Evil Organization’s Extra Mr. A

[18th Chapter]

I couldn’t get much information from my Sunday part-time job. All I felt was the sensation of my energy being drained by Pink’s erratic mental state throughout the afternoon.

Whether it’s me or Pink who is strange, I’m sure of one thing: I couldn’t adapt to her sense of distance.

But humans are animals that adapt, and on the following Saturday after a week:

When I returned to work and met Pink again, I had already adapted to her sense of distance.

“Hello!”

I waved and greeted her with her cheerful greeting. Her high spirits were such that I wondered if there could be any moment when my mood would drop.

“Yeah. Hello.”

“Ou-ssi, did you have a good week?”

“Ou-ssi?”

I stopped in my tracks, apron still on, at the unexpected title. I hesitated about what to say first, watching her expression as if she was asking if something was wrong.

The term ‘Ou-ssi’ is known to be a title used for daughters of noble families in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty according to investigations. It means a respectful way to address young women, not necessarily restricted to those of high status, though it is rarely used in modern times.

“Yes. A is ‘A’, so Ou-ssi.”

“Why is A ‘A’?”

“Don’t worry about it. Nicknames are all like that.”

I didn’t particularly like this nickname without roots. A nickname should consider the other person’s actions or characteristics to some extent, but this one was just decided arbitrarily without any consideration.

“Anyway, if you’re going to use informal speech, wouldn’t it be better to call me by my name?”

“It doesn’t suit my mouth.”

I know that among the names of foreigners I can encounter in Korea, A is not a common name. Even globally, I’m not sure if it’s used as a name, but according to research, it’s not commonly used.

“Whether it’s Ou-ssi or A-si, they sound the same when pronounced strongly. But why add ‘si’ when you’re using informal speech?”

“What a fuss over everything.”

While grumbling and washing cups beside her, I dried the dishes piled up in the sink.

“It’s not a fuss, it’s strange.”

“Not strange at all~”

There’s something annoying about dragging out words at the end. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but I held back because if I hit her, I wouldn’t be able to handle the situation.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“…”

I closed my mouth instead of answering casually. If I said I had a girlfriend, it would lead to a troublesome situation. Pink’s personality seems like she’d want to see a picture immediately if I said yes, and if I didn’t show it, she might accuse me of lying.

This was just my imagination, and even if such a scenario didn’t occur, I couldn’t say I had a girlfriend because my girlfriend is Red, a member of the HunterKiller team where Pink works.

“No.”

“Because you’re making a big deal out of nothing, you don’t have a girlfriend.”

I was mistaken. Even if I said I didn’t have one, she already had unnecessary things to say. She even connected it to my recent behavior, making me feel like I was hit in the wrong place. Although it was unfair to say I couldn’t have a girlfriend, I decided to endure it.

“What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?”

Since I couldn’t just take it, I thought of retaliating by saying something to her.

“…Not right now.”

“Not right now?”

I didn’t miss her slight pause and tried to catch her off guard while washing dishes, paying close attention to every word she spoke.

“We broke up recently!”

She kicked my shin with the tip of her shoe. It wasn’t as strong as the force she used to throw a customer out last week, but it still hurt to be hit on the shin.

“Ou-ssi!”

I almost dropped the cup I was holding, and a cry of pain escaped my lips due to the reflex response.

“Why are you angry at me after breaking up?”

She seemed embarrassed and kept her gaze fixed on the sink, continuing to wash dishes without looking at me. Out of spite, I splashed water from my rubber gloves onto her face.

Since I was wearing a mask, I only felt the water droplets hitting my eyes, and I frowned.

“You’re being ridiculous? Did you forget I’m a hyper-human?”

I made a mistake. If I were to punch her sincerely, without a suit, I’d probably be beaten up badly. While she wouldn’t hit me with that power here, even if she hid her identity, I couldn’t help but feel scared knowing I fight HunterKillers every week.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Okay. If you understand, do a good job.”

Seeing her triumphant expression as she poked my ribs with her elbow made me want to punch her, but imagining myself being beaten up by Pink stopped me.

“But what did you do before dating until you were 25?”

I turned to look at her, feeling that her comment sounded like she was implying I hadn’t done anything meaningful until I was 25.

After all, I said I don’t have a girlfriend, not that I’ve never dated. Although I hadn’t dated before meeting Yubin.

In any case, it was uncomfortable that Pink would assume I’m a lifelong single based on her lack of understanding of my situation.

“Are you mocking me?”

Opening my eyes wide at her, Pink looked genuinely surprised and raised her voice.

“No, I’m really curious this time.”

“What else? Just lived while working.”

This was one of the few truths I could tell Pink since I had to lie about most information. For 20 years, I lived quietly on Earth and continued my battles, and even when traveling through space or living in my homeland, I worked, so I’ve never been in a relationship.

“Why did you break up with your boyfriend?”

“Excuse me?!”

But I could only tell a few truths in my story, and lacking storytelling skills, I decided to shift the topic to her story.

Pink showed signs of considerable surprise, her hands busy with dishes and her eyes flickering.

“Personality… difference?”

“Why is it a question?”

She glared at me with sharp eyes, looking like an angry cat, then looked away and continued washing dishes. Since I was losing ground, did I need to stop asking questions? This was absurd.

“If you don’t know the reason, it means you were dumped.”

If she had a boyfriend recently and broke up without a clear reason, it could only mean she was dumped. However, Pink was looking at me sharply with sharp eyes, denying my statement. I avoided eye contact.

“No, I dumped him!”

“You dumped him? Why?”

“Because… I got tired of him!”

Even though I thought she was incredibly lively, she seemed irrational. Dumping a boyfriend just because she got tired of him—it’s a value system I couldn’t understand, especially as someone new to dating.

“In that case, why not just say you dumped him from the start because you got tired of him? What was the point of mentioning the personality difference?”

“It’s none of your business.”

As Pink said, it’s none of my business. Whether she dumped him because she got tired or he dumped her and she covered it up with a personality difference.

If she was dumped, she was probably just covering herself for self-defense. And if she dumped him, although I couldn’t understand her values, I couldn’t judge it as bad either. There are diverse people and relationships in the world, so it’s appropriate to respect each other’s values to some extent.

“How many men have you dumped like that?”

“What?”

Pink’s hand stopped. Was it because she didn’t expect such a question? Or was she thinking about how many men she had dumped? Either way, she stopped her hands and looked at me. I also looked at her, and my gaze still carried the frustration from the absurdity I felt earlier.

“Why? Is it wrong to ask this too?”

“No, well… around ten, twenty maybe!”

“Ten? Twenty?”

“Twenty!”

It was obvious she was hiding her embarrassment, but given her claim, I had no choice but to believe her. Still, having dumped twenty men seemed unusual.

Pink was only 25 years old. Could she be counting relationships from just a day or two? If so, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to have changed boyfriends around twenty times.

“You certainly dumped a lot.”

“So what? You’re not someone I’d meet anyway. Unfortunately, you’re not my type.”

“That’s great. You’re not my type either.”

I answered mimicking her tone, and it ended with Pink kicking my shin again.

I should suggest to Luche to change the target of surveillance. If that fails, I need to gather information quickly and get away from this woman.

“But you seem not to be afraid of hyper-humans?”

With fewer customers, we had a break, and when I came out the back door of the cafe to rest and picked up my phone, Pink commented on how I was not bothered by hyper-humans.

There’s nothing particularly amazing about it. To me, a member of Spacystro, both Earthlings and hyper-humans were essentially the same. The only difference was that hyper-humans were stronger and always beat our team members in every battle. But after 20 years, it didn’t seem scary anymore.

“What are you going to say next?”

“Do you always think what I say is weird?”

We stared at each other with narrowed eyes. I sighed, realizing I had indeed jumped to conclusions, and said to her,

“Why? Would you like me to be scared?”

“No, I don’t like that. One of the previous part-timers quit because they knew I was a hyper-human.”

This reason made no sense to me. While awareness of hyper-humans has improved, not everyone views them positively. The reason is likely due to their alien nature.

Times may change, but prejudice remains, and there are still people who vent their anger on innocent individuals. No matter how much the world improves and becomes more diverse, there are aspects that remain unchanged.

Even if we go to a planet in a completely different galaxy, humans are fundamentally not very different.

“That’s about that person. Whether you’re a hyper-human or not, it’s irrelevant to me.”

From a surveillance perspective, constantly being aware of Pink being a hyper-human could create distance in our relationship, and the farther apart we are, the harder it will be to gather information. There’s no need to act unnecessarily, especially since the manager and other part-timers at this cafe treat her without prejudice or discrimination.

Pink seemed surprised that I, who had only known her for a week, didn’t have any prejudice against hyper-humans.

I monitor HunterKiller members, not ordinary citizens, so I don’t fully understand the current societal perception of hyper-humans. However, it seems that there aren’t many people without prejudice against hyper-humans, despite Spacystro being on Earth for 20 years.

“You’re really strange.”

At times like these, one might expect a compliment, but her words unsettled me.

“Strange? Me? If we’re talking about strangeness, you’re 20 times stranger than me.”

At least, I think my personality is quite average compared to Earthlings. While it’s vague to set a standard for normalcy, I don’t think I have any particularly odd or abnormal traits.

Of course, I can’t argue if someone says otherwise, but compared to Pink’s intense energy and unmeasurable distance, I find myself more ordinary.

“Not strange at all!”

I had many things to say, but I gave up, fearing my words would just hurt.

“Alright. Let’s agree you’re not strange. Not strange! Not strange!”

People often don’t recognize their own personality flaws. Even if someone knows them, the stronger their personality, the less likely they are to acknowledge their flaws.

I don’t know my own flaws either. I’ve never really thought about it. Pink must be the same.

Considering her personality is so strong, even if I pointed out her flaws, she’d probably just hear them and ignore them.

“This is real!”

I dodged another kick aimed at my shin. No matter how physically capable she is, I won’t let her hit me head-on.

Thus, we chased each other until the break ended, and I returned to the kitchen, only to be hit in the back of the head.

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