Impatience doesn’t make time wait. Even when the heart is eager and thoughts multiply, the flow of time remains simple and uncomplicated. It just moves forward as it is, never waiting for the resolution of one’s worries, and sometimes that feels frustrating.
Green’s situation was like that. Even though it was just about contacting and meeting A, for her, it required a big decision and a lot of contemplation.
It wasn’t like that from the beginning. From the moment she first met A, and as she gradually got to know him and he helped her, Green enjoyed meeting him and found it pleasant. But as time passed, an anxiety that she couldn’t express to anyone began to grow within her.
“…Haa.”
Green, who arrived at the meeting room first on Monday morning, just stared at her smartphone screen, which she had been looking at all weekend, without taking any other action. She didn’t know exactly what A was doing, but he was a working man, busy every day, whether it was a weekday or a weekend.
Their meetings, which initially happened once or twice during lunchtime, had become more regular. Ironically, the root of Green’s worries was these repeated meetings with A.
She didn’t dislike meeting him; in fact, she was happy and had no reason to dislike it. But she wondered if it was okay for her to keep meeting him while she was still receiving help from him and feeling uncertain. What magnified her anxiety was the reality that she was a Hyper-human.
“Did something happen?”
Red, who arrived after Green, greeted her as she sat down. Green replied with a light “Yeah.” Red’s expression seemed brighter than usual, even a bit happier.
“Why do you ask?”
Unaware that her expression had given her away, Red looked at Green with wide eyes, wondering if there was something serious going on.
“Just because. You seem in a good mood.”
“Ah.”
Red realized that her cheerful mood was noticeable to others.
“I went on a date with Oppa after the match last week.”
“Did you go somewhere fun?”
“Not really. We just watched a movie and went shopping.”
Although Red hadn’t expressed it, she felt a bit disappointed that her dates with A had decreased recently. He had been busy with increasing freelance work, and she knew that his now-busy schedule would eventually lead to more leisurely dates in the future.
But understanding the current situation doesn’t prevent other emotions. For Red, who had been counting down the days for their date, the post-match date held great value.
Even though A was too busy after the date to spend much leisurely time together, Red still had a great time, and her good mood carried over into Monday, doubling her excitement for today’s meeting with the team.
“Good morning.”
Pink and Blue entered together, greeting everyone.
“Hi. Did you two come together?”
“No, we met downstairs.”
As they exchanged casual greetings and began to slowly start a conversation, Yellow arrived, completing the team, and the meeting commenced.
During the meeting, everyone focused on work, leaving behind romantic discussions, but as soon as it ended, they all relaxed and started talking about their weekends with their boyfriends.
“We played games all day on Friday.”
“After part-time work, we drank and had a blast.”
“After work, he came to my place, and we had dinner…”
Starting from Red’s date story, each member’s stories poured out. Although it was just games, Yellow seemed more refreshed, and Pink’s slight movements suggested what had happened after the drinking session, while Blue shyly trailed off her words.
To Green, who was caught in a maze of worries, it seemed like everyone had spent special days in the past few days. They all shared their experiences but were careful not to reveal too much about their boyfriends, likely a habit developed from their long HunterKiller lifestyle.
But Green could still infer some information about their boyfriends, albeit limited. They were ordinary office workers or freelancers without prejudice towards Hyper-humans.
Looking at Red, who didn’t bring up her Hyper-human status when talking about her boyfriend, Green thought she probably hadn’t discussed it with him yet.
“Are you going to tell your boyfriend about being a Hyper-human?”
This was currently the most concerning part for Green. While A knew about Green’s status and had no prejudice, it was only when they were acquaintances. If they became lovers, it would be a different story. Green hadn’t thought about advancing their relationship yet but left some room and immediately asked Red, who hadn’t disclosed her status to her boyfriend.
Red was momentarily at a loss for words. It was a dilemma for her as well, and she wasn’t mentally prepared yet. The longer she waited, the harder it would be, but acknowledging this didn’t make it any easier.
“Maybe I’ll tell him someday, but not now.”
“If, just if, he doesn’t like that you’re a Hyper-human, what will you do?”
Red stared at Green for a moment. The other members also looked at Green, who was asking intensely, and Green met Red’s gaze with steady eyes.
She then imagined.
‘If Oppa knows I’m a Hyper-human and dislikes me…’
Just imagining it made her chest ache, and she couldn’t raise her head. She thought of the always caring look in his eyes, the playful but considerate actions, and the gentle voice—if it all suddenly turned to the opposite…
“…”
Red smiled emptily.
“It’ll be sad, won’t it?”
The answer was in questioning form, but she wasn’t asking Green. It was a question she posed to herself, as she couldn’t foresee the emotions that would come when that moment arrived.
Realizing her persistence in questioning, Green hurriedly apologized.
“I’m sorry, I pressed too much.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Although Red’s thoughts were momentarily burdened, she wasn’t upset or angry about Green’s question. The situation where she would have to reveal her identity would come one day, and avoiding it wouldn’t change that.
Red, as the first to know Green’s situation, knew that Green was concerned about the person who had helped her. Not everything was clear, but having faced each other many times in meetings since joining HunterKiller around the same time, Red felt she could understand a bit.
“You’re worried, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then isn’t it good to meet?”
“It’s just that reaching out first is a bit…”
Given Green’s situation, the members couldn’t offer any rash advice. If it were just a matter of a man and a woman meeting, they would freely add their opinions, but Green’s relationship was complicated by her challenging home environment.
Her tough home environment was gradually fading and would no longer be an issue, given time. However, there was no guarantee that the person would remain by her side when that time came.
“Aren’t they contacting you first?”
Hearing this from behind, Pink asked out of frustration, and Green nodded.
“Do you think they have a girlfriend or something?”
“I… don’t know.”
Pink was also grateful to the person who had helped Green, but having experienced the variety of people in the world, she couldn’t help but suspect that the person might be playing games with Green.
But after Green’s situation progressed and they went on a vacation they had never been on before, and there was no contact since then, Pink’s suspicions grew.
“It’s strange that there’s been no contact after coming back from the trip.”
“Maybe he’s just busy. We used to meet during his lunch break when he was working.”
Green felt guilty again for having taken over his precious lunch breaks.
“That can’t be. You met coincidentally from not knowing each other at all, and now if he has a girlfriend, it’s even stranger for him to keep meeting you.”
Red didn’t want to think of the bad scenarios and logically responded to Pink’s comments. Pink also didn’t want to consider those possibilities, but moving forward or backward, someone had to bring it up to create options.
“Don’t you want to do something together? That could be a reason to meet.”
Blue, who had called A when she needed help with furniture while preparing to move, suggested. At that time, it was because she really needed help and A was the only one she could turn to, but now looking back, it was because she wanted to do something with him, and the effect was great.
“Something I want to do…”
Green thought about A.
Uncontrollably, her feelings for him grew, and she began to explore things related to romance.
‘The person who first comes to mind when you want to do something.’
This was the first phrase Green saw, and accordingly, whenever she thought of something fun while watching TV, A was the first person she thought of. But when she wondered what she actually wanted to do with A, nothing specific came to mind.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, something she had seen before flashed into her mind.
Seeing the team members having special times with their boyfriends, Green felt envious and wished she could have such special moments with A. But she felt that special moments required a trigger, and she thought she had none.
But after speaking with the team, asking questions, listening to their queries, and thinking, something suddenly dawned on her, and Green took a deep breath.
“Sorry, can I go ahead?”
Green’s time was limited. The only time she could meet him was around his one-hour lunch break. Inspired by the team, she wanted to challenge something she had thought of and promptly got up.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Though they couldn’t know what it was, the team intuitively felt that Green had thought of something that gave her courage and urged her to hurry. Green immediately left the base and headed home—to be exact, to the park near her home. She took out her smartphone from her pocket, took a deep breath, and texted him:
[Are you at work?]
After sending the text, there was no immediate reply. Knowing A was likely working and wouldn’t respond right away, she still felt uneasy.
‘Maybe it’s over already?’
It was a thought she couldn’t entirely dismiss. She didn’t know his true intentions in helping and taking care of her, but there were limits to giving without expecting anything in return. And if A’s heart had completely turned away from her…
Green shook her head.
Holding the smartphone tensely in her hand as she walked to the park, she felt a vibration and quickly checked her phone.
[Yes. Are you done with the meeting?]
A’s reply had arrived, and the anxious expression Green had just had was replaced with a bright smile as she responded to him.
[Just finished.]
She sent the reply and immediately started typing to ask if they could meet during lunch but hesitated at the last moment.
Even with a reply, she couldn’t be sure his heart hadn’t changed.
‘Would he find it bothersome? What if he dislikes it?’
Just for once, driven by the desire for a special experience, she left the base and hurriedly sent a text, but when it came to proposing a meeting, her heart cooled, and her fingers froze like stone.
‘Isn’t it better to just exchange greetings like this?’
If it were true that A didn’t want to meet her anymore, it might be better to maintain an awkward distance without confirming it.
Green thought so and gave up on sending the message.
[Can we meet briefly for lunch?]
Just before closing her smartphone screen, she received a message from A. Her empty, downward gaze sparkled with life as she quickly replied.
[Yes. We can meet.]
[I’ll head to the park during lunch.]
Although not directly initiated by Green, her small desire for something special led to the opportunity to meet A again, and Green resolved to be a little braver.
Soon after getting off at the station, Green, unable to contain her excitement, headed to a nearby convenience store.
