I had noticed that she was subtly avoiding me, but seeing her blatantly dodge me made me rethink things.
Up until now, time had solved so many problems for me that I thought this one would resolve itself over time too. But that was a naive thought. Looking back, I realized that leaving problems to time had actually caused more issues.
If I were to go into detail, it would never end, but to put it simply, the biggest issue was that we had no idea what each other was thinking. Despite having known each other for so long, it was only recently that we found out what was on each other’s minds.
Time gradually removes the awkwardness between people, but losing the awkwardness doesn’t mean everything is resolved. Even though I had just realized this a few days ago, I still wanted to leave it to time.
Was it because I didn’t know better? To avoid the issue? No, it was just a habit.
The way I’ve always handled problems between Siera and me was to leave them to time, so even though I knew time wouldn’t solve everything, I still wanted to leave it to time.
“Good luck.”
Theo and Alt, who had seen Siera and me escaping (?) together, noticed that the situation wasn’t normal but didn’t say much.
When the elevator stopped on the 3rd floor, the two of them got off first, giving a casual greeting before waiting for the door to close and staring at it until we reached the 4th floor.
Ding! Just after the sound of the elevator stopping, the door opened, and I quickly walked into Team 4’s office.
The members of Team 4 were working, and Siera wasn’t there. Wondering if she was in the team leader’s office, I headed there but then thought she might not have returned to the office, so I asked one of the Team 4 members who was working.
“Where’s Siera?”
“Huh?”
Though we weren’t close, the Team 4 member, who knew me casually, looked at me with a blank expression. They knew about my relationship with Siera. No, everyone in the Seoul Branch knew that Siera and I had been friends for a long time.
Since everyone knew, I always used formal speech with Siera in public. Partly because she held the position of Team Leader, but mostly because I didn’t want others to look down on her if I treated her casually in a formal setting.
Whatever the reason, in the office, I always used formal speech with Siera, so when I asked about her whereabouts with a stiff expression and dropped the formalities, the Team 4 member was visibly flustered.
“The Team Leader just went out a while ago.”
With a blank expression, they quickly told me where Siera was, thinking it must be important since I had dropped the formalities.
She hadn’t returned to the Team 4 office.
When she got back on the elevator, it stopped at the 3rd floor, 4th floor, and then the rooftop.
She was most likely on the 3rd floor or the rooftop, so I didn’t hesitate and headed to the rooftop.
If she’s avoiding me outright, I need to talk to her and put an end to this situation. With that thought, I quickened my pace, and the moment the elevator reached the top floor, I stepped out and opened the door to the lounge.
“?”
The figure I saw as soon as I opened the rooftop door was definitely not Siera. From the hair length to the physique, it was a completely different person, but it was someone I knew well.
“Here to get some fresh air?”
Klugger, who was sitting on the rooftop looking at his tablet, turned his head at the sound of the door opening and made eye contact with me.
“No, not really. Has Siera been here?”
“Nope.”
They say timing is everything in life, right? Feeling a mix of irritation and urgency to find Siera, I hesitated because I had something to say to Klugger.
“Why? You’ve got something to say?”
Klugger asked, seeing me standing there staring at him without moving. If I started talking now, it would turn into a long conversation, and if I left to look for Siera, I wasn’t sure when I’d get a chance to talk to Klugger alone.
“Theo said you were in the office. Did you just come up?”
“Yeah. The Team Leader said to take a break. What about you? Looking for Team Leader 4?”
“Yeah. I’ve got something to say.”
Klugger, who knew the atmosphere between Siera and me as well as the team leaders, seemed to have a rough idea of what was going on and shook his head.
“As soon as you came back, Team Leader 4 was acting weird. It’s because of you, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. Should I say it’s my fault? Or that there’s no fault at all? No, I guess it’s my fault.”
“Which is it?”
Sighing, I concluded that chasing after Siera now wouldn’t help me find her immediately.
“You’ve got something to say to me, right?”
“You’re perceptive. And you’ve got something to say to me too, haven’t you?”
“Plenty.”
Klugger sighed, and I read the change in his expression. It was a rare expression he didn’t usually show me—eyes filled with suspicion and guardedness. It was the same look he had when things were bad between us long ago.
“You’re dating a Hyper-human, right?”
“Yeah.”
Given that Yubin had come to headquarters, there was no point in hiding it now. If the higher-ups gave the order, it would be known soon enough, and even without that, it wouldn’t take much to find out.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
Klugger reached out toward me, and in his hand was a gun. I could see he was wearing the suit under his shirt and had quickly drawn the gun holstered in it.
Though it was sudden, I wasn’t panicked. I had already expected that Klugger had misunderstood me, and given how extreme Klugger could be, it wasn’t surprising that he was pointing a gun at me. Especially since he took great pride in being a part of Spacystro.
“This is surprising.”
Though I said I was surprised, Klugger probably noticed right away that I wasn’t actually panicking. His gaze was steady, and the gun barrel and eyes were pointed directly at me.
“Whose side are you on?”
As I’ve said many times, it’s common for people to fall in love with aliens during Spacystro’s invasions. But it’s not just about developing a romantic relationship—many of them end up taking actions that negatively affect Spacystro’s invasion.
Spacystro’s higher-ups don’t control everything, but if someone acts hostile toward Spacystro, they’ll be punished accordingly.
I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t want me to be punished or because he thinks I’ve already done something close to betrayal, but Klugger was pointing the gun at me.
But just because the gun is pointed at me doesn’t mean I plan to lie.
At this point, I don’t take sides with either Spacystro or Earth.
“I’m on my girlfriends’ side.”
Klugger’s brows furrowed. My girlfriends are Hyper-humans, and officially, they’re still part of the Earth Defense Union.
I don’t know how much Klugger knows, but to him, my statement might sound like I’m siding with Earth.
“So you’re siding with Earth?”
“No.”
Klugger’s furrowed brow shifted in a different direction.
He had a look of not understanding the intent behind my words.
Even with the gun pointed at me, I didn’t lose my composure. I was just focused on what I had to say.
“I mean it literally. I’m not on Earth’s side or Spacystro’s side. Right now, I’m just acting for my girlfriends.”
When you think about it, I’ve never really been on Spacystro’s side.
I’ve always acted for my own goals, and I just happened to be affiliated with Spacystro.
After my goal became revenge, I had no loyalty to Spacystro. Maybe I never did.
In fact, now that my goal is clear, I feel cleaner in both body and mind.
“You think I’ll buy that?”
Klugger is different from me. Unlike me, who joined with a clear purpose, he became a soldier aiming to make a career out of it. He takes pride in being a soldier and being part of Spacystro.
He also knows I don’t have clear loyalty.
But lacking loyalty and being misguided are two different things.
“I don’t think you’ll believe it. But this is what I think right now. I have no intention of lying.”
There was no sound between Klugger and me. Only the wind and the distant sound of cars filled the wide rooftop lounge.
The silence, which seemed like it could last forever, was broken by the sound of the elevator arriving on the rooftop.
“What’s going on?”
We still hadn’t taken our eyes off each other, and Theo, who had stepped out of the elevator, looked at the situation unfolding in front of him with disbelief.
“I saw both of you not long ago. What happened in the meantime? Damn it.”
With a rough curse, Theo stood between Klugger and me. He glanced at the gun pointed at me, then at me, who hadn’t flinched, and let out a deep sigh.
“Can someone explain what’s going on?”
“I can’t tell what this guy’s thinking.”
“He seems to think I’m in cahoots with Earth.”
We each threw out our thoughts briefly, and Theo, with the minimal information, matched it to the situation and scratched his head.
“You idiots haven’t changed since the old days.”
Theo, frowning, glared at me.
“You went and said your thoughts without explaining the context again, didn’t you?”
“…”
I couldn’t argue. Thinking about it, Theo was right—I had just stated my thoughts without any context.
Then his gaze turned to Klugger, who was holding the gun.
“You wanted to confirm the conclusion without checking the context, didn’t you?”
“…”
Klugger couldn’t argue either and remained silent.
“How is it that you two haven’t changed even as you’ve aged? How have you managed to stay in the same department all this time? If a person is going to be foolish, they’ll be foolish to the end. Why do you only mess up when it’s crucial to get it right? Just seeing you two makes me feel like I’ve lost ten years of my life.”
In a situation that was both familiar and frustrating—or frustrating and familiar—Theo vented with an irritated tone.
Since neither of us had checked the context, we had nothing to say and just looked at each other, sweating.
It had always been like this. Even though we always clashed with different opinions, we both wanted to confirm the result of the situation first.
“This guy’s been dating the entire HunterKiller Team. They collaborated on the Hyper-human investigation. Since no orders have come down from the higher-ups, I don’t know the specifics. A hasn’t been allowed to disclose the collaboration details either. What’s certain is that what you’re thinking isn’t the case.”
“…Is that true?”
After listening to Theo, Klugger looked back at me for confirmation. Since there was nothing wrong with Theo’s statement, I nodded, and Klugger sighed.
“You should’ve just said that from the start.”
“What did you ask?”
“Whose side he’s on.”
“And what did you say?”
Theo’s eyes turned to me this time.
“I said I’m on my girlfriends’ side.”
“Damn it, you idiot.”
Theo cursed fluently, then quickly looked back at Klugger.
“You’re the same. If you’re suspecting he’s siding with Earth, you should’ve checked whether it was true or not from the start. No, why does the intent of the question and the answer not match? I just don’t get it.”
Still unable to shake off his disbelief, Theo continued to rant, and Klugger pulled the trigger.
The moment Klugger suddenly pulled the trigger, Theo and I flinched, only to see a flower come out of the gun barrel.
“It’s a toy.”
“Why are you carrying that around?”
“Did you really think I’d point a real gun at you?”
Realizing the gun wasn’t real, I couldn’t help but laugh weakly.
I must’ve been nervous because my shoulders relaxed upon realizing it was a toy.
Now I was curious why Theo had come up to the rooftop.
“So why’d you come up here? Didn’t you go into the office?”
“Right. Siera’s on the 3rd floor.”
“Figures.”
Since she wasn’t on the rooftop, one of the two places I expected, I guessed she’d be on the 3rd floor, and my guess was right.
Wondering if it was okay to head down now, I looked at Klugger, and he gestured for me to go.
“Go ahead. You’re looking for something urgent, aren’t you?”
“It is urgent. I’ll be going first.”
After bidding farewell to Klugger and Theo, I got on the elevator still on the rooftop and pressed the button for the 3rd floor.
After A left, the two remaining on the rooftop stood in silence.
Theo, who had been staring at the lounge door, slowly turned his head to look at Klugger.
“Seeing you two makes me frustrated. Really frustrated.”
“I’d feel the same way.”
“Even if it’s a toy, why point a gun? I really thought you’d lost it.”
“I just wanted to confirm. Did you really think I’d point a real gun at a comrade?”
“Sure, whatever.”
Stressed by the sudden situation, Theo took out a cigarette even though he had just lit one recently, and Klugger, standing next to him, held out his hand.
“Give me one.”
“…What’s this? I thought you quit completely?”
“It’s embarrassing, but I need to smoke something.”
Letting out an ambiguous laugh—whether it was a scoff or a helpless chuckle—Theo took out a cigarette from his pocket and placed it in Klugger’s hand.
