S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 27

Suddenly mentioning a doll out of nowhere was rather unexpected. However, Na Ye-ri’s expression was completely serious, as though she had meant every word.

I was grateful for the concern she showed me. We hadn’t known each other for very long, yet she had readily offered to listen to my worries.

‘Is this what warmth feels like?’

If so, it had been a very long time since I had felt something like affection.

After staring at Na Ye-ri’s face for a while, I let out a small laugh.

“No. I’ll try to compose myself on my own. Like you said, I need to learn how to control myself, too.”

“That’s not an easy thing to do. Even if you try, it might not work. So if it ever gets too hard, tell me, okay?”

Na Ye-ri repeatedly emphasized that I might not be able to do it perfectly.

There was a hint in her words that I shouldn’t be disappointed if things didn’t go as I wanted, and that I didn’t have to bear everything on my own.

“Okay. Then I’ll ask you to buy me a doll.”

“If there’s a doll you want, I’ll even order it from overseas. Childeugi has been complaining lately that overseas websites have gotten so much easier to use and asking why I can’t just do it myself…. Well, something like that happened, but I’ll ask Childeugi anyway.”

“Ahaha….”

She would have seemed quite dependable if she hadn’t brought up Childeugi.

I gave an awkward laugh, feeling as though I had unnecessarily added to Childeugi’s workload.

That was all the more true because I knew her promise wouldn’t end with mere words.

Na Ye-ri watched my mood before standing beside me.

Even then, perhaps she still wasn’t completely at ease, because she deliberately adopted a cheerful voice and began chatting about this and that.

‘A doll.’

Despite Na Ye-ri’s efforts to lighten the mood, my thoughts had already turned to Do Ju-yeon.

More precisely, to the thing he had brought me after breaking the camera.

 

***

 

It was the day after all the clairvoyance devices had been collected and removed.

“Keep this.”

“…What’s with the doll?”

Instead of answering, Do Ju-yeon merely shook the teddy bear slightly, as if telling me to take it.

It seemed he wouldn’t explain until I accepted it, so I took it while remaining extremely wary.

“There’s nothing attached to it.”

He spoke in a firm tone, as though he knew exactly what I was worried about.

Even though he had called the Association employees in and had the clairvoyance devices removed, there was nothing resembling trust between Do Ju-yeon and me.

When I remained silent, Do Ju-yeon added in his languid voice,

“You don’t feel anything, do you?”

“Feel anything?”

“Once you become aware of clairvoyance, you can feel someone watching you afterward. If the clairvoyant changes, you won’t be able to feel it again, but there’s only one A-rank in the Association capable of deceiving you.”

Was he trying to get me to lower my guard around him? Do Ju-yeon was giving me information I hadn’t even asked for.

Even so, I couldn’t hold the teddy bear comfortably.

Rather, the more he spoke, the more my fundamental doubts grew.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

In the end, I impulsively blurted out the question that had been stuck in my throat.

Do Ju-yeon looked at me for a moment before answering.

“Because there was nothing in your room.”

Just as he said, my room was completely empty.

The fact that someone had secretly placed clairvoyance on me had been so horrifying that I had thrown everything away. I even wanted to change rooms, but there was no way the higher-ups would grant such a request.

“It doesn’t even look like someone lives there.”

“What does it matter?”

Thinking that he was putting on some strange act of hypocrisy, I replied curtly.

I couldn’t say that the First Team was completely blameless for what had happened to me. They had followed the Association President’s orders, which meant they had turned a blind eye even though they knew what was happening.

Do Ju-yeon must have known that much, too.

“It’s not completely unrelated. The team leader is also responsible when something like this happens within the team.”

“……”

“Switch rooms with me.”

At those words, I immediately raised my head.

“They’re not going to move you to another accommodation, so I’m saying you should switch rooms with me. Wouldn’t that be more comfortable for you?”

“Why?”

“I told you. The team leader bears some responsibility, too. We’re ultimately dependent on you for healing, and if you keep being like this, it’s obvious that the quality or amount of your healing will suffer.”

In the end, he claimed it was all for their own benefit, but I couldn’t bring myself to reject the offer.

“So decide. What are you going to do? New furniture will be coming in one after another soon, so decide before that.”

“…I’ll switch.”

“Okay.”

As though he had expected that answer, Do Ju-yeon turned around without another word and left the room.

Soon, the doorbell rang, followed by the door opening and a cacophony of noise filling the room.

“What’s all this noise on our day off…? What is all this? Furniture?”

“Why is it so noisy…. Huh? Hyung, did you buy new furniture?”

“Yeah, it just worked out that way. Before that, please move all the furniture currently in this room into the master bedroom, and bring in the new furniture. Yes, please.”

“Wow, you bought some good stuff. The team leader allowance really is something.”

Apparently, the movers had brought in new furniture.

I stood awkwardly, still holding the doll. At that moment, my eyes met those of one of the movers carrying furniture into the room.

“Oh! Are you the owner of this room? Excuse us for a moment.”

“Ah… yes.”

Apparently, Do Ju-yeon had genuinely meant what he said about switching rooms. All the furniture that came in afterward was the same furniture I had seen in Do Ju-yeon’s room.

I stood there blankly for a while, but eventually stepped out into the hallway, thinking I would only be in the way.

“This isn’t your room anymore. How long are you planning to stand there and block the hallway?”

I flinched at the voice from behind me as I watched them arranging the furniture inside.

“You startled me.”

“Use that room now.”

Do Ju-yeon gestured with his chin toward the room he had been using.

His room was farther inside than mine.

It was a consideration—and a kind of privilege—for the team leader who worked hardest on the front lines.

When I couldn’t bring myself to move right away, he repeated himself once more.

“I’ll make sure nothing like that happens again.”

That was the last time I ever had a personal conversation with Do Ju-yeon.

 

***

 

As I recalled the past, I suddenly remembered something.

‘Come to think of it, I left that teddy bear at the residence.’

I had no regrets about it, but perhaps because Na Ye-ri had mentioned dolls, I happened to think of it today.

‘It doesn’t matter. Do Ju-yeon gave it to me anyway. I might have thrown it away when I emptied the room.’

I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my hand when Na Ye-ri suddenly placed her hand over mine.

“What? Didn’t you want me to hold your hand?”

Na Ye-ri asked with wide eyes.

I was about to say no, but changed my mind and firmly grasped her hand.

“Yes.”

“I knew it. If you wanted to hold hands, you should’ve just said so.”

“Uh….”

“We’re here. Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll buy you more ice cream later.”

“Everyone acts like I’ll die if I go a single day without it. I don’t need any.”

“Hmm? You want me to buy some? Okay. So you’re going to try mint chocolate this time. What a great resolution.”

“…Leave that one out.”

“Ha-ha! No way!”

Na Ye-ri answered playfully before stepping behind me. Then, without warning, she pressed her back against mine and began pushing me forward.

“You don’t have to do this. I’m going in anyway….”

I was embarrassed that she was doing this in front of so many people and was about to stop her, but then I fell silent.

Na Ye-ri wasn’t looking at me.

Her eyes were fixed outside, beyond the entrance.

Seeing the fierce look in her eyes as she scanned the area outside, I closed my mouth.

It seemed that after coming here, I had met a lot of good people.

 

***

 

“Master, it’s Childeugi.”

“Come in.”

Cha Seohae answered briefly while looking through some documents.

When the door opened, Childeugi quietly approached Cha Seohae.

“We’ve got surveillance on us.”

“How many?”

He immediately asked as though he had expected it.

“Three.”

“Who’s the third? I thought those two idiots who showed up on the news were the only ones.”

“We only received reports that there was someone suspicious. We haven’t been able to obtain detailed information, such as his face.”

Childeugi lowered his head apologetically.

Watching him, Cha Seohae thought.

It hadn’t been long between the day they learned from the news that Association personnel were lingering around the guild and now, when they had received reports of suspicious people wandering around.

That meant there was a high probability that two of the three were the idiots whose faces had appeared on the news.

‘Are they planning to use force while the healer is alone? They still haven’t given up on getting an S-rank.’

Since A-rank personnel couldn’t break through the shield around the Baekyang building, they seemed to have sent higher-ranked personnel.

That said, the Association didn’t have enough S-ranks to waste them so freely.

He had expected them to postpone an attack. Instead, all they had done was add one more person.

Fortunately, finding out the identities of Association hunters wasn’t particularly difficult. After wandering around for a few days, they could quickly identify anyone whose face they managed to see.

‘All I have to do is give the guild members their names and tell them not to come anywhere near here….’

Cha Seohae rested his chin on his hand and muttered unhappily.

“Damn it. The most irritating thing is trying to figure out what that Association President is thinking.”

He could attach all kinds of words to the Association President—ugly, petty, despicable—but he couldn’t deny that the Association President had more experience than the current S-rank guild leaders.

The wisdom gained from experience was invaluable when it came to combat. That was also one of the reasons guilds had difficulty forming strong alliances.

Whenever the guilds showed signs of uniting, the Association President applied pressure, claiming that hunters, who were national assets, were trying to pursue private interests rather than social development.

Sometimes, he even used the power of public authority to dismantle structures that benefited the guilds.

He would establish new regulations or demand that Association hunters be allowed to interfere in guild affairs.

Even the current guild alliance had only barely managed to form.

It had been established under the pretext that unchecked power could infringe upon freedom. Its primary purpose was to keep the Association in check.

If the Association had secretly established private companies, even this would have been difficult.

‘Though it did happen rather late.’

Watching the troubled Cha Seohae, Childeugi spoke.

“If we’re only counting the people wandering around….”

“Ah.”

Cha Seohae nodded before speaking.

“You didn’t report everything properly from the beginning, did you?”

“Haha, seriously. And we’ve finished checking all the nearby CCTV cameras.”

“You mean the ones Na Ye-ri reported to me earlier? How far had they tampered with them?”

“The stores within a 25-meter radius of the station.”

“They really went all out. Assign an engineer-class hunter to manage the CCTV and strengthen the security as well.”

“Yes.”

“Master! Hey! Cha Seohae!”

While they were discussing countermeasures, Na Ye-ri entered the room.

Cha Seohae frowned at her noisy entrance.

“She really is something….”

“I’ll put those measures into effect immediately. I’ll take my leave.”

“Okay. Good work.”

Seeing Na Ye-ri’s fierce expression, Childeugi hurriedly escaped.

Based on his experience, getting caught by her at times like this only meant getting dragged into troublesome situations. It was always best to avoid her when she was like this.

“Huh? Childeugi was here too?”

“Yes. I had a report to make.”

“Yeah, I know Childeugi is always working hard.”

Na Ye-ri stopped Childeugi, who was about to leave, and praised him.

Childeugi calmed his anxious heart and composed his expression.

“Haha, th-thank you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to finish checking the CCTV you asked me to look into earlier….”

“Huh? You already finished that? Amazing!”

Na Ye-ri didn’t even wait for him to finish before patting him on the shoulder.

She was so strong that Childeugi had to clutch his shoulder.

‘It hurts…!’

Since his superior was doing it with good intentions, he couldn’t complain about the pain.

“He looks like he’s in pain. Stop hitting him.”

“When did I hit him? I was praising him. Anyway, that’s not important.”

As though she had suddenly remembered why she had come, Na Ye-ri turned around.

Taking the opportunity, Childeugi quickly slipped out and closed the door.

Cha Seohae watched him sympathetically before turning to Na Ye-ri, who was now standing beside him.

Unlike usual, her expression was unusually serious.

What could she possibly be about to say?

Then, when the words finally spilled from Na Ye-ri’s mouth, Cha Seohae forgot even his resolve to simply listen with an empty mind and could only let out a bewildered sound.