Chapter 654: Maid by Han Min-ah (1)

That night, after Han Min-ah had talked with Sung Taekyung about the investment funds and the residency contract.

After returning to the room where she and her younger siblings were staying, she lay awake, lost in quiet thought.

‘For the next 10 years….’

Since their connection with Sung Taekyung, whom she had known since middle school, it had already been nearly 10 years they had known each other.

Of course, since around her second year of high school, her awakening as an animal-type Hunter had begun, so she had deliberately avoided him, meaning there was practically a gap of several years.

Anyway, the fact that nearly 10 years had passed since the day they first met was an undeniable truth.

‘For 10 years, I’ll continue to be in this house….’

Adding another 10 years to the time she had known him. Moreover, this time, she could continue their connection for a full 10 years with almost no gaps.

It was a bit difficult to believe that her relationship with Sung Taekyung would still be the same 10 years from now.

This meant that their current life, which was practically like living together, would continue for that much longer.

It would undoubtedly deepen beyond just a relationship that merely satisfied their heat-induced desires like now.

No, she often felt that even these days, their relationship wasn’t solely based on physical intimacy.

Although they hadn’t had the chance to be intimate again since the sex the day before leaving the semi-basement villa, as they had both been busy in various ways.

Because there had been quite a few times when they had shared deeper kisses and she had been touched in slightly suggestive ways, avoiding the eyes of Eunbyul-ssi and her siblings while staying in the same house.

She thought of it as a way to release some sexual tension, albeit gradually, to delay their heat cycles, but even so, Han Min-ah wasn’t someone who could engage in kissing or physical contact without any feelings.

If such a life continued for another 10 years, she would undoubtedly be the one to cross the line first.

‘If that happens, what happens after that….’

If she were to confess her love to Sung Taekyung, how would Kang Hye-eun react to her?

So far, she only had permission from him to resolve her heat cycles through Sung Taekyung. Han Min-ah hadn’t yet received a definitive answer on whether she could confess to him.

Of course, her feelings and Kang Hye-eun’s feelings were separate issues, and above all, the one who would make the choice was naturally Sung Taekyung, the recipient of the confession.

Han Min-ah, who didn’t want to break the friendship between the three of them that had lasted since middle school, couldn’t help but worry even more.

It was fine for her to confess to Sung Taekyung and become a couple who shared genuine, honest love.

But she didn’t want their relationship with Kang Hye-eun to be ruined because of it. Especially with her, to whom she owed so much since joining the Sky Blue Shield.

The best outcome, of course, would be for their relationship not to be ruined even after she confessed.

Seeing Kang Hye-eun recently, she didn’t seem particularly bothered by Sung Taekyung’s relationships with other women, so it seemed like it might be okay to clash emotionally.

Although such thoughts sometimes crossed her mind, Han Min-ah, who had witnessed Kang Hye-eun’s ‘that incident’ most closely during high school, couldn’t help but still feel a strange sense of fear towards her.

Han Min-ah had seen Kang Hye-eun’s madness, where she mercilessly crushed all classmates who had sexually harassed and bullied Sung Taekyung, as well as seniors and juniors, one by one from behind under the guise of ‘sparring requests’.

The thought that perhaps that past madness might turn towards her made it impossible not to feel scared, even towards a friend she had known for so long.

‘Of course, Hye-eun got pissed off back then because those women were bullying Sung Taekyung, and my case is different, so she’d probably let it slide….’

Still, there’s always the ‘what if’.

Han Min-ah’s life had always involved taking responsibility from a young age, and she was accustomed to making sacrifices.

If she could maintain their current relationship by sacrificing some of her own feelings, she was confident she could do it.

…If only it weren’t for that incident about a month ago, when Sung Taekyung’s life was almost threatened.

When the thought flashed through her mind that Sung Taekyung had gone missing below the poisonous lake in the abandoned village, and she might never see him again.

Han Min-ah had secretly regretted in her heart that she should have conveyed these feelings at least once if she had known it would turn out like this.

Although she was living her daily life like this thanks to him returning safely somehow, a slight sense of unease couldn’t help but always sprout in one corner of her heart.

That worry became the catalyst for Han Min-ah to take a step further.

‘Tomorrow, maybe I’ll try using that….’

The maid outfit she had borrowed from Eunbyul-ssi, thinking she might need to use it someday.

When she tried it on as a test, it fit quite well, thanks to their strangely similar body types.

Honestly, standing in front of Sung Taekyung wearing the maid outfit felt incredibly embarrassing, but still, over the few months they had lived together, she had roughly figured out his preference for maid outfits.

It might be time to use the emergency measure she had prepared for such situations.

‘If Sung Taekyung confesses first, Kang Hye-eun probably won’t say anything….’

If the situation is awkward for her to confess, make the other person confess.

It was the moment Han Min-ah’s own clumsy dating theory began.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The day after Min-ah and I finished the contract regarding the investment funds for the Hunter guild we were newly establishing.

Today was a day without any scheduled appointments, and there were no Sky Blue Shield expeditions from the company planned either.

I had planned to spend a leisurely day without any particular schedule, but the sound of someone knocking, waking me up in the morning, made my eyes open automatically.

-Knock, knock, knock.

…I thought I had told Eunbyul in advance that there was no need to wake me since it’s a holiday today.

Well, it didn’t matter much. Waking up early meant starting the day earlier.

I thought I might have breakfast with Min-ah and her younger sisters, who were going to work even if I wasn’t, and see them off as I got out of bed, but surprisingly, the voice coming from beyond the door wasn’t Eunbyul’s, but another woman’s.

“A-are you awake…? Sung Taekyung…?”

“…Yeah? Han Min-ah?”

Why did she come to my room this early in the morning?

Seeing her come this early, did she perhaps find some problem with the contract we discussed yesterday?

Along with that thought that casually crossed my mind, I first called out to her outside the door.

“Why are you here so early?”

“J-just… wondering if you were awake now…”

“You can tell by my voice.”

“A-anyway… C-can I come in for a moment?”

“Yeah, come in.”

My hair might be a bit messy from just waking up, but it’s probably fine.

If there were any revisions to the contract we discussed yesterday, it would be better to check them as soon as possible.

After reflexively answering like that, I sat up in bed and waited for her to enter. Soon, the door slowly opened, and Han Min-ah slowly peeked her head in.

“…Huh?”

Han Min-ah, in ‘slightly special attire’, quietly entered the room before my eyes, unable to grasp the situation at once.

“…”

“…”

Neither Han Min-ah nor I could bring ourselves to speak, and only an awkward silence began to fill the room.

It was a natural reaction upon seeing her attire.

It wasn’t the typical light outfit of an Explorer she usually wore, nor was it casual wear she’d normally put on around the house.

What caught my eye was a uniform outfit mixed with black and white.

It didn’t take long for me to realize it was Eunbyul’s maid outfit.

“A maid… outfit…?”

…Am I still half-asleep?

The strange outfit, which Han Min-ah’s personality suggested she would never wear, thoroughly confused my mind.

Han Min-ah’s face turned bright red at my reaction, and she frowned slightly.

“…Does it not suit me?”

“N-no…?!”

“…Seeing how awkward your reaction is, it’s true… Just tell me honestly that it doesn’t suit me…”

No, it was the opposite.

The maid outfit worn by Han Min-ah, who usually approached me so casually despite our potentially romantic relationship, had a destructive power beyond imagination.

In fact, upon seeing Han Min-ah in the maid outfit, I even started thinking if there were any other outfits that suited her as well as this one.

It was such a beautiful sight that I even had to ponder what words to use as my first remark.

“Sorry, looking unsightly this early. I’ll just change…”

“…Fucking beautiful.”

“…”Huh?”

“I said, fucking beautiful. Truly lovely beyond words, and cute enough that I want to put you in my pocket right now.”

“W-w-what?!”

“The fact that it’s you, not someone else, wearing a maid outfit is truly unbelievable, which is why you’re so beautiful that I don’t even know how to express it. Honestly, I wouldn’t normally say this to you, but seeing you dressed like this, I want to hire you and Eunbyul as maids for my house, forgetting all about being Hunters…”

“Ah, ah, I get it, so please be quiet! I won’t change! Just…!”

Flustered by the non-stop barrage of praise fueled by my desire, Han Min-ah hastily closed the door and rushed into my room.

Unlike Eunbyul, who always maintained a calm demeanor even in the same maid outfit, Han Min-ah’s characteristic flustered appearance was actually stimulating my feelings even more.