Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Chaebol Heiress's Way of Dating (3)
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Though the park date with her, who had her own unique charms, had ended on a slightly regrettable note, the enjoyable time was bound to continue since the person by my side hadn't changed.
Today's dinner date flowed into a meal at the Italian restaurant that Do Shi-hee had reserved.
Once we stepped into the overwhelmingly luxurious space, we were led by the server into one of several private rooms. The server who guided us promptly pulled out an order sheet and began taking our dinner orders.
"For the appetizer, would you prefer bread or salad?"
While I pondered what to say, Do Shi-hee's voice from across the table spoke up first.
"What are today's bread and salad options?"
"The bread is crostini topped with chicken pesto on garlic baguette. The salad is salmon poke with fruit dressing."
"Then we'll have the salad."
"And for the gentleman?"
"...I'll have the same, please."
"Yes, that's two salads."
Listening to the restaurant server's explanation, I couldn't help but feel a bit impressed by how deftly Do Shi-hee handled the ordering, and before I knew it, I found myself going along with her choice.
What could I do? It was a realm of knowledge utterly beyond me.
For someone like me who had no idea what crostini or poke even were, meekly following her lead was the most sensible option all around.
"Do you drink well?"
"About as much as anyone else."
"Then two glasses of Perrier Jouët, please."
"Yes, understood."
After the server took the final wine order and retreated from the room, I could finally resume the conversation I'd been holding back.
"What kind of place is this...?"
"Just a regular Italian restaurant. Excluding the private rooms and the Han River view, that is."
...Even without those, it hardly felt like a regular restaurant.
The psychological distance I'd felt closing just moments ago seemed to widen again in an instant.
Was a place like this considered ordinary for a chaebol heiress?
"Aren't you going a bit overboard with all this attention on me today? Don't get me wrong—I'm grateful you prepared something this nice—but I don't think I've done anything to warrant treatment like this."
"Is that so? I thought I'd gone with a deliberately ordinary course since this is our official first date."
"...I see."
Calling a restaurant like this—where proposing on the spot wouldn't seem out of place—"ordinary" was one thing.
If a Han River-view spot was standard fare, I wondered just what level her "special" course would reach.
Maybe something like a restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris?
"Excuse me for a moment."
The restaurant server opened the private room door, entering with two salad plates and two wine glasses, neatly arranging one before Do Shi-hee and me.
Then, right before my eyes, he skillfully uncorked what looked like an expensive bottle of wine and filled each glass about two-thirds full.
As soon as the server bowed and left with a greeting, Do Shi-hee elegantly lifted her glass with three fingers and turned to me.
"Shall we have a drink?"
"...Sure."
I clumsily mimicked her grip on the glass and raised it. Soon, in the private room now just the two of us, the clear chime of clinking crystal rang out.
-Clink.
Following her lead, I lightly tapped my wine glass against hers and brought it to my lips for a small sip.
Even if it was my first time with wine, I knew enough not to chug it down—that would just look tacky.
Savoring the sip in my mouth, a rich grape aroma spread with a lingering aftertaste on my tongue.
"How is it?"
"It's my first time trying wine, but even so, it's so good I can't deny it's a fine vintage."
"It's always best to start with something expensive when trying new food."
It was a bit worrying that something too pricey might spoil me for cheaper options later. But then I thought, since I rarely drank wine anyway, getting accustomed to expensive tastes wouldn't hurt.
Especially since, if I did drink in the future, it'd probably only be with Do Shi-hee—and she'd naturally provide the good stuff.
After that, I slowly savored the appetizer salad of lettuce and salmon, and as we ate in the quiet atmosphere, Do Shi-hee reopened the conversation.
"Earlier, you said you hadn't done anything to deserve this kind of favor."
"That's right."
"This might sound a little odd, but what happened between us that day—this relationship we've started—is worth far more than just this date."
"...Pardon?"
Unable to grasp her meaning, I reflexively asked again, and she gave me a bright smile as she shared the good news.
"In two days, the promotion exam date for advancing to A-Rank Hunter has been set."
"Ah."
"It's thanks to you. Thank you, Mr. Seong-cheol."
The exam date was set, but promotion wasn't guaranteed yet. Still, recalling the abilities she'd shown our last time together, Do Shi-hee now surely had what it took to rise to A-Rank Hunter without issue.
"Of course, I'm only just starting from the same line as my sister now, and even promotion would only move me a step or two ahead in the succession race. But just for making me an A-Rank Hunter, you more than deserve everything in this room."
"...I see."
"So don't hold back on my account. Enjoy yourself however you like today."
With that, Do Shi-hee rang the call bell on the table, and the server from before reentered. She calmly requested the next course.
"What do you have for the primi?"
"Ravioli, trofie pasta, and risotto."
"Ravioli without garlic or onions, please."
"Yes, understood."
"Uh, me too, the same..."
"Then tomato basil ravioli without garlic or onions for both of you."
After the server cleared our appetizer plates and left, Do Shi-hee carefully turned her gaze to me and spoke.
"I told you not to worry about me."
"When did I say I was?"
"You don't have to follow my course just because. Part of the enjoyment here is choosing your own dishes. If the names aren't familiar, ask the server for details—that's what they're there for."
I could agree with her perfectly logical point, but there was another reason I'd gone with her choice this time.
"It's true I followed your lead, but only because it matched what I wanted."
"...Is that so."
"Yes."
A dish without garlic or onions—it was a key consideration on a date between a man and a woman.
Do Shi-hee seemed to catch my meaning instantly, her cheeks lightly flushing, just as the server returned to set the second course before us.
After placing the flat, plate-like pasta on the table and refilling our wine glasses to two-thirds, the server vanished from the room again.
After a couple of forks from plate to mouth, our conversation resumed.
"I was going to continue what I was saying earlier."
"Yes, go ahead."
"As a Hunter yourself, you're probably aware of that subtle rumor among Hunters—about how to stay active long-term without retiring."
"...Of course."
The unspoken method circulating among Hunters for maintaining a long career without retirement.
It was marrying a former Hunter husband.
"They say Hunter women struggle to fall deeply in love with ordinary men. Having staked their lives in battles against monsters time and again, their emotional sensibilities differ quite a bit from civilians'."
"...Yeah, that's the word."
"But even those women fall deeply for ex-Hunter husbands. Though there are precious few compared to female Hunters."
That went without saying.
No properly Awakened male Hunters had emerged among them yet.
Male Hunters who reached D- or C-Rank purely on physical prowess could likely share similar thrills with female Hunters, satisfying their needs in that regard.
I hadn't fully grasped this before, but after awakening my Hunter Lust Manager ability, I could somewhat understand the correlation between female Hunters' retirements and Hunter husbands.
I'd already experienced something similar by helping Cha Yu-ri and Do Shi-hee recover their lost Awakening powers.
Not just casual flings or loveless sex, but when they truly possessed each other from the depths of their hearts and felt genuine satisfaction—that's when Hunters could reclaim their lost Awakening abilities.
And even maintain them at their peak. That was the tentative conclusion I'd reached.
"By now, you must have guessed what comes next..."
"......"
"So, what do you think?"
Do Shi-hee sat across from me, smiling as she made her indirect proposal.
I mulled over her question, which was practically a proposal in itself.
"I..."
I conveyed my honest feelings at this moment to her, matter-of-factly.