S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 10

‘He spoke.’

The voice was quiet, but one thing was certain: it wasn’t Cha Seohae or Childeuk.

‘He could just introduce himself.’

Could it be someone from the Association?

I shook my head at my own thought, finding it ridiculous.

‘After what happened to Do Joo-yeon, there’s no way they’d come looking for me this quickly.’

I heard about the car accident from Cha Seohae later. He said Do Joo-yeon had run away.

‘It was a serious accident. There was no way she could have come out of it completely fine.’

If the Association president had any sense, he wouldn’t send someone immediately. No, he couldn’t. His most trusted hunter had been injured and returned—how could he possibly do that?

‘Unless he deliberately came up with a plan and sent another S-Rank.’

While I was thinking about all sorts of possibilities, everything outside remained quiet.

Then I noticed the intercom phone beside the door.

I was just about to pick it up and call someone if the person outside remained silent.

“I’ve brought your meal.”

This time, the voice was clear, so I looked toward the door.

“Who is it?”

“I’m in charge of delivering meals.”

Maybe I really should make that call.

As I scanned the list of numbers, I suddenly changed my mind.

‘Should I use God’s protection and go out by myself?’

If it was someone from the Association or some suspicious person, their attack would simply be reflected. If Childeuk had sent someone else, I could just take the food.

It wasn’t a bad idea, so I immediately activated God’s Protection.

 

***

 

Cha Seohae quietly opened his eyes.

The familiar ceiling told him he was on the 45th floor.

Rustle.

He turned onto his side, and the blanket made a soft sound.

“Did I sleep?”

Still half-asleep, he moved his head slowly.

His gaze went not to the clock, but toward the sky outside the window.

A considerable amount of time had passed.

He had definitely entered his office in the afternoon, but now it was pitch-dark outside.

‘I was writing up a contract with the healer…’

Strangely, his memory had cut off as soon as he’d received the healing, as though someone had edited the film.

Falling asleep in the middle of a contract made no sense, yet his body felt remarkably refreshed.

He raised an arm over his eyes, letting out a hollow laugh as he exhaled without resistance.

“This is ridiculous.”

Has it really been a week since he’d relied on medication to sleep?

If so, it meant he’d gone quite a long time without getting proper sleep.

Even the medication he’d been taking had gradually become ineffective due to tolerance. The fact that he’d started dreaming while asleep was proof of that.

Whenever his body tried to rest, memories from that day would resurface.

Ever since his insomnia began, he’d never felt this light.

‘The healer is the culprit.’

The only thing that had been different from usual was that he’d received healing while writing the contract.

The moment he received that nearly golden-colored healing, the tension that had been wrapped around his body disappeared.

Cha Seohae checked the time.

Judging by how he felt, he’d slept for at least three hours.

“I had plans with the Sawol Guild.”

Looks like he’d be getting an earful when they met.

Cha Seohae let out a short sigh over the unexpected cancellation.

Even if he was on bad terms with the Association, he needed to maintain good relationships with other guilds.

Making any more enemies would only bring disadvantages.

Cha Seohae got up to deal with the situation.

“He didn’t look particularly strong, but she’s impressive.”

As he walked from the bed toward the desk, Cha Seohae pictured Moon Yeonhee in his mind.

The first thing that came to mind was the small hand she’d held out while offering to heal him.

Then he remembered her slender arm.

“Childeuk must’ve done it.”

No matter how little interest he had in her, being carried to bed by a woman wasn’t exactly dignified.

He ruffled his slightly disheveled hair and began flipping through the documents.

“Here it is.”

The contract he’d given the healer was there.

It wasn’t the document he’d been looking for, but the contract still needed to be finalized, so since he’d picked it up, he decided to read through it.

“Hah.”

He passed over the printed text and checked the final page.

There was the special clause she’d boldly demanded.

1. ‘Moon Yeonhee,’ as a ‘healer’ of the Baekyang Guild, shall faithfully fulfill her responsibilities, and the Baekyang Guild Master, ‘Cha Seohae,’ shall prioritize ‘Moon Yeonhee’s’ safety above all else.
2. Once ‘Moon Yeonhee’ becomes a ‘healer’ of the Baekyang Guild, she shall be treated in accordance with labor laws.

They were fairly meticulous clauses, taking care of both her safety and her rights.

“She said she was going to add a special clause. I expected something much more impressive, but she’s satisfied with just this?”

Cha Seohae thought the healer’s ambitions were smaller than he’d expected.

At the very least, he’d expected her to demand a higher salary or ask him to cooperate with some sort of revenge.

And then there was the last one.

Perhaps she’d added it in a hurry, because the crooked handwriting clearly showed how rushed she’d been.

(Important) 3. ‘Moon Yeonhee’ shall be responsible for ‘Cha Seohae’s’ inadequate sleep, and ‘Cha Seohae’ shall never hand ‘Moon Yeonhee’ over to another party.

There were even stars at both the beginning and end.

“She can’t be writing a contract for the first time.”

After reading the final clause, Cha Seohae finally couldn’t hold back a sigh-like laugh.

After carefully checking that there were no other clauses, he picked up the official seal.

The clauses Moon Yeonhee had written were only things that should have been obvious.

Cha Seohae had felt her healing and immediately realized that it was an ability he absolutely could not afford to lose.

‘That was definitely not power that could come from a B-Rank.’

The image of her eyes lighting up when she saw Do Joo-yeon was still vivid.

But postponing the contract over something as trivial as that would have been foolish.

In the first place, Baekyang had no room to refuse.

Their healer position was currently vacant, so they were prepared to offer her whatever favorable conditions were necessary to keep her.

“We’ll need to prepare for another rank assessment.”

She obviously wasn’t B-Rank.

And he had a vague feeling that she wasn’t A-Rank either.

Cha Seohae had frequently received healing from A-Rank healers.

Within the current power structure, it was only natural that treatment was provided according to rank.

He was one of the top-tier hunters in South Korea.

If he needed treatment, the Association was obligated to assign him an A-Rank healer.

The Association president’s dislike of him was purely personal.

He couldn’t refuse an order from the government to protect an important national asset.

A-Rank healing was painfully slow.

That made sense, considering an A-Rank healer was trying to regulate the condition of an S-Rank hunter.

But Moon Yeonhee’s healing was different.

The moment he held her hand, a refreshing sensation spread throughout his body, accompanied by a sense of fullness.

For a moment, it was enough to make his mind go blank.

The pain in his arm, which had been throbbing ever since the accident, disappeared instantly.

As for the self-healing he’d witnessed during the accident, he’d stopped at merely suspecting it.

An S-Rank healer?

There was no way the Association would have left someone like that alone.

But after receiving her healing himself, he knew.

“There’s no way I can deny it anymore.”

Just thinking about receiving that healing again made his mouth go dry.

‘How did she end up dropping all the way to B-Rank instead of A-Rank?’

He furrowed his brow before abandoning the thought.

That wasn’t important right now.

Cha Seohae pressed the bell attached to the edge of his desk.

Knock, knock.

“It’s Childeuk!”

Childeuk entered and swallowed nervously.

He looked extremely tense.

“D-Did you sleep well?”

“Why are you so scared?”

“M-Me?”

“You’re making it sound like I usually scare you into working.”

One corner of Cha Seohae’s mouth naturally lifted.

Cold sweat immediately ran down Childeuk’s face.

‘You do!’

It was a silent scream.

“Yes, sir.”

“Since the scheduled appointment was canceled, send one of the orchids Yoon Joo-ha likes and reschedule the meeting.”

“Ah, well, about that…”

At Childeuk’s hesitation, Cha Seohae lowered the document he’d been reading.

“The schedule to meet the Sawol Guild has already been handled by Han Seong-woo.”

“Han Seong-woo?”

Cha Seohae asked incredulously.

“Why is he here?”

“I think the rumor that we took a hostage has reached Han Seong-woo as well.”

“Fast, isn’t it?”

He didn’t even need to ask who had such a loose tongue.

Cha Seohae looked at Childeuk with half-lidded eyes.

Childeuk began sweating even more heavily than before.

He’d stake his life on it—no one could ever get used to that look.

Under Cha Seohae’s gaze, Childeuk eventually confessed the truth.

“I thought the next schedule was important, so I asked Han Seong-woo to take care of it…”

“I never gave you the authority to make that decision.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Childeuk bowed deeply, then even bent down onto his knees.

Usually, this was the point when Cha Seohae would tell him to get up.

“……”

But for some reason, that command didn’t come today.

Childeuk’s heart burned with anxiety as he wondered when it would come.

“You know you use that too often, right?”

“Huh?”

“I never told you to raise your head.”

“Yes, sir!”

Childeuk felt wronged.

His superior had told him never to wake him if he fell asleep, and Childeuk had simply followed that order.

‘Do you know how hard it was to move that heavily trained body of his, hardened by something called “combat” as exercise?!’

And because he wanted his master to rest comfortably, hadn’t he even carefully covered him with a blanket?

His shoulders trembled with frustration that he couldn’t voice.

But such a tiny display of emotion was useless.

Cha Seohae wasn’t even looking at him.

“Cha Seo—no. The Master is sleeping?”

“Yes, sir!”

“…Leave him alone for now and tell me the next schedule.”

“The next schedule is a meeting with the Sawol Guild Master.”

“You left me with nothing but shitty schedules. Did the Master deliberately take sleeping pills and knock himself out? I don’t want to meet that bastard.”

“No. He was talking with Yeonhee and then fell sound asleep… Ah.”

“Yeonhee?”

He had definitely let something slip.

But he hadn’t deliberately leaked the information.

‘It was going to come out eventually….’

He admitted his mistake, but Childeuk still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being unfairly treated.

“Good job.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t want to see that bastard’s face anyway. That guy is way too slick for a man.”

Cha Seohae frowned as if he’d just thought of something unpleasant.

Watching him, Childeuk thought to himself,

The Master isn’t exactly easy either.

Childeuk narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses as though using them as a shield.

Then he suddenly remembered what had happened earlier.

“Master. I have something to tell you.”

“Who told you to tell me?”

“Yeonhee.”

“Yeonhee?”

Cha Seohae’s eyebrow twitched awkwardly.

Childeuk caught the fleeting reaction and tilted his head.

“She asked me to tell you this: ‘When Cha Seohae wakes up, please make sure he comes here. And tell him that I haven’t done anything wrong.’”

“……”

“That’s what Yeonhee asked me to tell you.”

Cha Seohae absentmindedly touched the edge of the document.

At first glance, it looked as though he was diligently reading it, but Childeuk knew better.

That document hadn’t actually been turned over once.

“Childeuk.”

“Yes?”

“Are you trying to casually call me by my name?”

“If there’s something I need to convey, I promise I won’t hurt her…”

“You did that on purpose.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Thud.

At the sound of the document being slammed down onto the desk, Childeuk’s eyes widened.

As Cha Seohae began walking toward him, Childeuk trembled, convinced he was a dead man.

“Let’s go.”

“S-Save me…! Huh? W-Where?”

Cha Seohae clicked his tongue at Childeuk.

“Where else?”

“……”

“She told me to come, so I should go.”

Leaving only those necessary words behind, he strode out of the room.

Childeuk blinked before letting out a sigh.

“…Since when do you actually go just because someone asks you to, Master?”