"Mr. Song!"
A young assistant approaches Song Dohyun by his desk at his office in the Hunters Division Headquarters;
There is a young man playing with a yo-yo in his hand at the couch as his leopard-like tail lashes slowly behind him, followed by the subtle twitch of his leopard ears.
Song Dohyun files away the records he picked up earlier as he shifts his focus to the assistant, his deep brown eyes analyze the person in front of him.
"What is it, Jangmi?" Song Dohyun takes off his glasses before rolling up his sleeves and smiles politely at his assistant.
"Any troubles?"
"W-well… Mr. Song, I'm just here to report about Miss "Mary"'s condition – the doctors... said it's worsening." Jangmi explains, slightly stumbling over her own words as she clenches the clipboard against her chest tightly.
The mention of the name "Mary" stopped the leopard from playing with his yo-yo for a brief moment, his eyes shift towards Song Dohyun — he never knew who "Mary" is personally... but he always hears that name around.
Instead of asking or speaking up about it, the leopard just stays quiet and continued playing with his yo-yo.
Song Dohyun pauses for a moment, his fingers still on his desk as he nods slowly, he rubs his own chin while thinking deeply.
The mention of that name just shifted the tension in the room, something uncomfortable and uncertain but no one pointed it out. Not a single person in the room.
"Is that so? Well, I'd better go and check on her, she's clearly not in the state of mind after... well—" he trailed off with an almost-cruel smirk.
The half-leopard man sits up from the couch, the yo-yo still dangling in his hand, "You leavin' boss? I thought we're going to raid a vortex with Ruby!"
The assistant hastily takes the coat from the rack and drapes it onto Song Dohyun's shoulders as he nods for Jangmi to leave first.
"You two can go, bring the other members too in case you need backup." Song Dohyun says, still smiling way too calmly.
Song Dohyun fixes the sleeves of his suit and then his blonde locks, "Vortexes had been appearing a lot more than usual, make sure to report everything unusual to me immediately."
"I'll leave you in charge of everything, Yang Semyon."
"Seriously!? Thanks boss!" Yang Semyon brightens up in an instant as the tail lashes behind him in excitement.
Song Dohyun just nods and is about to turn to leave the office, but something stops him from doing so.
"Semyon, you know what's up with the new hunter, no?"
Yang Semyon raises a brow and nods, "Mister Seo Hwigeon?"
"Yes, the one who immediately got assigned to one of the high ranking guilds... Is it true that he's already the captain of the
The leopard thinks for a moment with a hum before nodding at Song Dohyun's words. "Yep! Do you want me to pass a message?"
Song Dohyun's brows slightly furrows at the confirmation, it has been a while ever since he had seen an awakener move up to the top in just a few weeks.
Though, he has to admit... Seo Hwigeon had been helpful in the Hunters Division. He might be even more powerful than Song Dohyun.
That almost annoyed him.
"No need, just make sure everything's in order." Then Song Dohyun finally left the office, the door closing behind him as it echoes in the room.
"You got it, boss!" Semyon's smile fades in an instant as he sits there at the couch, the yo-yo in his hand stops dangling before he looks around his surroundings — he's completely alone now in Song Dohyun's office.
"Man... I'm way too damn lazy to be in charge right now."
***
The sound of water running at the bathroom stops the moment Yeon Yujun left, now dressed in fresh clothes and dries his hair with a towel.
"Hah... now that's refreshing,"
Yeon Yujun brushes the towel against his scalp, drying his hair as he hears tiny steps next to him.
"Bubu..." Pouch trots out with wet fur and heads straight to the open bedroom without waiting for him.
His grey eyes land towards the living room where Lee Seolji and Jinho are hanging out at the couch, the TV playing the reality show of hunters' interviews.
'Don't they get tired watching Song Dohyun's stupid show?' Yeon Yujun grips the towel almost frustrated before he let out a sigh, an attempt to calm himself.
"Yang Semyon is the best," Jinho says, taking a huge scoop of the ice cream in hand while Lee Seolji beside him is finishing a bowl of bulgogi.
Lee Seolji chuckles, "Actually, Han Ruby can beat his ass in a fight."
"Watch your tone around kids, Seolji-ah."
"Ass is not a swear word! Ask Jinny!" she quickly sassed as Jinho looks at them both.
"I called my classmate an ass wipe before cause I thought it means wiping your butt..."
"Alright, who taught you that?"
Jinho points at Lee Seolji without any hesitation, making Yeon Yujun's eyebrow twitch.
"H-hey! I told you that was a slip up!" she panicked, putting her bowl away meanwhile Jinho continues munching on the bowl of ice cream.
"I'm telling Jinho's mother to cut off your salary for babysitting,"
"Ugh..." Lee Seolji didn't press or argue with Yeon Yujun, aware of something worse would happen — losing the babysitting job.
Yeon Yujun shifts his eyes back at the television screen, playing an interview with none other than...
"...Seo Hwigeon?"
"Huh?" she turns her eyes back at the TV.
"I thought you're not interested in hunters, oppa?"
"I'm not, it's hard to avoid well-known hunters here in Seoul, okay?" he sighs, staring at the familiar figure with that annoying mask sitting at the couch, arms crossed — that man had been living rent free in his head ever since their encounter.
The host introduces him to the crowd, the sound of people clapping and cheering fills the air.
"So, Mister Seo…" the host begins but is quickly interrupted by Seo Hwigeon.
"Hwigeon is fine, no need for formalities."
The host nods and clears his throat, "Alright, so, Mr. Hwigeon — ever since you cleared the vortex back at the museum… Is it true that you awakened there on the spot and had the urge to enter the vortex while being inexperienced?"
Seo Hwigeon chuckles, crossing his leg over the other as he relaxes his stance,"Awakened there on the spot and inexperienced? No, that's not true… but I did feel an urge to enter the vortex alone without even waiting for the experts to clear it."
"I've been awakened for a long time."
The host is almost taken aback by Seo Hwigeon's words as he nods slowly, "And you took that chance to become a registered hunter?"
"Of course, I wouldn't want to be arrested now, right?" Seo Hwigeon laughs, causing the audience to laugh too.
When the laughter died down, the host spoke once more, "If you didn't take that chance, you might've been everyone's bounty and you wouldn't be a captain of one of the most powerful guilds in South Korea."
Seo Hwigeon agrees with a nod, "That's right."
"Though, we are curious… I mean, everyone's curious why you're wearing a mask — could you be hiding a very handsome face or secret?"
The crowd began to chatter in the background, clearly now curious about Seo Hwigeon's wolf mask.
"Well, who knows? It looks like everyone's desperate to see my face." Seo Hwigeon arrogantly jokes, causing everyone to rave in excitement and shout for him to reveal his face.
The host laughs, now seemingly interested in Seo Hwigeon's face. "Looks like you've got everyone wild now! Are you going to reveal your face right here and now? or are you going to disappoint us?"
"Hate to disappoint everyone here, but… I won't reveal my face," he trails off, tilting his head to the camera.
"I'll reveal myself once I find the traitor of South Korea."
Those words completely stop everyone, the people gasp at his words and the host is completely not expecting Seo Hwigeon to say such a thing.
After a few minutes, everyone present went crazy, demanding for Seo Hwigeon's explanation but he's already getting up from his seat.
"Eight is alive!?"
"Did he mean Eight? He's dead!"
"He's already dead!"
"The traitor's already dead!"
Shouts and protests filled the area as the host attempted to calm everyone, "Everyone please calm down! Surely Mr. Hwigeon means someone else—"
"Absolutely not," Seo Hwigeon chuckles underneath his mask as he focuses on the camera as if he knows that Yeon Yujun is watching.
"He's alive and I intend to find him."
Before the host could even process his words, Seo Hwigeon already left the scene, the chaos happening at the venue were becoming more uncontrollable and then the show stopped filming with an intermission.
Yeon Yujun, Lee Seolji, and Jinho were completely frozen on the spot — still processing Seo Hwigeon's words.
"That… that bastard…" Yeon Yujun bit the inside of his cheek unconsciously as he stared at the TV playing an intermission commercial that failed to ease the brewing anger in Yeon Yujun's gut.
"Seriously? Eight is alive?" Lee Seolji stares at the screen in confusion before standing up and going towards the kitchen area.
"I'm going to wash the dishes."
"Eight is alive!?" Jinho also couldn't believe that Seo Hwigeon would say something like that, the boy didn't even know how to react to such news.
It looks like the hunt for Eight will now start.