Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Tutor × Tutor × Tutor (3)
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It was a quiet night.
I personally escorted Han Ye-eun all the way back to her place.
"Go on in carefully. You worked hard today."
I followed up with the usual parting words.
"Well, the real grind starts from here on out."
After a truly eventful day, I turned away from Ye-eun's apartment entrance with an utterly exhausted look on my face.
Swish.
Just then, she grabbed the hem of my clothes and tugged, suddenly opening her mouth again.
"Um, Woojin... M-Master..."
She looked hesitant, the unusual title still not quite sitting right on her tongue, fumbling with a cautious expression.
She'd broken free from Han Jong-hui's brainwashing and seemed a bit different...
But in moments like this, Han Ye-eun was exactly the same as ever.
"Yeah. What is it?"
"Well..."
"If you've got something to say, spit it out straight. That's the only way I'll get it. I'm not a detective."
"C-Can't I live at Master's house too?"
"At my place?"
Her abrupt request made me blink in surprise.
"Y-Yes..."
"My officetel's way too small for that. No spare rooms left anymore."
"Then, um, like Jihye, I'll move to the temple."
She gazed up at me with the most earnest eyes imaginable.
If that was the case, I didn't mind at all.
In fact, it was exactly what I'd hoped for.
Just as Lee Dong-hyun from the Management Bureau had said, Ye-eun possessed some seriously dangerous abilities that needed close supervision. And for me to keep looking after (or rather, keeping an eye on) her from here on out, having her nearby was the smart move.
"Moving's fine and all, but won't that put you too far from the Truth Church headquarters?"
Still, I double-checked the facts, probing her resolve.
Just to make sure she was really okay with it.
"I was planning to shut down the Incheon headquarters anyway."
"Oh yeah?"
"The main church won't have a central headquarters anymore. Each temple will operate independently for religious activities. Kind of like folk faith."
"Hmm, got it."
"Of course, we'll need some minimal oversight. Luckily, a few reliable temple leaders are left. They'll hold things together."
Even so, all those years growing up in the Do-won Truth Church weren't for show, huh.
Han Ye-eun, showing a surprisingly responsible side, laid out her future plans with impressive clarity.
"In the end, I plan to rebuild it as a single, unified denomination. It'll be much smaller than before, and we won't wield that kind of unchecked power anymore, but it'll be a truly pure faith."
Her eyes brimming with conviction, I nodded.
"Yeah, go for it. Do your best."
"I will. Because Master entrusted it to me."
"Don't shoulder too much burden on your own. I'll help however I can."
"Yes... And someday, I hope Master will become the denomination's leader and the main church's high priest."
"Me? You want me to be high priest?"
"D-Don't make that face like it's such a hassle. When I reform the church, I'll make the high priest position purely symbolic."
"Hmm, if that's the case, sure, whatever."
She was going that far, so no reason for me to refuse.
A position with all the perks and zero responsibility? High priest, cult leader—bring it on.
"Oh, speaking of which, how much are the Truth Church's assets worth? Selling off the headquarters and all those regional temples should bring in a hefty sum, right?"
I hadn't crunched the exact numbers, but Ye-eun and I had already discussed early on how to handle the Do-won Truth Church's wealth.
Some would go back to society, some returned to the believers.
We'd soothe the fired-up devotees under the guise of support funds.
And another chunk was earmarked for the Hunter Management Bureau and various guilds.
Payment for their substantial help in taking down the church's leadership in one fell swoop.
That included fees for secrecy, and the conveniences the Bureau had extended to me and Ye-eun weren't free either.
After subtracting all that...
"What? 17 billion?"
The amount landing in my pocket came out to a whopping 17 billion won.
A sum that was huge if you thought it was huge, small if you thought it was small—I was left with zero reaction.
"It's a rough estimate. Once we calculate precisely with the finance team, there might be some variance."
As if driving the nail home into my stunned thoughts, Ye-eun added.
Having invested about 3 billion, I'd pulled a 400% return from this whole Do-won Truth Church affair.
"...Ye-eun-ah."
"Yes, Master."
"You know I fucking love you, right?"
I pulled her into a tight hug without thinking.
Truth be told, if I'd set my mind to it, I could've grabbed not just billions but tens of billions.
The Do-won Truth Church had that kind of wealth left behind—Han Jong-hui's legacy.
But trillions aside, even hundreds of billions felt like a pipe dream to me.
This was enough to start a small guild of my own.
A guild full of dreams and hope, all mine.
'Then the big mansion we're using as a temple now could be my private residence...'
My flights of fancy were interrupted as suddenly...
"Master."
Ye-eun looked up at me, her face flushed.
"Aren't you hungry? Want some ramen before you go?"
"Out of nowhere? Nah, not really hungry right now."
"...Then, wanna see the cat inside my place at least?"
"You don't even have a cat."
"......"
"......"
"......Shit."
Her seduction attempt failing, Ye-eun grumbled pointlessly and lunged at me with a clumsy kiss.
Uh, sorry. Still no.
Sis is waiting at home tonight, Ye-eun-ah.
Instead, I aggressively explored her mouth, soothing her regrets as best I could, then headed back to my officetel.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Click.
Returning to the officetel, pitch-black darkness greeted me.
'Nobody home?'
For a moment, I wondered if I'd gotten the wrong place.
The dim officetel landscape made me feel like I'd mixed up the address.
The scent of women's cosmetics was way stronger than usual, and the air in the place—which I'd only been away from a few days—felt totally different from what I remembered.
Flick.
Right then, one fluorescent light in the living room hummed to life.
"You're back? Later than I expected."
Under the pale light, Yeon-hee greeted (or rather, sized me up) me.
"Yeah, things dragged on. Why's everything pitch dark? Where's Eun-seol?"
I glanced around the place and shot back.
Come to think of it, did the original protagonist talk casually to Yeon-hee?
The thought crossed my mind, but I decided to stick to my own style.
The milk was already spilled big time since earlier today anyway.
'From Sis's perspective, my looks, personality—everything's different now, so whatever.'
I casually glanced at Eun-seol's door—no sign of life—then headed to the kitchen.
Thud.
As I grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it, Yeon-hee's voice came from behind.
"The lights? I dozed off mid-cleaning. Eun-seol's sleeping at the main house tonight."
"Main house? Eun-seol's staying over at her mom's?"
"Yeah, she had business at her agency. Said it'd be too late coming back, so she's staying till tomorrow."
Her explanation jogged my memory of my one and only little sister's situation.
Ah, right—today was the day Eun-seol was officially terminating her contract.
Imagining Kang Eun-seol probably bawling her eyes out at home right now, I slowly closed the fridge.
"Anyway. We'll talk about Eun-seol later. You first—come sit over here, Woojin."
With that, Yeon-hee led me to the living room.
"Hurry up."
She crossed her legs on the sofa and urged me on, so I had no choice but to plop down on the living room floor.
Us two, facing each other across the sofa table.
Putting the day's events aside, years since we'd properly faced each other like this—the air grew thick with tension.
Or was I the only one feeling it?
Yeon-hee closed her eyes as if organizing her thoughts, then opened them with a cold expression, looking down at me.
"Woojin, what the hell are you doing?"
She'd clearly come prepared to chew me out.
"I heard everything from Eun-seol. You barely come home these days? What the hell are you doing out there? What do you even plan to become? Woojin, you wanna end up like your dad?"
She opened with a low blow about Dad, and her nagging was annoyingly spot-on.
"And you sold the old house without a word?"
I shrugged under her contemptuous gaze.
"Bought it back."
"That's not the point. When are you gonna stop doing whatever the hell you want? Place is a mess, you even eating properly?"
"Sia's been taking good care of my meals."
"Taking good care, and the place looks like this? You know Mom pays Sia a stipend every month? It's all for your sake! And you just keep ignoring everyone?!"
Channeling our stepmom's feelings, Yeon-hee grilled me sharply.
Everything she said rang true, but by now, I was starting to get pissed too.
"Whatever I do, what's it to you, Sis?"
Not even my blood sister.
After leaving me—the original protagonist—to rot all these years.
Even though I'd derailed that gloomy future because of me.
Her smug expression grated on me.
"Because I'm your sister!"
But Yeon-hee asserted her big-sister authority, piling on high-handedly.
"Blood or no blood, I'm your sister!"
"Then butt out. You hated me anyway, right?"
"Hating you and being indifferent are different! I hate you because I care!"
"Someone who cares doesn't go years without a single call?"
Yeon-hee flinched at my sudden retort.
No matter how you sliced it, she had nothing to say about that.
She had her own busy life and reasons, but that wasn't my problem right now.
"Haa."
Suddenly, Yeon-hee let out a sigh.
"Fine, I'll own that. A big sis who couldn't even do her job properly all this time—nagging now must seem ridiculous."
Good, she gets it. Some self-awareness after all.
"But what about our mom? She's always worried about you. For her sake alone, you can't keep acting like this."
Sneakily using Mom as a shield, she came at me again.
"No, seriously, what the hell did I even do wrong?"
"Why'd the Bureau summon you today?"
"That was because of Ye-eun. I was just there as a witness."
"Witness?"
"Turns out, Ye-eun's an Awakened."
"Ye-eun's Awakened—fine, whatever. Then why'd you suddenly sell the old house? Without telling anyone?"
"Told you, I got it back. It's all done with—why drag it up?"
"Yeah, I wanna hear the reason."
I shook my head at Yeon-hee's hardline stance.
"It's no big deal. If you're so curious, ask Eun-seol. She knows the whole story."
I redirected the arrow to our absent little sister.
"That it? No more lectures? Staying out isn't like I'm out committing crimes, so don't worry. I'm an adult, y'know—adult."
Tired of her nagging, I cut the conversation and stood up.
"I'll handle my own life."
At that moment, Yeon-hee twisted one corner of her mouth up.
"Then what's this?"
She pulled a small box from under the sofa table.
Thud.
Pointing at the all-too-familiar box, she added.
"Take a look. What do you mean 'handling your own life'? Is having kinky hobbies like this what you call handling it?"
It was none other than the adult toys meant for Cynthia.
"Uh... um... that's not mine."
"Found it in your room. Whose is it if not yours?"
"......Why the hell are you rummaging through my room?"
"I wasn't rummaging—I was cleaning. Anyway, you really gonna keep living like this? You looked halfway decent on the outside, but inside you're still rotting away. What the hell is all this, seriously."
Even so, her words to her little bro were too harsh.
Usually, family pretends not to notice stuff like that. Family code.
"I held back from checking your computer or tablet. God knows what filth is on there."
Looking like she'd scored the perfect ammo to scold me, Yeon-hee smirked smugly.
"You really gonna keep living like that? Might as well go back to being the full otaku..."
I grabbed Yeon-hee by the collar and yanked her shirt open.
"Hup?!"
Then planted a hard, lip-crashing kiss on her.
"Mmph?! Mmmph?!"
Hm. Nagging silenced.