Chapter 129

Cloudless Sky Part 3

1. Papercut

On a day in February, heavy snow fell across the country. The large snowflakes that poured down all day long brought about large and small snowmen in every alley.

Hoyoung High School, located in Seongnam City, was also covered with traces of winter that had fallen white. The snow that settled on the bare trees along the fence, the flat stone monument inscribed with the school motto, and the sagging net of the soccer goal frame remained for a long time on the deserted campus that had welcomed the vacation.

The playground, which had been holding onto such a desolate scene throughout the winter, was bustling with people just for today.

Cars of visitors who passed through the wide-open school gate lined up in the playground. Those who opened their car doors and got out were all holding bright bouquets in their hands.

<Hoyoung High School OOth Graduation Ceremony>

Below the banner hanging high above the school gate, a list of successful applicants to major universities was proudly displayed. The name written at the very top was captured by the cameras of passersby several times.

Lee Ayoung, currently the youngest 1st-grade hunter in the Republic of Korea, came out after taking pictures with her friends in the classroom for a long time even after the graduation ceremony was over. It took a little longer because friends from other classes came to visit as well. Her parents had already arrived and were waiting in the playground, as they had contacted her.

Ayoung hurriedly went down the stairs while making a phone call.

"Mom, I'm coming down now. Eh, really? Everyone's here? Yeah. I'm on the first floor now."

Besides Ayoung's parents, relatives had come to congratulate her on her graduation. She had expected a few people who lived nearby to come, but unexpectedly, more people than she had anticipated showed up, making her scratch her head with a troubled face.

"Is Ayoung here?"

"Congratulations. Well done, really."

"Thank you!"

Other people in the playground recognized Ayoung and whispers and gazes gathered. She had gotten used to it after awakening as a 1st-grade, but it had gotten a bit worse since the outbreak of the 3rd Great Rift.

After greeting her relatives, Ayoung glared at her cousin who was grinning and holding up his phone.

"I knew you'd do this. Turn off the camera."

"Aw, why? Let me get a viral hit just once. Are any other hunters coming by any chance?"

"Whether they come or not, if you upload anything, a lawsuit will fly straight from the headquarters. The PR director has her knife out these days. You'll get hit with a fine bomb before going viral."

The PR director had been outraged at secretly filmed videos in hospitals and restaurants, saying, "We can't even film people in pain! And you upload that?!" She had firmly declared her determination to extract fines if there was no advertising revenue. The amount would probably be incomparable to the video revenue that her cousin of the same age was scraping together.

Eventually, the phone was put away with grumbling, and Ayoung lightly ignored it. It seemed like they used to play well together when they were young, but she didn't know why he had become a media attention seeker at some point.

Sigh. If she hated having just one annoying relative this much, how did Soram oppa live with family members who had been desperate to leech off him for years? Thanks to that, Ayoung could compromise that this guy was decent in comparison.

"Hey, Dong-un, there are a lot of people following Ayoung around after the 3rd Great Rift. Don't do that and just take some pictures for us."

"Lee Dong-un, if you're going to take pictures, use my phone."

"Even so, do you think I'd upload pictures with aunt and uncle in them?"

"Anyway."

The one who had been aiming for a viral hit had to play the role of photographer while taking pictures with his parents, uncle, and other cousins. As someone who had been aiming to be a creator, his photography skills weren't too bad.

Lastly, Ayoung took off her coat and took pictures wearing only her school uniform. It was the outfit that the public knew as the appearance of Lee Ayoung the hunter. Standing with a bouquet and diploma with the school as a background, she strongly felt that her school days, which had been more special than others, had come to an end.

She was well aware that she had finished high school with much more consideration compared to her senior hunters. It was thanks to the adults who protected her by putting her behind them, did things for her, and never once boasted about it.

Those who were used to overprotecting her would surely remain the same even after Ayoung officially became a chief in March. It would be a lie to say that the position of being the beloved youngest wasn't comfortable, but after receiving consideration until graduation, she didn't want to just be protected anymore.

Now I have to do my proper share.

That thought had grown even stronger since last November when everyone Ayoung knew was fighting in Busan while she alone was held back at the headquarters.

Ayoung checked her phone. It was just before 12 o'clock, and a message had arrived from someone with perfect timing. Looking around, she saw that other graduates and their families were starting to leave. Ayoung hid a smile as she replied to the message.

"Mom, it's almost time for our restaurant reservation. Let's go now."

"Ah, that's right. Uncle, you said you parked at the apartment, right? You'll need to move it soon since they put stickers there. I'll send you the name of the reserved restaurant via message. Come right away."

The relatives left first to find their cars parked far away, and only Ayoung's family of three remained in the playground. Her father's car had arrived early in the morning and proudly occupied the spot right in front of the school gate.

"Ayoung, let's go."

"Wait, wait. They're all gone, right? I told them to come in now. They said they're right in front."

"Who else is coming?"

"Yeah!"

Ayoung looked towards the school gate with an excited face.

Soon, a person appeared there holding a bouquet as big as their body. The head wearing a black beanie hat glanced at their phone and looked around, then discovered Ayoung raising her hand high and waving.

"Ayoung!"

With her hair down instead of tied up as usual, wearing a hat and casual clothes, Ga-eul was perfectly disguised as an ordinary person. Ga-eul hurried her steps to approach. A welcoming smile spread across Ayoung's face, more than ever before.

"Unni!"

"Congratulations on your graduation!"

Ga-eul's height only came up to Ayoung's nose, and clothes that weren't a suit made her figure look even smaller. But Ga-eul easily lifted Ayoung along with the large bouquet, spun her around twice, and put her down.

"It's been a while, Ayoung's mother. And this must be her father. Hello. I'm Kim Ga-eul, who works with Ayoung at the headquarters."

After putting Ayoung down, Ga-eul bowed deeply to Ayoung's parents. The parents finally realized the identity of the guest Ayoung had been waiting for.

"Thank you for taking the time to come when you must be busy."

"Of course I had to come. It's our Ayoung's graduation. Right?"

Ayoung's mother was acquainted with Ga-eul. It was because she had taken on the role of guardian a few times when Ayoung went on overnight stays or training trips outside the metropolitan area―it was called training, but for Ayoung it was closer to a school trip. This was also at Soram's request. Saying, even among chiefs, you would be more reassuring to them.

For similar reasons, Soram was also acquainted with her parents. He had meetings as her direct supervisor, and often encountered them when driving her home on rainy days or when she was late returning.

"Hm? You said to come around 12 o'clock. There's hardly anyone left already? Did I come too late?"

"I meant for unni to come slowly. If you came when there were a lot of people, you might have gotten pushed around."

"Oh, you're so thoughtful. I should definitely lie down in the director's office before your official appointment and bring you to our team."

"Hehe, that's not possible. Soram oppa would cry."

"Whether he cries or not is none of my business at all."

Oh right, Ga-eul handed over the large bouquet she had brought.

"This is a gift from Seo Min-ki. He said to tell you he's sorry he couldn't come."

"Ah... Min-ki oppa must be very busy."

"Yeah. He can't help but have a lot of work."

She glossed over it, but the reason Seo Min-ki couldn't come wasn't just because he was busy with the aftermath in Busan. The biggest reason was that he wasn't in a situation where he could congratulate anyone yet.

'But he seems to have gotten much better...'

Right after the Great Rift was destroyed, when they were going back and forth between the operating room, hospital room, and funeral hall, his condition was beyond words. Even Ga-eul felt suffocated when he wailed in front of the memorial photos of his team members, unable to even change out of his hospital gown.

Fortunately, he gradually improved while receiving inpatient treatment along with the surviving hunters, and these days he occasionally appeared on messenger to share his recent situation. He seemed to have pulled himself together enough to remember Ayoung's graduation.

If the Great Rift had broken out in Seoul, Ga-eul would have been in a similar situation. She hoped Seo Min-ki would overcome it safely, but if the same thing happened, would she be able to get up? It was difficult to answer.

Ga-eul took commemorative photos with Ayoung and looked around the school. A place without monsters, screams, and battles was as peaceful as the end of a movie, enough to make one's heart flutter. Standing in such a moment was more certain than any compensation in covering the wounds of hunters.

"But what about your team members? Don't tell me they're not coming?"

"No, they said they were coming, so I told them the same time as unni."

"It's past 12 now. If Jin Soram was excited, he would have come an hour early."

"I know. There's no separate contact either... Oh."

"Ha, they can't be gentlemen."

The murmuring that spread from afar reached the ears of Ayoung and Ga-eul, who had 1st-grade hearing, first. Two silhouettes flying over the shops in front of the school lightly jumped over the fence and landed.

"Gasp, amazing, amazing!"

"Those, those two, right? Damn, them flying in is awesome."

"Oh no, those who left early are pitiful."

"Wow, this is a real graduation gift..."

The few people remaining in the playground shouted, pointing blatantly at the two.

However, the two were having a loud conversation looking at each other, regardless of the commotion. More precisely, Soram was firing off words with a face full of complaints.

"No, no, no, I told you we should fly, but you insisted on driving, and after going round and round wasting 30 minutes, what is this! We're completely late now! We ended up abandoning the car and flying anyway!"

"...The high school I graduated from didn't have this much of a crowd earlier."

"That's because it's a rural branch school! You! Han Tae-un Chief!"

"It's not a branch school. I went to a high school in a different city."

"It's all the same. What if Ayoung got tired of waiting and already left!"

"If she left first, we would have gotten a message saying so."

"We should have arrived early and surprised her, but instead we're the pathetic ones begging her to wait...!"

Soram didn't close his mouth for a moment even after that.

"...Haa, yes, it's all my fault."

Tae-un was defeated. To others, it might look like he was walking stoically, but his eyes directed at the distant sky were relaxed as if he had given up.