episode_0008

‘He’s a good kid.’

Kim Jiwoo gazed at Lee Hyunjin in the distance, who was busy turning orcs into ice statues, with a soft smile.

The emotions in her steady gaze were a clear and deep liking and goodwill.

For Kim Jiwoo, it couldn’t have been any other way. Among all the people she had met so far, Lee Hyunjin’s reaction was quite unusual.

Reading minds. That was her ability. She knew that it was unavoidable for people to find it unpleasant.

Because of this, her position in the Blue Butterfly Guild, where she currently belonged, was a bit ambiguous.

She was treated well because of her abilities, but few people formed personal relationships with her.

Perhaps one or two among her many colleagues, and one reliable senior as a superior?

It was a sad state of affairs. She simply had no time to be gloomy because work kept her so busy.

Even if she read minds, it was only fragments of thoughts anyway. She also knew that offering such logical explanations was pointless.

So, she decided to give up. What did it matter? She wasn’t without family and friends who understood her; she just had to be a bit of an outsider at work.

It was while she was thinking that and suggesting it to herself that the mission to escort a Cheongsong Academy student came down to her.

She was feeling quite skeptical about her own ability at the time, so it was a bit bewildering, but refusing outright also felt a bit off.

She just accepted her superior’s order with a reluctant nod. That’s how she ended up at the entrance of Songnisan National Park a few hours ago.

In fact, Kim Jiwoo was a little worried. What if a rude, ‘frog in a well’ [a proverb about someone with a narrow perspective] type of student from the academy came?

From the student’s perspective, they’d probably hope the escorting Awakener wasn’t someone with a terrible personality, but the opposite wasn’t much different.

Cheongsong Academy, in particular, was where the most promising children in the country gathered, wasn’t it?

There had been quite a few things she’d heard casually from senior Awakeners, so Kim Jiwoo was secretly fretting intensely, though she didn’t show it.

And so, the time for their first meeting arrived.

Sure enough, the student was a bit more than just “ordinary”…

His name was Lee Hyunjin. In fact, Kim Jiwoo couldn’t possibly not know him.

She had seen him mentioned in articles a few times as the combination of top and second-top student, along with the ‘golden child’ of the famous Cheon family.

She heard he was the Ice Empress’s only disciple.

She fretted internally, pacing in circles, worrying if she, as the escort, would instead be oppressed, but that lasted only a moment.

To her surprise, seeing him obediently follow her lead, Kim Jiwoo was moved.

Frankly, to have already built such recognition and fame at that age. She had even thought she would try to understand if he had a bit of arrogance.

But his receptive attitude, more so than most Blue Butterfly Guild rookies, allowed Kim Jiwoo to relax a little.

The reason and origin of her hesitation began right then. She knew well that there would be no problem even if she didn’t say anything.

Even so, didn’t it feel, somehow, like she was deceiving him? This.

In other words, her conscience began to prick her. This was especially true for Kim Jiwoo, who had a self-deprecating personality and was quick to conclude that her ability was a form of deception.

That’s why she spoke, even knowing she would regret it. She didn’t want to deceive him.

Thinking a bit more rationally, he was just a young academy student she wouldn’t see again in two days, yet…

“My ability is, well. It’s for, for reading other people’s minds.”

Having been burned by this ability too many times, Kim Jiwoo chose to just blurt it out.

And immediately regretted it. Because Lee Hyunjin’s expression became very strange upon hearing her words.

‘It’s over…’

She shed tears that weren’t tears. She wondered if she had gone too far, and realizing she had truly said something useless, she re-realized her own foolishness.

Her face turned pale, and then she went a step further.

“P-Please don’t be offended…”

She had pathetically clutched the hem of a child seven years younger than herself. How could she have been so pathetic? Thinking back now, she felt her face burn with shame.

Perhaps she was thirstier for human connection and closer relationships with others than she thought, due to the loneliness her ability caused, the inability to get close beyond a certain distance. That realization was a bonus.

‘I’m not a child, really…’

Far in the distance, Lee Hyunjin was creating an ice pillar the height of a 5-story apartment building.

Kim Jiwoo thought, surely that level of magical ability was beyond a student’s level, and smiled bitterly. She had really shown him an embarrassing side of herself.

Yet, she was simply grateful to Lee Hyunjin for calmly, and more maturely than herself, responding to her. Of course, she also felt sorry.

“Do you think I’d make a big deal of it?”

‘…Hmm, mmm…’

But for a moment, the memory of her own outburst resurfaced. Kim Jiwoo flinched, restlessly looking around.

She desperately wanted to believe that no one had witnessed her pathetic display…

‘You’re crazy, Kim Jiwoo. You’re truly crazy.’

What in the world did she say to a child? No matter how grateful she was for his words, what kind of spectacle was that?

‘…What, was I trying to push him down?’

“Ugh, ahh!”

A momentary, not-quite-delusion. Kim Jiwoo involuntarily flushed crimson.

Lee Hyunjin, who had been pummeling goblins in the distance, flinched and turned his head.

It was the moment Kim Jiwoo’s face grew even redder.

“…Jiwoo-ssi?”

“Ah, no.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing, just, keep doing what you were doing!”

“Ah, yes…”

Kim Jiwoo, who had needlessly raised her voice sharply, let out a sigh of relief only after Lee Hyunjin returned his head to its original position with a subtle expression.

‘…Have I really bottled up a lot…?’

And she thought. It seemed the backlash from not fulfilling her desires for the past few months was finally catching up to her.

The excuse that she hadn’t been able to date for years because she was so busy was just that, an excuse.

Surely she wasn’t so busy that she didn’t even have time to relieve herself alone at home? It would be more accurate to say she hadn’t been paying attention at all.

In the midst of all this, she had met someone who understood her ability for the first time in a long while… It seemed she had become conscious of him in that way.

The only problem was that the person was a student seven years younger. But what if he wasn’t?

‘…I would have dragged him straight to a room.’

It was fleeting. A faint lascivious thought briefly flickered across Kim Jiwoo’s expression as she subtly glanced at Lee Hyunjin in the distance, then vanished.

“Hah.”

Kim Jiwoo, recovering her adult rationality half a beat too late, quickly shook her head.

What had she just thought? This wasn’t right. He was a student…!

Lee Hyunjin, who had told her he understood her, but couldn’t quite control his desires like a boy his age. It seemed she was more drawn to that cute, human contradiction.

For a moment, Kim Jiwoo strongly reprimanded herself for having the wicked thought, ‘Wouldn’t he just fall for it if I teased him a little?’

She let out a deep sigh and leaped to Lee Hyunjin’s side, as he had just finished dealing with the monsters and was about to make a beginner’s mistake.

She pushed off the ground silently and got behind him silently. Kim Jiwoo gently leaned her body against Lee Hyunjin’s lowered back.

“…! J-Jiwoo-ssi?”

Was the touch on his back bothering him? As expected, Lee Hyunjin showed a very innocent reaction. Kim Jiwoo lightly shivered.

‘Yeah…’

Just one contact and her resolve from moments ago was threatening to crumble. Was she truly a woman whose head was filled only with lewd thoughts like this?

Kim Jiwoo let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh, while still trying to manage her expression.

In any case, it was work hours. She had to be faithful to her role as an escort.

Having successfully composed herself, Kim Jiwoo took Lee Hyunjin’s hand.

“You can’t touch that with your bare hands.”

“…Ah.”

Just before, Lee Hyunjin’s hand had been about to touch a brightly colored mushroom near the tree roots.

A mushroom whose colors would make even an ordinary person with no knowledge of mountains instinctively want to stay away.

Yet, Lee Hyunjin, who should have received various training at the academy, was about to touch such an obviously dangerous-looking mushroom without any preparation. What did this mean?

For example, that student Lee Hyunjin was so naive he lacked even basic common sense…

Or, quite the opposite.

“It’s a Hallucinogenic Scent Mushroom.”

That is, the mushroom itself had the power to bewitch people.

This time, it was the latter case.

Kim Jiwoo, with a distinctly colder gaze, lightly stomped on the brightly colored mushroom.

Then, Lee Hyunjin’s eyes, which had been faintly hazy moments before, returned to normal.

Lee Hyunjin, who had been staring blankly at the mushroom Kim Jiwoo had stomped on, soon seemed to naturally come to his senses and looked back at her with a rather sheepish expression.

“…I apologize. I think I’ve seen it in books, but it’s my first time seeing it in person, so I was slow to look away.”

His voice carried a strong sense of discomfort as he spoke. Perhaps it was an apology tinged with some shame for his mistake.

Kim Jiwoo felt a strange sense of satisfaction at Lee Hyunjin’s reaction, which seemed genuinely ‘student-like’ and which she was seeing for the first time, and nodded several times.

“No, it can happen. Sometimes there are even rookies who don’t know what effects that mushroom has. Compared to them, you’re excellent.”

First, encouragement. But what followed was a scolding with a slightly stern expression.

“Still, be more careful from now on. You know what happens if you accidentally ingest a Hallucinogenic Scent Mushroom, right?”

Kim Jiwoo asked, and Lee Hyunjin flinched, then quickly avoided her gaze and answered softly.

“Basically, it elevates one’s mood and induces a feeling of happiness… Depending on the person, dreamy sensations, awakening effects, and physical pleasure are the main symptoms, as far as I know.”

Kim Jiwoo nodded at his rather textbook-like answer, which sounded like it came straight from a textbook.

“Yes, that’s right. And?”

A follow-up question was added.

Lee Hyunjin replied with a reluctant expression.

“It induces arousal.”

Only then did Kim Jiwoo’s expression turn satisfied. She reached out and lightly tapped Lee Hyunjin’s head.

“You studied well. It’s good to remain vigilant in the future. Sometimes, ill-intentioned guilds take their rookies to secluded mountain valleys and deliberately make them come into contact with it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Especially for young, pretty girls?”

“…”

She didn’t bother to mention that she herself had almost experienced something similar during her early awakening period.

Even though she had been ruled as acting in self-defense, she didn’t want to confide her bitter past of committing an Awakened Assault crime to a child.

‘Will this child someday have to clash with other Awakeners? Probably, right?’

After all, living as an Awakener, one inevitably encounters strange Awakeners, even those treated as villains.

Preparing for that time was a basic education given by any guild, but—

‘…He’s still a student.’

There was no need to bring up such topics first and break the spirit of a twenty-year-old child. Kim Jiwoo gave a wry smile.

Suddenly looking up, she saw that the sun was indeed beginning to set.

Kim Jiwoo briefly looked around and confirmed the scattered piles of monster corpses.

The numbers had been reduced to this extent. At this point, about 80% of the quota should be complete.

There were two options. One, push on deeper into the forest to finish today, even if it meant overexerting themselves. Two, conclude tomorrow and return for today.

Her dilemma was short, and reaching a conclusion was not difficult. What needed to be prioritized over tomorrow’s inconvenience was undoubtedly the student’s safety.

No matter how low-grade the monsters in Songnisan were… she had to consider how ferocious monsters became when the sun set.

It wasn’t an insurmountable danger that couldn’t be braved, but it was also true that there was no need to rush. Kim Jiwoo clapped her hands once.

“Alright, Hyunjin. Let’s call it a day and start heading down. It’s a bit of an awkward time, but it looks like the sun will set soon anyway.”

Lee Hyunjin, who was drinking bottled water nearby, paused briefly then looked up at the sky.

And then, seemingly convinced himself, he nodded nonchalantly.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

As expected, a compliant answer came back without any significant resistance. Kim Jiwoo drew a deep smile.

Feeling inexplicably excited. She impulsively grabbed Lee Hyunjin’s arm and hugged it.

Enjoying Lee Hyunjin’s momentary startled and flustered reaction, Kim Jiwoo struggled to control her twitching lips and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Um, I don’t know if Hyunjin knows this, but starting from second year, after you finish your day’s contribution mission, it’s customary in this industry to have a drink with your escort?”

“…Is that so?”

“Mmm, yeah.”

A skeptical-sounding reply came back, but Kim Jiwoo, having already started, didn’t hit the brakes.

She decided to use one of her most powerful weapons: her chest. She subtly shifted her weight, gently pressing against Lee Hyunjin’s arm.

Just like hours ago, the same reflexive reaction of him straightening his back came back.

Kim Jiwoo, who couldn’t help but burst into laughter internally, leaned her head casually against Lee Hyunjin’s shoulder, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

“Hmm, going to a store isn’t bad, but…”

And then she said.

“If you’re okay with it, how about we go somewhere a little quieter to drink?”

“…”

“Get a room, just you and noona.”

No answer came, but Kim Jiwoo somehow felt that Lee Hyunjin wouldn’t refuse this blatant flirting.

Her subtly extended hand lightly touched Lee Hyunjin’s thigh.

Thinking that she had somehow become a bad adult, Kim Jiwoo let out a sensual laugh and a hot breath.

Again, it was the time when the sun was setting.