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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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We didn’t get back to the academy until late at night.
Chae Ga-yoon, in the passenger seat, was dozing off, probably having worked late the previous night as well.
Han Min-ha, in the back, was silently looking out the window.
Her expression was unreadable; I couldn’t guess what she was thinking.
And diagonally behind me, sitting comfortably in the best seat, Yoo Hee-won…
“Damn it, this is weird.”
She grumbled, fiddling with her cracked phone.
“Hey, give me your phone.”
Yoo Hee-won practically snatched Han Min-ha’s phone and started tapping furiously at the screen with both thumbs.
Then she frowned, apparently not finding what she was looking for.
“What the hell is going on…?”
“What’s wrong? What is it?”
Han Min-ha asked, and Yoo Hee-won, still tapping away at the phone, replied,
“Didn’t people take pictures and videos of us earlier?”
“I think so…”
“Then why is it so quiet? Shouldn’t it be blowing up by now?”
“Blowing up?”
“A video titled something like ‘Sexy Blonde Academy Student Takes on a Sudden Villain Appearance.'”
I see.
Yoo Hee-won was curious about the public’s reaction to the incident.
It was the kind of thing that would be widely reported in the media and online communities.
A villain appearing in the middle of a city near the academy, confronted by academy students in training clothes.
It was a story ripe for sensational headlines.
But apparently, the actual reaction was different.
“Seriously, why is there nothing?”
“Nothing at all? No videos or anything?”
“No videos, no news… What the hell? There’s absolutely nothing.”
Yoo Hee-won tilted her head, then returned the phone to Han Min-ha.
“This is so weird…”
Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha might not know, but I had a pretty good idea why.
Secreto must be busy monitoring the situation.
I could understand them suppressing videos of the students, but I had intervened at the end.
There was no way they would allow footage of a former Secreto member in combat to circulate freely.
They were probably deleting any videos of me and blocking anything related to it.
That’s why there was nothing online.
Too bad for Yoo Hee-won.
“Ha… Seriously… I shouldn’t have shown off… I should have just run…”
“But… we stepped up and minimized the damage… didn’t we?”
Yoo Hee-won bared her teeth at Han Min-ha’s words.
“We?”
“Oh… right… you stepped up…”
Yoo Hee-won was truly unpredictable.
Sometimes, she seemed like a good kid deep down, just overflowing with confidence, but other times, she seemed like a psychopath lacking empathy in certain areas.
“You really are an idiot. How could you not use your Aura in that situation?”
“I know… I tried…”
“If you could have fought back then, I could have… Ugh… Never mind.”
Yoo Hee-won sighed and went back to fiddling with her broken phone.
Han Min-ha turned back to the window when the conversation ended.
She didn’t seem particularly hurt by Yoo Hee-won’s harsh words.
Had she already gotten used to Yoo Hee-won’s abrasive personality?
They were such an odd pair, so different that it was hard to believe they were both my students.
I had initially wondered how I would manage them.
But somehow, we were making progress.
Let’s just keep going like this, Golden Viper and Gray Mold.
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Professor Kyo Soo-hyun dropped Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha off in front of their dormitory.
Despite the late hour, the dormitory was brightly lit and noisy, thanks to Friday’s yeondeung.
They wouldn’t attract much suspicion by going in now.
“You both did well. Hee-won, go to the infirmary tomorrow and get checked out.”
“I told you I’m fine.”
“Just do it. There are many cases where people seem fine after a fight, only to die suddenly a few months later.”
Han Min-ha gasped and looked at Yoo Hee-won at Professor Kyo’s casual remark.
“Would you like that to happen to me?”
“No… but I’m worried, so tomorrow, let’s go together…”
“I’ll take care of it, so mind your own business.”
Chae Ga-yoon said she wouldn’t go back to the faculty housing but would walk to the administrative building from here.
She said she had some work to finish over the weekend.
“Then everyone, get some rest.”
Han Min-ha bowed to Professor Kyo as he backed out of the dormitory parking lot, and Yoo Hee-won gave a perfunctory wave.
“Goodbye, Director.”
“Bye, girls. I’m letting you off the hook this time.”
“Thank you.”
After Chae Ga-yoon left, Yoo Hee-won nudged Han Min-ha with her elbow.
“Do you want to end up like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like Professor Kyo. Do you want to be able to take down villains with a flick of your wrist?”
“Well… I do…”
“Then… use your Aura, for god’s sake. It’s not that hard, so please just use it.”
“I’ll… I’ll try…”
Yoo Hee-won, about to launch into another tirade, changed her mind and spoke in a slightly softer tone.
“Your stamina seems to have improved, though.”
“R-really…? I guess running while throwing up every day paid off.”
“I’ll be pushing you even harder, so be prepared.”
“Okay…!”
Yoo Hee-won tapped Han Min-ha’s cheek with a wicked smile and entered the dormitory.
Han Min-ha, having received a backhanded compliment, was elated and followed Yoo Hee-won with quick steps.
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At that moment, Song Do-yoon, who had been leaning against Yoo Hee-won’s door, ran to the hallway window at the sound of her voice.
And there, she saw Yoo Hee-won gently stroking Han Min-ha’s cheek with an affectionate smile.
Song Do-yoon watched them with cold eyes.
Yoo Hee-won whispered something to Han Min-ha, stroking her cheek, and Han Min-ha nodded with a rare smile.
Then they entered the dormitory together, disappearing from Song Do-yoon’s view.
Song Do-yoon, who had been standing motionless like a statue in the dark, unlit hallway, smashed the bottle she was holding against the wall.
The bottle of alcohol, which she had secretly brought in to share with Yoo Hee-won, shattered, sending shards of glass into her face.
Unaware of the blood trickling down her cheek from the glass shard, she stared at the red puddle forming on the floor.
Han Min-ha….
Where had she been with Hee-won in the middle of the night…?
What had they done that made Hee-won treat her so affectionately?
Han Min-ha, Han Min-ha…
That foxy bitch… I thought she was just dull and clueless, but she was actually quite cunning, wasn’t she?
Where had they been? What did they do? Huh? Han Min-ha…
Did she seduce her with those huge breasts? What did she do to make Hee-won lose her mind?
Tell me, I want to know.
Han Min-ha…
Song Do-yoon slowly raised her eyes.
A dark navy blue Aura flickered around her, and a faint light glinted in her eyes.
Han Min-ha… how could she separate her from ‘her’ Hee-won…?
The vague notion floating around in Song Do-yoon’s mind began to solidify into a more concrete plan.
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The next day,
I woke up Yoo Hee-won, who had overslept, and headed to the infirmary.
Yoo Hee-won insisted on just getting an X-ray, but Choi Sung-joon, the emergency room director on weekend duty, dragged her inside.
A thorough examination was mandatory after fighting a villain.
It was impossible to predict how the villain’s characteristics and abilities might affect the human body.
What might seem like a simple bruise could turn into necrotizing fasciitis a few weeks later, or simply hearing the villain’s voice could cause significant hearing loss.
The post-combat comprehensive examination usually took one to two hours.
So, I decided to talk to Han Min-ha while I waited.
The waiting area was a perfect place for a quiet conversation.
“Student Min-ha, did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes. Did you, Professor?”
“I slept well.”
That was a lie.
I had that dream again last night.
The dream of Han Min-ha’s parents falling.
“I promised to look into your parents’ situation during our last meeting.”
“Oh, yes.”
“I took time off to do just that.”
“R-really?!”
Han Min-ha’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
“You didn’t have to go that far…”
“Yes, I did. You’re my student, and I have a responsibility to guide you properly.”
“Oh…”
“You need to be able to use your Aura to move forward. I believe the key to that lies in your parents’… disappearance. That’s why I did it.”
Han Min-ha slowly nodded.
“Student Min-ha, you said you were curious about what happened to your parents.”
“Yes…”
“If you’re ready, I’ll tell you.”
Han Min-ha closed her mouth, her face shadowed.
I decided to wait for her to gather her thoughts.
She must be curious, but… she might not want to hear it.
She might want to avoid it, bury it, and pretend it never happened.
That’s why I couldn’t just blurt it out.
Finding out the truth was my responsibility, but listening to it was her choice.
“My mom and dad…”
After a moment, Han Min-ha spoke in a dry voice.
“What happened to them…?”
“Your parents… died in the line of duty.”
“Oh…”
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[T/N: Mc casually sharing top confidential information lol]
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