On Hit Detection Within the Absolute Safe Zone
By the time we'd finished dinner and cleaned up, the sunset was burning low. Night would be creeping in soon.
Awooooo—
The howl of a pack of feral dogs rose from somewhere in the dark, and Han Taeseok spun around, startled.
I shook the whiskey bottle I'd pulled from my bag.
"Those mutts are pretty loud, aren't they? Have a drink."
"Haha... You're right. It caught me off guard for a moment there."
Even large abandoned strays were deadly beasts to a survivor. Infected or not, it made no difference — get cornered by three or four rabid dogs while traveling alone, and you were as good as finished. A life spent being chased down and devoured by dogs: before the apocalypse, who could have even imagined such a thing? Not that it was any concern of mine anymore.
I poured him a measure of whiskey into a disposable soju cup.
"Oh my, this is far too precious. Thank you."
Han Taeseok added a few drops of water to his glass. The moment he saw the bottle's label, he was off — rambling about the distillery's history and the alcohol by volume — apparently a connoisseur who knew his liquor.
There was a reason I was pouring out something this rare so generously. It was the same then as now: to win over a woman, sweet talk was king, and between men, there was no friend like a drinking buddy.
With the leftover pasta as our drinking snack, we swapped stories of every kind. I even learned how this whiskey was properly drunk.
With alcohol in him, Han Taeseok's tightly clamped trap began to loosen.
The groundwork was laid.
There was a reason I was plying him with booze and fishing for answers. Even though Han Taeseok had clearly agreed to my proposal, no contract status window had appeared before my eyes. The moment Yu Jin — all snippy and hostile — let her genuine will to live show through, the contract had popped up on the spot. But this man only said understood with his mouth while the status window stayed stone silent. Could something else be brewing beneath the surface?
"Han Taeseok."
"Yes, Boss?"
"What do you think matters most in a community?"
"...Strength? Or food to live on?"
"Trust. Trust is what matters."
I grinned and refilled his empty glass.
"I do trust you, Han Taeseok. But I'll admit I'm a little hurt the status window doesn't seem to respond."
...
Han Taeseok's expression stiffened. He gazed wordlessly past the oil drum, toward the corner of the yard where flames crackled and leapt. Sea was hopping about with peals of laughter, trying to catch the soap bubbles Yu Jin blew her way.
Those bubbles had been salvaged from a supermarket. Yu Jin, who'd grumbled about why I was bothering to pick up junk like that, was now blowing them with more delight than anyone.
Han Taeseok fiddled with his soju cup, then spoke with care.
"...The truth is, Sea isn't my daughter."
Yeah, figured as much, you old rascal.
Han Taeseok calmly poured out a story I'd never asked for. He'd been wandering the country in search of his lost birth daughter, and the only reason he'd stayed at the Gimpo Shelter at all was to gather information.
"So that's where you met Sea."
"Yes. She's the spitting image of my daughter — personality-wise, I mean. Sea is far prettier, of course. Haha..."
It was a smile tinged with loneliness.
"With a daughter to find, I suppose some corner of your heart was always packed and ready to leave."
"I suppose so. That must be why this status window won't show itself..."
Apparently the status window employed some kind of mind-piercing divination. Han Taeseok. What a stubbornly foolish, fascinating man. I ran into his type now and then — the romantics, bleating about family and conviction while the rest of the world sold their own children for a slice of bread.
I had no intention of talking him out of it. His life was his to live.
Only, my plans to put his labor to use had just gone sideways, and that was genuinely a shame. Maybe if I made him face reality, his heart would turn. Keep him fed with warm meals and a cozy home while quietly gaslighting him — could a little kid have really survived alone in a world a year gone? Face reality. Didn't fate hand you a new bond named Sea? Keep feeding him that line, and eventually he'd shake off his lingering hopes and settle down in this paradise.
Just as I was crunching those numbers, oblivious Yu Jin barged in.
"What's with the sneakiness, whispering between just you two? Boss, where's my glass?"
Yu Jin came over and dropped into the seat beside me, hand outstretched. Her cheeks were flushed — probably from all that running around after soap bubbles.
Honestly, the girl had no sense of when to butt in. Like all it took was a big chest and a decent bow.
"I thought you didn't like alcohol."
"I drank sometimes! And today I'm kind of craving it."
Was she out of her mind? Hand this precious whiskey to her? My iron rule: never feed a fish you've already caught. Slave No. 1, stamped and sealed on her contract, had no further business here and could kindly get lost.
When I slid the bottle smoothly out of reach, Han Taeseok cleared his throat and quietly rose.
"I'll be turning in soon. Thank you sincerely for tonight."
He bowed his head, then awkwardly set down his half-finished glass.
"I did put my lips to it, but... it seems a waste to simply pour it out. Yu Jin, if you don't mind, would you care for this?"
"Ah, no! I'm fine, really. I was only teasing..."
Han Taeseok gave Yu Jin a warm smile and called for Sea.
"Sea, shall we head in now?"
At his call, Sea — bubble bottle clutched in her hand — came scampering over. The little tyke glanced back and forth between me and Yu Jin sitting pressed to my side, then nodded again and again.
"Yeah! Daddy, I'm suuuper sleepy! Wanna go to bed. Night-night, Boss! Night, unnie!"
Squeezing Han Taeseok's hand tight, Sea steered her dad straight into the building.
The back yard fell quiet. Yu Hyeon was nowhere to be seen — the guy had eaten, cleaned up, and slipped inside ages ago with barely a goodbye. Honestly, what did he even find to enjoy in life?
All that remained in the yard was the crackle of the drum fire, me, and Yu Jin.
...
...
Yu Jin, staring blankly into the flames, absently picked up Han Taeseok's soju cup from the table.
"Careful with that. That's seventy percent alcohol."
"What? Seventy?"
Yu Jin froze, the cup halfway to her lips.
"...Oh, right. You used this as disinfectant, oppa."
She sniffed it and set the cup back down.
"How did anyone drink this stuff? Insane. It'd burn your stomach right up."
"That's because there's a proper way to drink it. Watch."
I demonstrated exactly what Han Taeseok had taught me — tilted the glass, brushed it lightly against my lips, wet just the tip of my tongue with a single drop, and let it roll around my mouth. The oak aroma bloomed with the searing heat of the alcohol. Couldn't honestly tell you whether it tasted good.
"...See? Lips only. You drink it with the aroma."
"...Are you a pervert? Why are you drinking it so... lewdly."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean."
I pressed the glass back into her hand.
"Here, your turn. Go on. Or tap out if you can't handle it."
Yu Jin shot me a wary look, then quickly took the glass.
"Like I couldn't..."
She brought the glass carefully to her lips, just as I had. Holding her breath, she let the tip of her tongue graze the whiskey — and her eyes went round.
"Wha...?"
The grimace at the sharp bite melted into something curiously soft.
"It's super strong at first, but the aftertaste is... kind of amazing. Vanilla...?"
"Right? That's the charm of this stuff."
Truthfully, I knew nothing. I was just bluffing off half-heard fragments of what Han Taeseok had said earlier. Personally, I'd take soju over this thirty thousand times out of thirty thousand. Yes — I was a self-confessed lightweight.
Hooked on that sweet finish, Yu Jin kept bringing her tongue back for little sips.
"Hey, eat something. Snacks."
"I'm fine. I'm a PE major, remember."
"Do your seniors still force-feed you like idiots these days? They don't, right?"
"Well, no. I never went to a single drinking party anyway."
As the firewood burned down, the conversation drifted along in fits, and Yu Jin kept dipping her tongue in for a sip at a time.
"Look at you. Tastes good, huh?"
She just nodded without a word.
How long did that go on? The fingers wrapped around her glass went slack, and her body began to sway sideways.
"Hey, Yu Jin, you okay? Your face is bright red. That's the last of it."
"It is NOT! What would you know, Nam Juhyeok. Huh?"
She was drunk enough to sling her boss's given name around like it was nothing.
But what could I do? Even a foolish employee, you've got to love her anyway. I got up to steady the swaying girl.
"Your eyes went hazy ages ago. You're drunk. Come on, let's get inside."
"I'm NOT drunk?! So what! Nearly the same age and you get to play high-and-mighty boss and lecture me — gah... What, being Awakened means you get everything?!"
She sank into a crouch and buried her face between her knees.
"...You do, don't you. Yeah, you've got it made. You jerk."
And then, out of nowhere, she started to cry.
"Do you know how scared I was when I first met you? Shoving an awl at my throat out of nowhere... sob, what did I even do wrong?"
"That was— hey, we cleared up the misunderstanding and settled it, didn't we? Why dig up ancient history?"
"And then you just told me to take my clothes off...!"
"That's also ancient—"
Flustered, I fished a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it over. Why do women love dredging up the past so much?
"Here. Stop crying and take this."
"Who's crying...! Sob, I'm not crying!"
Wiping her nose with the handkerchief, she huffed and tried to shove me away. But the booze had turned her legs to noodles; she buckled — and toppled straight into my chest.
Wham—
"Whoa— hey!"
I felt Yu Jin's weight settle into my arms. Along with that soft fullness, her hot, boozy breath — laced with the scent of shampoo — tickled the back of my neck.
Far from pulling away, Yu Jin buried her forehead against my shoulder and didn't budge an inch. Her warm breath against my ear felt strangely, stickily close.
"...Nam Juhyeok."
"What now."
"Am I really that unappealing...?"
As if. Her charm as a woman overflowed, spare and to spare. This crushing, overwhelming volume pressing down on me even now — no baby nourished on that would ever have known hunger.
"No, you're plenty amazing already. Take pride in those breasts of yours. I mean it."
I was half-heartedly pushing at her shoulder when—
Clutch—
Yu Jin's hand, fisted in the front of my shirt, tightened. She lifted her sunken head; hazy eyes, flushed cheeks. In an instant the distance between us shrank to a shared breath.
"...So apart from my chest, there's nothing to me?"
"Hey, that was just a figure of speech—"
Before I could finish, she squeezed her eyes shut and lunged forward.
Smack—!
What she'd passed off as a kiss was closer to a full-on ambush — her soft lips mashed against mine, all over the place. The human brain, when reality defies expectations... Forget it. Ditch the useless thoughts.
When I froze, she finally seemed to realize what she'd done, and flailed back gasping for air.
...Well, now.
An amateurish, clumsy kiss — breath and all a complete shambles. I wrapped my hand around the back of Yu Jin's head as she floundered to escape.
"...Guess I'll have to teach you this too."
And I tilted my head. I gently cupped the chin of Yu Jin — blinking up at me in a daze — bit down softly on her lower lip, and pried it open.
"Mmph...?!"
I slid my tongue through the gap in one stroke; Yu Jin flinched, startled. I pressed in without granting her a single breath to recover. Her resisting shoulders went limp and slumped, and her sweet saliva, mingled with the scent of alcohol, made a sticky, obscene sound.
"Hah, mmn..."
Her legs must have given out — the hands gripping my shirt slid away, slow and smooth. Only after driving her utterly senseless for a long while did I finally pull my lips free.
Chup.
The thin thread of saliva stretched, then snapped — a sound that rang out wet and indecent.
"Haa, hah..."
Yu Jin panted hard, her saliva-slicked lips quivering. Hazed eyes, a face burning scarlet.
"...Sobered up yet? Want to continue?"
She couldn't even answer — just wiped at her mouth with a trembling hand. Her mind had gone pure white; I could see it plain as day.
"...I-I'm going inside."
Legs wobbling like jelly, she staggered — then bolted straight for her room.
My lips tingled faintly. The system was clearly malfunctioning. If hit judgments against the Manager were nullified inside the safe zone, then why had that headbutt attack registered at full, honest pain?
I walked over to the oil drum, its flames guttering out, and poked through the ashes with a metal skewer, stirring the embers loose.
"Aigoo, now even putting out the fire falls to the boss personally. Might have to start employee training over from scratch."
Being the boss is just this hard.
I turned away grumbling — but the whiskey still lingering on my tongue tasted sweeter than it had any right to.