Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: 30. Rosanne the Unemployed
-----------------------------------------------------------------
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Are you sure you want to log out?] YES.
I slammed the enter key with satisfaction, and the exact same sound rang out from right beside me.
Tap!
And...
"Uwaaaah...!"
"Kwaaaah...!"
I turned my head and saw an ugly face yawning and stretching at the exact same moment as me.
"Whoa, Park Dahye, you look hideous."
"Ah, don't look! Only look when I'm drop-dead gorgeous!"
Actually, that's exactly why I looked, but does she seriously not know how pretty she is?
We'd scarfed down dinner and plopped right back in front of the computers, and now it was already 1 a.m.
I don't normally have stamina like this, but gaming with Dahye makes time straight-up vanish.
My back, waist, hips—nothing didn't ache... but it was fun, so whatever.
I'm almost thirty. If I don't do it now, when will I ever get to game this hard again?
This holiday slipped away without a single accomplishment, but my mood was top-tier satisfied.
The golden holiday was nearly over.
That's when Park Dahye made a show of stretching one more time... but instead of actually doing it, she just slithered right over onto me.
She's getting shameless.
Earlier with the chin-scratching—that was just the price of feeding the beast.
She propped herself against my chest and gazed up at me.
"Seonghyeon, today was re~ally fun, right? Our win rate went up 2%! Just a bit more and we're Master class!"
Good to hear she had fun too.
"With how hard we grinded, it better have. Your control was straight fire today."
"Really? Then high-five, sire!"
Eh, why not.
Slap!
The second we high-fived, Dahye slithered in closer again and started fake-massaging my shoulders.
Muscle soreness, so cut her some slack! Or something like that.
Come to think of it, we'd been stuck together disgustingly long.
It'd been three full days since she moved in, and the holiday was winding down.
In all that time, we'd barely been apart.
Except when she got her hair cut at the salon and when I went to haul my stuff from the goshiwon—we'd been side by side nonstop.
Even a girlfriend wouldn't cling this much.
But weirdly... it wasn't exhausting at all.
Most guys starting to live together complain about their girls never going home.
Yet here I was, glued to Dahye 24/7, and my mind was totally at ease.
Difference between a girlfriend and a gaming buddy?
Or maybe because we were always sharing the exact same vibe.
I'd zone out, soaking in the moment, glance over... and there's Dahye, loving it just as much.
No need to watch what I say or tiptoe around each other. Pure comfort.
But sticking together that long just means spending time together—not literally plastered skin-to-skin.
Get off me, you beast.
"Ten seconds. Nine seconds."
"Nine more seconds of cuddles allowed?"
"Ugh... my bad phrasing. Off. Now."
"Yup, Holy Shield. Hurry and count down those nine seconds."
I tried shoving her with my hand, but the clingy warmth monster tensed up her neck and held firm against my palm.
Dahye's head didn't smell like lavender anymore.
After nine-plus hours deep in gaming, a thick wave of body odor hung in the air, tickling my nose.
Lavender Dahye was tolerable even snuggled up in bed.
But gamer Dahye's scent? Honestly brutal to endure.
Pheromones or what? I got swept up in this unavoidable horny haze.
Tactile assault wasn't enough—now olfactory warfare too?
Makes me pissed just thinking about it.
Some of us are fighting tooth and nail to hold the line here, and chemical weapons? That's too far.
International law violation. War crime.
"Park Dahye stinks."
"Kyaaaak!"
Park Dahye jolted away like she'd been electrocuted, practically leaping off me.
Not just peeling off—she bolted upright and plastered herself to the wall.
Whoa. That startled me.
"Why'd you sniff! Don't!"
Unexpected.
I figured her bizarre sense of shame could shrug this off no problem.
This... might actually be useful?
"Told you not to stick. Next time you do, I'm sniffing."
"Nooo, don't~ I'm going to shower!"
"C'mere. Gonna sniff-sniff you to death."
"Uwaaaah! Stay back!"
Works like a charm.
One sniff-sniff and Dahye bolted without a backward glance.
This is it.
With this, defeating the warmth monster isn't a pipe dream anymore.
Finally... I've got a weapon.
Any cheek from here on out? Instant sniff-sniff.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Our place isn't huge.
25 pyeong is perfect for two, but with just one bathroom, we have to take turns showering.
Dahye finishes up, hands off the baton with a high-five.
Then it's my turn.
Seeing the soaked shower puff and long hairs clogging the drain gives me a weird vibe.
Sharing a bathroom for showers? No big deal.
But once I'm showered and dried off... I have to sleep in the same bed as Park Dahye.
No choice.
I'm a pathetic loser, after all.
As I reflect on this sad excuse for a life, a certain story pops into my head.
The classic tale of a serf's wife captured by an evil lord, forced to attend him at night.
Supposedly just "lending warmth," but...
Maybe I've sunk to male gigolo status.
I finished showering and headed to the room. There was Park Dahye on the bed, wearing a sinister grin.
Nah, straight-up evil lord.
The evil lord lifted the blanket with one arm and beckoned.
"Come in here."
Oh god, that famous meme line?
Getting ambushed would've been mercy.
This seals it. Male gigolo confirmed.
"You didn't dry your hair properly."
"I did! Look!"
She usually half-asses it, but must've gone all-out desperate to crash quick.
Fluffy as hell. Nice job.
But what if...?
I brought her hair right up to my nose.
Got the weapon now—time to test some threats.
And yep, she freaked and yanked away.
"Ah! Don't sniff!"
"We're sleeping together anyway; gonna smell it eventually. Hate it? Sleep somewhere else."
"Ugh..."
"What'll it be? Spread a blanket in the small room?"
"I'll endure... just sniff away."
Damn. No dice...
As I sat on the bed drying my hair, Dahye hummed a tune and patted my back.
The second I turned around, she lifted the blanket again.
"Come in here."
"Quit it. Feels creepy."
"How so?"
"Like right before a perv jumps you."
"Pretty much? Hurry up and come in here."
"So you know you're a perv."
"Hehe. Better a happy perv than an unhappy Einstein."
Socrates, you idiot.
But as the loser, I'm beneath even a dumb perv.
With the heart of a death row inmate marching to the gallows, I crawled into the blanket Dahye had opened and settled in.
And offered both arms up to the evil lord myself.
"Do whatever. But you can't take my heart."
"Hehe. Yay yay."
Just "yay."
"We were stuck together all day—aren't you sick of it?"
"Nah, not at all. Wish every day could be like this for a whole year."
"Can't. Four-day holidays like this don't grow on trees."
"Still, you'll be back by 6 p.m. Wait for you real good."
"Yeah. Kim Pokttal's a pro at waiting."
"Yup yup. Hehe."
What's got her so thrilled?
Dahye wiggled her butt and nuzzled her face against my arm.
I hugged her as tight as I could.
I'd decided back in her goshiwon room this morning: full-on hugs today.
And Dahye prefers a tight squeeze over a loose backhug anyway.
"Ooh! Kwon Seonghyeon~ Extra service today? Hehe. Feels great!"
"Won't see you for a few days—this is the least. Special service tonight."
"Huh? Why not? Tomorrow's a holiday too."
"Heading to Busan tomorrow evening. Four-day business trip."
"What!?"
Dahye shot upright in an instant and stared at me.
Hm. Nice.
That aggrieved look? Total payback for the male gigolo life.
No backhugs for you next four days, bitch.
Just house-sit solo.
"Why! Why! Where for four days!"
"Busan Game Show starts tomorrow. Company's exhibiting. Heading down early evening."
"Game show... already? Why schedule it now?"
"Flu pandemic's over. First one in four years—whole company's swamped."
"Liar."
Dahye frantically searched on her phone, confirmed the schedule, and facepalmed.
Then she broke out into that Miss A supermarket dance, bad girl good girl style.
"Ah~ why tell me now~."
"How was I supposed to know we'd end up living together? Besides, Kim Pokttal's waiting pro. House-sit good for four days."
"Huaa... nooo..."
"Yup."
I sealed her whining with a backhug.
Her trembling? Pure bliss.
Disciplining the evil lord hits different—like premium cider.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Next morning, I woke up the sulky Dahye and we ate out.
Knocked back a bowl of seolleongtang in no time, then dove into games for lunch.
Afternoon, I boiled a huge pot of miyeokguk for Dahye and handed over my card.
"Eat whatever—just don't starve. I'll check daily, so snap pics of what you eat and send."
"Ugh... you're really going?"
Packed my clothes and laptop into the biggest suitcase and headed to the entrance.
"Catch you alive on the flip side, comrade."
"Huaa... really four whole days?"
"Time to accept your grace. Spend 'em realizing how precious I am."
I pried off the whining Dahye and shut the door without hesitation.
HR at an event? Not much on paper.
But our company's not big-league yet—we do everything.
Next four days: linking part-timers and temps with the marketing team.
Super busy.
Kinda sorry to Dahye... but no bandwidth to care.
Just stay alive, please.
Male gigolo, off to Busan.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇