, she definitely recognized her face.
After all, she is the daughter of Hero Management Department Minister Choi Chang-hwan. There’s no one in this school who wouldn’t recognize her.
“Since when…?”
She had definitely heard that the two of them weren’t officially a couple but rather, one-sided in their affections.
Arna was aware of this level of rumor, even seeing it on the school community site.
However, it seems the rumors on the community site were all false. Arna had clearly seen them hugging each other affectionately.
“Could it be…!”
Is this the rumored secret romance?
Now that she thought about it, Shin Yoon-seong had requested an ambulance not too long ago. Was all that preparation just for meeting Choi Soo-eun?
Were they secretly using the ward for dates?
“My goodness, my goodness, my goodness…!”
An event that seemed to belong only in shoujo mangas, was unfolding right before her eyes in reality. Her face started to heat up for no reason.
By now, the two of them must be passionately…
“…”
Wait a moment.
Suddenly, a wave of depression washed over her.
The heat that had risen to her face quickly subsided, and her facial muscles stiffened.
No, think about it.
What actions has Shin Yoon-seong taken against her all this while?
He had consistently made her life difficult. Wherever Arna was, wherever she went, he was always following her, causing trouble.
Because of that, Arna had wasted both her time and emotions repeatedly.
And yet!
“While I’m suffering alone!”
He thinks he can keep a secret romance?
He thinks he can be happy alone?
“Hah!”
It’s a lost cause. How could a person be so shameless? She couldn’t bear to even see him.
If he starts causing trouble next time, she would really have to take it seriously and face him head-on. She had absolutely no plans to let him off lightly this time. She would make sure he couldn’t move at all.
“YYYEEEEAAAARRGHH…”
It’s no good. She’s too angry to sleep.
Arna opened the wardrobe again and pulled out the entire series of “The Mechanical Boy Doesn’t Move” that she had binge-read earlier.
She’s revising out of anger.
“Thank you.”
In the morning, after finishing the simple discharge procedures, she decided to go straight to the lecture hall.
Her body has recovered to a certain extent. The flu symptoms have also disappeared. Listening to lectures shouldn’t pose any major problems.
“Hmm…”
There was just one thing that worried her – the lecture hall she was heading to was actually the indoor training center.
It might be a bit too soon to start physical activity right after being discharged from the hospital. Maybe she should just observe today.
“Hey, Spoon!”
As soon as she entered the lecture hall, Moon Shin-chung suddenly came up to her face.
Just look at his fearsome expression. Is this really a face of someone in their 20s? Did he just hit puberty hard? Shouldn’t we check his ID?
“What is it?”
“You! Was it real — could you really see the future?”
The sudden mention of the future made her wonder what he was talking about.
After pondering for a bit, she remembered the conversation she had with Moon Shin-chung the other day.
At that time, she said that seeing the future was possible. She might have also given Moon Shin-chung some exclusive information about a certain mutation.
After it came true, Moon Shin-chung ran up to her with wide eyes.
“Yeah, I can see bits and pieces of it.”
“Seriously?”
Moon Shin-chung was astonished. His face distorted even more, making him look even more hideous. This guy definitely lied about his age.
“Alright, how about lottery numbers! Tell me this week’s lottery numbers!”
“But I already said, I can only see fragments. I don’t know lottery numbers.”
“Tsk. Do you have any useful information?”
Why should I give him anything?
Well, I can share one bonus tip. I’ve been observing this guy, and I guess he’s somehow grown on me.
“Alright. I’ll share a sports tip with you.”
“Ooh, sports! Sounds good! Which sport?”
“Baseball. This year’s Korean Series champion will be the Busan Giants.”
“Wha…?”
Moon Shin-chung gave him a strange look, his face twisted more menacingly.
“Giants? Didn’t you confuse them with Tokyo Giants from another country?”
“Nope. It’s definitely Busan Giants.”
All of a sudden, Moon Shin-chung started laughing while grabbing his stomach.
“Ahahaha…! Busan Giants my ass…! They haven’t won once since the 21st century…! Get real…!”
BOOM─!
Suddenly, a huge fist came flying in. The fist hit Moon Shin-chung’s waist precisely. In a moment, Moon Shin-chung was slammed into a distant wall.
“Oh my God…! What are you doing to my precious student…! But… insulting the Giants is something I cannot tolerate!”
The deep voice. The massive body that matched the punch. The rugged facial structure that screamed “I’m a thug!”
The man dressed in a blue Busan Giants uniform, with an orange pennant tied to his head.
The name – Geum Gye-jun, instructor of the Combat Division, has arrived.
By the way, he is also a die-hard fan.
