Chapter 313: Date of Han Min-ah (3)

The next morning. 9:55 AM.

About 30 minutes had passed since I came out to Gubeundari Station for our slightly late morning meeting, but Han Min-ah still hadn’t shown her face.

Usually, in this world, a date appointment between a man and a woman means the woman arrives earlier to wait for the man.

In fact, when I had a date appointment with Do Sihee, or when setting up a meeting with Cha Yuri inside a dungeon, it was usually the case that they were the ones who arrived first at the meeting spot and waited for me.

I had already grasped sufficiently through my experiences with other women that it wasn’t a mistaken assumption that women usually wait for men first on dates like these.

And I actually found that kind of behavior a bit burdensome, so I had deliberately come about 30 minutes early to the meeting spot.

Seeing as she hadn’t shown up until this close to the deadline, it seemed Han Min-ah probably didn’t consider today’s meeting a proper date appointment between a man and a woman.

“…I had somewhat expected that might be the case.”

It must be because we’ve known each other as friends for too long.

We spent 6 years just as close friends, exchanging jokes and even dirty jokes.

Given that we had already slept together twice, I thought our relationship might have progressed to some extent, but it seemed that was just my own delusion.

Of course, it was an idealistic desire to expect every woman I slept with to genuinely think of me as a lover.

In fact, women like Hye-eun and Sihee had quite remarkable mindsets. They were willing to say they’d genuinely consider me their lover, even though they knew about my awakened abilities.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t planning on taking my relationships with other women seriously.

Whether the feelings I conveyed to them returned as true love, or whether those feelings remained within the bounds of friendship, or were felt merely as lust, none of that was a particularly important factor.

I didn’t need to worry about trivial matters; I just needed to do as I pleased.

As I stood waiting for Han Min-ah at the station entrance with those thoughts, before long, a figure presumed to be her started walking towards me from a distance.

Han Min-ah, recognizing me just as I recognized her, started waving her right hand and quickening her pace towards me.

“Hey, hey, hey! Sung Taekyung!”

“Finally showing up, huh.”

To hide the slightly gloomy feeling that had just crossed my mind, I deliberately waved back with a faint smile.

Han Min-ah, appearing just as the appointment time was about to strike, cautiously asked, seemingly gauging my reaction.

“…You came early?”

“Yeah.”

“…Did you, by any chance, wait long?”

“Not really.”

“Th-that’s good… I mean, sorry… I was going to come out right away, but it took a while because I was getting ready and stuff…”

“I told you I didn’t wait. I just got here myself. Besides, the appointment time was 10 AM, so you’re not exactly late.”

The time was just past 9:58, so it was a bit cutting it close, but still.

“Th-that’s a relief then…”

“Are we the kind of people who need to exchange apologies just because you’re a little late? We’ve known each other for years.”

“Th-that’s true too! It’s just… between you and me!”

“…….”

“…….”

I had intended to subtly probe how Min-ah saw me with that ‘between you and me’ comment, but it seemed she wasn’t going to take the bait that easily.

Although I already suspected more than half the time that she wouldn’t consider me more than a friend.

Still, I hadn’t heard her explicitly draw a line between us. There was no harm in trying to find out.

“Did you eat breakfast? I had a simple piece of toast before coming.”

“Breakfast…? Uh, what about it…”

“Didn’t you eat with your twins? They went to school this morning too, right?”

“I was busy with various things… I can’t quite remember if I ate or not.”

“What was so busy this early in the morning?”

“Well, obviously deciding what to wear to meet you… no, wait! Uh, just! I was just busy because I overslept!”

“…You overslept? That’s unusual.”

I recall you always waking up reliably in the mornings, never even being late once during our school days.

The suspicion that she might be too excited about this rare day off naturally arose.

It seems I should really prioritize Min-ah’s rest today. She really has a tendency to not rest enough as it is.

Releasing her sexual urges and ending her heat cycle would likely alleviate some fatigue, but separate from that, it would be better to make the day itself feel comfortable for her.

If things go well like this, she’ll probably agree to dates without hesitation next time too. And then, maybe Min-ah and I could develop our relationship beyond just friends.

“Since the time is awkward, it feels a bit much to have a full meal, so how about we go to a bakery cafe and share some coffee and bread?”

“W-well, Sung Taekyung, if you want to do that, then fine. I don’t really mind.”

“Then let’s go to London Baguette across the street, spend some time there, and then maybe catch a movie at the cinema upstairs in this department store.”

“S-sure…”

…She’s been acting strangely, constantly glancing my way since a little while ago.

This wasn’t quite the Han Min-ah I knew. She usually felt more approachable and less reserved.

Worried that maybe the conversation we had yesterday had made things awkward, I tried a light joke to ease the mood.

“Just so you know, I won’t be doing anything lewd at the cafe or the cinema, so you can relax about that.”

“…I never once thought anything like that?! Just because I misunderstood something, do you think I’m a total pervert?!”

“Weren’t you?”

“N-no, it’s not! Besides, you’re way more perverted than I am!”

Well, that’s a fact I can’t deny.

After exchanging such banter, Min-ah and I walked side-by-side along the street towards the commercial building housing the bakery cafe.

“…….”

“…….”

For some reason, Min-ah, walking to my right, looked strangely restless.

Han Min-ah was confused.

To the point where it was difficult even to explain what was causing her confusion, she was currently agonizing, hiding all sorts of problems beneath her expression.

First off, things had gone wrong right from the start.

She spent ages agonizing over what to wear in the morning, wasting time repeatedly putting on and taking off pants and skirts. After finally, barely compromising on wearing a skirt under a long hoodie after much deliberation.

Han Min-ah, belatedly realizing she hadn’t prepared ‘that thing’ Han Seon-ah had warned her about, had to spend another dozen minutes or so in the bathroom after much thought.

By the time she barely made it to the meeting spot right on the deadline, Sung Taekyung was already there, seemingly waiting for her.

‘Aish… Why did Jin-ah and Seon-ah have to confuse me with their useless talk…’

If today’s meeting was truly a proper date between a man and a woman, she should have arrived earlier than Sung Taekyung and been waiting for him instead.

But how would Sung Taekyung think of her, appearing just barely as the appointment time arrived?

She didn’t want to do anything that would clearly draw a line, implying they were just friends, so she had deliberately worn a skirt, but ended up making a mistake right at the appointment time.

‘He doesn’t even seem to notice the skirt I agonized over wearing…’

The cool breeze slipping under her long hoodie felt incredibly awkward.

The bottoms of her usual Hunter uniform were just as short as the skirt she was wearing, so if you only considered the amount of leg exposure, you could say there wasn’t much difference.

There was a fundamental difference between shorts that never revealed underwear no matter how wildly she moved, and a skirt where the fabric fluttered with the slightest movement.

Feeling the anxiety that the skirt might flip up due to the wind if she relaxed even slightly, Han Min-ah put her right hand in her hoodie pocket and pretended not to notice as she pressed down firmly on the hem of the skirt.

Conversely, her left hand hovered aimlessly in the air.

Silently harboring the desire to hold Sung Taekyung’s hand and walk side-by-side during their stroll.

‘…Should I just shamelessly grab his hand? If I just grab it like it’s the most natural thing, Sung Taekyung probably won’t be able to say anything….’

Right after the date began. Han Min-ah’s mind became chaotic again, agonizing over whether or not to hold his hand.

The anxiety of finding out what Sung Taekyung thought of her, once again, and the desire to develop their relationship further fueled her internal conflict.

Since they had already shared much more intimate moments than just holding hands, moments where parts were seen and touched, it might seem strange to be embarrassed by something like this.

Separately from her own feelings, Sung Taekyung might simply view the past two sexual encounters as medical procedures to treat her heat cycle.

Back in school, they were just close friends, not really in a relationship with that subtle romantic tension between a man and a woman.

…Or rather, it was closer to Han Min-ah hiding her feelings for Sung Taekyung.

Sung Taekyung probably thought of her as just a friend until graduation, and that likely continued until they met again recently.

Perhaps those feelings remained unchanged right up until they slept together.

Above all, the first time they slept together wasn’t because their feelings connected. It was merely an accident caused by her heat cycle.

There was a non-negligible chance that Sung Taekyung had slept with her purely out of friendship, without any romantic feelings.

Adding sex to friendship just made them sex friends, nothing more.

Without deeper emotional exchange or symbolic physical contact, she and Sung Taekyung could never move beyond that.

And she knew better than anyone that in this situation, it was up to her, the woman, to initiate that physical contact.

Ting-a-ling.

“Welcome~.”

“It’s an awkward time, so there are plenty of seats. Hey, Han Min-ah. What do you want to eat?”

“…Anything.”

By the time they reached the bakery cafe across the street, Han Min-ah hadn’t even made a proper attempt to hold his hand.

In the end, her left hand, still directionless, quietly clenched into a small fist.

“Haa…”

‘Idiot… I’m such an idiot…’

A sigh, barely audible even to herself, quietly fell onto the cafe floor.