Chapter 58 – Visiting Jin-hyun’s House

Even when being carried in broad daylight it was scary, but with the field of vision rapidly shifting in the pitch-black night, she was even more disoriented.

‘Ugh. So scary.’

Without realizing it, Hee-na clung tightly to Kang Jin-hyun’s neck and closed her eyes.

“……We will arrive shortly. You will not feel dizzy this time.”

Kang Jin-hyun whispered in a low voice toward Hee-na.

Hee-na’s hair fluttered here and there in the cool night breeze. The noise of the city quickly brushed past her ears. Kang Jin-hyun was moving so fast that he would not catch anyone’s eye.

“……It is alright now.”

While Hee-na was completely disoriented, Kang Jin-hyun had arrived at their destination, wherever it was, before she knew it.

The sound of a door closing was heard, and the external noise was completely shut out. Hee-na carefully opened her tightly closed eyes.

“Where is this?”

The place was a balcony of some house. It seemed they had entered through the balcony window instead of the front door.

‘Surely this isn’t trespassing?’

Cold sweat ran down her back.

Hee-na did not want to see the headline the next day reading, ‘S-class Hunter Mr. K, Under Investigation for Trespassing.’ And of course, she had absolutely no desire to be his accomplice.

Fortunately, Kang Jin-hyun relieved Hee-na of her worries.

“……This is one of my houses. Since it is where I live, it is safer than anywhere else.”

He set Hee-na down on the floor, brought slippers from somewhere, and offered them to her. He was drunk, but he was surprisingly sensible in strange ways.

“Oh……. So this is where you live, Jin-hyun.”

Hee-na looked around in a daze. She ended up looking around the S-class hunter’s house by chance.

The inside of the house, where the lights were turned on, was extremely quiet and clean. There were almost no signs of anyone living there. Only the minimum amount of furniture was arranged, and the interior was in achromatic colors.

It seemed like a large house for one person to live in, but it also seemed small for the only S-class hunter in South Korea to live in.

‘For some reason, it looks familiar.’

Hee-na tilted her head and stole glances here and there around the house. It looked like a luxury apartment, but the interior structure was strangely familiar.

“……This way.”

Pulling Hee-na’s arm as she was looking around, Kang Jin-hyun led her into a room. Hee-na walked awkwardly, following his hand.

In fact, it was a very strange situation. Did she not just drink heavily, enter a strange man’s house, and go into a dark room together……?

However, despite this peculiar situation, she was not particularly afraid or anxious.

‘Is it because the other person is Hunter Kang Jin-hyun?’

Her trust in ‘Hunter Kang Jin-hyun’ was greater than she thought. Contrary to his cold-looking appearance, once she got to know him, he was a simple and honest person.

Above all, he was like a well-trained dog, and he did not seem like someone who would harm Hee-na at all. At least, that was the Kang Jin-hyun Hee-na had figured out over the past few months.

Even now, far from just treating Hee-na politely, he was treating her as carefully as a treasure that might break if handled incorrectly.

“……Please sit.”

Kang Jin-hyun invited Hee-na to sit on the bed. The bed looked very soft and comfortable.

“This is the coziest and safest place here.”

He was like a beast hiding its most precious treasure deep inside a cave. He only wore a relieved smile after putting Hee-na onto the bed and under the blanket.

“Th-thank you.”

Although it was a romantic situation, Hee-na’s love cells were just creaking with rust.

Far from finding romance in this situation, she was just thinking that she had become like a precious bone buried in the ground by a puppy named Kang Jin-hyun. It was a perception that was completely wrong.

Having never been drunk in her life, Hee-na did not yet know that a drunk person’s unconscious actions could be as sincere as truth spoken under the influence.

“You should go to sleep now too, Jin-hyun.”

Hee-na coaxed Kang Jin-hyun gently. He set Hee-na on the bed and was staring down at her. His gaze was hazy, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

“I just need to guard you like this, Hee-na.”

He plopped down on the floor and leaned his back against the side of the bed. Then, he kept watch on his surroundings.

It was a truly peculiar drinking habit. It was not a violent habit, but it required quite a lot of care.

‘I shouldn’t let Hunter Kang Jin-hyun drink too much alcohol in the future.’

Hee-na let out a deep sigh inwardly and wriggled on the bed. It was to cast a skill.

She tidied up the messy bed and spread the blanket flat. As she finished by patting the mattress, Kang Jin-hyun stared at Hee-na intently. His gaze was asking what she was doing.

“Jin-hyun, come here.”

“……Yes?”

“Just lie down here once. Yes? Be a good boy.”

She patted the bed, coaxing Kang Jin-hyun.

“If you lie down here for a moment, I will make you something delicious next time. What did you say you liked?”

He mumbled shyly.

“……Anything you make for me is delicious, Hee-na.”

“Then I will make everything for you.”

At those words, Kang Jin-hyun hesitated.

“……But I have to keep watch.”

Hearing his answer, it seemed she had almost reeled him in. Hee-na cheered inwardly and put on a bright smile.

“It is fine. You can just lie here and watch over it. Since you are an S-class hunter, you can spring right up no matter what happens, right?”

“……That is correct.”

Kang Jin-hyun nodded slowly. When drunk, he was hundreds of times simpler than usual. It felt like if she asked to trade a piece of candy for a mana stone, he would do it.

But instead of doing such a bad thing, Hee-na focused all her efforts on putting the drunkard to bed. There was nothing cleaner than sleep when it came to dealing with a drunk person. Once she put him to sleep, almost everything was resolved.

“……Then, I will lie down for just a moment.”

The drunkard had finally fallen into the trap Hee-na had set. He climbed onto the bed without hesitation, rested his head on the pillow, and let out a small yawn.

And one, two, three.

As soon as she counted to three in her mind, the sound of deep breathing echoed throughout the room. He had fallen victim to Hee-na’s ‘Comfortable Bed’ skill.

While before, the effect of the A-class sleeping bag had overlapped to put Kang Jin-hyun to sleep, this time, the alcohol must have hit him hard, causing him to fall asleep quickly.

“Whew. Back then, it was a mess because he wouldn’t wake up, but this time, I had a hard time putting him to sleep.”

Hee-na looked down at Kang Jin-hyun, who was sleeping peacefully. His sharp impression was gone, replaced by a peaceful expression. He did not look like someone who had fallen asleep heavily drunk.

‘Well, there was no sign of him being drunk on his face at all.’

Even though he was drunk enough to act erratically, Kang Jin-hyun’s complexion had not changed at all, except for his gaze becoming hazy.

His physical abilities also seemed to be intact. He easily dodged Woo Min-ah’s poke to the ribs, and carried Hee-na while leaping and running through the sky of the dark city.

Only his tone and behavior had changed. His tone became a bit slower, and his actions became unpredictable.

Actually, considering he was dead drunk, Kang Jin-hyun was quite a gentlemanly drunkard.

However, the problem was that his unpredictable behavior was out of the ordinary.

‘He was originally an unpredictable type, but this time was truly out of the blue.’

Not only did he worry about her way home, but he even brought her to his house to protect her. Talk about a massive leap of logic.

Hee-na shook her head and carefully climbed down from the bed.

The bed was large enough for three grown men to lie down. With a bit of exaggeration, it was about the size of Hee-na’s old ‘Home Sweet Home’ studio room. Of course, the one with the exaggerated size was the studio room.

At any rate, Kang Jin-hyun was lying straight in the middle of the bed. With his hands neatly gathered and placed on his navel, he looked exactly like a sleeping prince.

Hee-na pulled the blanket up to the sleeping Kang Jin-hyun’s shoulders. Perhaps because the blanket wrapping his body felt cozy, Kang Jin-hyun’s expression became much more comfortable.

“Good night.”

After whispering a quiet farewell to him, Hee-na crept out of the room.

For some reason, it felt like she had secretly created a secret she could not tell others.

Of course, this was not the first time she had put Kang Jin-hyun to sleep. Hee-na had a history of knocking Kang Jin-hyun out in the dungeon.

‘But this is Jin-hyun’s house.’

Entering such an extremely private space to put him to sleep and then leaving… Without any context, it was a situation that could even seem suggestive.

‘Is the alcohol kicking in? Why is it so hot?’

Her cheeks flushed for no reason.

Even while having such thoughts, Hee-na moved carefully and closed the door, in case the host might wake up.

‘Whew.’

Along with a sigh of relief, she recalled the scenery inside the room. Blackout curtains and the like were drawn tightly over the windows. Although it was a dark bedroom, she could clearly tell that there was absolutely no other furniture in the room except for the bed.

‘How bleak.’

He had said he could not fall into a deep sleep, and it really felt like everything except what was necessary for sleeping had been cleared away. Furthermore, as if the room had been soundproofed, it was so quiet that her ears felt muffled.

“He will be able to get a good night’s sleep at home today.”

Although she had entered the house of a grown man, it was one of the tasks she had to do in a few days anyway. Hee-na decided to think of it as starting her work a few days early.

On the other hand, her worker’s brain briefly kicked in, wondering if she should receive overtime pay.

However, when she thought of the price of the three houses she had recently received, she could consider this amount of overtime as a complimentary bonus.

[Lee Hee-won: Where are you? You seem a bit late? Osaek-i is looking for you.]

[Lee Hee-won: He says he condemns unauthorized staying out. Make sure to come home today.]

[Lee Hee-won: If it’s late and you’re scared, should I go pick you up?]

The Homemaker of the Dungeon