CH 25

Episode 25. Scandal (4)

“…Our Heesun.  Thank you for saying so. But I keep thinking that I should have checked then.”

“Really?”

“Yes. To be honest, when I met Lee Beomjin’s father, I had a very bad feeling. If I had checked, maybe we wouldn’t have broken up…Our Heesunie must have been with her dad since she was little…I think Mom did something wrong to my daughter.”

“Don’t worry about thinking about this and that. There’s no turning back. It’s already been 19 years.”

I continue bravely.

“It’s nice to have a Dad, but I’ve also loved living alone with Mom so far. I don’t think I’d be happier with my Dad. So, don’t think you did something you couldn’t do to me. Because Mom’s daughter is very happy!”

“….” 

Mom ended up crying.

I felt like crying too, but I held back my tears and hugged Mom.

***

“Heesung!”

“Infinity Hunter-nim!”

“Our Heesung! Kyaa, the press conference was really awesome!”

“Kick him! That’s a real clearing!”

“But I think that American Hunter is handsome?”

“But he’s an old man, right?” 

The friends I had invited over for dinner screamed and hugged me as soon as they arrived and started chatting while eating. 

“23 years old, no, 24 years old in Korean age. What do you mean 24-year-old is an old man?”

“He’s 5 years older than me, so he’s an old man!” 

“Hey! It covers up to 10 years old!”

“You madman! If you are 10 years old below, you are 9 years old now!” 

“Huh, that’s right. It’s our youngest age. wow!!! Then only 10 years old!”

“You cover 10 years old! I’m the same age! They are unconditionally the same age!”

“Why are you so specific? Perhaps…?” 

“W, what do I do?”

“Hey, hold her hands.”

“No! These guys, let go of this!”

“Wow, isn’t this a couple ring on your neck?”

“Are you dating that hot guy in the study room?”

“Wow! Our Aera-Bbong, you have a boyfriend!”

“Hey! How far did you go? A peck? Or a kiss?”

“You crazy girl!”

“Look at how red her face is! It must be kiss!” 

“Cha Gieun! Just die!” 

“You don’t like it? Kyahahahahahaha!!!”

Looking at my friends, as always, I thought like this.

‘They’re still loud.’

But I really liked this familiarity.

It felt like the tension that had built up in the meantime had been relieved.

“Heesung-ah, are you going to live here from now on? The house is very nice.”

Chae Aesil asked me as she clicked her tongue at Park Aera and Cha Gieun chasing each other in a large dining room (there is a separate dining room!). 

Chae Aesil is my friend who uses the nick ‘King Gwanggaeto’ in the group chat room, and her dream is to become a historian like her mother. 

She was the student council president in school and studied better than me.

This time, she was going to enter the Department of History at Korea University with a full scholarship.

“I think that will be the case for the time being.”

“Will you buy a new one? Or did the guild do it for you? I heard the guild buys houses for high-ranking hunters.” 

“No. This is, D… I mean, this is the Minister of Department of Ability’s house. A new house. The old house is dangerous, so I stay here.”

“It’s our Archer’s palace!” 

Wang Shinhee, a huge fan of my Dad, shouted, her eyes as bright as the sun.

“I saw it at the fan club. Our Archer-nim said he was preparing a new house to move into. It must be the house.”

“Does the Minister have a fan club?”

“Of course he does! Hey, you too! I made it at the Nex Bar Cafe!”

After ‘I Want To Be A Hunter’ in a group chat room, Yoon Kyungae, who now uses ‘Hunter Friend,’ shouted.

I was stunned.

“What are you making?”

“Your fan club! High-ranking hunters all have fan clubs, right? That’s the only way to manage public opinion. Thanks to that, rumors have been reduced a lot.”

“Still, a fan club is a bit….” 

I rubbed the goosebumps on my arm.

The kids laughed as if I was funny.

“Heesung! Have you decided on a guild?”

Yoon Kyung-ae asked with her eyes shining.

“No. Not yet.”

“Didn’t you join the Beomho Guild? Our Archer is there. Of course, I thought you would go there. Didn’t Archer-nim say that?”

These were Wang Shinhee’s words.

“I don’t think so.”

“Hmm. As expected, is that rumor true? There is a saying that the two of them had a big fight after Archer-nim handed over the guild leader to Summoner, the deputy guild leader.” (t/n: I’m not sure about the nickname for the summoner, but the Korean is 신풍 so if you have any idea what is it please feel free to comment;;) 

“Do you know why they fought?”

“I don’t know. After that, they didn’t even see each other’s eyes.”

“I see.”

If there was a guild leader with a bad relationship with my Dad, I didn’t want to go to that place, even if it was good.

‘I’ll have to pick another guild.’

“Kyungae, you know the hunters well. Do you know a good guild?”

When I asked, Yoon Kyungae screamed.

“Jewel!!! I love the jewel guild!!! Heesung, if you don’t want to go to the Beomho Guild, come to the Jewel Guild too! I’ll give you the best treatment!”

“Yoon Kyungae, you’re not even a Jewel Guild person, so why are you talking about treatment…wait.” 

Chae Aesil, who was always slow but sharp, narrowed her eyes and said this.

“Are you related to the twin hunters of the Jewel Guild? I’ve been suspicious since before.”

“Ugh.” 

I learned the answer to all of Yoon Kyung-ae’s reactions.

“Really?”

“Ung… Actually…They’re my older sisters… My biological sisters…” 

Like the other kids, I was surprised.

Yoon Boae and Yoon Seokae are identical twin hunters commonly called “Jewel Sister Hunters.”

So, the name of the guild they were running was also named ‘Jewel.’

Both are A Class, the older sister Yoon Boae is a wizard, and the younger sister Yoon Seokae is a healer.

They were famous all over the world not just for their talent but also for their beauty.

‘They were famous for having a bad personality. Especially the younger sister, Yoon Seokae.’

Whatever she was, I was grateful for someone like Yoon Seokae.

Because she did everything she could to heal Dad, even passing out on the press conference day.

Actually, it didn’t help, but I still feel thankful. 

“That’s why you knew Hunter well.”

“Ung. That’s right, and my sisters are so cool that I wanted to become a Hunter too, so I looked into it. But as expected, I wasn’t a hunter. Statistically, there are more than two people in one house, so there are no more hunters….” 

Yoon Kyungae let out a sigh as if depressed.

“But why didn’t you tell us?”

Hwang Eun, Yoon Kyungae’s best friend, seemed upset that she now knew. 

“…I’m way worse than my sisters. I’m not pretty….” 

Hwang Eun made a sound in vain and became sorry as if she had never been angry.

Cha Gieun hurriedly shouted, putting her hands on her hips.

“Yoon Kyungae, you have something special that your older sisters don’t!”

“What’s that?”

“It’s~.”

Cha Gieun made a flower pose with both hands and put it under her chin. 

“Me!” 

“…” 

The atmosphere was really cold.

Cha Gieun cried desperately.

“Help!”

Chae Aesil clicked her tongue, and Cha Gieun came to the side, made a flower cup with both hands, and put it under her chin.

“….” 

Hwang Eun sighed, telling her to disappear, but she followed it.

Baek Youngsoon did so gently, and Wang Shinhee shook her head but did it. 

Then their eye was drawn to the only person left, me.

I had no choice but to do so.

“….” 

Yoon Kyungae looked like she was about to cry.

But she soon grinned, took out her phone, and took a picture of us.

As if she wants to remember this moment for a very long time.

Cha Gieun exclaimed.

“Hey, let’s take a picture together!”

“Yes, yes! You do the flower cup pose, too!”

“You’re the only one who doesn’t do it! Let’s do it all together!”

“…Okay!” 

We giggled and took pictures in flower cup pose.

Then, Wang Shin-hee suddenly became very serious and came up to me.

“Pretty Heesun-ah.”

It was strange for her to do this, so I got goosebumps down my spine.

“Why?”

“I want to ask you something, in the name of friendship, will you answer honestly?”

It was ominous.

“Don’t ask.”

“No! I will ask!”

Wang Shin-hee grabbed my waist tightly with her arms and shouted with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Are you dating our Archer?”

They say that if there’s something too absurd, your mind goes white, and that’s exactly what happened right now.

I couldn’t even think, and I stopped moving.

“Oh my, look at that reaction.” 

“Are you serious? Are you really dating with Archer-nim?”

Strangely, my best friend ‘Bbangsoonie,’ Baek Youngsoon, who was a bit quiet today, asked as if screaming. 

I just blinked my eyes.

Hwang Eun, who is the best at cursing among us, began to scream.

“Really? Are you really going out with Archer-nim? Is he crazy? He’s 39 years old! You’re less than half his age! What a pervert!”

“He’s my father.” 

“What?”

“Archer-nim. Lee Beomjin is my father. Biological father.”

The kids blinked for a moment.

Then, with her face crumpled, Hwang Eun, who had just talked about being a pervert, smiled brightly.

“Wow, our Heesun’s Dad is really cool!”

“….” 

“Totally handsome, talented, and our country’s hero! Wow!”

“…This is what Talula is like.” (t/n : Talula refers to a situation when somebody speaks ill of something and then suddenly changes their mind and praises the same thing just moments later.)

Cha Gieun whispered and was assaulted by Hwang Eun with her eyes.

I blinked again and burst into laughter.

The other kids laughed too, but Hwang Eun was an exception.

“Sorry! I’m really sorry!”

Hwang Eun came, grabbed me, and shouted hard.

“It’s nothing. Well, you don’t know about it.” 

“But is the Minister really your father? No, really. Wow, what do you mean your father—” 

“Did you keep it a secret until now because of circumstances?”

Yoon Kyungae asked.

“No. I just knew it this time.”

I briefly told my friends, who were extremely curious.

I simply told my friends, who were very curious.

We met for the first time during the Ability test, and then we found out that we were father and daughter. 

And that happened because my Dad’s father split them up 19 years ago, causing mom and dad to misunderstand each other.

“X really bad person.” 

Cha Gieun summarized it in one word.

“Ack, I’m sorry I cursed at your Grandpa.”

“Nope. you can curse it. I don’t even look like my grandfather, well. I’ll call him daddy’s father.”

Wang Shinhee, a big fan of my Dad, sighed and said.

“I honestly liked the Prime Minister grandpa… He’s our Archer-nim’s father, the flower grandpa… Even though there are rumors that he is not on good terms with Archer-nim.” 

“Are there any rumors like that?”

“Yeah. I heard that he doesn’t like to be in the same place with Prime Minister grandpa. So there are very few photos of them together. There’s only one picture I’ve seen, but the expression is really bad. He was glaring at him like a dungeon boss.”

“I see. Then, how is his relationship with his older sister? He also had an older sister.”

“I think he has a good relationship between assemblyman Lee Jongjin. They didn’t campaign together in particular, but he openly said she would do well. During the holidays, he eat with assemblyma Lee Jongjin’s family. I’ve seen a few pictures.”

“I see.”

“Wow, my friend is the daughter of the Archer-nim!!!”

Wang Shinhee twinkled her eyes and then frowned.

“But aren’t you going to reveal that you’re a father and a daughter?”

“I’m going to reveal it, but—later. It’s still noisy.”

“Anyway even if it’s noisy, you should reveal it now. It would be better.” 

Yoon Kyungae spoke seriously, but something felt strange.

“What’s wrong? Did you hear anything?”