C-Class Hunter Lee Hanna — Wife Stand-In (1)

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

For a while, Taejin scrolled through the app with a certain resolve already set in his mind.

Then he found himself stuck on a serious problem.

Why is the app full of nothing but married women?

Because that was exactly what filled the Security Guard App — married women, end to end.

I mean, sure, this place has a lot of married women to begin with, but…

In truth, he might simply have been blind to it. He had met plenty of women living alone so far, so the imbalance had never really registered. But in this apartment complex, the proportion of married women was far higher.

At this price point, securing a unit on your own was no easy feat. Most residents were married couples.

There were exceptions, of course — but those people generally had no need for the sexual relief service in the first place.

Married women, on the other hand, were frequently in a state that very much required it.

Still. Seriously. Why is it only married women?

Taejin crossed his arms and fretted over why the sexual relief service seemed to be needed by married women alone.

Someone might ask why this even counted as fretting. That would be a question born of ignorance.

As a rule, Taejin preferred not to get involved with married women if he could help it.

As for getting involved with Hanna…

Honestly, that had been force majeure, hadn't it?

What was he supposed to do when her ex-husband had left a steaming mess behind before walking out?

Anyway. That wasn't the point.

Hmm. There have always been married women on the list, but never this many.

The reason for Taejin's concern was simple.

Married women did show up on the list fairly often under normal circumstances. But so did ordinary female Hunters.

So why, right now, was the list drowning in married women alone?

I just don't get it.

He turned the question over from several angles and still couldn't land on an answer. This was the kind of thing that needed someone with far more information than he had on his own.

Which was why Taejin decided, for the first time in a while, to visit the married woman he had already claimed —

Maybe I should go over for a meal.

— the home of Hanna, who had promised to prepare a carefully cooked dinner the next time he came by.

And at the same time:

This time, I might actually make Hanna ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cry.

He thought it with a face full of confidence.

That confidence wasn't entirely unfounded.

Because his stats had shot up dramatically.

More precisely, the gains had been concentrated in Virility and Vitality — but those were exactly the two stats he needed most for this line of work, so it made perfect sense.

Dumping every point he had into those two left him feeling like raw power was surging through his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lower half.

Hell, even walking around a little underdressed in weather this freezing, with snow dumping down in thick flakes, he barely felt the cold.

In short, it was an absolute jackpot.

Buoyed by that confidence, Taejin called Hanna on the spot and told her he would be coming over for dinner that evening.

Whether she had been bored or simply starved for company, Hanna lit up at his words.

"Ah — right. I'll be staying a while tonight."

He made sure to pass that along as well.

At that, Hanna seemed to grasp exactly what he meant, and answered in a shy little voice.

With that, Taejin ended the call — and immediately kicked off the blankets to go wash up…

…except he didn't.

Just five more minutes…

The hot water wasn't working, which meant a cold shower, and he wanted to savor this heat a little longer before subjecting himself to that.

Of course, after five minutes he really would have to go wash.

While Taejin was still in bed bargaining for five more minutes —

"Heheh! It's been so long — I'm going to soak up all the affection from Seobang-nim tonight~♥"

— Hanna was preparing dinner in a thoroughly elevated mood.

Why so happy? The reasons were a little layered.

First, work had kept both of them so busy that Taejin and Hanna had barely seen each other. They crossed paths now and then when she took out the trash, but being outside made Taejin cautious, so those encounters never went far.

On top of that, Hanna had recently returned to Hunter work as a mage, and the process of readjusting to that life had left her drained. There simply hadn't been any real opportunity for conversation.

Perhaps because of that, her sexual desire had been quietly building.

Social life brought its own stresses, after all, and those stresses had been converting, little by little, into lust. She was just about reaching the point of genuine frustration when Taejin's call landed with perfect timing.

I've been so lonely living alone lately. What a relief~

Loneliness had been piling up, too.

Try living alone in a place this large. Hardly anyone would feel unlonely. Coming home to someone waiting for you would have been nice — but there was no one.

So the loneliness had accumulated in earnest. Ordinarily she filled the time with reading and MeTube lectures on magic, but there was only so far that could take her.

Which made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Taejin's proposal something she could only be delighted by.

Coming over for a meal, and staying a long time, meant…

I'm going to get held so much tonight♥

It was the same as saying he would wrap her up tight and not let go.

I even prepped the contraception ahead of time, just for Seobang-nim♥

And so Hanna prepared dinner in a thoroughly joyful frame of mind.

"Ugh, cold."

Taejin finally dragged himself out of bed, showered in water cold enough to pass for ice, and stepped outside into the complex.

The time he had arranged with Hanna was drawing near, so he hauled his chilled body out into the open air.

"No, so what I'm saying is…"

"Oh my, really?!"

"Shouldn't we report something like that?"

As he walked the path outside, a cluster of women came into view.

Ah. Those are the married women who showed up on the app.

Taejin recognized the group at a glance. He hardly had a choice — their looks were outstanding. Even bundled up heavily against the cold, the clean lines of their faces still showed through, which rather explained how they had ended up married.

He watched the little gathering of wives as he walked past.

"Oh? You're the new security guard…"

"Ah, yes, yes, that's right."

One of the women walking ahead recognized him. In short order Taejin had finished exchanging greetings with all three married women —

"My, look at that body~"

"I know, right? You must work out a lot~"

"I wish my husband would exercise a little more."

"Haha, yeah, I do a bit."

— and found himself getting his muscles fondled while they heaped praise on his physique.

Hmm. Not bad.

Married or not, they were complimenting the results of his effort, so Taejin's mood wasn't hurt by it in the least.

In the end, after a thorough round of body-praise, he even locked in a vague promise to meet again.

"Next time we see each other, let's at least have a cup of tea~"

"Yes, yes. Feel free to call anytime."

It was a classic empty Korean-style promise, of course — but still.

Having run into married women before his meeting with a divorcée, Taejin headed on toward Hanna's place.

The moment he arrived, he pressed the doorbell, and almost at once —

— Hanna's thoroughly excited voice came through.

She was really looking forward to this, huh. Heh.

Taejin was smiling to himself at that voice when the door opened — and standing there in the entryway was:

"Seobang-nim~♥ You're here~♥?"

"H-Hanna noona?!"

To his astonishment, Hanna was wearing nothing but a naked apron.

Taejin froze in place at the sight of her. Well — open a door and find someone in a naked apron on the other side, and freezing is the only reasonable response.

Hanna, watching his flustered face, seemed delighted that her special event had landed perfectly. She smiled with a faintly mischievous air.

"Hehe. Since Seobang-nim was coming over, I prepared a spe.cial little event… so? How is it~?"

Taejin recovered quickly and answered as he stepped straight into the entryway, casually shutting the door behind him.

"It was so perverted I loved it."

At that reaction, Hanna flushed with genuine pleasure.

"Hehe♥ I'll do lots more events like this next time~"

"Then I'd like nothing better."

After that thoroughly pleasant first impression of their long-overdue reunion, Taejin kicked off his shoes and stepped inside. Hanna, as if she had been waiting for exactly this, peeled off his coat, hung it on the rack, and then —

"Seobang-nim, please hold Hanna tight♥"

— spread her arms and waited. Taejin played along.

Is it because we haven't seen each other in so long? She's even more clingy than usual.

Thinking of it as the cute behavior of a divorcée, he couldn't help the way strength gathered in his lower half — but that was only natural.

He held Hanna in his arms for a moment, breathing in the fragrant scent of her body, thinking how good she smelled, settling into a quiet peace —

— until a single line from her made his whole body go rigid.

"Seobang-nim… there's another woman's scent on your clothes."

The words that left her mouth were… considerably terrifying.