Under Creature Chapter 13.5

“A girl? For me?”

“Yeah. You know Haneul from soccer the other day, right? His department. He said she’s his friend.”

Kang Taeha frowned slightly.

“I don’t really want to be set up.”

“Then I’ll tell him that.”

Yigeom didn’t press further and moved on without a fuss. It was understandable, as he hadn’t expected Kang Taeha to accept the offer in the first place. He always refused such proposals, and Yigeom had only mentioned it out of courtesy, not really expecting a positive response.

Then, he asked out of slight curiosity.

“You don’t date?”

It had been well over 10 years since he had been with Kang Taeha. Yet, Yigeom had never once seen him with a woman.

‘Could he be gay?’

He had no prejudice against it, but he had never seen Kang Taeha with a man either.

‘The way he sometimes loses contact and disappears, could it be…’

Is it to meet a lover? Just as his train of thought was about to go in a strange direction, Kang Taeha fortunately corrected him.

“I just haven’t found the right person yet. What about you?”

“Me?”

As Yigeom blinked, Kang Taeha asked casually.

“Yeah. You don’t get a girlfriend?”

“I’d need someone to get one with.”

“Why, you’ve had a few setup offers too. You just rejected them all.”

At those words, Yigeom pressed his lips together. The feeling of it being a hassle was still greater than the desire to meet someone.

Kang Taeha had once questioned if the reason he felt things were so troublesome was because he obtained more information than others even in the same environment. Since his memory was unusually good, he could easily get tired even from the same stimulus.

To that, Yigeom had replied that he didn’t think that was it. He was just lazy by nature. He got bored of things easily, found them troublesome, and still preferred his personal time over having a lover.

How could one change one’s nature?

While Yigeom was thinking nonchalantly, someone rushed over and shouted.

“Kang Taeha! We have to go to the basketball game now! Everyone’s gathered!!”

“Looks like you have to go.”

As Kang Taeha stood up from his seat and asked if he was coming to watch, Yigeom nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll just return a book to the library and then go.”

“Okay.”

Kang Taeha smiled faintly and followed his classmate to the gym, and Yigeom also packed his remaining things and headed to the library.

After returning the book and going to the gym, Choi Haneul patted the empty seat to his left and called out to him.

“Oh? Hyung, you’re here? Sit here!”

“Why are you… Are we playing against the culinary department today?”

“No. I had a free period, so I just came to watch! The department that wins here will play against our department.”

“Really?”

Looking around, he saw a few students from other departments as well. Yigeom sat down and checked the woman on Choi Haneul’s right.

“And who is this?”

“Hello! My name is Kim Eunjoo. I’m in the same Hotel Culinary Arts department as him.”

“Yes, hello. So, you’re Kang Taeha’s…”

She was the woman who had asked to be connected with Kang Taeha through Choi Haneul last time.

‘I told her I’d ask and give her an answer, but she couldn’t wait…’

Yigeom glanced at Choi Haneul as if to chide him. He didn’t want to bring up the embarrassing topic of rejection to someone he had just met, especially since she probably didn’t even know she had been rejected yet.

“Ah! Eunjoo didn’t come because of that, it’s just a coincidence… She didn’t even know that hyung was playing in the basketball game!”

Choi Haneul waved his hands in denial. Just then, Kim Eunjoo suddenly asked.

“Did you by any chance ask him about what I requested?”

“Ah, that’s…”

As Yigeom evaded the answer, Kim Eunjoo smiled brightly.

“He refused, right?”

“…Yes.”

Even if Kang Taeha had just asked, “Who’s Kim Eunjoo?”, he had planned to subtly show him her picture, but he didn’t even express curiosity, so there was nothing Yigeom could do.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t really expecting anything, you know. I’ve never seen him with a girlfriend… I was just shooting my shot at a persimmon I couldn’t eat. Thank you for asking, though. It must have been a bother. If you contact me next time, I’ll buy you a meal!”

“No, I couldn’t possibly…”

“No, it’s fine! Please do contact me!”

“Um, yes. I will.”

It was obvious she would keep insisting on buying him a meal even if he refused, so he just answered. I’ll say I will and then just not contact her. I don’t even have her number anyway.

“Contact me through Choi Haneul later.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

At that moment, Choi Haneul muttered in admiration.

“Yigeom-ie hyung, look over there. Kang Taeha hyung scored again.”

“So he did.”

Yigeom stopped talking for a moment and watched the court. Kang Taeha was flying around, dribbling the ball by himself. He was certainly impressive.

“But isn’t the opposing team the physical education department?”

“That’s right! That’s what makes it even more amazing. Everyone thought physical education would win, but it’s a close match. And against business administration, of all teams. …Ah, not that I’m looking down on business, it’s just that image…”

“It’s okay, I know what you mean.”

He replied nonchalantly and continued to watch the game. As if possessed by a basketball player, he moved well here and there.

‘I think I’d lose even if I played against Kang Taeha.’

As expected, Kang Taeha kept racking up points. He guessed that there was no one among them who could guard the ball in a 1-on-1 match with Kang Taeha.

But something was a bit strange.

It was clearly a one-man show by Kang Taeha, but the score difference with the opposing team wasn’t that large.

Wondering why, he observed closely and saw that whenever the score difference was about to widen, Kang Taeha would pass the ball to the opposing team as if by mistake.

‘What’s he doing?’

And then, when the opposing team caught up to a similar score, he would make a 3-point shot to widen the gap.

“Wow, that hyung would have succeeded at anything he did. He’s really good at basketball too.”

“I know, right. I don’t know the rules of basketball well, but I can at least tell who’s the best.”

Choi Haneul and Kim Eunjoo, who didn’t seem to have noticed Kang Taeha intentionally passing the ball to the opposing team, were busy praising him.

“Ah! Oh… He lost the ball.”

“It’s okay. He’ll probably widen the score again soon.”

To the two who had become fans of the business administration department and were cheering for them, Yigeom asked probingly.

“Don’t you think he just passed that on purpose?”

“Huh? Ahaha! Hyung, you’re defending him like that? I knew you two were close, but wow… you’re really close. You don’t have to do that, everyone in the world knows that hyung is good.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“Oh oh! Looks like he’s going for a 3-point shot again… 3 points, 3 points… Goal!!! Goaal!!”

“……”

Choi Haneul shook Yigeom’s shoulder excitedly, as if it were his own achievement.

‘Anyone would think he’s in the same business administration department.’

Yigeom ignored the noisy surroundings and observed Kang Taeha more carefully.

It’s not like he’s playing the game to donate his talent. Even though he could win by a large margin, he’s just raising the competitive spirit of the opposing team with a narrow score. I don’t know what he’s trying to do.

And the result, of course, was a victory for the business administration department, where Kang Taeha belonged.

Yigeom also had a soccer game soon, so besides offering his congratulations, he couldn’t exchange many words and left.

Among the people jostling under the hot sun with just a soccer ball, Yigeom was also motivated and worked hard today.

He waited for the right timing from a distance, then snatched the ball and ran towards the goal.

He could see Kang Taeha in the stands, waving and cheering for him.

‘When did he get here.’

As he scored the goal with ease, Kang Taeha smiled brightly and applauded. People from the same department also ran to Yigeom and cheered.

“What’s this? You’re possessed today!? It’s already a 2-point difference!”

“Hyung, what’s with you? Did you do some special training alone? You’re playing really well today! You should’ve played like this during practice too!”

‘Of course I’m playing well.’

Unlike the usual practices where he’d always go easy, he was now excited and playing with all his might.

Yigeom had always been athletic, but after awakening as a hunter, his physical abilities had improved incomparably.

So, Yigeom kept scoring among the non-hunters, and it was a foregone conclusion that the business administration department would win in the soccer event of the sports festival.

But unfortunately, they only placed 4th in basketball. It was a disappointing game as they could have won a small amount of prize money if they had placed at least 3rd.

Yigeom was certain that Kang Taeha had lost because he hadn’t used his full strength and had gone easy on them.

‘Isn’t it good to win first place? You get prize money too.’

And the following week, that judgment was shattered in an absurdly easy way.

“…What did you say?”

“I’m telling you! The association sent a letter of cooperation asking you to restrain yourself because you were flying all over the place during the sports festival!!”

“…Huh?”

Yigeom narrowed his eyes at Jewoo, who was slamming his fist on the office desk.

‘What is this nonsense?’

“Give it to me. I’ll read it.”

He snatched the paper with the association’s certification mark from Jewoo’s hand and read the text. It was indeed a letter of cooperation asking him to be careful from now on.

“I mean… It’s a festival for everyone to enjoy, why send a letter of cooperation.”

“You haven’t forgotten that hunters are physically superior to ordinary people, have you? Our smart hyung? When you use your abilities to snatch the 1st place prize money at a festival meant for fun, do you think a letter of cooperation will come or not?”

“……”

With nothing else to say and feeling ashamed, he remained silent as Doa mumbled with a lollipop in her mouth and grumbled.

“I think this will affect the CA fees for a while.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“In a word, it’s a pay cut, a pay cut. Because you used your abilities, which should be used for good, for personal gain. Why did you have to work so hard? You’re someone who usually finds things like that bothersome.”

He was right. Yigeom crumpled the letter of cooperation just as his face was crumpled. Damned association.

“They’re hell-bent on taking my money one way or another.”

If he had known this would happen, he should have just had fun and finished in 4th place like Kang Taeha.

‘Wait… Kang Taeha?’

Come to think of it, why did Kang Taeha finish in 4th place without showing his true skills, even though he could have won? A rank that wouldn’t receive the prize money given from 3rd place.

…Could Kang Taeha also be?