The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 605: Peak Wedding Season (3)

“Y–you’re really good at acting…?”

Samir stammered, wearing a face that said he had no idea what he was supposed to say. Acting? Oh crap. All the things Gyeol had done in front of Samir flashed through my head. And right now, Gyeol was claiming he was Seong Hyunjae. Acting, uh, um, ah, ugh.

‘…M–Mr. Seong Hyunjae, I am so, so sorry!’

What do I do, I’m dying of secondhand embarrassment here! My conscience hurt as his guardian. At this point I felt like I should just reveal who I really was, but then—

– Huh?

Isabella kept holding on to me and wouldn’t let go. It didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t move at all. If I canceled the skill while an S–class Hunter had this tight a grip on me, my body definitely wouldn’t come out in one piece. The pressure wouldn’t be from an enemy attack but from my own size suddenly blowing back up, and Grace wouldn’t be able to completely block that. In this position I’d probably get my neck crushed first.

“S–class doesn’t really fit.”

Still kneading me all over, Isabella said. Let go already… My shoulders and neck do feel great, but still, knock it off.

“It’s a temporary side effect that turned him into a child.”

Gyeol said, lowering his eyes a little. Wow, he really sounded just like him. Back when he played stand–in for Seong Hyunjae before, it had been a bit awkward, but maybe because he’d been with him the whole party this time, he was copying him perfectly.

“Maintaining a perfectly young state isn’t that easy. You have to match not just the stats but the behavior as well. Still, he was a pretty cute kid, wasn’t he?”

He even smiled like it was the most natural thing in the world. If he’d been in human form I would’ve clapped. Genius! Maybe I should push my kid toward acting as a career. With a hundred–out–of–a–hundred looks and that much talent, he’d sweep the whole world!

Samir tilted his head slightly at the fairly plausible excuse. Hard to believe, but it’d be just as hard to say he had nothing to do with Seong Hyunjae at all.

“Side effect or not, is there any reason to deliberately put yourself in such a dangerous situation?”

Of course there isn’t. Why go to the trouble of secretly visiting in person, lowering your stats in the process, when a single phone call would do?

Gyeol closed his mouth. His gaze flicked over to me like he was asking for help. What do we do.

‘…January 1, a wedding.’

Seong Hyunjae wasn’t in a normal state right now, and judging from how it had suddenly broken as breaking news, odds were even the Sesung side hadn’t known. If it were a wedding arranged by Seong Hyunjae himself, they’d announce it to the world in a much more classy way. Or way more shocking.

So at the very least something fishy was definitely going on. On top of that—

‘The Crescent Moon’s prospective groom. That’s creepy in its own way too.’

Especially when we were talking about a wedding of all things, not just some random incident. In that case—

‘Mr. Seong Hyunjae, if the wedding that got announced today is something you actually wanted, please strike me with lightning right now.’

I waited three seconds. Three, two, one. Nothing. Okay, then it’s fine to flip the table.

[Gyeol, just say exactly what Dad tells you.]

Gyeol let out a small sigh. Then he looked at Samir with eyes full of melancholy.

“I assume you’ve heard about my wedding announcement.”

“…Yes. Which is why this situation is even more confusing to me.”

“This isn’t a marriage I want.”

Gyeol said it with a look that hinted at some extremely complicated circumstances. It was flawless acting.

“That is why I am here to ask for your help. Ah, and I can offer at least as much as what Han Yujin was promised. For starters, do you want information for five years?”

“A golden axe.”

Isabella cut in out of nowhere. Huh?

“An S–class great axe made of gold. That’s the dowry I want. If it’s the Master of the Golden Forge, they should be able to make an S–class weapon out of soft gold, right?”

[Why a golden axe, of all things?]

“Why a golden axe, of all things?”

Gyeol accidentally repeated what I muttered without thinking.

“I just want one.”

“…Is that your only condition?”

“I’ll take care of everything else myself. But there’s only one person in the world who can make S–class weapons. And I want this cat too.”

“You can’t have the cat.”

Gyeol jumped in immediately.

Do S–class Hunters all have a thing for cats? Or more precisely, for normal animals that aren’t scared of S–classes? Well, a lot of people do like animals.

“Until that so–called side effect disappears and you get your original abilities back, I can’t accept that you’re Sesung’s guild leader.”

Samir said calmly. It would be weirder if he just swallowed it whole right here.

“Then could you grant me one request.”

“Please go ahead.”

“The information on my partner still hasn’t been revealed, has it. Then I’d like you to release a photo of me with Miss Isabella. You don’t have to explicitly say she’s my fiancée.”

Just one friendly photo and people would pile on the speculation themselves. Samir’s face tightened in slight discomfort.

“With a man she has no connection to–”

“I’ll do it.”

“Isabella.”

“I’m putting it on social media.”

Isabella pulled out her phone. Samir frowned at the sight.

“There’re already all kinds of rumors about you.”

“They’re just talking.”

“Sure, but at least wear a hijab if you’re going to post a picture.”

“No.”

“Are you trying to make your marriage to Sesung’s guild leader a done deal?”

“I’ll upload the photo and not get married.”

Samir let out a big sigh. They claimed they were complete strangers, but from the outside they looked like a decently close brother and sister.

Isabella tossed her phone to Samir. Then she went to stand next to Gyeol.

“Just take it with the filter I already set.”

“…Here.”

“Lift the phone up more this way when you take it. How many times have I told you that?”

Isabella nagged him after checking the photo. Samir took another one and Isabella planted one hand on her hip, raising a disapproving eyebrow.

“Again. Okay, right here. Hold it properly. Guild Leader Seong, look at me warmly too. You’re way too stiff. Like you’re looking at this cat.”

“…”

“Look at the cat.”

Isabella picked me up and stood next to Gyeol. Golden eyes lowered softly and looked at me. It was more the gaze of a dad than a lover, but it was warm and full of affection, so whatever.

Samir took the photo just like she asked and then looked at Isabella worriedly.

“If you post this your chances in the marriage market… Not that you were planning to marry anyone at home anyway.”

“If I find someone I like, I’ll just divorce Hunter Han Yujin and marry them.”

“…Fine, live however you want.”

“It’s my life. And I’m S–class.”

“Thank god you awakened as S–class.”

“Yup. Which means I should live even more however I want.”

Isabella smiled as she posted the photo to her SNS. Then she turned the phone around and showed it to Gyeol. There was a big heart slapped onto the picture. The caption under it was packed with heart emojis too.

In the picture Isabella wore a soft smile, and Gyeol–as–Seong Hyunjae was looking at her with an incredibly gentle expression. Technically he was looking at the cat in her arms, but it came out looking like his gaze was on Isabella.

A twenty–something S–class. Anyone who saw it would think, ah, so she must be the heroine of that article.

A few seconds after the post went up, Isabella’s phone started buzzing nonstop. Calls and texts flooded in, and the helicopter that had been hovering high overhead dropped altitude as someone jumped down from it.

“Lady Isabella!”

A veiled woman called out to Isabella in a fluster.

“On SNS just now–!”

“Let’s go to the villa. Have the chopper land.”

“I’m supposed to be looking for Hunter Han Yujin.”

“He’ll come looking for Sesung’s guild leader. I think he will.”

“And the other S–classes will swarm in too.”

Samir and Isabella both turned to look at Gyeol. Gyeol worked hard to look nonchalant.

It’s okay, Gyeol.

I soothed him, telling him that as soon as we got to the villa he could switch back to fairy size and we’d hide together.

‘Everyone will come over here, right.’

And the side that said they wanted to marry Seong Hyunjae would react as well.

Still holding me, Isabella climbed into the helicopter. Gyeol and Samir followed after her.

The early morning sunlight streamed in long and bright, stabbing at her eyes. Park Yerim rubbed at her eyes with a yawn. Moon Hyunah, who was on the phone, turned to look at her.

“Go sleep some more.”

“I’m fine. Is that Noah? Still no word from Mister, right?”

“Yeah. Liette and Noah both have tons of connections in Europe, so we can just leave that side to them. Don’t worry too much.”

“…Do you really think Mister went all the way over there?”

“Who knows. Still, it’s him, so news might suddenly pop up out of nowhere.”

Even though this was already the fifth day with no trace of him.

Park Yerim turned on her phone and flipped through the news articles.

“I hope he’s with Mister Sesung.”

Seong Hyunjae had also vanished together with Han Yujin. The Sesung guild members, led by Evelyn, were quietly searching for their guild leader. But in Sesung, no one seemed overly worried about their missing guild master. They were searching out of duty, assuming he had gone to ground with some purpose again.

“I’d feel better if they were together, but there’s no way the two of them could travel around and stay this quiet.”

“True. Somewhere has got to go boom! Mister alone goes boom, Mister Sesung alone goes boom, put them together and it’s double, no, five times the boom! …But it’s all quiet.”

Yerim said gloomily, staring out the window.

“I could go look for Mister too, but they told me to go back to Korea first.”

“It’s not a bad idea for you to be in Korea. You never know, he might be somewhere around there.”

“There’re lots of people to look for Mister there. Not just Haeyeon, there’s Lion Mister too. Lion Mister’s even doing broadcasts and working hard.”

Moon Hyunah stifled a laugh at that.

“That broadcast was something else.”

“Lion Mister’s a better guy than I thought, I– oh, Han Yuhyun’s here!”

Seeing a familiar car pull up to the hotel’s front entrance, Yerim quickly left the café, which was empty except for the two of them. Since that day, the hotel elevator had no car, just the shaft left behind. Yerim shot down to the lobby and ran up to Han Yuhyun and Peace as they stepped into the hotel.

“Mister? Still no news, huh.”

If there were, with Han Yuhyun’s personality he wouldn’t have come here at all. He’d have gone straight to find Han Yujin and only come back once he had his brother tucked under his arm.

– Grrng.

Peace, in his intangible state, drooped his tail a little. Yerim crouched down and petted him.

“We’ll find Mister soon. We know for sure he’s alive.”

“Relax that face a little and eat some breakfast, young master.”

Moon Hyunah, who had come down to the lobby, beckoned the three of them over.

The hotel restaurant was just as empty, a few staff members moving around and that was it. The ownership of the hotel, which Chatterbox had bought, was now in legal limbo. On paper it clearly still existed. But no one wanted to touch it.

So the hotel kept operating for the sake of the S–class Hunters who had attended the party, but most of the guests had already left.

Han Yuhyun and Moon Hyunah went into the empty kitchen. Yerim grabbed a seat at a random table. Peace, glancing around as if searching for Han Yujin, hopped onto the chair next to her.

“…I miss Mister.”

– Kyang.

“I wonder if that kid Han Yuhyun is even sleeping properly. He’s gotta eat and sleep well to have the strength to find Mister.”

Before long a simple breakfast came out. Yerim and Hyunah chatted, but Yuhyun stayed silent like he’d lost his voice.

Just then, loud footsteps echoed in.

“Hello, my dear friends!”

It was Hwang Rim. He held up a tablet and said,

“Did you see the breaking news?”

“Huh? Wh– what?!”

Yerim shot to her feet when she saw the tablet.

“What, Mister Sesung’s getting married?!”

“Huh? Seong Hyunjae is?”

Moon Hyunah also stood up, face shocked. Only Han Yuhyun kept moving his spoon like he hadn’t heard a thing.

“It says January 1st! That’s not even far away!”

“Is this for real? Who the hell is he marrying? Does he even have someone to marry?”

“Han Yuhyun, look at that! It’s Mister Sesung’s wedding news!”

Yuhyun swallowed his last spoonful and set the spoon down. Seeing him still show no reaction, Yerim muttered, figures, and shook her head.

“So basically, not about Mister, huh. Did he disappear to prep for a wedding? I wonder if Soyeong unni will catch the bouquet. Anyway, I’m just glad we at least heard something about Mister Sesung… It’s a shame he’s not with Mister though.”

“He could still be with Jin.”

Hwang Rim said with a grin.

“Look, the two of them disappeared together. That means it’s possible our Jin is the bride, right?”

“There’s no way he would…”

“C’mon, that makes no sense. Why would Mister and Mister Sesung get married.”

“…Where’s the wedding being held.”

Suddenly Yuhyun’s voice cut in. He stood up and stared holes into the tablet in Hwang Rim’s hands. Yerim blinked wide–eyed.

“Huh? You’re taking that seriously? It’s a joke, a joke.”

“My brother’s extremely popular as a political marriage candidate. Haeyeon turned every single one of them down.”

“That’s true.”

Moon Hyunah nodded.

“He’s much easier to approach than an S–class, but his abilities and connections are above S–class. Still, for Seong Hyunjae to suddenly… Then again, if it’s him, I could see it.”

“Even so… Wait, Haeyeon turned them down? Han Yuhyun?”

Yerim craned her neck and glared at Yuhyun.

“It’s Mister’s life, how can you just decide that on your own? He didn’t know a thing about it!”

“Because if it was for my sake, he’d try to accept it.”

“…Yeah, true. If the terms were good he’d probably be like, sure, it’s just marriage.”

And honestly, he didn’t want to bring anyone else into their family circle. Yuhyun swallowed the rest of that thought. Their home was already more than full as it was.

“Hey, hey, says here it’s a woman in her twenties. That thief Seong Hyunjae. Anyway, it’s not your brother.”

At the follow–up report, Moon Hyunah waved a hand. Yerim muttered, knew it wasn’t, and Yuhyun also started to lose interest.

“They said Jin was turning into the King of Harmless back then. What if he turned into a woman in her twenties?”

Hwang Rim blurted out something ridiculous.

“So our Jin can’t show his face and is quietly hiding. With his personality, would he really pop up in front of everyone like, hi, I’ve become your big sister now~?”

“N–no way! I’d be fine with Mister becoming a big sis, but he did go back to normal.”

“Whatever he turns into, my brother’s still my brother.”

“Still, just in case, maybe I should look into it properly. It’d be hilarious if the two of them were getting married.”

Hwang Rim was the first to leave the restaurant. Yuhyun, still frowning, pulled out his phone, and Hyunah answered a call that was coming in.

“Oh, Chief Song. We’re all here. Still no news about my brother.”

[ I’m heading over there now. ]

“You heard the news, huh? We’ll wait.”

They decided to move after Song Taewon joined them, and a little while later—

“Look at this!”

Yerim, who’d been glued to her phone, shouted. A single photo was blown up big on her screen.

“Looks like Mister Sesung’s getting married in the Middle East!”