Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 72

Come to think of it, the dead man hadn’t bled at all. Jiwoo had simply been too flustered to notice.

“What exactly just happened? And who was that man?”

“…….”

“Please explain.”

“…It’s not something you need to know, Jiwoo.”

“That man knew me. And you’re saying it’s still not something I should know?”

Kangwoo averted his gaze. It was a firm refusal.

For the first time, Jiwoo felt angry at him.

“What are you hiding from me?”

Until now, even when she was curious, she’d pretended not to notice.

Antman trembling and fleeing whenever he saw Kangwoo. Kangwoo sticking close to her no matter whether she was going for a walk or heading to work. Even the fact that he knew about abilities Jiwoo herself didn’t realize she had.

She’d known all along that he was hiding something.

But she let it be.

Everyone had at least one secret they didn’t want others to uncover.

Jiwoo didn’t want to pry into Kangwoo’s secrets at the cost of hurting him.

She’d waited, thinking he wouldn’t do anything bad to her, that he must have his reasons.

‘But this is different.’

When something inhuman was lurking around her, was she really supposed to stay ignorant and just rely on Kangwoo’s protection?

Jiwoo grabbed his sleeve.

“Why won’t you tell me anything? Is it because you don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that, Jiwoo.”

“Then why?”

“…….”

Kangwoo never answered.

He looked down at her with a troubled expression, then slowly pushed her arm away.

“This place is dangerous. Let’s go back. Home.”

“Is it really dangerous here?”

Was he telling her to go home because it was truly dangerous—or was he just dodging the conversation?

If he was going to be stubborn, then so would she.

Jiwoo planted her feet and refused to move.

“If you don’t tell me anything, then I can’t trust you about anything either.”

She wasn’t leaving until he told her what he was hiding.

“Jiwoo!”

“I don’t care if I’m in danger! I’ll act however I want too—just like you—no matter how much it frustrates the other person!”

“…….”

After glaring at each other in silence, Kangwoo was the one who finally gave in.

A sigh slipped from his well-shaped lips.

“Let’s go back first.”

“You’ll tell me once we’re home?”

Jiwoo eyed him suspiciously. Kangwoo held out his pinky finger.

“I promise. Once we’re inside, I’ll tell you everything.”

If it were anyone else, a childish pinky promise like this would never have worked.

Jiwoo was the type who wouldn’t feel at ease even with a signed contract and a guarantor.

But this was Seo Kangwoo.

The man who always agreed to anything Jiwoo said. The man whose devotion to her alone reached a full one hundred percent.

“Okay. No backing out! Promise!”

Jiwoo quickly hooked her pinky around his.

Then she laced her fingers with his hand.

“Jiwoo?”

“Lead the way. Who knows when you might run off again?”

“…….”

With Kangwoo guiding her, they escaped the alley maze in one go.

All the way home, Kangwoo didn’t say a word.

His cold eyes revealed nothing of what he was thinking, and the face that always softened when he looked at Jiwoo was sharper than ever.

‘Is he… angry?’

Jiwoo glanced at him cautiously.

Earlier, she’d acted in ways she normally wouldn’t—threatening him with her own safety.

Kangwoo hated seeing her in danger more than anything, so she’d thought it would be effective.

‘Did I push him too far? …No. If I hadn’t pressed him like that, he would’ve never said anything at all.’

The silence weighed heavily on her, but Jiwoo resolved not to waver.

This time, she had to know what was happening without her.

Until they reached the apartment, Jiwoo didn’t let go of Kangwoo’s hand.

Beep beep beep beep.

At the front door, Jiwoo released their fingers and entered the door code.

“Heeseong should be in a safe zone today too. Kangwoo, for now, just calm down and come inside. Let’s at least have some tea and talk—huh?”

When there was no response, Jiwoo paused mid-motion and turned around.

The sight stunned her.

“W-What? Where did he go this time?!”

Kangwoo—who had stayed quietly by her side all the way to the elevator—was gone.

Had he flown into the sky? Fallen into the ground? It was baffling.

Dazed, Jiwoo stood there gripping the door for a long while.

Then—

Ding.

A text message arrived from Kangwoo.

Kangwoo
Don’t stand there. Go inside.

Jiwoo shouted after reading it.

“Kangwoo, you’re watching me from somewhere nearby, aren’t you?!”

“…….”

“We promised! You said you’d tell me once we got home—where did you go?!”

Kangwoo
I’m sorry, Jiwoo.

“If you’re sorry, then come out right now!”

Jiwoo fumed, clutching her phone.

Now she realized—his expression earlier hadn’t been anger. It had been guilt.

“So this is all the trust we have? I’m really disappointed!”

Urgent messages poured in.

Kangwoo
N-no, Jiwoo

He was so rushed that he even made typos he’d never make.

Kangwoo
P-please don’t be disapointed

“What do you mean ‘no’?! You never planned to keep the promise in the first place! Stop hiding and come out!”

But instead of Kangwoo appearing, three more messages arrived.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Kangwoo
I didn’t break the promise
I said I’d tell you once we went inside
And I didn’t go inside

‘Since he ran away before entering the house, he technically didn’t break the promise.’

At Kangwoo’s absurdly cute logic, Jiwoo’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper.

 

 

****

 

 

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, is something wrong? You don’t look very energetic.”

“Ah… no. I’ve just been sleeping poorly lately.”

In truth, her body ached from camping out at Kangwoo’s place all night.

Getting into his apartment had been easy.

The password was simple.

Jiwoo’s birthday.

Breaking and entering or not, Jiwoo—eyes blazing—had waited in Kangwoo’s apartment all night.

But Kangwoo must have noticed. He hadn’t come home for days.

“Tsk tsk, young people shouldn’t be so worn out. That’s what happens when you don’t exercise—can’t sleep properly. Exercise is the best cure for insomnia.”

Cha Taepyeong dispensed his advice while holding dumbbells.

“To live healthy and sleep well, you gotta work out. Work out! Physical strength is national strength!”

Lately, Cha Taepyeong practically lived in the guild’s training room.

All to escape his eternal last-place ranking in performance evaluations.

Specifically, to fulfill Yoo Jaekyung’s wish.

His enthusiasm spilled over and splashed innocent bystanders.

“Ugh… my muscles are killing me…”

Shin Ilguk, who’d been forcibly dragged into evaluation prep, groaned.

“Are you really complaining?! Push harder! Squeeze those muscles! You’re a tank—how are you supposed to protect your teammates like that?!”

“…….”

Jiwoo felt deeply grateful that she was a healer.

Performance evaluations were conducted in order: healer, tank, dealer, then other specialized awakened types.

Since Special Team 7 had no ‘other’ types, Yoo Jaekyung’s practical evaluation was last.

“But why is Hunter Yoo Jaekyung so late? It’s already past the time he should’ve done ten practical tests.”

Oh Nara, who’d been writing in her diary, answered.

“Ah, maybe he’s having a meeting with the guild master. At the end of evaluations, team leaders usually assess their team members.”

“Ohhh, they do that too?”

“Yes… Up until now, the team leader always gave high scores, so it was fine, but… w-what if he gives the lowest score because of what happened in the dungeon?”

Oh Nara chewed on her nails.

“No way. We survived that dungeon—that alone means we did our job.”

“S-still, I didn’t do anything. Jiwoo found the path and detected monsters, but…”

“What do you mean you didn’t do anything? We could make a fire in the cave thanks to your diary.”

“That was nothing, really…”

“What are you talking about! If it weren’t for that diary, we wouldn’t even have been able to light a fire—we’d have been shivering, and if we caught a cold, our condition might’ve dropped and we wouldn’t have escaped!”

Jiwoo encouraged the shrinking Oh Nara.

As Oh Nara began treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, Special Team 7 also received related training.

The pamphlet given by the therapist emphasized that even the smallest actions should be praised, and positive feedback should always be given.