Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 79

Ji-woo stammered for a moment, then went over what she had just said.

“N-No, what I meant was, eat home-cooked food and then go home to sleep… I meant your house downstairs, not ours!”

“My home is wherever Ji-woo is.”

Kang-woo pulled up the corner of his lips and smiled.

“Ah….”

“Can’t I sleep over?”

The ends of his eyes curved gently, and a soft dimple formed on his smooth cheek.

For a moment, Ji-woo’s mind went blank.

‘So this is why people give fox spirits their liver and gallbladder— no, wait!’

She barely pulled herself together.

“S-Still, it’s not like you don’t have a house, so why would you sleep at ours— I mean, the apartment upstairs? That’s weird!”

“So if I didn’t have a house, it would be okay?”

“Well, if you didn’t have a house… then that couldn’t be helped.”

If he really had no home and no way to get one, she would have given him a room without hesitation.

Ji-woo knew the sadness of being homeless very well.

Now she was lucky enough to live in two houses—the one in the safe zone and the guild housing—but there had been a time when she moved from shelter to shelter.

‘Compared to then, I’m really well off now.’

She was used to saving money, but she didn’t have to go hungry anymore.

Even today, she had filled her cart with as much food as she wanted.

Back when she sold the house she inherited to pay for Hee-sung’s hospital bills, and when she had no money even for a sauna and used newspapers as blankets.

Thinking about her difficult childhood made her nose sting.

“I really fought hard to live, Do Ji-woo!”

She clenched her fist and shouted.

Kang-woo, who was pushing the cart beside her, suddenly burst out laughing.

His refreshing smile, like something from a sports drink commercial, left Ji-woo dazed.

“Why are you laughing like that?”

“Sometimes I wonder what you’re thinking about.”

Kang-woo gently tugged at the end of her hair. As he slowly rubbed it between his fingers, he looked as if he were handling something precious.

“Your curls are cute today too.”

“You really find the strangest things cute.”

Ji-woo quickly turned her red face away.

She remembered what Yoo Jae-kyung had said at a company dinner.

“If everything that person does seems cute to you? Then it’s over. You have to go all the way to marriage.”

‘No way. Sure, Kang-woo says I’m cute and lovable even when I just breathe….’

Still, Ji-woo thought that had nothing to do with marriage.

She continued shopping with Kang-woo.

After a short while, Kang-woo stopped pushing the cart.

“Ji-woo, this.”

“Yes?”

“You like this.”

He pointed at sun-dried red pepper paste. The extra spicy kind.

“You eat it with meat. One spoonful for every five pieces.”

“You remembered that? I was actually running out. I should grab a big one.”

Ji-woo looked over a large 15-kilogram commercial-sized container.

An employee who was organizing the shelf approached them.

“Ma’am, would you like to look at the product above it? It’s a new item on a buy-one-get-one-free sale.”

“Oh, thank you.”

The employee didn’t walk away right away and started chatting.

“Oh my, are you two here grocery shopping as a married couple? You look so nice together.”

“Married? Oh, no. We’re just acquaintances—”

“Oh?! Wait! Aren’t you Seo Kang-woo?”

The employee shouted after staring closely at Kang-woo’s face.

“What? Did a celebrity come?”

“Who’s Seo Kang-woo?”

“Hey, that super handsome hunter. The Daeun Group awakened one.”

People nearby started murmuring.

‘I-I’m doomed.’

Ji-woo quickly stepped in front of Kang-woo.

His large frame wasn’t really hidden, but the employee’s attention shifted to her.

“Oh my, it’s really him! He was on the TV news—”

Ji-woo hurriedly shouted,

“Hahaha, yes! My husband! We just got married recently.”

“Newlyweds? But I’m sure I saw on the news—”

“Hahaha! You must be mistaken! He’s a completely different person. My oppa is just so handsome that he gets mistaken for him all the time.”

Ji-woo elbowed Kang-woo hard from behind.

“Right, Cheolsu oppa?”

“…Oppa?”

Kang-woo raised an eyebrow.

He clearly didn’t look like he wanted to cooperate with this married-couple act.

“Cheolsu oppa, let’s go. Our kids must be waiting.”

Ji-woo dragged the resisting Kang-woo away.

After barely making it past the checkout, Ji-woo wiped her cold sweat.

“Whew, that was terrifying.”

Who knew their usual mart could be this dangerous?

Until now, even when they came together, not many people recognized Kang-woo.

He usually hid his presence, and even if people noticed him, they just whispered from afar, “Is that guy a model?”

But according to Hee-sung, after the recent A-rank Jeju Island gate raid, Kang-woo’s popularity had skyrocketed.

Apparently, his fan café was overflowing.

“Next time, you should at least wear a cap when we go out. Since it’s summer, sunglasses might work too.”

It wouldn’t completely hide his striking features, but it was better than nothing.

‘Sunglasses might feel stuffy. A cap would be better, right?’

He’d look good in anything, but she especially wanted to see him in a neat baseball cap like a college student.

She hadn’t properly repaid him for the cane he gave her before, so maybe this was a good chance to get him a gift…

That was when it happened.

Kang-woo, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly stopped walking.

Then—

“Ji-woo.”

“Yes?”

“Who is Cheolsu oppa?”

…he asked.

Had he been quiet all this time because of that?

Ji-woo explained, bewildered.

“I just made it up to get out of the situation. Cheolsu is a fake name.”

“So he doesn’t exist at all?”

“…Oh, come to think of it, I did know an oppa named Cheolsu in high school! He lived next door. Maybe I said his name without thinking.”

“Without thinking?”

“Yes, I was really close to Cheolsu oppa back then. We lost touch now, but I wonder if he’s doing well. He was such a kind and hardworking oppa.”

In that short moment, she said the word “oppa” seven times.

A dark shadow fell over Kang-woo’s face.

“Is his name only two syllables?”

“No. I think his last name was Kim?”

“…Kim Cheolsu.”

Kang-woo calmly pronounced each syllable.

That evening, an ordinary 29-year-old man named Kim Cheolsu, living peacefully in Korea, suddenly had to tremble at an unexplained killing intent.

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Sis, sis, am I a butler? Not a farmer? Then why do I keep getting dirt on my hands?”

Hee-sung muttered while holding a hoe.

Recently, Hee-sung had fallen into worry.

The special flower was no longer growing.

After using its petals to make a potion, the flowerbed had completely withered.

Instead, seeds appeared in its place—but no matter how much time passed, they didn’t sprout.

When Ji-woo examined them with her Holy Eyes skill, the problem appeared.

System

To bloom a special flower, all elements of nature must work in harmony.

Please gather the unique energies released by various living beings.

Tip: If you gather all three energies, the growth speed of the special flower will be permanently upgraded.

Antman’s Energy (1/1)

White Bird’s Energy (1/1)

??? (0/1)

A system window similar to the one she saw before appeared.

The difference was that “White Bird’s Energy” had been added, and a new condition had appeared below it.

“I guess the last flower was just a sample. It says we need to bring in one more guest to upgrade.”

“What?! Bring in another guest here? No way! You know how chaotic our safe zone already is!”

Hee-sung protested.

The war inside the safe zone had started when White Bird interfered with Antman’s farming, and it was still ongoing.

Although Ji-woo, as the landowner, had stepped in and calmed things down somewhat, Antman and White Bird still fought like they were trying to kill each other whenever they met.

Considering it was basically an insect and a bird, it was natural they wouldn’t get along.

Even Hee-sung, who had first taken Antman’s side, was now realizing how serious things were.

“Sis, isn’t there some good solution? I can’t live like this. It’s nerve-wracking.”