Ch.114New Position! (4)

#114

“You should have laid her down right away, why just a kiss?”

After escorting Judy home, Dexter was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea with Jessie, whose face was full of excitement.

Dexter scoffed at Jessie’s words.

“Hey, you’re not one to talk. Your face turns bright red just from kissing.”

“Hey, J-Judy and I are different.”

“How are they different?”

“Just… they’re different. You can’t compare me to her.”

“What does that even mean?”

As Dexter and Jessie were having this pointless conversation, they both turned toward the front door when they heard the sound of the lock being undone.

-BANG!

“Damn it!”

The two looked at Himena with bewildered expressions as she burst through the front door with a curse.

“What’s wrong?”

“What happened?”

Upon spotting Dexter sitting at the table, Himena ran to him with a tearful expression.

“Dexterrr…”

Seeing Himena suddenly getting angry and then whining in Dexter’s arms, Jessie mouthed to Dexter:

‘Period?’

‘Shut up.’

Dexter warned Jessie not to say anything weird, mouthing back at him, while patting Himena’s back as she clung to him.

“What’s the matter?”

“They told me to wait a bit longer for the special investigation team… and they said to temporarily stop the current investigation too.”

Dexter nodded as he understood what she meant.

It seemed that the higher-ups at OSA thought Himena was taking on too much lately.

“Isn’t it good to have less work? You’ve been too busy lately handling two cases at once.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Still nestled in Dexter’s arms, Himena carefully opened her mouth.

“How did it go with Judy?”

“Huh? Well, we kissed and then parted ways.”

Even for someone as straightforward as Dexter, it was a bit embarrassing to boldly talk about another woman in front of two women he was deeply involved with.

“Wow, you’ve already progressed that far? Wasn’t this your first date?”

Himena’s face immediately brightened.

Dexter was exasperated by Himena’s lecherous smile, especially since she herself hadn’t taken the final step with him yet.

“What reason does someone who hasn’t taken the final step have to be so curious about other people’s love lives?”

“…Other people’s romances are interesting.”

Himena grumbled after being hit right on the mark.

“So, how did you kiss her?”

“Yeah, how did you do it?”

“What do you mean ‘how’? How else would I kiss?”

Dexter lightly held the back of Himena’s head with one hand and planted a deep kiss on her lips.

After the brief exchange, Dexter pulled away from Himena’s lips and gently wiped her dazed lips with his thumb.

“Like that.”

“Holy shit.”

Though brief, it was clearly an intense kiss.

Jessie, sitting across the table, looked at Dexter with a disgruntled expression.

“I only get light kisses in the morning!”

“You get to sleep with me instead.”

At Dexter’s prompt response, Jessie glanced around trying to think of a rebuttal, but couldn’t come up with anything and conceded.

“Well, that’s true!”

She had a lot to say, but because of her agreement with Himena, Jessie only showed a slightly dissatisfied expression.

She decided she would have Dexter all to herself when Himena went home.

‘I’m going to kiss him while hugging him so tight his back might break.’

Meanwhile, Himena, who had actually been kissed, spoke grumpily as if feeling a bit wronged.

“How can you kiss so casually like that?”

“Isn’t there an old Chinese saying that experiencing something once is better than asking about it a hundred times?”

“Unbelievable.”

Despite her response to Dexter’s smooth answer and bold action, Himena was actually pleased and only showed a pouty expression.

“But I didn’t come here to talk about this. What was I going to say…?”

After pondering for a moment, Himena remembered what she wanted to say and snapped her fingers.

“Right. Emily is a famous thief, right? Old… what was it? Old Shanks?”

“Old Fox. Who’s Shanks?”

“Ah, right. Would it be possible to visit Emily?”

Dexter scratched his chin and nodded.

“You can go in as a lawyer with an OSA general ID. This week’s visitation applications are closed… so we could meet next weekend. Are you available?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll arrange it in advance. But why Emily?”

“Oh, there’s a place I need to infiltrate. But OSA can’t be exposed, and I can’t use OSA’s resources either.”

“What? What are you planning to do?”

“Secret. I’ll tell you after I talk to Emily.”

The obvious reason for talking to Emily would be her hobby and specialty—thievery—but Dexter was curious about why Himena wanted to ask about stealing.

“Himena, stop standing there and have some tea.”

“Tea? Sure. I’ll have camomile… Oh, speaking of camomile, whose Stingray is outside? It doesn’t seem like a car that would be here.”

“Oh, that?”

Jessie giggled.

“It’s mine, mine.”

“Yours? Who bought it for you?”

At Himena’s question, Jessie didn’t answer properly and just giggled while looking at Dexter.

“Dexter? But where did Dexter get the money?”

“I borrowed it from Eliya.”

“What? How can someone who might have space debt collectors coming after them anytime borrow money?”

“I’ve saved that guy’s life several times. Of course he should lend me that much.”

Dexter didn’t really intend to pay back the money he borrowed from Eliya, and even when he did, he often substituted it with information.

“Then what about me?”

“If I wanted to give you a gift you’d like, I’d need at least tens of thousands of dollars, wouldn’t I?”

“Don’t make me out to be such a materialist! My family may be wealthy, but not to that extent! Even a modest gift with sincerity would be fine!”

Himena pouted, asking if that was why he hadn’t given her a proper gift until now. Dexter stared into her eyes and said:

“Then what should I give to someone who already has everything?”

“Well…”

While Himena was pondering, Jessie, who had been quietly watching, said bluntly:

“There is one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, isn’t spending all day together a gift?”

At this unexpected suggestion, Himena turned to the grumpy Jessie with an animated face.

“That’s the right answer!”

Dexter chuckled at Jessie’s words, which didn’t reflect his own opinion, and looked at Himena.

“Huh, now you’re going to take me without my consent?”

“…Can’t you indulge me this much? At this rate, I’ll never get any gift from you.”

After all, since Himena had everything except Dexter, the only thing Dexter could give her was himself.

“When’s your birthday?”

“Huh? Oh, the 25th of this month.”

At Himena’s words, Dexter and Jessie looked at the calendar on the wall.

“That’s just a few weeks away. Dexter, why don’t you spend the 25th intimately together?”

“Now you’re scheduling my time too?”

“No, but Himena hasn’t experienced it yet.”

“Hasn’t experienced what… Oh.”

Himena’s eyes widened at Jessie’s casual remark.

“Wait, is Jessie deciding that too?”

“I’m giving Himena a birthday present too.”

“Which is what?”

“Lending her a day with Dexter.”

“How does that work?”

“Himena, we’re sharing Dexter, right? Obviously you can’t just take him unilaterally, and for that, you need the other person’s permission.”

Dexter frowned at Jessie’s logical explanation.

“Who’s impersonating Jessie here?”

“Shut up, sir. This is just common sense. Don’t ignore me.”

“But Jessie’s opinion isn’t bad.”

This time, Dexter looked at Himena with a lecherous smile.

“We’ll see on your birthday. If you’re worried, ask Jessie or Emily.”

“Worried… There’s no romance in this at all.”

Despite her words, Himena was secretly looking forward to it, glancing at Dexter’s lower body.

* * *

Himena, looking more refreshed than before, was sitting in the Science and Technology Department office, talking with an engineer from the maintenance department.

“He’s really a great guy. He was especially famous in Ohio. His nickname was J-Bone, and he was known in other states too.”

The senior engineer wiped his shiny forehead with a handkerchief, looking troubled at Himena’s request.

“B-but no matter what, he’s still a criminal. As the Libero agent knows, OSA’s principle is that there shouldn’t be even a grain of impropriety…”

“Come on, why are you being like this! He’s exemplary enough to get parole.”

“S-still…”

Despite sweating profusely, the senior engineer was essentially showing firm rejection. Himena sighed deeply and said:

“Ah, I really didn’t want to show this. I really, really didn’t want to show this.”

“W-what?”

Not knowing what kind of photo she was threatening to show, the senior engineer was shown a picture saved on Himena’s phone.

“Oh, t-this is…”

The photo showed Jessie in a tank top, pouting her lips.

It was originally a photo to be sent to Dexter, but Jessie had sent it to Himena first for review.

“Look at this.”

The senior engineer stared intently at Himena’s phone, then quickly blinked and looked away when he saw Himena grinning like a snake that had spotted a mouse.

“Oh, my. S-she’s a pretty girl…”

“See that? But do you know what’s important?”

“W-what is it?”

Seeing the senior engineer’s tense expression, Himena said in a low voice:

“It’s just a rumor… but another branch might recruit him. For example, the New York branch.”

“T-the New York branch? Those pretentious bastards?”

“Yes. I did my new recruit training at the New York branch, remember? They contacted me a few days ago asking if I knew any good people, and they said they wanted to meet this friend of mine.”

Himena said this with a light smile.

“Since I’m also part of headquarters, I’d prefer if an engineer from headquarters took care of my friend. So I turned them down for now.”

“R-right. We’re from the same department.”

Himena patted the shoulder of the senior engineer’s work clothes and said:

“Before the New York branch takes him, I’d like you, Senior Engineer Derek, to recommend our friend as an internal technical staff. Can I trust you?”

“O-of course! Absolutely!”

Derek the senior engineer thumped his chest in response to Himena’s subtle suggestion.

“Thank you so much, Derek. I’ll give you my friend’s personal information later.”

“N-no problem. But I have one question…”

“Yes?”

“Does your friend… have a boyfriend?”

Himena grinned and said:

“Would you like me to tell you something even more certain?”

“…What is it?”

“My friend really likes people with good hand skills.”

“Hand skills?”

“Yes. I think you have great hand skills, don’t you?”

With a seductive smile, Himena lightly touched the work belt Derek was wearing.

“With this work belt, my friend might be very pleased.”

“R-really?”

“Of course, definitely.”

Derek the senior engineer beamed with a broad smile.

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Jessie did actually like people with good hand skills, and Dexter also had excellent dexterity.

As for the boyfriend question, she simply avoided answering directly without saying there wasn’t one.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Trust me! Libero agent.”

After a light handshake, Himena turned away and made a disgusted expression with a sigh.

‘Is this how you act sexy?’

Since it wasn’t her usual behavior, Himena wasn’t sure if her acting was good.

‘Really, I should take acting lessons next time.’

Sticking out her tongue, Himena was about to leave the Science and Technology Department office when she noticed a glass wall in one corner.

‘He’s still there?’

What caught Himena’s eye was the Livertron, still standing alone.