“Miss Jung Ha-Yan is awake.”

It was the news that I heard after Cha Hee-Ra left the guild. Jung Ha-Yan, who had been asleep for a long time finally woke up. The timing was a bit strange, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy. After all, I could still vividly remember the moment she protected me and even though it was kind of funny, I missed Jung Ha-Yan.

‘She went through a lot...’

It wasn’t that I fell in love with her or anything, but it was true that I had grown fond of her. Of course, it wasn’t the feeling of a lover, but even birds and beasts knew what gratitude was. It was inevitable that I would become fond of her since she saved my life.

“I should go visit her real quick,” I said.

“Okay,” Park Joong-Ki said.

“I’ll make sure to finish the transition of my work to the guild master by the end of today. After you’re both done with your work, please look over the tasks I assigned you, Mr. Joong-Ki and Miss Mi-Young,” I told them.

“Okay.”

After patting the shoulders of Park Joong-Ki and Kim Mi-Young, who were going to work together with Kim Hyun-Sung, I quickly walked out. Soon enough, I saw Jung Ha-Yan’s hospital room. Seeing how it was quiet inside, I was probably the first one here.

“Ha-Yan,” I called out.

“Oh. O… oppa,” she stammered.

Even though I visited her every day, it had been a while since I saw her awake. She looked the same as before, but if there was one thing that was different about her, it was that she looked slightly discouraged. She looked as if she was scared of something and I immediately realized why she looked that way.

‘It’s probably because…’

It was probably because of the abusive language she heard before she became unconscious. I recall cursing at her and yelling at her to move away, so I could understand why she was like this. She probably thought that I hated her. I was sure that it had been a chaotic moment for Jung Ha-Yan as well, but I was certain that she still remembered what I said. She was probably still a little bit scared of it.

I felt a bit embarrassed about thanking her in this awkward situation.

‘It’s awkward.’

Jung Ha-Yan probably felt the same way, but that was the moment when I realized that I didn’t need to force myself to talk. When I quietly opened my arms, Jung Ha-Yan jumped into me like a cat jumping toward a mouse.

“Heuuuk… oppa, I sorry… heuk,” she said.

“It’s fine. Thank you and I’m sorry,” I told her.

“Oppaaaaa,” she said while crying.

She must have thought that this was her chance because she buried and rubbed her face against my chest. Usually, I would feel a bit scared by her actions, but for some reason, she looked cute and seeing her healthier than before made me realize that I had been worried for no reason. I felt embarrassed because she seemed like she didn’t want to get off of me.

“It was really painful, right?” I asked.

When I stroked her injured back, she shook her head, but it was natural for me to be worried that she still had some injuries.

‘She doesn’t have any injuries...’

Jung Ha-Yan must have thought that I was going to do something because she looked back at me while blushing and leaning her body against me. Her actions embarrassed me a bit. Obviously, it wasn’t my intention to do a thorough inspection on her back. After I pulled down her shirt, I noticed the disappointed look on Jung Ha-Yan’s face.

“It’s a relief that you’re doing fine,” I said.

“Um… th-thank you for worrying about me, oppa,” she said.

“Of course, I was worried about you. Don’t do that next time, Ha-Yan,” I told her.

“Okay…”

“I don’t want to see you getting hurt,” I said.

“Oh, okay!” she said happily.

When I slowly stroked her cheek, her body trembled as if she was having a seizure and she looked like a scared animal. Despite the fact that things weren’t that different from before, the reason why Jung Ha-Yan was wary must be because I looked a little different from usual.

I was sincerely concerned and thankful. I was sure that Jung Ha-Yan must have felt how my slightly awkward skinship from before was very different from now, no, she probably knew better than anyone. Jung Ha-Yan probably thought that she was receiving an unknown affection and I understood why she would think that way.

Just then, she suddenly released a small cry.

“Ah.”

“Huh?”

She wrapped her arms around her stomach while breathing heavily and naturally, I was confused by the sudden change in the situation. She looked like she was in pain.

“You’re not in pain, are you?” I asked.

“Yes, I-I’m fine,” she answered.

When I expressed my concern, her expression started changing little by little and I saw her body trembling again.

‘What’s going on…’

“Are you really okay?” I asked again.

“Yes, I’m fine, oppa. My stomach just hurts a little… I-It’s a throbbing pain… on my stab wound…” she said.

“Shouldn’t we call for Miss Hee-Young?”I asked.

“I-It’s not that bad. It’s just… a really small pain…” she answered.

She was obviously making it up because she felt happy about me being concerned for her. I thought that she had matured a bit after the Cursed Shrine incident, but it felt like she was going to get another strange disease again. It was to the point that I was afraid that she would harm herself if she was left alone like this, so fixing her strange actions from the beginning was the most reasonable thing to do. The annoying part was that…

‘I felt bad for her.’

My conscience kept responding to her absurd gesture.

‘I’m sure she isn’t actually in pain.’

I vividly remembered how she hugged me tight while her blood spilled on top of me. Back then, her warm blood and voice kept telling me that she was going to protect me. It was to the point that I felt ashamed for being suspicious of whether she was frowning because she was actually in pain. I thought that it wouldn’t be so bad to fall for it this time and when thinking about how Jung Ha-Yan got stabbed in my place, doing that was the right thing to do. When I quietly stroked her hair and maintained my position from before, I saw her body trembling again.

“I-It hurts,” she said.

‘...’

“I think it’ll be best to call for Miss Hee-Young,” I told her.

“It’s not that bad. It’s not… if you just stroke my stomach a bit, I-I’ll feel better in no time. If you stroke me, oppa…” she said.

At this point, I became suspicious of whether she had planned on getting stabbed in my place. The way she slightly lifted her shirt and showed her stomach made her look like a puppy and on top of that, she wanted me to touch her bare skin. I noticed her watching my reaction nervously.

‘Maybe she’s thinking that this is her reward...’

That must be it, so I had no reason to hesitate.

When I placed my hand on her stomach, she immediately became calm and even though she tried to control her expression, she already looked satisfied. Jung Ha-Yan kept complaining that she was in pain, but her expression said otherwise. She looked like someone that had everything going right for her.

“Do you feel better?” I asked.

“A li-little below my stomach… It’s painful,” she said.

“Here?” I asked.

“A little lower,” she answered.

“Is it here?”

“A b-bit lower…”

‘Shit… just how much lower does she want me to go?’

“A little lower… j-just a little bit more…”

‘Stop going lower…’

“Go lower than that.”

‘Stop.’

She had improved a bit in that department. If the previous Jung Ha-Yan used childish ways to come toward me, then this Jung Ha-Yan was using tricks. I couldn’t help but feel that she was evolving. No, she was definitely evolving. Appealing to my sympathy was probably something that the Jung Ha-Yan in the past couldn’t even imagine, and I thought that maybe, she learned these tricks by watching me, but I shook my head violently and pushed that thought aside.

‘Even still...’

It was still childish. Jung Ha-Yan didn’t have a talent for something like that and watching her right now felt like she didn’t know how to control herself. It became painfully obvious because she kept telling me to go down like I was some kind of archeologist that kept digging. She was doing good at first, but she still had no idea that she had to be a little bit subtle to make the other person go along the flow, and that was when I thought that it would be a good idea to give her a big reward.

“Do you feel pain anywhere?”

I heard Sun Hee-Young’s voice…

“I went to go find you hyung-nim, but it looks like you’re already here,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“Miss Ha-Yan, I’m glad you’ve woken up,” Sun Hee-Young said.

It wasn’t just her. Park Deok-Gu had a sly expression and Kim Ye-Ri was nodding quietly I even saw Kim Hyun-Sung, who was quietly covering Kim Ye-Ri’s eyes. Behind the embarrassed Kim Hyun-Sung, the only underage party member spoke. “I know what’s going on… they’re making babies…”

‘You know nothing! What does a kid know about making babies…’

It only took a moment for my face to turn red and even though I mumbled after removing my arm, no one paid attention to me.

“Ha-Yan said that her stomach was hurting, so I was checking her condition,” I said.

“I see… I was worried that we were interrupting you two,” Sun Hee-Young said.

“Hehe… wouldn’t it be better if we came back later?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

‘Park Deok-Gu, you bastard!’

“It’s fine, Deok-Gu. I-I really was checking her condition,” I said.

At first, I was able to understand why Jung Ha-Yan was stuttering and even though there was a small incident, it had been a while since party seven had gathered together like this. Everyone was smiling and even though they didn’t say it, everyone seemed like they were happy to see her and even Jung Ha-Yan seemed a bit happy to see them as well, although she was puffing her cheeks.

Right now, the guild was very busy. It may not be the case for Park Deok-Gu and Kim Ye-Ri, but Sun Hee-Young and Kim Hyun-Sung shouldn’t be out like this, but despite that, I was sure that they wanted to spend some time with Jung Ha-Yan. Even though it didn’t last long, talking with everyone was fun and out of all the party members, Park Deok-Gu was enjoying it the most since he enjoyed talking. He talked to the point that my ears started to hurt.

“I was really surprised, you know! When I mentioned that hyung-nim was going to the capital, noonim miraculously opened her eyes and suddenly got up. It was like when my grandma saw a cripple stand up in a church one time. That was the power of love! I’m sure of it!” he said excitedly.

“It was just her mind that was asleep. I’m sure a small amount of her consciousness was awake. Her physical treatment was perfect though,” Sun Hee-Young explained.

“Oh… I see.”

“I had a feeling she was going to wake up. Whenever we talked about hyung-nim, I noticed her flinching a bit and when she suddenly got up, I was really sur…”

‘Stop it.’

Based on Park Deok-Gu’s story, I was suspicious of whether Jung Ha-Yan had long been awake or not, but I thought that it wasn’t that important because I was more worried about her extremely calm reaction. According to Park Deok-Gu, she already knew about the fact that I was heading to the capital, and seeing her cry and clinging to me should have been her natural reaction. When I was trying to figure out the meaning behind her calm expression, I heard a voice that answered that for me.

“Noonim was having such a hard time…”

‘This bastard…’

“So I ran to Mr. Hyun-Sung and suggested that noonim should go with him. I deserve a reward, right?” he asked.

‘This pig…’

“The Mercenary Queen has also approved it, Mr. Ki-Young. I thought about it and I think that it’ll be best if you two went together since Miss Ha-Yan isn’t in the position to start working anyway…” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

‘More like she’s not competent enough to do work...’

“I’m sure it’ll help her mentally if she goes with you,” he said.

It was probably because they didn’t want to deal with her once I was gone.

‘Even you, Kim Hyun-Sung?’

It felt like they had planned this out to target me, no, they were certainly targeting me!