Chapter 82 - Octagon

"Excuse me?! Excuse mee! Excuse meeee!"

Tired of elbow her way in and trying to see over the shoulders of people, mostly men, Eun Ha realized that she must adopt a more aggressive tactic if she wanted to find the Hunter there. She was small and couldn't even see anything in front of her, but she had asked at the box office about the weird man in black overcoat. And as expected, that wasn't the most discreet outfit to watch an MMA fight.

Discovering that he was sitting in the front row was something Eun Ha didn't quite know how to process: it suited him, but don't, at the same time.

She drew her magic wand resolutely. And she proceeded to poke the flank of all who opposed her passing. She was Moses and they were the Red Sea.

As expected, her path opened up with surprised, curious and suspicious glances. Some measured the petite woman cladded in black with surprised awe. But she had a clear goal, and headed for the ring, following the bright lights. Handing over her VIP ticket_ which had been more expensive than expected_ she passed the isolation cord to the area surrounding the ring.

The place was crowded and a fight was already taking place, but as soon as she saw Hunter Shin, absorbed in the ring, her blood boiled. Eun Ha considered herself a relatively calm person, but Hunter Shin slowly pissed her off.

She understood the hierarchical relationship between them, but ignoring her when she was desperate for answers and help should not be considered a crime?!

"I'm busy, I already have an appointment for tonight." He had said. And the last straw: "I thought I wasn't your teacher anymore. Why are you calling me?"

"Honestly! If I had a little more self-esteem… But it's me who needs him, so I'll swallow my pride this time!" she ranted under her breath as she advanced.

Eun Ha moved closer, but everyone was entertained by the fight, including the Hunter. Then the bell rumbled loudly, stunning the young fairy. She turned toward the ring, a little dizzy from the effect of the loud noise, the chaos of the people, and the frantically moving lights. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the ring girl pacing with her sign, most of the male audience looking appreciatively at the pretty girl with the plaque.

In a rush she stepped in front of the Hunter. 'What a ridiculous thing, a respectable fairy should be spending his time on really useful and uplifting things!'

Hunter Shin looked up at the little fairy appraisingly. For a moment Eun Ha thought, even sure, that he read thoughts. What was that drop of cold sweat forming between her b.r.e.a.s.ts, right above her heart? Was that because the cold glare Hunter Shin was giving her?

He licked the corner of his lips _as he always did when he was reading himself to something unpleasant, she noted_ and setting the glass of whiskey aside, motioned for her to get out of the way.

"Professor!"

"Jung…!" He looked frustrated, closing his eyes in denial. "What are you doing here?" he c.o.c.ked his neck to look over her shoulder at what was happening in the ring. Eun Ha moved her body to obstruct his vision again.

"The teacher said I could come…"

"You really have a selective hearing, you little pest," he rose to his feet, and as usual, stood threateningly close to her. Eun Ha tried to pull away but staggered as she stepped back. Shin grabbed her shoulder, and in one movement turned her in one direction and forced her to walk in front of him.

"Wait, Professor Shin, where are we going? I paid to be here!"

"Uh. And you paid for a numbered chair. Since we're not going to sit side by side, I don't think you came here to talk to me by megaphone," he kept leading her, and Eun Ha had a déjà vu… From her drunken night when he drove her home.

"Aigoo!"

"What?" he couldn't guess what was going on in her head, but she just grunted. "Nothing."

It was possible he hadn't even heard it, after all the place was noisy and chaotic. When he was pleased with the new place, he stopped, and stood beside her. They were on the other side of the ring, but in this place people had to stand and it was a little tight and crowded. Eun Ha realized she kind of burnt away a good money for nothing, buying a VIP ticket.

She turned to the Hunter, but he was looking at the ring again. It was the entrance of the main fight fighters, as announced on the speakers. The crowd went wild, but Eun Ha didn't look at it.

Just looked at Shin.

He was different tonight.

But different from what? She couldn't tell if he was really different or just different from her last memory with him.

'Oh, the heat! No, that's not what I want to think about now,' the fairy took a deep breath.

"Professor, you didn't give me a little souvenir that night you came to my house… To my room… Did you?!"

The Hunter, who seemed unfazed and impassive until this moment, disconcertingly blinked, turning to look at Eun Ha incredulously.

"That night in your room…?! Jun Eun Ha!!!"

His stare, both shocked and suspicious, left the fashion designer confused.

"What are you thinking…?!" he asked after looking around and realizing that no one was really paying attention to them.

"Oh! No, that's not what... I'm talking about, a book. A strange book was there, I thought it was the Professor, but…" she was lost in words as she realized she had heard Hunter Shin speak her full name for the first time.

'Awn… He can speak my name…!' She suddenly felt her face burn and flush.

But the hunter looked worried and confused, and more than that, annoyed. For the first time Eun Ha realized that he was quite old-fashioned, despite his appearance. He had entered a single girl's room and didn't want her to say it out loud.

Suddenly he stopped whatever he was about to say, and turned Eun Ha by the shoulder like a five-year-old, to watch the guest fighter arrival.

The lights whirled and the amplifiers reverberated with the announcer's excited narration when the foreign champion was introduced. She stared without understanding, just paying attention to the difficult name of the Ukrainian fighter.

"Igor 'The Werewolf' Vukodlak Ivanovich!"

Although he was the visitor, the crowd cheered him. Despite his ring name being The Werewolf, the first thing she noticed was that he was bald. The fighter was a very muscular and tall man, with narrow blue eyes and a typical Slavic appearance. Shin said something to her, but the noise was too loud and she couldn't understand it.

"What?" She gestured that she didn't hear, so he moved closer to her ear, and said out loud,

"You are seeing an actual werewolf, Jung!"