Black Badger

Choi Ami brushed the blood off her dress.

The creature hunt had just ended. It had been fifteen minutes since she received the report that creatures were swarming toward Choi Je-seok's residence, her adoptive father's home. She had been reading a book by his bedside when she got Ska's call and rushed out from the main family home.

There were a lot of them, but the fight didn't last long.

Ricardo Sordi and Ska Owen were with her.

"Sorry for calling you out on your off-duty day."

Ska, impeccably dressed as always, gave Choi Ami a bright smile upon seeing her.

"That dress suits you well."

"Thanks. And it's fine. I'm actually grateful you came to help with the creatures heading for the main family home."

"Looks like the big shots are throwing another party, huh~?"

Ricardo sneered as he glanced at the luxury sedans speeding past the creature corpses.

Darkness had fallen. Streetlights illuminated the road, and a cool night breeze tousled their hair. A-Tac's security personnel guided the cars leaving the residence.

The day was drawing to a close. The salon had ended, and the creatures had been hunted.

Choi Ami looked at the security guards' glow sticks and replied.

"Yeah. Special A-grade personnel."

"Would've been entertaining to let them head to the residence without hunting them down...."

"Don't be snide, Rick. And we missed a few anyway. Looks like they handled it inside."

Ska glanced toward the annex, visible as a small shape in the corner of his vision.

His smartwatch delivered a message that all creatures heading toward the annex had been eliminated. He didn't bother lifting his wrist to check it. He knew full well that the Elder's retainers were in the annex. And not just any—retainers of the top Elders.

The hunt probably hadn't taken more than five minutes.

What could they have talked about with those dangerous people?

Ska stood staring at the annex, his mind unsettled, when Ricardo asked.

"Hildebert, right~...."

Choi Ami and Ska turned their heads.

"Is he in there right now?"

Choi Ami and Ska reacted differently.

Choi Ami's already round eyes grew even wider. Ska closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

Choi Ami reacted first.

"Rick, you really like Hilde, don't you!"

Ricardo furrowed his brow and raised an eyebrow. Ska burst into a hearty laugh at his comrade's response.

The sharp, bloody scent of the creature corpses wafted on the wind, brushing their clothes. The sedans leaving the residence never opened their windows.

"I've never seen you pay this much attention to a junior before."

"Is he just any junior~? He's some unknown guy who fell out of a portal.... Plus, if he was invited there, it means he's no ordinary guy, no matter how you look at it~."

"You're the one who even offered to team up on the next mission, and now you're nitpicking."

Ska teased his friend without losing his smile.

Ricardo kept his furrowed brow and flashed a twisted smile.

Then he let out a resigned sigh.

"It feels like he's playing suicide squad just to show off to someone~...."

Ska and Choi Ami knew exactly who that "someone" was.

A Badger who could barely remember Hilde's name despite running missions with him—Jonathan Kudo. No Badger was unaware that he was Ska and Ricardo's headache.

Ska laughed ha-ha before toning down his smile a bit.

"What about you?"

Ricardo skillfully ignored the pointed remark.

The green-eyed man slipped his snake-shaped weapon onto his finger and changed the subject.

"It's not just me who suggested it.... I heard Walker and Richard also applied to go on missions with Hilde~?"

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah."

Ska confirmed it casually.

"But it'll need Yoon's approval. Rick, you got to go on this mission with Hilde because Yoon approved it. Mentors still have authority over new recruit assignments."

"He approved Richard and Walker's requests? My little brother is way too quiet. I had no idea."

"It's tentative, but he seemed indifferent. Says he doesn't like sharing his own stuff."

Ricardo let out a hollow laugh mixed with the wind. Choi Ami giggled, saying it was just like her brother.

The wind picked up, drowning out their voices. Hardly any sedans were coming out of the gate now.

Ska, watching his comrades' reactions with a faint smile, spoke up.

"I hope this smart junior builds a solid career safely and becomes our successor."

"A successor in high command?"

Choi Ami looked up and asked.

Ska nodded. His gaze was fixed on the annex.

"He's a fresh-faced new recruit, so it doesn't show, but he'd make a great leader. It's been a while since we've had a junior who seems like he'd fit in high command, so I'm quietly rooting for him. Trying not to make it obvious, though."

"It's not obvious at all! I just now found out you were interested in Hilde too, Ska."

"Good. That's not something you show."

Ska smiled handsomely, as if pleased by Choi Ami's words.

"Not to him, or to the other Badgers...."

Screeech!

The ear-piercing tire screech cut Ska off.

The three heads whipped around at the piercing noise.

A sports car burst through the gate at reckless speed and screeched to a halt in front of them. The door flew open roughly, and a familiar person jumped out.

Yoon, his black coat flapping, scanned the surroundings with a fierce expression.

"Has Ye-hyeon come out with Hilde?"

The man asked in a grim voice.

The Badgers shook their heads side to side in unison. Having faced crises endlessly, they instinctively tensed up.

Yoon spat a curse and looked at Ska.

"It's that bastard's doing."

"Falcon's there, though?"

Ska understood Yoon's words immediately.

His responding voice was taut with tension.

"No one's ever pulled something like this with him around."

"So Falcon's gone."

Yoon's voice seethed with barely contained rage.

"I'll go find them, so contact Samuel and call an ambulance."

"I'll call right now."

"I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't get what's going on.... Maybe I should save the questions for later...."

Choi Ami pulled out her phone, suppressing her anxiety and dialing 119, while Rick muttered darkly as he pressed the button. Yoon spun on his heel and strode toward the sports car.

His flapping coat vanished from view in an instant. Before Yoon could close the driver's door, Ska asked in a hardened voice.

"The location tracker."

Yoon didn't answer and snapped his fingers.

A small chip flew into the air, reflecting the streetlight. Bang! Before it could hit the asphalt, the car door slammed shut noisily.

Ska gritted his teeth at the sight of the location tracker that had been implanted under Hilde's finger's skin.

The sports car roared off. Vroooom—it drowned out all surrounding sounds, leaving tire marks on the asphalt.

Ricardo ran over to pick up the location tracker, while Ska looked at the bit of flesh stuck to it and cursed.

They didn't hesitate.

The Badgers split into three directions and ran.

*

My head hurt.

More than when memories flooded back all at once. A slightly different feeling... My body felt heavy, my eyelids wouldn't open easily...

What was this? Had I blacked out from drinking?

But I didn't remember drinking...

I struggled for a while to open my unyielding eyelids. I tried to move my body, heavy like waterlogged cotton.

This was weird. My hands didn't feel free. And I wasn't lying down. I was sitting somewhere. Legs together, hands pulled behind my back.

Like a bound hostage...

"Huh."

My mind cleared.

Sensations rushed in.

I tried to ignore the pounding headache and squinted through barely open eyes. My vision stabilized.

But it wasn't normal. Objects in front of me grew larger then smaller. A sharp knife stretched long, then shrank back...

A knife?

My mind sharpened further.

I inhaled sharply as I saw the gleaming knife and its target.

"Jae-yeon!"

My urgent shout came out hoarse and cracked.

It had to be the drug's aftereffects. The throbbing headache, the vision warping endlessly.

But I had no time to worry about that.

"Stop it!"

"You're awake?"

The man turned his head, smiled at me, his long eyes curving like a fox's.

It was a chilling sight. A handsome man kneeling on one knee, holding a sashimi knife, smiling prettily. And below him, someone collapsed unconscious.

The unconscious man's state was wretched. His shirt was soaked in blood, no trace of its original white. Huge nails pierced his ankles and wrists. His jacket was torn and lying on the floor, shoes nowhere to be seen. Blood-matted hair covered his pale face.

And his body showed no movement.

At the scene of brutal violence, I was speechless. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Even as Jae-yeon smiled and said, "I've been waiting a while," I couldn't react properly.

From my revived memories, I knew Jae-yeon was dangerously violent. In the past, only Colton could control him. A being who loathed everything, especially himself. His whims, exceptional talent, and violence were only reined in by Colton's grip, so I'd never truly witnessed Jae-yeon's raw brutality.

Colton always set the lines. Jae-yeon toed them precariously.

At least, that's how Jae-yeon was in my memories.

But now...

"Well, it did make me feel a bit better."

"Ye-hyeon."

I called the target in a choked voice.

"Ye-hyeon?"

My vision filled with silver.

Jae-yeon brought the smooth blade close to my face. Not the edge, but the flat side, blocking Ye-hyeon from my view. My golden eye reflected in the gleaming blade.

I slowly raised my head, meeting Jae-yeon's gaze.

"You should focus on me."

Jae-yeon narrowed his eyes slyly.

"We have a lot to settle between us, after all."