Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 24

“Wait a minute!”

A high pitched voice pierced through the door of the elevator just before it closed.

“Reina?”

The man in the elevator, Hyeonu, cocked his head and opened the closed doors.

“Good morning.”

Reina appeared in the elevator and waved her hand.

“Are you going to exercise?” Reina asked when she saw Hyeonu’s clothes.

“Yes, it is morning exercise as usual.”

Hyeonu shook the duffel bag in his hand.

“Reina, you did it in winter too.”

“That’s right. I still remember how difficult it was.”

Reina unknowingly shook her head. Exercising at that time was really difficult. She wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for Hyeonu.

“Even so, it is better to do it than to not do it. You will gain physical fitness.”

“That is true.”

“So what I’m saying...”

Hyeonu stopped talking and made eye contact with Reina. Reina turned her head in an embarrassed manner at Hyeonu’s sudden action.

“Do you want to go exercise today?”

“Exercise?” Reina asked back.

“Yes, exercise. If you don’t have time, then it can’t be helped.”

Hyeonu shrugged.

‘Even if it isn’t today... we can do it together next time...’

He just said it to try. It didn’t matter if Reina refused.

‘That is originally what I followed to do, but...’

In fact, there was a separate reason why Reina was embarrassed. She knew that Hyeonu’s schedule was still the same, so she came out early in the morning. Now Hyeonu made the suggestion before Reina could say anything.

“Of course I can. I was on my way to jog anyway.”

Reina looked at Hyeonu and nodded.

***

“Hey, are you really not in a relationship?”

Hyeonu’s trainer asked while pointing to Reina, who was working out to one side with his girlfriend.

“Hyung, I told you before. We are just friends.”

Hyeonu stared at the trainer while breathing heavily.

“Still? What is the problem?”

The trainer cocked his head. It was too slow.

‘Are they really friends?’

The trainer erased this thought straight away. There was no possibility of that. There were many parts to Reina’s behavior that couldn’t be understood as simply friends.

‘It is hard to leave your hometown for South Korea...’

Reina had crossed a distance that took more than 12 hours by plane.

“Good job, you jerk.”

The trainer patted the chest of Hyeonu, lying on the bench, hard enough for a sound to be heard.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

Hyeonu gasped at the unexpected shock.

“Do it well.”

Hyeonu understood what the trainer was saying.

‘He is telling me to do a good job.’

“Understood.”

Nevertheless, he didn’t bother making a fuss about it. He just nodded and agreed.

“Then go. I am going to work out here today.’

The trainer raised Hyeonu up. Hyeonu frowned at the pressure he felt from his shoulder.

“Are you really a man and not a gorilla?”

“The other side is over as well. Just go.”

Hyeonu received the enthusiastic encouragement of his trainer and approached Reina after his workout.

“It is hard to do it after a long time, right?”

Hyeonu smiled when he saw Reina’s expression. Her expression of losing her mind was cute.

“What are you going to do now?”

Hyeonu continued to speak regardless of Reina’s silent attitude.

“Do you want to go eat?”

Now Reina nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

Hyeonu took the lead and Reina followed after him. The two of them looked unfamiliar with each other, but at the same time, they got along very well.

***

Hyeonu took Reina to the parking lot of the officetel. Hyeonu got in the car with Reina and left the city center. They arrived at a small cafe outside the city.

“Where is this place?” Reina got out of the car and asked while looking around. It was amazing. This was her first time seeing it in South Korea. To her, Korea was a city full of buildings.

‘Yet at a place less than an hour away...’

Now she was in nature, which was the complete opposite. It was like the accommodations in New York that she had been staying in for the past few years.

‘This is a place where I occasionally come to on my own after exercising. The coffee is very tasty and the desserts are delicious.”

“Alone? A place like this? Don’t lie,” Reina retorted with wide eyes.

To be honest, it wasn’t a place for a man to come to alone.

“I came with a friend.”

Hyeonu’s words were vague.

“Perhaps that friend is...”

Based on Hyeonu’s attitude, Reina seemed to know who this friend was. He was the only one who could meet Hyeonu after exercising.

“Yeongchan?”

Hyeonu just gave a bitter smile and didn’t answer. This was enough. Reina was convinced that her guess was right.

“Hurry up and go in.”

Reina made a contrasting expression to Hyeonu and dragged him into the cafe.

“Welcome.”

The cafe owner gave a reflexive greeting when he heard the door open only for his eyes to widen.

“It has been a long time since you’ve come. You should come often.”

The cafe owner left the counter and ran to Hyeonu. He looked very excited.

“You know that I’m lazy.” Hyeonu shook hands with the cafe owner and smiled.

“You know her pretty well, right?” Then he introduced Reina to the cafe owner.

“How could I not know Reina?”

The cafe owner looked at Reina and his eyes shone. The gamer he liked as much as Hyeonu was Reina.

“Based on the fact that you brought her here... aren’t you really close?”

The owner spoke the exact words that Hyeonu had heard a lot elsewhere.

“Yes, we’re friends.”

The answer came from Reina, not Hyeonu.

“I see. Okay. Should I give you what you always eat today?”

The cafe owner smiled and asked as he went back to the counter.

“Give me the same. What would you like, Reina?”

“Give me the same one. Instead, I’ll add one more cheesecake over there.”

“Add a cheesecake. I understand. If you go up, then I’ll bring it to you.”

The owner of the cafe received the order and was busy. Hyeonu and Reina saw it and went up to the second floor of the cafe.

‘Wow...’ Reina marveled at the panoramic view through the glass.

White clouds in a clear sky. The harmony with the green forest here was really beautiful. The more she looked, the more questions Reina had. It has been less than a year after meeting Hyeonu, but Reina was confident that she knew him pretty well.

‘He isn’t the type to leave the house...’

“How did you find out about this place?” Reina asked Hyeonu a question to solve her curiosity.

“I didn’t look for it. The boss contacted me first through SNS. He asked me to stop by the cafe when I had time... I looked at the address and saw it wasn’t that far, so I came here...”

Hyeonu resolved all of Reina’s questions like flowing water. However, this wasn’t precisely the case. It was true that the cafe owner sent a message to Hyeonu, but Hyeonu didn’t go to the cafe when he saw it.

‘It was a coincidence.’

He found this cafe while wandering around in search of a secluded cafe that didn’t seem to have many people. He learned the story of the cafe boss from the boss when he first visited the cafe with Yeongchan.

“Really?”

Reina nodded in good faith.

‘It doesn’t really matter...’

It didn’t matter if Hyeonu intended to find this cafe or not. The important thing was that Hyeonu had brought her to this cafe.

‘Is it because he feels different from last winter...?’

The man in front of her was different. It was just a little bit but there was an activeness that wasn’t found last winter. This made Reina feel better.

“The dishes you ordered have arrived.”

Meanwhile, the cafe owner showed up with the food that Hyeonu and Reina had ordered.

“Do you mind eating this?”

Hyeonu was worried as he looked at the food that filled the table. There was a good chance that the food he enjoyed wouldn’t suit Reina’s taste buds.

“This is fine. It all looks delicious.”

Contrary to Hyeonu’s concerns, Reina smiled contentedly at the food. A salad topped with grilled steak. Mushroom risotto topped with large chicken thighs. There was even a hamburg steak that made her hungry just looking at it. Rather than being divided into likes and dislikes, there were only foods that were easy to eat.

“By the way... do you eat all of this?”

The amount of food was too much to eat alone. It was the same even considering Hyeonu’s size.

“Of course. The first meal should be a proper meal.”

Hyeonu held the cutlery in both hands with a slightly excited expression.

‘Cute.’

Reina smiled at Hyeonu’s appearance. He was a man exploding with charm in many ways.

***

“So you only ate?”

“Yes, we only ate.”

“It is frustrating, frustrating.”

Tang-E raised his right paw and pounded it against his chest so hard that it made a thumping sound.

“If a man draws a knife, then he should cut with it. Then cut the meat with the knife and eat it.”

Gom-E, who was sitting next to Tang-E, helped him.

“What do you know? You’ve been solo for all your life.”

Hyeonu opened his eyes and glared at Gom-E.

“I’m not scared at all, stupid Master dude.”

Gom-E didn’t avoid Hyeonu’s gaze. On the contrary, his eyes grew bigger and he started a staring fight with Hyeonu.

“When are you going to get older, Master? Additionally, Gom-E, stop teasing him now.”

Tang-E was busy clicking his tongue at their childish behavior. He couldn’t understand now matter how he thought about it.

“Why? I don’t know why she likes Master dude...”

In Tang-E’s eyes, Hyeonu was full of flaws. Except for fighting, there was nothing that could be called a great advantage.

“What about me? This is enough.”

Hyeonu turned his head.

“I think so as well...”

Tang-E couldn’t help nodding at Hyeonu’s words.

“You should know that only the appearance is good...”

He was fine on the outside, but that was all.

“Well, she won’t listen even if I say it now.”

Tang-E remembered Reina’s face and shook his head. His relationship with her wasn’t short. She must know as much about Hyeonu as he did.

‘Yet she likes him... she really likes him.’

“Master dude, you should trust me and follow me from now on. I am the only one in a relationship here.”

Tang-E shrugged and raised his chest slightly.

“I still can’t believe it. Tang-E, are you in a relationship?”

Hyeonu had an expression like he didn’t really trust Tang-E.

‘This stupid bear has a girlfriend?’

In Hyeonu’s eyes, Tang-E was just a meat loving bear.

“Come to Bung Bung Island soon and you’ll see if I have a girlfriend or not.”

He could never believe it until he checked it with his own eyes. How could such a bear have a girlfriend?

“Just go to Bung Bung Island and I’ll show you right away, stupid Master dude.”

Tang-E’s face was filled with confidence.

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