Not being able to perform the most mundane actions that everyone else does, and not experiencing the most ordinary things that everyone else goes through, is unfortunate. Even more so, desiring and yearning for those things but still being unable to experience them is an indescribable level of misfortune. And being unaware that one is unable to experience such things is beyond words.
Green was the last among them.
For her, a birthday was simply the “day she was born.” Nothing more, nothing less. She had no concept of receiving congratulations on her birthday or celebrating it with friends. It was a result of her extremely limited environment. Despite living in such circumstances, she had never caused any problems or issues. She would rather endure hardship herself than cause harm to others.
She had lived that way until now and considered it natural. But for the first time in her life, a particularly special day arrived for Green.
There were no dates, no delicious meals, and no birthday gifts. She simply heard birthday wishes from A and held his hand once. But for Green, it was something she had never experienced or even dreamt of in her life.
The next day, when Green arrived at the meeting room, she had a bright expression throughout, and seeing her unusually good mood, the members were convinced something had happened.
“Green, something good must have happened, right?”
While the members were curiously observing Green, Pink was the first to bring it up. Green, who had been sitting with a smile, turned her gaze toward Pink.
“Yeah, a bit yesterday.”
“Yesterday? What day was it?”
At Green’s mention of “yesterday,” the members became actively interested in her affairs. Despite all eyes being on her, Green spoke without hesitation, still smiling.
“Yeah, yesterday was my birthday, and I received congratulations.”
Receiving birthday wishes is a common thing. But that’s common for ordinary people. For a superhuman living a life different from the norm, it was quite special.
“Happy birthday?! From whom?”
At Red’s enthusiastic reaction, Green was startled but soon smiled and began to explain calmly.
“From the person I mentioned before. They even held my hand.”
When Green mentioned holding hands, the members gave her peculiar looks. Although no one said it out loud, they were all imagining holding hands with their boyfriends and going on dates.
Birthday wishes and holding hands—though very ordinary and unremarkable things—were emotionally engaging topics for them, and nothing could be better.
“Why didn’t you tell us it was your birthday?”
Blue seemed inwardly disappointed that Green hadn’t mentioned her birthday, and Green was taken aback. Just as she hadn’t considered being congratulated by A, she had never imagined telling the members about her birthday.
Above all, she had never fully celebrated a birthday with anyone before.
“Uh, well…”
Green faltered at Blue’s disappointed words, unable to find a response, and Pink poked Blue’s side with her finger.
“Of course, she would have wanted to spend it with that person.”
“I get that, but still, it would have been nice if she had told us it was her birthday.”
In a way, one might think the members didn’t even know each other’s birthdays until now. But the HunterKiller members had never paid attention to their own birthdays. They didn’t even take care of their own birthdays, so how could they think of telling others? Of course, there were exceptions.
Pink did pay attention to her birthday as a concept of giving herself a gift. But she never told the others. That was how the HunterKiller members had always been—distant.
“Sorry, I thought no one would care…”
Green felt sorry for not having told the members about her birthday, wondering if it would have been nice to share it with them. But the members could understand Green’s feelings.
They had never celebrated each other’s birthdays even once, so it was natural that Green hadn’t expected them to care when her birthday approached.
“Let’s definitely spend your next birthday together. And although it’s late, happy birthday.”
What was disappointing was disappointing, and what needed to be celebrated was celebrated. After Blue’s words, the members added their own birthday wishes one by one, and while Green felt awkward being congratulated by them, she was also happy.
Though it seemed trivial, the members were gradually improving and looking forward to the birthdays to come next year.
“But can I ask one thing?”
Green inquired in a shy tone, and the members tilted their heads, curious.
“How did all of you start dating your boyfriends?”
At that one question, the members exchanged looks. Yellow still insisted she didn’t have a boyfriend, but her demeanor and the way she spoke about A clearly indicated otherwise.
“I was the one who confessed first.”
Red straightforwardly began sharing her story, and the others followed.
“There was no confession; we just started dating.”
Pink, whose relationship started with sex rather than romance, conveniently left out the part about starting with sex. Though she could have mentioned it, she wanted to observe the others first.
This was a subtle competition. They wanted to highlight how their relationships with their boyfriends had progressed, but it was a contest without winners or losers.
“My boyfriend confessed first.”
Even Blue, who seemed like she would be completely open, left out the part where she had set the mood beforehand. She was thinking about the entire process but only mentioned the result. Since Green had asked how they started dating, leaving out the process wasn’t a problem.
The psychology of only conveying the result was to imply, “My boyfriend loves me this much.” And the other women noticed.
Red, who had straightforwardly finished her story, clicked her tongue, and Yellow, who was last, pondered how to bring up her story. In truth, Yellow didn’t have much to say. She had already declared she didn’t have a boyfriend but had mentioned having sex.
Of course, the members didn’t believe her—not that they didn’t trust her, but they didn’t believe her claim of not having a boyfriend. Yellow’s energetic and bright demeanor when talking about him made it impossible to think otherwise.
“I already told my story, so that’s it, right?”
With that one line, the subtle competition was settled, and Yellow had won.
Though she only mentioned the result without the process, her words strongly implied, “Do I need to explain?” After Yellow had shared her story repeatedly over the past few days, the members had already grasped the situation between her and her “not-boyfriend.”
And the members recognized the relationship between Yellow and her “not-boyfriend” as “a pair who aren’t officially dating but act like lovers.”
Of course, Green, who had asked the question, wasn’t interested in the members’ competition. To be precise, she didn’t notice the competition and simply listened to their stories.
“But why?”
“Are you planning to confess?!”
Just as Red was trying to grasp the intent behind Green’s question, Pink loudly asked, sensing the atmosphere. Green, who had been quietly listening, deeply bowed her head. Just that reaction was enough for the members to figure out what Green was planning.
“Are you going to do it today? When?”
Pink was always very interested in the members’ love stories. After all, it was through their discussions about love that Pink had grown closer to Red, and she found their conversations increasingly enjoyable and fun.
Now that she was in a relationship herself, she wished all the members could experience the same feelings. And just as the opportunity had come to her at the right time, she hoped the others would seize their chances too.
“No, I’m not going to confess.”
“Why?”
At this entirely unexpected answer, Pink’s voice softened.
“It’s just… dating me would be a bit much, right?”
“What do you mean? What’s wrong with Green?”
Even though she knew she liked A, Green was forcibly drawing a line in her heart. Perhaps her careless actions would ruin their current relationship, and part of her believed she didn’t deserve it.
“Anyway, I’m not going to confess. I’ll just say I like him.”
“Huh?”
Seeing Green’s shy demeanor, it was clear she wasn’t joking. Knowing that Green was speaking from the heart, the members were confused about what she meant. Seeing their perplexed expressions, Green wondered if she had made a mistake.
“So, you like him, right?”
Yellow asked sincerely, and Green nodded quietly, replying, “Yes.”
“Then you’re going to confess, right?”
“No, I’m not going to confess…”
“But you’re going to say you like him, right?”
“Yes, I want to say it.”
Green answered clearly even as Blue and Red continued to question her. The members exchanged glances. They understood that Green was serious, but her words didn’t make sense, leaving them unsure how to interpret them.
“Hey, Green.”
Perhaps Green’s budding feelings were clashing with her rationality trying to control them. Thinking this, Pink decided to clearly convey what Green was trying to do.
“Right now, you really like the person who helped you, and you want to tell him you like him, right?”
“Yes, you’re right.”
“That’s confessing.”
“……”
Her rationality, which had been struggling to maintain control, finally gave way, and Green belatedly realized she wanted to date A. Her face turned red to her ears, and though the members found it adorable, they couldn’t bring themselves to say it to her.
Just the realization that the members had fully grasped her feelings was enough to make Green’s embarrassment reach its peak. To introverted Green, her actions felt like she was advertising, “I like him, so I’m going to confess,” which was unbearably mortifying.
“If you’re going to confess, just go for it.”
“Huh?”
Green, who had been quietly bowing her head, slowly looked up at Yellow’s words.
“Didn’t I tell you how I ended up having sex?”
“Yes.”
Since the members had already heard about Yellow’s relationship progression, they already knew everything. When Yellow said, “I just told him to have sex once,” Green was surprised by Yellow’s boldness but also felt a sense of admiration.
“Just go for it. If it’s you, you can do it.”
Yellow’s nurturing tone was a first, but because it was her, Green felt reassured.
Yellow held Green in particularly high regard among the members. Not that she liked her more than the others—Yellow liked everyone equally—but she felt guilty for not being able to do anything for Green’s troubled family life and thus paid extra attention to her.
When she first heard about the man helping her, Yellow worried if he was a strange person, but as Green gradually shared her story and seeing her demeanor while talking about him, Yellow felt he was a good person. Though she had never met him and probably never would, Yellow firmly believed he would take good care of Green.
“Just do it. If it doesn’t work out, tackle him down!”
Even though she knew Green wouldn’t do that, Pink cheered her on in her own way.
“I think you should do it too.”
“Green is kind. He’ll surely like you back.”
Red and Blue also offered their encouragement, and Green resolved to act. The typically introverted Green gained confidence in that moment.
“Okay! I’ll do it.”
Filled with confidence from the members’ support, Green sent a text to A after the meeting ended, asking if they could meet at the park. When she received a positive reply, she took a deep breath.
With the members’ encouragement, Green now had to make a decision and hoped more than anyone that her relationship with A would progress.
