Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Would You Like to Meet?
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Seol Yu-wol suddenly started sniffling and asked me for a hug.
Back when I was my old self, I would've made some excuse about professional boundaries as a counselor and gently turned her down...
Or awkwardly patted her shoulder and pushed her away.
But now I knew better.
I knew this was the best choice.
I'd come to understand it all too well. For her to achieve healthy independence, accepting this bit of clinginess right now was the right answer.
Yu-wol, fighting.
I cheered her on silently in my mind and opened my arms without hesitation.
- Squeeze...
I gladly pulled her into my embrace.
"Nngh..."
Seol Yu-wol, nestled in my arms, wrapped hers around my waist as if she'd been waiting for this and burrowed even deeper into me.
Ah.
This felt so sinful.
I swear, I wasn't thinking anything untoward.
I was purely comforting her. Absolutely no ulterior motives.
But I couldn't help being aware of it.
The physical differences between a woman's body and a man's... when you embrace each other this tightly without any gaps... they were impossible to ignore.
- Press...
Her body pressed firmly against my chest with her full weight behind it.
I could feel every curve of her form.
The sweet scent wafting to my nose...
No.
I shook myself back to reality and patted her back.
I glanced over my shoulder at Mary, who was standing there, and gave her a look.
'What's going on?'
But Mary either didn't know or didn't want to say.
She just shook her head with a drained expression, like she'd watched a horror movie.
'Don't ask...'
That's what her lips seemed to say.
"Shall we head inside first... Yu-wol?"
Doing this in the hallway drew too many eyes.
Still holding her, I carefully made my way into their office.
She clung to my waist as we walked, clearly reluctant to let go.
- Click.
The door shut behind us.
The interior was impeccably neat, filled with a pleasant fragrance.
It was obvious at a glance: the right side was Seol Yu-wol's desk, the left Mary's.
On the right desk sat a framed photo of me, Yi Seo-ryeong, and Seol Yu-wol.
Only once we were inside the quiet space with the door closed did I guide her to the sofa.
She was still rubbing her reddened eyes, clutching at my clothes.
I fetched her a glass of warm water and placed it in her hands.
"Feeling a bit calmer?"
"Y-Yeah... Sorry... Sniff..."
Seol Yu-wol took a sip and answered in a subdued voice.
I pulled up the chair opposite her and sat close enough that our knees nearly touched.
I looked at her with worried eyes.
"So... what happened?"
I had no idea what could make Seol Yu-wol cry like this.
It didn't seem like Mary had scolded her or anything.
"Well..."
Seol Yu-wol began explaining.
Once she started, she laid out the situation clearly and precisely, even through her tears.
Crying while speaking so articulately... impressive skill.
"So... Oppa and me... they're splitting us up now..."
"I see."
Her explanation made the Association's intentions crystal clear.
As I understood it, this was the gist:
There was a heavy concentration of S-Rank Hunters flocking to me, the Hunter Counselor.
The influence of that was apparently a big concern for them.
As I'd predicted, the higher-ups wanted to curb it.
So they'd hastily hired more counselors.
"Sniff..."
Seol Yu-wol gripped my clothes tightly again.
They'd rotate her bodyguard duties among the other counselors... eventually easing her off them altogether.
In short, they were spinning her around like a top to pry her away from me.
"......"
A flicker of anger started to rise.
But this was a role Seol Yu-wol had desperately chosen for herself in the first place.
The first decision she'd made on her own after arriving in this world.
Others couldn't dictate her path to independence.
Not me, and certainly not the Association—they had zero right to interfere.
Hiring counselors wasn't my business, but meddling in Seol Yu-wol's arrangements was something I couldn't stand by and watch.
"Mary, what do you think?"
I turned to Mary, who was leaning against the door watching the scene.
She met my eyes and spoke calmly, reading the emotion in my expression.
"Exactly what you're thinking, Seon-woo."
"Overreach?"
"Yeah."
Mary nodded.
She was right.
I saw this as clear overreach.
Seol Yu-wol couldn't have foreseen this and made her contract airtight.
I'd need to check the contract... and might require Yi Seo-ryeong's help.
"Yu-wol, you don't want this, right?"
She clung even tighter to my waist, sniffling.
"I don't wanna..."
"Got it."
I gently stroked her hair as I spoke.
"Mind if I take a look at the contract? It'd be great to see it once."
- Freeze.
Seol Yu-wol paused for a moment, then shook her head.
"......"
A refusal?
A bit puzzled, I looked down at her.
Without lifting her face from my chest, she mumbled softly.
"That... Team Leader?... He took it. Said he'd review it again..."
They'd even taken the contract.
Just as my irritation was building—
Mary spoke up.
"...I don't know what you're imagining, but that's not it. She blocked it based on what's in the contract. It wasn't taken; she shoved it in their faces and stopped them."
"Huh?"
She said something completely different from what I'd assumed.
Seol Yu-wol hadn't lost it while crying; she'd successfully defended?
"The contract originally specifies protection for you—"
Mary glanced at Seol Yu-wol mid-sentence...
Then sighed deeply and changed tack.
"Anyway, the rights are hers. The Association can't touch it lightly. That's for sure."
Good. The contract terms must be solid.
Yi Seo-ryeong must have been involved, writing it favorably for her.
I patted Seol Yu-wol's back as I said,
"That's a relief. Don't get down about it, Yu-wol."
"Yeah..."
Seol Yu-wol let out a sigh of relief and hugged my waist tightly again.
Like she had no intention of letting go.
I yielded my waist in response.
Still, I'd need to discuss the details with Yi Seo-ryeong.
She'd fended them off, but I didn't know the contract inside out, so who knew what loopholes there might be.
As that thought crossed my mind—
"...Aren't you two a bit too close?"
Mary, arms crossed and standing there, furrowed her brow slightly as she said it to me.
I glanced down.
Seol Yu-wol was pressed right against my side, her whole body leaning into me.
Looking down at her, she tilted her head just a bit and stared straight at Mary.
The position... was a little compromising.
From the outside, it could easily be misunderstood.
Like father and daughter, even.
But pulling Seol Yu-wol away now would contradict my own conclusion.
So...
- Swish.
I opened my left arm wide—the one not holding Seol Yu-wol.
"You come here too. I'll comfort you."
I said with a smile.
"...What?"
Mary's eyes went wide.
"Hah... seriously."
She let out a disbelieving chuckle, sighing repeatedly...
"Haa..."
But she didn't refuse.
She strode over and burrowed into my empty left side.
"......"
She turned her head away, pouting and not looking at me, but her hip inched persistently toward my thigh.
- Pat pat.
I naturally patted around her waist, the spot she liked.
"You two should get along."
I whispered in her ear with a smile.
"Nngh..."
Senior and junior counselors. They'd see plenty more of each other.
"Heehee. Unnie."
Seol Yu-wol lay with her head on my thigh, looking up across my body at Mary with a grin.
"Ugh."
Mary pretended to push her away by her forehead.
Mary on the left, Seol Yu-wol on the right.
Their body heat and scents mingling...
Wait.
This wasn't why I'd come here.
I looked at their faces.
Both had subtle smiles tugging at their lips.
I didn't like the Association's scheme, but... it seemed okay.
Seol Yu-wol's mindset...
Commendable.
Admirable that she was trying to bond with her senior.
"What do you want for lunch?"
I'm buying today.
And...
I'd need to meet Yi Seo-ryeong.
Talk about the contract.
"But Oppa..."
A drowsy voice came from my thigh.
"Mom seems like she wants to see you."
"Really?"
Perfect timing.
I had a mountain of questions for her anyway.
"Yeah. Tonight... would you like to meet her?"
She looked up at me from my lap, using my knee as a pillow.
"Sure, could you pass that along?"
I brightened and asked.
"Yes! Heehee."
Seol Yu-wol beamed, nuzzling her face against my thigh, pleased with my answer.
"Haa..."
Mary, sitting beside us, just sighed heavily from the side.
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