Don't get hit on purpose from now on.
Don't get hit on purpose from now on.
I suddenly remembered the first time I met Lee Chaerim.
She was an incredibly fast woman.
She was a hunter who used terrifyingly cold frost.
"Are you the porter for this party?"
That cold, piercing gaze she shot at me is still vivid.
"Please take care of me."
It was my first expedition.
It hadn't been long since I awakened as an Awakened.
When I took my first step as an F-class porter to earn money.
It was when I took my first job at Hunters.
"Aren't you F-class?"
"That's right. F-class porter, Kim Jinsoo."
"......."
"I did say I didn't care who it was, but what are they thinking assigning an F-class porter?"
Lee Chaerim clicked her tongue after hearing my rank.
It was natural.
The dungeon we were going to was a B-class dungeon.
Even though she, an S-class hunter, was included, it was clearly a dangerous mission for an F-class porter.
"They assigned me here because I said I could do anything!"
She sighed at my answer.
"Haa, what fault could the porter have? It's the HR manager's problem. I'm going to fire that guy at this opportunity."
I found out later that because she was so strict, none of the porters wanted to work with her, so I ended up being the one in charge.
She was incredibly nitpicky.
She even criticized the clothes I wore.
"Your attire is too sloppy. Your outfit is the mindset of a combatant. You may be a porter, but be careful because such attire could lead to unforeseen accidents."
"Yes, ma'am!"
She was a charismatic leader.
Even if it was a bit tiring, she was someone I thought I wouldn't get hurt if I was next to.
That was my first impression of Lee Chaerim.
My first mission was the B-class dungeon, Venomous Cave.
The place, ominous from its name, was teeming with mud slime and monsters spewing deadly poison.
From the moment we entered the cave, a suffocating, musty stench vibrated in the air.
I felt like I understood what it meant to have your breath taken away by the gas filling the dungeon.
Thanks to the holy-type buffer, we slowly advanced while purifying the surrounding air.
Even in such a barren situation, Lee Chaerim's ability stood out brilliantly.
The cold frost that stretched from her fingertips instantly froze the dungeon's monsters.
She even turned the pools filled with venom into ice sheets to block the emission of gas.
She was even fast.
Before the monsters could rush in, Lee Chaerim moved as if leaping through space, accurately freezing and shattering the monsters' vital points.
Paat-! Clang!
Every time the silver sword strike grazed past, the monsters couldn't even splash a drop of blood and crumbled into ice fragments.
It was a perfect and cold hunting style, typical of her, who extremely loathed filth.
I stepped back a distance, picking up the magic stones and loot she had carved out, and marveled.
'So that's what an S-class hunt is.'
"Incredibly fast, right?"
"Our guild leader is truly the best, isn't she?"
"Even if Hunters isn't number one, I can dare say the guild leader is the number one hunter."
The members laughed, admiring Lee Chaerim's combat power.
She was the pride of Hunters.
She didn't give me a single glance throughout the hunt.
She just slaughtered monsters with a cold expression.
But even in a hunt that seemed perfect, there are variables.
As the dungeon boss, the giant venomous toad, collapsed, it scattered the bodily fluids from its stomach in all directions in a final struggle.
Poong-!
"Ugh......!"
Lee Chaerim urgently erected an ice wall to block the explosion.
But because it exploded at such close range, a single drop of dark red venom dug into her blind spot.
It ended up dropping right onto the sleeve of her snow-white uniform.
Sizzle-.
As soon as the venom touched it, a disgusting stench rose along with the sound of the fabric burning away.
"Ah......."
It was just one drop.
A drop smaller than a fingernail.
The moment that one drop stained her uniform, I cannot forget the extreme disgust and stress that appeared on Lee Chaerim's face.
The composure that hadn't wavered even when facing giant monsters was cracking into pieces over a mere stain on her uniform.
Just as she furrowed her brows and gripped her sword, as if she were about to rip off the contaminated sleeve right then and there.
"Stay still."
I stepped forward.
"What are you......."
"If you move, it will spread further into the fabric."
I took out a special neutralizer I had pre-mixed and a pure white microfiber cloth from my porter bag.
It was my own special stain remover made by mixing residues of hunter potions and a few magical chemical solutions.
It was a stain remover I made to use after the dungeon ended.
It's troublesome if clothes get dirty, you know.
Working as a porter is one thing, but I didn't want my clothes to get dirty.
Still, I'm someone whose family has run a laundry for generations; I can't stand seeing clothes get dirty.
Pssst, pssst.
Honestly, I thought I wouldn't have a chance to use it.
Because I had been disappointed, my movements were even more desperate.
I wanted to show that I was useful.
I sprayed the solution onto the contaminated area and used the cloth to lightly tap along the grain of the fabric.
You mustn't rub it.
Because the venom would dig deeper into the fabric.
With the feeling of transferring the contaminant to the cloth.
Just 10 seconds.
"Th-this is......."
Lee Chaerim's pupils were having an earthquake.
Not only had the stain on the uniform that was burning black disappeared without a trace, but a refreshing lavender scent was spreading faintly instead of the disgusting stench.
She touched her sleeve as if she couldn't believe it.
"Who are you, really?"
For the first time, her voice carried interest, not dismissal.
"I'm Kim Jinsoo, participating as an F-class porter. I also have a personality that can't stand things being dirty."
Lee Chaerim stared at me intently for a long time at my answer.
Her lips, which were always full of coldness, drew a curve for the first time.
"I like you."
That was the beginning.
"Can you work exclusively for Hunters from now on? I'll pay you double the current pay. If you do laundry like this, I'll give you a bonus too......, how about it?"
Of acting as Lee Chaerim's exclusive porter.
The hand we shook back then was truly soft.
Soft.
What was touching the back of my head was truly soft.
A latex pillow?
I don't think it's that.
Is it a pillow stuffed with cotton balls?
It's not that either.
It was a slightly squishier, cozier pillow.
A pillow that felt like slime but had a strange firmness inside.
On top of that, it was warm.
A pleasant warmth was gently wrapping around the back of my head.
Did we have a pillow with a heating function in our laundry?
This faint scent tickling the tip of my nose.
It was the smell of that refreshing soap scent I had just smelled while washing her uniform, mixed with Lee Chaerim's unique body scent.
......Body scent?
No way, this is.
At the speculation rising in my head, I carefully pushed up my heavy eyelids.
My blurry vision gradually cleared, and one face looking down at me as if it were about to pour over my head came into view.
"......."
It was Lee Chaerim.
Her face was filled with deep worry and anxiety, as if she were about to shed tears at any moment.
Wearing the loose gray t-shirt I lent her, she had carefully placed my head on her lap and was trying to stroke my cheek with a hand that was trembling slightly.
My eyes widened as I realized the situation, and at that moment, my gaze perfectly locked with hers.
"Uh......."
The moment my lips parted.
"Ah!"
Lee Chaerim's shoulders jumped up significantly.
The mournful and worried gaze that had been looking down at me evaporated without a trace in 0.1 seconds.
Instead, that usual ice-cold and strict expression was mechanically overlaid in its place.
She flinched, hurriedly hid the hand that was about to touch my cheek behind her back, and then pretended to cough, turning her gaze to the air.
"Ahem! Yo, you're up? I knew your durability was something else since your F-class porter days, but you woke up quickly."
"......Guild Leader, weren't you just looking like you were about to cry a moment ago?"
"Wh, who looked like they were about to cry! I was just slightly, very slightly surprised and my foot went out reflexively, but since you fainted, I was just clicking my tongue! Still, is it okay for someone who was my exclusive porter to have stamina like this?"
Even though her neck was bright red.
She poured out a scolding.
It doesn't seem like something to say while having my head carefully placed on her thighs.
It was the moment I was about to burst into a chuckle because I was dumbfounded.
"Boss......."
Hearing a tearful voice from the side, I looked and saw Elena looking at me with a face that looked like she was about to cry right away.
"Boss, are you okay? You were surprised because of this ignorant gorilla woman, right?"
"Ig, ignorant gorilla......?"
"Personally, I think that adjusting someone's jaw with a roundhouse kick the moment you see them is not in the realm of humans. This is a fact that even the Goddess agrees with."
"......."
It was a strange atmosphere.
Elena was narrowing her eyes and glaring at Lee Chaerim, and Lee Chaerim was also meeting her gaze as if not to lose to her.
Weren't you two just ganging up on me as a pervert until a moment ago?
You had such good chemistry, so why now?
"Boss, from now on, lean on me."
Elena opened her mouth while glaring at Lee Chaerim.
She was already gripping my phone tightly and her eyes were flashing.
"From now on, make groaning sounds as if you're in pain."
"Huh?"
"This is the tyranny of a large guild! A guild leader of a massive guild blowing away the jaw of an innocent small business owner! This is clearly special assault! Boss, let's take this opportunity to get a 4-week medical certificate and squeeze out a hefty settlement! How about it?"
"......Are you calculating settlement money while your boss is lying down?"
"In a capitalist society, settlement money is better than prison money!"
It wasn't a line that should come out of a saintess's mouth.
Just as Lee Chaerim's expression was becoming one of disbelief, another woman came into view, resting her chin on her hand and watching this whole insane situation like entertainment.
Seo Yerin.
With her flashy blonde hair and pink eyes imbued with the power of spirits twinkling, she muttered in a languid voice.
"Hmm~."
Seo Yerin's gaze swept over Lee Chaerim's knees.
"Our guild leader actually giving a lap pillow to a man. What a rare sight. Should I have taken a picture?"
"Seo Yerin, shut your mouth."
"I didn't say anything? I just thought that your lap pillow skills were very natural, unni."
As Seo Yerin giggled, Lee Chaerim's face turned twice as red as before.
"Get up."
"Now? I think I'm still a bit dizzy."
"Get up, right now?!"
She shouted in a strict voice and shoved my shoulder hard.
Of course, the delicacy of slightly supporting the back of my head with her other hand so it wouldn't hit the floor was still there.
"...I wanted to do that."
Elena, who was watching this situation, muttered something.
"What did you say just now?"
"It's nothing."
When I stood up and staggered slightly, everyone approached me in surprise.
"Boss, shall I cast a healing spell on you?"
"Forget it. You're just going to pin that on me as an extra charge."
"I'm not that strict with you, Boss. The perpetrator will pay for it all anyway."
"......Forget it."
Elena, who was staring at me, reached out both hands.
"Just take it."
A warm light wrapped around my body.
A power that gives energy.
"I'm ashamed. It was my mistake for losing my composure."
"It's fine. It was a situation where I could have been misunderstood too."
I smiled and picked up her clothes.
"I'll finish the laundry. It'll be done soon."
"......Please."
I put the parts of the uniform, the shirt, pants, and socks, into the washing machine.
The rest of the clothes that went into the freezing washing machine were also in a state of being dirtied by the Spell Worm's bodily fluids.
Likewise, after freezing them with the cooler, I finished by crushing and washing away the contaminants.
And the clothes that were dried quickly.
The wrinkled fit came back sharp as a knife.
A refreshing and cozy fabric softener scent permeated the place where the stench had been.
"It's finished."
When I turned around holding the uniform on a hanger, Lee Chaerim, Seo Yerin, and even Elena were staring blankly at the uniform in my hand.
"No way......."
Lee Chaerim approached as if possessed and stroked the uniform.
"This is why I can't leave it anywhere else......."
She muttered quietly, burying her nose in the uniform, looking dazed.
"Guild Leader."
"Huh? Uh, uh. Good work. If you send the invoice to the guild......."
"I'll send the settlement money for hitting my jaw along with the invoice."
"Ahem, I'm really sorry about that."
She cleared her throat and avoided my gaze.
I chuckled and said to her.
"And from next time, if you want to come to the laundry, just come for a cup of coffee."
"......What?"
"You don't have to go out of your way to get your clothes dirty by taking a direct hit from the boss's bodily fluids that you could have avoided. It wears out the coating."
"......!"
Lee Chaerim's eyes widened like saucers.
Her face turned three times redder than before.
A woman who, back in her porter days, used to dodge attacks from monsters in a venomous dungeon exploding from all sides and slime falling from the ceiling at the same time, couldn't dodge the Spell Worm's bodily fluids?
It was 100% intentional.
"Wh, who said I got hit on purpose! It, it was a real mistake!"
"Yes, please don't make such mistakes next time. You'll get hurt."
"Yo, you......!"
Unable to control her reddened face, Lee Chaerim snatched the uniform, hugged it, and slipped into the changing room as if running away.
Bang!
With the sound of the door closing, a strange silence hung in the hall.
"Pfft......!"
It was Seo Yerin who broke the silence.
She started laughing, holding her stomach.
"Ahahahat! Look at our unni getting her true intentions exposed! Boss, you're really quick-witted! Wow, this is the first time I've seen Chaerim unni run away like that."
"It's not being quick-witted, it's the truth."
No matter how much I wanted to increase sales, this way was troublesome.
Although it didn't seem like she came just for the sales of my shop.
'Let's not jump to conclusions too much.'
Because I don't want our relationship to become awkward after one misunderstanding.
"Oppa."
Seo Yerin, who was watching that, approached me slightly.
"I have a favor to ask too, can you grant it?"
"A favor?"
"Yes. I want to entrust you with a request too."