The new headquarters of the Spacystro Seoul Branch was still under construction internally. It had already been about three weeks since the exterior and interior work began, and with the rapid pace of progress, at least one task was being completed every day.
As the outline of the headquarters gradually became clear, the executives began to relax a bit more, and the Team Leaders gathered together as usual for lunch.
“It’s going to be a really cold winter this year, isn’t it?”
Esmeralda, Luche, and Siera had already arrived and were seated when Angelique, running late, entered the dining area, took off her coat, hung it on the chair, and sat down.
There was one topic of conversation among the executives. Everyone already knew that Luche was Ati, and the question was when A, who had been the closest to Ati during that time, would find out Luche’s true identity.
After spending a whopping ten years together, they had observed A showing no signs of figuring it out, and they thought it would be impossible for A to realize unless someone told them first.
“So how did A find out?”
But then, yesterday. A had briefly visited the headquarters and found out that Luche was Ati. Luche had been half out of it all day, and it didn’t take long for the other Team Leaders to hear the news.
Since there was no reason to hide it in the first place, Luche had told the other Team Leaders that A knew everything, and Angelique, who had been the most interested in this issue among the Team Leaders, had been eagerly waiting for lunchtime today.
“Should we order regular food first?”
As soon as Angelique sat down, she got straight to the point with Luche, but perhaps feeling embarrassed, Luche turned her attention to the menu instead.
“How did A find out?”
But Angelique didn’t fall for Luche’s attempt to divert the conversation and asked again how A had found out.
“Angelique. Let’s eat first and talk about it slowly.”
Esmeralda, who had been quietly seated, calmed down an excited Angelique who was eager to hear Luche’s story, and after glancing at Esmeralda, Angelique nodded and decided to put her curiosity on hold for the moment.
“It’s strange. When we talked about it before, it seemed like A hadn’t noticed at all.”
A few months ago, there had been a time when the Team Leaders discussed Luche and A, and even then, A had shown no signs of realizing that Luche was Ati.
Since Angelique knew that Luche and A hadn’t had the opportunity to talk leisurely recently, she found it fascinating that A had come to know everything.
“Roy brought it up carelessly, and that’s how A found out.”
Siera, who had heard the whole story from A, explained what she knew while looking at the menu, and Luche, unable to bear the embarrassment of the Team Leaders discussing this, also kept her eyes fixed on the menu.
Soon after everyone had ordered their meals and were waiting, Angelique’s eyes turned to Luche.
“What did A say?”
“What did they say? They were just surprised.”
It was embarrassing enough that A had figured out her identity, but it was even more embarrassing to talk about it with the Team Leaders.
Even Esmeralda, who they thought wouldn’t be too interested in this issue, seemed curious about the whole story, sitting solemnly and glancing at Luche from time to time.
Luche, who couldn’t possibly miss those glances, couldn’t look at either Angelique or Esmeralda.
She couldn’t even look at Siera. If someone asked who it was hardest to make eye contact with, Luche would have said Siera without hesitation, as she was oddly wary of Siera’s reaction.
“What are you being so careful about now? Why are you being so cautious around me?”
Siera had also noticed that Luche was being cautious around her, and it was both strange and awkward, so she spoke up in a somewhat annoyed tone.
“I thought it would be fine. But I’m being too obvious.”
Until yesterday, before A found out everything, Luche hadn’t thought she would be wary of Siera’s reaction when they met.
But now that A had found out that she was Ati, and she could finally look at A the way she wanted, she couldn’t help but be cautious around Siera.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? A figured it out after ten years.”
As Siera muttered while looking at her phone, Angelique said that it was a good thing A had found out Luche’s identity after ten years, and Luche smiled, feeling as if the frustration of the past decade had been washed away.
“It’s a relief they found out now. It was so frustrating to watch from the side.”
“I feel the same way.”
Siera, who didn’t want to just congratulate Luche, spoke up, and Esmeralda nodded in agreement.
As the one who had assigned A as Luche’s supervisor during the time Luche was Ati, Esmeralda had felt the frustration of the past ten years more than anyone else.
Even though she was a patient person, A’s inability to notice anything for ten years had tested her patience to its limits. There were moments when she considered telling A directly, but since Luche didn’t want that, she had swallowed her words every time.
“So now it’s a competition between you and Siera?”
At Angelique’s words, both Luche and Siera flinched simultaneously.
They both flinched as if hit by a pointed comment, but for different reasons.
Especially Luche, who knew about A’s current situation, knew that it wasn’t a matter of competing with Siera anymore.
She thought she should probably talk about it, but she kept quiet, fearing that if too many people knew about A’s current situation, the progress that had been made so far might fall apart.
Even though A hadn’t noticed her identity, Luche hadn’t felt sad or angry. She wouldn’t have minded if A hadn’t noticed for another 20 years, but the thought of ruining A’s current situation and being hated by them was worse than death.
At the same time, although she had lost the advantage of getting closer to A, she didn’t want to lose to Siera.
“Why would I compete with them?”
Siera denied Angelique’s words and picked up a glass of water.
The reason she had flinched was nothing major. She just didn’t want to be associated with A in front of others, and she had been denying it all along.
The reason for the denial was simple. She didn’t want to reveal her feelings to others so easily.
But to Angelique and Esmeralda, who had been with her for decades, her feelings were all too obvious.
And the fact that A hadn’t noticed was yet another frustrating point.
“You like the Senior too, don’t you?”
At Luche’s blunt statement, Siera spat out the water she was drinking and coughed, pulling out a tissue to wipe the water from her chin.
“Who, who does?”
“Can’t you stop pretending? It’s so obvious.”
At Luche’s sharp words, Siera averted her eyes. Whether it was because she was caught off guard or embarrassed, her face was turning red.
“Don’t push her too hard. Siera’s a tsundere.”
“Tsundere? What’s that?”
When Angelique summed up Siera’s behavior with a term used on Earth, Esmeralda, who didn’t know the meaning, asked.
“It means someone who pretends not to like someone they actually like.”
After understanding the meaning of the word and glancing at Siera, Esmeralda nodded, and in the situation where she seemed to be confirmed as a tsundere, Siera avoided making eye contact with the other Team Leaders.
“If you keep acting like that, A won’t notice even if they die and come back to life.”
A had found out after ten years that Luche was Ati. Luche had been hoping that A would notice her feelings sooner, and it had finally happened.
She thought she could now reveal her feelings more openly and vowed to show A more of herself.
In other words, it had taken ten years for A to see the first glimpse of Luche’s various sides.
“……So what?”
Siera, who still didn’t want to admit her feelings in front of others, responded as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Even I waited ten years without showing it, hoping they’d notice. How long have you known A?”
The time Siera and A had known each other was incomparably longer than Luche’s. Even compared to the Team Leaders gathered here, Siera had known A the longest, and she was the person who had known A the longest in the entire universe.
“It’s been a long time.”
“But they still haven’t noticed at all. Don’t you think there’s something wrong with your approach?”
To Luche, Siera was a rival. Who would get closer to A first was a big issue for both of them.
But Siera didn’t rush her own situation. The fact that A didn’t understand her feelings wasn’t a big problem for Siera at the moment.
That’s why, during the ten years that Luche and A had spent as superior and subordinate, Siera hadn’t taken any action, and even now that A had found out Luche’s identity, she didn’t push herself.
Luche also understood Siera’s thoughts to some extent. She clearly recognized Siera as a rival, but perhaps because she now had a bit more peace of mind, she could speak openly about Siera’s current approach.
“I don’t care.”
“That’s why you can’t even be buried together.”
At those words, Siera’s face turned bright red, and she glared at Luche. The competition between the two had already started a long time ago.
Even during the time Luche was Ati, her feelings for A weren’t clear, but the competition between the two women had already begun.
Even back then, Siera had recognized Luche as a fellow woman and a rival, and Luche had a vague sense that Siera was wary of her.
Over time, Luche had also come to understand Siera to some extent and knew that her goal wasn’t to immediately develop a closer relationship with A.
Siera’s goal wasn’t to date A and start a family right away. Her goal was to be with him when their lives reached their end after many years.
But now that A had found out about Luche after ten years, and Luche, who was directly involved, couldn’t see Siera’s current approach leading to them being together even after one or more lifetimes.
“It doesn’t matter what approach you take. I’m just telling you this just in case.”
Siera’s face was still red as she continued to glare at Luche, and Luche, feeling her gaze, drank the water in the glass in front of her.
Luche’s thoughts were also complicated. Because she knew about A’s current situation.
Although the chance to be first had already passed, she hadn’t obsessed over being first from the beginning. But the fact that the rival was currently HunterKiller was a slightly different issue.
Moreover, since she was the one who had ordered A to monitor HunterKiller, she had no rebuttal when she heard Siera’s words about not letting A do anything.
‘I’m sure those girls must have seduced A.’
Luche knew when A had started dating the HunterKiller members, but she didn’t know the exact circumstances that led to them dating. She knew the situation in general, but she didn’t know about the feelings between them.
A hadn’t mentioned their feelings while reporting.
It wasn’t necessary to talk about personal feelings, so it was understandable, but considering that A, who had never been in a relationship while traveling through many planets, had suddenly started dating the HunterKiller members, Luche couldn’t help but think that the HunterKiller members must have seduced them.
‘If we have to face them again, I’ll have to make sure they can’t act up.’
Unable to forget the repeated defeats to HunterKiller, Luche only thought about how to crush their spirits and tightened her grip on the glass.
“I’ll take care of myself, so you just focus on making sure A doesn’t do anything reckless.”
Listening to Siera’s words about still wanting A to not do anything, Luche thought it was already too late but nodded, stopping short when she realized that Siera might lose her temper if she said anything now.
“That’s why that kind of talk makes it hard for the Senior to notice.”
“!”
On the day of the terrorist incident, Siera had run into A at the previous headquarters, and because of her usual habit of telling A not to do anything, A had gotten angry.
And when A had been lying unconscious, Siera had told Luche that A had gotten angry. At the time, since A was unconscious, she had hesitated to bring up emotional issues, but now she could clearly point out Siera’s problem.
“You clearly know they don’t like hearing that. If you’re not going to say it when you meet, you should get in the habit of not saying it from the start.”
A had gotten angry at hearing something they didn’t want to hear, and if A hadn’t woken up after that day, the last memory Siera would have of A would have been them getting angry at her for saying something they didn’t want to hear.
After that day, she had realized there was a problem with her way of speaking. And as she unconsciously spoke again, she realized her own problem and hung her head.
“I like the Senior.”
At Luche’s sudden declaration, Siera, who had been hanging her head, looked up at her. Esmeralda and Angelique, sitting across from them, also widened their eyes and looked at Luche.
“It’s so obvious that Siera likes the Senior.”
“Uh-hum!”
Behind Siera, who was coughing awkwardly, Luche’s gaze turned to Esmeralda and Angelique across the table.
“What about you two?”
At her words, a heavy silence fell over the table where the four were sitting. Esmeralda and Angelique, caught off guard by Luche’s sudden words, kept their mouths shut, and their gazes, which had been on Luche, turned to each other.
