episode_0172

“Ha…”

“Why are you sighing again?”

“Are you really… okay? No matter how you look at this…”

Even though he said so, Harnier said he felt like he was causing too much trouble and did not sign the collaboration agreement yet.

really. This woman, like him, is strangely persistent.

Since I’m worried like this, I have no choice but to take action first.

“No time to worry.”

“Yes, yes? Wait a minute, where can I take it away by force…!”

-thud.

“Oh. I took a rough picture, but it came out very pretty.”

Because Harnier’s hand was shaking, it wasn’t a pretty picture in the exact center, but I wouldn’t say anything about it.

“Ah…”

However, our fiancee seems to be still worried about the beautifully signed contract, and a sigh is coming out of her mouth.

I have to say something to my fiancée who is anxious.

“Don’t worry. Because I actually received help from you.”

“…”

“Harnier. As you will find out after investigating, there is some kind of problem with the soil of Chatelaine. In that case, it would be great if another normal land could serve as a comparison group, and you have now solved that problem. It’s not just a burden.”

Inhale at that moment. Harnier takes a deep breath.

And then he turns his head away.

“…Wow.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you… everything.”

…Thank you.

Another word I don’t get used to pops up.

‘I don’t know how to react in times like this.’

Should we say that there is no need to manage two lands, as it provides better conditions than running the chatelaine alone?

Or rather than saying thank you, would it be better to firmly say that it is not a matter of receiving gratitude as there are mutual benefits?

If that’s not the case, should I claim that it’s normal for me to repay the favor since it was this collaboration proposal that opened the way to an otherwise hopeless situation?

I don’t know.

I’ve never been thanked by someone before.

All I could think was that it would be difficult to think about how to respond to such a simple word, thank you, that I couldn’t get used to.

In the end, all I can say is this.

“Well… let’s think of it as a transaction.”

“Yes?”

“We are engaged in a contract, right? Harnier, as you provide a comparison group of soil, I manage the territory on your behalf. This too can be seen as a kind of transaction.”

Then Harnier suddenly turned his head to me.

But… somehow, unlike before, he didn’t avoid his gaze. Harnier’s eyes were meeting mine more clearly.

“…”

She looked into my eyes for a long time, then pursed her lips and put her hands together.

Then he turned his head again and stared blankly into space.

Since I didn’t specifically deny it, I guess it’s safe to say I accepted this.

It was a time when I felt so relieved.

From “… to…”

“Yes?”

From “… to…”

“Can you say it one more time?”

The voice was so low that I couldn’t hear it properly.

I needed to hear what he was saying, so I put my ear towards it.

OK…

-Poof!

“billion?”

My whole head was pulled out.

You can feel a soft texture on the back of your head that has been pulled. Damn, I can’t believe I’m laying my head on these soft thighs again. Has that awkward time arrived again?

“Sleep! Get some sleep first! I have to manage two territories starting tomorrow, but I haven’t even slept properly!”

“Oh, no… that’s uh…”

“Stay still! My, how would I feel if I just worked… without sleeping properly?”

“No. There is no need to worry about that…”

-Sure.

Harnier seemed to not want to respond, so he immediately covered my eyes with his palms.

And then he speaks in a solemn voice.

“It’s not enough as a transaction condition, but… I let you sleep on my legs like this once in a while.”

This simple request was offered as a condition of the transaction.

“I can’t even be of any help to you. If that were a fair deal, I would already be eliminated as a merchant.”

“…”

“So… just sleep like this for a few hours and wake up. When I visit him occasionally, he accepts me by telling me it’s his sleep time. Because this is the only thing I can do.”

I don’t know what kind of expression he is making because his eyes are covered.

However, a small tremor is transmitted through the fingertips. It was easy to notice that his voice was already trembling, but…

Harnier seemed to be pleading for something rather than offering transaction terms.

‘It’s so awkward.’

Please stay like this.

Please close your eyes just a little bit.

He said it was a transaction and that was all he could do.

It is true that there is some pressure on my part.

Managing two territories at the same time and improving your grades is not a story that can be summed up by saying that you completely trust me.

Normally, I would be quick to say thank you for working for free and even taking care of my grades, but this woman wouldn’t think that way. He is such a kind person.

Maybe you have a completely different perception.

If you take these two delicate hands away and look at their expressions, you will know for sure.

But, I didn’t want to do that.

It’s not that difficult to fall asleep on these soft thighs that you can feel on the back of your head.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea if some of the emotions built up in me could be relieved by granting that simple request.

‘Let’s sleep for just one hour and wake up. ‘If that’s the case, I can’t say anything to Harnie.’

As I closed my eyes, I suddenly remembered the past.

-…thank you.

‘…Now that I think about it, it’s not like I’ve ever been thanked by someone.’

Just one person.

Yes, there was.

A girl who I could call a friend told me that she was grateful.

And I said it the same way back then.

Did you say that this happened because we were doing our jobs together?

…It seemed like a lot of things overlapped, including the ending where I ended up cutting my thigh like this.

It’s the same answer to a situation that isn’t much different.

‘…That must be a completely wrong answer.’

It’s still difficult.

I still don’t know how to answer correctly.

As I closed my eyes and thought about the past, Suma came to me.

***

“Is it prohibited to work alone on group assignments?”

“Okay.”

The teacher crossed his arms and nodded.

“It’s literally a ‘group’ task. It’s a task that needs to be done collaboratively as a group, so what’s the point if you take on it alone?”

“…But anyway, if you can do it on your own, there’s no problem, right? Wouldn’t it be better if you could proceed alone, rather than having many people express opinions, then clash, and then it gets ruined, and you waste time not being able to proceed at all?”

Then the teacher sighed.

“Okay. It’s as you said. It is not uncommon for several people to express opinions, but the opinions clash, cause friction, break things, and end up wasting time as no progress is made.”

“Then…!”

“But that process is ultimately necessary. You also need to know how to coordinate and how to resolve conflict of opinion. Because there are things in this world that cannot be solved by oneself.”

“…”

“Please try to find at least one other team member. If you proceed alone, Minhyuk will give you 0 points no matter how good the results are.”

“…Yes.”

-Drop.

The teacher’s office door was closed.

The boy who came to consult with the teacher could not understand.

What’s so difficult about living alone?

Even if I were to be left alone, I would be able to grit my teeth and choose any number of ways to survive.

If it’s money, it’s money, if it’s living power, it’s living power. Either way, you can raise it.

I couldn’t understand why I had to go through all of those unnecessary processes just to complete an assignment.

“Ha. Even if you lament like this, it won’t solve anything.”

In the end, I had to save one person.

Otherwise, this result will be a failure.

But it’s not easy to save that one person.

There is no one who will put the person who is the most avoided person on campus in the same group and perform the group assignments… It would be fortunate if the person with a lot of ugly hair does not become a laughing stock even if he or she is encouraged to join the same group.

I experienced all kinds of bullying at school, which was just a place to prepare for the College Scholastic Ability Test, but I never imagined that I would suffer from problems other than academics.

‘What should I do? really…’

As I was walking and lamenting, I heard an unpleasant sound from somewhere.

-Wow!

The sound of flesh clashing against flesh.

However, it is the sound of the side with force hitting the side without force.

It was a sound filled with the unpleasantness of violence, something he had experienced the most.

Then, a female student’s voice leaked into my ear.

“I thought it was strong from the beginning. Why, you say she’s crazy about men, but this time she’s in the same group?”

This voice…

I’ve heard of it.

It looks like the same group that a boy was told to get out of the same group not long ago.

“I have never done that.”

“I’ve never done anything like that, you crazy bitch! We can see all the flirting with our own eyes!”

Another female student from Jowon, who was right next to me, spoke passionately.

“That boy is someone we have known since we were 10 years old. It wasn’t just because of the assignment, he started hanging out with us a long time ago and was slowly opening his heart to him. But as soon as you appeared, your eyes changed?”

“Do you know how his eyes changed as soon as he brought something he brought to design clothes and put it on your body? From that day on, whenever he heard your voice, his eyes were fixed on you. As if it would break through at all!”

“I just showed you the fabric. What did you do…!”

“This is still!”

-Wow!

The unpleasant friction sound rang out again.

“Fuck you. You are truly amazing. You really have a knack for bewitching men. Even though I’ve been flirting with him for years, he did it all in one go.”

“Hey. Why are you crying?”

“Fuck, I’m doing that because I’m sad. Because I’m sad! What is it about a bitch like that that she confesses that she likes it, and if that isn’t enough, she even throws her out of the same group! Ugh…!”

“…That fox bitch is the problem. Tsk.”

“You can’t ignore the rumors going around on campus. Even breaking up a friendship that had lasted several years.”

“Let’s go. Anyway, if we go out together, everything we’ve done so far will be in vain.”

Even though I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes, it seemed obvious.

It might be a situation where several female students are putting pressure on one person.

“You said you just wanted to take care of your grades, right? okay. Then, where are those grades? They are ruined.”

That was the process in which all group members except the person in charge of a group left.

“…who?”

Crouching on her knees, she raised her head as a shadow formed over her body.

Some of the scattered hair slowly falls down. After seeing her face in person, I was certain, but it was true that she was the girl who had always been told by boys that she was pretty.

‘Well… it doesn’t matter what the situation is.’

It’s absurd, it’s ridiculous. It was a situation I couldn’t understand at all.

This was an opportunity.

“Group task, do we have to do it at all costs? Even though I lost everything to those guys.”

“…but?”

“Please join my group. I won’t ask you to do anything.”

That was the first time I clearly remembered someone else’s name at school.

Seo Ji-eun.

It was the name of the child who later thanked me with a puzzled expression.

***

-Tick. Tick. Dang.

“…”

I vaguely came to my senses to the sound of the grandfather clock ringing.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a scene so similar that for a moment I thought I had fallen asleep with Jieun’s thighs on my back.

Instead of the familiar ceiling, part of the voluptuous body is covering the ceiling…

Thanks to this, I realized much later that it was a dream.

-Tiring!

▶Status abnormality: Sleep deprivation has been restored.◀

▶Status abnormality: Fatigue has recovered.◀

[Lack of sleep: 0, fatigue: 0]

Even if I didn’t look at the status window, I heard the sound of the grandfather clock, so I vaguely noticed… but I didn’t know that I fell asleep for five hours, not just an hour.

However, I started to worry about something else more than that.

“Umm…”

“…Why are these things similar?”

Is it because something like that happened today?

When I carefully pulled out my upper body, I saw Harnier sleeping, leaning his back on the sofa. That sight really reminds me of old group assignments.

-…thank you.

-thank you.

“…sigh.”

I complain about why there seems to be no difference between the two overlapping voices. I took out a blanket and tried to cover her, but then sighed and stopped.

I gave up thinking while I carefully picked up Harnier’s sleeping body and carried it to the bed.

After all, saying thank you is awkward.