“Found you, poacher.”

“Poacher?”

When Gidan echoed the word, Serhi jerked his chin.

“I’m working a temp job for the Management Bureau. I came to catch that guy, dumbass.”

“...Oh, really? I thought this guy was scamming my buddy Dani.”

“What?!”

Suddenly called out, An Sanghoe blinked rapidly. He had no idea what was going on.

“What the hell is happening here...?”

At that moment, Serhi tore off his annoying mascot costume, and Gidan peeled off his patch.

“Sorry for doubting you, mister. I’ll walk with my shoulders back from now on.”

“Gidan?! Wait, no—!”

“We’re not friends.”

As An Sanghoe stood there sputtering, Serhi barked sharply and launched himself at the Shin Corps members.

Gidan bolted after him like a flash of lightning.

“Hey, that’s harsh. Even I’ve got feelings, you know.”

Serhi grabbed the collar of what looked like the leader and slammed him to the ground, snarling.

“Stay out of it.”

“How could I not? We’re even living together.”

“Once this is over and I get my license, I’m moving out.”

“Ghhk!”

Gidan replied casually as he took down the Shin Corps poachers.

“What?! Without even talking to me about it?”

“Argh!!”

“Why the hell would I talk to you about it?”

“Kegh!”

“And this too! You could’ve just told me what was going on from the start! Don’t you think?”

“Why are you always butting in? Are you my mom or something?”

“You little shit...! Huff...! You gonna keep talking to me like that?!”

“I told you, stop caring about me, Mother.”

Just as Gidan finished thrashing one of the Shin Corps guys, he appeared in front of Serhi in a blink.

He grabbed Serhi by the collar.

“What the hell is your problem with everything?”

“Try opening your ears for once. Stop caring about me. Stop being interested.”

“Do I bother you that much?”

“Yeah.”

Serhi slapped his hand away, and Gidan bit his lip.

“Fine. Once this is over... don’t even think about showing up in front of me again. I’m sick of your damn face.”

Serhi’s lips curled into a sneer.

“Ha, that’s my line.”

In the next instant, both of their skills activated, and magic burst out around them like a storm.

Guru struggled to keep her bear costume on as she stared at them.

Wh-What do Gwuu do?

***

The situation was resolved quickly.

Despite their dramatic entrance, the poachers were easily subdued by the two S-Ranks.

Serhi and Gidan kept growling at each other even as they dragged Guru into the boss room, but eventually fell silent.

Guru sat all alone at the far edge of the boss room and took off her bear suit.

Then, having finished off the boss in no time, Gidan and Serhi returned to get her.

“Let’s go, Guru.”

“Let’s go now.”

“...!”

Guru, now standing between them, held Gidan’s hand in one and Serhi’s in the other, glancing back and forth between them.

“O-Oppaw.”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

They answered simultaneously.

Their voices and attitudes practically screamed that they had no intention of acknowledging each other.

Guru swallowed hard.

“Um, so like...”

Would it be okay if we all played together? In this kind of mood?

Her hands were being held like she was being punished, and Guru squirmed in confusion.

“Serhi, what’s going on here... Guru?”

It was Jin Siwon.

He had rushed into the dungeon after hearing from Yoon Arin, a Special Investigations Division agent, that Serhi and Gidan were fighting.

“...Hmm.”

After scanning the three of them, he scooped up the flustered Guru and quickly exited the dungeon, placing her in the back seat of the car.

“I’ll take you home first, so you two get in.”

At his words, Serhi and Gidan opened opposite doors and each took a seat on either side of Guru.

The poachers who had taken a beating from them were now being dealt with by the Special Investigations Division.

In the car ride back, Guru sat between the icy cold pair and opened her mouth with a tiny “heh.”

This whole friend-friend quest is...

Totally screwed.

***

Chapter: Let’s Go to Jeju!

Guru stood in front of the office that had become the study room for the underaged crew, her head drooping.

The room inside, with its lone desk, was completely empty.

“Guru, the oppaws said they’re busy again today.”

Seol Yeo-jin, who had been watching Guru pace around, finally spoke with an awkward expression.

In response, Guru gripped her backpack strap tightly and nodded.

The truth wasn’t that they were busy—they just didn’t want to see each other’s faces.

The day they caught the poachers...

Serhi had arrived at the Hyeonak Guild building but refused to get out of the car, asking a Management Bureau agent named Yoon Arin to find him lodging.

Guru had held onto Gidan’s hand tightly and looked up at him, but he only smiled and said, “Let’s go, too.”

Neither of them had shown up at the study room since.

Even after Guru waited a long time...

Maybe it’s Gwuu’s fault.

If Gwuu hadn’t told Oppaw Gidan to go along that day...

Back then, she’d never imagined Serhi was working for the Management Bureau.

Sniffling, Guru pulled a crumpled piece of paper and tape from her backpack.

She taped the paper to the door.

[Temporarily Closed]

“Temporarily” meant not for long. She was hoping the oppaws’ cold war wouldn’t last.

Seeing the wobbly crayon letters, Seol Yeo-jin patted Guru’s head with a look of sympathy.

“Gwuu gonna go home today, too.”

After bowing politely, Guru slumped her shoulders and pedaled her bike away slowly.

***

Since her last birthday, Guru had ended up with two homes.

Because the commute was too far, she hadn’t fully moved, but she naturally stayed at Grandpa’s house on the weekends.

This weekend, Chairman Nam was also there, possibly because of Grandpa’s company business.

“Hewwo, Chairmuhn.”

“Guru, how have you been?”

Guru greeted Chairman Nam, who always doted on her, then sat beside him and stabbed a fruit slice with her fork, courtesy of the helper auntie.

On Suhyeong greeted Chairman Nam warmly, and soon their conversation drifted naturally into work talk.

“How’s the Jeju project going?”

“It’s a pretty big one, so it better go smoothly.”

Guru listened with one ear while munching on a bite of apple mango.

Apparently, the big tech company Infinity Wave had booked the resort Doan Construction built in Jeju to host a new product launch.

They were bringing in global VIPs to hype up their ambitious release.

Jeju-do...

Just as Guru was chewing, Mephisto strutted up and opened his mouth wide.

Guru popped the leftover fruit piece into his mouth. The white baby bird’s cheeks puffed up like balloons.

You too chonky now?

Hmm. After a moment of thought, Guru placed a tangerine into her bag. The eye-twitched snow bunny, now shrunken to the size of a red bean, took three bites to finish it.

After days of being sick, he’d finally come around. The sprout on his head had grown to the size of a fingernail, but it would take more feeding to puff him up like before.

Anyway...

When Guru checked her tablet, Serhi’s location still showed Jeju.

Lately, she’d been using the [Spy Ladybug (C)] to track Serhi and Gidan in real time—hoping they might bump into each other.

But since Serhi had gone to Jeju, that seemed unlikely now.

Hmmph, Jeju-dooo.

Apparently, Serhi’s temp job for the Management Bureau had brought him to Jeju this time.

Coincidentally, Grandpa’s new resort was in Jeju, so getting there wouldn’t be hard.

But it’s no use if only Gwuu goes...

Only if Serhi and Gidan met again would they make up—or at least talk.

Shoulda told them to play together back then.

She should’ve said something before the rift got so deep. It gnawed at her with regret.

Now, even if she asked Gidan to go see Serhi, he probably wouldn’t budge.

Unless, say, a huge dungeon appeared in Jeju, or something interesting enough to make Gidan move happened...

As Guru was racking her brain for ways to make Gidan go—

While looking over the event’s guest list, Chairman ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Nam suddenly spoke up.

“Huh, Jurim’s on here too?”

Daddyyyy? Guru perked up at the name, and Suhyeong lifted his head in curiosity.

As the Guildmastuh of Hyeonak, Jurim had been invited to the event. It wasn’t anything surprising.

“So what?”

When Suhyeong asked, Chairman Nam responded with a meaningful smile.