Perfect Mission Chapter 32 - Seo Hae-rin (2)

Chapter 32. Seo Hae-rin (2)

 

Suyeon was in a foul mood. No, more accurately, she was annoyed. It wasn’t just one thing but a combination of factors, and the more she dwelled on them, the worse she felt. She couldn’t focus in class, and her inability to focus only made her more irritable, a vicious cycle.

‘Is it because of that fat pig?’ 

That didn’t make sense. It couldn’t. How could she be so bothered by a nerd like him? If asked her ideal type, she could confidently say: Yoo Minhyuk from the idol group SFF. Tall, fair-skinned, with a handsome, sculpted face. A great dancer, a fantastic singer, and a divinely sculpted body. Suyeon’s man, if not quite at that level, had to be in the same ballpark. Comparing Kang Junho to that was pathetic. He wasn’t particularly tall, and though he’d lost some… no, a lot… of weight, he was still on the large side, with a face that looked like it belonged in an anime. Objectively, they were an impossible match, right?

‘Ha, this is ridiculous…’ 

“Ridiculous” was the perfect word. How dare he, how dare he, look at another girl in front of Ahn Suyeon? Look at him. He’s still staring at the new girl with those longing eyes.

‘Should I kill him?’

It would be justifiable homicide. Or at least, death by natural causes.

“Suyeon, you’re going to burn a hole through him with that glare.” Her deskmate, Juhye, whispered, and Suyeon, snapping out of it, tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Hilarious. Doesn’t he have any shame, staring like that?”

“You were just doing the same. I thought you were going to burn a hole through Junho’s face~”

“…”

Annoyed, Suyeon started scratching at her notebook with her mechanical pencil, plotting her revenge. Junho, oblivious to her inner turmoil, continued to think about Hyesun.

Then, the bell rang for break time. Junho got up and walked straight to Hyesun’s desk.

“Huh? You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Suyeon, seeing this, was flabbergasted but couldn’t bring herself to stop him.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Hyesun looked at Junho with a strange expression for a moment, then followed him without a word. That strange look was actually fear, but no one noticed.

“Ooh~”

“Manly Kang Junho!”

By now, the whole class was buzzing about the two of them, and Junho, feigning embarrassment, snapped, “It’s not like that!”

Suyeon wasn’t the only one who found this situation absurd.

“That idiot’s going after her with that face?”

Hyeonuk, seeing Junho walk out with the new girl, Hae-rin, scoffed. He was tall and handsome, and while he wasn’t popular with the guys, he was with the girls. But even he thought Hae-rin was out of his league. She was breathtaking.

People had their own leagues, and in Hyeonuk’s opinion, Junho and Haerin were not in the same league.
“He’s gotten a big head lately. Losing some weight doesn’t make a pig a human. It just makes him a skinny pig.”

Hyeonuk’s friend, sitting next to him, bad-mouthed Junho, but Hyeonuk didn’t feel any better. For some reason, he felt uneasy. He thought about it and realized why. That girl, Hae-rin. She didn’t have the disgusted look girls usually had when a guy they didn’t like approached them.

‘Is it because she’s nice? She must be really nice.’

The thought that she was not only beautiful but also kind made her even more appealing to Hyeonuk. He took out a mirror, checked his reflection, and waited for her to come back.

 

***

 

Junho led her to the incinerator behind the school, a place hidden from view by the school wall. He turned around and held out his hand. Hyesun, understanding, took out her phone and said, “I’m sorry.”

She had been so aloof and confident before, but now that they were alone, she had shrunk.

“Shut up.”

Junho, his face cold, turned off Hyesun’s phone, removed the case, and checked for any hidden devices. He then said to Hyesun, who was watching him with anxious eyes, “Turn around and face the wall.”

Hyesun complied without a word. Junho ran his hands through her shoulder-length hair, checking for anything unusual. He checked her ears, then said, “I’m going to search you, so don’t scream. Or do, I don’t care.”

Without waiting for her reply, Junho ran his hands up from her waist to her armpits, checking her thoroughly, even under her bra. He checked her pockets and, slipping a hand under her skirt, her thighs as well. Only then did he step back.

Hyesun, her face flushed with shame, finally said, “Can I turn around now?”

“Yeah.”

At any other time, all sorts of thoughts would have flooded Junho’s mind while touching a woman’s body, but this time, he felt nothing. To him, Hyesun wasn’t a pretty girl but a potential threat. He felt no remorse seeing her flushed face.

“How did you find this place?”

“I told you, I saw your phone. The school uniform on the lock screen…”

“You found this school just from the uniform?”

“You know it’s not that hard.”

It was true. That’s why he’d been so startled when she saw his phone.

“Okay, so you found the school. But how did you end up here?”

“They gave me a new identity and a few rental apartments to choose from. I found your school first, and one of the apartments they recommended was nearby.”

“And the school?”

“Once I knew the neighborhood, finding the school was easy. They let me choose from a few, and this was the only co-ed one.”

“And the class?”

“I honestly didn’t know. I was surprised too. It must have been luck.”

She seemed awfully calm for someone who was surprised. Was she a good actress? Was it because she was Goblin’s daughter? Junho couldn’t be sure.

“I think I’ve asked you this before, but give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you. And don’t give me some lame excuse about how killing is wrong. And don’t use your father as an excuse either. I’ve already saved you once, so I’ve done enough for him…”

Before Junho could finish, Hyesun quickly interjected, “When that man was torturing my father, he asked a few questions about Gorilla.” 

This was an unexpected development.

“What kind of questions?”

“He asked what Gorilla told him when they met in Prague, Czech Republic, five years ago.”

“Prague? Five years ago?”

Junho tilted his head and scoffed.

“Bullshit. Gorilla wasn’t in Prague five years ago.”

“No. He was. My father said he met him.”

This time, Junho was genuinely surprised. There was no memory of being in Prague five years ago in Jo Gyeongcheol’s mind.

“Your father must have been mistaken.”

“But why would my father lie in that situation, trying to hide something… Besides, you’re not Gorilla, are you? So, it’s possible, isn’t it?”

Junho’s head started to ache. Something was strange, but he didn’t think Hyesun was lying.

“And?”

“My father said he did meet him, but at the time, Gorilla was on a mission and asked for a favor.”

“What was it?”

“He asked my father to take a child from Prague to Zagreb, Croatia. My father did as Gorilla asked, and he said they didn’t contact each other for a year after that.”

Come to think of it, Jo Gyeongcheol didn’t have any memories of contacting Goblin around five years ago.

‘He asked him to take a child? I don’t remember that at all.’

Junho bit his lip. He felt like he was trapped in a thick fog.

“The man asked my father if he received anything else from Gorilla besides the child, and my father said he didn’t know anything else. He also said that Gorilla was injured at the time and was being chased.”

At least one thing was clear. There was more than one party after Jo Gyeongcheol, and maybe even ASA hadn’t tried to kill him just for the Daewon Chemicals data.

“Is that all?”

“I know a lot. Things you don’t know, like what I just told you.”

“And?”

“I can be of help.”

“How can I trust you?”

“We have at least one common goal. I’m going to kill the bastards who did that to my father.”

“You want me to work with a high school student?”

“You’re a high school student too.”

Junho was speechless.

“Ha! You think we’re the same?”

“My father taught me a lot too.”

“And that’s why you were tied up like that?”

“I was ambushed. If it weren’t for me, my father wouldn’t have been taken so easily. Things are different now.”

“What’s different now?”

“Back then… I lived thinking that kind of thing would never happen.”

“…Well, alright. Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear that nonsense about working together. And even if something happens to you, I’m not going to get involved, so you can handle your own revenge.”

The bell rang as he was warning her. 

He was about to leave when Hyesun said, “And I’m Hae-rin.”

“So what?”

“Don’t get my name wrong.”

“Am I you?”

As Junho was about to leave, Hae-rin’s voice came again.

“And… I’m going to speak informally to you.”

“Do whatever you want.”

“Okay.”

He had told her to do as she pleased, since it was natural for them to speak informally… But hearing her speak so casually, he felt like he was getting the short end of the stick. He turned to her with his signature grumpy Tibetan fox expression.

“Let’s get along… friend.”

Hyesun… no, Hae-rin, avoided his gaze and rushed past him.

“…But why did she show up as a senior when she’s a sophomore? That’s annoying.”

Junho walked back to the classroom with an uneasy feeling.

 

***

 

Hyeonuk couldn’t focus in class at all. One might assume he was a bad student because he was a bully, but surprisingly, Hyeonuk’s grades weren’t that bad. A teacher who didn’t know him well might even think he was a better student than Junho, whose grades were at the bottom. Hyeonuk was living proof that bad behavior and academic performance didn’t always go hand in hand.

Hyeonuk kept glancing at the seat in front of him. The sight of her long, black hair and slim back was strangely captivating. The sweet scent that had wafted from her as she passed by after meeting with that fat pig still seemed to linger in the air.

‘That fat pig made a move, and I’m just sitting here?’

If it were any other girl, Hyeonuk would have patiently waited for his chance, knowing that Junho would eventually be rejected. But Hae-rin’s kind demeanor made him feel anxious. What if they became close, and she accepted Junho’s confession out of the kindness of her heart? That would be a travesty.

The lunch bell rang—

Hyeonuk, quicker than any of his classmates, appeared by Hae-rin’s side as she was about to head to the cafeteria.

“Want me to give you a tour of the school after lunch?”

He expected her to agree, since she had reluctantly followed that fat pig earlier…

“A tour? No, I’m fine.”

He was taken aback by her cold expression.

And then…

“Pfft!”

Junho, who was walking with Daeseong to lunch, covered his mouth and ran past. Suyeon, walking next to him, shot him a withering look.

“Ugh~ This is so annoying.”

She muttered, though it was unclear who she was annoyed with.

Hyeonuk’s face flushed with shame. As he hesitated, Hae-rin stood up, tilted her head back, and said,

“Could you move?”

She looked straight at him, her face contorted with annoyance, and she seemed like a completely different person from the sweet girl who had followed Junho earlier.