Chapter 53 - Stop Hitting on My Oppa

After her long call with Minjun, Sia’s feelings were in turmoil. The other dragons who disapproved of their relationship might interfere, and there was no telling what they might do. They might even hurt an innocent human man simply for daring to love a dragon. With Sia, her grandfather, and a few other dragons on his side, they would probably hesitate to harm him outright. But she couldn’t rest easy. Any one of them could hurt Minjun at any time, in any way.

Yet her heart wasn’t filled with worry alone. There was the warmth Minjun had shown when he worried about her, and the reassurance of his unwavering resolve to overcome whatever hardships they faced. He had even made her tteokbokki and sent her a gift and a handwritten letter, apparently because he was worried about her. Strangely, all that left her heart fluttering even now. At least it gave her some comfort.

‘No matter how I think about it, I just don’t understand.’ She had lived as a dragon a hundred times longer than she had lived as a human, but she still couldn’t fully understand how dragons thought. Did dragons really have to love only other dragons?

To take her mind off her worries, she decided to eat the tteokbokki Minjun had made himself. She took a photo and opened her messenger app to tell him she was about to enjoy it. That was when she found an unexpected message waiting for her.

["Hi! I’m Go Yuna, Minjun’s older friend you met at the restaurant last time :) Remember me? I wanted to get to know you better and kept meaning to contact you, but I only just worked up the courage, haha. I think you said you were a hunter too, Sia. If you’re up for it, would you like to spar sometime? I’d love to spar and have a meal together!"]

“... Go Yuna?” As if her head weren’t crowded enough already, now that woman had texted her. How had she gotten Sia’s number? And why had she sent this? Frowning, Sia read the message again. “What the hell does this bitch want?”

Sia hadn’t heard about what had happened between Minjun and Yuna the previous morning, so she couldn’t guess why Yuna had texted her. ‘She isn’t asking me to bring Oppa, either.’ Why did Yuna want to meet her alone? Surely she didn’t simply want to be friends, whatever her message said. Was she trying to drive Sia and Minjun apart, or did she have some other motive?

With her thoughts in a jumble, Sia sent Minjun the photo she had just taken of the tteokbokki, along with a message. ["By the way, Oppa. Did you give Yuna my number?"] His reply came at once. ["No. Why, did she text you?"] She must have gotten it through someone else. How wasn’t important; what mattered was that Minjun hadn’t given it to her. ["No, I was just curious all of a sudden. Thanks for the tteokbokki, Oppa! I’ll enjoy it!"] For now, Sia decided not to tell him Yuna had texted her.

What should she do now? Ignore the message, openly express her displeasure, or give a polite answer without showing what she really thought? None of the options looked good at first. But on reflection, this was the perfect opportunity to give that woman a firm warning. Meeting without Minjun might even be better; Sia wouldn’t have to worry about him being there. ‘I’m tired of worrying about that woman.’ Minjun had already dealt with Yuna appropriately, but Sia didn’t know that. She resolved to put an end to the whole thing herself. ‘As if I wasn’t already upset enough about the dragons.’ If Yuna had sent this message the day before yesterday, before Sia met the other dragons, Sia wouldn’t have reacted quite so sharply. In that respect, Go Yuna’s timing was terrible. Intent on teaching her a lesson, Sia wrote back.

* * *

The next day, Sia waited for Yuna at a café near the sparring facility where they had agreed to meet. Naturally, she hadn’t told Minjun about today, and she probably never would. She intended to sever this tangled, ill-fated connection with that woman once and for all. Not long after Sia sat down, Yuna spotted her from a distance, waved, and came over. “Sia!” “You’re here!” They greeted each other in bright, cheerful voices.

“If I’d known you’d agree, I would’ve asked you sooner. I worried you might feel pressured, Sia.” “Oh, you could’ve contacted me anytime. There’s plenty I’ve been wanting to ask you, too.” To anyone watching, they might have looked like close friends. Inwardly, both women harbored fierce hatred for the other, their deadly claws hidden from view.

“Shall we head over and spar, then?” “Sounds good!” They went down to the sparring facility in the same building. It was nearly empty, and Yuna had reserved it in advance, so they went straight in. After changing into sparring clothes and putting on protective gear, they took their places.

“It feels refreshing to do this again after so long. Brings back memories, too.” “Same here. It’s been a while since I last sparred, so it feels a little strange. Let’s have a good match!” “Yeah. You too.” As they chatted pleasantly, Yuna made the same vow to herself again and again: today she would make that woman, who didn’t know her place, feel the difference in their strength down to her bones.

Ordinarily, even though Yuna was retired and Sia was an active hunter, the gap between their ranks meant Yuna ought to hold back a little. Instead, she intended to go all out and crush Sia without mercy. If Sia complained that she’d been too rough, Yuna would claim she was rusty and had struggled to control her strength. ‘I could use that excuse to ask for another match.’ She could say she was sorry about the first one and would hold back so they could spar properly this time. The more they sparred, the more chances she would have to take out her anger on Sia.

“Shall we start now?” “Sure.” They channeled a small amount of mana into their gear, and a signal sounded to mark the start of the match. Yuna, a spirit summoner, immediately summoned a salamander. “You’re a spirit summoner?” “Yeah. I guess I never told you.” Sia studied the salamander Yuna had summoned with interest.

Yuna’s salamander had always been eager for a fight, and it had complained about how dull life had become since her retirement. Instead of thrilling, bloody battles, what had she taken up? Cooking? She had even asked it a few times to give her food a smoky, flame-grilled flavor, and the salamander had occasionally voiced its displeasure. This time was different. It wasn’t a real battle, but it was still an exhilarating match against another hunter. Once it understood the situation, it flicked its tongue again and again in excitement, pestering Yuna for a command.

‘Salamander, breathe fire at that woman’s face. Use every bit of power you have.’ Yuna sent the command through the mental link between them. Sia was wearing protective sparring gear, so even at full power, the blast wouldn’t kill her. But what if the gear broke and she suffered burns? ‘That might not be so bad, either.’ Yuna could call it an accident, make a show of apologizing, and pay her medical bills. She had plenty of money. If anything, she’d feel better for it. Swallowing a laugh at the horrible things she couldn’t have said aloud, she wondered, ‘How will that bitch react?’ Then she watched Sia, eager to find out.

But of course, Yuna’s hopes would never come true. Obeying her command, the salamander drew on as much of Yuna’s mana as it could and tried to unleash a powerful jet of flame at Sia. But for some reason, it felt its power being controlled by a vast, unknown force unlike anything it had ever encountered. ‘...?’ Its confusion was plain. It gathered its strength and tried again to breathe fire, but a moment later, overwhelming terror began to close around it. “...!”

The salamander had never met a dragon, so it didn’t know the force was Dragon Fear. But it understood one thing with painful clarity: the being before it was no ordinary human. If it attacked, something far beyond its ability to withstand would happen. It tried to warn Yuna through their mental link, but an unknown power had already forced it back into the spirit realm.

“Gah!” It was uncommon for a spirit to be sent back to the spirit realm by force. When it happened, though, the summoner temporarily suffered excruciating pain and mana backlash. It wouldn’t kill them. It would only leave them writhing in agony for several minutes. As soon as the salamander vanished, Yuna collapsed. The pain of mana backlash, which she hadn’t felt in a long time, had her thrashing and groaning on the floor.

Showing herself in such a pathetic state before Sia, the woman she considered an enemy, was humiliating, but Yuna was in no condition to care. Abandoning all pride, she reached toward Sia and gasped for help. Sia only looked down at her, her eyes cold in stark contrast to the moments before the match. “Gah... Sia... gah... Sia.” Even saying her name left Yuna breathless and in pain. Beyond the pain, a terrible fear began to overwhelm her. No spirit summoner in history had ever died from having a spirit forcibly returned, but what if she became the first? And this was not the end. Another torment awaited her.

The Dragon Fear that had struck such terror into the salamander now turned on Yuna. Faced with a concentration of fear unlike anything she had ever felt, she seemed to forget how to breathe, and her face began to turn blue. Sia walked over and looked down at her battered figure. Could an aura like this truly come from a D-rank hunter? “Yuna.” Sia’s gaze was as cold as a hired killer’s before a murder. Yuna tried to ask what this was and why Sia was doing it, but her voice never made it past her lips. It faded into a faint groan.

“Why did you take an interest in my Oppa when you knew perfectly well he had a girlfriend?” Sia’s voice held no emotion, which made her all the more frightening. All Yuna could do was tremble and listen. She regretted everything: not doing more to win Minjun’s heart when they were children, approaching him too hastily after their long-awaited reunion, and trying to take out her anger on Sia. All of it. She wished she could simply pass out, but her mind remained startlingly clear.

“Just so you know, if you’re thinking of trying something with the security footage you saw on your way in, you’d better forget it.” Sia had already cast magic throughout the sparring room without Yuna noticing. The cameras were probably recording what looked like an ordinary match. In other words: “You can tell everyone what happened to you here, but no one will believe you.” Watch yourself. Terrified for her life, Yuna wept and nodded over and over in abject submission. Sia released the Dragon Fear and returned to where she had stood before.

The pain of the mana backlash gradually faded, and Yuna’s labored breathing returned to normal. But the indescribable agony was still lodged deep in her chest. Everything around her was back to normal, as if nothing had happened, yet the vacant look in her eyes showed that it had been no illusion. “Good match, Yuna.” Yuna couldn’t even collect herself enough to fix her disheveled hair. Sia, meanwhile, had returned to her usual friendly manner. “It was a great experience. I learned a lot, thanks to you. When else would I get to spar with an A-rank hunter?” She spoke as calmly as if they had sparred normally and nothing else had happened.

“...” The sight of Sia acting that way was so chilling that Yuna felt another wave of fear, strong enough to leave her whole body numb. She didn’t even have the courage to ask why Sia was behaving like this now. She merely nodded faintly, her expression blank. Sia drew Yuna into a tight hug, as though thanking her for arranging the match. Holding her close, she whispered just loudly enough for Yuna to hear, “If Oppa or I catch sight of you again, I probably won’t stop at this.” Then, as though nothing had happened, she asked in a friendly tone, “You must be hungry, Yuna. It’s nearly lunchtime. Shall we go get something to eat?”