230

'....This is so strange.'

Yu Jin-Ho's older sister, Yu Jin-Hui, was returning home empty-handed due to her little brother's stubbornness. As she was driving home, though, she suddenly pulled up to the side of the road and cautiously parked her car there.

Screech.

That man she ran into while exiting the Ah-Jin Guild offices...

'....Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.'

There should be no one in South Korea who didn't know what he looked like. So, even though she had never met him in person until now, it was easy to explain why it felt as if she did.

Someone who didn't sweat over such things would have accepted that explanation and move on. However, she was the eldest daughter of Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan, a man famed for never forgetting a face after meeting a person only once. Although not as sharp as her father, she too didn't forget a person's face that easily.

The contour of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's face, the one she briefly glimpsed while raising her head as they brushed past each other, came across as distinctly familiar.

'Just when would that be....?'

She combed through her memories until her eyes inexplicably grew extra large.

'Could it have been then?'

Back then, in front of the hospital.

There was that time near the entrance of a certain hospital where her father had been admitted to, when a man possessing the same facial contours brushed past her.

Why didn't she recognise him back then?

Could it have been because her mind was in a mess after her father had collapsed earlier in the day?

'Right, definitely.'

The man leaving the hospital that day simply had to be Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.

And a short while later, she received a phone call telling her that her father, diagnosed to never open his eyes again, had precisely done just that.

Was she even allowed to treat this as a mere coincidence?

Yu Jin-Hui's entire body was suddenly overcome with a case of powerful goosebumps. She quickly pulled out her smartphone and began dialling her father's number.

Beep, beep, beep...

But, before she could finish dialling his number, her fingers came to a stuttering halt.

'What am I even trying to do here....?'

Just because she ran into Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in front of the hospital that day, she somehow ended up linking him to her father's miraculous recovery.

What a grand delusion this was.

Yu Jin-Hui could only scold her logical reasoning that seemed to have taken a leave of absence for a moment there with a long, long sigh. She was about to start the car again, but then...

....With excellent timing, her phone went off.

[Secretary ahjussi.]

After confirming who it was, a smile floated up on Yu Jin-Hui's lips. Without a doubt, her dad became curious about the result of her visit to the Ah-Jin Guild and asked the ahjussi to find out from her.

'Back then or even now, Father just can't be honest with the matters of his kids, can he?'

Yu Jin-Hui swallowed back her laughter and answered her phone.

"Hello?"

- "Hello, miss. It's Secretary Kim."

And so, the conversation proceeded exactly as she imagined it would. But then, just before it was about to end, Yu Jin-Hui thought it'd be a good idea and quickly asked Secretary Kim.

"Ah, ahjussi? By any chance, is dad a close acquaintance with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

- "I beg your pardon?"

Secretary Kim's surprised voice came out from the phone's speaker next.

- "May I inquire as to why you're suddenly asking me that question, miss?"

At this unexpectedly intense response, Yu Jin-Hui panicked slightly and ended up replying while feeling a bit lost.

"It's nothing in particular, but, I remember seeing Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim exiting from the hospital on that day, you see. I was wondering if he was also there to visit dad while he was admitted there."

- "Are you saying that Seong Hunter-nim was in the hospital the day the Chairman collapsed, miss??"

"Y-yes. Just before I got the call to inform me that dad had woken up, we brushed past each other in front of the hospital."

- "Are you sure about this, miss? Could it have been someone else, or maybe it was on a different day?"

"No, I'm pretty sure. I couldn't remember who it was because I wasn't thinking straight back then but now.... But, why do you sound so agitated like that, ahjussi?"

- "N-no, miss. It's nothing to worry about. I shall give you a call again later on."

He didn't say the usual 'goodbye, speak to you soon', but 'will call again later'?

'Did I say something wrong?'

Yu Jin-Hui tilted her head in confusion. Before she could put her phone down, though, it rang noisily again. She confirmed who the caller was and her brows rose up just a little.

'....Dad is personally calling me?'

Only after seeing the number for Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan on her phone's screen did she realise that this matter couldn't be simple at all.

Could it be that her father's recovery and Hunter Seong Jin-Woo were related in some way, just as she imagined earlier?

She cautiously answered the call.

"Dad?"

***

Beijing International Airport.

The biggest and busiest airport in the whole of China was now bustling even more than ever before, all thanks to a huge throng of people present today.

There was only one reason for this. The best of the best Chinese Hunters that went to lend aid to the Koreans were coming back home today, that was why.

It would be the same story in other countries as well, but at least in China, the highly-ranked Hunters were treated as superstars famous enough to summon up a sea of adoring fans wherever they showed up.

And it went without saying that the leader of the support team, the Hunter ranked as Seven-Star, Liu Zhigeng's popularity couldn't be described with mere words alone.

One of the reporters doing her job surveying the atmosphere of the airport spotted Liu Zhigeng and raised her voice.

"Ah! There he is! Liu Zhigeng Hunter-nim has entered the airport's interior!"

Waaaaah-!!

His fans filling up the airport cheered on loudly. While holding his now-trademark pair of longswords in one hand, he waved his other hand lightly towards his adoring fans.