225ARISE: A Solo Leveling Collection
by Laura-chan
IMPORTANT: There will be SPOILERS from the novel.
The stories – most of them one-shots – will take part after Jin-woo & Hae-in's date: I'm moving into a "what if?" realm, that is "what if they had more time to spend together, what if all the chaos with the Dragon Emperor and so on happened a few months after the date and not almost immediately after that?"
I will probably also write some mature scenes: because, even though Jin-woo seems to be hormones-less, I can't imagine a healthy 25 years old not wanting to have a physical relationship with his (beautiful) girlfriend. Of course, if I'll write mature scenes, the rating of the story will change.
I'll try not to make them OOC.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to Chugong and Jang Sung-Rak.
I'm Italian, so English is not my first language: forgive any mistakes I may do.
P.S. – The stories won't follow a chronological order. So, this is not a sequel of chapter 1.
II. HURT
It was just a split moment.
For once, she wasn't fast enough.
"Hunter Cha! Can you hear me? Are you okay?" The panicked voice of Master Choi entered her ears and she forced herself to look up to see his stricken face.
Her back hurt and she hissed: she couldn't get distracted, they were still in the dungeon and the monster boss was still alive.
A shadow covered the two S-rank Hunters and they both glanced up, seeing the Orc Boss grinning maniacally at them, a huge spear raised up and ready to strike. Frantically Hae-in grabbed Choi Jong-in's arm and threw them both away from the range of the spear. Her back really hurt, so she guessed she had been wounded when she had moved to shield Choi Jong-in earlier. Hae-in quickly brushed her back with her hand and then looked at the traces of blood on it: clearly the armour hadn't resisted the blow she had been delivered.
"We have to finish this quickly." she said to Choi Jong-in, feeling weaker every second that passed. "I don't think that's a normal spear."
Choi Jong-in nodded, without taking his eyes of the Orc Boss, who was moving slowly towards them: in the corner of his eye he could see some members of the Guild getting ready to attack, while some others were laying down in pain.
"Yes, we need some kind of strategy to block his move-!" The mage couldn't finish the statement, as suddenly the Orc was before them, grin in place, spear just a few moments away from hitting them.
Cha Hae-in didn't know what happened, maybe it was because of the training and experience of years in the dungeons, or maybe it was her instincts kicking in, or both: but in a split second she was able to summon her blade of light and with that, she blocked the spear crashing down on them, pushing it back.
The Orc Boss evidently wasn't expecting that and stopped just for an instant: that was all Hae-in needed to pierce its chest with her blade. The Orc howled in pain, but it was too late: in a too fast motion, the young woman had teared it apart from one side of the chest to the opposing shoulder, splitting its body in two.
Choi Jong-in sighed in relief and, once again, thanked the fact that Hunter Cha had decided to enter his Guild. An alarmed shout recalled his attention and he watched in agitation as Cha Hae-in's body swayed and then fell down.
"A healer!" he commanded, rushing towards his fallen comrade: she was breathing heavily and her back was bleeding from the thin, but long, wound the spear had made tearing her armour.
'Damn it.' Choi Jong-in cursed 'She got this when she covered for me...!'
The A-rank healer was pressing down her glowing hands on Hae-in's body.
"Master!" she cried out, "I don't know why, but it doesn't work! I fear there is some kind of poison, I can slow down the bleeding but I can't close the wound!"
The mage's face grew darker. "We have to hurry and bring her to a hospital then!"
A hour and half later, Choi Jong-in and Association President Woo Jin-chul were waiting outside the hospital room where Cha Hae-in was being visited.
"So, there probably was some kind of poison on the spear?" Woo Jin-chul was murmuring, lost in thought.
"It was unexpected." Choi Jong-in confessed. "It was my fault, Hunter Cha got hurt while defending me."
Woo Jin-chul shook his head "It was normal for her to do that, Master Choi, after all you're the Guildmaster. I'm sure the doctors will be able to heal her."
However, he was proved wrong when the doctors and nurses exited the room with grim faces.
"It doesn't look good." One of the older doctors admitted, "We tried to stop and close the wound chirurgically, but it keeps opening and bleeding. We have put her on IV and we are giving her blood, however it's not a final solution."
Choi Jong-in was shaken by the news: he had been sure Cha Hae-in would have been cured at the hospital and now he felt hopeless.
"What can we do?" Woo Jin-chul asked the doctors.
The one who had talked before shook her head: "At the moment, we can keep her stable and hope to find a cure."
As the doctors walked away, Choi Jong-in felt unstable and moved slowly to the chairs located near the wall of the hall, falling on one of them.
"Korea doesn't have a S-rank healer anymore." Woo Jin-chul was saying. "Maybe we can ask the USA? The Scavenger Guild may help us, they are still in Sung Jin-woo's debt..."
He trailed off and locked eyes with Choi Jong-in, whose head had snapped up.
"That's the answer!" the mage exclaimed. "Sung Jin-woo! He surely will be able to help Hunter Cha."
Woo Jin-chul had already his phone out and wasted no time in searching for Hunter Sung's number.
"Jin-woo, your phone is ringing-!" Jin-ah called out from the sitting room.
"Let it ring!" Sung Jin-woo said back. He really wanted to shower and rest a bit: he had just come back from a trip outside Korea to stop one of the Sovereigns and was bone-tired.
The hot water on his skin was a pleasant sensation and he stayed under the spray a bit more than necessary.
After a while, Jin-woo came out of the bathroom, toweling his black hair. Jin-ah, who was watching the tv, gave him a look, "Your phone keeps ringing and ringing, oppa."
Jin-woo rolled his eyes and ignored the remark, glancing distractely at the tv. "What's going on?"
"Ah!" his sister exclaimed "Something has happened to the Hunters Guild."
Jin-woo stiffened and was suddenly more alert. "What exactly?"
"I'm not sure, but apparently some of the hunters were hurt while raiding a gate." Jin-ah raised the volume "Listen."
"...and now we have the confirmation that Hunter Cha Hae-in is actually at the hospital. We don't know what had happened exactly, but it seems she got severely hurt while defending Hunter Choi Jong-in. We are trying to reach-"
Jin-woo's eyes widened as he heard the news: he quickly grasped his phone from the table and looked at the many missed calls he had from President Woo Jin-chul. He immediately called him back.
"Hunter Sung!" Woo Jin-chul answered immediately. "Where are you? I've been trying to-"
"What's wrong with Cha Hae-in?" Jin-woo cut in. He had already lost too much time ignoring the call.
"Ah." Woo Jin-chul sighed. "She got hurt shielding Hunter Choi: it seems like she got wounded by some kind of poisoned blade. A-rank healers and the doctors can't do anything for her, she keeps bleeding. We were hoping you could be able to heal her."
"I'm on my way." Jin-woo said sharply, closing the call.
"Jin-woo?" Jin-ah was watching him bewildered.
"I need to go to the hospital." He told her, going to his room to quickly dress. In a few minutes he was ready and he focused on his shadows dispersed all around the globe: he found the one hidden in Cha Hae-in's shadow and in a blink of an eye he had used the Shadow Exchange.
Jin-woo found himself in a hospital room, empty save for the patient on the bed. Cha Hae-in was laying down on her belly, face turned towards him, her back bare and still bleeding. He took a look at her pained face and stroked softly her hair, then moved to examine the wound: it looked bad – black and violet lines were spreading from it and blood was slowly flowing out.
"Beru" he gritted out. The ant immediately appeared at his side. "Heal her."
Beru nodded and his clawed hands hovered over the female Hunter's body. Jin-woo kneeled down and kept watching Hae-in's face: slowly, she stopped looking pained and seemed simply exhausted.
'I thought putting a soldier in her shadow would keep her safe, since she's a S-rank... however it must have happened all too fast for the soldier to act.'
[My liege]
"What is it?"
[The poison is strong, it will take some time to heal her.]
Jin-woo frowned and stood up: while it was true that the dark and violet lines were unhurriedly disappearing, the wound didn't stop bleeding.
"Maybe I can help with the potions from the store."
He summoned one of the most potent healing potions he had and proceeded to help Cha Hae-in drink it, sip by sip.
It took half an hour for the unconscious Hae-in to ingest all of the potion and in the meantime Beru was able to finish healing the young woman: the sealed wound now looked like a long, thin, pink scar.
Jin-woo breathed in relief and then realised he could feel his phone vibrate: checking it, he noticed there were more missed calls from Woo Jin-chul.
"Ah, damn it." He cursed: in his haste to cure Hae-in, he had forgot to alert Choi Jong-in and Woo Jin-chul that he was there.
Jin-woo opened the door of the room and found two distressed hunters outside. "Yes, sorry." he said sheepishly. "I was in a hurry."
"What, how...!?" Woo Jin-chul was astonished.
"How did you arrive here? And when?" Choi Jong-in attacked.
"I've been here for some time: Hunter Cha is healed."
"Wha-?" Choi Jong-in moved quickly into the hospital room and shuddered when he saw the shadow ant, who still hadn't been dismissed by his master. The mage just shook his head and walked closer to the female hunter, who was now breathing deeply.
"Oh, that's good." he said, relieved. He turned to face Jin-woo and smiled: "I really can't thank you enough... how could I repay you?"
Jin-woo shook his head and raised one hand. "Please, I don't need anything. I wanted to do this."
Choi Jong-in's eyes narrowed and he watched the other man with a pensive look, then glanced behind at Hunter Cha: the rumours about their relationship came to his mind, but then he just shrugged and smiled – the important thing was that Cha Hae-in was now cured.
A doctor and a nurse, who had been called by Woo Jin-chul, hurriedly walked in and shooed them outside while they visited the patient: Jin-woo took a last glance at Cha Hae-in, now resting peacefully on the bed, before the door closed.
"Now," Woo Jin-chul turned to Jin-woo "How did you get here without us seeing you?"
The Shadow Sovereign laughed a bit inside and thought it was so like the Association President to never give up. "Let's just say I have my ways." he grinned misteriously.
Woo Jin-chul huffed, but Choi Jong-in put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head: "Who cares about that, President. What's important is that Hunter Cha is now safe... I feel better since it was my fault she got hurt in the first place."
Jin-woo became serious again and the three of them talked about what happened in the dungeon.
After a while, the door of Cha Hae-in's room opened again and the doctor walked out: "Hunter Cha is stable and perfectly well." she smiled. "She's resting now and we're thinking of monitoring her for awhile just to be sure: she'll be able to go back home in the evening."
The three men breathed out in relief and Woo Jin-chul looked apologetically at the others: "I need to go back to the Association to write a report about the incident: Master Choi, I will need one from you as well."
The mage frowned: "Yes, and I also have to take care of the press, they've camped outside the hospital... damn vultures."
"I will take care of Hunter Cha." Jin-woo proposed. "I'll have to go home for a moment, but I'll come back here later and bring her home."
The other two hunters looked at him surprised, but had nothing to say against the proposal.
"Ok then." Choi Jong-in conceded. "I will leave my vice-master in your care. Please keep me updated, I'll give you my number." Jin-woo nodded and took out his phone.
After the last pleasantries, they separated: Woo Jin-chul and Choi Jong-in moved towards the exit, while Jin-woo searched for a quite, dark corner where to use Shadow Exchange.
He appeared in his room and took out a bag for some spare clothes and toiletries.
"Where did you go?" Jin-ah asked, watching him move around.
"I went to the hospital." he answered simply, grabbing a towel.
"What? Why?" she wondered. "And what are you doing now?"
"They needed my help." he answered vaguely. "I have to go back and probably I'll stay out tonight."
Jin-ah frowned and looked at him closely: Jin-woo seemed more at ease than he was before disappearing. She knew that he was now a famous hunter, one of the strongest if not the strongest in the world, but she didn't know what exactly he did while he was wandering all around Korea and the world.
Every day that passed, Jin-ah felt like her brother was gradually drifting away from their family. After their mother woke up, she thought he would stay more at home and stop raiding dungeons: however this didn't happen, rather, he was out and in dangerous situations more than ever.
"Was Hunter Cha seriously hurt?" she asked in a low voice.
Jin-woo startled and looked at her. "Yes, she was." he stroked her head in a brotherly way. "But now she's all better, you don't have to worry about her."
"Did you heal her?"
"Well..." he shrugged. "Indirectly."
"So, you're going back to her?" Jin-ah narrowed her eyes.
Jin-woo stared at her, trying to understand the motives behind all these questions.
"I am." he answered in the end. "Someone has to take her back home."
'Mmmm, so he's going to stay by her.' Jin-ah pondered. Jin-woo had never been a person who couldn't care less about others, still, it was weird to see him actively worry and care about someone else other than their family. 'Oooohh, I'm going to get Hunter Cha as a sister-in-law!' she thought giddily.
"Ok, ok." she said. "Treat her well, oppa."
Jin-woo frowned. "I'm just taking her home." he muttered.
"While bringing a night bag, ri-ght!" Jin-ah joked.
He glared at her, but said nothing.
In that moment, their mother came in, holding some bags of groceries. "Oh, Jin-woo, are you going somewhere?" she said surprised.
"Yes, mom, I'm sorry. I won't be here for dinner, I'll probably stay out tonight. A friend needs some help."
"Yeah, a friend, right." Jin-ah chuckled.
Jin-woo glared again at his sister and took the car keys from the counter. "I'm leaving, see you tomorrow!"
"See you, Jin-woo!" Park Kyung-hye waved at her son and then turned to her daughter. "Ok Jin-ah, tell me what's going on."
"Oppa has a girlfriend, mom!" Jin-ah laughed. Kyung-hye looked surprised but then smiled widely. "Oh, tell me everything!"
Cha Hae-in was awake and already dressed in her torn-up armour when he arrived to the hospital: Jin-woo had decided to come with his car because he imagined it would be more comfortable for her than moving with the Shadow Exchange.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Hae-in wondered, surprised but happy to see him.
"I told Hunter Choi I would bring you home." Jin-woo smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Good." she answered. "They told me that I had been poisoned."
"Yeah, the spear was probably coated with some kind of toxin." Jin-woo told her, making her turn around to look at the back of her armour. He grimaced. "Well, it seems like it cut through your suit like butter."
"Yes, and this was one of my sturdier ones." Hae-in lamented.
The door opened and the female doctor from before came in: "Oh, you're here Hunter Sung, good. He was the one who healed you, Hunter Cha!" she said smiling.
"What!" Cha Hae-in exclaimed, looking at him. Jin-woo just rubbed the back of his neck. "Thank Beru." he murmured to her. Her eyes widened and she nodded.
The doctor examined the scar on Hae-in's back and nodded approvingly. "Then, Hunter Cha, even though all looks good, it's better if you don't strain yourself for a few days. If you don't experience any discomfort, I'll be seeing you in two days for a control visit."
"Thank you, doctor. I'll do as you advise."
Jin-woo took off his dark blazer and put in on her shoulders. "Since you don't have a change of clothes, keep this on."
Hae-in couldn't stop her cheeks from reddening, but just smiled at him.
The middle-aged doctor smiled secretely as she watched the couple exiting the room.
"Waaa, there were so many people!" Hae-in lamented. "Why are they so interested in me?"
They were able to elude the journalists still camped outside the hospital and they were now in Jin-woo's car. He chuckled and fastened his seatbelt. "You're a S-rank hunter, of course they're interested if you were going to be ok. Don't worry, Choi Jong-in will take care of the press."
Hae-in leaned back in the seat and breathed in relief. "I don't know how he does it. But that's another reason why HE is the Guildmaster."
As Jin-woo started the car and began driving out of the parking, Hae-in peeked at him, admiring his sharp profile: he looked relaxed and she was glad he was the one accompanying her home. It had been more than a week since they've seen each other and she had been starting to miss him. The young woman was still amazed he had saved her, once again! That was- what, the third time?
"So, how have you been?" she asked after a while. "I heard you were in Europe this time."
"Yes, there was a big portal in Germany that I needed to check: fortunately, it was empty. I don't know what the Sovereigns are planning..."
"It seems to me like the Dungeon Bosses have gotten smarter and stronger... in my experience there never was one with a poisoned weapon like that..."
"That may be true." Jin-woo admitted. It was truly a strange occurence.
When they arrived to her home, Cha Hae-in was ready to go to sleep: she felt exhausted and thought that maybe there was still a bit of poison circulating in her body.
"Thanks for bringing me home." she smiled sleepily to Jin-woo, ready to say goodbye to him. However he not only parked the car, but turned it off and turned around to take a big dark gym bag from the backseat. "What are you doing?" she wondered out loud.
Jin-woo watched her seriously: "Coming with you: it isn't safe for you to stay alone tonight."
Hae-in gaped at him, not expecting that answer. It wasn't like it was the first time he came to her house, still it was the first time he seemed prepared to spend the night.
"C'mon." he smiled at her slyly, hearing her heartbeat accelerate.
Cha Hae-in blushed and then shook her head, getting out of the car.
Jin-woo took her hand and they walked into the apartment building. As soon as they got inside her apartment, Hae-in went to the bathroom, murmuring a "Make yourself at home."
When he heard the shower turning on, Jin-woo moved to the huge windows in the open-space room: he loved the view from Hae-in's apartment, especially at night, since she lived on a floor much higher than him. He was lost in thought for a while, when he felt two arms wrapping around his waist.
"What are you thinking about?" Hae-in said into his broad back. Jin-woo turned around in her arms and hugged her back: "Nothing particular." he admitted. "How are you feeling?"
Her hair were still a bit damp and she had changed into green shorts and a white t-shirt. She shrugged. "Tired. Sleepy. I guess it's normal after what happened... and it would have been worse if not for you." Hae-in leaned her head on his chest, feeling at ease just by hearing his calm heartbeat.
They stayed like that for a few moments, then Jin-woo realized she was falling asleep while standing. "Ok, it's time for you to go bed." She just nodded and he practically had to drag her to bed since it seemed like she had no strenght anymore.
He quickly changed into shorts and a shirt too and brushed his teeth, then walked over the bed: Hae-in was curled on one side, asleep, and she looked quite healthy in his opinion. Once again, he felt relieved that all had ended well and laid down behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around her.
"Mmm, Jin-woo?" she murmured.
"Yes, it's me. Go to sleep." He said softly, feeling her adjusting in a more comfortable position with him spooning her. "I'll protect you." he whispered, kissing her head softly.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head close to hers, falling quickly into a peaceful sleep.
That was meant to be a short chapter, but well, I just couldn't stop writing.
If you enjoyed, please leave a review!