No Longer A Heroine (sung jinwoo x reader)

chapter 11- anticipation

“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”

-1 day before the trip-

I was returning from a meeting with the chairman. To his delight, I told him that I'll accept the mission and inspect the strange gate. There is one day left before we will leave by plane and get to France, where the gate is. I'll have to wake up early in the morning so I don't miss my flight, that part is something I'm not looking forward to. Despite always being up early, I'm not a morning person at all, I love sleeping in.

"after this mission, I'll give myself a vacation" I said hopeful, trying to get my spirits up

The mission was far from being over though. As I turned left with my car, I heard my phone ring. I picked it up and saw the name "sung jinwoo" plastered all over my screen. I forgot that I saved his phone number last night. I answered him, then put him on speaker, so I'm able to hear what he has to say.

"good morning" jinwoo said, almost too cheerfully for my taste

"morning" I replied, trying to keep my curiosity hidden

"I thought it would be a good idea to have a plan about what we're getting ourselves into. Would you mind meeting up at some point today?"

I thought for a moment, and realized that my schedule is full starting from 2pm. I looked at the clock and saw the time: 10:12. After quickly thinking of my new found idea, I decided to share it with jinwoo, who was waiting for an answer:

"I can meet you in 10 minutes, would that be convenient for you?" I asked checking the clock again, just to make sure that my vision didn't fail me

"just a moment" the hunter said before going quiet

I could hear faint whispers coming from the other side, but I paid them no mind.

"I'm at my guild right now. I have to complete some papers, but I'll be available soon enough"

"alright, I'll drive over there" I said, turning my car back and heading towards the ahjin guild

"right now?" he asked with a tone of confusion and surprise

"the sooner we get it done, the better" I replied

"that's alright with me, but I could've come to you, there was no need to bother"

"don't worry about it" I said, slightly smiling "I'll be there soon"

Just like that, the call ended. I had to visit his guild sooner or later either way, and see more of the person I'll work with in the future. I started tapping the steering wheel and checked the time. I'll arrive in less than 5 minutes. As my thoughts wandered, I couldn't help but think of jinwoo's words. I never knew he was this considerate.

Before I could realize, the ahjin guild stood tall in front of me. I parked near, and got out of the car. The guild was freshly made so I didn't expect anyone to escort me, but in front of me was none other than hunter jinwoo. I slowly approached him, not sure what to say. He was the one who broke the silence:

"welcome to the ahjin guild, miss"

"it's my pleasure to be here" I replied, waiting for his next move

He signaled me to follow him inside, so I did. To my surprise, the place was very well put together and neat. I was busy looking around, so I failed to notice the person approaching us.

"hi boss, it's nice to see you back!" said the unknown person

Jinwoo patted him on the shoulder and smiled, then turned back to me.

"miss okumura, this is yoo jinho, the vice president of guild ahjin"

Jinho held out his hand in a friendly way, and I politely took it.

"jinho, this is miss okumura, president of the eagles' guild"

At the mention of my guild, I could see jinho's face lose its color. He quickly looked back and forth between me and the other hunter, then settled his eyes on me.

"it's an honor to meet you miss" he said, bowing slightly

"you don't have to act so formal. We'll be seeing each other quite often from now on" I said, watching his expression become even more confused

I sighed at the thought that I probably intimidated him. I didn't want to have that kind of relationship with other people, just mutual respect is enough. I strongly believe that a person with power shouldn't abuse it. Jinwoo quickly picked up on the atmosphere, so he decided to take me to his office, telling jinho that we have some business to discuss. When we got in, I sat on a chair relieved that the awkward moment was over.

"he doesn't seem to like me very much" I said laughing

"that's not it" he answered confidently "but your title can be intimidating. I'm sure he'll warm up to you in no time"

I thanked the hunter for the assurance, then waited for him to sit down.

"about the mission" he said, while picking up a stack of papers from the corner of his desk, and spreading them all over "I made brief research, and I think some of this information could be useful"

I looked at him slightly surprised. He had the determination, I'll give him that.

"alright, let's do that" I said, while picking up a random piece of paper

-1 hour later-

It's been a little over an hour since we started going through the papers, and we're not even halfway done. I groaned and put the paper in my hands back in the messy stack. Jinwoo set aside his as well, to give me a questioning look.

"this isn't going anywhere, I'm sure you've noticed"

He nodded and fell silent for a moment, before speaking:

"this will take us too long to get through. How about we make a plan with what we already know? In case something goes wrong".

I silently agreed to him, and inhaled deeply before sharing my doubts with him.

"we already know that nobody was able to enter the gate, and no monsters came out." I took a look at jinwoo who was listening intently, before continuing "what if it's like a seal? Nobody can get in or out until we find the key"

He nodded, thinking about my theory.

"assuming that's true, what could be the reason behind it? And how are we supposed to break the seal?" he muttered, more to himself

"I don't know, maybe it's waiting for something, or someone" I replied reluctantly, questioning my own idea

"if that proves to be true, we have no other way than to find it ourselves, as a team"

"right" I said looking at him "we'll get to the bottom of this"

And just like that, we spent the rest of our day in anticipation, curiosity, and fear of the unknown. Our only option was to wait until the time was right.

A/n

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I just wanted to say that this story is a very plot driven one (or I'd like to think so), so romance won't always be the main focus. Right now, jinwoo and y/n will have some time to bond while discovering the truth about the gate, and what or who's behind it. I feel like the story is moving kind of slow right now for the sake of character development, but I'd love to hear your opinions.

That's all! Thanks for your time.