S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 50

After confirming who had called my name, I stood there dazed for a moment.

Come to think of it, there weren’t many people in the Association with such a clear, pure voice.

If only I had been a little more perceptive, I would have been able to figure out who it was.

“Park Ji-won?”

She smiled brightly when I called her name.

She hadn’t changed at all from the first time I saw her.

Her complexion was clearer than before, her hair was light brown, her eyes were dark brown, and she had a round, well-defined nose.

Seeing that she looked perfectly fine without a single injury, it seemed she had been doing well all this time.

‘Why is she smiling at me when she has no reason to?’

While wondering about that, I looked around and realized something.

Even though we had merely run into each other by chance, people were paying attention.

There weren’t just Association members, either. There were civilians and reporters as well.

Everyone was watching with eyes full of anticipation, waiting to see how I would react.

Realizing what they were thinking, I sighed.

‘It’s not like I kicked out the old stone after becoming the new one. What are they expecting?’

Then another question occurred to me.

‘What does she want to say to me in a situation like this? She could have just walked past me.’

Anyway, I felt like I had to say something.

I was worried about how it would look if we simply stood there in silence.

“Hi. This is the first time we’ve actually greeted each other, right?”

“Yeah. I wanted to introduce myself at least once. I’m glad we finally met.”

Park Ji-won responded brightly to my greeting.

“How have you been? I was so surprised when I heard that the healer who was here before had been kidnapped as soon as I arrived.”

“Ah….”

“At first, I was really worried that some strange place had taken you. But when I heard it was Baekyang….”

“Hey.”

Park Ji-won stopped her chattering and raised her head.

The smile disappeared from her face, and somehow that was even more unsettling.

Cha Seohae, who was looking directly at her, continued speaking calmly.

“If you called her just to make small talk, let her go.”

“…….”

“I guess someone who said she was worried doesn’t know what her own team members have been doing?”

Park Ji-won didn’t frown even after hearing Cha Seohae’s words.

Whether she knew about it or not, her expression was impossible to read.

Seeing Park Ji-won remain silent, Cha Seohae turned his head as if frustrated.

Perhaps he knew that saying anything more would only turn into a pointless argument.

“Look over there. Do you see that? Are they threatening the healer?”

“They look like hunters from Baekyang. Are they seriously going to cause a scene here?”

“I thought this was supposed to be a fairly respectable place. Guess that’s not the case after all.”

I stepped in front of Cha Seohae when I heard the voices.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Really? Then maybe we could meet from time to time….”

“I don’t have any feelings toward you, but I don’t feel positively toward your teammates right now.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry, but unless I’m dragged back here, I don’t think we’ll have a reason to see each other again.”

I whispered the last part so that only Park Ji-won could hear.

Even after hearing that, Park Ji-won showed no significant change in expression.

Being able to hide one’s emotions like that was something I could learn from.

‘I thought Cha Seohae was pretty good at hiding his emotions too.’

I had no idea what was wrong with him today.

As I slowly pulled my face away after whispering to her….

“You don’t have any feelings toward me? That’s enough for me.”

“What?”

I turned toward her at the meaningful remark.

As if she knew I would look back, Park Ji-won smiled sweetly when our eyes met.

“Let’s meet again soon.”

“No, I just said we probably wouldn’t have a reason to see each other….”

Did she not hear a word I said?

I stared at her dumbfoundedly, and Park Ji-won gave me a slight push.

It wasn’t particularly strong, but I was caught off guard and stumbled backward.

“Go on. The Association President will be here soon.”

“…….”

“I was glad we got to talk today.”

I was about to say something more, but I closed my mouth.

Because Do Joo-yeon  had appeared behind Park Ji-won.

Do Joo-yeon  raised her head, saw us, and stopped as if surprised.

I could feel Cha Seohae’s body stiffen as he caught me when I stumbled back.

From that reaction, I knew that now was the time to listen to Park Ji-won’s words.

“Let’s go. They said the Association President will be here soon.”

“Huh? Ah, okay. Let’s go. Come on.”

I urged Han Seong-woo, who I trusted the most right now, and he also glanced at Do Joo-yeon  before moving.

“Damn it. I wasted all my luck today.”

Na Ye-ri said it loudly enough for everyone to hear before turning around.

The problem was Cha Seohae.

I wondered what would happen if he refused to follow, but when I lightly tugged on his hand, he followed much more obediently than expected.

“Phew.”

Once we stepped outside the building, I finally felt a little relieved.

‘We didn’t exactly leave quietly, but I guess this was still fine.’

More importantly, I was able to make an objective judgment.

I hadn’t realized it because I’d been living only within Baekyang for so long, but I now knew that outsiders didn’t have a favorable opinion of me.

Na Ye-ri, who was watching me lost in thought, cautiously spoke.

“Don’t you think we should do something about the public opinion toward you, Yeonhee?”

“Ah… It does seem necessary. Until now, I thought it was enough as long as we were okay with each other.”

Han Seong-woo answered her.

Even after everyone got back into the car and we smoothly drove away, the conversation continued.

“The Association President deliberately manipulated things to create this atmosphere. If we’d known this would happen, we should’ve paid more attention to public opinion too.”

“Should we just expose everything? Tell them how this whole incident happened.”

“We didn’t leave any evidence behind. The monster was defeated and disappeared. Do Joo-yeon  and Kang Si-hyeon deliberately drew their fight into a completely different space. Jang Jeong-in died in the damaged building, so it was recorded as him dying while clearing the raid.”

“The monster was an illusion.”

“Kang Si-hyeon isn’t the only one who can use illusions. There was also a mental-type hunter among the hunters Baekyang sent out.”

Han Seong-woo calmly pointed everything out one by one.

“Besides, the Association President stepped in at just the right time, so even if we expose everything now, it won’t be easy for public opinion to completely turn in our favor. What about the people being protected in the Association housing? They’ll just end up feeling like they’re sitting on a bed of thorns.”

“Ah! He’s such a cunning fox!”

Na Ye-ri cursed the Association President and turned away.

“There’s no need to rush.”

Cha Seohae, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, spoke then.

“The competition is coming up soon, isn’t it? Once that happens, public opinion will turn around on its own even if we don’t make a move right now.”

“Ah, that’s true. The competition really is coming up soon.”

Han Seong-woo agreed.

“In a situation like this, if we step forward claiming we’re seeking revenge, we’ll only end up being blamed instead.”

Cha Seohae began explaining his reasoning.

Although the realistic assumption was a little bitter, it wasn’t enough to discourage me.

“Overcoming this obstacle won’t be difficult.”

Cha Seohae spoke with absolute confidence.

Seeing his firm expression made me believe him.

“All we have to do is make people remember Moon Yeonhee in a positive way.”

“How?”

“There’s nothing complicated about how a hunter can leave a good impression on people. Just be faithful to your job.”

“You mean consistently participating whenever a gate appears and showing your face?”

“Yeah. If you want to put in a little more effort, it would also be good to create a memorable scene that leaves an impression.”

Na Ye-ri kept asking questions one after another, but eventually let out a thoughtful hum.

“Going with the basics is probably best…. But isn’t it a little difficult for a healer to create a memorable scene? Park Ji-won is good at displaying her abilities, but her uncle is the Association President, so they deliberately promoted her from that side too.”

I understood why Na Ye-ri was worried.

Because of the nature of healers, they stood in the back and rarely attracted attention, and the person receiving a heal often didn’t even realize they were being healed.

It would be even harder for a third party watching to notice.

“Why are you worried about that?”

“Hm?”

“It doesn’t look like Moon Yeonhee is having any trouble with it.”

Cha Seohae pointed his chin toward me.

Following his gesture, Na Ye-ri and Han Seong-woo looked at me.

Even Childeugi, who was driving, looked my way.

I was flustered at suddenly becoming the center of attention, but honestly, Cha Seohae was right.

I was confident.

Seeing that I didn’t look intimidated, Na Ye-ri and Han Seong-woo blinked.

“Oh. Are you confident, Yeonhee?”

“Of course. Who do you think I’ve been training like my life depended on it for?”

“What? Is that a sweeping attack?”

“Healer. I don’t remember training you quite that hard….”

Na Ye-ri and Han Seong-woo each made a comment on my words.

Knowing they were joking, I brushed it off and continued with the main point.

“What people are curious about right now isn’t who caused the incident that already happened. Someone has already taken responsibility for it.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

“But even so, there’s something people keep asking about behind the scenes.”

Na Ye-ri widened her eyes and said,

“Your skill?”

I smiled and nodded.

“The Association President must be nervous that the owner of the skill will appear and accidentally bring this incident back into the spotlight. If it becomes known that they were behind it, they won’t escape without taking a hit.”

“For the Association President, we’re troublesome because we know the whole story.”

“Yeah. So after the memorial service, they’ll probably hold the competition to draw everyone’s attention elsewhere. If I use the same skill at the competition, it won’t just be revealed that an S-rank healer has appeared. It will also become clear that I’m the owner of the skill from that day, and my reputation will rise.”

Na Ye-ri spoke in admiration.

“Definitely. If that happens, no one will blame us even if we wipe out the first team a few times. The healer’s naturally kind image combined with what happened that day will make people wonder about the real reason you left the Association in the first place.”

Now that we had found a way to break through, the expressions of Na Ye-ri and Han Seong-woo relaxed.

With that, the meaning of the competition had become even more significant.

I smiled while looking at them, then lowered my gaze.

“Let’s meet again soon.”

What exactly had Park Ji-won meant by those words?

Had she simply said it with the competition in mind?

My thoughts became complicated.

‘We aren’t close enough for her to say goodbye in advance just because of the competition. And if the memorial service really was held because something went wrong with Jang Jeong-in, it would be strange for her to approach me on a day like this.’

I was the only one who suspected that Jang Jeong-in might still be alive, so I couldn’t ask anyone else for their opinion.

‘Will it really work out if I reveal my changed rank at the competition?’

Maybe because there was nothing certain yet, everything felt unsettling.

The only thing that was clear was that there was no way the Association would retreat after the memorial service.

If anything, the opposite was more likely.