Two hours had passed since their impulsive kiss, and Kwon Oh-Jin was still sitting on the living room floor, muttering apologies like a broken record. Song Ha-Eun kept kicking him on the back from the couch behind him.
“Y-You crazy bastard!” she yelled, kicking him again with her slender leg.
“N-No matter how happy you are—! H-How could you...?!”
She pressed her foot against his back.
“... I already said I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Do you think a 'sorry' fixes everything?! M-My lips... Hehe. Y-You idiot! Gosh! Hehe!”
Ha-Eun, make up your mind. Be mad or be happy.
She gently poked him on his side with the tip of her toes. “So... did you like it?”
“Of course," he answered. "How could I not? This house is amazing.”
Moving from a cramped, moldy home to this luxury apartment was exhilarating—that was why he hadn't been able to stop himself from kissing her earlier. He wondered if this was how she had felt when he gave her the Dragon Demon Eye.
Still, it's no wonder places never lose their value.
The apartment's interior was fantastic, and the view from the window was breathtaking. The surrounding amenities were also leagues beyond what he was used to in his old neighborhood, which felt desolate like it had been ravaged by monsters.
“I wasn't asking about the house,” said Song Ha-Eun.
If it’s not about the house, then what?
She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. “ ... Um, th-the... Ahem! The k-kiss... D-Did it feel good?”
Her cheeks slowly turned red as she stammered.
Kwon Oh-Jin smirked. “It’s not was the first time. Why are you so flustered?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“We did it plenty of times when we were kids. Don’t you remember playing house at the orphanage?”
Song Ha-Eun scowled. “That doesn't count, you jerk!”
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, yanking him toward her. Kwon Oh-Jin froze as he felt a heavy pressure against his back.
Good grief. Were Ha-Eun’s... always this big?
He'd always known she was voluptuous, but feeling its sheer force firsthand left him dazed until she spoke again.
“Stop playing dumb with me. Just say it already.”
“Well, yeah, of course, it felt good. Why even ask?”
He recalled the soft, delicate touch of her lips against his. It wasn't like a lightning bolt shredding through him like in some over-the-top comics, but he couldn’t deny that it was pleasant.
The corners of Song Ha-Eun’s lips twitched upward. “R-Really?”
She twisted and turned like a relative awkwardly trying to hide that they'd just won the lottery.
“Hehehehe!” She grabbed his cheeks and stretched them playfully from behind. “So, you’re saying you felt like running outside in your underwear and doing backflips, huh?”
Uh no, it didn’t feel that good.
Song Ha-Eun continued teasing him. “Hehehe! Aww, you cute little thing. You like me so much that the moment you stepped into the house you just had to shove your lips on mine.”
“If anyone overheard us right now, they'd think we’re newlyweds.”
“Bahahaha! Whoa! One kiss and suddenly, you’re talking about marriage?”
What is this woman on?
She continued, “I’m not the kind of woman you can easily get your hands on, you know~?”
That smug look on her face is pissing me off.
“Oh, speaking of, this is a bit of a shit memory, but that Choi Jong-Cheol guy or whatever? He took one look at my face and offered me six—no, ten billion won!" she exclaimed. "Can you believe that? That’s how charming I am!”
“What are you trying to say?”
She raised her chin with a sly grin. “I’m saying, you’ve got to take responsibility for stealing these luscious lips of mine.”
He immediately grabbed her foot, which was resting on his thigh, and tickled it.
“Kyahh! W-What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!” She frantically tried to yank her foot away, but he had the upper hand in strength. “Pffft! Ahahaha! Stop! Stop!”
“Oh, my bad. I didn’t realize someone as high and mighty as you would lose composure so easily.”
“Let go! Let go, you jerk!”
He continued to tickle her for the next five minutes.
Serves her right for messing with me.
Song Ha-Eun gasped for air and bit her lip as beads of sweat rolled down her face.
So she was weak to tickling, huh?
“Anyway, let’s check out the rest of the place,” he said. They'd arrived at their new house two hours ago, yet he hadn’t seen anything beyond the living room.
“Haaa, fine.” She got up, smoothing out her messy hair. “Over here’s the bathroom... and there are two bedrooms. This is the bigger one.”
She opened the door to reveal a spacious bedroom with all the furniture from their old place.
Holy crap. This room alone is as big as our old house.
“We’ll have to buy more furniture soon,” he remarked.
“Yeah, makes sense. The old stuff is pretty worn out.”
“That too, but we’ll also need furniture for the other room.”
He shrugged and gestured toward the other door.
I mean, she bought this place for us. Of course, I’ll take the smaller room.
He didn’t mind since he was sure it would be more spacious than where they used to live.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Song Ha-Eun asked.
“That other room’s going to be used for storage.”
What are you on about now?
“This is our room," she said, pointing to the room they had just seen.
“... There are two bedrooms, but we're just going to share the bigger one?”
What kinda bullshit is that? That's like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet and only drinking water.
“We don’t even have that much stuff to store," he argued. "I’ll just take the smaller room.”
“My house, my rules," she said with a cheek grin. "Don't like it? Go find your own place.”
Shit. She's got me there.I can't fall for such a childish taunt...
“Or you can go back to the mold, rust, boiling hot summers, and freezing winters...” she added.
Even joking about going back to their old place was too much to bear.
Song Ha-Eun grinned triumphantly, like a general certain of victory. “And most importantly... This house has hot water.”
Holy shit. Hot water?!
Being able to bathe in hot water in his own home was a luxury so extravagant that he almost couldn’t process it.
She asked, “Well? Are you going to listen to my rules? Or are you leaving?”
“... Damn it!” The humiliation stung, but the temptation of hot water was impossible to resist.
Do I really have no choice but to give in...? Wait a second.
Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes gleamed sharply. “Ha-Eun, you said you used the rewards from the recent subjugation mission to buy this place, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
“Wasn’t my reward included in that too?”
Having been unconscious for three days after the battle, coupled with the distractions of his newly acquired skills, he hadn't even thought about his reward.
She avoided his eyes. “Uh, w-well...”
“I’m pretty sure I killed the most demonic beasts, right?”
Considering how many he had taken down, he would’ve easily made a couple thousand won. Not to mention, he had killed the leader behind the incident. The reward for his efforts should’ve been considerable.
Yet I don’t remember ever receiving that money.
She scratched the back of her head. “I-I mean, I took out a loan and was just a tiny bit short, so... h-hehe!”
Aha. I see. So she spent my reward money to buy this house without even telling me?
“In that case," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't I get to claim the smaller room as mine?”
She flinched. “Umm...”
Suddenly, she grabbed her prosthetic leg. “Ahh! M-My leg! Oww!”
He stared at her awkward, blatantly fake performance.
What is she up to now?
“... Oh-Jin, how can you say something like that to a poor, disabled person like me?” she asked.
Did she seriously just play her ultimate cheat card?
“You know I’m... someone who needs to be looked after, don’t you?”
Seriously? What am I supposed to say to that?
Kwon Oh-Jin rubbed his forehead in defeat.
“Haaa, fine, fine. We can share the same room.”
“Yes! Slave contract, extended!” she declared triumphantly, pumping her fist in the air.
He let out a bitter laugh as he looked at her. He didn’t really mind sharing a room with her like before, but one thing left him disappointed.
“Man, I thought I’d finally get to sleep on a bed for once,” he muttered. "Looks like I'm stuck on the floor again."
“Hahaha! You don’t have to worry about that. I thought things through!” she said with a bright smile, marching into their new bedroom.
At a second glance, he noticed all the furniture in the room was the same as before—except for the bed.
She slid open the bottom of the bed frame, revealing a second bed that pulled out like a drawer. “Ta-da!”
“Oooh!” he exclaimed.
Why didn't I think of that?
It was a simple solution, but their old place was so cramped that it had never crossed his mind.
“Hehe, what do you think?” she asked.
“It’s perfect,” he said, giving her a thumbs up. Sharing a room wouldn’t be a problem at all now.
“The house is great and all," he added, "but I’m going to miss having a rooftop.”
No one else used the rooftop at their old place, so he could head up whenever he wanted to train in peace.
“Oh, apparently, there’s a training facility nearby for Awakeners,” she remarked.
“Yup. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s a private space where you can train without anyone watching.”
“Oooh. That’s not too bad.”
“Plus, Hongdae is nearby. You can always go to the Sanctum for intense training with Riarc.”
“Hehe, I thought of everything before choosing this place!”
The apartment was conveniently located near both the association in Yeouido and the gate to the Sanctum in Hongdae.
“Hahaha! There’s really no one like you,” he admitted.
“Hehe! Then treat me to some yummy beef for dinner tonight.”
She bought us a place . What’s a little beef compared to that?
“Should we head to the grocery store together?” he asked.
“There’s one right downstairs.”
Just as they opened the door to go grocery shopping, Kwon Oh-Jin's phone rang.
“Huh?” He cocked his head and pulled out his phone.
He was expecting a call from Han Jun-Man, not Park Chang-Hyun.
He answered, “Hello?”
—Oh-Jin, can you come to the Valhalla Guild right away?
“What happened?” he asked back, frowning.
—Our guild master was attacked by the Black Star Society.
...I guess the beef will have to wait.
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