Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 33

“Everyday life…….”

“Yes. Everyone has their own personal space, right? Things they don’t want anyone else to intrude on.”

Ji-woo carefully explained to Kang-woo what she wanted.

The next step was empathy.

“Haven’t you had a similar experience before? Like precious time you don’t want to be interrupted.”

Sleeping in late until lunchtime on the weekend.
Soaking your whole body in warm water while listening to your favorite song.

Or finishing all your work, then watching TV with a cold beer in hand.

Things like that.

But Kang-woo was very different.

“Right now.”

“…Huh?”

“This moment right now, being like this with Ji-woo, is precious.”

“…….”

“I wish every moment I spend with Ji-woo would last forever. …I don’t want anyone to interrupt.”

Kang-woo narrowed his eyes and stared sharply.

Was this what a starving beast looked like when someone tried to steal its meal?

Whoever he was imagining, he looked deeply upset.

“I think I understand now. Ji-woo’s everyday life must be that precious to you.”

“Uh, y-yeah. It is precious…….”

It felt like things were slightly off, but Ji-woo decided to let it slide for now.

What mattered was that he’d empathized—somehow.

…If this even counted as empathy.

‘Am I doing this right, Counselor?’

Kang-woo asked next,

“Am I interfering with Ji-woo’s everyday life?”

“No, it’s not that exactly…… It just feels like there’s a big chance it could become that way. You know—Kang-woo feels like someone who lives in a completely different world from me.”

“That’s only because I just returned from the other world. I’ll adapt properly from now on.”

“No, that’s not what I meant! It’s just that everything about you is too… amazing.”

His dazzlingly perfect looks and powerfully built body didn’t even need mentioning.

A third-generation chaebol—background straight out of the trashy dramas her sibling watched.

A returnee, an out-of-spec SSS-rank awakened hunter.

And on top of that, the team leader of the terrifying Emergency Disaster Team.

After listening, Kang-woo slowly nodded.

“I see. Then, as soon as we leave the dungeon, I will cut ties with my family and give up my hunter license.”

“…What?”

When a person is shocked too badly, maybe their brain just shuts down.

When Ji-woo didn’t respond, Kang-woo seemed to take it as agreement and grew more confident.

His voice continued, full of certainty.

“That won’t be difficult. I can change jobs immediately, and as for my appearance—”

“Wait! What are you even talking about?!”

At this rate, he looked ready to run to a plastic surgeon and change his face.

Ji-woo smacked the ground hard.

“If you do that, I’ll go to hell when I die! No—hell wouldn’t even accept my registration!”

Kang-woo stared blankly for a moment, then said,

“Ji-woo, your palm is red.”

…And gently placed her hand on his knee. If she had to hit something, she should hit him instead.

Only then did Ji-woo realize—

‘This isn’t something that can be solved just by talking.’

Only time could fix this.

Until the day fully broke, Ji-woo and Kang-woo continued their long conversation.

And on the dirt ground, their final agreement was written down.

1. From now on (when other people are around), no physical contact.

2. Forms of address: Ji-woo / Ji-woo-ssi (this one with polite speech)

3. Separate public and private matters

Kang-woo stared hard at item number one.

“Ji-woo, then what about holding hands in front of people?”

“Of course not.”

“…Okay.”

His broad shoulders drooped, clearly disappointed.

In fact, the part in parentheses had only been added because Kang-woo stubbornly insisted on it.

Ji-woo had already half given up on stopping Kang-woo’s charges, so she decided to concede just that much.

Then Ji-woo stretched and stood up.

“Shall we head back soon? If we’re gone too long, everyone will think it’s strange.”

At that, Kang-woo confidently laced his fingers with hers.

Then he curved his eyes gently and smiled with his eyes.

“There’s still only the two of us.”

“…Hmm.”

Suddenly, Ji-woo wondered if she’d made a mistake.

Like she’d handed him a perfect excuse.

‘Ah, well. This much should be fine.’

Friends can hold hands too, right?

…Right?

Thankfully, Kang-woo looked happier than ever.

If he had a tail, it felt like it would be swishing back and forth happily.

****

System

Mission: Deadly 〈Butler〉 Awakening! (1)

-1 Pulling weeds / Complete ★
-2 Removing stones / Progress: 0%
-3 Making a special flower bed / Progress: 0%

“Noona, the first mission is already finished!”

Hee-seong ran over to deliver the good news.

Once Kang-woo and Shin Woo-hyeok went out with their hoes, the work speed became insanely fast.

Where the two men passed, there weren’t even weeds left—no footprints either.

‘As expected of Korea’s strongest hunters!’

Ji-woo clapped her hands enthusiastically.

At this pace, it looked like they’d clear the next mission quickly too.

“Alright, then let’s cheer up and start picking out the stones!”

This time, unlike before, they decided to work in pairs.

One person would pick out the stones, and the other would load them into a cart and dump them far away.

“Luckily, the number of people is perfectly even.”

There were four people total.

They drew lots fairly, and the teams turned out like this:

Ji-woo and Shin Woo-hyeok.
Hee-seong and Kang-woo.

And Dong-sik was the odd one out.

— Nyaak! Why am I the odd one out?!

“Hey, your wings are short. You’re tiny and can’t even reach the cart.”

— How dare you disrespect Lord Dong-sik! You humans don’t even have beaks!

As the Hee-dong duo bickered back and forth, Shin Woo-hyeok made a strange expression.

“Hunter Do Ji-woo, what exactly is that penguin? Judging by all the quacking, it seems to communicate with your sibling.”

“Ah, Dong-sik…….”

“Is that also a monster, by any chance?”

Shin Woo-hyeok didn’t seem very pleased with Dong-sik.

He’d reacted similarly when Ji-woo communicated with the Ant Men.

Even though that had helped rescue the missing child, Shin Woo-hyeok felt uncomfortable relying on monsters.

‘Well, it’s not like any hunter actually likes monsters.’

Hunters were people who hunted monsters.

Not for fun, of course.

Some fought for money, others risked their lives out of a sense of duty to humanity.

Shin Woo-hyeok had lost many comrades while clearing dungeons, so it made sense that his hostility toward monsters was strong.

But… after experiencing many things over the past few days, Ji-woo’s thoughts had changed.

‘Dong-sik isn’t that different from a person. He talks like one, acts like one, and even has emotions.’

Ji-woo looked at Dong-sik, who was play-fighting with Hee-seong.

They’d only been together for a few days, but Dong-sik was no longer just a monster to her.

He had stepped inside the line Ji-woo drew toward others—

the line that defined closeness.

‘And the Ant Men were gentler than I expected too.’

At first, they bared their teeth and attacked, but that was only because Ji-woo and Shin Woo-hyeok had entered their territory.

Once they actually talked, the Ant Men even guided them along the path and acted friendly.

‘So maybe…….’

Maybe there really were kind monsters in this world.

Still, she couldn’t say something like that to Shin Woo-hyeok.

“Guild Master, Dong-sik is just my summon. My awakening type is pretty unusual, you know.”

“…Yes, that’s true.”

How many hunters in the world had a house connected to a dungeon?

Shin Woo-hyeok immediately dropped his suspicion.

The two teams—and the odd one out—picked out stones all afternoon.

But since there was no end in sight even by dinnertime, they decided to take a break.

As they were heading back to the hut, Ji-woo noticed something strange.

‘Do Hee-seong… why is he acting like that?’

Last night, Ji-woo had warned Hee-seong.

‘If you keep doing that, how uncomfortable do you think Seo Kang-woo will feel? You need to keep some boundaries.’

It was fine to be a fan since he was a famous hunter, but clinging beyond that was rude.

Thankfully, after that, Hee-seong stopped chasing Kang-woo around shouting “Kang-woo-nim! Kang-woo-nim!”

Instead, whenever he stood in front of Kang-woo, he became very quiet and calm. His normally casual way of speaking softened too.

Maybe because Hee-seong was her younger sibling, Kang-woo also clearly took good care of him.

That was why Ji-woo hadn’t said anything when the two were paired up.

“Brother-in-law, are you good at cooking? My sister likes men who can cook.”

“Ah, cooking…… Thanks. When we get back, I’ll try learning how to cook too.”

For a moment, Ji-woo doubted her own ears.

‘Did I just hear things? Do I need to go to the hospital?’

But it wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

“Hee-seong.”

When Kang-woo called out,

“Yes, brother-in-law!”

Hee-seong replied.