Chapter Fifty-One

“It’s you!” Sooyoung paused on her track when the assaulter revealed the face behind the shoulder length brown hair as she turned to face her. That was the exact same face she saw during one meeting when they were talking about Satron.

Sooyoung pointed her finger at her and ordered, “Kim Hyoyeon, you’re coming back to Aurales with me!”

The assaulter, who was addressed by Sooyoung as Hyoyeon, raised an eyebrow in amusement. Hah, she snorted inwardly. And she thought the hunters nowadays only focus on killing mutants, hadn’t the competition between Satron and Aurales stopped since everyone, except her, had already gone?

A smirk was formed on her face. Hyoyeon returned her stare at Sooyoung as she lifted up her chin slightly with arrogant.

“That is if you defeat me, hunter.”

Sooyoung narrowed her eyes at her opponent, “You are definitely coming back to Aurales with me today.”

Hyoyeon folded her arms across her chest and challenged, “I’m waiting.” The corner of her lips grew higher. She tapped her foot leisurely while waiting for Sooyoung’s attack to come.

She is asking for it!

Sooyoung was provoked by Hyoyeon’s arrogant. She raised her fists high up in the air in anger and stomped her right foot hard on the ground. She leaped forward, with the intention of taking down this arrogant fellow in one hit. However, instead of flying towards Hyoyeon, her left foot tripped over a thick branch that was bulging out from the ground and she fell flat to the ground instantly.

“Ow!”

Hyoyeon had already positioned herself in her combat mode when Sooyoung made her first move, and her sudden fall surprised her. She was stunned at first, but the moment Sooyoung’s ‘Ow!’ went into her ears, she loosened herself from the combat position and broke into laughter.

“Omo! Are you alright?” Hyoyeon tried to stifled her laugh, but that was too hard for her. Aurales’ hunters were always well-known for their nimbleness, but this hunter had just proved her otherwise. Hyoyeon ran to Sooyoung and squatted right in front of her. She poked her on the head lightly and teased, “Do you need a doctor?”

“Yah! You––” Sooyoung pressed her palms against the ground and pushed herself up. She was about to retaliate when grasses which were stuck on her face got into accidentally when she opened to talk. She bit onto them unconsciously and spat out almost immediately, “Eww! These grasses taste nasty!”

………

The smile on Hyoyeon’s face froze upon hearing the hunter’s words. She was utterly speechless at Sooyoung.

Why is she even eating the grasses?!

Sooyoung didn’t notice Hyoyeon’s reaction. She leaped backwards and was once again, standing firmly on the ground. She raised her fists again, “That was only a warm-up! I’m going to get you this time!”

Unlike Sooyoung, Hyoyeon took her own sweet time – brushing off the invisible dust on her pants – before getting up. She flipped her hair to the back before resting her hands on her hips and replied, “I said I’m waiting.” Judging from this hunter’s clumsiness, Hyoyeon thought that she could let her guards down a little… not.

Hyoyeon twirled her upper body to the side just a millisecond before Sooyoung’s fist landed on her face.

She is fast!

Frown crawled onto Hyoyeon’s face as she stepped back and avoided another punch from the hunter again.

Tsk! That was why they always said not to judge a book by its cover! This hunter might be clumsy and seemed stupid because of her previous actions, but her movements were definitely swifter than what she thought and not only were they swift, they were accurate as well.

Hyoyeon crossed her arms and held in front of face, successfully blocking down Sooyoung’s punch before it could reach her cheek. With her arms still crossed, she pushed the fist back to Sooyoung, causing the latter to stumble. While Sooyoung was stabling herself, Hyoyeon made use of this chance and dashed towards her. She jumped and twisted her body, swinging one of her legs towards Sooyoung.

Sooyoung held her arm up and blocked her attack. Before Hyoyeon could withdraw her leg, Sooyoung caught her by the calf with both hands and pulled her closer to her.

The sudden restriction in movement almost caused Hyoyeon to fall, but fortunately, years of fighting experiences allowed her to react fast. She jumped again with her free foot and swung it towards Sooyoung from the other side. Sooyoung had no choice but to remove one of her hands and blocked Hyoyeon’s attack. Hyoyeon made use of her chance again and quickly clamped her feet tightly together, locking Sooyoung by her neck.

And she did a back flip, while her palms were pressed against the ground, she pulled her legs back – along with Sooyoung – and threw the hunter across the air, gaining back her footing at the same time.

However, Sooyoung was as quick-witted as Hyoyeon. When she felt herself flying across the air, she straightened her arms, allowing them to come in contact with the ground first before the rest of the body reached its intended destination. She made full use of the momentum and pushed herself away from the ground, doing a flip like Hyoyeon – except in an opposite direction – and got her feet back on the ground.

“Tsk!” Hyoyeon snorted. This hunter was much tougher than she thought.

Sooyoung heard her snort. She smiled brightly at Hyoyeon who had a rather dull and serious expression plastered across her face.

“Giving up?” She flashed a wide grin at her.

Hyoyeon snorted again. She smirked and replied, “This is only the beginning.”

Before Sooyoung could react to her words, Hyoyeon had already made a dash towards Sooyoung, tackling the tall hunter with her fist. Sooyoung caught Hyoyeon’s fist in the nick of time, saving from not-being-able-to-eat-anymore risk and lifted up her knee, having it pressed against Hyoyeon’s abdomen.

“Yah! You can hit anywhere you want, but not my mouth!” Sooyoung warned her opponent as she pushed Hyoyeon away from her with her knee.

Stabling herself, Hyoyeon flipped her hair to the back and smirked, “I will definitely hit you on the top of your head if you’re any shorter.”

Sooyoung stuck out her tongue at Hyoyeon, “You mean if you are any taller.” Shorty.

That simple sentence was like adding fuel to fire, Hyoyeon clutched her fists tightly together as she narrowed her eyes at Sooyoung.

“I will show you being taller don’t make one any stronger.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes openly, jealous shorty freak.

Hyoyeon dashed towards Sooyoung again, but this time round, she jumped suddenly when she was about to reach Sooyoung and slid towards her, intending to trip the hunter. Sooyoung saw it coming and leaped into the air hastily. She did a somersault and landed right behind Hyoyeon.

Hyoyeon turned her body, having it faced the ground and pushed herself up with her elbows and dashed towards Sooyoung without looking at her. Her ears had already captured Sooyoung’s position when the latter landed behind her. Sooyoung swung her leg across Hyoyeon’s head, only to be missed as Hyoyeon ducked and threw herself at the hunter.

Sooyoung caught Hyoyeon by the shoulder and tried to toss her away, but Hyoyeon was grabbing onto Sooyoung’s arms when she came in contact with the hunter. The both of them ended up being stuck in a position whereby they were grabbing onto each other by arms and shoulders, and none refused to budge.

“Kim Hyoyeon?” A witty idea struck upon Sooyoung.

Hyoyeon raised an eyebrow at Sooyoung. A bad feeling rose within her when she saw a rather bright smile on Sooyoung’s face.

What the heck is with that smile?

“You know what?” Sooyoung paused, enhancing the suspense which was floating in the air.

Hyoyeon’s sixth sense had just warned her about this hunter’s mouth.

Can she like close her ears or something?

“You look really beautiful…”

Hyoyeon frowned and stared at Sooyoung intently. Her grips on Sooyoung’s arms tightened unconsciously.

No, she is not going to fall for this hunter’s trick that easily.

“Ouch!” Sooyoung grimaced at Hyoyeon’s grip, “You’re hurting me Hyoyeonie~” A pout was formed on her face. The puppy eyes of hers looked like they were going to tear soon.

Hyoyeonie?!! Ugh! Even her father doesn’t call her by that disgusting name!

“I think I had fallen in love with you, Hyoyeonie…”

What the heck!?!!

Hyoyeon removed her grips on Sooyoung’s arms and shoved the hands away from her shoulders. She stepped back, extending the distance between her and Sooyoung. But before she knew it, Sooyoung had already tackled her down to the ground, pinning her with an arm pressing against her collarbone.

Sooyoung grinned at her, “Gotcha!”

Hyoyeon squinted at the proud-looking hunter. She couldn’t believe she had just fallen into this dumb and clumsy hunter’s trap!

“I told you you’re coming back to Aurales with me.” Sooyoung stuck out her tongue at her.

Tsk, if she allows this dumb hunter gets her way so easily, she wouldn’t be Kim Hyoyeon already.

Hyoyeon relaxed her body and flashed a smile, which was full of sweetness, at Sooyoung.

Sooyoung arched an eyebrow at her, “Yah, why are you smiling like this?” What a creepy smile––AHHH! “YAH! What do you think you are doing!?!!” Sooyoung exclaimed out loud, widening her eyes at Hyoyeon when she felt a pair of hands had just s onto her waist.

To describe it specifically, those hands were caressing her bare skin under her clothes!

This creepy girl is molesting her!

Hyoyeon winked at Sooyoung seductively.

“Let’s make out.”

WHAT THE FU–––Stop! No vulgarities!

“You said you love me, didn’t you?” Hyoyeon continued to seduce Sooyoung, like how the latter did to her just a while ago, except that hers contained lust while Sooyoung’s was filled with playfulness. “I feel the same for you too, sweetie…”

HOLY–––!! Now, is this what they call retribution which is also known as karma!?!!

Suddenly, Sooyoung felt a strong force pushing against her abdomen. She found herself lying on the ground when she realized what had just happened. Hyoyeon exchanged their positions when she was distracting her with the stupid trick she used on her earlier on!

God dammit!

Sooyoung tried to budge, but to no avail. This Kim Hyoyeon was literally pressing her whole body against her to prevent her from moving. And to make things worse, those sneaky hands on her waist were not yet removed!

“What do you want?” Sooyoung glared at the person hovering her intently.

She might lose to her physically, but she was not going to lose to her mentally! Ugh… but it was really uncomfortable for her with those hands crawling around her waist!

“Honestly, I just realized you do look kind of cute.”

HUH?

Was she supposed to treat that as a confession?

“Sooyoung!”

Yuri’s voice echoed through the forest, slipping into the ears of the two people who were lying on the ground in a rather awkward and intimate position.

Sooyoung was about to reply when Hyoyeon leaned down suddenly, narrowing the gap between their faces, leaving merely one or two centimeters apart one another.

“I see… So your name is Sooyoung?”

Sooyoung held her breath and gulped silently at the sudden closure.

“Yah, you––” Stop sticking so close to me! It is scary!!

“Sooyoung! Where are you? Can you hear me? Answer me will you?!”

“Your friend is coming.” Hyoyeon commented, but still not budging. She was staring into Sooyoung’s eyes, although the latter was looking elsewhere.

Yeah, yeah, I know that too alright? It’s not like I’m deaf. And can you like move a little further away from me? Your breath is blowing onto my face already! Not that it’s stinky or anything, but it just feel weird okay? I’m confident with my skin and don’t need a face-steaming at the moment.

Sooyoung thought to herself as she waited for Hyoyeon to move away, thinking that the latter was possibly going to run away soon since Yuri is coming for her.

However, when she felt a soft and warm touch on her lips, she wasn’t as relaxed anymore.

MY FIRST KISS!

“YOU–––”

That was probably the biggest mistake Sooyoung ever made in her life. Opening to speak when someone was pressing her lips against hers, it gave Hyoyeon the chance to sneak her tongue into Sooyoung’s mouth and engaged in an intense battle with her–– Though Sooyoung wasn’t quite reacting to it since she became stoned almost immediately.

Was she… ?

*

“SHORTY ERT!!!!!”

Sooyoung pushed and swung her hand across the person who was lying on top of her. A loud ringing sound echoed across the room as her palm slapped against the rosy cheek of her very own partner.

Yoona stared at Sooyoung in awe. She was completely overwhelmed by her partner’s action. Especially it happened like in the middle of her… sleep?

Sleep? Oh yeah, she had fallen asleep while looking after Sooyoung and Sooyoung’s slap had just awaken her.

“What’s going on? Sooyoung?”

The door swung open suddenly and in came a panicky-looking Tiffany. Yoona frowned uncontrollably when she noticed the worries on her face. This was just not her. Yoona was used to see a calmed and collected Tiffany rather than an emotional Tiffany now. The soft look on her face made her looked especially fragile too.

However, all of those do not really matter now as Yoona was actually quite bothered by another factor which she just noticed.

Tiffany’s eyes were watery and reddish. Was she crying?

“Eh…?” Sooyoung looked at Tiffany, then Yoona, who had a big red palm mark on the left side of her cheek. It was then her sense of touch finally transmitted a message to her brain after so long.

Her right palm was yelling pain. Did… she just slap Yoona?

“OH MY GOD!” Sooyoung didn’t take too long to realize what she had just done. “I’m so sorry Yoona! I swear I didn’t do it on purpose!” She was only trying to slap that erted Kim Hyoyeon who had molested her, stolen her first kiss and engaged her in a tongue-battle without her acknowledgement.

OH WAIT! Her waist, her lips and most importantly, her tongue! That erted Kim Hyoyeon did not just molest her, she  her!

“It’s okay.” Yoona withdrew her gaze from Tiffany and smiled at her partner. “I’m more than happy to see you finally awake.”

Eh? Sooyoung observed her surroundings and realized she was in a ward now.

Sooyoung pointed at herself and blinked her eyes blankly, “I fainted?”

“The doctor said you were traumatized, so they injected anesthesia into you in order to put you to sleep.” Tiffany explained to her. She approached Sooyoung and felt the latter’s forehead with the back of her hand. “How are you feeling now?”

It was a little gesture to show her concern towards Sooyoung, but both Sooyoung and Yoona was surprised by her movement.

“Uh… good?”

Did she faint for days? Tiffany seemed so different out of the sudden.

“That’s good to hear.” Tiffany let out a sigh of relief and withdrew her hand. “Yuri will probably stop blaming herself if she knows you woke up.”

Sooyoung raised an eyebrow at her, “What’s up with Yuri?”

“Yuri unnie was blaming herself for your mishap.” Yoona answered her partner’s question.

“Uh…” Was her condition that serious?

“Since you’ve awaken, I will be going back to our dorm now. I will pass this good news to Yuri.” Tiffany stole a quick glance at Yoona, who refused to look at her even though half of her body was facing her direction.

Tiffany pursed her lips into a straight line. She really wished Yoona would look at her and listen to her. “Take care of Sooyoung.”

“That goes without saying.” Yoona replied indifferently, despite deep in her heart, she wanted to drag Tiffany out of the ward and question her about those watery eyes badly.

Yoona’s cold reaction was hurting Tiffany. If it was in the past, Tiffany would probably shrug it off and forget about it, but… for some reason, which Tiffany was also unaware of, she was greatly affected by it. Nevertheless, she still forced herself to smile and pretend that she was immune to Yoona’s harsh treatment.

Muttering a soft ‘okay’, Tiffany retreated out of the room in silent. Sooyoung, who witnessed the two’s interaction, could not help and sigh at the coldness between them.

Hopefully their upcoming patrol would be able to improve their awkward relationship.