Episode 178. Reward

Day 4 of hospitalization.

Thursday.

As expected, I was lying in the hospital room.

Bright bouquets of flowers were placed around my bed.

These were the flowers Nam Daeun bought.

She had been visiting every day since I was allowed visitors, and today she even brought a bunch of flowers.

“This one was the cheapest and had the most flowers.”

The bouquet she handed me was filled with baby’s breath.

“… Uh, thanks.”

She didn’t have to be so focused on value for money.

Thanks to her, my hospital room had become much brighter.

There were tons of rose baskets and baby’s breath bouquets.

“Where did you get so much money?”

Nam Daeun doesn’t have a lot of money, yet she bought so many flowers.

“Scarlet-ssi gave it to me. She kept giving it to me even though I said it was okay, so I couldn’t help it.”

“Hmm….”

Well, I guess Scarlet-ssi gave it to her because she said she was going to buy flowers, even though she doesn’t have much money.

Scarlet is really kind, though.

“Anyway, thanks. The room feels much brighter now.”

I’m going out again later anyway, but it still feels good to receive a gift.

“Well, I’m leaving now. Take care.”

Even when Nam Daeun visited, she always left quickly if she saw I was doing okay.

Of course, I’m just grateful she came at all.

“So you like this kind of thing.”

I savored the sight of the rose basket and baby’s breath bouquets Nam Daeun left.

She doesn’t seem like the type who’d like flowers, how peculiar.

I looked at the flowers, then checked my smartwatch.

• Alice: I’ll come by tomorrow. I have something to discuss regarding our contract.

It was a message from Alice last night.

Right, it was about time.

We did have a mana massage contract, but I’ve only received the massage once.

The contract was structured so that I’d come whenever Alice called, so it wasn’t my fault.

Knock knock.

“Patient Lee Hoyeon. Alice is here to see you.”

“Yes. Please let her come up.”

Alice arrived almost immediately after Nam Daeun left.

She’s finally here.

I wonder what she wants to talk about.

I stretched and waited for Alice to come in.

*

“… So you finally came.”

Alice took a deep breath in front of Lee Hoyeon’s hospital room.

It was the first time in her life Alice had ever sought someone out first, and she was visiting a man in the hospital.

She was visiting a man, no less.

“I’m here because of the contract. Yes. The contract.”

The massage contract she had with Lee Hoyeon.

She had treated him with the same consideration as the top massage therapists in the industry, so the signing bonus alone was quite a significant expense.

However, Sebastian monitored her movements 24/7, leaving her no time to meet Lee Hoyeon.

Now that Sebastian was on vacation, she needed the massage, but he was hospitalized, making it difficult.

‘Should I just tell Dad?’

Mana massages, where you entrust your body to a young man.

Alice hadn’t told him because she feared her father’s guild would flip out if he found out… but if this continued, she might have to.

In any case, the primary goal is treatment.

Nothing is more important than treatment.

‘I need to think about it a little more for now.’

Alice shook her head, cleared her mind of distracting thoughts, and knocked on the hospital room door.

Knock knock.

“Yes. Come in.”

Opening the door, she saw the bed adorned with bright flowers.

And there was Lee Hoyeon amidst them.

“… It’s been a while.”

Surrounded by flowers, Lee Hoyeon looked like an angel descended from another world.

Maybe because she hadn’t seen him in a while, his face felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Yeah. Thanks for visiting me.”

“It’s nothing. I’m here because of the contract, too. Sorry to bring up work while you’re hospitalized.”

Alice placed the fruit she brought as a gift on the table and sat down in a chair.

The bed where Lee Hoyeon was lying.

She was seeing it for the first time, yet it felt familiar.

She had seen it often in Scarlet’s videos.

Gulp.

Alice swallowed.

Seeing the bed she always watched during her nightly self-pleasure sessions in person made her feel strangely hot.

“I was waiting for your next contact, but my situation is like this right now….”

Lee Hoyeon slightly lifted his arm.

The limp patient gown hanging off him spoke volumes about Lee Hoyeon’s condition.

“I heard you can’t use mana at all, is that true?”

“Yeah. It seems like even the massage will be difficult.”

“What’s the estimated recovery period?”

“Uh… well? I think it’ll probably be around a week.”

Lee Hoyeon looked down at his arm.

His body’s condition had definitely improved since the first day.

If things continued like this, he estimated about a week for a full recovery.

“A week….”

However, Alice only had a week, too.

If Lee Hoyeon didn’t recover within that time, she’d have to wait indefinitely again.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

After talking with him, she realized.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

Her nightly self-pleasure sessions were already becoming more frequent.

It was all because of Lee Hoyeon.

She felt that receiving a mana massage just once would relieve this pent-up frustration.

During the massage, Lee Hoyeon’s touch provided Alice with excitement and pleasure she couldn’t achieve through self-pleasure, and she still couldn’t forget that sensation.

“… Alright. I’ll contact you once you’ve recovered.”

This massage wouldn’t be the last, and she couldn’t keep waiting for Sebastian to be unavailable forever.

‘Right… this is a therapeutic act.’

Alice decided she would summon Lee Hoyeon to her home as soon as Sebastian’s vacation ended.

She had to introduce the mana masseuse she found herself.

*

After finishing her conversation with Lee Hoyeon, Alice left the hospital room.

‘But what should I say?’

How awkward would it be if she brought in the student she had investigated as a masseuse?

Worried about how to persuade Sebastian, Alice walked out into the hospital lobby.

The lobby housed various shops, including a cafe and a toast shop.

Among them, Alice spotted a familiar face in the flower shop.

‘… Nam Daeun?’

Nam Daeun was holding a bouquet and talking with the owner.

They were roses and baby’s breath, and judging by the owner’s exasperated expression, she seemed to have been quite bothersome.

‘Wait a second, roses and baby’s breath….’

Those were the same flowers in Lee Hoyeon’s room she had just left.

Was she perhaps going to Lee Hoyeon?

Alice watched Nam Daeun for a moment, then slowly approached her.

Nam Daeun had always been the top priority for recruitment into the Iris Guild among the first-year students.

Of course, that was before Lee Hoyeon appeared.

Until now, it had been difficult to approach her due to pride and academic standing, but thanks to Lee Hoyeon, there was hope for treating her mana disorder.

And as she became less fixated on grades, Alice found herself with more emotional space.

‘The contract is said to be solid… but I’ve never spoken to her directly.’

It was well-known in the industry that Nam Daeun’s bond with the Buyer Guild was strong.

In fact, all the guilds that had tried to poach Nam Daeun had failed.

However, there was no harm in going to make an offer, and she wouldn’t know unless she tried.

Ahem.

Clearing her throat, Alice approached Nam Daeun and spoke in a friendly tone.

Alice always gave her best when it came to official matters.

“Daeun-ah. Are you buying flowers?”

*

Meanwhile, Nam Daeun, on her way out of the hospital after visiting Lee Hoyeon, discovered the flower shop.

She went inside to find cost-effective flowers.

It was to buy flowers Lee Hoyeon liked.

She didn’t know anything else besides flowers.

As she was comparing flower prices, a very cute voice came from behind her.

“Daeun-ah. Are you buying flowers?”

Turning around, she saw Alice looking at her with a beaming smile.

“Yeah. I’m buying flowers.”

Nam Daeun didn’t know why Alice was talking to her, but she answered anyway.

It had been a really long time since she had spoken to a female student.

When Dahee was captured, she had deliberately avoided conversations, so in reality, she had barely spoken to any students besides Lee Hoyeon.

“What are you pondering? I know a bit about flowers, too. I can help.”

“This one is 2,500 won per stem, and that one is 2,450 won per stem, but this one is a bit bigger, so I was debating.”

Alice was momentarily speechless at Nam Daeun’s words.

Their approach to thinking about flowers was completely different.

“… Usually, people consider the color harmony of a bouquet, not the price per stem, right?”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know.”

Seeing Nam Daeun nod as if she had discovered something profound, Alice frowned slightly.

‘She’s an odd one.’

Initially, she had only intended to talk about recruitment, but she became curious if the flowers in Lee Hoyeon’s room were indeed from Nam Daeun.

“By any chance, was it you who put the bouquet in Lee Hoyeon’s room?”

“Yes.”

“Ah… are you perhaps interested in Lee Hoyeon?”

According to Alice’s investigation, Nam Daeun wasn’t among Lee Hoyeon’s romantic interests.

But the fact that she had already given flowers and left meant she had visited him multiple times.

She wasn’t just a casual friend, so was she trying to add another woman to the mix?

“No. I just needed to express my gratitude.”

“… Oh? I asked just in case. As a fellow woman, I advise you to keep your distance from Lee Hoyeon. That guy is completely into wo- no, never mind.”

Alice blinked, hoping Nam Daeun, who was looking at her, wouldn’t be swayed by Lee Hoyeon’s womanizing ways.

It gets inconvenient later if there are too many women.

‘… What’s inconvenient for me?’

She didn’t know the reason, but it felt like the right thing to do.

“But you’re close with him.”

Nam Daeun, however, paid no mind to Alice’s words.

Regardless of his relationships, Lee Hoyeon was her benefactor.

“I-I have unavoidable business ties… Ah, right. Are you perhaps interested in the Iris Guild?”

Alice, flustered by Nam Daeun’s words, remembered her original purpose.

It was guild recruitment.

“Hmm….”

Nam Daeun drew out her words.

Honestly, she had no intention of joining a guild.

She had bad memories associated with the Buyer Guild, and right now, her priority was doing something for Lee Hoyeon.

“I’ll think about it.”

Still, it was the first time she had talked with a female friend for so long, and she didn’t want to end the conversation negatively.

It was a rather monumental day for Nam Daeun.

“That’s a good decision. I’ll give you my number, so feel free to contact me anytime.”

“Thanks.”

For the first time, Nam Daeun’s smartwatch now held a female friend’s number.

Though she didn’t show it on her face, Nam Daeun was happy.

“Well then… sigh… one last thing, I urge you, absolutely do not get close to Lee Hoyeon.”

Alice, about to leave, felt something nagging at her.

She pictured Nam Daeun, bouquet in hand, dazedly standing there, then rushing eagerly towards Lee Hoyeon.

‘That can’t happen. Absolutely not….’

Alice glanced around, then leaned in and whispered into Nam Daeun’s ear.

“That Lee Hoyeon guy is seriously obsessed with women. Rumor has it he’s been with more than just one or two. When you look at a man, you need to consider things like that. You know?”

Alice left the flower shop after saying that.

“Why did I do that? Hmph….”

She immediately regretted it.

Interfering in other people’s business like this went against her nature.

Alice pondered why she had acted that way all the way home.

But she couldn’t find an answer.

She didn’t yet understand what that feeling was.

Meanwhile, Nam Daeun, left behind in the flower shop after Alice departed, stood still and pondered.

‘Lee Hoyeon is obsessed with women. And he gets involved with many women.’

If he gets involved with many women, it could be expressed as liking to get involved.

‘He likes getting involved with women.’

Nam Daeun lowered her head and looked at her chest.

They weren’t huge, but large enough to get in the way when she swung her sword.

‘I am a woman.’

[Lee Hoyeon likes getting involved with women.]

[I am a woman.]

= [Lee Hoyeon will like getting involved with me.]

The syllogism was completed in Nam Daeun’s mind.

“… So that’s another way I can repay him.”

Nam Daeun nodded, looking down at her body.