You Fool, You're Too Late
From the tenth floor onward, known as the upper levels, the mana density was more than twice what it was on the surface where we lived.
Moreover, because the mana increased exponentially with each higher floor, raid teams were limited to a maximum stay of one week inside the Tower.
The mana measurement on the twentieth floor was 5 MP.
Since it was five times higher than normal mana levels, even the raid team hunters with excellent mana adaptation couldn't avoid putting considerable strain on their bodies.
“So Yena, just hold on a little longer until our detailed exams are finished. Okay?”
……
Kim Ha-rin gently stroked her hair, and Yena clung tightly to her.
I'd seen this scene countless times over the years, but it still felt surreal every time.
How could someone so charismatic on the battlefield turn into this the moment she stepped outside?
Of course, that gap only made Yena more endearing.
If she acted this way with Kim Ha-rin, just how adorable must she be with her boyfriend?
A twinge of envy toward Yena's boyfriend crept in.
Knock, knock.
“Lee Yena Hunter-nim, it's your turn for the detailed examination.”
At the nurse's words, Yena reluctantly rose to her feet.
After following the nurse through blood tests, mana measurements, and various other examinations, Yena took a bite of the red bean bun Kim Ha-rin had given her.
“I thought you wouldn't eat, but you must've been hungry after all?”
“…If I go around starving, I'll get scolded.”
“Pfft, you're completely whipped by your boyfriend. By the way, if you have a boyfriend now, shouldn't you introduce him to your big sister first?”
“…I already told you he's not my boyfriend yet.”
“What do you mean, ‘yet'? Don't tell me you're just crushing on him right now?”
……
When Yena stayed silent, Kim Ha-rin's lips trembled as she fought back laughter.
If she weren't my senior, I would've teased her mercilessly about still being a lifelong single at thirty-three… What a shame.
“By the way, Yena, what does it feel like to have a crush? I've never met anyone I liked enough to go through that.”
If anyone else had asked such a question, I would've scolded them for it.
But since it was Kim Ha-rin, who I knew had zero interest in romance, Yena could answer honestly.
“It's not a very pleasant feeling… I want to see him so badly that I can't control myself. Sometimes it's so hard that I want to give up… but then he appears in my dreams, and I fall in love all over again. I don't know what to do.”
……
Kim Ha-rin couldn't say anything.
Yena's lonely smile looked far too sorrowful.
At the same time, she felt envious.
It was a realm Kim Ha-rin, a lifelong single, could never imagine.
“I wish I could meet someone like that too…”
“You will. You're a really nice person if you just tone down your personality a bit.”
“Hey, that was a jab, wasn't it?”
“Pfft… Of course not. One hundred percent sincere.”
“Yena, I can't trust a single word you say.”
While exchanging silly jokes with Kim Ha-rin and suppressing the urge to see Eun-woo, Yena suddenly shot up from her seat at the sound of familiar footsteps that shouldn't have been here.
“Huh…?”
“Why are you suddenly like this?”
Without answering Kim Ha-rin's question, Yena began running toward the sound of those footsteps.
And when she turned the corner—
Eun-woo was standing there.
His eyes were bloodshot from staying up for days, and his haggard appearance showed no trace of his usual gentle smile.
The moment their eyes met, tears streamed down Yena's cheeks.
She had sworn she would never cry in front of Eun-woo again…
Yet seeing the person she loved reduced to this because of her made her chest ache unbearably.
She had to apologize.
She was sorry for making him worry… sorry for making him wait so long.
With that resolve, she took a step toward him.
But before Yena could speak, Eun-woo's arms wrapped around her waist.
“You fool… You're too late…”
“I-I'm sorry…”
“Haah, are you hurt anywhere…?”
Yena nodded vigorously.
Eun-woo let out a sigh of relief and gently patted her back.
“Are you okay, Eun-woo…?”
“I wish I could say I'm fine, but… I'm pretty tired right now.”
“I'm sorry. You couldn't sleep because of me…”
As Yena's self-reproach continued, Eun-woo chuckled and ruffled her hair messily.
“Yeah. I couldn't sleep because I wanted to see you so badly…”
……
She should have apologized for making him miss her so much…
Yet the corners of Yena's mouth trembled and curved upward.
Unable to hold back her laughter any longer, Yena buried her face in Eun-woo's chest.
“I missed you too……”
She had missed him so terribly that, if not for the Association President isolating them, she might have rebelled just to see him.
“Hehe, that's why I came running like this.”
“But… how did you get here?”
“Hyun-joo came to pick me up.”
“Hyun-joo…?”
Only then did Yena notice Kim Hyun-joo standing behind Eun-woo.
Her face was flushed, as if she had witnessed their entire emotional reunion and seen something she shouldn't have.
She was clearly just jealous.
After all, Hyun-joo was also a lifelong single, just like Ha-rin.
“You two are basically setting up house here…”
“S-Setting up house? That's still a long way off…”
Of course she wanted to live with Eun-woo, but shouldn't they start dating again first?
At that moment, Eun-woo carefully pushed Yena out of his embrace.
She would have liked to stay in his arms a little longer, but he seemed embarrassed by the situation.
Once she stepped back, she realized almost every member of the raid team was staring at them.
“Ugh, Eun-woo, this way…”
The best course of action right now was retreat.
Yena led Eun-woo by the hand to the hospital room.
It looked like a VIP room, with an interior more luxurious than most hotels, leaving him speechless.
‘Isn't a chandelier in a hospital room a bit much?' he thought, looking around.
“Th-this is a private room, so no one will come in…”
Yena patted the bed vigorously, urging him to lie down.
His eyelids felt unbearably heavy, all tension finally released, so he didn't refuse and lay down on the bed.
“Sorry for taking your spot…”
“N-no. If you're tired, of course I should give it up…”
“Hehe, thanks.”
“Ah! I talked too much, didn't I…? I'll go check on the situation outside for a bit, so get some rest.”
“Yeah…”
Click.
Once Yena turned off the lights and left, his eyelids finally began to close.
Some time later—
When he groggily sat up—
“Koo…”
He found Yena curled up on the auxiliary bed, sleeping in an awkward position.
“Haah, if you were tired, you should've just woken me…”
He slowly got up, carefully lifted her by the legs and back so she wouldn't wake, and moved her to the bed.
His gaze flicked away from the way her chest was clearly visible through the thin patient gown.
“Even if it's a private room… with me here… you should at least wear underwear…”
With half-closed eyes, he pulled the blanket up to her chest.
“Mmm…”
Soon after, feeling hot, Yena kicked the blanket off with her feet. The motion rolled up her gown, revealing her cute, flat belly.
“M-maybe I should turn on the air conditioner…”
Suppressing the urge to touch her, he covered her with the blanket again and turned on the AC.
As the room temperature gradually dropped, his body began to shiver.
“Damn… It's a VIP room, so why is there only one blanket…?”
He considered going to the lobby to ask for another, but—
The current time was 2:35 AM.
It was too early to bother Hyun-joo, so he had no choice but to share the blanket with Yena.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason…
Using the excuse of ‘She might catch a cold…', he pulled her tightly into his arms.
After Yena had been trapped in the Tower, he had done a lot of thinking.
If the raid team had never made it out… he probably would have lived the rest of his life in regret…
He didn't want to make that kind of foolish regret anymore.
Of course, as long as Yena continued being a hunter, things like this could happen again.
But he couldn't selfishly ask her to quit either.
Unlike him, Yena was an irreplaceable S-rank hunter.
So there was only one solution.
In the past, he had thought it would be enough to be satisfied just seeing Yena happy with someone else.
But that wasn't true atonement.
If he truly wanted to atone for what he had done to Yena… he couldn't run away anymore.
True atonement meant making her happy himself.
He gently brushed aside Yena's disheveled hair.
And then—
—he pressed a kiss to her forehead and made his vow.
“…I'll make you happy…”