The Night Ends Tomorrow
“Hey… Eun-hwa?”
“Don’t come any closer. Pervert Special Agent.”
“Ah… no, I was only touching your ears a little. That was a bit much, wasn’t it…?”
It was now the sixth day.
Baek Eun-hwa had been keeping a significant distance from me.
Yesterday had been the same, and seeing her act this way today made me think it was probably better to assume she was simply very embarrassed rather than anything else. It was far too extreme.
After all, I had only touched her ears.
Was reacting this strongly actually a bit much? Or should I say, was it not too excessive?
Batori had accepted me touching her horns without any issue, and she had stayed still even when I touched her. Was it because ears were more sensitive sensory organs than horns…?
“I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine. Pervert Special Agent. Keeping your distance is enough.”
“So since yesterday, you’ve been keeping that basic three-meter distance?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Even so, I still felt like this was a bit too much.
Even if it was only for a day, by today it had already been two days, and she shouldn’t have to be this embarrassed…?
She had reacted even more strongly than when she had been drunk and transferred to me, yet she had been surprisingly friendly from the amusement park to drinking together. Honestly, it left me feeling a bit… quite… a lot… bewildered.
No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem like she should be this embarrassed.
“I won’t touch your ears anymore. Just act normally, okay…? After all, you hid your ears with illusion magic. What can I possibly do now?”
“You’ll try to do bad things with hypnosis.”
“…No, that’s definitely slander.”
“I thought the Special Agent was a pretty good person for the past few days, but I never imagined you’d do such teasing while the other person was asleep. I believed you.”
“……”
How should I interpret this?
Should I feel grateful that she valued me so highly?
But reacting this strongly to just one rough ear pat was too much, wasn’t it?
She was truly a difficult woman in many ways.
It was a bit troublesome…
“Eun-hwa.”
“What?”
“Are you really going to keep acting like this? You won’t talk to me properly and keep staying far away?”
“I am talking to you.”
That was true.
Even though Baek Eun-hwa was acting this way, I was still having a conversation with her.
When I spoke, she answered, but it wasn’t a complete conversation. It wasn’t real conversation.
After all, the past day with her had been incredibly stiff.
Whenever I tried to talk to her, I only got vague replies.
She kept bringing her hands to her ears and tail, warning me not to touch them… It was just a repetition of strange behavior.
“Eun-hwa….”
“What?”
How could I break through her constant wariness?
I had thought about it.
The answer was shockingly simple.
“Today and tomorrow, Eun-hwa will have to return to her hero duties, and I’ll have to meet the other heroes I was originally assigned to. If you keep acting like this…”
“……”
“I want to help you even a little bit until the last day…”
“Ugh….”
Simply making her feel guilty was enough.
She had been improving, but her inherently kind and good-natured personality remained, and there was still pressure to appear as a good person to others.
Even if it was somewhat forced, being able to say “no” in this situation was itself a form of growth, wasn’t it?
Well, I had spoken with that thought in mind.
Since I was smaller than her and my appearance was gentle, just slightly wrinkling my face to look pitiful…
“If Eun-hwa dislikes it that much…”
“Ah, wait a moment…!”
Just by making my voice a bit subservient and pitiful…
“I should probably just go home. The Special Agent who should be helping the client is instead causing trouble and discomfort to the client… That would be grounds for dismissal.”
“That’s not the case at all! I never said that…!”
“No.”
“I really didn’t say that, did I? I just… a little… a very little…”
“It’s fine…”
“Ah, no, really…”
She was incredibly fragile.
…Too easy.
Of course, this personality of hers had both advantages and disadvantages, and it might have been a natural trait from birth.
Of course, in situations that weren’t this light, I shouldn’t have acted this way.
“……I’m sorry. I was just really surprised.”
“No, I was the one who was wrong. Eun-hwa doesn’t have to apologize.”
Her expression gradually wrinkling every time I refused her apologies was genuinely amusing.
After all, it was my fault for touching her ears without permission, not hers. It made me think how easy it was to be human.
“Then, Special Agent? I’ll let you touch my ears or tail. Could you please calm down a little…?”
“Really?”
“As you said, it’s nothing special. It’s just ears and a tail, and I think I reacted too strongly…”
…And then she approached me again, something she hadn’t done since yesterday, cautiously revealing her ears and speaking those words.
It was truly tempting.
The fox really was a fox.
Watching a realistic beauty flirt in a way that wasn’t flirting made my heart flutter a little.
“How is it…?”
…It felt a bit lewd.
But it was just ears and a tail.
There was no reason to give it strange meaning or say strange things to Baek Eun-hwa, and I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
“Is it?”
I simply lifted the corner of my mouth and accepted her words.
After all, there was no reason for the atmosphere to become this serious.
I had only touched her ears, sulked, and that was the extent of it.
“Huu.”
I gently stroked Baek Eun-hwa’s head and began touching her ears as well.
The soft fur’s texture was fascinating and addictive.
“Ugh. Just a little, gently.”
“You seem sensitive.”
“After all, they’re not ordinary organs. I don’t use them often, and no one has ever touched them. They must be sensitive. So, hah…”
“Can you hear with your ears?”
“I can hear, at least…”
“Wow…”
While gently touching her ears, we had that conversation.
Along with the feeling that it wasn’t just my imagination, I felt like I was doing something unusual.
It felt like I was doing something secret.
Still, I continued touching her ears, enjoying her reactions and savoring the sensation.
“Hah… ugh, ugh…”
Every time my hand moved lightly, the A-class hero’s expression changed in various ways, which was incredibly entertaining.
It was quite different from the feeling of controlling someone with hypnosis.
“Does it feel unpleasant?”
“Not really.”
“Then that’s good.”
I continued to enjoy her head and ears with a happy heart.
But at the same time, I stroked her with gentle hands.
After that…
“Um…”
“Hehe…”
It felt awkward.
She had been wary of me since morning yesterday, but she had returned to acting normally. Still, the past events made us both a little awkward.
Especially when touching her ears, it was quite…
Yeah.
So we sat on the same sofa, but neither of us dared to speak first, instead facing each other with awkward expressions and awkward smiles.
“Special Agent.”
“Yes, Eun-hwa. Is there something you need me to do?”
“Not really. You mentioned earlier that you’re also handling other heroes, right? How do you handle problems with other heroes?”
“Hmm… I probably need to keep the confidentiality of the current heroes I’m assigned to. Even if it’s someone I handled before, I’d have to give an example.”
While thinking about Baek Eun-hwa’s question, I had to consider it.
What methods had I used when handling other heroes?
At the very least, I had never stayed at her house for a week like I had with Baek Eun-hwa, and I had never met Saran or Batori more than twice a week.
Probably…
Just…
“Just counseling and setting some light goals.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I never stayed at a hero’s house or slept together like this, or went to the amusement park.”
“……I see.”
After all, I was the Special Agent.
Normally, I wouldn’t get this close to heroes, but somehow this had happened.
Did Baek Eun-hwa understand this to some extent?
She had a thoughtful expression, quietly thinking to herself.
As an A-class hero and since the Association President had personally created this position for me, I had been unusually assigned to her.
If I had been assigned to her normally… it would have ended with meeting her once or twice a week like with Saran or Batori, for counseling or some light activity.
How this had happened was truly strange.
“Puhuhu.”
“……”
So my bewildered laugh made Baek Eun-hwa answer with a very serious expression.
I didn’t know what she was thinking.
At least, I hoped she understood that I was doing this to help her sincerely and earnestly.
“So it’s the sixth day now?”
“Yes. After tomorrow, Eun-hwa will return to her hero duties, and there will be many other schedules starting again.”
“……I see.”
Even though she had been burning out and exhausted without resting, she had suddenly been given a week off.
Still, taking a week off and then returning to work would be troublesome, wouldn’t it?
Reading her expression was very difficult.
“Then when tomorrow’s night ends, Special Agent. This will end too.”
“That’s right. I’ll return to my house, and Eun-hwa will live as usual.”
Baek Eun-hwa didn’t express either denial or agreement to the straightforward facts, simply nodding and accepting the situation as it was.
After all, she had spent an entire week with a friend… someone close to a friend.
Of course, returning to her previous routine would bring considerable complaints, but in the end, I couldn’t help her forever.
Even though it was for her treatment, I couldn’t keep intruding on her home.
At the same time, even though this week had ended, I wasn’t stopping being her Special Agent.
“Don’t worry. We’ll meet often in the future.”
“Really…?”
“Yes, of course. I’m Eun-hwa’s Special Agent, after all. I handle other heroes too, but that doesn’t mean I won’t handle Eun-hwa. From now on, we’ll adjust our schedules to meet once or twice a week.”
I explained the future arrangement to her.
At least so she wouldn’t feel anxious.
“After all, this week was created because Eun-hwa didn’t know her own condition well and didn’t rest, so I contacted the Association President. The original plan was what I mentioned earlier.”
“……I didn’t know.”
“Hehe, don’t worry too much. Eun-hwa seems to be in much better condition than when I first met her.”
Baek Eun-hwa still had a thoughtful expression.
But from her appearance, I could feel she was improving, and I simply spoke to her with a happy expression.
I had only gotten too close to her from the beginning.
Eventually, as time passed, Baek Eun-hwa would probably use the Welfare Bureau services normally like other heroes.
“Hehe.”
…After all, I still didn’t know how she would react to others’ requests, separate from loosening the distance with me.
Her compulsion from her mother had not been completely cured, but I wanted to fix that part someday.
The road was still long, but I had decided not to take shortcuts with Baek Eun-hwa from the start.