Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 52

‘…He doesn’t even use conditioner, so why is his hair this smooth?’

It was something Jiwoo couldn’t understand at all. No matter how much she brushed her own stubborn, wavy hair morning and night, it always curled up.

As she stayed quietly in his arms, Kangwoo rubbed the bridge of his nose against her shoulder.

Then, just as his red lips were about to touch near her white, delicate collarbone—

Jiwoo suddenly came to her senses.

“Ah, right! Wait a second! I have something to say!”

“…….”

Jiwoo pushed Kangwoo back.

He stepped back as she pushed him, but his eyelids fluttered in clear dissatisfaction.

Jiwoo sat down in the middle of the living room and tapped the floor lightly.

“Kangwoo, can you sit here for a moment?”

“Yeah.”

As always, Kangwoo did as she asked without even questioning why.

“Ahem, so… actually, I came because I had something to ask you.”

She had been so shocked by the state of Kangwoo’s house—bad enough to scare off a ghost—that she had completely forgotten her original purpose.

“It’s not that I have bad intentions or anything. It’s just… about skinship…”

“Skinship?”

“Yes, I mean… skinship with you, Kangwoo…”

She needed to say it, but once she opened her mouth, the words wouldn’t come out easily.

After stumbling over her words a few times, Jiwoo finally came up with a different sentence.

“Kangwoo, from now on, I’m not Do Jiwoo. I’m a puppy. A puppy passing by on the street. Woof! Bark bark!”

“Hm?”

At the incomprehensible statement, Kangwoo’s expression stiffened slightly.

‘It’s better to show him directly than explain it with words.’

Jiwoo slowly reached her hand toward the seated Kangwoo.

The moment her thin fingers touched his arm, where veins stood out—

“……!”

Kangwoo, who had been quietly watching, suddenly jerked his upper body backward.

Jiwoo was startled by his sensitive reaction.

Then she felt dumbfounded.

‘…What is this reaction?’

He’s the one who always holds hands, hugs her, even brushes lips whenever he gets the chance!

Is touching his arm with one finger really that terrible?

Her lost sense of reason came back as courage instead.

Jiwoo stepped closer by exactly the amount Kangwoo had retreated.

“Can I do more?”

“…….”

Kangwoo slowly nodded.

“Then I’ll start by interlacing fingers.”

Her fingers slid down and took his hand, weaving their fingers together.

Each time Jiwoo’s fingers slipped between his, Kangwoo flinched.

Every twitch made his jawline stand out sharply, and his ears burned bright red.

From between his slightly parted lips, something like a sigh escaped.

“Ah… Jiwoo.”

“Yes?”

“…….”

Instead of answering, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

It was a completely different 모습 from the Kangwoo who usually teased her so calmly.

Encouraged, Jiwoo even hooked her arm through his, starting to find it fun.

‘If he reacts this much to linking arms, hugging him would cause total chaos.’

Hugging wasn’t a big deal—it was something they did almost like a daily greeting.

Even just now, Kangwoo had pulled her into his arms first, even if it was to support her.

Jiwoo glanced at Kangwoo’s face.

He was stiff all over, eyes tightly shut. Only the arm touching hers trembled from time to time.

‘Honestly, anyone watching would think I’m doing something awful.’

When he was the one doing this kind of thing every day.

Feeling unfairly wronged, Jiwoo suddenly threw herself into his arms.

“Hug attack!”

“…Ugh.”

Caught off guard, Kangwoo stumbled backward while holding Jiwoo.

Thump!

The back of his head hit the floor, and Jiwoo, having lost her balance too, fell on top of him.

“Ah, sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t scare you too much, did I?”

Supporting herself with her arms, Jiwoo tried to lift her body.

Then she saw it—right in front of her nose—Kangwoo’s flushed lips.

“Uh……”

As if bewitched, Jiwoo met Kangwoo’s gaze.

His pupils, slightly unfocused, rippled like waves on a lake.

Kangwoo didn’t push Jiwoo away, even though she was pressed close to him.

Instead, his arms—wrapped around her back to protect her—tightened.

“…Jiwoo.”

His whisper blended with his breath and scattered softly.

It felt like they were the only two people left in the world.

In the illusion of time slowing down, the distance between them gradually closed.

And then, at that exact moment—

Bang!

System

Congratulations! A skill has been unlocked.

“…Huh!”

Snapping back to her senses, Jiwoo covered her lips and scrambled to her feet.

“…….”

“…….”

An awkward silence filled the empty house.

Sitting far away from Kangwoo, Jiwoo finally spoke.

“…Ha, haha. The heating works really well here. Good move, coming here. The floor is super warm!”

“…….”

Like a raccoon who had lost its cotton candy, Kangwoo’s expression turned empty.

A short while later, after hearing the situation from Jiwoo, Kangwoo frowned deeply.

“You’re saying the skill unlocks when you make contact with me?”

“Yes, it happened again this time. Isn’t that strange? Kangwoo, doesn’t anything come to mind for you?”

After thinking for a moment, Kangwoo nodded.

“…Maybe. I am a returnee, after all.”

The energy of another world overflowed from him so much that even the system classified Kangwoo as something close to a monster.

So maybe when Jiwoo came into close contact with him, she was affected by that energy too.

It was only a hypothesis, but they decided to go with it for now.

…Well, more accurately, only Jiwoo decided to go with it.

The previously calm Kangwoo suddenly leaned toward Jiwoo.

Pushing his messy hair back, he whispered,

“Let’s do it one more time.”

“Huh?”

“To see if the skill unlocks again. Let’s try once more.”

“W-What are we supposed to do?!”

Do what? We didn’t even do anything! We really didn’t!

The situation flipped in an instant.

The shy man from moments ago was gone, replaced by the usual bold Seo Kangwoo.

Jiwoo quickly ran for the front door to escape the charging Kangwoo.

The force of his pursuit was fierce, like a hunter chasing a rabbit.

“Eek! Stay away!”

I’m not testing anything! I’m not doing it!

 

 

****

 

 

Jiwoo went up to the 10th floor and immediately moved to the Safe Zone.

It was thanks to the semi-permanent portal Heeseong had set up in the living room.

The moment she stepped into the Safe Zone, a notification window popped up.

[※Advertisement※]

★Newlyweds’ Home Upgrade Package★

“…Newlyweds’ home?”

It was a word that stimulated Kangwoo’s instincts.

As Kangwoo stopped and carefully scanned the system window, Jiwoo was startled.

“Kangwoo, can you see this notification too?”

“Yeah.”

…Why?

Kangwoo wasn’t her pet, her caretaker, or even some extra like an ant-man or something.

Jiwoo tried using a skill on Kangwoo.

The all-purpose skill that showed a target’s status!

“[Holy Eyes!].”

[Error: Unable to retrieve information.]

Seriously, this annoying error again.

“Skip the ad! Kangwoo, let’s go!”

“…….”

Maybe he felt regretful that the ad disappeared, because Kangwoo kept glancing at the empty air.

He looked like a little kid hovering around a department store toy section.

The only unusual thing was that this kid had enough money to buy the entire department store.

[★Special Double Discount!]

Newlyweds’ Home Upgrade Package for only 20 billion!

The ad window appeared again right in front of Kangwoo.

[★The First Step to a Sweet Newlywed Life!]

A package that will make your love deeper and richer.

Share special moments with the woman you love.

This time, it came with lines that completely made Kangwoo lose his mind.

So focused on reading the ad, his lips slowly parted.

“…Kangwoo?”

“Jiwoo, let’s buy this.”

Not “Should we buy this?”
Not “Let’s buy it.”
But “Let’s buy this.”

Exactly the type who would walk into a department store once and walk out completely broke.

Kangwoo fell perfectly for the sales tactics of this unfamiliar shop.

Wallet-guardian Jiwoo shut it down immediately.

“No!”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Where are we supposed to get 20 billion— ah, right. You probably have it.”

She might not, but Kangwoo definitely would. Jiwoo grabbed Kangwoo’s hand.

His gaze, which had been lingering in midair, shifted to her.

“But Jiwoo, a special moment with you here—”

“Special or not, no means no. It’s totally overpriced. And this is my house—why would you buy something like that for me? What are we even to each other?”

“…….”

Kangwoo didn’t answer.

As the silence dragged on, Jiwoo felt a bit of regret.

‘Was I too harsh?’

Still, it couldn’t be helped. If she left him alone, he really looked like he’d buy it on the spot.

Jiwoo took her staff out of her arms and erased the notification window.

Then she hurriedly changed the subject.

“Alright, enough of that. Let’s go. Heeseong is probably already at ‘our place’ anyway. These days, he comes here the moment he opens his eyes.”

“…….”

“Kangwoo?”

Don’t tell me the ad popped up again?

With a bad feeling, Jiwoo stepped closer to Kangwoo.

Standing still under the sunlight, Kangwoo’s eyes looked lighter in color than usual.

But his gaze wasn’t on the air.

It was fixed on the staff Jiwoo was holding.

“Jiwoo.”

“Yes?”

“What’s that?”

His long finger pointed at the staff she had received from Shin Woohyuk.