Chapter Eighty-Five

It was a quarter into lunch when Sooyoung returned to the dormitory. The trio, who had been staying in the house, already finished half of their rice when the latecomer hunter found herself a seat beside her partner.

“I thought you’re not coming back.”

The youngest hunter reprimanded as she placed the newly scooped bowl of rice in front of her partner.

“Sorry, I didn’t keep track of the time.” She was too immersed with those block men that she didn’t even realized the sun was positioned at its highest point of the day, until one of the junior hunters reminded her about it.

“That’s okay. At least you make it back.” Jessica picked up a piece of meat and put it in Sooyoung’s bowl. “Have your lunch, you must be hungry.”

“Thank you.”

Lunch was quiet today as well, but the atmosphere was a lot better than the first dinner they had after Tiffany left. Tension was obviously missing from the picture, though awkwardness still stayed. Yoona tried to initiate a conversation with her unnies, but only Jessica replied to it, while the other two focused in eating their meals and said nothing.

Eventually, Yoona gave up talking and decided that she should eat her lunch quietly too.

Well, at least they were sitting together now. Yoona was certain there would be improvement as days go by.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

Yoona looked up from the book she was reading. Jessica was standing in front of her.

“Sure.” She quickly shifted herself, creating more space on the couch for Jessica. “Have a seat, unnie.”

It had been about three hours since lunch ended. The hunters went separate ways with Yuri heading to the training ground and Sooyoung hiding herself in the room, supposedly resting from the self-training she had in the morning.

Yoona chose to stay in the dormitory as well. She thought about following Yuri, but giving the hunter some alone time seemed to be a better idea after several considerations.

“What are you reading?” Jessica took a seat next to Yoona and hugged the cushion she found on the side.

Jessica never stepped out of their dormitory (unless necessary) ever since she came to live with the hunters as she thought it was inappropriate for an outsider like her to wander around Aurales’ ground.

“Um…” The hunter stuck her finger between the pages where she stopped and flipped the book cover over. “Just a novel, I found it in the library. The content seems kind of stupid though.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

“And you’re still reading it.” Jessica giggled at the young hunter. “What is it about anyway?” The blonde became a little curious and interested in the book. There was absolutely nothing for her to do in this dormitory. Reading was her only entertainment.

The hunter’s face flushed in split second suddenly.

“Uh…” Yoona hesitated.

“Hmm?”

“Um…” She hung her head low and answered softly. “… Romance.”

Jessica repeated after her, “Romance?” She couldn’t hear Yoona well since she spoke too soft.

“Uh… yeah.” Yoona looked away nervously.

Her reaction caught the blonde’s attention. Jessica was originally interested in the book (since she had nothing to do except reading), but when she witnessed how Yoona blushed when she said the word ‘romance’, her interest was immediately averted to the young hunter.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Not exactly…” The young hunter answered shyly.

Jessica was confused by her answer. “What do you mean by ‘not exactly’?”

“Well, uh… I was actually engaged to an oppa who lived in the same village as me. We were supposed to hold a wedding when I reached the age of eighteen. I’ve known oppa since the day I was born. Oppa treats me really good and I really like him as well. But I’m not too sure if that is what you call… love…”

Now, that was really a surprise.

“How old are you again?” Jessica asked. She was pretty sure Yoona had long passed the age of eighteen.

“I’m twenty this year.” A sigh was immediately released after she answered. “I know what you’re thinking. I should be married by now, but I’m actually living in Aurales as a hunter.” A bitter smile was formed on her lips. “When I was a few months away from turning eighteen, mutants broke into our village and…” Tears brimmed in her eyes when she recalled the horrible incident. Yoona paused for a brief moment and took in a deep breath, trying to prevent those tears from rolling down her cheeks. “Everyone was killed. I’m the only survivor because my parents hid me in our underground storage and fortunately, the mutants back then weren’t smart enough to open the floor door.” She let out a forceful chuckle and joked, “I might be killed if that happened today. The mutants are obviously smarter.”

Yoona was trying to liven up the mood, but Jessica wasn’t able to go along with her after hearing her story.

“I… I’m sorry…” Jessica apologized softly.

She never thought mutants could do more damages than what she expected initially.

It was… cruel.

“Why are you apologizing to me, unnie? You’re a victim too.” The young hunter chortled at the blonde’s response. “Now that I think about it, we actually shared similar fate. Your town is also destroyed by the mutants and you’re the only survivor… Unnie, you should become a hunter like me and prevent mutants from destroying homes and families!”

Jessica flashed a weak smile at her, “I… I will think about it…”

“Yeah, you should.” Yoona beamed at her answer. “You don’t have to do the front line if being a hunter is too tough for you.”

Jessica simply nodded and said nothing more.

The night soon came before anyone noticed the sun sets. Yuri was, however, back in the dormitory after a long self-training she had in the afternoon. As usual, she prepared the dinner, and everyone was present when it was ready.

Well, except Tiffany.

Yoona was staring blankly at the vast of forest outside their dormitory as she thought of Tiffany. She had considered the places where Tiffany would go after she left Aurales and only two places came into her mind.

The first one, her home. Sooyoung said Tiffany mentioned something about going home, so she thought she might be going back to the place where she stayed before she came into Aurales. But no one knew where the place was except for Tiffany and Wooyoung’s master, who passed away even before mutants appeared.

The second one, that Kim Taeyeon’s house. Tiffany behaved unusually intimated towards that Kim Taeyeon. Yoona wouldn’t be surprised if Tiffany actually looked for her after she left the headquarters. 

Should she pay a visit to that Kim Taeyeon’s house then? But what if Tiffany wasn’t there like how she had assumed?

“Yoona!”

Yoona snapped out of her thoughts upon the call and turned around, only to find Jessica standing by the entrance of the rooftop, panting.

“Unnie?” The young hunter was puzzled by the blonde’s action. She moved away from the railing and approached Jessica. “Is there anything I can help you with?” It seemed that Jessica had been running about before she came here.

“Thank god, I’ve found you!” Jessica exclaimed between her panting. “Sooyoung received a call from the headmaster. It seems that someone had spotted the mutants and they wanted to send some of the hunters over to check the place.”

“Crap…” Yoona cursed under her breath. To think that she was actually daydreaming in the rooftop when the other people were panicking of the mutants! “When did Sooyoung received the call?” Yoona started to run down the staircase with Jessica following behind her.

“About ten minutes ago. Sooyoung said to ask you to wait for her in the garage after I found you. She went for the briefing already.”

“What about Yuri unnie?”

“The headmaster didn’t ask for her.”

That statement sent Yoona’s footsteps to a stop. The hunter turned around and looked at the blonde in confusion, “How come?” Yuri was a better hunter than the both of them. Yoona thought Hyuk-Jun would select Yuri before choosing them for the mission.

Jessica simply shrugged and shook her head.

“Never mind, maybe Mr. Headmaster has other plans for her.” Yoona ran into her room and came out with the katana in her hand. “I’ll go to the garage now. Rest early unnie!” She bid goodbye to the blonde and dashed towards the main entrance.

“Be careful on your trip!” Jessica shouted to the hunter who was about to exit the dormitory.

Yoona looked back and shouted, “We will! Thank you!” 

Jessica could only sigh as she watched Yoona exited through the door.

*

The trip was longer than what they expected. Sooyoung and Yoona only reached their destination after two hours of ride. The duo alighted from the car with their weapons in their hands and scanned their surroundings.

It was quiet and no one seemed to be around.

“Should we check that hill?”

Yoona pointed at the maze of trees beside the car. This area was particularly huge. The person who called and reported about the mutants did not give them the specific location, so the assigned hunters went separate ways with their partners and spread themselves around the reported spot.

“Yeah, I think we should.” Sooyoung examined their surroundings. The road was extremely wide and empty, they could easily spot it at first sight if there was really anything. She diverted her attention to the hill which was filled with trees. “This hill doesn’t look good to me. We have to stay close.”

Yoona nodded in agreement.

The hill was steep, but not steeped enough for the hunters to leap their ways through the trees and reached its peak. The top of the hill was larger than they thought and the ground was flat. It looked almost like a plain, except that there were numerous trees around.

“Let’s look around.” Sooyoung suggested. For some reason, she felt terribly uncomfortable ever since they reached the top.

It was as though there was something around them.

Yoona wasn’t paying attention to Sooyoung. She was staring at a particular direction with her eyebrows knitted together. “Is it me, or is there something over there?”

The older hunter followed her partner’s gaze and observed the mentioned area intently. There was no street lamp or fire around here. Their only light source was from the moon and since the moon was partially blocked by the clouds, Sooyoung could hardly spot anything even if she squinted.

“I can’t see anything.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw something out there.” She couldn’t be wrong. She was certain she saw a building structure or something. “Why don’t we walk over there and check it out?” Yoona asked.

“Okay, I don’t think there is anything here anyway.” Sooyoung agreed to Yoona’s suggestion after scanning their surroundings. It was empty on this side and behind them was the steeped path which they climbed earlier on.

“What was that?!”

The duo was making their ways towards the suspicious area, where Yoona pointed out previously, when rustling of the leaves and branches caught their attentions. They tried to search for the source but to no avail because it was too dark.

“Maybe it’s the animals or the wind.” Sooyoung tried to convince both Yoona and herself. She was getting more and more uneasy as they made their way to their desired destination.

Yoona could only sigh silently and answered, “I hope so.” One thing for sure, whatever that made those noises was definitely not a mutant since she didn’t smell anything. “Let’s get this done quickly and go.” She urged her partner. The longer they stayed here, the more goosebumps grew on her skin.

Sooyoung agreed with her and they hurriedly advanced until Yoona accidentally tripped over a rock and fell to the ground.

“Hey, be careful there!” Sooyoung quickly rushed over and helped her partner up, but Yoona refused to budge. “Yoona?” Sooyoung nudged the younger hunter, only to make her raised her arm and pointed at their front with wide opened.

“What… What is this?”

Confused by her partner’s reaction, Sooyoung followed Yoona’s arm, only to find herself staring at two huge stone pillars which resembled an entrance in front of them.

“What the?”

The hill was brightening up upon the dispersion of the clouds. When Sooyoung squinted and tried to uncover the identity of the structure in front of them, she realized the two pillars actually served as an entrance to the structure behind them.

“What the hell is this…”

Why is there a tomb on top of a hill?!