MTLNOVEL Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Park Da-Hye’s Three Wishes (2)
—–CROW—–
Wow, it’s in slow motion again.
Whether it’s the character t-shirt looking like a crop top, or her red, teary eyes resembling eyeliner, Park Da-Hye has been spamming strange skills since we first met…
Now it seemed that the random slow-motion effect was also one of her skills.
Her body floating in the air, her pink pajama-clad bottom…
Suddenly accelerating from slow motion…
She pounced on me.
“Holy Bodyslam!”
“Oof!”
“Kwon Sung-Hyeon, what’s with your reaction time? Can’t you even dodge this?”
Ugh, seriously.
I admit my reaction time is garbage because I’m old, but you’re not a kid anymore; bodyslamming at your age?
It didn’t hurt because she’s light, but…
“Hey, what are you doing… Be careful with your wrist.”
“That’s why I landed on my butt~”
“Are you trying to kill a sleeping person?”
“I knew you weren’t asleep. You make little snoring sounds when you sleep, but I didn’t hear anything.”
Ugh… I thought I heard something outside the door. It wasn’t my imagination.
Secretly sound-checking from outside.
A Priest using a Rogue’s techniques.
Park Da-Hye, ignoring my glare, snatched the pillow from my arms and placed it by her head.
Then she snuggled under the covers, looking proud of herself.
The bed was instantly filled with her scent.
We used the same shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, but why do women smell so much nicer?
My scent fades so quickly.
The scent of lavender wafted from Da-Hye’s dry, fluffy hair.
A Rogue who doesn’t even use deodorant, how foolish.
“What’s with that smug look? Why did you come here instead of sleeping?”
“I came to make my last wish. Hand it over.”
So, that expression was the look of a debt collector.
That’s why she’s so confident.
I already expected Park Da-Hye, a woman who charges headfirst towards her desires, to quickly use up her three wishes.
But this was even faster than I thought.
I thought she’d play games until late tonight, maybe even tomorrow morning or evening, before making her remaining wishes.
A surprise attack during bedtime.
And the fact that she specifically mentioned it was her *last* wish made me feel a bit melancholic.
“I’m going to sleep now. What kind of wish is this? Tell me tomorrow.”
“No. I’m going back tomorrow, so this is my last chance.”
“It’s two in the morning. Even if you make a wish, I’m not getting out of bed.”
“Suit yourself. I don’t care~”
Park Da-Hye said that and suddenly turned her back to me.
This was a new pattern.
I thought she was so carefree that she didn’t even have a sulking function.
Was my attitude that unpleasant?
I didn’t do anything wrong, but seeing her like this, someone who was always so cheerful, made me feel guilty.
“Hey, nerd, are you sulking?”
“I’m a nerd, but I’m not sulking.”
“Then turn around. Show me your face.”
“No. This position is correct.”
“What’s correct about it? I’ll grant your wish, so turn around.”
“No~ I’m really not sulking. I’m just doing this because of my wish. My third wish is that, you know, *that*.”
“That? What’s ‘that’?”
“What you were doing yesterday. That.”
What I was doing yesterday?
Yesterday? The disgraceful yesterday where I was so drunk that 80% of my memories were wiped?
How am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?
The only things I remember are drinking, holding your hand… and saying that cheesy line.
Ugh… I don’t even want to think about it, but also… sleeping while touching your breasts.
That horrifying image flashed through my mind again.
I was trying to forget it, damn it. I wanted to bury myself under the covers, but she’d stolen half of them.
“I really don’t remember. Stop being vague and tell me clearly. I’ll grant it if I can.”
“I don’t know what to call it either. I want you to do what you were doing while you were sleeping yesterday… I don’t know how to explain it… I showed you the picture, so just do that.”
What did I just hear?
Picture? Is she talking about *that* picture?
“Sigh…”
Since I kept quiet, lost in thought, Da-Hye sighed and turned around.
She pulled my right arm under her head and turned her back to me again.
Then she fumbled behind her and pulled my left hand around her front.
The pose she pulled me into was awkward, but I finally understood what she meant.
Park Da-Hye’s last wish was to recreate the exact pose from the picture I remembered.
Sleeping while touching her breasts from behind?
That can’t be it.
“You wanted a back hug?”
“Ah, is that what it’s called? Heehee. Anyway, this is my last wish. You understand now, right?”
I was shocked.
The great KimPokDaughter made three wishes, and none of them were game-related.
I understood the wish, but the twist was bigger than I expected.
But after hearing her last wish, I felt like I understood something.
The desire I was trying to figure out.
And now I think I understand a little about what she’s thinking.
Her first wish: a lap pillow.
Her second wish: to sleep at my place tonight.
Her third wish: this back hug.
The desire that could be inferred from these three wishes…
Human warmth.
It couldn’t be anything else.
Suddenly, I felt a pang of sadness.
She lived in an orphanage and then moved to a residence after becoming independent.
Since she’s been living there as a gamer, it’s only natural that she’d crave human warmth.
But that natural desire made me sad.
At the young age of twenty.
An age when she should be surrounded by family, friends, lovers, teachers, relatives… people who can give her love.
Such a beautiful and bright girl…
Borrowing warmth from me, someone she’s only known for two days, because she lacks even a sliver of it.
Her back relaxing against my chest, her steady breathing, the faint beat of her heart against my back… it was so poignant that I couldn’t bear it.
I wrapped my right arm, which had been stiff as a log, around her shoulders and my other arm around her waist.
This back hug was a right she had earned.
I had an obligation to fulfill it to the best of my ability.
“Heehee, hee! Stop it~ It tickles!”
“What am I supposed to do? Your waist is the only place I can put my hand.”
“Then touch my boobs! It tickles~”
Oh shit. I wanted to avoid that.
She mercilessly pulled my hand, which was around her waist, closer.
All the nerves in my body concentrated on my hand.
Then… something inevitably came into contact with my hand.
Something creamy soft and disproportionately ample for her small frame.
Two of them, even, sandwiching my hand.
This kind of torture at two in the morning is a bit much, isn’t it?
My sadness shattered.
But she just grumbled, as if she didn’t understand what the problem was.
“Don’t be like that about boobs. Tell me anytime you want to touch them. You can touch them whenever you want.”
“Park Da-Hye, have you no shame?”
“Nope.”
“You might be fine with it, but think about my position. It’s embarrassing…”
“Even though it’s my wish? You lost, so you have to do it.”
“That’s… I can’t argue with that, but…”
“Right? Goodnight, Sung-Hyeon. Heehee.”
**
Was Park Da-Hye asleep now?
No words, no movement, just quiet breathing.
The only things I felt were the scent of lavender, her hair occasionally tickling my nose, and the faint scent of her skin on her neck.
I remembered when I first met her.
She was a pure and innocent person, unable to even order at a cafe, just smiling brightly.
But her attitude changed after she learned my identity.
Casually drying my hair, wearing my underwear, initiating bold physical contact like this without hesitation.
Actions that only someone experienced in relationships would do, she did them to me without reservation.
Now I knew why.
Kwon Sung-Hyeon, the assistant manager of Narrative Games, was just a kind businessman to Park Da-Hye. But KwonSungHyeonFighter of Billion Saga was the only person she could share warmth with.
Her attitude changed because I went from a stranger to family.
I, a mere gaming buddy, was her only family.
At first, that fact made me sad, but now I felt it was better this way.
It was more reassuring for her to be in my arms than to endure that world alone in her cold residence room, or to borrow warmth from some stranger.
I was glad that I, a nobody, could at least offer her some warmth.
Perhaps, like she said at the barbecue restaurant,
I could become her resting place, haven, refuge, home, hometown… something like that.
Ugh, alright, I think it’s time to admit it.
I want something from Park Da-Hye now.
The wish vouchers I treated as useless…
I desperately needed them now.
If someone gave me just one wish voucher, this is what I would wish for.
“Da-Hye, are you asleep?”
“Mmm… no.”
“I’m thinking of buying some vegetables tomorrow.”
“Huh? Vegetables, suddenly… why?”
“Just, you know, carrots, radish, onions.”
“Are you going to make something delicious again?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of making braised short ribs for dinner.”
“Sounds good.”
“But I always have leftover vegetables after making braised short ribs, and that’s a problem.”
“Hmm… make fried rice with them later. Or, wait, radish might be weird.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
“Then?”
“If there’s another mouth to feed, there won’t be any leftovers. So…”
“Uh…?”
“Since you’re wasting money on rent, and I’m wasting vegetables, how about we do our usual party play?”
“…What are you saying?”
“Just don’t go. Don’t go home.”
This decision might fade away in a few years, or it might leave me with immense regret…
My needless meddling might ruin both of our lives…
But right now, this is what I want.
“I granted you three wishes, so give me a small favor, Park Da-Hye. Just live here. That’s my wish.”
“…”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? I put a lot of thought into that. If you don’t want to, just say so.”
“No… I like it. I won’t go.”
I was prepared to die of embarrassment if she rejected me. Thank goodness.
Her voice, thick with suppressed emotion, returned.
Since she’s turned away, she probably thinks she’s hiding it well.
You’re using my arm as a pillow; I can feel the dampness on my arm.
This is awkward.
In this awkward atmosphere, I had to use the magic words.
“70 E.”
“Whoa. How did you know?”
* * *
—–CROW—–
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