Three men were holding a small meeting inside the ward when Alt was observing the unfamiliar scenery with his eyes.
“It’s similar, but it’s completely different.”
Having spent most of his time in Japan after coming to Earth, the landscape of Korea was very unfamiliar to Alt. Although he had heard that the bustling areas of Japan and Korea were not much different, what he saw directly revealed many differences rather than similarities.
“Should I consider going back?”
Even if he wanted to move the branch back to Japan, it wouldn’t be easy. Still, Alt, who hadn’t yet adapted to the new culture, felt a desire to return to where he originally was.
Although Alt enjoyed various cultures and had a good absorption capacity, the genre of animation he encountered in Japan was so attractive that he immersed himself in countless stories.
Unlike Japan, where everything around him was related to animation, it was hard to find anything related to animation wherever he looked in Korea.
“How long will they talk?”
Alt thought about returning to the ward to join in the conversation, but since there must have been a reason for them to send him and Lloyd out, he couldn’t go back immediately. Moreover, since the conversation seemed to be long, Alt, who had parted ways with Lloyd, stood aimlessly looking around the hospital grounds, unsure of what to do next.
“!”
At that moment, something caught Alt’s eye. Just as he felt that walking outside wasn’t fun, he noticed a picture.
More precisely, a drawing on someone’s eco-bag.
“Flame Dragon!”
Seeing the character he loved depicted, Alt exclaimed joyfully, and the owner of the bag was startled and looked at Alt.
The woman with black long hair met Alt’s gaze and looked at him with evident discomfort before checking her bag.
“It looks like you like the Flame Dragon. I like it too.”
“Oh, yes… Well…”
Smiling, Alt made the woman take a step back.
She had been searching for her destination when suddenly someone shouted about her bag.
The man who met her eyes wasn’t large in build, but his physique was well balanced even through his clothes. Furthermore, with his tanned skin and blond hair, it was difficult to see him as a simple young man at first glance.
“I haven’t been here long, and there’s no one around who likes comics, so I don’t have anyone to talk to.”
Seeing the young man explain his situation without being asked, the woman thought he was just another otaku. Of course, she couldn’t say she wasn’t an otaku herself for carrying a bag with a character drawn on it, but being an otaku didn’t make him any less of a stranger.
“I need to go somewhere…”
“Of course. Sorry, I got carried away.”
Feeling the need to distance herself from this man, the woman moved away from Alt. But even as she moved away, she could feel his intense stare.
“Indeed, there are manga fans everywhere.”
Feeling frustrated about not having anyone to share the same hobby with, Alt gained confidence that there would definitely be someone who liked manga just like him.
Watching the black-haired woman who was gradually moving away, Alt thought that they might meet again someday, which filled him with joy.
A, Theo, who had been discussing with Kruger, came out of the hospital to take a break and smoke a cigarette. He tried to enter the smoking booth near the hospital entrance but stopped in his tracks when he saw a notice board and stood there with a cigarette in his mouth, unlit.
“Interior construction?”
The smoking booth was closed for interior work, and Theo, who had lost his place to smoke, stared blankly at the notice board and looked around the area outside the hospital.
Even though it was outside the hospital, getting out of the hospital grounds meant walking a considerable distance beyond the hospital entrance.
“What bad luck.”
Thinking he would only smoke one and then go back in, Theo started to worry about what to do when his plans changed abruptly.
He decided to look around the alleys.
Even though the buildings were in the hospital area, there must be a place where he could smoke.
While wandering between the hospital buildings, Theo found an alleyway with cigarette butts scattered on the ground.
“I found it.”
Just as he put a cigarette in his mouth to relieve his frustration and light it, someone touched Theo’s shoulder from the side.
“Hmm?”
When he turned his head, he saw a white-haired woman standing slightly shorter than him, looking down at him.
“What’s the matter?”
Normally, when people speak to strangers at a smoking spot, it’s usually to borrow a light. However, given the soft appearance of the woman who didn’t seem likely to smoke, Theo was sure she wasn’t there to borrow a light.
“Over there.”
The woman pointed to something, and Theo followed her finger to see a sign indicating it was a non-smoking area.
‘So it was just a coincidence.’
Even if there were no-smoking signs, places marked as non-smoking areas were sometimes used as smoking spots. Not realizing this was a non-smoking area, Theo felt deflated when he understood.
“Sorry, I thought it was a smoking area because there were cigarette butts.”
“No, it’s fine. It can happen.”
Acknowledging her mistake for not checking, the woman smiled at Theo.
“There’s a smoking area over there.”
“Thanks.”
Grateful for the information, Theo headed towards the smoking area, and the woman walked alongside him.
‘Could it be?’
The white-haired woman, who appeared to be far from smoking, arrived at the smoking area with Theo and, keeping a distance from Theo, who lit a cigarette, took one out of her pocket and placed it in her mouth.
Just because someone seems gentle doesn’t mean they don’t smoke, but seeing a seemingly pure woman smoke made Theo feel dissonance and he smoked blankly.
When the cigarette burned down to a butt, the woman threw it into the ashtray inside the smoking booth. Their eyes met as she left the booth, and Theo reflexively returned her bow with a smile.
“Amazing.”
As a soldier, Theo had seen many women smoke. However, living with strong-willed women, he had assumed that gentle-looking women wouldn’t smoke.
Today, his assumption was shattered.
“Senior?”
After leaving the smoking booth, Theo planned to return to the hospital. Coincidentally, he met Alt passing by.
“Where did Lloyd throw away the medicine smell? And why are you smiling alone? Did something good happen?”
“Yes, Lloyd went somewhere saying he smelled of medicine, but I don’t know where.”
“What if he gets lost?”
“He’s not a child. Would a passerby think he’s lost and bring him?”
“No, that won’t happen.”
Unconcerned about Lloyd’s whereabouts, the two were about to return to the hospital when they saw Roy, who was tall and blond, walking beside a tall woman in the distance.
After finishing their role division and going out to smoke, Theo and the others waited idly.
“Got anything to drink?”
“Don’t visitors bring stuff like that?”
Sighing, they stepped out to get something to drink.
Kluge was lost in thought and glanced out the window.
It didn’t seem related to the meeting they had just held.
Kluge was always straightforward when consulting with others. Since he was just thinking to himself, it wasn’t worth checking what he was thinking about.
The silence in the ward was broken by laughter from outside.
“Ha ha ha!”
“Really, this is ridiculous.”
Teo and Alt entered, unable to hide their laughter. Curious, we, along with Kluge, watched the newcomers.
“Hey, Roy was lost, and someone brought him back to the hospital.”
“They couldn’t tell because of the mixed smell! And if we contact him, he can come back, so he wasn’t lost!”
“Wasn’t lost, right?”
Alt teased Roy, mimicking his voice in a comical tone, making fun of Roy’s insistence.
When Roy’s face turned red, thinking he was embarrassed about being caught lost, it felt different.
“Why is your expression like that?”
Kluge, sensing something similar, asked about Roy’s expression. Roy, who had been loudly denying being lost, suddenly fell silent.
Waiting for Roy to speak, he cleared his throat and said to everyone,
“I think I met my destined partner.”
The humor of being lost was real, but the irony was Roy’s insistence that he wasn’t lost. Yet, when he unexpectedly revealed his true feelings, none of us could laugh.
“What nonsense is this?”
If he had said something funny, it might have been amusing, but his earnest words made me exclaim in disbelief.
Near the hospital, a cafe.
“Sorry, I’m late?”
A tall woman with golden short hair entered the cafe and searched for her acquaintances. Two women with bright hair and one with dark hair were sitting together, and she immediately approached them.
“No, we just arrived.”
White pulled out a chair for Gold to sit.
“Sorry, it’s my fault.”
Silver, who didn’t have time to go to the headquarters, suggested holding the meeting at a cafe. The members of SpecialForce Team readily agreed and gathered at a cafe near the hospital.
“You’re always the first to arrive, but today is unusual?”
Though not late, it was surprising that Gold, who was usually the first to arrive at meetings, was the latest. White asked for the reason.
“A child got lost, so I helped bring them here since this hospital was their destination.”
“That’s a good deed.”
“But is it okay to hold the meeting in a cafe?”
“It’s better. It’s more comfortable than at the headquarters.”
Since the situation at the Earth Defense Union Seoul Headquarters was too complex and the members preferred the calmness of a cafe over the chaos of the headquarters, they agreed to hold the meeting there.
“Then let’s start. First, let’s discuss the schedule for the next match…”
In a quiet corner of the cafe, the meeting of SpecialForce Team began.
