1. Half-Living Together
1.
Do you know what an invader is?
Roughly speaking, if you pull it off a wiki, it means someone who takes away your place and your space.
Just like right now.
Ring-ring!
Beep-beep-beep—!
A crisp doorbell chime rang out. The door lock slid open with a satisfying swish.
And standing there was none other than a woman with long, sleek black hair and golden eyes.
"I'm tired, sooo tired~."
Her name was Han Jiye.
She was the daughter of one of South Korea's most famous noble families, the Han Family — and a third-generation heiress of the hunter mega-corporation HAN.
"There's chicken here…. I'll go change, so get it set up for me."
"Yes, ma'am. It shall be done."
A personal meal, huh. Bringing negotiation material through the door…. As expected of a chaebol heiress.
But!
Today, at least, I had to say it. This whole arrangement deserved a second thought. Honestly — a guy and a girl who weren't even dating, half-living together? Didn't that paint a pretty weird picture?
She'd already barged her way into my two-room apartment — far too spacious for someone of my station — and disappeared into the bedroom. I quietly finished setting the table and lost myself in thought.
Three weeks already.
'H-how much do I have to pay for you to live…?'
That was what she'd said to me — and somehow, from that moment, I'd been hanging out with Jiye for three weeks now.
At first I had no idea what she even meant and turned her down. But the next day, when she tracked down my one-man apartment all on her own, I finally understood why she'd said it.
'What the… how did you find this place—'
'You're a buffer, right? I want to team up with you at the Academy.'
There were hunters. There were Gates. And there was the perfectly ordinary daily life of attending the Academy for the sake of those two things.
Among all of it, someone like me, holding a buffer-type skill, was what you'd call an aristocrat.
Granted, I ranked below tank- and healer-types, whose lives were quite literally on the line — but think of my class as a 1.5-tier profession that drew scout offers from all over.
That said, even my class could jump to first tier under the right circumstances: namely, when standing beside someone with an overwhelming striker skill. People like Jiye.
The best defense is a good offense. That saying didn't exist for nothing.
"I'm dying. I'm hungry."
Jiye crawled out of the bedroom, changed and utterly deflated, dragging herself across the floor.
And — that outfit again. What people call a camisole-top, a tank top with built-in chest padding, paired with black dolphin shorts.
Indoor wear that was, frankly, a bit stimulating for a guy who'd just turned twenty.
Normally, when there's a guy the same age around, don't girls avoid wearing stuff like that because it's uncomfortable? Was it comfortable enough to override even that?
Hmm… well, it did look comfortable. I'd be comfortable too if I were lounging in nothing but underwear.
"What are you looking at, you rascal?"
"It's a misunderstanding, Your Honor. I saw nothing."
Jiye's slender fingers rapped my forehead.
A faintly stinging forehead. Two mountain ranges swaying between the strands of her bangs. I wanted to look, but staring outright seemed like a recipe for disaster, so I turned my head away.
"Kidding. You can look."
Even said with a smile, I wasn't buying it. No — even if those words were true, I couldn't just help myself.
Jiye was the celebrated heiress of the Han family. If I got swept up in desire and carelessly crossed the line….
Ugh, my life would end up barely distinguishable from the minor characters who show up in the first act of a crime film and get tied up and killed.
"Hyunwoo."
"Yeah?"
"When we're this close, I can feel every little glance you sneak at me, you dummy."
"……Oh, really?"
"I'm telling you, you can stare all you want. It's not like it'll wear me down."
"That's where I draw the line."
"Weird. Really weird~."
So let's just hold the Maginot Line. That's what I told myself.
"Ahem. Anyway — I set everything up."
Before things could get pinned down any further, I steered the conversation onto a different track.
Jiye must have caught the shift in the air too, because she just curled the corner of her mouth into a smirk and climbed onto my lap.
"Heheh, this is the tastiest spot."
"Same here. I like it because it's light."
Ordinary fried chicken, laid out on a cramped folding table. From the neighborhood place near my apartment.
"Is there cola left in the fridge?"
"Yeah, there are cans."
"I'll grab them."
"No, water's fine for me."
"Yes, yes."
A soft tap as her shoulder landed against mine. Whenever we ate together, Jiye always squeezed in right beside me instead of sitting across the table.
The reason was nothing special. She just wanted to watch the TV in front of us—
'Hold on a second.'
Come to think of it… didn't Jiye buy this TV? It was never in my apartment to begin with. She'd brought it over because she was bored.
Something was off…. Feeling that sensation stir, I looked around the room.
A state-of-the-art computer. A state-of-the-art game console. The Cosmic Fond 8 Black she'd whined at me to match in color with everything else.
That's right. Every last bit of it was bought by Jiye. In raw numbers, it already added up to well past five hundred.
And on top of that—
"Oh, right. If you ever need living expenses, just say the word."
My head drooped. It was only now that I realized it: I, and this apartment of mine, had been completely conquered by Jiye.
Jiye was no longer an invader. She was the queen of this place.
"So — you said you had something to tell me? What is it?"
The mouth of a shameless criminal twitched at her words.
"Well… it's…"
Before I could get a single word out, Jiye — as if she'd sensed something — set down the chicken breast she'd been holding. As if she'd scripted this entire conversation on a storyboard.
"Honestly, I had something to say too."
"What is it?"
"Nothing much. Just… thank you."
Gulp. My throat went dry.
"Sneaking away from that suffocating family — just being here like this puts my heart at ease."
She bit her lip.
"Looking back now, I've done so many things for the first time since I met you."
The words I'd meant to bring up today slid down my throat. They soared far, far away and dissolved into nothing, leaving not even a trace behind.
"Thank you, Hyunwoo. Honestly, back at the entrance orientation, I was in a pretty bad place."
"A-and now?"
"Now I'm doing amazing. You don't have to worry about me."
Down to the last image — that happy-looking smile.
"So? What was it you wanted to say?"
Jiye stamped a period on the conversation. Judging by the way the corner of her mouth flinched, it might have been an act — but could any real human being bring up negative words here?
I simply did my best to bolt a smile onto my face.
"Oh, nothing. Just — come hang out whenever things get hard."
"Heheh, I knew you'd say that, Hyunwoo."
A seductive smile, the kind that could devour a man whole. As if everything rested in the palm of her hand, the reins of the conversation belonged not to me, but to Jiye alone.
"I'd love it if you'd be my teammate too, but…"
"About that… I already have a prior arrangement. I'm really sorry."
Still — no matter what, a promise was a promise. Jiye pouted her lips ever so slightly, as if disappointed, then picked up a drumstick and popped it straight into my mouth.
"Fine. In exchange, I'll keep waiting. If that arrangement ever falls through, tell me. And you'd better not go running off to some other girl midway through?"
2.
And so my proper half-living arrangement with Jiye began.
Aside from sleeping at her own place, Jiye spent most of her days holed up in my apartment.
Part of me wondered whether this was really okay — but the loneliness and restlessness of living alone had faded a great deal, so it was honestly pretty nice.
She'd told me that Secretary Lee, the director she'd been attached to since childhood, was handling the cover-up on her end, so there was barely any risk of the family finding out.
So this was… how do I put it….
No. Weird thoughts could wait.
First things first, I texted Jiye about tonight's dinner.
Unlike me — a perfectly ordinary Academy student — Jiye was a famous figure, busy from one day to the next.
The Academy semester didn't even start until next week, and I felt a little sorry for her.
The reply came way too fast. Five seconds flat. Was she a bullet?
But wait, what the…. Why was there a heart after her name? Yesterday she was just plain old "Jiye"?
Confused, I looked into it — and it turned out Jiye herself had changed her messenger display name to Jiye♡.
"……."
Well, there was nothing I could do about that one.
Her texting style had changed a lot since we first met, too — and apparently she secretly loved this kind of homely food. Maybe she just hadn't eaten much of it before.
Even a chaebol heiress, it seemed, couldn't forget the first time she tasted the heavenly combo of spam and rolled omelets.
Anyway.
We had the spam, so all I needed was to pop outside and buy some eggs. My pants were ordinary enough, so I swapped out just my top, then stood at the entryway to put on my shoes.
At that exact moment—
Ding-dong!
An obnoxious doorbell tore into my ears.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, you little punk."
I'd asked so politely, yet what came back through the door was a voice butchering lines from a gangster movie.
Hmm. A creature not worth answering. I ignored it and kept putting on my shoes.
"Kidding… save me. I'm dying out here, please open up."
He should have led with that.
His name: Lee Daewoo. A friend from high school who'd ended up enrolling at Pioneer Academy alongside me.
Nothing special between us — just an ordinary bond. And that somebody had just stolen my sofa.
"You can look all you want, but sitting on my outdoor clothes is a paid service. Pay up."
"You absolute highway robber…. I bought ice cream, can't you let it slide?"
It wasn't really ice cream weather, but he'd come back with a bag stuffed full of the stuff.
"Payment accepted."
"Much obliged. And while I'm at it — bathroom?"
"That's an additional fee."
"Do whatever you want, I'll just go right here."
This was a fight I could never win, wasn't it? With no choice in the matter, I pointed to the bathroom with my chin.
"Thanks, man. I'm gonna break your toilet. Brace yourself."
"You filthy animal."
"Time to witness my true power!!"
The guy vanished into the bathroom at top speed. Watching his back recede, I texted Jiye just in case.
Ring!
Once again, a response so fast it could've cut steel. Before the screen even dimmed, a message flashed up.
A sensation of my brain turning to mush washed over me.
As I stood there blankly, not thinking anything at all — the feeling of a lamp snapping on with a click crashed together with the scream echoing from the bathroom.
"AAARGH! WHY ARE THERE TWO TOOTHBRUSHES IN THIS CUP! BLUE AND PIIIINK!!"
The origins of the two toothbrushes in the cup. One was mine. One was Jiye's.
Oh.
"Dude… don't tell me you've got a girlfriend?!"
"No, well, it's…"
Lee Daewoo's face crumpled like an A4 sheet being slowly crushed in a fist, and he looked one second away from tears as he marched into my bedroom.
"That explains it! That explains everything! Your bachelor pad smells way too good! Damn it! I seriously thought you'd turned gay!"
And with that, he planted himself in front of the wardrobe near the door.
Perhaps it was a blessing that he hadn't spared even a glance at the drawer Jiye had mentioned. Daewoo flung the wardrobe open without a moment's hesitation.
"Damn. Yep. You've got one."
Inside hung Jiye's casual clothes — the territory of a woman, clothes no man could wear, no man could touch, hanging in dense rows.
Ah… this was going to get complicated if he caught on. The guy was a social butterfly; weird rumors could spread to all corners for no good reason.
What should I say? What could I possibly say?
I racked my brain with everything I had, and in the end, reached a decision: here, I would end it with a shock even bigger than the truth.
"Daewoo… the truth is… cross-dressing is my hobby."
The effect—
"Are you insane?"
—was pretty decent, actually.