Early Graduation from the Internship Program (1)
The interior of Yuri's car was quiet in a way that felt strangely intimate. Yuri Tarkovskaya, the young CEO of an elite noble house, had chosen this rugged SUV for her commute—nothing like the sleek, pampered vehicles her peers drove. The space was undeniably cramped, the kind of enclosed box that swallowed sound and left no room for escape.
Yet inside, it was just her and Minsu. The reinforced sealing barriers hummed faintly around the vehicle, muffling every distant hum of the subway station outside. She could feel the faint heat radiating from the person beside her, the steady rhythm of his breathing.
Lee Minsu’s sleep was shallow, his breaths coming a little faster than usual. Yuri found herself unconsciously matching her own breaths, steadying herself against the unfamiliar pull in her chest.
Only one glass of vodka. That was all it had taken to send him over the edge. She had never imagined he would drink at all, let alone like this.
Thankfully, he wasn’t in any immediate danger of needing emergency treatment, but the way he remained unconscious felt strangely vulnerable. And Yuri could not deny the heavy weight of awareness pressing down on her.
“I… I received his help today,” she murmured to the empty car, her voice barely audible even to herself.
In truth, the simple fact that she had been able to spend time with him should have been enough. The contract he had secured for Flame Guild today was an unprecedented windfall—eight parts profit to Solaris, two parts to Flame itself. A deal that would elevate the entire guild.
“Compared to me, the guild leader… Minsu feels more like the real leader.”
Even now, Minsu was still an intern. Of course Yuri had created Flame Guild herself—the name carried the weight of her Undying Butterfly’s Flame Scale spell. If Minsu wanted the title, she could hand it over without hesitation. The guild was corporate, not casual camaraderie, so the offer would never be taken literally. Still, the thought lingered.
“I can’t keep relying on him alone. I need to give back… help him in return.”
Her limit line had dropped significantly these past days. The fatigue and irritability that came with it made her wonder if today, of all days, might be different. Her heart refused to stay still. Her eyes kept darting to him, chasing every movement.
The bear cubs that had appeared earlier had only drawn her gaze for a moment, but even they felt wrapped in Minsu’s thoughtfulness. A genuine warmth bloomed in her chest—something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Yes… today must have raised my limit line.”
She didn’t need to measure it; she could feel it in her body. The warmth beside her was enough.
“Exactly. Because Minsu is here.”
The seat next to her was so close she could reach out and touch him without turning. Faster than conscious thought, her fingers closed around his hand.
“Still warm…”
The cold-affinity Ice Blessing Sorceress had always despised anything hot or warm. Yet Minsu’s heat felt like home. Since she had awakened her own heart in the academy, the man she had quietly liked for years had never wavered.
If she could now love what she once hated simply because of him, then this had to be more than affection. The word “love” rose unbidden every time she thought of him.
“It must be in that romance guidebook somewhere…”
But she had no idea what was truly in Minsu’s heart. She knew enough to recognize the distance he kept between them. Once she had believed he liked her back. Now it felt as if they had grown apart.
“Back at the academy… we were so close…”
The first time Minsu had taken her hand on campus, she had trembled like a leaf. The warmth, the gentleness—those feelings still lived inside her. All of it had been two years ago.
“Even so… maybe things have improved.”
She had gone to him the moment he regained consciousness, apologizing again and again. He had refused every contact. Compared to that cold rejection, even these stolen moments felt almost forgiving.
“Even if it’s only watching over him like this…”
Friends, at least. Of course she wanted the old closeness. She knew she had lost that right long ago. Two years of bone-deep regret, shame, and silent pleas for forgiveness had taught her that.
Her fingers tightened around his hand without meaning to, then slowly loosened again. The warmth beside her was exquisite and painful at the same time.
“I need to help him more… I have to wash away everything I did wrong to him.”
She leaned back against the car seat. A moment later, Minsu stirred.
[System: Intern Program Early Graduation Condition – Dungeon Support Mission Completed]
Unexpectedly, Minsu’s hangover was severe. Yuri hurried to a nearby convenience store and returned with electrolyte drinks and hangover pills. Ignoring his repeated protests of “I’m fine,” she drove straight to his one-room apartment.
“I… I can… go by myself…”
But Minsu kept squirming, body trembling. Of course. The vodka he had drunk wasn’t ordinary. It was the rare, high-proof variety. Yuri rubbed his back in slow circles, helping him through the violent waves that followed.
“Next time, I’ll make sure he never drinks again,” she vowed silently.
She couldn’t carry him all the way home. Finally, she lifted him onto her back. Minsu was tall and surprisingly sturdy—clearly dedicated to weight training.
“Minsu is still a man,” she thought, heart fluttering before she forced it still.
“It’s a good thing I’m an awakened.”
Even with her lean S-rank physique, she moved with effortless strength. The password to his door was easy to enter. She laid him gently on the bed, forced the pills down, and watched him drift back into sleep.
“Huuu…”
Relief washed over her. She had brought him home herself. Only later did she realize what she had done—stepping into a man’s private space without invitation.
“This is… Minsu’s apartment?”
Of course she had never been here before. This was her first time entering a male tenant’s residence. Yet the room was surprisingly clean and orderly, defying every stereotype she had ever held about bachelor pads.
“Minsu is meticulous, so…”
A faint, unfamiliar scent lingered in the air—nothing like a man’s cologne. It seemed to come from the bedding itself. Yuri’s chest tightened.
“No way… is there a woman in this room?”
It made perfect sense. A clean, well-kept space. And Minsu was an adult. He was attractive. Of course he could have a girlfriend. The thought felt like a knife twisting in her ribs.
“No… I don’t want that…”
Even selfish, the idea hurt. The time she had spent with him today had been too perfect, too warm. The temperature drop in her heart was unbearable.
“Still… I have to be sure.”
She moved anyway, slipping into the bathroom to check the toothbrush holder. Two brushes sat side by side—blue and pink.
“Two toothbrushes…”
Yuri’s voice came out colder than she intended. The realization that someone else shared this space hit her like a slap. She nearly collapsed onto the bathroom floor.
“No… calm down…”
One name rose unbidden in her mind. Seong Arin—the pink-haired junior who had dedicated a year to caring for Minsu after his coma. The student council member from the nineteenth cohort. The new intern at the academy.
“And the sister of Professor Seong Chaerin…”
Seong Chaerin was the renowned surgeon who had operated on Minsu’s critical case. Seong Arin was her younger sister. Yuri already knew Arin had been by Minsu’s side during his recovery, relaying his refusals to see anyone else.
“But… they’re not dating, right?”
Maria, Flame’s executive director and Yuri’s longtime maid, had passed on the rumor. “The Intelligence Team Leader said he doesn’t seem to be dating anyone.”
Maria had also handed over some suspiciously detailed romance guidance documents from an “Romance R&D Center.” There had been a clear record: Minsu had no female companion.
At least, not now.
“Why… why am I reacting like this?”
In truth, Minsu was nothing to Yuri. They had never been officially together. Even during their academy years, the closeness had been nothing more than friendship.
So if Minsu dated or even cohabited with someone else, it should not matter to her. Yet the thought of any other woman near him felt like her heart was being torn apart.
“I have to calm down.”
This was Minsu’s home. If her emotions flared, the bathroom tiles would freeze solid. She could not risk harming him even a little.
Only after she regained some composure did she step out. With a clearer mind, she forced herself to reason.
“I can’t be sure they’re dating yet.”
Even if they were, cohabitation was different. A small relief spread through her chest at the mere possibility that things were not that serious.
“No… that’s still selfish. Even if he dates anyone else, it’s not like me…”
That was when she noticed a small figure slumped on the floor of the room— a plush toy.
“That’s…”
It was unforgettable. A tiny, adorable bear cub. The same kind of plush she still hugged tightly every night.
The blue bear she slept with. This one was red.
“He’s still…”
The red bear cub Minsu had given her as a birthday gift in return for the blue one she had given him. The fire-affinity plush rested proudly on his bedside shelf, the most visible decoration in the room.
“What does it mean…?”
A thousand thoughts collided in her mind. The sharp pain that had torn through her chest moments ago vanished, replaced by something softer.
Minsu still treasured the gift she had given him. That realization brought a strange warmth.
“Warm… hey, air conditioner…”
Winter had not yet arrived, and the one-room apartment was cool even with the heater on. But when she had carried him earlier, his body had burned with fever—perhaps a lingering effect of the vodka, or something deeper.
And in this moment, Yuri remembered what she could do for him.
“Air conditioner, then…”
She lay down beside him on the bed and gently pulled his broad back against her chest. The raging fire mana inside her gradually settled, soothing the heat radiating from his body.
Yuri held him close, arms wrapped around his wide back, refusing to let go.
Undying Flame Scale – Calm
“I finally feel like the alcohol has started to wear off.”
A few days earlier, during the contract negotiations with Pyotr of Solaris, Minsu had only had one glass of vodka. He had never been one to drink, and Yuri had never imagined he would be affected so strongly.
“I didn’t know I was that bad with alcohol…”
It wasn’t his first time. During the academy days, when she had worked with Pyotr, he had often shared his vodka. The unstable fire mana of the Ruby fused into his chest seemed to be reacting to the alcohol, causing the violent nausea he had suffered.
“Luckily, it didn’t seem to affect the mana heart.”
Still, he had drunk too much. The next morning, a simple note from Yuri had been waiting: “Eat the pills and get rest.” Without her help, his hangover would have lasted much longer.
“Even after taking the medicine, the hangover lasted for days…”
Yuri had brought him home and left without saying a word. Had she been rude? She worried, but Minsu had been exactly as calm as ever.
“I drove a hungover subordinate home.”
While these thoughts drifted through her mind, the Flame Guild’s van finally reached the destination—Gangwon Province, far north in the old North Korean region. An S-rank dungeon support mission awaited for the intern program.
“This mission is important. For the intern program, even more so.”
To achieve early graduation, they needed the best possible results in an S-rank dungeon. The Solaris contract with Pyotr also had to be finalized. Minsu had prepared himself thoroughly.
At that exact moment, someone reached out from the passenger seat beside him and gently took his hand.
“Senior. I have something to say to you.”