Ranker’s Return

Chapter 778

The first day of Hyeonu and Reina’s trip to Jeju Island ended with light drinking and eating. They couldn’t do anything else. By the time they left the restaurant, it was already 1 a.m.

“I’ll see you in front of the hotel tomorrow morning.” Hyeonu waved to Reina.

“See you tomorrow morning.” Reina waved and disappeared into her hotel room.

Hyeonu confirmed Reina was gone and also went into his room. He entered his room, opened the suitcase that he had thrown roughly at the time he checked into the hotel, and organized the clothes and electronic products he brought. Hyeonu hung his clothes on hangers and placed them in the closet. Then he took out his laptop and charger and headed for bed.

“Uwah!”

Hyeonu threw what he had in his hand onto the bed and threw his body on it. Then he stretched and let out a groan. Meanwhile, his smartphone fell out of Hyeonu’s pocket.

‘That’s right.’

Hyeonu looked at his smartphone and realized that he had switched it to airplane mode before boarding the plane. He unlocked his smartphone and turned off airplane mode. At the same time…

“Wow. Why is there so much?”

Hyeonu’s smartphone started vibrating like crazy. He immediately dropped his smartphone onto the bed. The vibrations were too severe to continue holding his phone. Hyeonu waited for the vibrations of his smartphone to stop.

‘What type of sports star am I? I hardly ever use SNS. What is going on…?’

Unlike famous celebrities, Hyeonu wasn’t the type to use SNS. To be precise, he liked looking at other people’s posts, but he didn’t post himself. Naturally, it was impossible for the notifications to be from someone liking or commenting on Hyeonu’s posts. It took a few minutes before Hyeonu’s smartphone became peaceful. That was when Hyeonu finally picked up his smartphone and confirmed the identity of the notifications. Most of the notifications were caused by messages sent to Hyeonu and comments on a few social media posts.

‘Everyone is interested in me.’

The comments were in all languages, including Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese. He translated them through the app’s own translation function and found they were mostly similar in content.

-I’m envious of you going on a trip alone with Reina.

-Finally, congratulations on escaping your solo life and becoming a couple.

-Now admit it instead of denying it.

Many of the comments were like this. Hyeonu lightly brushed away all these comments. He had no intention of reacting.

“These hyung-nims are the main culprits.”

However, there were some things that were difficult to overcome. They were Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu. It was the messages from these two people. The two of them sent dozens of emoticons with sly expressions to Hyeonu. Then as if they had made an appointment, they left the word ‘fighting’ at the end.

‘I have to send them a reply.’

Hyeonu was forcing a smile when his expression stiffened. He saw a notification next to Yeongchan’s name that said: [Missed calls (58)].

‘Why did Yeongchan call like this?’

58 missed calls—it was a number that couldn’t be described as an ordinary obsession. Hyeonu rang Yeongchan. He considered the effort Yeongchan put in and thought it was polite to contact Yeongchan as soon as he saw this.

-Hello. Yeongchan’s voice flowed out the moment Hyeonu called. He didn’t even give time for the ringing tone to emerge.

“Why did you call so many times?” Hyeonu didn’t bother with greetings and got to the point. The only greeting between the two of them was when they answered the phone.

-What are you doing that you can’t answer the phone?

Yeongchan’s tone changed the moment he confirmed that the person he was talking to was Hyeonu.

“What can I be doing? I got on the plane and ate dinner. You couldn’t contact me because I didn’t turn off airplane mode. By the way, why did you call so many times?” Hyeonu wasn’t shaken by Yeongchan’s harsh question and continued the conversation as usual.

-Don’t you even use the Internet? No… You said you ate. Look at the community or SNS. Then you’ll know why I called. Yeongchan sighed.

Hyeonu really seemed to not know anything.

‘It isn’t strange if it’s real.’

It didn’t matter if the articles posted on the Internet or circulating around were true. However, Yeongchan had seen Hyeonu and Reina up close, so he knew their trip meant nothing.

“Why? What about it? I’m receiving a lot of comments and direct messages on my SNS right now. There were so many that I couldn’t check them and just dismissed the notifications.”

Hyeonu still acted like things were fine. He could roughly guess what Yeongchan was talking about, but he had no intention of worrying about it. In any case, interest would fade as time passed.

‘I’m going to focus on traveling.’

“Okay, I’m hanging up. I will come back on Sunday.”

Hyeonu unilaterally cut off the call with Yeongchan, threw his smartphone on the other side of the bed, and lay down.

***

“Over here, here.” Hyeonu waved toward Reina in the distance.

“What’s with that car?” Reina asked as she saw Hyeonu standing in front of a white car. It was a vehicle she hadn’t seen yesterday.

“I rented it. It is more comfortable than taking a taxi or bus.”

The moment he woke up in the morning, Hyeonu took a taxi to find a pre-booked rental car. It was thanks to the information he had seen on the Internet that said there was quite a big difference between having a car and not having one on a trip to Jeju Island.

“You went alone? We should’ve gone together…” Reina had an apologetic expression.

“I can go alone and… It is better for one person to get more rest. We slept late yesterday.” Hyeonu waved his hand. It was a good idea for at least one person to rest when possible.

“Let’s go eat breakfast,” Hyeonu stated while opening the door to the passenger seat. Reina stopped what she was going to say and got into the car. Hyeonu started the car and drove to the address he had entered in the navigation system in advance. The destination was a famous brunch cafe on Jeju Island.

“We will have a light meal here first and then go sightseeing,” Hyeonu said. He ordered so much food that the dishes completely covered the wooden table.

The word ‘light’ didn’t match the meal at all.

“Have you heard of the meat noodles on Jeju Island? It is famous. Why don’t we have that for lunch?” Reina didn’t respond to Hyeonu’s words and just suggested the lunch menu. It was as if there really wasn’t a lot of food in front of her.

“Okay. I also wanted to try it.” Hyeonu nodded vigorously. Meat noodles were also one of the top things on Hyeonu’s travel plans for Jeju Island.

***’

‘Is it over already?’ Reina closed her eyes as she leaned back against the plane seat. The dream-like trip of two nights and three days to Jeju Island had come to an end. It was a really happy time, but it felt too short.

‘It was so good…’

The trip to Jeju Island with Hyeonu was nothing special. They ate when the time was right, and after eating, they drove the car to see the scenery of Jeju Island. Then if they found a place they liked, they got out of the car and walked. They had done so without hesitation. This alone was enjoyable enough. Jeju Island was beautiful, and it was nice to be with Hyeonu.

‘I don’t think there will be another day like this?’

Reina knew very well that Hyeonu didn’t see herself as a romantic partner. Before she came to South Korea, she thought that one month would be enough. However, now she realized it was enough for her to become friendly with Hyeonu but not enough to go beyond that.

‘I think I need a bit more…’

This didn’t mean there was no hope. If only she had been given a bit more time…

If so, it could’ve been a better relationship. The relationship between the two of them had grown much closer compared to the first time she met Hyeonu in South Korea.

Thus, it was even more disappointing.

“Hah…” a sigh of regret flowed from Reina’s mouth.

“Reina? Are you sick? Did you catch a cold?” Hyeonu had an expression of pity as he looked at Reina, who groaned while lying down.

“No, it is just that the seat is so comfortable. My body is tired.”

“Ah, is that so? Then get some rest.”

Hyeonu understood Reina’s words to mean that she wanted to rest and lay down in the seat like it was a bed. The conversation between the two of them was cut off as the plane left Jeju Island and headed to Gimpo.

***

“Go on in.” Hyeonu got off the elevator and waved to Reina.

“Thank you for these two days. I really enjoyed it.” Reina stepped toward her officetel and waved to Hyeonu.

“I had fun as well. Let’s go again next time if there is a chance.” Hyeonu smiled.

“Yes, I will definitely go again.” Reina also smiled.

Hyeonu and Reina walked into their respective places.

“You’re coming back now?” Yeongchan greeted Hyeonu as he ate jajangmyeon with a shabby appearance.

“What? This… What type of beggar is in the house?” Hyeonu frowned when he saw Yeongchan. The latter looked like an otaku. It wasn’t known how long it had been since Yeongchan washed his hair, but his hair was greasy.

“Have you not washed at all over the weekend? You should shower once a day. Don’t you know cleanliness? Cleanliness? Why are you…?” Yeongchan ate the jajangmyeon with no concern despite Hyeonu’s harsh criticism. He took a large bite of the jajangmyeon and looked at Hyeonu with a lot of sauce around his mouth.

Hyeonu once again frowned at the sight.

“So what? What is the difference between washing and not? I don’t have it anyway,” Yeongchan fired at Hyeonu.

“Don’t have… what?” Hyeonu also shot back at Yeongchan. No, he tried to do so. If only he hadn’t seen Yeongchan’s eyes that were starting to get wet…

Upon seeing those eyes that seemed to hold great regret, Hyeonu couldn’t say anything.

“A friend to travel with… s woman who likes me… I don’t have them!” Yeongchan yelled and ran to his room.

“Why don’t you have any friends to travel with?” Hyeonu cocked his head as he cleared up the traces that Yeongchan left behind. He didn’t understand it.

“Hey, aren’t you going on a trip with Yeongchan?” Hyeonu called a friend who was going on the trip with Yeongchan.

-Travel? It was a hidden camera prank for you. Didn’t you know? That jerk went so far when lying? This friend told Hyeonu the shocking truth.

“Really? Thank you. I’ll see you soon. Make some time.” Hyeonu thanked the friend who told him the behind-the-scenes story and hung up.

‘As a result… I went on a trip thanks to Yeongchan.’

Hyeonu felt grateful to Yeongchan. Regardless of the intentions, the results were good.

‘Should I introduce him to a blind date?’

Hyeonu turned on his laptop as he tried to think of women he could introduce to Yeongchan. Just then, Hyeonu’s phone vibrated. Hyeonu naturally opened his smartphone and confirmed the reason for the vibration. It was a call from Gang Junggu.

-Did your trip go well?

“Yes, Hyung-nim. I like Jeju Island.”

-Even if you are tired, you should try entering Arena.

“Now? Did something happen?”

Hyeonu had been thinking of resting today.

-Someone attacked the different species.

“Huh?”