Chapter 229 – It’s a Misunderstanding, I Tell You!

‘Sh-Shin Kyung-min?’

Seo Jin-cheol was taken aback by Shin Kyung-min’s sudden appearance.

‘How did he know to come here?’

Since he had wanted to avoid encountering him at all costs, his shock was immense.

“You bastard, how dare you mess with my sister?”

Feeling a threat to his life from Shin Kyung-min’s fiery anger, Seo Jin-cheol stepped back and equipped his hunter gear.

“Come here, you bastard.”

“There must be some misunderstanding…”

“Misunderstanding, my ass!”

Shin Kyung-min extended his hand, binding Seo Jin-cheol with telekinesis.

“Ugh!”

Unable to move while restrained by the telekinetic force, Shin Kyung-min approached him.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know your filthy intentions?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s a misunderstanding, I tell you!”

Seo Jin-cheol shouted as if wronged, but Shin Kyung-min didn’t even snort in response.

“Speak. What were you planning to do to my sister?”

“Seriously, come on!”

Realizing that words wouldn’t work, Seo Jin-cheol mustered all his strength.

Twitch-

Seeing him resist the telekinesis, Shin Kyung-min extended his hand once more.

However, Seo Jin-cheol was undeniably a rank 5 S-rank hunter.

He possessed enough strength to resist Shin Kyung-min’s telekinesis.

“Urghhh!”

“Grrr!”

A power struggle ensued between the one trying to bind with telekinesis and the one trying to break free from it.

In the end, the victor was…

“Cough.”

Seo Jin-cheol.

Telekinesis drains mental energy, making it difficult to sustain for long.

“Oppa!”

Shin Hye-ri supported Shin Kyung-min, who was bleeding from his nose.

“You should’ve picked your opponent wisely before charging in.”

Freed from the restraint, Seo Jin-cheol smirked as he approached Shin Kyung-min.

In both hands, he gripped his primary weapons, dual swords.

However, Shin Kyung-min wasn’t the only one at the scene.

Step-

Min Do-jun stepped in front of Seo Jin-cheol.

“Let’s stop here.”

“Get the f-…”

Seo Jin-cheol started to say “get out of the way” but abruptly shut his mouth.

He had belatedly recognized his opponent.

‘Hunter Min Do-jun?’

The face that every Korean would recognize was right in front of him.

“You, didn’t we cross paths in front of the Association last time?”

“So what?”

“Don’t meddle in other people’s business. You might get hurt…”

Seo Jin-cheol couldn’t finish his sentence.

Min Do-jun was glaring at him with a murderous look in his eyes.

“Get hurt? Who?”

“…”

Overwhelmed by that intensity, Seo Jin-cheol instinctively took a step back.

Then, he was startled.

Startled by the fact that he had stepped back.

‘I’m feeling fear? In front of someone who hasn’t even drawn a weapon?’

Although his rank was lower than Shin Kyung-min’s, Seo Jin-cheol prided himself on having high combat power.

Because of that, he had never felt intimidated or scared, even in front of higher-level opponents.

He had always been confident in his strength.

‘But in front of this guy…’

Even that confidence was shrinking.

It felt like standing before an unfathomable wall.

A warning bell rang in his mind, telling him he must never oppose this person.

Tssst-

In the end, Seo Jin-cheol unequipped the dual swords he had been holding.

He couldn’t cause a commotion here.

Not while Hunter Min Do-jun was standing right in front of him, at least.

“Oppa! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a temporary thing.”

Wiping the blood from his nose, Shin Kyung-min glared at Seo Jin-cheol.

“You bastard. What were you trying to do to my sister?”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’ve been saying it’s a misunderstanding from the start!”

Seo Jin-cheol’s claim of innocence made Shin Hye-ri shout in disbelief.

“J-Just a moment ago, you grabbed my wrist and tried to drag me into the lecture hall!”

“Drag you? Who said that? I just wanted to talk in a quiet place!”

As he played innocent, Shin Kyung-min roared in anger.

“You criminal bastard, how dare you lie? What could you possibly have to talk about with my sister?”

“Did you just call me a criminal? Damn it, I got out of prison eight years ago. I served my sentence fair and square.”

“Does that erase what you did, you criminal bastard?”

The two started arguing, but then they suddenly glanced around.

Perhaps due to the commotion, onlookers were beginning to gather one by one.

“Damn it, let’s talk inside.”

Seo Jin-cheol entered the lecture hall, and the others followed.

Bang-

They closed the door and continued the conversation.

“How did you know my sister attends Korea University?”

Shin Kyung-min, still visibly agitated, pressed for answers.

He looked ready to fight again at any moment.

“You were targeting my sister to get revenge on me, weren’t you!”

“What the hell are you saying? I keep telling you it’s a misunderstanding!”

“Then what is it!”

Seo Jin-cheol let out a sigh before responding in a low voice.

“My younger brother attends Korea University too. Though he’s on a leave of absence right now.”

“Younger brother?”

Only then did Shin Kyung-min recall that Seo Jin-cheol had a younger brother.

“You knowing that my sister attends Korea University came from my brother. He kept mentioning that there’s an incredibly pretty junior in his second year. Turns out, coincidentally, it was your sister.”

“So… your younger brother also goes to Korea University?”

“Yeah. He’s on a leave of absence now, but he’ll be a senior when he returns.”

Seeing Shin Kyung-min seemingly calm down a bit, Seo Jin-cheol let out a short sigh.

“Looks like you’re finally ready to listen.”

“…Tell me. What were you trying to talk about with my sister?”

“I know it’s shameless, but I wanted to ask for a favor. I wanted her to meet my brother and convince him.”

“Convince him?”

“The thing is, my brother is just loafing around at home instead of attending this great university. So I’ve been wondering how to convince him to return to school, and that’s why I decided to approach your sister. To ask her to persuade my brother.”

“Why should Hye-ri convince your brother?”

“Because my brother likes Hye-ri. If the girl he likes tells him to come back to school, wouldn’t he listen?”

“…That was really the reason?”

“I’m telling you it was!”

Shin Kyung-min let out a deflated, hollow expression.

“I told you it was a misunderstanding. But instead of listening, you attacked me. And to an old friend, no less.”

“Friend?”

Shin Kyung-min growled again.

“You, a criminal, think you’re my friend?”

“Hey, I already told you. I served my time and got out. I reflected a lot in prison, okay?”

“Yeah, right.”

“And let’s be honest, did I ever do anything to harm you? If anyone should be pissed, it’s me, right? Betrayed by a friend I trusted?”

“So you’re saying you came here for revenge now?”

“No, damn it, I’m not! Honestly, I can’t say I didn’t resent you, but I’ve forgiven it all. It’s been over ten years; am I going to hold a grudge over something like that? Am I that petty?”

“Who knows? How can I tell what a criminal is thinking?”

“You really… If you keep calling me a criminal, I’ll sue you for defamation, okay?”

“Go ahead and sue. I’ll report you for trying to forcibly drag my sister away.”

“I told you that was a misunderstanding! And let’s get the situation straight-whose fault was it for attacking without warning?”

“You’re pretty good at threats for a criminal. Go on, try it.”

“Fine. Let’s see this through to the end.”

“Stop it, both of you!”

In the end, their argument only ceased when Shin Hye-ri intervened.

“I think I misunderstood. It seems you just wanted to talk, so I’m sorry.”

“Hey, why are you apologizing?”

“Oppa, stop it. I misunderstood, so let’s just leave it at that.”

Shin Kyung-min, seemingly acknowledging the misunderstanding, didn’t say much more.

He just glared at Seo Jin-cheol and spat out a single word.

“Get lost.”

“Man, talk about bad luck.”

At Shin Kyung-min’s dismissal, Seo Jin-cheol shook his head and left the lecture hall.

“Hye-ri, are you hurt anywhere?”

“My wrist feels a bit stiff.”

“Ugh, that brute bastard!”

“Oppa, stop cursing. People outside might hear.”

“It pisses me off. Do you know how hard I’ve worked to protect you from that guy all this time? And yet, to run into him so easily…”

“You’ve been keeping your distance from me because of that person?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of person is he?”

“You don’t need to know the details. It’ll just upset you.”

“But why did you come here, Oppa? And Hunter Min Do-jun too.”

“Oh, Hunter Min Do-jun said he had something to tell you.”

“To me?”

Shin Hye-ri looked at Min Do-jun with surprised eyes.

“What do you want to tell me…?”

“We’ll talk about that next time. Right now doesn’t seem like the best moment for a casual conversation.”

By now, the area around the lecture hall was crowded with students.

“Oh no. People are going to find out that you and I are siblings.”

“So what if they do? It’s already been exposed to Seo Jin-cheol anyway.”

Shin Kyung-min grabbed Shin Hye-ri’s wrist and pulled her along.

“Are your classes done? Let’s go. I’ll drive you home.”

* * *

Pushing through the crowd of students like escaping, Seo Jin-cheol used invisibility in a secluded spot.

“Damn it. What is this? What the hell is this!”

Having escaped the onlookers’ gaze, he repeatedly vented his frustration.

“Of all times, for Shin Kyung-min to show up right then!”

It was anger over his plan falling apart.

“I was just about to do something in the lecture hall, and damn it, I almost got screwed!”

His original plan was to rape Shin Hye-ri to enrage Shin Kyung-min, but it went awry from the start.

“How did he know where I was and show up? Did that girl Shin Hye-ri call him?”

It seemed likely that she had called Shin Kyung-min to give her a ride home.

Sure enough.

He saw the three of them pushing through the crowd and getting into a Ferrari.

“But why is Min Do-jun with them?”

It was surprising enough that Shin Kyung-min showed up on time, but he hadn’t expected Min Do-jun to appear as well.

“He didn’t climb to rank 1 for nothing.”

When they crossed paths in front of the Association last time, he hadn’t paid much attention, but facing him directly like this made him realize just how insurmountable the wall was.

“I absolutely can’t mess with that guy.”

He decided that if he ever ran into him again, he mustn’t do anything to provoke him.

Gritting his teeth-

As he watched the departing Ferrari, Seo Jin-cheol ground his teeth.

“Shin Kyung-min, you bastard…!”

Crunch-

Though he had said with his mouth that he had forgiven everything, he couldn’t forget what happened back then.

“Just thinking about the hell I went through in prison because of you still makes my blood boil!”

Though it was just two years in prison, it was undoubtedly the harshest period of Seo Jin-cheol’s life.

“If I hadn’t awakened as a hunter and gained an S-rank trait, I wouldn’t even have the chance for revenge now.”

Seo Jin-cheol was determined to get revenge on Shin Kyung-min.

By raping his only family member, Shin Hye-ri.

“Feel the same despair, pain, and humiliation I went through in prison, you bastard.”

Though he failed today, there were plenty of opportunities.

As long as Shin Kyung-min’s sister continued to attend school, that is.