A Fierce(?) Date with Yoo Harin
After spending quite a while in the Association office receiving my “punishment” from the three women, the four of us finally stepped outside the building together.
“Whew…!”
A long sigh escaped me of its own accord.
Come to think of it, a whole lot had happened while we were inside.
The rank measurement—and the unmeasurable result that followed.
The meeting with Association President Kang Taehyuk that landed me a spot as special advisor on the S-class hunters’ raid party.
All the benefits the Association showered on me because of it.
And then, of course, the scorching intimacy that had taken place in my private office afterward.
Beside me, walking in step, Yoo Harin spoke up.
“Jiwoo-ssi.”
“Yes?”
Her brown eyes had returned to their usual serious light.
“Tomorrow morning at eight, the S-class hunter raid team is scheduled to assemble in front of Gangnam Central Tower.”
I nodded and answered.
“So you’re attempting the raid again tomorrow, then?”
“Yes.”
Harin continued.
“At that time, Jiwoo-ssi, you can join us in your capacity as special advisor.”
“Understood.”
I nodded without protest.
With the out-of-spec power I’d gained through contracts with two disaster-class beings like Sercia and Cardia, clearing Hard Mode Floor 43 no longer felt like pure fantasy.
One obvious question still rose to mind, though.
“But to challenge Floor 43, don’t I need clear records for Hard Mode Floors 1 through 42 first?”
Harin answered with a bright, unbothered smile.
“Yes. So even if it takes a little time, our S-class hunter raid team will help you clear everything up to Floor 43.”
Oh-ho. That certainly sped things up.
Not that I really needed them—Cardia and Sercia alone could handle it in no time—but still.
A sudden wave of gratitude made me stop walking and look at her.
“Harin-ssi.”
“Yes?”
I spoke from the heart.
“Thank you.”
“……!”
“If it hadn’t been for you, things never would have gone this smoothly.”
Harin’s brown eyes trembled violently; her face and the nape of her neck flushed scarlet.
“Ah… a-ah, it’s nothing at all!!”
She flailed her small, cute hands wildly.
“I didn’t even do anything worth mentioning…”
“You helped me sell the by-products.”
“Th-that was…”
“You found me a house.”
“…….”
“You stood by me through all the Association business.”
“…….”
And the greatest reward of all—the paizuri she had gifted me—I barely managed to swallow back down my throat.
Harin finally averted her gaze in embarrassment.
Then, in a tiny voice, she spoke again.
“I-if you’re really that grateful…”
“……?”
“How about a date tonight…?”
Had Yoo Harin just… asked me out?
She seemed to realize a beat too late what she’d said.
“A-ahhh…”
Her face exploded into crimson.
“N-no! I-I-I-I-I just meant dinner together, th-that’s all!!”
“…….”
“D-dinner! Just dinner! Ahahahaha!”
At that moment Cardia, walking beside us, asked,
“My lord, that young lady just requested a ‘date.’ May we accompany you as well?”
Harin, looking at the two dragons, nodded in their place.
“O-of course! I still have so much to learn(?) from both of you, so please teach me lots more while we’re at it!”
Watching her fondly, I smiled faintly and said,
“All right. Then dinner’s on me tonight.”
Harin’s eyes went round.
“After everything you’ve done for me, Harin-ssi, let me at least treat you to this much.”
A moment later the corners of her eyes softened into a gentle curve—a smile like spring sunlight.
“O-okay!”
After the blazing sunset had faded, the nightscape of Seoul glittered beyond the car windows.
The ribbon of lights following the Han River grew steadily clearer.
Harin’s car, carrying the four of us, glided slowly through the city.
Before long we arrived at a high-end private restaurant overlooking the river.
The night view beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass, soft jazz drifting through the interior, muted lighting, and clean, elegant décor welcomed us.
True to a place Harin had recommended, the atmosphere was perfect.
“This is it.”
She spoke with a proud little smile.
“I’ve been here a few times with the other S-class party members.”
“It’s really nice.”
My sincere admiration made her beam.
“Right?”
And then… the trouble began.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
At the four-person table we were shown to, there was only one seat beside me.
Everyone wanted that seat, so a battle for it was inevitable.
Sercia moved first.
With an elegant smile she said,
“Harin-ssi has been stuck to Master’s side this whole time, after all.”
“……!”
“Isn’t it my turn to sit next to him now?”
Harin’s brown eyes went wide as saucers.
“W…what?”
Cardia cut in.
“Hmm. A most reasonable proposal, I do believe.”
Harin shot back,
“Absolutely not.”
“And why is that?”
Harin’s face turned tomato-red as she waved her hands frantically.
“B-b-b-b-because… I-I-I-I-I’ve never even been on a single date with Jiwoo-ssi yet!!”
BOOM!
The sheer volume of that declaration(?) drew every eye in the restaurant toward us.
Silence blanketed the room.
“…….”
“…….”
The smiles that had been playing on Cardia’s and Sercia’s lips only moments earlier froze solid.
Harin, teetering on the edge of social death, flushed like a perfectly ripe tomato.
“Th-that’s… I mean…!”
“…….”
“I-I-I-I didn’t mean it like that!”
“…….”
“A-ahhh, okay, I did mean it like that!”
“…….”
While the two dragons wore expressions worthy of stern interviewers, I nearly died trying not to laugh.
Sercia finally muttered with a grave face,
“Oh dear… it seems I’ve raised a baby dragon without realizing it.”
Cardia nodded.
“A formidable rival… a truly formidable rival…”
In the end the two dragons could not break Harin’s stubbornness.
Besides, she held the powerful justification of having hosted tonight’s dinner(?).
So Harin took the seat to my right, while Cardia and Sercia sat across from us.
The two dragons looked thoroughly disappointed.
Soon the food we ordered arrived.
A beautifully seared steak, fresh salad, soup, and an assortment of sides.
Cardia’s crimson eyes and Sercia’s azure eyes sparkled in unison.
Watching them, Harin looked oddly proud.
“Please enjoy.”
“Then, thank you for the meal.”
The moment we began eating, something unexpected happened.
“Jiwoo-ssi.”
“Y…yes?”
“Just a second, okay?”
Harin casually took my plate.
Then, with practiced skill, she began cutting the steak.
Slice. Slice. Slice.
“……!”
A moment later she speared a bite-sized piece on her fork.
“Here, say aah~! ♡”
“……!”
“I’m feeding you. ♡”
With a mischievous little smile curving her eyes, she brought the morsel to my lips.
Under the scorching glares of the two dragons across the table, I accepted it.
Chew, chew.
The meat was delicious. Extremely so.
The problem was… she was far more of a little devil than I had ever imagined.
“Th-thank y—”
“It’s good, right?”
Harin once again curved her eyes playfully and lightly pressed her chest against my arm.
Soft!
“……!!”
Whether she noticed my startled reaction or not, she waited for my response with sparkling eyes like a puppy expecting praise.
“Y…yes.”
Barely collecting myself, I finally managed,
“I-it’s delicious.”
“Hehe.”
Harin smiled happily, eyes curved into crescents.
In that instant I felt two extremely murderous gazes from across the table.
Slowly, with a trembling glance, I turned my head.
Blazing!
Roaring!
Cardia and Sercia were staring at Harin as if they meant to devour her whole.
The truly terrifying part was that both of them still wore unreadable little smiles on their lips.
That made it even more spine-chilling.
Cardia spoke in a low voice.
“My lord?”
“Y…yeah?”
“This humble one also possesses some skill at cutting meat.”
“R…right.”
“Next time, I shall most certainly do it for you.”
Sercia jumped in at once.
“Of course I can do it well too.”
“Y…”
“In fact, I can do it even more precisely than this.”
“Y-yeah. That could be.”
“I can cut it without even a 0.3-millimeter margin of error.”
What kind of unit is that?
Then Harin made a surprising suggestion.
“Then… next time, let’s all feed him together.”
“Huh?”
Three pairs of eyes snapped to her at once.
Harin smiled a little shyly.
“We’re going to keep this lineup going from now on anyway… so wouldn’t it be nicer if we all shared the joy(?)?”
Cardia nodded first.
“A most excellent idea, I do believe.”
Sercia agreed.
“I concur.”
I stared blankly at Harin for a while and thought,
She handles disaster-class dragons this well?!
Harin’s mischievous streak didn’t stop there.
She once again gave me a playful eye-smile and leaned lightly against me.
Soft!
Aaaah…!
The swelling at my crotch was only natural.
Harin whispered right into my ear.
“After dinner… how about an ‘outdoor pool date’ at your place, Jiwoo-ssi?”
In that instant, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, my imagination painted her smiling at me in a bikini.
