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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Travel, in general, is about relieving the fatigue of a tiring life by seeing different scenery and enjoying different situations. Considering that it also serves to refresh people living in often repetitive routines, travel is truly a wonderful thing.
Although travel brings its own fatigue, it leaves people with something far more valuable and significant.
This trip was like that for the Hunter Killer members. The members, who had kept their distance and hadn’t opened up to each other for years, gradually grew closer, learning about things they had neglected and hadn’t known about one another.
Of course, knowing something previously unknown doesn’t change the other person. Knowing something you didn’t know ultimately means becoming aware of what you misunderstood or didn’t fully understand about the person you thought you knew.
Until now, Red had appeared to the members as someone quite mature for her age, shouldering the burden alone and trying to lead a team that lacked cohesion. However, through the trip, they realized she was just an ordinary 20-year-old girl and the youngest of the team. But, as mentioned earlier, knowing this didn’t change their thoughts or assessment of Red.
Red was still the team leader carrying a heavy load, and that remained unchanged. It was just that by learning about the side of Red they hadn’t known, the members could open their hearts to her more and become closer.
This wasn’t limited to Red but applied to all the members. Through this trip, they filled in some of the blanks from the past years when they hadn’t known each other well.
“They’re completely out.”
On the return bus, Red and Pink, exhausted from having so much fun, were asleep, leaning on Green, who was sitting between them.
“Those two were especially excited.”
Yellow and Blue, watching the two sleeping figures, reminisced about the enjoyable times while lamenting the end of the trip.
Meanwhile, Yellow, despite being potentially overwhelmed by the unexpectedly abundant conversations about relationships, continued to listen attentively to the members’ discussions. She anticipated further trouble if she spoke up carelessly, so she focused on listening and learning from what the others shared.
Blue, as if reading Yellow’s mind, occasionally guided her into the conversation while talking about relationships. Since Yellow, who had no romantic partners but only one male friend, naturally brought him up.
Gradually, as the conversations intertwined, Yellow realized that she, too, could communicate smoothly.
“It’s a duel right when we get back.”
“Yeah. It’s going to get hectic again.”
Returning to their regular lives after a trip was something everyone in the world experienced. No one complained about it. Yellow and Blue, while conversing, held a strange sense of anticipation for the return to their everyday routines.
“What are you going to do first when we get back?”
Yellow paused at Blue’s question about their upcoming schedule. She hadn’t specifically planned anything for after the trip. She just felt like playing games, something she couldn’t do while resting and having fun on the trip.
“I’m going to play games with my friend first.”
“With your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
When someone brought up a close friend of the opposite sex, the others found it amusing to tease about a potential romantic connection. Especially Red, Pink, and Blue, whose romantic sensibilities were heightened recently, reacted excessively whenever Yellow or Green, who seemed unlikely to have much to say about men, mentioned a male friend.
It wasn’t meant to be teasing but rather a playful enjoyment of the situation, stemming from the desire for Yellow and Green to join in on the relationship conversations. Of course, whenever this happened, Green gave a slightly awkward smile as if embarrassed, while Yellow’s expression became unreadable.
“But you don’t dislike him, right?”
“Of course not. But, it’s…complicated, I guess?”
For Yellow, the relationship with A was very complicated. It began as a relationship difficult to explain to others, then blossomed into friendship, and she felt they had grown much closer.
Immediately after resolving a brief period of awkwardness, they went on this trip, and after hearing so much talk about relationships, she found herself naturally becoming conscious of him. However, every time she did, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was “complicated.”
She definitely didn’t dislike him. Favorable feelings and attraction towards someone of the opposite sex could easily develop into something more. But Yellow wondered if that was the right path, considering her relationship with A.
She wondered if their current gaming friendship could continue if they were to become romantically involved. To Yellow, A wasn’t yet seen as a romantic interest; he was primarily a friend.
But on the other hand, she wondered how long this friendship could last.
To her, who had experienced extreme relationships, A was a very important friend and a precious connection. Even when she tried not to think about it, she couldn’t help but do so whenever the members brought up relationships.
“It usually starts as ‘just friends’ and then becomes something more.”
Pink, who had woken up, chimed in. To her, who met A as a part-time colleague, became friends, and was now his girlfriend, Yellow’s concerns didn’t seem like a big deal. From Pink’s perspective, it seemed like Yellow would naturally become romantically involved with her friend if things continued this way.
“Yellow has a great figure and is pretty, so I bet she could start dating right away if she wanted to.”
“Saying it like that makes it sound like she’s seducing him with her body.”
“Why? If you have weapons, you should use them.”
Pink had a point. Humans couldn’t help but be attracted to beautiful and charming people of the opposite sex. No matter how much one tried to deny it, this fact remained unchanged. And there would be no man who would dislike such a person approaching them with a bit of sex appeal.
Of course, if a complete stranger did that, it would feel burdensome, and one would try to discern their intentions. Nevertheless, the barrier to attractive people was generally low. Moreover, if someone they knew acted that way, it would be even harder to resist.
That was the nature of male-female friendships. The relationship might seem unshakeable when it was strong, but with the right catalyst, it could change in an instant.
“It’s Yellow’s business, so it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t want to…”
Pink’s voice trailed off as her gaze naturally drifted towards Yellow’s body. Yellow momentarily stiffened at the gaze laced with playful suggestiveness.
“Well? How long will it last?”
Yellow didn’t realize how seductive it was for a woman like her to invite a man to her home to play games together.
Pink knew. She knew Yellow’s actions were unintentional self-promotion, and that few men could remain unaffected.
Of course, not all relationships in the world were like that. But based on the circumstances, Pink felt that the development of their relationship was imminent.
‘Do your best, Yellow’s friend.’
Unaware that the “friend” was her own boyfriend, Pink silently cheered for the development of Yellow and her friend’s relationship.
While this conversation continued, Green, sandwiched in the middle, was dying inside. It wasn’t that she was physically tired. But whenever the topic of relationships came up, she couldn’t erase a certain person from her mind. She kept imagining a scenario where their relationship progressed further, only to be jolted back to reality.
“What about Green? Are you still seeing the person who helped you?”
After concluding her thoughts about Yellow, Pink’s next target was Green. Since Blue was also quite interested in Green’s situation, everyone’s attention naturally shifted to her.
Green, momentarily flustered by the sudden attention, eventually nodded.
“Yes. We meet occasionally.”
“How is it?”
“Huh?! What do you mean?”
Green, failing to grasp the underlying meaning of Pink’s question, asked back. Just by seeing Green’s reaction, Pink could gauge her current state and the overall atmosphere.
“Like, are you starting to like him more or feeling closer as you meet?”
Blue was very interested in the story of the man who helped Green during her difficult time. Although their situations were different, there were strangely common elements, which piqued her curiosity.
“N-no, it’s not like that. We just eat and talk. He’s a really good person, but…”
A smile spread across Pink’s face as she observed Green’s blushing and hesitant response. She couldn’t help but think that if there was such a thing as a pure, innocent feeling towards the opposite sex, Green’s case would be it.
Blue also smiled at Green’s reaction, which seemed to tickle the observer’s heart. Unlike Yellow, Green’s feelings seemed clear. However, since Green seemed hesitant to make a decision, Pink didn’t say much and ended it with a short, impactful statement.
“If you think it’s not going to work out, just pounce on him.”
“?!”
Naturally, the most surprised person was Green, and just by observing her reaction, Pink and Blue couldn’t help but smile. With the gradually rising volume of their voices, even Red, who had woken up, joined the conversation, and the chatter among the members became even more lively.
“Are the results out?”
The next day, Thursday morning. Before heading to the duel, I arrived at work and approached a colleague who handled administrative tasks to check on the training results.
“They’ll be delivered to the team leader directly.”
After hearing that my colleague didn’t know yet either, I nodded in acknowledgment and headed to the locker room to change. The colleagues who had arrived earlier were already changing, and I stood in front of my locker and began to change as well.
For our team, which didn’t produce significant results and relied heavily on training performance, good training results were crucial. Of course, better training scores didn’t translate to more support. But it did make a big difference to our morale.
“A, I heard from Team 1 earlier. Team Leader 1 praised you a lot.”
Kruger, one of the colleagues who had arrived earlier, approached me as I was changing. He was already in his black suit, only his helmet missing, and he looked at me with a somewhat proud expression.
“Praise? Ms. Esmeralda? Why?”
“She seems to have reviewed the report you submitted during the training. She said the content was excellent and the delivery was so good that it had a very positive impact on the overall training coordination.”
I didn’t think there was anything particularly praiseworthy. During field control, I communicated with our team members and the field control personnel from other teams. It seemed the other teams’ field control personnel, who confirmed my reports through the open server, were influenced to some degree, and this seemed to have contributed to the overall training performance.
“Really? That’s great.”
“What? Getting praised by the former team leader isn’t a big deal?”
Ban, who was changing his shoes, teased me in a playful tone at my nonchalant reaction, and I scoffed.
“Getting praised by Ms. Esmeralda isn’t a big deal? I used to get chewed out so much when I was directly under her.”
Being praised by Ms. Esmeralda, my former direct superior, was definitely not a trivial matter. However, my seemingly indifferent reaction stemmed from the fact that it felt so surreal that it didn’t quite register.
“Gather up.”
Just then, the locker room door opened, and Daniel, in charge of driving, signaled for us to assemble. I and my colleagues finished changing and headed to the car parked in the basement, and as usual, set off for the duel.
The duel unfolded much like any other time, as if the fact we had played together at the beach just a few days ago didn’t exist. The result was, as always, a victory for the Hunter Killer team, and Spacetroe, as usual, retreated to their vehicle.
Arriving at the basement of the Earth Defense Alliance Seoul Headquarters on their bikes, the members took off their helmets and boarded the elevator with a triumphant air, reveling in their victory. The elevator, ascending from the basement, stopped on the first floor and opened its doors before reaching the third floor where the Hunter Killer team’s office was located.
“Oh, Hunter Killer? Did you have a good vacation?”
“Yes.”
A woman from another team boarded the elevator. While she seemed affable, the Hunter Killer members, having just recently become closer, responded with a formal attitude to a member of another team with whom they had no prior connection.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with it. This was how most of the portrait members in each team treated members of other teams. If one had to make a comparison, it was similar to the distance between employees of different departments in a typical company who knew each other by face.
There was one exception: Blue, whose attendance was sporadic due to childcare but who had been a portrait member for a long time, had a slight acquaintance with her.
“Doesn’t the Special Forces team go on vacation?”
“We go separately. There’s no reason to go together.”
She was a member of the Special Forces team, which belonged to the Seoul branch, like the Hunter Killer and Guerrilla teams.
While the Special Forces team wasn’t as distant as Hunter Killer, they weren’t close enough to go on a trip together either.
Rather, the Hunter Killer team going on a trip together was a somewhat unusual case.
Eventually, the elevator reached the third floor, and as the members disembarked one by one, she stopped Blue just as she was about to get off.
“Blue.”
“Yes? Why?”
Blue, turning back at the sound of her voice, wondered what was the matter. The woman looked at Blue intently and, approaching cautiously, quietly spoke.
“Are you married, by any chance?”
“Huh?!”
News of her relationship, something she hadn’t shared with anyone outside the team, had reached another team member. And it wasn’t just about a relationship, but about marriage, a further step.
“Who told you that?”
“White said she saw you before…”
Blue realized that a strange rumor was circulating without her knowledge, and by then, it had already spread wider than she expected.
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