CH 22

“Huh?”

“That was sent to me by one of those student’s parents. At first, he tried to give me a monetary reward to express his gratitude.” 

The man had a troubled look on his face, and couldn’t look her in the eye. Hara’s eyes turned round.

“I refused the money, but he requested that I accept the fruit basket at the very least.”

It would be difficult to explain the entire story to the parents when Chief Jung Yoojin has kept her mouth shut. As the children received counselling, the fact that Hara was the one that saved the children might be exposed, but Seheon explained that he brought it to Hara because he didn’t think it was something he should receive. 

“Anchor Yoon should keep it.”

Seheon shrugged his shoulders.

“Isn’t the person that saved the lives of those children and I here though?”

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ loves the comments from the designated user, ‘Yoon Seheon’]

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ thinks that it isn’t anything much to date the person that saved his life, and counting his chickens]

“Shut up, for goodness’s sake……”

Hara muttered inadvertently. Seheon flinched.

“What?”

“N, no, I’m sorry. The system keeps spouting nonsense…”

“Oh, I see.”

Seheon added awkwardly. 

“Actually, I would also like to express my gratitude…”

“Oh, no. It’s alright!”

Hara waved her hand quickly.

“I just did what I’m supposed to do.”

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ asks if there’s a bigger picture that he’s unaware of]

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ grumbles that the days where appealing by being nice has ended a long time ago]

That isn’t the case. She thought with gritted teeth, wary of Seheon hearing her again. It’s not like she could glare at the sky either.

Meanwhile, Seheon asked carefully.

“If it’s alright, I can at least give a small token of appreciation…”

“No, really!”

Hara jumped up. No matter what, it did appear slightly like this. In the dungeon, Hara did act like she was in need of cash. After racking her brains desperately, Hara came up with a plausible excuse. 

“It’s a violation of the anti-graft law!”

“Ah.”

The man opened his mouth slightly.

“Wouldn’t it be alright, since I’m not asking anything of you?”

“You might have something to ask of me later on! I definitely can’t accept money or anything valuable. Actually, I don’t think I can even accept that fruit basket?!”

Whatever it is, it’s a no, because it’s against the regulations to maintain the dignity of civil servants. Seheon frowned slightly at the excuses Hara haphazardly mentioned, but soon nodded like he was convinced.

“I see. There’s no helping it then.”

Only then did Hara rest easy. While he might have only been saying it, the man’s cautious attitude was like he was really about to give Hara a packet of money.

Meanwhile, Seheon took out his business card from his pocket.

“Come to think of it, I’m late in giving you my contact information.”

“Huh? Yes…”

[The constellation ‘Cupid’ loves it]

“If there’s anything I can help you with in the future, please contact me.”

Anything that I can help you with. There’s only one thing you can help me with…… Hara received his business card while swallowing those words back down. 

Reporter/Anchor

Yoon Seheon

Tel. 010.xxxx.xxxx

Email. [email protected]

While there was nothing special about the business card with the logo of the public broadcasting station engraved on, it looked very nice. Was it because the person giving it to her was handsome?

“Come to think of it, have those children contacted you?”

Those children were referring to Sookyung, Heeyeon, and Seoyeon. Hara shook her head.

“No, not yet……”

It was natural as to public knowledge, Hara was still in a coma. Seheon’s face turned gloomy.

“Is that so? Actually, the parents that personally contacted me to express their gratitude, but they were also curious about a few things.”

“Ah……”

Hara seems to know what he was talking about. She’d already roughly glanced through the Internet.

There seemed to be various topics about the three children that were rescued from the dungeon.

The children were treated and underwent counselling immediately after rescuing the dungeon, during which Seoyeon’s isolation in the dungeon became a problem.

Seoyeon’s parents claimed that that occurred because she was ostracised by the other children, but the other two children insisted that that wasn’t the case.

In the end, it seems like Seoyeon’s relative posted a message on the Internet. The comment section became rather heated.  About whether a school violence committee needed to be held or not. That this occurred in a dungeon, and so they needed to hear from the other kids. 

Hara sighed. After seeing that article, Hara also felt sorry in various ways. While Heeyeon and Sookyung said that Seoyeon saved them, that might not be the case for Seoyeon’s parents.

“Originally, the aftermath of a dungeon appearance is more difficult to fix than the situation prior to a dungeon’s appearance.” 

Seheon continued bitterly.

The incident with Heeyeon, Sookyung, and Seoyeon wasn’t anything unusual.

Even if the victims come back alive, they’d often receive psychiatric treatment due to trauma from the occurrences in the dungeon’s extreme environment, and it would often spark lawsuits.

The aftermath would be rather trying for those three children that had managed to be rescued. 

Even so, there was nothing that the current Hara could do. In any case, it was difficult for her to leave this single room.

‘In the first place, will I be able to successfully return to the Mapo branch office?’

Hara started to feel troubled again. After entering and leaving a dungeon, it would be difficult for her to sit down and pretend that nothing had happened. 

That’s often the case with the civil servant community. While there might be numerous exceptions, owing to the fact that the Hunter Agency is in a special situation, most members of the civil service departments were D-class and E-class, so it was impossible to say that they were interested in others.

“Actually, Seoyeon’s parents requested to make a news report.”

Hara, who had been lost in thought, raised her head abruptly. The man continued with a rather awkward expression.

“I don’t think this is something that we should report about as the context wasn’t clear, so I rejected them there and then.”

“I see…”

“But when I’d firmly rejected them, it seemed like the parents might try to reach out to Kang Hara-ssi.”

Hara’s eyes widened. It seemed like Seheon was worried about the possibility of children getting hurt because of those useless reports.

“Oh, I won’t say anything unnecessary either.”

“Well, that’s not what I’m trying to say.”

He smiled awkwardly. 

“It will be hard for you the moment you’re swept up in this kind of story. Moreover, Kang Hara-ssi is a civil servant, so it would be even harder.”

Aha. Was he worried about her, and not the children?

He’s a better person than she’d thought… Soon after, Hara suddenly recalled the past where she’d clung to his sleeve. What did he say when she asked him about her Oppa…

“Yes, yes. Student’s Oppa will be safe. Wipe your runny nose. Blow, there you go. Please calm down first.”

Before she knew it, her face turned red. Was she having a runny nose then…? While Hara was thinking, Seheon stole a glance at his watch and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but I think I have to get going.”

“Oh, yes!”

Hara got up hurriedly. Seheon also stood up with a light greeting.

It was so hectic when they were in the dungeon that she didn’t realise, but when she stood close to him, he was really tall. She wanted to ask how tall he was… as random thoughts appeared in Hara’s head, and she only called Seheon belatedly when he was about to open the door of the hospital room. 

“Erm, excuse me.”

“Yes.”

Despite the sudden call, Seheon nodded dignifiedly, as though he knew that she would call him.

“I’m really sorry, but can I ask you something…”

“You don’t have to be sorry. Please go ahead.”

Hara hesitated before opening her mouth.

“Earlier, you said that you’d help me…… W—when I need it.”

“Oh, yes. Do you have anything you’d like to request of me?”

“Not now, erm, maybe in the future…”

“Of course. I’ll render any assistance that you may require.”

The man smiled softly. His attitude was warm and amiable, as though he’d really help her with anything she asks.

When he was expressionless, he looked scary and felt overbearing. Was it because Hara was his lifesaver?

But will you really help me if I ask for your help? While having such thoughts, Hara added again.

“Even if it’s a really difficult request, you have to listen……”

With a slightly wrinkled forehead, Seheon smiled. 

“Well, is it a difficult request?” 

“That’s…”

“Well, I won’t be of much help when it comes to trials or lawsuits. There are people that’ll ask me to help them though. I’m just a reporter, but I don’t have any special connections.”

“No, it’s not like that…”

It would’ve been better if it was a trial or something like that. At the sight of the man’s refreshing smile, Hara became downcast. 

Seheon raised his eyebrows at her. He was asking, ‘Did something really happen?’ with his eyes.

As expected of the representative anchor of a public broadcasting station, he had a warm face that was filled with credibility. As Hara looked at his face, she became captivated by the thought that this man might actually help her. Yeah, perhaps they could talk about it?

Anchor Yoon. Actually, I’d awakened in the dungeon. But that awakening hasn’t reached 100% completion. The condition to awaken was to date Anchor Yoon. Yes, it can’t be helped because it was the constellation’s order, but I’ll be good to you. So just once…

…It would have been great if she could describe the same story coherently. However, when she actually tried to bring it up, Hara’s head was filled with what happened in the dungeon and her S-class, and the embarrassment and shame bled in. For example, it became like this. 

Excuse me, I held Anchor Yoon’s hand in the dungeon, didn’t I? But, as you’re probably aware, it was ordered by the constellation. After I’d awakened— No, I hadn’t awakened completely yet, but if I went out with you, I could become an S-class. Erm, This is all for the sake of protecting the country, and I don’t have a personal interest in Anchor Yoon. No! But! There’s nothing I can do about it either?

It was a mishmash. 

In the end. 

“M, maybe you can go out with me……”

She ended up saying the wrong thing. Hara realised that she had said the wrong thing in that instant, but it was already too late.

The softly smiling expression on the man’s face immediately froze awkwardly.

“Haha, you’re quite good at joking.”

The corners of his mouth were still curled upwards, but there wasn’t any hint of amusement in Seheon’s eyes. 

Hara wanted to die.

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ laughs hard enough to turns upside down]

“Ah, of course. It’s a joke, haha!”

“Occasionally, there are those that would crack such jokes. But it’ll be a little hard. It’s because I have a girlfriend.”

Hara’s eyes became round. The smiling expression along with unsmiling eyes were still present on the man’s face as he offered his hand for a handshake. 

“It’s a pity. Kang Hara-ssi is an attractive person. If I didn’t have a girlfriend, I wouldn’t have taken that as a joke.”

He spoke soulless words fluidly. Hara shook hands with him despondently. 

“Well then, I wish you good health.”

Clack. The door closed.

Hara was the only one left in the hospital room. After a moment of silence, Hara spluttered acrimoniously. 

“This unscrupulous constellation!”