Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 125

Despite his attempts to stop her, Shin Woohyuk could not hide his helplessness as Jiwoo slowly approached the portal’s range.

He roughly ran a hand through his hair as if frustrated before speaking.

“Really, you’re exactly the same as you were back then. Always doing things on your own.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ten minutes. Exactly ten minutes. After that, I’m destroying it. Even if Hunter Do Jiwoo hasn’t come out of the portal, there will be no exceptions.”

“Of course. That’s why I came here with you, Guild Master.”

Knowing that he always put the safety of the citizens first, Jiwoo was grateful that he was even giving her ten minutes.

“Then I’ll be back!”

Jiwoo immediately mounted the Whitebird and flew into the portal, leaving Shin Woohyuk behind with complicated emotions written across his face.

****

 

 

The moment she passed through the entrance of the portal.

[You have entered another world. All skills will be sealed.]

[The 〈Landlord’s Guard〉 skill has been canceled.]

A notification appeared, informing her that all of her skills had been deactivated.

At the same time, the hourglass, which had been quiet until then, began to emit light.

Flash.

The golden dust inside the glass shook violently and moved toward a single direction.

It was proof that Kangwoo was here.

Soon, the pure white space where she could no longer tell up from down came to an end, and a barren land spread out before her.

Everything there was red.

Under a blood-red sky stretched a desert made of crimson sand.

And in the distance, standing near the portal, was the person she had longed for more than anyone.

“Kangwoo…!”

Jiwoo called his name out loud, but her voice was soon swallowed by the wind blowing through the desolate desert.

She stepped through the sand that sank all the way to her ankles and ran toward Kangwoo.

The closer she got, the more overwhelming the scene before her became.

Kangwoo was fighting the monsters all by himself.

The long sword in his hand moved as if it were alive, and every slash mercilessly tore apart everything it touched.

‘So this is where Kangwoo has been all this time….’

Whenever Kangwoo overused his power, black veins would sometimes spread across his arms like a curse.

Kangwoo had said that they were the price he had to pay.

The price he had paid to cross worlds and meet Jiwoo.

But the Kangwoo before her now seemed free from those restrictions, releasing his full power without holding back.

His movements as he freely weaved through the monsters were incredibly beautiful, yet there was something terribly lonely about them.

Jiwoo’s footsteps gradually slowed.

Kangwoo, who had just finished clearing out a massive wave of monsters, finally noticed her presence.

“Jiwoo?”

The moment his eyes, colored like the red energy of the desert, turned toward Jiwoo, all the sounds of the world seemed to fade away.

Kangwoo closed the distance in an instant.

Red sand scattered through the air, and hot wind swirled around him as he moved.

Before she knew it, he was standing right in front of Jiwoo.

“……”

Jiwoo silently looked at Kangwoo.

Kangwoo quietly looked down at her, then suddenly curled the corner of his lips into a bitter smile.

“Right. You couldn’t possibly be here. Is this another hallucination?”

Once again, he must have been seeing things because he missed Jiwoo too much.

Perhaps his illness had returned the moment he crossed into another world.

Kangwoo laughed at himself for thinking that way.

Yet even while dismissing Jiwoo as an illusion, he could not take his eyes off her.

As if she would disappear the moment he looked away.

Unable to bear watching him any longer, Jiwoo reached out and grabbed the hem of Kangwoo’s clothes.

“What are you talking about when I’m standing right in front of you?”

“…Jiwoo?”

“Idiot. What do you mean, a hallucination?”

The moment he realized that what he was seeing was not an illusion, Kangwoo blinked twice in disbelief.

Jiwoo grabbed his clothes and shook them as if throwing a childish tantrum.

The expressionless look on Kangwoo’s face slowly melted away.

“It really is you, Jiwoo….”

Blood droplets had dried on his beautiful face, as if he had been fighting for a very long time.

Kangwoo slowly reached out toward Jiwoo.

His fingertips trembled terribly, as though he had finally recovered a treasure he had lost long ago.

But just before he could pull Jiwoo into his arms, his hand suddenly stopped.

“I’m sorry, Jiwoo. I’m… too dirty right now.”

After fighting for so long, his entire body was covered in blood and desert sand.

His low voice was filled with fear and regret at the thought of getting even a little dust on Jiwoo.

Even so, unable to hide how much he wanted to hold her, his hand hesitated in the air.

In the end, Jiwoo could no longer hold back what had been building inside her.

She threw herself into Kangwoo’s arms first.

“Who cares about something like that? Seriously, you’re always like this, so I…”

A faint sob escaped her.

Buried in his arms, Jiwoo finally let out all the tears she had been holding back.

Kangwoo froze for a moment, seemingly shocked by her crying, before pulling her tightly into his arms.

“I’m sorry, Jiwoo.”

“Yeah! This is your fault, Kangwoo. You said you’d come back soon, so why are you here doing this? Seriously….”

Jiwoo pounded her fists against the arms that held her.

She couldn’t see it because it was hidden, but when one of his injured areas was struck, Kangwoo slightly frowned.

“Stop pretending it hurts! How hard do you think I can hit you?”

You’re always pretending to be hurt whenever you get the chance.

You never keep your promises, and you keep disappearing.

Muttering complaints, Jiwoo rested her forehead against Kangwoo’s shoulder.

A faint laugh escaped him.

His arms holding Jiwoo tightened slightly.

“You’re laughing? Do you think I’m joking right now… ngh.”

The moment Jiwoo glared up at him, Kangwoo could no longer hold himself back.

He cupped both of her cheeks and kissed her.

What began as a light kiss gradually became deeper.

His firm fingers pushed through her hair.

The touch of his hand tracing her scalp sent a pleasant shiver from her head to her toes.

He sucked on her lower lip and gently bit it, careful not to hurt her, causing Jiwoo’s lips to part.

He did not miss the opening and let his warm breath flow between her parted lips.

Unlike before, when he had been careful even about the slightest touch, Kangwoo explored her mouth without hesitation.

He drew in her tongue as she tried to pull away in embarrassment, teasingly nipped at it with his teeth, then soothed it with gentle strokes.

Jiwoo’s legs instinctively lost their strength, and she grabbed Kangwoo’s arm.

The more she leaned against him, the deeper and more persistent the kiss became.

When Kangwoo’s hand, which had been tangled in her hair, moved down to caress the back of her neck, Jiwoo pushed him away.

Their lips parted, leaving a long silver thread between them.

Just before Kangwoo could lunge forward again—

“W-Wait!”

“……”

Kangwoo’s eyes turned fierce, like a predator that had just had its prey taken away.

Jiwoo, still catching her breath, hurriedly spoke.

“We have to go back within ten minutes! The Guild Master said he’d close the portal once I brought you out.”

Th-This can wait until later….

With her cheeks flushed, Jiwoo took Kangwoo’s hand and began walking toward the portal.

They would only make it in time if they ran now.

But then—

“What? Why are you…?”

After only a few steps, Jiwoo had no choice but to turn around.

Kangwoo had not moved an inch.

Normally, he would at least pretend to follow her reluctantly.

So why was he acting like this?

Just as Jiwoo stared at him in confusion—

“Hunter Do Jiwoo!”

From far away, someone who should never have been here came running toward Jiwoo.

Startled, Jiwoo grabbed Kangwoo’s hand tightly and shouted.

“Guild Master? Why did you come in? You said you would close the portal after ten minutes!”

If he came inside, then who was going to close the portal?

Jiwoo looked at Shin Woohyuk with resentment as he approached and looked back and forth between Jiwoo and Seo Kangwoo.

Then—

“The portal won’t close.”

“What?”

“It has been an hour since Hunter Do Jiwoo entered. I couldn’t wait any longer….”

His voice was calm, but it carried both an apology and the firm resolve of someone who did not regret his decision.

His explanation ended there, but Jiwoo could roughly understand what had happened.

“The portal… won’t close?”

“It didn’t even leave a scratch.”

If even Shin Woohyuk’s attack had done nothing to it, then there was no way to forcibly destroy the portal.

“That’s impossible. Then how are we supposed to…?”

The happiness she had felt just moments ago plummeted into despair.

There was a limit to how long they could fight the monsters.

Kangwoo was stopping the monsters pouring into this place right now, but he was still human and would eventually grow tired.

One person could not fight against the entire world.

So if they could not close the portal, then what would happen next…

Just as Jiwoo was overcome by despair, unable to bring herself to say the next words, the warmth in her palm slowly disappeared.

“Go back now, Jiwoo.”

“…What do you mean?”

When Jiwoo turned to Kangwoo, he smiled as he always did, his eyes curving gently.

He neatly brushed back Jiwoo’s disheveled hair.

There was not even the slightest tremor in his voice.

“I can close it from here.”