Cohabitation with the Two Women I Want to Discard (2)
The dream began with a voice I hadn't heard in what felt like forever.
“Yohan. Life is inherently unfair, full of things that can never be understood.”
“...Sister.”
“So just accept it. Accept it, and grow stronger.”
For some strange reason, my sister—who felt like someone I hadn’t seen in a very long time—smiled gently and pulled me into her arms. Her embrace was impossibly warm and soft. Buried against her, a sharp, aching fullness rose in my chest. I pressed my face deeper into her and hugged her back with all my strength.
“Our manager may be all grown up, but he’s still such a baby, isn’t he?”
“...Sister?”
“There, there, my little baby. I’ll hold you tight, so sleep deeply…♪”
Then I thought I heard something odd and tried to lift my head, but she suddenly grabbed it and shoved me back into her chest. I couldn’t breathe—I couldn’t breathe—.
“Huk!”
I bolted upright with a gasp that sounded bizarre even to my own ears. My mind was still foggy when an unfamiliar room flooded my vision. Envelopes scattered across the desk. A coat slung carelessly over a chair. Furniture so empty it felt sterile, completely devoid of any lived-in warmth. It didn’t take long for me to remember this was the new room I’d moved into just yesterday.
“Haa… what the hell was that?”
I wasn’t sure, but it felt like I’d been having a comforting, nostalgic dream that had twisted into a nightmare halfway through. Still caught in that uneasy mood, I stared blankly at the dust motes dancing in the sunlight until a faint but incredibly pleasant scent slipped into my nose. It was rich, almost intoxicating.
Did my room always smell like this?
It was sweet, like rose, but warmer. The kind of fragrance that made my heart beat just a little faster. I tilted my head, puzzled, and was about to get up without thinking much of it when—
“Mmm… did you sleep well, Manager?”
A voice that sent chills racing down my spine came from right beside me. The voice itself was beautiful, but it was the last one I wanted to hear first thing in the morning.
“Won’t you look this way…?”
I swallowed hard, forcing my stiff neck to creak sideways. There, on the pure white pillow, lay Calathea. Her golden hair spilled dramatically across the sheets as she gazed at me with a bright, mischievous smile.
Completely naked, with only the blanket draped over her.
“You—you—you, why the hell are you here like that…?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? When a man and a woman are naked in bed together, there’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?”
At those words, I frantically checked under the blanket and realized I was just as bare as she was. My mind filled with question marks. I… did it? With this crazy bitch?
“Manager… you’ve got quite the beastly side hidden away, don’t you? I was genuinely shocked last night♡”
My heart was already pounding from the sudden awakening and the panic that followed. My face flushed deathly pale, then bright red, then pale again. Did we really do it? No way—but we were both naked in the same bed the morning after…
I desperately tried to make my sluggish brain work. But then—
“Mmm? Manager~♡”
…No matter how much I thought about it, nothing had happened yesterday.
While I was lost in thought, I suddenly heard what sounded like suppressed, violent laughter. I turned to look and saw Calathea crying actual tears as she silently shook with laughter. The moment she saw my face finally catch up to reality, she completely lost it, clutching her stomach and rolling around.
“Pfft—Ahahaha♪ Ah, ahahahak——♬”
“……Get out.”
“Wait, wait a second, haaa… I laughed too hard, my stomach—pffft, kyahahaha♡”
“I said get out.”
“Eek—!”
I rolled the still-cackling Calathea up tightly in the blanket until she looked like a caterpillar in a cocoon, then kicked her sideways off the bed. She flopped onto the floor with a thud, still laughing like something inside her had broken. Eventually the impact seemed to reset her; she finally stopped laughing, wriggling pathetically inside the blanket burrito as she sat up.
“Aww, that was the best laugh I’ve had in ages…. Oh, right. One more thing before I go.”
“…What?”
Her sparkling, curious gaze dropped straight to my lower body.
“Manager, it’s surprisingly big♡ Is it eighteen? Or nineteen?”
“Stop looking at weird things!”
“Kyaaht♬”
After taking a pillow straight to the face for her nonsense, the golden-haired lunatic bounced out of the room like a spring, looking happier than ever.
Does that woman really have nothing but her own amusement inside her head?
“Haa… I feel like I’m actually going to lose my mind.”
I was going to be conquered by that crazy woman long before any Gate could get to me. I let out a sigh so heavy it could have sunk the floor and checked my phone. It was only seven in the morning. I’d gone to bed earlier than expected yesterday, so calling it “morning” felt like a stretch, but still.
I threw on some light clothes and shuffled out of the room.
“Good morning, Manager. Did you sleep well?”
“Uh, yeah. You’re up early, Audrey.”
In the living room, Audrey sat elegantly on the sofa in a white dress shirt and suit pants, watching TV. The scene looked like it belonged in a luxury apartment commercial. Still… no matter how aesthetically pleasing the suit was, wasn’t it uncomfortable to wear that at home?
“It seems Calathea pulled another stunt this morning. Or did you two actually ‘do it’?”
“As if.”
I dropped heavily onto the empty sofa. A brief silence followed. Calathea could turn any space chaotic just by existing, but when it was just me and Audrey, the room grew quiet in an instant. It wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, the silence felt welcome. Still, sitting like that felt awkward, so I searched for a topic and remembered something.
“Audrey, can I ask you something? Did you… come into my room yesterday?”
“Me?”
“Ah, never mind. It’s nothing.”
I had a hazy memory of someone stroking my hair—Audrey, I thought—but her puzzled reaction made it clear I’d just dreamed it. To think I’d have a dream about being comforted just because I’d started relying on her a little. Embarrassed, I looked away from her and my eyes landed on the TV she’d been watching.
No matter how favorable public opinion had been during the initial arrests, it seemed the mood had shifted now that time had passed. The very image of releasing dangerous criminals from prison and letting them roam free in society was bound to provoke a negative reaction from the public. Besides, the distant fear of Seoul being destroyed if the Incheon S-class Gate raid failed felt far less real than the immediate threat that might be standing right in front of them.
“…Does it bother you?”
“What are you referring to, Manager?”
“People talking about you like you’re some kind of plague.”
I gestured toward the TV screen where the protest footage was playing. Audrey simply shrugged her shoulders with refined grace, as if the question hardly required thought.
“Whatever they say, it’s still better than being locked up in prison.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Anyway, the early backlash was expected to die down quickly. As long as we behaved ourselves, the massive entities of the government and the Hunter Association would handle the cleanup and media spin. They had even chosen two people whose public image would make that spin easier. On top of that, we’d already been asked to cooperate with things like volunteer work at facilities for the underprivileged and taking impressive combat photos during training raids on other Gates. They would probably use it all as promotional material to soothe public opinion.
How effective it would actually be, though, I couldn’t say.
“You seem more worried about this than we are, Manager.”
“Huh? No, it’s not to that extent…”
As I scratched my cheek awkwardly, Audrey asked in a detached tone, “Is that worry for our sake, or for your own?”
“……….”
The question was casual but sharp. It pierced straight through me and left me speechless. I was Seong Yohan—the manager who was supposed to help them return to being proper S-class hunters—but I was also the warden tasked with controlling and monitoring them so they wouldn’t cause trouble and drag me down with them. In that dual role of altruism and self-preservation, I had been placing more weight on the latter…
Yet when I met Audrey’s clear, transparent eyes, it felt like my mouth had been sealed shut. I couldn’t give her any answer at all.
Audrey watched me quietly for a moment, then calmly sipped her black tea as if she had never expected a reply in the first place.
“Whichever it is, it would be best if you chose soon. For all our sakes.”
“…That’s crossing the line.”
They were subjects under management. I was their manager. Our relationship was one where our interests happened to overlap just enough. That was sufficient. There was no need to think any deeper.
“Huu… Anyway, let’s eat breakfast and get ready. You too, Calathea.”
“Hm? What is it? Are we doing something fun?”
Calathea had been sneaking out of her room, clearly eavesdropping on my conversation with Audrey. I looked at her and at Audrey, who was still quietly drinking her tea, then slowly opened my mouth.
“It’s time for your individual counseling sessions and ability assessments.”
It was finally time to begin my real job—management.