Chapter 48

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 48

Chapter Title: Wednesday

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I got home, took a shower, and turned on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the living room lights.

I roughly dried my wet hair with a towel and sank into the chair.

From inside the room, the noises from outside the window filtered in faintly.

I turned on the computer and checked the email from the Association.

The next guild visit was set for Haetae.

The Association had promised to organize and inform me of the schedule right away.

Thursday or Friday, I had to go see Seol Yu-wol...

It would probably be next week.

The schedule should have arrived by now.

- Click.

Sure enough, the email was there.

A table appeared on the screen, filled with my schedule for next week.

I quietly read her status.

Seol Yu-wol must have gone through quite a lot today.

I wanted to tell her directly too... but letting her become dependent on me wasn't ideal.

She had leaned on the massive pillar that was Lee Seo-ryeong for so long.

Now that pillar was gone, and Seol Yu-wol was desperately searching for the next one.

If even a small gap appeared, she'd easily lean on me too.

I could already sense a bit of that.

But it couldn't be me.

Seol Yu-wol had to stand on her own two feet in the end.

So, maintaining a proper distance seemed best.

Still...

I recalled her last line once more.

[...I hope it's Thursday.]

"Let's go on Thursday."

The visits were on Wednesday and Friday.

This shouldn't be a big issue.

I rationalized it to myself and turned off the computer.

Then, for the first time in a while, I fell into a deep sleep.

Jin Sea's penthouse.

All the lights in the living room were off.

Only the glittering Seoul nightscape pouring in through the massive floor-to-ceiling window faintly illuminated her silhouette.

She stared at one spot through the window.

Seon-woo's house.

The safest, most perfect place she had personally chosen for him.

Fortunately, he had returned home at a reasonable hour.

The window lit up.

And after a long time...

The light went out again.

"Hoo..."

Jin Sea let out a sigh of relief.

The same return time as always.

The routine of showering, briefly using the computer, then going to bed.

Even the timing was almost identical.

In other words, Seon-woo had dinner with that woman today but came straight home without stopping elsewhere or bringing anyone in.

She knew well enough that he never brought other women to his place anyway.

Still... confirmation was necessary.

"......"

This was what Jin Sea had feared.

A realm beyond her control emerging.

As long as Seon-woo was inside the guild, it was fine.

She could swat away every impure hand reaching for him.

Under her protection, he was perfectly safe.

But the moment he stepped outside, constraints arose.

It wasn't just threats stretching from inside the guild to the outside.

Now, she couldn't block the countless hands reaching for him from the outside.

Like Baek Si-eun, whom Seon-woo had met today.

People with dangerous ideologies and obvious intentions.

Was it just Baek Si-eun?

Jin Sea felt her blood run cold all over just imagining it.

What more was there to fool herself about?

Jin Sea loved Yoo Seon-woo.

His kindness? His gentleness?

None of it could be put into words.

Before meeting him, every moment of her life had been agony.

So she had never been impatient, not once.

She believed she was steadily building her relationship with Seon-woo.

Hunter and Otherworlder? It didn't matter. We were slowly heading toward the most ideal lovers in the world.

It might take a long time, but surely, she would end up by his side.

She had no doubt.

But.

But...

Another scene suddenly flashed in her mind.

A few days ago, the S-Rank Hunter she had encountered at his counseling office.

Luna.

Her face flushed bright red, sitting in Seon-woo's chair.

Her heart pounding suspiciously fast.

And crucially, pretending it was an accident while stealing clothes and fleeing.

Baek Si-eun was easier to deal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with, at least.

She feared Jin Sea and tried to avoid her however she could.

But that white rabbit was different.

She hid her desires behind an innocent expression.

And she didn't back down.

That made her far trickier.

It seemed...

A bit of a problem had arisen.

Right then.

- Ding!

Her smartphone, tossed carelessly on the sofa, buzzed softly.

Jin Sea checked the screen with an expressionless face.

And then, a radiant smile bloomed across her features.

It was a message from him.

The photo showed the official schedule marked for Haetae Guild at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Jin Sea smiled. She imagined his face.

Was he lying in bed sending the message?

He was thinking of me.

Of course, she already knew this.

Without hesitation, she pressed the call button.

- Hello?

His drowsy voice came through the receiver.

"Is it true?"

Jin Sea said in a surprised tone.

Acting once more, without ever being found out.

A gentle voice flowed into her ear.

Jin Sea stared blankly at the nightscape outside while listening to it.

His voice had a strange power.

The anger toward Baek Si-eun, the wariness of Luna, all those sharp emotions melted away at his voice.

Jin Sea lay down on the sofa.

She pressed her heated cheek against the cool pillow.

And slowly.

After a few exchanges.

"Yeah..."

Jin Sea fell asleep listening to his voice.

A deep, peaceful sleep for the first time in ages.

- She's asleep.

The voice from the phone echoed quietly in Jin Sea's home.

Wednesday morning.

Haetae Guild.

The scout team leader Wi Jae-wan's office had its lights on from early morning.

For the first time in three days, he sat in his own chair.

He had been extremely busy running around lately.

His field work ended yesterday.

He stared blankly at the list of applications for Yoo Seon-woo's visit next week.

Yoo Seon-woo's visit was confirmed.

After his bombshell declaration of leaving the guild, the furious pressure from above had finally subsided.

He began compiling the counseling requests one by one.

From S-Ranks to fresh C-Rank recruits just joining the guild.

The screen was filled with names of those seeking counseling.

To Haetae, the name Yoo Seon-woo carried that much weight.

He typed mechanically.

His muscles screamed from all-nighters and fieldwork, but strangely, his mind felt at ease.

Everything seemed to be falling into place.

He was about to add the last applicant's name and hit send.

- Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Yes."

Wi Jae-wan replied dryly, eyes fixed on the monitor.

- Hello, Team Leader. Mind if I come in for a sec?

At that voice, Wi Jae-wan's furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

It was Baek Si-eun.

"Yeah, come in."

Despite his fatigue, he smiled welcomingly.

- Creak.

The door opened, and Baek Si-eun entered with her usual bright smile.

In her hands were two steaming cups of coffee.

"You look like you pulled an all-nighter. Here, have this."

Baek Si-eun carefully set one cup on Wi Jae-wan's desk.

She naturally sat in the chair opposite and looked at him.

"Thanks."

Wi Jae-wan happily took the coffee.

Baek Si-eun was like a vitamin in the drab guild.

"What's up?"

But she didn't seem to be here just to check on him.

Her expression said she had something to say.

Wi Jae-wan didn't miss it.

- Slurp.

Wi Jae-wan brought the coffee she offered to his lips without suspicion.

The warm, sweet liquid felt like it was healing his exhausted body from the all-nighter.

"Oh... um, not that, but... I want to apply for counseling today too."

"Ah, for Seon-woo's visit? Got it..."

Wait... a...

Wi Jae-wan paused with the cup away from his mouth, frozen in mid-air.

Then slowly set it back on the desk.

"......"

He looked up at Baek Si-eun in front of him again.

She was still smiling brightly.

"...And I wanted to say thanks."

"...What?"

"Thanks for letting Seon-woo go outside."

At those words, Wi Jae-wan's mind began to turn... white...

"It gave me a chance."

"So... what... do you... mean..."

Words wouldn't come out properly.

Something was wrong. His tongue felt stiff.

And his mood was... getting strangely good.

All fatigue melting away like snow, his body feeling as light as a feather.

"You'll feel great. I cast a spell on it."

In his sinking consciousness, like drifting into fog, Wi Jae-wan finally realized.

The coffee.

"......"

He could no longer respond. All sensation was fading.

He just stared blankly at the woman before him.

She still wore an angelic smile.

"Sleep a bit, and when you wake up, everything will be fine."

And he realized now.

"Seon-woo will surely like it too."

How terribly mistaken he had been.

He hadn't been protecting Seon-woo.

'I...'

Under the pretext of protecting him.

He had pushed him out beyond the fence.