Evil Organization’s Extra Mr. A

[20th Episode]

When I got home, Yubin was there as expected. She didn’t seem particularly bad, but she also didn’t look very happy; there was a sense of something weighing her down.

“What happened?”

I spoke first when I saw that nothing had changed about her after I came out from taking a shower. I already knew the reason, but I couldn’t tell her. If Yubin were to explain, I’d have to listen to everything all over again from the beginning. I didn’t feel particularly annoyed or bothered by this. There might be parts that could be resolved when I heard the story again from Yubin’s perspective.

“I have to go work again.”

“Office support?”

“Yeah. There.”

She mentioned that HunterKiller work was an office support part-time job, and from the moment she started talking, I pieced together the content to fit with the HunterKiller team.

“There are a few other people like me doing part-time work there.”

If the place where she does office support is the Earth Defense Union Seoul Headquarters, then the other part-timers she’s referring to are members of the HunterKiller team. Or, she might be including other teams besides HunterKiller.

“But they don’t show up on time, and they don’t keep their promises.”

Observing Yubin, she never broke a time or appointment with me. However, if her teammates, who are always busy, kept breaking promises, even someone with great patience and a good nature would eventually reach their limits.

“Something happened this morning, and they didn’t keep their promise, so I spoke harshly to them.”

“Did you yell at them?”

Since I hadn’t seen the message Pink received, I couldn’t gauge how serious the conversation between the two was. From Pink’s reaction and Yubin’s current mood, it seemed they exchanged harsh words.

Yubin only nodded. While I couldn’t tell how much they had actually exchanged harsh words, it was clear that there had been an emotionally charged exchange.

Not knowing such a situation and not knowing that Yubin and I were friends, Pink took sides with Red and got angry, which was a big mistake. Honestly, I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.

How did I, who usually has sharp instincts, make such a thoughtless mistake?

“It’s bad. They don’t even keep the promises we made together.”

Sitting next to Yubin, who was sitting on the bed, I placed my hand on her hand and glanced at her, then laced our fingers together.

“No, I know the circumstances. You spoke too harshly.”

It seemed that even though Yubin was angry at that moment, time had cooled her head, and now she was left with discomfort about the unresolved situation.

“Are you going tomorrow too?”

“Yeah.”

On weekdays, Yubin goes to the HunterKiller headquarters. Whether Pink will come out tomorrow or not is unknown, but since I don’t know the specific details of their relationship and overall situation, the only thing I can say is one thing.

“If you think Yubin did something wrong, apologize to her first tomorrow.”

Listening quietly, she seemed to have made up her mind and nodded slightly in response.

“Now let’s smooth things over. Have you eaten dinner?”

I held her cheeks and pulled them slightly to the sides, and her frowning expression gradually brightened.

“Yeah. Let’s eat.”

Both of us were hungry after finishing our part-time jobs, and we had dinner together today as well. After eating, there was only one thing left to do.

Recently, I haven’t turned into a monkey easily, and I’ve managed to control it somewhat, allowing me to enjoy it just right. We’ve even had a few times recently where neither of us complained about lower back pain.

Monday morning at the Earth Defense Union Seoul Headquarters on the third floor.

When Red entered the meeting room after swiping her card, the only people she saw were Green and Yellow.

“Where’s Pink and Blue?”

As she sat down, she asked about the whereabouts of the two, but Yellow showed no reaction, and Green shook his head, saying he wasn’t sure.

Although I roughly knew their schedules, they were vague. Without clear instructions on when and how things should be done, there was nothing else I could do except wait.

Blue always had to watch the child at home, and even Blue herself didn’t know exactly which days she could come out. She attended consistently on days with battles, but otherwise, she rarely showed up.

“Blue sister probably can’t come because of her nephew today, right?”

Red’s mood had been poor at every meeting lately, and Green, who consistently attended meetings, knew Red’s condition better than anyone else. He cautiously brought up the topic while observing Red carefully.

“That’s probably it.”

Pink always talked about working part-time, but I didn’t know exactly where or what kind of work she did. Since team members didn’t share personal information, it felt awkward to ask now where she worked and what she did.

“Still, there are three of us here today.”

Yellow was the most severe among the three who didn’t attend the meeting. Regardless of whether she knew the schedule or not, communication had always been difficult, and sometimes it felt like team members forgot how to talk to her.

When Red once asked her to attend the meeting, she replied simply, “It doesn’t matter if we win.”

This was the atmosphere of Team HunterKiller. Although we had known each other for three years, communication was often hindered, leaving us unfamiliar with each other’s situations.

Leaving things as they were familiarized us, yet the team’s atmosphere changed every time. As the leader, Red inevitably experienced stressful days.

Even though the meetings were practically meaningless, Red couldn’t simply abandon them because they were crucial for defending Earth.

Thinking that having three people present would make things different, Red prepared to start the meeting when the door to the meeting room opened.

“What? Even Yellow is here.”

Entering and making a remark, Pink was none other than the person who had spoken. Red and Pink’s eyes met momentarily, but both avoided each other’s gaze.

Red sat in the chair farthest from where Red was, and Red watched her before starting the meeting. The primary purpose of HunterKiller meetings was to analyze battle data from both domestic and international fronts to assess SpaceStro’s capabilities and formulate strategies.

Every day, battles occurred around the world, and the amount of information to discuss based on these battles was immense.

Throughout the meeting, Yellow remained silent, but Pink spoke whenever new information came up. Red and Green added their thoughts, and the meeting proceeded smoothly.

After wrapping up the meeting, as everyone prepared to go back to their individual tasks, Pink approached Red.

“Can we talk for a bit?”

Looking down at Red, Pink didn’t look away and maintained eye contact, standing up from her seat.

“Sure.”

When they arrived on the rooftop via the elevator, the scorching sunlight shone down and a cool breeze blew. Pink sat down first under a bench with a roof, and Red stood slightly apart, watching her.

“What are you doing? Standing so far away makes it hard to talk.”

Red needed a moment to gather her thoughts and came under the roof upon hearing Pink’s voice. The atmosphere wasn’t ideal for sitting together, so they remained in a brief silence, with Pink seated and Red standing.

Both knew why they were in this situation, but without knowing each other’s feelings and thoughts, it was hard to speak up.

Red recalled what A had told her yesterday. She understood that it was wrong to speak harshly first and that apologizing was the right thing to do.

Even after listening to his support, she believed that she was the one who was wrong first.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry.”

The two, who had been silent, simultaneously blurted out the same word, and without looking directly at each other, their eyes met.

“Huh?”

Pink didn’t expect to hear an apology from Red. While Red had spoken harshly, Pink didn’t feel she had done anything to deserve such a response.

“Why?”

“Why are you asking?”

Red didn’t think Pink would be the one to apologize first either.

Amid the renewed silence, they stared at each other and burst into laughter for no apparent reason.

“What? You’re apologizing to me?”

“And you, I never thought you’d apologize.”

As the atmosphere became more relaxed, Red sat opposite Pink.

“A friend said yesterday that I should be more considerate as the older one. And I realized that we both did something wrong, so we need to talk and resolve misunderstandings.”

This was the first time Red had attempted reconciliation in this manner, so she listened silently to what Pink had to say.

“We fought, but when I got home and thought about it, I realized I was wrong. Clearly, I didn’t do anything right, so why was I angry?”

Pink had a fight with A while working, and by the end of it, she was aware that she had done nothing right. After returning home, she found herself thinking about the issues with Red and A and decided to apologize. That’s why she attended the meeting this morning despite skipping her part-time job.

Hearing this, Red nodded and closed her eyes briefly, then opened them to look straight at Pink and spoke.

“I heard someone say that if you realize you did something wrong, you should apologize first. I’m sorry for speaking harshly yesterday.”

After accepting each other’s apologies, the conversation ended abruptly, leaving an awkward silence.

“This is the first time we’ve had a proper conversation in three years.”

At Pink’s words, Red couldn’t help but laugh at the realization that they had finally had a meaningful conversation after three years.

“Yeah. When I first came, we only exchanged greetings, and then there was no conversation.”

Recalling the past, Red looked at Pink and spoke. On the day Red joined the team, they had a proper conversation, but from the beginning, the team members were busy with their schedules, and Red, who was under a lot of stress, decided to get used to it.

“Do you remember? Back then, I called you ‘sister.'”

“Yes. You were the youngest when you came, not the leader.”

As memories of the past resurfaced, both began to open up and start a genuine conversation. They shared stories they didn’t know about and discussed experiences from different perspectives, finally having a proper conversation.

“I’ll be more open about my schedule from now on. It might still be hard to attend, though.”

“Just let me know. It’s better than waiting blindly.”

Realizing how much they didn’t know about each other, Pink wanted to be honest about her schedule. Although her daily routine was busy, and attending meetings was still difficult, Red’s frustration stemmed from not being informed properly rather than not attending. Knowing Pink’s schedule was enough to alleviate some of Red’s concerns.

“I’ll try to take one day off a week. You know, HunterKiller’s pay is low, so it’s hard to live without a side job.”

“Got it.”

“So, I need to apologize to my friend too.”

Feeling guilty towards A, Pink took out her smartphone and sent a text message to A using the number she received from her boss.

“Just a minute.”

Red also took out her smartphone and sent a text message.

“What’s this?”

While watching TV, she noticed her smartphone vibrating on the coffee table and checked the messages. There were two messages, one from Yubin.

[Older Brother. I made up with my friend.]

Before replying to the first message, she checked another message from an unknown number.

[I am. Yura. Sorry for yesterday. Thanks to you, I made up with Red.]

It seems they were talking earlier, and now they are together. Although I don’t want internal conflicts to improve, it was nice to hear that the two of them reconciled.

“Why did you fight?”

After sending replies to both, she resumed watching TV.

Due to the teamwork displayed in this week’s battle, which we hadn’t seen before, our team suffered another defeat.