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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Kang Dohee, Should We Do That?
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'...Do *that*? What on earth is *that*?'
Jin Yuha had suddenly shown up, spouting nonsense.
It was common for him to say absurd things, so she could have just let it go, but the unclear pronoun made Kang Dohee's mind wander to inappropriate thoughts for a moment, and she missed her chance to react.
In that time, Jin Yuha squeezed his body through the door crack.
"...You—!"
Kang Dohee, flustered, whipped her head around and reached out, but it was too late. Jin Yuha had already taken off his shoes, walked in, and was looking around the room.
"Wow~ Kang Dohee, you live well! Like a bachelor? No, a bachelorette? That sounds weird too. Anyway, I thought it'd smell like that, but it smells fragrant!"
Jin Yuha strode around as if it were his own home, despite not being invited or given permission to enter.
"Oh, oh! The TV's huge! Perfect for watching while lying on the bed! Huh? Is this bed different from the one in my dorm? It's super soft?"
*Pliiiing*
Jin Yuha sat on the bed and bounced up and down. Then he saw the ashtray next to the bed and made a surprised face. A cigarette she had been smoking just moments ago was still puffing out white smoke there.
"Huh? You smoke indoors too? Doesn't anyone complain about the smell? Oh, right, the air purification artifact here keeps the smell from going outside, huh?"
And then, he abruptly brought the cigarette she was smoking to his mouth and inhaled.
*Inhale—*
*Cough! Cough!*
Jin Yuha coughed repeatedly after inhaling from the cigarette he had just taken.
"Ugh, I still don't get the taste of cigarettes."
"..."
Kang Dohee gaped, an incredulous expression on her face. Then, her face stiffened as Jin Yuha's gaze drifted to a corner of the room.
"Pfft! No way, is that a Diget box next to the bed?! Then, is there 'Solui Nun' in the fridge?!"
And then, Jin Yuha abruptly stood up, making to go to the fridge.
*Grab.*
Unable to just let him be, Kang Dohee swiftly rushed over and grabbed Jin Yuha's wrist.
"Nureongi."
"Hm?"
"What do you think you're doing?"
"What do I think I'm doing? Just visiting a friend's house."
Jin Yuha tilted his head, spouting nonchalant words.
'What on earth is wrong with this guy...'
Kang Dohee was bewildered. No, she was flabbergasted.
Does this guy truly have no sense of boundaries at all? She'd thought it before, but Nureongi's sense of personal space was just weird.
She'd always been so focused on training and dungeons that she had no interest in the opposite sex, and after her guild leader was ruined by getting involved with some strange man, she had distanced herself even further from men. But that didn't mean she knew nothing about men. Choi Hye-seo, the guild leader of Parandis, had instilled all sorts of common knowledge and even lewd stories about men in her while drinking or smoking.
'What kind of man just barges into a woman's house alone, without a shred of fear, even into her room...!'
As it was, she was already incredibly stressed from the recent dungeon expedition, and with Jin Yuha's bizarre behavior added to the mix, Kang Dohee felt a throbbing headache.
*Hoo—*
She pressed her temples, then called out to him.
"Nureongi."
"Hm."
"If you have something you need from me, resolve it quickly and then leave. I strongly dislike anyone entering my space without permission."
"Yeah, I know."
Jin Yuha nodded.
'He *knows*...? And a guy who *knows* does this?'
A vein pulsed in Kang Dohee's forehead at his brazenness. But she recited the character for 'patience' (忍) inwardly, closing her eyes for a long moment before opening them again.
Just then, Jin Yuha's face was close. Dark eyes stared intently at her, right in front of her nose.
"Hmm..."
"!"
Kang Dohee flinched violently and recoiled.
"But why aren't you getting angry?"
"...What?"
"I just crossed the line you drew and invaded your space, so I'm asking why you're not getting angry?"
"Are you doing this because you really want to see me get angry?"
If that was the case, he had certainly come to the right place. She was already seething all day long as it was.
She glared at Jin Yuha's smooth, insolent face, clenching her fists tightly, then she let her arms fall.
Then she said in a low voice, "Get out."
"Don't wanna."
"I said get out."
"No."
"GET OUT!!!!"
She glared, even shouting at him.
But Jin Yuha stood there, unmoving, staring at her.
"Looks like the fighting dog's lost all its teeth."
He clicked his tongue and turned his back.
"Hey, Kang Dohee. Follow me."
He headed towards the bed. Jin Yuha sat down in the middle of her bed, stretching out his legs.
"Come on, hurry up?"
And then he gestured, urging her on.
'...What is this guy, really?'
"We're doing *that*, so hurry up and come here."
And all this talk about "that" or "whatever" had been grating on her nerves.
"What is 'that'?"
"What do you mean, 'what'?"
Jin Yuha shrugged as if asking such a thing was absurd.
"Grappling, of course."
"...Gra-ppling?"
"Yeah, you set getting free from a grapple as the condition for our spar."
Oh, so our party leader wanted to grapple?
*Damn it.* She truly couldn't follow this guy's train of thought at all.
"Today, Kang Dohee, I'm gonna have to properly deal with you. Let's die on this bed today."
Jin Yuha said, rolling up his sleeves.
"Ha."
Kang Dohee let out a hollow laugh.
In her eyes, Jin Yuha looked like a pathetic neighborhood stray dog yapping.
'That Nureongi bastard. Does he genuinely think he's stronger than me?'
Honestly, even back then, if she hadn't let her guard down and had reacted calmly from the start, she could have escaped his hold. She could have just thrown him to the ground with her foot, or kicked him with her other foot.
'But this bastard... Is he saying that on purpose?'
Suddenly showing up and saying "let's do *that*", or "let's die on the bed"... It was strange to suggest grappling on a bed in the first place.
However, Jin Yuha seemed completely unaware of what he was saying.
"Scaredy-cat?"
Kang Dohee bit her lip and walked towards the bed.
"Ha, fine. I'll humor you. And I'll make sure you never utter such arrogant words again."
*
'What! What in the...!'
Kang Dohee took the position Jin Yuha instructed her to. Her eyes vibrated violently.
In truth, her position was nothing special. She just had to sit on the bed.
The problem, however, was Jin Yuha's position.
As if in a back hug, Jin Yuha wrapped his legs around her waist from behind, crossing them completely. And his arms came out from under her armpits, with his hands clasped behind her neck. This naturally put her in a position with both arms raised upwards.
Her face flushed crimson at the intense physical contact.
"Alright, from now on, if you can get out of this, you win. If you can't, I win."
Jin Yuha's voice came from right beside her ear. Kang Dohee bit her lip at the unfamiliar sensation.
*Gasp!*
Kang Dohee twisted her body, trying to break free from Jin Yuha's hold. But his tightly locked hands and feet wouldn't easily loosen.
"Urgh—!!"
Kang Dohee infused her entire body with mana, writhing, trying to pull down her raised hands, and flailing her feet, but the more she struggled, the tighter Jin Yuha held her.
*Thump!*
After twisting her body for a while, she stood up, making Jin Yuha look like a cicada clinging to an old tree.
'This fucking—!'
It was then that she was about to throw Jin Yuha, along with her own body, against the wall or floor.
'...Oh, wait, this is my room, isn't it?'
If she destroyed the dorm room at the academy, an instructor would quickly burst in. And what would they think if they saw her tangled up with Jin Yuha like this?
'No, more importantly... The party would disband.'
Instantly, the fire that had flared in her heart died down, replaced by a sense of futility.
*Thud.*
Kang Dohee sat back down on the bed. With Jin Yuha still clinging to her back.
It was then.
"You don't have to hold back, you know."
A whisper in her ear.
"Are you that scared?"
"...What?"
She turned her head, but due to their position, she couldn't see Jin Yuha's face.
Kang Dohee frowned. What was she supposedly scared of?
She had no doubt that fear was the emotion furthest from her. She had encountered many strong, unbeatable opponents. But against them, she had felt anger or fighting spirit, never fear.
"...Me, scared?"
She spoke as if to herself.
"Yeah, you seem scared. Scared that this relationship you've painstakingly built might break. Like... your old guild."
Kang Dohee's eyes widened.
"You don't have to endure it. You can just be yourself."
The black TV screen was reflected in her eyes. Her utterly unacceptable and shameful position was dimly reflected.
"Whether you throw a fit, or beat someone up because you don't like them, I won't abandon you for that."
"Who's abandoning—!!!!!"
Incensed by Jin Yuha's words, she thrashed her body vigorously again, but from behind, a gentle voice continued to speak.
"I'd just ask you why you did it. Because you're not the kind of woman who throws a fit for no reason, are you?"
"..."
"And it's the same with your party members. If you don't understand something, you can say you don't understand. If something doesn't seem right, you can say it. If you don't like something, you can say you don't like it."
"...Then, stop this damn nonsense you're doing right now."
Kang Dohee said, her voice strained.
"No way~"
A playful voice. Once again, her forehead creased.
'...Is he playing word games right now?'
"It's like this."
"...Like this?"
"Yeah, if we don't agree, well, we can clash like this. You want to be let go, but I don't want to."
Jin Yuha's laughter tickled her ear.
"But you're trying to avoid conflict itself, just bottling everything up. Because you're afraid that if you express your opinion strongly, this relationship might break."
*Sting.*
Words that pierced her inner self.
"But, neither I, nor Shin Sehee, nor Lee Yuri, nor even Ga-eul sunbae, are people who will just go along with you if you show your strong personality."
"..."
"Aren't they?"
At those words, Kang Dohee couldn't bring herself to say no.
In fact, she had semi-threatened Im Ga-eul to reveal the identity of the person who spread the rumors, but she had kept her mouth shut until the very end.
'This is the party I've joined this time...'
Only then did she belatedly realize that she was still afraid of forming relationships with people.
'And that I can just be myself.'
*Thump-thump—*
For some reason, her heart began to beat rapidly.
"...Nureongi."
"Hm?"
"...Alright, I get it. So, when do you plan to let go of this?"
"If you say you lost?"
Lost...!?
'Crazy.'
Kang Dohee twisted her body again, trying to shake Jin Yuha off somehow.
Then.
*Beep—!*
Inadvertently, a button on the remote control, which was underneath the bed, was pressed.
Suddenly, the TV screen turned on.
"Ugh—!?"
Kang Dohee's face immediately went pale. And for good reason: on the screen was what she watched every night before falling asleep.
—It's only natural to save your party when they're in danger.
Because a video sent by the Hunter Management Bureau a while ago was playing.
"Huh?"
Jin Yuha poked his head out from behind her.
"What's that? Isn't that me...?"
*Tremble, tremble—*
"Why am I on there?"
Kang Dohee, her face bright red, squirmed.
*Struggle, struggle.*