Chapter 23

Episode 23: Sudden Confession

‘Ugh…’

The lost consciousness returned.

My heavy eyelids gradually became lighter, and light began to seep into my eyes.

“Ah, you. You’ve woken up?”

My eyes fully opened.

I couldn’t move my body.

I wasn’t completely awake from the anesthesia yet.

I couldn’t even twitch my fingers.

‘It feels like I’ve been asleep for quite a while… How long have I been out?’

“You woke up later than expected. I’m sorry… I guess it was a bit too stimulating?”

It became clear that I had been using her lap as a pillow.

I could hardly see her face, just the lower part of her chest.

“M-Madwoman…”

Despite that, my mouth still moved well.

It was quite a nice sight, but I thought I should ask the necessary questions.

Feeling returned to my fingers.

I immediately got out of her plush lap pillow.

A pity, but it couldn’t be helped.

Men are naturally intrigued by soft bodies even in such dangerous situations.

“.. What are you really?”

I calmed my breath after getting away from Harin and asked.

“.. A-Actually, the thing is—”

“No, it’s better if I say it. You’re handling quite a lot of illegal stuff, aren’t you?”

“Ugh… That’s not it…”

“Just answer yes or no. Is it illegal or not?”

“Y-Yes…”

Harin looked dejected.

“… Are you the queen of the underworld?”

“I’m not a queen!”

“Really? Then that’s fine.”

‘Is there room for redemption?’

“How long was I out?”

“By my estimate… you’ve been unconscious for about 14 minutes?”

’14 minutes?’

I thought I had been asleep for a very long time because my body felt so light and refreshed.

Recovering this much condition after such a short sleep wasn’t bad.

Though engaging in illegal activities was indeed a flaw.

“How did you wake up so quickly and… uh… give me a lap pillow?”

“I woke up in five minutes because it wasn’t my first time. Then I groped around… not you, but the surroundings, to find you.”

“It wasn’t your first time?”

“Yes. I tested the drug on myself to experiment. I modified it to keep my respiration and heart rate from stopping. But side effects happened.”

“What are the side effects?”

“With the initial intake, you must be in an anesthetic state for a very long time. At least over nine hours.”

That was strange.

I had definitely never even touched drugs in my life.

How could I be so alert so quickly?

“I’m sure it was my first time with propofol, so how did I wake up in 14 minutes?”

I asked Harin about the oddity.

“I cared for you with my healing abilities…”

“But anesthesia has beneficial effects for us, right? Like how it helps forget pain during surgery.”

“No. Typically, anesthetic states are classified as debuffs, but you know, half of any drug is poison. Conversely, poison can be used as a medicine. That’s why we use anesthesia during surgeries.”

However, she seemed to have anticipated my questions and brushed them off lightly.

Does that mean less than a day hadn’t even passed yet?

The association didn’t report seeing me standing in as a substitute today, so they could hardly say anything about me having free time from now on.

I had already finished everything I was supposed to do.

Unlike other companies, the association allowed you to leave early if you accomplished your tasks.

It was the dream workplace of all office workers.

Afterward, I asked her various additional questions.

Among them, the three most crucial questions.

The first question.

Why did you do this to me?

Her answer was as follows.

“I was startled when you called me the queen of the underworld. I was afraid you’d look at me strangely… After all, the underworld pretty much feels like a rough slum that deals with illegal stuff, right? So I thought I had to erase that memory as a happy one… But then when you said you’d come to my place, it felt like a jackpot. It was Shiwoo who first flirted and seduced me, right?”

“When did I ever—”

“If you keep cursing, even I will get hurt… Inner scars are hard to heal, even with my abilities…”

Then came the second question.

The soul embedded in my sword has disappeared.

I initially pondered if I should reveal this fact to Harin, but it didn’t feel right to hide it from the person who gifted me the sword.

Honestly, she might know this fact already and gave me such a sword.

But her reaction was unexpected.

“Do I need to know that? The whereabouts of that fox-like girl who’s always clinging to you? I’m just happy she’s gone.”

“Uh… okay.”

Lastly, the third question.

Among the three important questions, it was the most crucial one.

Why is there only one syringe, but two people affected by the drug?

“So how did you inject the drug into me, and how did it affect you too?… Is that what you’re asking?”

“Yeah.”

Harin suddenly got up from the bed.

Then she closed the door to the room.

The atmosphere became stifling as the door, which had been wide open with a view from the bed to the elevator, was now shut.

– Click.

And then she suddenly locked the door.

“If I tell you this, you might look at me strangely.”

Harin’s complexion darkened.

But I already found Harin odd.

How could I view her as anything other than strange at this point?

I felt an instinctual warning that digging deeper into her secrets might be dangerous.

“If… If it’s difficult to speak now, you can tell me later.”

“Ah… Is that so?.. Thank you for your consideration.”

Her complexion returned to normal.

‘I survived.’

It’s unsettling when an S-class is angry.

‘Is it all a lie that my combat ability is zero?’

Honestly, there’s no need for me to risk my life trying to uncover her abilities.

Eventually, when the level of my King’s Insight rises someday, I’ll be able to find out Harin’s abilities too.

For now, I just needed to remember my goal of returning home safely.

“You…”

Harin started to approach me while calling me “you.”

Did I not tell her my name?

No, I had informed her on the dawn I first met her.

I clearly remembered that night.

The mysterious pure white color that only she could exude had etched itself impressively in my memory.

She stood right in front of me.

Then, she suddenly hugged me.

“W-What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“You… you won’t abandon me, right?”

Her closeness and scent made it difficult for me to judge correctly.

“Someone like me… you’ll stay together with, right?”

I could not understand her pathological obsession with me.

What part of me was so appealing?

Especially when it hadn’t even been a week since we met.

‘There should be limits to falling in love quickly.’

“If we’re close… you’ll forgive me, right?”

“What do you mean by close? What kind of relationship do we have?”

Upon hearing those words, Harin tightened her embrace around me as if she could crush me with ropes.

“… We’re best friends, aren’t we?”

Pretending not to know would be too difficult given Harin’s sharp memory.

In fact, it would be weird if she didn’t remember what happened yesterday.

I knew she was intentionally trying to provoke feelings of sympathy in me.

Because she did something that could be controversial if others found out.

However, unconsciously seeing her in such a state weakened my resolve.

Why, is there a saying that men are easily swayed by beauty?

Even a man who knows this can’t help but concede when confronted with such a situation.

‘Sigh… This is troublesome…’

At times like this, I slightly missed Chaewon.

Though a bit noisy, she was the queen of support, keeping my original purpose unwavering, even if jokingly.

‘… No matter how it is, thinking of another woman while being embraced by this sightless beauty is rather rude.’

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat to divert her attention.

“Can I go home first? I feel a bit tired now—”

“Do you not like me?”

Harin said with a quivering voice.

But she didn’t shed tears.

After all, she wouldn’t have any tear ducts.

“If you don’t dislike me… please answer me.”

“W-What do you want?”

It was a genuinely nerve-wracking moment.

What did she want from me?

Attention? Sympathy?

But what she wanted was neither of those two things.

“I… am a woman who knows how to repay love given to me…”

What she desired was love.

In other words.

“I need your affection… I’m sorry for saying this after doing something so extreme…”

Honestly, I hadn’t suffered because of the propofol incident.

There was no denying that I had benefited from her help more often than not.

“But… I can’t be satisfied with a relationship like close friends…”

She wanted me.

“Because a relationship that flimsy… just isn’t enough.”

I rapidly processed how to respond to her sudden confession in my mind.

But no matter how I thought about it, I didn’t know how to answer her confession.

What should I do?

Should I accept her confession? Reject it?

There were many concerns, but if I rejected it now…

My limbs might not function well.

This agony would likely continue for a while.