novelzi Chapter 91
Chapter 91
“Let’s do what? What are you talking about?”
Jin Yuha suddenly bargained in and spouted nonsense.
Normally, brushing off his nonsensical comments would suffice since he often said things out of the blue. However, due to the ambiguous object of his sentence, Kang Do-hee’s mind momentarily went blank, and she missed the timing to respond.
And in that moment, Jin Yuha pushed his way through the door.
“You—!”
Startled, Kang Do-hee turned her head sharply and reached out her hand, but it was too late. Jin Yuha had already entered the room, taking off his shoes and looking around.
“Wow, Kang Do-hee, you’ve done well! What’s this, a bachelor pad? No, a bachelorette pad? That sounds weird too. Anyway, I thought it would smell, but it’s fragrant!”
Without even an invitation, Jin Yuha roamed around like it was his own place.
“Wow! The TV is huge! Perfect for lying in bed and watching! Huh? Is this bed different from the one in my dorm? It’s so soft!”
Bounce Bounce Bounce
Jin Yuha sat on the bed and bounced up and down. Then he looked at the ashtray beside the bed and made a surprised expression.
“Uh? Smoking in the room? Hasn’t anyone said anything about the smell? Oh, maybe the air purifier in here is trapping the smell inside?”
Then, he casually picked up the cigarette she had been smoking earlier and put it in his mouth.
Suck—
Cough! Cough!
After taking a drag from the cigarette, Jin Yuha coughed incessantly.
“Ugh, I still don’t get the taste of cigarettes.”
“....”
Kang Do-hee looked dumbfounded. Then, when Jin Yuha’s gaze wandered to one corner of the room, his face hardened.
“Pffft! Is that a Dijet box next to the bed!? Then maybe there’s snowflake candy in the fridge!?”
And with that, he stood up abruptly and headed towards the fridge.
Slap.
Kang Do-hee couldn’t just stand by and watch. She quickly rushed forward and grabbed Jin Yuha’s wrist.
“Little Fool.”
“Hmm?”
“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I just came to hang out at a friend’s place.”
Jin Yuha grinned and said nonchalantly, inclining his head.
‘What the hell is this guy....’
Kang Do-hee was bewildered. No, she was flabbergasted.
Does this guy not have any sense at all?
She had always thought that the Little Fool’s lack of boundaries was strange.@@@@
As she was always being busy with training and dungeon runs, she had never shown any interest in romance. And then after the incident between a man and the guild leader resulting in her mentor being destroyed, she distanced herself from men even more.
That didn’t mean she was clueless about men. The guild leader of Paradise, Choi Hye-seo, had instilled various common sense and gossip about men into her while drinking, smoking, and various conversations.
‘What, a guy just boldly barging into a girl’s house alone like this...!’
Already stressed from the recent dungeon expedition, Kang Do-hee felt her head spinning with Jin Yuha’s antics added to the mix.
Phew—
Pressing on her temples, she called out to him.
“Little Fool.”
“Yeah?”
“If you have something to see me about, just take care of that and leave quickly. I really don’t like it when someone enters my territory without permission.”
“Okay, got it.”
Jin Yuha nodded.
‘Got it...? Does this guy really understand?’
Kang Do-hee felt her temples throbbing at his shameless behavior. However, she silently reminded herself to endure and closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them.
Then, Jin Yuha’s face was suddenly close to hers. Black eyes staring directly at her from up close.
“Hmm...”
“!”
Kang Do-hee startled and instinctively recoiled.
“But why aren’t you angry?”
“...What?”
“I just crossed the line and invaded your territory without permission, just now. Why aren’t you mad?”
“Do you want to see me really angry?”
If that was the case, then he had come to the right place. Her frustration had been boiling all day long.
She looked at Jin Yuha’s insolent face and clenched her fist tightly, then soon relaxed her arm.
Then, she spoke in a low voice.
“Get out.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I said, get out.”
“...What?”
She turned her head, but due to their positions, she couldn’t see Jin Yuha’s face.
Kang Do-hee furrowed her eyebrows. What was she supposed to be scared of?
She never considered herself familiar with the concept of fear.
Facing opponents who were stronger or unbeatable was not new to her. However, she had never felt fear even when facing them, only anger or fighting spirit.
“...Am I scared?”
She spat out the words as if speaking to herself.
“Yeah, you seem scared. Maybe you’re afraid this relationship we’ve built will break. Like... the old guild.”
Kang Do-hee’s eyes widened.
“You don’t have to endure it. You can just be yourself.”
Her eyes focused on the black TV screen.
The unacceptable, shameful posture was mirrored in the black screen.
“Whether you throw a tantrum or dislike someone and lash out, I won’t abandon you for that.”
“Who said I’m─?!”
Kang Do-hee’s suppressed voice erupted again, but from behind, a calm voice followed.
“I’m just asking. Why did you do it? You’re not the kind of person who throws tantrums for no reason.”
“...”
“And that applies to party members too. It’s okay not to understand, to say it’s not okay when it’s not, or to say you don’t like it.”
“...Then stop this nonsense right now.”
Kang Do-hee said firmly.
“I don’t want to~”
The voice sounded playful, and once again, wrinkles formed on her forehead.
“...Are you joking right now?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“...That’s what?”
“If our opinions don’t match, well, we might clash like this. You ask me to let go, but I don’t want to.”
Jin Yuha’s laughter tickled her ears.
“But you, you try to avoid conflict, keep it bottled up inside. You’re afraid that if you express your opinion strongly, this relationship might twist.”
A remark that pierced her inner self.
“But, neither I, nor Sin Se-hee, nor Lee Yoo-ri, not even Ga-eul-sunbae, will be deterred by your strong personality just because you show it.”
“...”
“No?”
Kang Do-hee couldn’t bring herself to deny it.
She did ask Lim Ga-eul for the identity of the person who spread rumors that were almost like threats, but she never spoke.
‘This is the party I joined...’
It was only then that she realized she still felt fear in forming relationships with people.
‘And I’m allowed to be myself.’
Thump, thump─
For some reason, her heart began to beat faster.
“...Little Fool.”
“Yeah?”
“...Fine, I get it for now. So when are you going to let go of me?”
“When you say I lost?”
Lost...!?
‘Crazy.’
Kang Do-hee twisted her body again to somehow push Jin Yuha away.
And then...
Beep!
In the chaos, a button on the remote under the bed was pressed.
Kang Do-hee’s face turned pale. Of course, because what was playing on the screen was the same video she used to watch every night before falling asleep.
─ It’s only natural to save your party when they’re in danger.
It was the footage the Hunter Management Bureau had sent her before.
“Huh?”
Jin Yuha peeked out from behind.
“What’s that? Isn’t that me...?”
Shaking...
“Why am I appearing there?”
Kang Do-hee twisted her body, her face turning bright red.
Struggling...