Black Badger

Before I could run in and wedge myself between them, Yun grabbed the Personnel Director’s shoulder.

“Let’s have a little talk.”

Yun whispered darkly.

His voice was so ominous it made the back of my neck prickle.

But Ju just kept smiling, easy and pleasant.

“If that’s what you want, Mr. Yun. Anytime.”

Veins bulged at my mentor’s temple.

Blue veins also stood out on the wrist gripping Ju’s shoulder. For a moment, I genuinely worried about the safety of the Personnel Director’s shoulder.

By now, the café staff weren’t even serving coffee anymore.

All eyes were fixed on one spot.

“Oppa, did you have something to say to Mr. Ju?”

Ami’s puzzled question rang out through the café.

Yun ignored her completely.

“That’s enough.”

My mentor muttered the words while staring straight into Ju’s eyes.

It sounded like he was holding his temper down by force; a low scraping sound crept into his voice.

Still, Ju neither wiped the smile from his face nor brushed Yun’s hand away.

“Enough of what?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

Yun answered immediately.

“If there’s a movie you want to see, take a number and pick one of the people waiting in line.”

“A number?”

The Personnel Director smiled brightly.

“What a joke.”

Yun’s eyes curved into a smile as well.

Puhk!

A café customer spit out their drink at the sight of Yun’s smile.

I froze in my seat, mouth hanging open.

Wh—

That’s terrifying....

“Senior....”

Ricardo, finally grasping how serious the situation was, spoke in a horrified voice.

“This is a public place. Please calm down....”

“Has it even been two hours since your last relationship ended?”

Yun asked back, that chilling smile still plastered on his face.

“Even jokes need to be directed at the right person.”

“Jokes?”

All at once, the fresh smile vanished from the Personnel Director’s face.

The faint habitual smile remained, but the flowers that had seemed to bloom behind him like an illusion disappeared without a trace.

Ju met Yun’s gaze head-on.

“I’m serious.”

I grabbed Yun’s left hand just as it was about to rise into the air. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Yun!”

This bastard isn’t holding back at all!

“Public ethics.... No, military law! Regulations! Yehyeon’s nagging!”

“Oppa, what are you doing?”

Ami finally realized what was happening.

Startled, she rushed toward us.

“You’re not fighting with Mr. Ju, right?”

“No.”

Ju answered.

He looked down at Ami as she came to stand beside him, past Ricardo, and smiled gently.

“You’re wearing the cardigan you bought last time today. It suits you.”

Crack!

A fist flew.

“Kyahhh!”

“Oppa!”

“Yun!”

“Where do you think you’re trying that crap.”

As café patrons screamed, Ami shouted, and I desperately shoved my body between Yun and Ju, Yun grabbed Ju by the collar and muttered—

With the right hand that had been gripping his shoulder, he struck Ju’s jaw in an instant, then seized his collar again.

One side of Ju’s face flared bright red.

Blocking Yun’s left fist together with Ricardo, I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that the smile still hadn’t left the Personnel Director’s face.

Ju wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

“I’m serious.”

Is this real life.

“I’ve never once been careless about it.”

“Then I should make your lifespan a little lighter.”

“Oppa!”

Ami yelled angrily as she grabbed at Yun’s clothes.

“Stop it!”

She started yanking at his clothes hard enough to tear them.

“Stop it, I said!”

But Yun didn’t spare Ami even a glance. He neither released the hand gripping the Personnel Director’s collar nor loosened the strength in his left hand that Ricardo and I were desperately holding back.

“Violence between Badgers is subject to disciplinary action.”

“I know.”

Ju said it with a smile, and Yun answered back with a crooked grin of his own.

His eyes really looked gone. It sent chills down my spine.

“I learned that well while I was hospitalized.”

“Oppaaa!”

By now, Ami was outright clinging to ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Yun.

“Oppa! You can’t do this! Stop it!”

“You’re not the one getting hit, so stay out of it, Choi Ami.”

“Maknae-oppa!”

He’s completely lost it.

Honestly, compared to other times, this was violence I could understand a lot more—but if we didn’t stop him, it really felt like he’d beat the Personnel Director until he passed out.

I rolled my eyes quickly, assessing the situation.

Right now, my body was wedged between Yun, who was looming over Ju, and Ju, who stood crookedly with his collar grabbed—like the filling of a sandwich.

Guess I’ll have to exaggerate a bit.

Pushing back against Yun’s fist, which seemed to be putting in more and more strength, I made up my mind.

I’m sorry, Personnel Director!

“Ah.”

I let the strength drain from my legs and toppled toward Ju.

“Uh—?”

The Personnel Director, flustered, caught my body.

“Hilde?”

Thud!

With a heavy sound, Ju fell to the floor.

Because the sudden weight of two adult men had come down on him, Ju’s body slipped free from Yun’s grip.

Lying on top of Ju, I turned my gaze.

I could feel all the eyes snap toward me at once.

Seeing Yun blinking as he looked down at me, I felt quietly satisfied.

“I’m sorry.”

I forced a bitter smile.

“I’ve been having orthostatic hypotension pretty often lately.”

“Hilde, you’re dizzy again?”

Ami screamed and ran to me.

“Oh my god. This doesn’t look like orthostatic hypotension! Please go to the hospital!”

“You really aren’t in good shape.”

The Personnel Director leaned toward me as I awkwardly shifted aside.

“Can you stand? You seem to have a bit of a fever, too.”

The atmosphere completely defused.

All attention focused on me. I didn’t refuse Ju’s offer to take me to the hospital. Smiling apologetically, I pretended to accept it with reluctance.

Of course, I immediately turned down Ami’s offer to come along as well.

After raising a hand to say I was fine, I looked around at the surrounding seniors.

“Then I’ll head in first.”

Ricardo turned his head and let out a small snort.

Meanwhile, Yun, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me since I collapsed onto Ju, snorted derisively.

Oh.

He’s letting it go.

“That was an admirable effort.”

I never thought he’d actually fall for it.

Watching my mentor lower his hand with a deep sigh, I let my smile widen.

“Yes. I’ll make sure to get properly examined.”

“Actually get examined.”

Yun said as he watched me push open the café door.

“That’s the condition for letting this slide.”

He really looks like he’s going to verify whether I actually go.

I hadn’t planned on really going to the hospital wing, but I quickly changed my mind.

After politely greeting the seniors, I headed for the hospital wing together with the Personnel Director.

***

“Good timing. I was actually thinking of coming to find you anyway.”

Ju said as we walked toward the hospital wing.

“I needed to thank you, and you didn’t look to be in great condition either.”

Warm sunlight.

Even after I said I was fine, Ju didn’t want to stop lightly supporting me. But when I firmly refused any physical contact, he instead walked unusually close to me the whole way from the science wing to the hospital wing.

All the while, an astonishing number of people greeted Ju.

A few of them even flushed the moment they saw him.

He really was born for personnel work—but I do hope Ami keeps that iron wall up to the end.

Thinking that I couldn’t completely fail to understand Yun’s feelings, I replied,

“I was planning to contact you as well.”

“Really? That works out nicely. But would it be alright if I say something first?”

“Of course.”

Ju smiled warmly.

“First of all, thank you.”

“Yes?”

For stopping Yun?

“Thank you for bringing Jin.”

“Ah.”

Only then did I finally understand why Ju had said he wanted to thank me.

At the same time, memories I had been desperately trying not to recall came surging back.

Kyle, shouting, How dare you miss me. Jin being dragged in by them and forced to his knees. Clyde lifting the scalpel. Drops of blood falling into a puddle.

That distant, hollow sense of loss.

I knew I wasn’t completely broken—but the feeling of something punched clean through me hadn’t gone away either.

Like an ant that can no longer sense pheromones.

I forced myself not to be swept away by the emotions brought on by the absence of instinct, and smiled faintly.

“It’s nothing.”

I wasn’t the one who brought Jin back in the first place.

“The seniors did it. I didn’t do anything.”

“That’s not true. Still, I figured that’s how you’d think about it.”

Ju’s words left me speechless.

The Personnel Director looked at my silence and smiled sadly.

“But it is true that you brought him back. Jin says so himself.”

“Before I absorbed him, the seniors arrived at just the right time.”

“He said it felt like you deliberately didn’t absorb him.”

Ju spoke gently.

“That’s what Jin told me.”

Did he?

I didn’t remember that moment at all.

And I didn’t particularly want to.

What would change if I dug through those memories anyway. All I had to do was make sure the same thing didn’t happen again.

“So you avoiding contact is because of that, too?”

I gave a bitter smile.

“Yes. I guess it’ll get better little by little. How is Jin? He probably can’t move his arm very well.”

“Let’s get your checkup first.”

Keeping a precise distance, Ju guided me toward the hospital.

And he stayed there until I finished my examination—with a doctor who wasn’t Samuel. It was enough to make me wonder what he’d originally come to Café Senabi for.

Had he really just dropped by and run into us by chance?

I kept wondering about it until I left the hospital.

Of course, I didn’t forget to voice my opinion during the exam.

“But I really don’t think Ami is an option.”

Ju didn’t listen.

“That’s for Ami to decide.”

“Please don’t make me regret stopping Yun.”

“Right. Thanks for stopping him. If Mr. Yun had really beaten me properly, I might’ve had an excuse to talk with Ami more.”

“Don’t pull that kind of bullshit.”

When I said it flatly, Ju laughed brightly.

I should’ve just let him get beaten.

I kept regretting it all the way from the hospital wing to Ju’s office. Of course, I trusted Ami’s judgment—but the fact that she had an unpredictable side kept bothering me.

What if one day she flashes a thumbs-up and says, ‘It’s fine, we’re just seeing each other casually!’ or something?

Just imagining it sent shivers all over my body.

It felt way too plausible.

“Hilde, it’d be better to postpone the physical test.”

I was still worrying about that scenario when we entered Ju’s office and the Personnel Director spoke up.

“Most Badgers postpone their physical tests due to mission injuries and the like, so don’t worry too much, alright?”

“Yes. But do we really need to postpone it?”

Even if I’d been dizzy often, every Creature in Core 15 had died by my hand.

“I think I could just do it....”

Ju sat across from me and studied me for a long while with an unreadable smile.

Then he spoke slowly.

“Then let’s see how things look next week and decide then.”

His tone was gently admonishing.

“When you’re sick, even ordinary things become difficult.”

That’s true.

I’d been thinking for a while that I should’ve treated Deltei better. How she’d participated in purification work despite having a constitution that caught colds every time the seasons changed. Deltei had willingly gone into remote areas, too—and only now did I feel like I could understand even a tenth of how hard that must have been for her.

I let out a sigh.

“If my condition doesn’t improve by next week, I’ll postpone it.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

He answered softly, like he was soothing a kindergarten kid.

Tilting his head, he closed his eyes.

“Jin is doing rehab together with Shu.”

That’s a relief.

Without me even asking, Ju answered exactly what I’d been curious about and smoothly continued.

“But he’s not really blending in. The Badgers are very cold toward deserter Badgers.”

I’d been worried about that too.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected that reaction.

“Sophia is about as far as it goes. Even though she once couldn’t hold back and raised her gun, she ultimately endured it and is serving properly. But desertion is different. They say they can’t trust someone with their back.”

“Yes.... I understand. I figured as much.”

In the Empire, desertion on the battlefield was something no excuse could justify, by principle.

It didn’t matter whose son you were. Unless you were the Emperor’s son, there was no mercy. Becoming a knight wasn’t easy, so it didn’t happen often—but when it did, I inevitably hunted down the deserter and cut off their head.

“But I don’t want to give up hope yet. So for now, I’ve kept him separated from the other Badgers. He’s hospitalized on the side doing rehab with Shu. If you have time, go visit him.”

“Yes.... But he might hate seeing me.”

“It’s the opposite, Hilde.”

The Personnel Director’s voice grew firm.

“He’s grateful to you. And he feels sorry. So once you’re feeling a bit better and have some room to breathe, go see him.”

No.

What would he even be sorry for?

I blinked in disbelief.

What on earth would Jin have to feel sorry to me about?

But before I could ask, Ju changed the subject.

“While you’re at it, I’d appreciate it if you visited Shu as well.”

“Of course. He’s not still saying something absurd like cutting off both his legs, right?”

“We’re doing our best to talk him out of it. He’s a pretty stubborn kid.”

Looks like I’ll have to go see him soon.

The topic shifted again. Ju started talking about the rumors circulating among the Black Badgers about me. There wasn’t anything new, though. In the first place, I’d been getting messages nonstop from unfamiliar seniors, so I already had a sense of the situation.

When I said I’d be careful, sadness clouded Ju’s face.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop the rumors.”

“I really don’t care, so please don’t worry.”

“Next week, are you planning to use the headquarters training hall? Could I ask when you’ll be visiting headquarters?”

Is all this really necessary?

Even as I felt puzzled, I promised to contact him before heading to the headquarters training hall.

Just how far had the rumors spread for him to go this far?

Well, I’d find out by watching....

***

The following week.

As promised, I contacted Ju and headed for the headquarters training hall.

Today, for the first time in a while, I’d be doing physical training together with Tom and Hesh. Even though they had to be busy with missions, the two of them had gone out of their way to match their schedules to mine.

Their concern for me was painfully obvious from their messages.

There’s really no need to worry that much.

It’s not like I’ll just let myself get beaten up....

Thinking that, the moment I opened the door and stepped into the training hall, I felt the noisy atmosphere cut off abruptly.

I blinked and raised my head.

I could feel eyes flying toward me through the open doorway.

Seniors frozen mid-motion.

“...Huh.”

They’re more surprised than I expected.

What’s with this reaction?

When I’d been walking through the corridors or going back and forth between the research wing and the hospital wing, no one had said anything....

“Excuse me.... I heard there was a physical test coming up, so I came to train.”

“What the hell, Giacomo?”

Huh?

One of the seniors I thought had been looking at me spoke while staring past my back.

Giacomo?

I blinked a few times, then slowly turned my head.

Is Giacomo behind me?

As I turned around in confusion, I spotted two huge figures.

More precisely, one huge person—and one who looked small by comparison.

...A genius and an idiot....

“Why did you bring John Mühlen into the training hall?”