A Day That Passed in the Blink of an Eye
I had no idea how the day had flown by. Just the fact that I was now dating Jiyu was enough to make my heart race with nervous excitement, and yet somehow that same connection had given me strength and made me stronger. I had finally learned the true nature of my Binding skill, and today I was supposed to enter a gate.
“Haa…”
It was true that I had asked for this myself, but I never imagined I would actually be stepping into a gate as a proper dealer. Honestly, I had always thought of myself as strictly non-combat. Even now, I still didn’t have a single combat skill, so part of me wondered if this was really the right choice.
“Still… I guess I have to go in and see for myself, right?”
I decided to trust the information I’d read—that hunters above B-rank could fight like proper combatants in lower gates even without combat skills. If it didn’t work out, I could always go back to being a mining team leader. It wasn’t like they had posted the job opening yet anyway.
“Alright. Time to head in.”
I had been so lost in thought that if I delayed any longer I would be dangerously close to being late. Everyone was always late, so it didn’t seem like they cared much, but still.
After finishing my preparations, I opened the door and stepped outside—
“Oppa! You’re a little late today, huh?”
For some reason, Jiyu was parked right in front of my house, waiting for me.
“Why are you here?”
“I came to commute together, obviously! Hurry up and get in!”
“You didn’t have to go through the trouble…”
“I’m not tired at all! If anything, I get to see Oppa’s face a little earlier, so it’s a win for me~”
Seeing her bright, adorable smile, I unconsciously reached out and gently pinched her cheek.
“Heuuung? What’s thaaat…!”
Her lisping, cute little whine made me chuckle. I let go and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Just… because you’re cute.”
“Heueu, if you say things like that my heart will race too much and I might not be able to drive properly…!”
“That sounds kind of dangerous. Then maybe I shouldn’t—”
“No! I can drive perfectly fine! I could probably drive with one hand!”
She really was this lovable. I still couldn’t believe I had just watched from the sidelines all this time.
“It’s a short drive, but you should still try to get some rest.”
“I slept pretty well yesterday.”
“Liar. Your dark circles have gotten even darker, you know.”
She probably assumed I hadn’t slept properly because it was my first time entering a gate. Well, it was true that I had been too nervous to sleep well last night… but my dark circles had always been this bad.
“From now on, I’m going to feed you every healthy thing I can find. I’ve always hated seeing you look so tired all the time!”
She was right. Ever since I left the guild, I hadn’t taken proper care of myself. When I thought about it that way, it made sense that my dark circles were so heavy and I always looked so ragged… I still couldn’t figure out how Jiyu had fallen for someone like me.
“Here, so just close your eyes and rest!”
She handed me something. When I took it, I saw it was a sleep mask. I wasn’t sure if she always carried one or if she had prepared it just for me… but if she was going this far, she’d probably get upset if I refused to sleep.
“Umm… I heard you’re not supposed to sleep in the passenger seat…”
“Forget that nonsense!”
“Yes ma’am. Then I’ll take a quick nap. Wake me when we get there.”
As expected. I had never really fallen asleep in a car before, but I’d heard that both insomniacs and babies who had trouble sleeping often dozed off easily in vehicles. Something about the gentle rocking motion being soothing. Anyway, if I could get even five minutes of good sleep, that would be nice. I put on the mask and closed my eyes.
After confirming that Junho had put on the sleep mask, Jiyu quietly changed the car’s direction away from the office. She planned to drive in circles for as long and as far as possible so he could sleep longer.
“Hmm~”
A little hum escaped her lips. She glanced over at Junho.
“Mmm…”
He must have been exhausted, because he fell asleep almost immediately. Even though he shifted a little, he didn’t wake up. Jiyu sent a quick message to Jia saying they would be late, then spent a long time driving in lazy circles around the streets—carefully choosing only the smoothest roads.
By the time Junho finally arrived at the office and woke up—
“Why is it noon already?”
The clock was pointing at twelve in the afternoon.
“Hehe, I drove around in circles so Oppa could sleep deeply~”
The distance that normally took less than thirty minutes by car had somehow taken three and a half hours. But since he knew she had done it for his sake, he decided not to say anything.
“Still… I really slept well for the first time in a while. I didn’t even have any nightmares.”
“Really? That’s great! Then from now on…”
“If you keep doing this, I won’t ride with you anymore.”
“Tch, fine. I won’t do it next time.”
Only after they pinky-swore did the two of them finally get out of the car. It felt a little awkward to walk into the office together, but Jiyu was happy to see that Junho had made up his mind to be brave and stop avoiding it.
“Raid leader, reporting for duty~!”
“I’m here too. Sorry for being late.”
Unlike the cheerful Jiyu, Junho gave a polite and formal apology.
“Aww, what do you mean late? The gate isn’t until this afternoon anyway.”
“Even so, regular office hours start at nine, so until then…”
“Aigoo, look at this stickler for rules. So strict, so strict.”
Jia made an exaggerated face of exasperation.
“But why did you two come in together?”
Kim Pilseok, who had been watching the pair with clear displeasure, spat out his complaint.
“Oh, now that you mention it… Jiyu unnie, what’s going on? What’s up with you two?”
“Raid leader, it looked like you liked Junho-ssi. Did it work out?”
Kim Pilseok was unhappy, but his single question caused everyone’s eyes to snap toward Junho and Jiyu.
“Ah, a-ah…!”
Jiyu, who had never intended to hide it in the first place, blushed bright red and covered both cheeks with her hands. Even Junho, who wasn’t used to this kind of attention, felt his face grow warm.
“Yes, that’s right. Jiyu and I started dating yesterday.”
Junho answered without any hesitation, which only made Jiyu’s face turn even redder.
“Whoaaa~ Shin Jiyu, you did it!”
Jia, who had helped set up the perfect location for the two of them, looked back and forth between them with a delighted expression.
“Junho, if you ever make our Jiyu cry, you’re really dead.”
She didn’t forget to add a warning.
“Ah, um…! Yes, noona…!”
Since the two of them had already shared a tearful embrace just yesterday, the guilt that stabbed at him was a secret he would keep to himself.
Even Chaseok, who usually kept a stoic and emotionless face, smiled warmly and offered his congratulations. Heeyeon bounced around like it was her own good news. And in the middle of all that joy—
There was one person who couldn’t celebrate.
“Fuck…! Hey, you son of a bitch! A worthless E-rank trash hunter like you dares to date Jiyu?!”
The moment Kim Pilseok casually spat out such filthy language, everyone’s faces twisted in disgust.
“What did you just say to my oppa—”
Jiyu, furious, tried to step forward, but Junho moved in front of her.
“I’ll handle this. It’s okay.”
When broad-shouldered Junho stood in front of her like that, Jiyu literally couldn’t see past him. Just that alone made her feel like he would protect her from everything in the world, and the dependable tone of his voice only made it better. The anger she had felt a moment ago completely vanished, replaced by a dizzying rush of affection.
“Mmm, but if you need my help, you have to tell me right away.”
The sight of the two of them whispering together naturally provoked Kim Pilseok even more.
“You fucking bastard, who do you think you’re whispering to! Hey, you son of a—”
“Hey, old man. Watch your language. Swearing at people doesn’t look very good.”
Junho answered so casually that Kim Pilseok grew even angrier.
‘This E-rank trash dares talk back to me? I’ll kill him…’
Just as that thought crossed his mind, another idea suddenly flashed through Kim Pilseok’s head.
“…Hey. Let’s step outside and talk for a minute.”
“What, are you scared?”
Jia snorted and tried to provoke him, but Kim Pilseok ignored her, gestured for Junho to follow, and walked out the door first.
“Oppa, just ignore him.”
“It’s fine. Even if I ignore him now, we’ll keep running into each other. I’ll settle this properly. Just wait here a little.”
Junho soothed Jiyu with the gentlest voice imaginable before following Kim Pilseok outside.
“So? What is it?”
Of course, the tone he used with Kim Pilseok the moment they were outside was neither gentle nor warm.
“Haa, hey. Be honest—you don’t actually like Shin Jiyu, do you?”
“What?”
“You’ve been acting like you hated her this whole time. Then suddenly you accept her? Isn’t it obvious?”
Junho’s expression slowly hardened. But Kim Pilseok, not noticing, kept spewing nonsense.
“Jiyu’s face is pretty enough, and her body is killer. You only accepted because you wanted a taste, right?”
Kim Pilseok smirked and looked up at Junho. For a split second he felt a murderous aura that sent chills down his spine, but since Junho was only E-rank, Kim Pilseok wasn’t actually afraid of his strength. He continued talking.
“From what I hear, she seems like a virgin. You go first and eat her up. Then pass her to me. After I have my turn…”
THUD—!
Kim Pilseok thought, ‘Huh…? What just—’
But he couldn’t finish the thought. An overwhelming pain slammed into him as his body was smashed into the office wall.
“Don’t ever talk about Jiyu like that again. No—don’t even mention her name. If you do it one more time, I really will kill you.”
Whether the unconscious Kim Pilseok heard him or not, the enraged Junho kicked him a few more times before he finally calmed down.
The noise naturally brought Jiyu and the rest of the raid members rushing outside.
“Oppa…!”
“Han Junho, are you okay?!”
The first ones to run out were, of course, Jiyu and Jia. Jiyu knew that Junho had become stronger, but Kim Pilseok was still a fairly powerful C-rank hunter. She had come out with a deeply worried expression, terrified that Junho might have been even slightly injured—
“Ah, thank goodness.”
When she saw Junho’s completely uninjured face and Kim Pilseok crumpled against the wall, she let out a huge sigh of relief.
“What the—how did you do that? How did you send Kim Pilseok flying so cleanly?”
Even though she had never liked him, the rank difference had kept her from properly hitting him back. The frustration she had felt melted away in an instant. Jia began lightly kicking the unconscious Kim Pilseok’s leg.
“Jiyu, no matter how I think about it, we should cut Kim Pilseok loose.”
The furious tone from earlier was already gone. Junho walked over, gently pulled Jiyu into his arms, and spoke as softly as possible.
“If I can’t do it, we can just recruit another dealer. Keeping someone with impure intentions like Kim Pilseok in the party isn’t a good idea.”
He had recorded everything from the moment he followed Kim Pilseok outside. All the garbage that had come out of the man’s mouth was saved. The only reason he didn’t play the recording immediately was because he didn’t want Jiyu to hear it and get hurt.
“I agree as well. He has caused nothing but problems. There’s no reason to keep carrying him.”
“Ah, of course I agree~! I’ve wanted to kick that bastard out for a while.”
“Me too! I hated the way he kept looking at the raid leader with those dirty eyes. This is perfect!”
Everyone had been holding in a lot of resentment. They had only tolerated him because his skills were decent. But causing constant trouble like this was clearly bad for the party in the long run.
“It’s obvious anyway. If someone as kind as Junho-ssi threw a punch, he must have said something truly awful.”
Jia made a disgusted face and punched the unconscious Kim Pilseok several times.
“Mmm, that’s true. He touched my oppa and none of the other party members want him here either. There’s no reason to keep him.”
“Yeah. Even if we ignore everything else, just listing a few of the things he’s done would be enough to justify kicking him out immediately.”
This was a world that valued strength, but no matter how skilled someone was, if their character was rotten, public opinion would turn against them.
“Well then, let’s send the retired member home. Shall we head back inside?”
There was no mercy for anyone who touched Junho. No ambulance, no polite “we’ll fire you when you wake up”—they simply left Kim Pilseok embedded in the wall and slowly walked back into the office. Each of them gave the crumpled man a mocking laugh as they passed.