SWNOVELXO Chapter 44
**Episode.44 Time to Sleep (2)**
**[Baek Harin SIDE]**
“Hey, Harin?”
“Oh, it’s you.”
Shiwoo is approaching.
“This time you came to find me without running away, just like ‘last time.'”
“Ugh, well, that time I was… how should I put it? Flustered—”
Huh?…
He suddenly cut off his speech.
Stopping while talking like that is really too much.
“Flustered?”
“Um, well, I… that is, should we go to my house? Let’s talk on the way.”
“… Okay, but you don’t really have to tell me, you know.”
“Uh? Right…”
“Yes, the fact that I couldn’t talk to you was more painful than the pain from that day…”
I deliberately smiled wistfully.
Ah, it’s true that my heart aches when I can’t talk to him, right?
I took his left hand with my right.
Holding his hand tightly.
“Since you’re not pulling away, it seems you didn’t dislike the kiss from that day… I’m glad we still have a chance. So, shall we get going to your house like this?”
I raised my head, instinctively aiming for Shiwoo’s face with a smile.
“Uh, yeah.”
However, what is this?
“By the way, what’s that ring on your left ring finger?”
Do you want to die?
“That? Ah… it’s for fashion… no, actually, I just put it on once, and it won’t come off.”
Do you think that makes sense?
Who would wear a fashion ring on their left ring finger?
“Who did you share it with?”
A slight silence passes.
Who dares to covet him…
“Huh? No one. I just wore it by myself.”
‘Ah…’
“Then, in that case, I should take the empty spot. Now, let’s head to your house.”
My face feels hot.
But still, I’m relieved. I’m glad.
I’m just happy that he still doesn’t have a lover to share warmth with on this cold winter.
**********
So, here I am, holding hands with Shiwoo as we head to his house.
I’m savoring the sensation of stepping on the snow.
With this, won’t people see us as a couple?
We must look like a couple celebrating Christmas.
“Hey, Harin. How did that happen back then?”
Shiwoo asked a question, but what does he mean?
“What do you mean… by that?”
“I thought you were going to inject me with propofol directly, but you ended up using it on yourself.”
“Ah… you’re talking about that day.”
This is bad timing. Why now of all times?
“Yeah, but the problem is, why? The drug in the syringe entered your body instead of mine; why did it also affect me?”
“Uh… do I really have to tell you?”
I decided to use the troubled expression I learned earlier.
“Are you trying to brush it off again? Sorry, but that won’t work.”
However, maybe I used it too often, so it didn’t have the desired effect.
‘I’ve only used it twice today…’
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity.
“… It was just a simple buff. Well, it could be a debuff depending on the circumstances.”
I sighed.
… Speaking of which, I wanted to share the sensation one more time.
‘Activate sense-sharing with Han Shiwoo.’
– Whooosh…
“Really? Then what about that sound when you were isolated in the dungeon?”
“What are you referring to…? Ah! You’re talking about the buffer position, right? I mentioned that healers only heal while others handle buffs.”
So he believes what I said back there in the incident that led to my visit to the association president.
“Yeah.”
I’m sorry, but…
“That’s a lie.”
“What?”
He looks surprised.
“That lie is typically what a higher-ranked healer tells a lower-ranked hunter.”
“Really? But why would they lie like that for no reason?”
“Um… maybe to avoid putting a burden on the same party? Usually, lower-ranked parties don’t have tanks or healers.”
“So that was the reason…”
“Yeah, I honestly don’t fully understand the real meaning behind it.”
“Then, can healers use buff debuffs?”
“Yes, of course. I’m sorry for lying back then.”
“Sorry? I’m the one who foolishly fell for the buffer position. When we were isolated in the dungeon, I got tricked, but looking back now, what kind of position was that… Heal, deal, tank—those roles are easy to distinguish.”
I nodded.
Fortunately, it was resolved well. It ended positively.
“Harin, have you… ever heard of ‘sense-sharing’?”
Hearing that made my body freeze.
Holding his hand, our steps naturally came to a halt.
The sight of a fox-like girl talking to him isn’t important right now.
“Uh, uh, I… I’m not really sure…”
I couldn’t say anything further after that.
“Hey… Harin, you don’t have to answer if it’s awkward. It’s not like you’ll face any consequences.”
Huh?
“Wait, did I, while I was out from the drug, maybe…?”
– Thump.
I took this opportunity to hook my arm around his and press my chest against him.
“I’m getting cold. Let’s go home quickly… okay?”
“Uh?… Y-Yeah.”
Indeed, the chest is a woman’s weapon.
**********
“Alright, we finally made it to my front door.”
Yes, we’ve finally arrived at Shiwoo’s house.
I memorized the way on the journey.
How did I memorize it? Well, it’s exactly 2,147 steps from the association’s revolving doors to Shiwoo’s front door.
I memorized it perfectly.
As we share deep feelings without hesitation… well, it shouldn’t be too bad to be caught in such a sketchy situation now, right?
If it’s Shiwoo, he might even accept this side of me as charm.
-Creak, thud.
I successfully entered Shiwoo’s house.
It’s warm inside.
I ran toward the mattress in his sight due to the sense-sharing.
“Phew… it’s warm. But, your house feels a bit lonely… why not turn on the TV?”
Then, I found the blanket he used and wrapped myself in it.
While he looked for the TV remote and headed toward the fridge.
I secretly inhaled the scent of his blanket.
‘It’s full of Shiwoo’s scent…’
Sigh… Is this kind of perverted girl undesirable?
As I breathed in his rich scent, I felt a bit dizzy, but inevitably came back to reality.
“Harin, do you want some chocolate?”
“Yes, I’d love some.”
We shared sweet chocolate with each other.
Then he turned on the TV and sat next to me, stretching his legs out.
‘Such active behavior…’
– Next news.
– Recently, there are rumors that non-fungible tokens, known as NFTs, are becoming a trend again among young people.
Is this news?
I’m not particularly interested in news, but… I can’t live in modern society without keeping up with it.
And after a few more minutes…
At some point, Shiwoo and I were sitting on the small mattress, our lower bodies covered by the same blanket.
Seeing only our toes sticking out from the end makes it seem… like a couple’s bed after an intimate moment, right?
Imagining that, I leaned my head against Shiwoo’s shoulder.
– And finally, the last news.
– Recently, the Triangle Guild, a large guild of hunters, has been failing repeatedly in their gate raids.
– They say this time they dealt with it with urgent help from a small guild.
– Experts are analyzing the reasons as ongoing issues with major hunters’ conditions.
Hmm… they dealt with it again using urgent assistance from a small guild…
Is there something wrong with the Triangle Guild?
Ongoing issues with a major hunter’s condition?
Could they be talking about Yeena?
I think Yeena mentioned recently that her condition hasn’t been good.
I cut off the sense-sharing and briefly recalled my conversation with Yeena.
– “Recently, even using medicine hasn’t improved my condition.”
Yes, it must definitely be Yeena.
“Seems like the Triangle Guild isn’t doing well. I wonder why?”
“… Huh? What? I didn’t catch that. Can you say it again?”
What did he want to say?
“No, it’s nothing…. cough! cough!”
He’s coughing; is he catching a cold because it’s cold?
It feels like the scent of blood is in the air.
I remember the bloody smell from the boss’s spilled blood on the day we first went to the gate and got isolated.
It’s not the same blood smell, but the blood scent I’m smelling now is somehow more alluring… wait, blood scent?…
“Huh? What is this smell… You! D-Don’t tell me you’re vomiting blood?”
Suddenly, Shiwoo started to vomit blood… what should I do…
“Ugh,”
Seeing him barely enduring the pain by my side makes my heart ache.
My mind goes blank…
Suddenly, Shiwoo’s coughing up blood.
Did he have a chronic illness to the point of coughing up blood?
Is there anything I can do to help?
Ah, right.
I temporarily forgot my profession.
“You, just wait a moment. I’ll heal you right away.”
I regained my composure, thinking my healing would solve everything.
“Heal.”
But my composure didn’t last long.
Even after receiving my healing, I could feel the situation hadn’t improved.
The sensation of successfully recovering didn’t come.
It feels like I only managed to halt the deterioration.
Now that the symptoms are somewhat alleviated, before he feels more pain, I need to ensure he doesn’t feel pain anymore.
“This is… it seems my healing isn’t completely effective…. then I have no choice but to pull out my trump card.”
Let’s try to extinguish the urgent fire with this.
“Huh? W-What is that?”
I place the syringe needle into his vein.
When he wakes up, he’ll be completely healed.
But you see…
“You, that feels a bit prickly.”
Can you hear me?
“What on earth is that method? You need to tell me… oh?”
The sound of snow falling.
“From now on, I’m going to perform precise treatment. When you wake up, you’ll be healthy again.”
The sky.
“Goodnight, you.”
To all beings in the world.
– Kiss.
It’s time to sleep, they are whispering.
“I’m starting the precise treatment.”
I will begin the precise treatment now.