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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Si-hwa’s beverage preference was completely different from Ha-rin’s.
While Ha-rin preferred sweet drinks, Si-hwa actually liked bitter tastes more.
“Two iced Americanos, please.”
In this context, I actually got along better with Si-hwa than with Ha-rin.
We bought coffee, sat facing each other with a table between us, and looked at the bustling people inside the store.
No matter how much she said to pay off this debt with coffee, I had to properly express my gratitude.
“Thanks, Si-hwa.”
“Not really.”
Si-hwa answered while chewing on the tip of her straw.
Of course, I knew she was wealthy, but wasn’t she being overly cool? Yoo Si-hwa.
Well. Considering the amount of money she would make after graduation, this level of money was nothing.
“Choi In-wook.”
“Yeah?”
Si-hwa, who had taken a sip of coffee, asked me.
“…Did you become close with Yoon Ha-rin?”
I don’t really know why Ha-rin is being brought up all of a sudden, but I nodded for now.
“Ah. Yeah. Since we’re a pair. We often practice together. And we sit next to each other.”
“Is that so?”
Si-hwa stared at my face while stirring the ice with her straw.
“Why Ha-rin?”
“Just. It seemed like she was excessively clinging to you that morning too.”
The day she was referring to must have been the morning when she came looking for me because of the interview.
It seemed she didn’t like me being overly friendly with another girl when she had confessed to me.
“Ha-rin is a friend with a very sociable personality. Hahaha.”
Actually, that was true.
Ha-rin was always popular with her bright personality and cute appearance.
“I see.”
With those words, silence flowed between us.
I thought about naturally moving on to another topic, but I couldn’t because Si-hwa seemed to be deep in thought with a serious expression.
“Choi In-wook.”
At her solemn tone, I felt my body unconsciously tensing up a bit.
“Yeah.”
“I wonder if you also prefer friendly, sociable girls?”
Hmm… This is quite a difficult question…
If it were me at this time in my previous life, I would have agreed one hundred percent.
Because Ha-rin was a woman who was infinitely close to my ideal type.
But the current me found it difficult to confidently agree with those words.
My three ex-wives were people with dazzling charms.
They were too different to rank them.
And I knew Si-hwa’s charms better than anyone else.
Dating Si-hwa was completely different from dating Ha-rin.
It was far from the kind of ideal couple where we got along well and had cute conversations.
Rather, it was the opposite. Si-hwa was awkward at love.
Raised strictly under indifferent parents, she was cynical about relationships with people.
In her life, there were no proper friends or lovers.
She wasn’t the type of person to depend on relationships with others.
As if mocking those who boasted about their connections, she conquered the hunter world solely with her abilities.
So, Si-hwa, who experienced emotions blossoming for the first time at a late age, was like a child in that aspect.
Unlike her perfect body movements and weapon proficiency, her expressions of affection were all clumsy and rough.
But the feelings that came with each of those sloppy gestures were as pure as a shy girl’s love letter.
That was Si-hwa’s lovely side that only I knew, not the rest of the world.
“…I’m not sure yet.”
After hesitating to answer for a moment, I ended up using an ambiguous response.
“…Is that so?”
Si-hwa seemed to not dislike my answer as she hummed a little.
“Let’s go.”
Eventually, the coffee was empty, and we had nothing more to do, so we got up from our seats.
Just like last time, Si-hwa took me to my house.
“Thanks, Si-hwa. For the items today too. You don’t have to give me a ride.”
“I did it because I wanted to. Don’t worry about it.”
You sure know how to say embarrassing things without changing your expression. Si-hwa.
Indeed, she was on a different level from ordinary girls.
“Still, I’m grateful for what I’m grateful for.”
I smiled at her and answered.
“If you’re really grateful.”
She spoke to me as I grabbed the car door handle.
“I’d like it if you invited me to have coffee first next time.”
So pay it back voluntarily before I urge you to.
Is that roughly what she meant?
“Got it. I’ll contact you soon then. Be careful on your way back.”
“Yeah. See you again. Choi In-wook.”
I waved at Si-hwa’s car as it drove away.
* * *
When I got home, there was an unchecked text message.
[Lifelong Pair Yoon Ha-rin♥]
It was from Ha-rin.
The message had arrived about an hour ago.
[In-wook, what are you doing now?]
Did she have some urgent business?
The practice period was probably still some time away, so it didn’t seem to be practice-related…
Still, just in case, I decided to call Ha-rin.
[Hello.]
[In-wook!]
Ha-rin answered the phone in a higher tone than usual.
It seemed like something good had happened.
[I just checked your text a while ago. I was wondering if something came up.]
[Ah~ It’s nothing much, I was just thinking of asking you to have dinner together.]
[Sorry. I have something to do for a bit.]
[I haven’t eaten yet though. Do you want to eat together now?]
I had already had tteokbokki and coffee, so having a meal was too much.
[No, no. I ate outside before coming home.]
Actually, there was no need to hide it, but I instinctively felt that telling her I had been out with Si-hwa would do me no good.
[Tsk… That’s too bad. I was going to take you to a good restaurant near my house. Where did you go?]
[I went to buy some hunter supplies.]
[Really? You should have gone with me… I can get a family discount…]
Not just a family discount. If Ha-rin wanted to, she could probably clear out the entire store without any problem.
[Where did you go?]
[You know the GW Mall in Sangam-dong.]
At my words, Ha-rin spoke to me in an even more disappointed tone.
[In-wook. Next time when you go to buy things like that, you must! You must tell me, okay?!]
Ha-rin only hung up the phone after making me promise.
Even though it had been a while since I got home, I only now started unpacking and organizing the items one by one.
As expected, the items Si-hwa bought for me had overwhelming specs compared to the ones I had originally picked out.
It was sufficient. No, more than enough for the dungeon I would enter next week.
If I could clear the dungeon smoothly like this and obtain ‘that’…
I would be able to live without any problems for a while.
* * *
After learning that the place In-wook went to today was our company’s store, I made another request to the butler.
I had briefly felt it during the mana measurement results last time, but In-wook’s mana felt much more abundant compared to his previous life.
Hmm… It was still difficult to accurately determine the cause of this.
But the force that shattered the measuring device.
That was definitely not a mechanical malfunction or anything like that.
There was no way my detection ability would fail to grasp that.
Then, the items In-wook needed would also be different from his previous life.
In order for me to prepare for him next time, I needed to know what he had purchased this time.
I couldn’t hide my puzzlement at the receipt file sent by the butler.
…In-wook bought this?
Did In-wook have some savings accumulated?
They were items that were too expensive for an ordinary twenty-year-old student to purchase.
Actually, I wondered if I even needed to see the CCTV footage, but unable to resist my curiosity, I clicked on the attached video file.
“Huh…?”
In-wook wasn’t alone.
And the one paying wasn’t In-wook either.
Why are those two…?
Only then could I understand why the butler had sent me the video as well.
“Yoo Si-hwa…”
How dare you ignore my warning…?
* * *
After finishing the theory class, I stopped by the club room as usual.
The only person in the room was Ye-na, and for some reason, the president was nowhere to be seen.
“Hi. Ye-na.”
“Yeah. Hi.”
Ye-na was treating me much more warmly compared to the beginning.
Perhaps because we had spent quite a bit of time alone together or with the president, we had reached a level where we could comfortably have casual conversations.
“Where’s the president?”
“The secret royal inspector came and took him.”
That senior? The one who worked in the same group as the president.
I felt sorry for him. Tae-su was definitely someone I would refuse to have as a teammate.
As usual, I brought over a canvas and started drawing, but I couldn’t concentrate as much as I normally did.
I kept picking up and putting down the brush, so Ye-na seemed concerned and approached me.
“What’s up? Is something going on?”
Actually, my mind was filled with thoughts about the dungeon rather than the painting.
Would it be okay to tell Ye-na…?
If it were Si-hwa or Ha-rin, they would definitely follow me timidly as soon as they heard the word dungeon.
“I submitted a dungeon application for next week. So I’m a bit worried.”
“A dungeon?”
“Yeah. I’ve prepared all the necessary items yesterday. I want to do it properly.”
Of course, I didn’t buy them with my own money though.
“Hmm… I see.”
As expected, Ye-na showed no particular reaction.
“You remember that we’re going on an MT this weekend, right?”
“Yeah. Of course I remember that.”
“Have you checked the transportation to get there?”
The president had booked a pension in the middle of nowhere to save budget…
…It seems like the reduced accommodation cost and the added transportation cost would be about the same though.
Thanks to that, it was difficult to access by regular public transportation, so we had to book an express bus or a train.
“Ah. Not yet. I’ll have to do it when I get home.”
“You should book it in advance since there will be a lot of people going that way on the weekend.”
“Got it.”
Come to think of it, I have to go to the dungeon right after coming back from the MT.
It should be fine as long as I don’t drink too much, right?
Ye-na, who reminded me about the MT, packed her things, picked up her bag, and stood up.
“What? You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. My part-time job was rescheduled to an earlier time today.”
I thought Ye-na was really busy during her student days.
“I see. See you on the weekend, Ye-na.”
“Yeah.”
She grabbed the doorknob as if she was leaving the room like that, but added one more thing.
“Choi In-wook.”
“Yeah?”
“Still, make sure to bring plenty of recovery items when you go to the dungeon.”
Without listening to my answer, she slammed the door and left the room.
…At least hear my thanks before you go.
Was she on the verge of being late for her part-time job…?
With that thought, I picked up the brush again.
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