#130
Shin Haejun watched me chewing and smiled contentedly.
“Ah, that’s not it…! You know, we…”
After swallowing the melon, I looked at the two with an earnest face.
“Um… would you like to… go on a date?”
Surprised by my words, Hyun Dowoon asked, “Is that allowed?”
“What do you mean ‘is that allowed’? Not ‘I want to’ or ‘I don’t want to’?”
Hesitating for a moment, Hyun Dowoon answered me. Even as he spoke, his tone suggested he was unsure if he should say it.
“…I thought Jaeha-ssi only wanted to remain in an esper-guide relationship.”
“Ah… That was true, but…”
Realizing I hadn’t mentioned that I liked both of them simultaneously, I mumbled vaguely. Of course, I didn’t want to say it carelessly in this situation. As I was fumbling for words, Shin Haejun suddenly interjected.
“Say it clearly. Can we get closer? Is it okay to make a move?”
“You’ve already done that…”
“It’s different from making it official.”
I swallowed hard for a moment, then abruptly stood up. I moved to the opposite seat where I could see both of their faces at the same time.
“I’ve thought about it seriously, and I feel like I want to get to know both of you better.”
“Why… did you suddenly think that?”
“Honestly… whenever a problem arises, you two are the first to come to mind… whether it’s good times or bad, I want you both by my side…”
I didn’t have the courage to say I was attracted to both of them. After explaining in a roundabout way and lowering my head, Hyun Dowoon suddenly sighed. It sounded very upset.
“You got hurt after all… and had a hard time in the dungeon today, right? Is that when you had these thoughts?”
“Oh, today’s dungeon was really… fine! I’m serious!”
I raised my head and shouted in surprise, but Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon were looking at me with complicated expressions.
“I’ll definitely go with you to the next dungeon.”
“I want to go too. I believe in your abilities, Jaeha-ssi, but… seeing you hurt today made me even more upset.”
It was really just a tiny scratch, but seeing the two of them worry with such sad faces made my heart ache. The news of me conquering a B-rank dungeon alone would have already spread through the media, so couldn’t I go to the next dungeon with these two? I was worried that by insisting on doing everything alone, I might be making them feel sad unnecessarily.
“Just once.”
When I compromised unusually, both of them grinned. Somehow… I felt like I’d been tricked!
As I frowned and glared at them, suddenly a large hand slipped under my armpits and lifted me up.
Finding myself suddenly cradled, I opened my eyes wide as Shin Haejun placed me on his lap and hugged me tightly.
“…Do you like me?”
He asked, planting kisses on my nape. As I shrugged my shoulders from the ticklish sensation, this time Hyun Dowoon grabbed my right hand and kissed each fingertip.
“Hm? You like me, right? Say it.”
“That’s right. You have at least some feelings for me too, don’t you? Please answer, Jaeha-ssi.”
As Shin Haejun urged for an answer, Hyun Dowoon joined in. Already tense from asking for a date, with the two of them pouncing on me like this, my face instantly became hot.
“Come on. Jaeha-ssi…”
Hyun Dowoon kissed the palm of my hand and then tickled it with the tip of his tongue as he spoke. The atmosphere was becoming increasingly sensual, so I struggled to pull my hand away, but Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun’s grips tightened.
“D-date! We should talk about how to do the date!”
“Ah… the date. First, tell us if you like us or not.”
Shin Haejun said with a smirk. It was annoying how he kept pressing for an answer he already knew. However, Hyun Dowoon also had an expectant expression, so there was no way out.
“…Honestly, I am… attracted… to both of you. Haejun, you and Dowoon-ssi…”
“It would be nice if you could say it a bit more generously. It’s okay. I can express more if needed.”
As I mumbled softly, Shin Haejun said with a bright smile. It was a very refreshing smile.
Hyun Dowoon, too, had an uncharacteristically beaming face. It made me realize anew how little I had expressed myself until now.
“What do you like to do on dates?”
“Huh…? Usually, watching movies, eating meals… isn’t that what people do?”
When I reflexively answered Shin Haejun’s question with a puzzled expression, the corners of his mouth twitched upward. He seemed to have found something to be happy about in my mundane answer.
“You’re talking like you learned it from the internet… Have you never been on a date before?”
He asked with a grin. Momentarily recalling my pathetically sparse dating history, my face grew hot. I covered my cheeks with my hands and turned my face away. I hadn’t learned about dating from the internet, but from a game AI.
‘How embarrassing.’
It wasn’t even a big deal. I should have brazenly retorted, asking if there was something wrong with that, but why did I keep feeling intimidated?
As I kept biting my lip and turning my head away, Shin Haejun tickled near my earlobe with his fingertip and whispered, “Cute.”
“I’ll have to make sure your first date is satisfactory, Jaeha-ssi.”
Hyun Dowoon muttered with a pleased expression. It seemed both of them had already noticed that my experience was not just sparse, but practically non-existent.
I didn’t want to appear as a dating expert to the two of them, but this atmosphere was somehow embarrassing. I rubbed my cheeks and pouted my lips.
“Duck lips.”
Shin Haejun pressed my upper and lower lips together and blurted out.
“I… don’t know. Anyway, I’d like to go on a date together.”
“Shall we go right now?”
I shook my head vigorously, thinking he might jump up right away if I agreed. I was tired after coming back from the dungeon, but more importantly, to complete the quest, I had to meet the time condition of more than 8 hours.
“Then tomorrow?”
“Um… the weekend would be good. On a day when both of you are free…”
“You want to be together all day, don’t you?”
Shin Haejun asked with a knowing grin. Well, he wasn’t wrong, but somehow it felt odd when he put it like that. However, I decided to be honest, as I hadn’t expressed myself much until now, and nodded.
Normally I would never answer, but when I honestly admitted it, this time it was Shin Haejun’s turn to blush from his cheeks to his ears.
‘Cute…’
I decided as I hugged Shin Haejun, collapsing into his neck. Indeed, from now on, it would be better to express my feelings more properly.
***
The atmosphere in our house was unsettled all the way until the weekend. I caught Shin Haejun secretly putting on a face mask in the study and getting embarrassed, and I also discovered Hyun Dowoon trying on a bunch of new ties he had bought.
Of course, it was true that I, who was going on a “date” for the first time, was also feeling excited. I researched date courses on my own and secretly bought perfume through online shopping.
The day of reckoning was set for Saturday. Usually, we would have left the house together, but due to Shin Haejun’s idea of wanting to let me experience the excitement of a date, we decided to meet separately. Although we lived in the same house, the two of them would leave about 5 minutes earlier and we would meet in front of the movie theater around noon.
‘It seems like he’s more excited than I am…’
Well, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy the date a million times more.
So I left the house without the two of them, accompanied only by two bodyguards at a distance, wearing sunglasses and a mask. Because it was clear that the author was eyeing me constantly, even though we had agreed to meet separately, we were in the strange situation of moving at about a 5-minute car distance interval.
‘It’s been a while since I rode a bus.’
While the two of them have cars, I don’t, so I decided to move by bus. They were very worried about my safety, but I didn’t want to call a driver and ride in a car, so I chose to use public transportation. Even then, it was a compromise to use the bus instead of the untraceable subway.
‘Somehow… I feel like I’m being stared at.’
After getting on the bus, I felt the gazes and thought about it. It was understandable that people would stare. I got on the bus wearing sunglasses, so they probably thought I was some kind of weirdo.
Moreover, two burly men followed me onto the bus, so people probably sensed some connection.
I quickly turned my head, trying to exude an aura of having no connection with the two bodyguards, and swiftly removed my sunglasses.
‘I’m wearing a mask anyway…’
But that thought didn’t last long.
Suddenly, the bus was filled with whispers. Curious about what they were saying, I perked up my ears and heard urgent exchanges like, “That face looks familiar,” “The eyes… are certain, right?” “I think it’s really him.”
Have they recognized me?
“Excuse me…”
As I was feeling tense inside, a student called out to me softly. As I was about to turn my head very slowly, the bodyguard standing next to my seat suddenly turned his body and asked, “Are you talking to me?”
Glancing over, I saw the student shaking their head. Then, hitting the bodyguard’s wall, they quietly disappeared to the far end.
The bus was filled with an uneasy atmosphere. I decided to just pretend not to notice and took out my phone. It seemed better to just look at my phone normally.
[Off-duty Guide spotted on bus, showing a down-to-earth side!]
And as soon as I turned on the internet, I couldn’t help but stiffen my lips at the headline I saw. Somehow, I felt very, extremely embarrassed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
