Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! – Chapter 35

Author: Asternkm

Whether Shin Woo-hyeok was watching him or not, Kang-woo never left Ji-woo’s side.

Not knowing the deeper situation, Ji-woo just thought the two men were awkward around each other and let it slide.

As they ate, the topic naturally turned back to Hee-seong’s awakening mission.

“Noona, what do you think this ‘special flower’ really is? Do you have any guesses?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure either…… Maybe it’s something symbolic? Guild Master, what do you think?”

“I think so too. Awakening systems often make strange requests, like nonsense riddles.”

A special flower. A symbolic flower…….

Something suddenly crossed Ji-woo’s mind.

“Flowers are often used to describe beautiful people, right? When you say flower, maybe it means… ‘more beautiful than flowers’?”

What could be more beautiful than a flower?

Everyone was deep in thought when Kang-woo returned from behind the hut, where he’d gone to bring more firewood.

Seo Kang-woo—an owner of a selfishly perfect face that almost took your breath away.

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to the tall figure walking toward them.

Moonlight settled on Kang-woo’s hair, making it shine a mysterious silver-gray.

His unreal aura, already otherworldly, stood out even more.

The first one to mutter upon seeing him was Hee-seong.

“…More beautiful than flowers, Kang-woo-nim.”

─ Nyanyak.

Dong-sik nodded up and down.

Shin Woo-hyeok didn’t want to agree, but he couldn’t bring himself to argue and simply closed his eyes.

“Ji-woo.”

Smiling brightly, Kang-woo walked toward her and tilted his head at the strange atmosphere.

“Ji-woo, what were you talking about?”

“…About planting you in the flower bed.”

Even after Kang-woo joined them, the discussion went nowhere.

‘No way the system wants us to bury someone alive.’

‘You never know. Maybe we should try planting Kang-woo once.’

The first was said by Ji-woo and Hee-seong.

The second was the opinion of Dong-sik and Shin Woo-hyeok.

The meeting slowly derailed.

Shin Woo-hyeok stood up first.

“Hunter Do Ji-woo, I’ll take care of cleaning up. Please rest for a bit.”

“Yeah! I’ll go wash the dishes with Woo-hyeok-nim at the stream!”

“Huh? I was going to go too—”

“Noona. Even if it’s you, I can’t forgive you for ruining Woo-hyeok-nim’s chance to be alone.”

She’d forgotten for a moment.

Once upon a time, Shin Woo-hyeok had been the top hunter on Hee-seong’s phone wallpaper.

─ I’ll come too, nyak!

Even clueless Dong-sik followed, saying he’d catch more fish.

In the end, Ji-woo was left alone.

She squatted in front of the flower bed behind the hut.

‘What really is this special flower? I need to figure it out to finish Hee-seong’s awakening safely.’

Should she really try planting Kang-woo?

Ji-woo imagined Kang-woo buried in the dirt, with only his head sticking out, staring blankly at her.

Kang-woo blooming among colorful, beautiful flowers.

“Pfft!”

She burst out laughing while touching the soil.

Somehow, even in such a ridiculous situation, she could imagine Kang-woo smiling softly at her with those pretty eyes.

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, a low voice sounded behind her.

“Ji-woo, I stacked dry firewood inside the hut as well.”

“Oh, thank you! Whew, keeping the fire going is really hard work.”

Maybe it was because 〈Our Home〉 was only E-rank.

Even though the wind was calm, the campfire kept threatening to go out.

Thankfully, thanks to Kang-woo—who was strangely serious about firewood—the embers stayed alive.

“But still, we can’t live with just a campfire forever. Do you think things will get better when the comfort rank goes up?”

“Yes. It will. Don’t worry.”

…Just like our home had been before. Kang-woo’s voice grew so quiet it was almost impossible to hear.

After checking that no one was around, he continued in a much more relaxed tone.

“Ji-woo, do you need anything else?”

“No, I’m fine now— ah!”

Ji-woo nodded without thinking, then slapped her knee.

Come to think of it, they’d talked about everything except the opinion of the very person who might end up being buried in the flower bed.

“What about you, Kang-woo? Do you have any idea what the system means by a ‘special flower’? Everyone else thinks it means something beautiful, but I’m not really sure.”

Ji-woo puckered her lips and fell into thought. Kang-woo stared straight at her.

His expressionless face, without even a hint of a smile, felt unfamiliar.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Instead of answering, Kang-woo lifted a lock of Ji-woo’s curly hair and pressed a soft kiss to the tip.

“If it’s something beautiful, then it’s right here. My one and only flower.”

The slow kiss that started at the end of her hair gradually moved upward, heading for her cheek.

Just before his lips touched her face, Ji-woo snapped back to her senses, covered her cheek, and stepped back.

‘Aaaah! Why again, all of a sudden!!’

This was my fault for asking so seriously!

Had Kang-woo’s brakes completely broken after their private agreement?

She’d thought he’d been quieter and less flirty since yesterday—but that was just her imagination.

‘I told him to be careful in front of others, and now he’s even worse when we’re alone!’

With her face burning red, Ji-woo took off running, leaving behind the now even bolder Kang-woo.

Kang-woo caught up in just a few steps and followed right behind her.

“Ji-woo, what’s wrong? Is it because I called you a flower? But you said beautiful things are called flowers.”

“Aah! Stop it! Stop! Stop chasing me!”

“But Ji-woo, if you only show me your back like that, it makes me want to keep following you.”

“Then what if I face you?”

“Then I’ll want to hug you.”

“Then just close your eyes!”

Their game of tag went on endlessly.

Just when Ji-woo, now caught, was desperately wishing the others would come back—

A pure white light suddenly burst out in the sky in the direction of the valley.

“Huh…?”

Ji-woo, who had been running circles around the hut, froze in place.

Like a signal flare, a bright light flashed against the sunset-colored sky.

Ji-woo had seen a light like that before.

When the gate that swallowed her parents had appeared long ago.

And again, right before she entered a safe zone, when an A-rank gate activated in a building.

“That’s where the kids are…!”

Her heart dropped.

Ji-woo ran toward the valley where her younger sibling was.

Had she let her guard down because it was a safe zone?

Shin Woo-hyuk was with them as a guardian, but fear hit her all at once.

Running too fast, Ji-woo nearly tripped over a stone.

Kang-woo, right behind her, grabbed her waist at just the right moment.

“It’s okay, Ji-woo. It’s not something dangerous, so you don’t have to rush.”

“Do you know what that is, Kang-woo?”

“…I don’t remember clearly, but I know a little.”

Still unable to calm down, Ji-woo limped forward. Kang-woo’s brows furrowed in displeasure.

Without giving her a chance to stop him, he lifted her straight up into his arms.

“K-Kang-woo!”

“If we’re going anyway, this’ll be faster.”

Held in Kang-woo’s arms, Ji-woo soared up into the air.

Each time Kang-woo lightly kicked off, the clouds felt close enough to touch.

Her vision spun wildly, making her dizzy, but Ji-woo forced her eyes open and endured it.

“There— I can see them!”

Kang-woo stepped across nearby trees one by one and landed on the ground, then gently set Ji-woo down.

Just as Kang-woo had said, the three who went to the valley were safe. However, they were gathered with serious expressions, standing around Hee-seong.

“Do Hee-seong, what happened?!”

Hee-seong’s face brightened when he saw Ji-woo.

He tried to run toward her, but after only a few steps, he stopped in place.

“Noona….”

Bright light burst out from Hee-seong’s palm as he trailed off.

“H-Hee-seong, what is that?”

“I don’t know either. A notification popped up, but….”

A system window appeared, saying a skill was being temporarily unlocked to complete “Create a Special Flower Bed.”

And after accepting it, light started coming out of his hand.

“All I said was that I wanted to go where the flowers were, and then this thing suddenly appeared….”

The light flowing from Hee-seong’s hand bent freely as he moved.

Its end was connected to a single point on the ground.