Love Call ①
I learned to cook for one reason: romance.
I wanted to serve my significant other a meal made with my own hands.
The person would eat it with delight, and I would watch that scene with a warm heart.
'......This isn't quite the image I had in mind.'
The person in front of me was Sehyun tasting my cooking.
Looking at Sehyun, my expression turned complicated.
"Hey, this is delicious. Wait, why is it delicious!?"
The dish I served to Sehyun was omurice.
Instead of fried rice inside the omelette, I added stir-fried pork. It was a dish I put quite a bit of effort into.
"Is that praise or insult?"
"Praise. Contrary to my expectations, it's not bad at all."
"Hmm...... So that's what you mean."
At Sehyun's enthusiastic praise, my face became complicated.
'Thinking about it, this guy was the first to ever have me cook for him.'
That woman never once ate my cooking.
Even while living together, the number of times we sat at the table together was countable.
"You can cook? That's surprising. You have talent for cooking too."
"Not that. I registered for the academy on purpose."
I was busy with work, but I squeezed in time to enroll in the academy.
It was around the time I had just gotten engaged to that woman.
At that time, I was full of romance.
I wanted to feed my fiancée a meal I made myself.
In the end, that woman never once paid attention to it.
"Amazing. It means you were serious about cooking enough to attend an academy."
"Even so, I only attended for two months."
I watched Sehyun intently.
He was savoring and eating my cooking.
As a producer, it was a rather heartwarming sight.
"By the way, that's my first work."
"Pffft!?"
"Stop it, that's disgusting. Rice grains flew out."
"Siha, you started the nonsense first-!"
"It's not wrong? The first person to taste my cooking is you. In other words, my first work."
Sehyun was stunned, his face turning bright red.
I giggled and teased him.
"If I put it in different words, what does that mean?"
"Meaning you devoured my first time?"
"Hah. Really, you......"
Sehyun avoided my gaze as if he was tired of it.
I smirked, holding back laughter.
"Pufu fu. I'll make it for you often from now on too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm the one who owes you. I can do something like this much."
Honestly, I was better at household chores than Sehyun.
Once, my goal was to be a domestic husband.
Now that I'm a woman, it's a broken goal.
'I wanted to build a harmonious family, but now I'm exhausted. I'm in a state of resignation.'
I sat down heavily, upset by the breakup.
I didn't have the courage to get back up.
All I did was desperately try not to sink.
'But I hope this guy is doing well.'
I'm a failed person with twisted fate.
But I hope Sehyun gets a good fate.
A partner far superior to me.
"Hey, do you have any woman you know?"
"Of course not."
"Why are you so pessimistic? Your looks aren't bad. At least you're tall."
"I'm not interested in that kind of thing yet."
I subtly encouraged Sehyun to date.
But Sehyun responded with reluctance.
"Tch. Boring guy. Fine, live as a lifelong single. Hmph."
With my interest waning, I turned my gaze away.
"Hm?"
There was a missed call on my smartphone.
Checking the caller, I tilted my head.
"Nine Tails Guild......? What is this."
I received a call from the guild leader of Nine Tails.
It was a contact I had met a few times for work in the past.
As a freelancer, there shouldn't be any business to discuss with me.
"Nine Tails is one of the top major guilds among the top ten. You're on good terms with the guild leader there?"
"......What? By chance, somehow."
"Why did you call?"
"I don't know. Probably because they don't know I quit my job."
I called back casually.
Since I'm quitting anyway, it would be fine to call for a friendly chat.
If it was work-related, I could transfer to Black Wolf Guild.
"Yes, Guild Master. Long time no see."
- ......Siha?
"Yes, it's me. My voice has changed a bit, but it's me."
- I see. I heard the news, but you changed.
I hadn't contacted her since becoming a woman.
It was natural that she couldn't recognize my voice.
"By the way, I quit my job. Please contact Black Wolf Guild for any work matters."
- Yeah, I know Siha quit.
"What? Then why......?"
It was an unexpected response.
So what was the reason for the call?
- If it's convenient, I'd like to meet with Siha once.
"Ah, um. Can I ask why?"
- You haven't decided on your next move yet, right? I heard quitting was sudden.
"Yes, for a while, I'll be taking a break while I figure things out......"
- How about Nine Tails?
At the sudden question, I swallowed hard.
"Guild Master, what do you mean......"
- To put it bluntly, it's a scout offer.
Sehyun, who had been listening silently, met my eyes.
I was startled and left the spot.
"Guild Master, what do you mean by scout offer!?"
- I want Siha to come to Nine Tails Guild. Now that you're no longer with Black Wolf, it's different.
The unexpected offer left my mind in chaos.
Nine Tails is one of the top hunter guilds, ranked among the top ten.
The work environment is much better than Black Wolf.
Anyone in the industry would choose Nine Tails.
- And now you're not even engaged to the vice guild master?
"......"
- The reason you stayed at Black Wolf was that, right?
The words pierced my heart like a knife.
I wanted to answer, but no voice came out.
- I'd like to talk in detail when we meet. How about it?
"Yes, I understand."
I scheduled a meeting with the guild leader for tomorrow.
Even after the call ended, I was lost in thought for a while.
'Nine Tails Guild......'
I had a bad reputation at Black Wolf.
I was ignored by the assigned hunters, and openly shunned by the staff.
For someone like me, being sent on dispatch work was natural.
I was frequently sent on tough dispatch missions to get rid of a thorn in the eye.
Every time a dungeon had trouble with extermination,
Every time, the Association organized a temporary joint extermination team.
I met the guild leader of Nine Tails when I was dispatched to the joint team.
'The guild master evaluated me well.'
The S-rank hunter and guild leader of Nine Tails.
I was a being recognized by a great person.
Every time I was in trouble, I kept chewing on that point.
It was the driving force that kept me going at Black Wolf.
Actually, I had received a scout offer from Nine Tails before.
'At that time, I rejected it because my fiancée was the vice guild master of Black Wolf, but now it's irrelevant.'
Being favored by the guild leader directly.
It was natural that I was drawn to the Nine Tails Guild.
'For now, I'll meet and decide.'
Leaving the worry for tomorrow, I returned to Sehyun.
"How did it go?"
"For now, I agreed to meet with the guild master."
"Siha, you seem like a really amazing person. Nine Tails Guild."
"Uh, yeah......"
Even if Sehyun was impressed, my mood was lukewarm.
I didn't feel like it.
"What? Your reaction is not lively."
"Shut up. There are things like that."
My mind was full of worries.
The reason I entered the hunter industry was because of my fiancée.
Even after breaking up with her, do I have to continue that?
Actually, I'm scared. A trauma flickered.
Thinking back to the humiliation I endured at Black Wolf Guild was painful.
At that time, I could endure it. Because I believed in the engagement.
I thought that no matter what trials of love, I could overcome them. At least at that time.
In the end, the one who abandoned me was that woman.
"......Hey, Lee Sehyun."
"Why?"
"If you have a woman you like, tell this hyung. Before you get married, I can be your practice partner."
"Where did that come from!"
"You don't know how important skinship is."
I knew the importance in an ironic way.
Because I hadn't done anything except engagement, I was a human with love deprivation.
In other words, a sample of the opposite of a role model.
Like me, your heart would break.
"Yeah, since you've experienced it, you'll say that."
"No, I haven't experienced it. Before, it was virginity, and now it's still virgin. Isn't that funny?"
"......Not funny at all. You idiot."
Self-deprecating self-confession.
Because of that, the atmosphere became heavy.
Huh. I didn't want this situation.
"Th-that means even if I sacrifice my body, you'll take it off, right-! Aren't you happy?"
Provocatively, I showed a bit of my cleavage to Sehyun.
The volume was small, but the shape was subtly swollen.
I knew by touching it myself, but it was surprisingly soft.
If it was Sehyun, I could allow him to touch it specially.
In the past, we shared lewd videos, so it felt like an extension of that.
"Would you be happy? Can you do something like that to someone you've known since elementary school?"
"Guys like you are so dense you can't even eat it even if it's offered. Impotent bastards."
"Think the opposite. If I were a woman, would you like me?"
"Ah...... I see."
I imagined the opposite situation. What if Sehyun were a woman.
Um. I readily accepted it. Mirror therapy is effective.