SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon - Chapter 185

Translated by cabinfourtranslations.

“Oh, right. Shinhee, Shinwoo, I heard you’re starting school soon?”

Shinwoo nodded with a pouty expression, “That’s right, I don’t need to go to that place, I keep telling you that…….”

“Eonni, I got my school uniform! Would you like to see the picture?”

The school I was referring to was a specialised academy for underage Hunters that was set to open next month.

There have been smaller Hunter Academies before. But they were expensive private institutions for improving one’s skills as a hunter, including combat skills. They were so small that they had no presence. This new school would provide basic education and specialised, comprehensive training for underage hunters. It’s a kind of middle or high school.

It was originally scheduled to open in March, but was pushed back by two months in the aftermath of the last Demon God Resurrection incident.

The twins didn’t want to go to school at first. They even got angry when they were told to go to school, arguing that they were already hunters in their own right and didn’t need to go to school now. It took me and Ki Yoohyun to convince the twins. It was only a few days ago that they decided to enrol after a long persuasion.

I looked at the photo on Joo Shinhee’s phone: the two of them in their school uniforms, looking excited.

“Nice picture. You look good in it.”

“Hehe, thank you, Eonni!”

The twins were still as innocent and energetic as ever. At the same time, they’re also a bit more mature than before. From their cheerful expressions, I could feel the calmness and firmness in their eyes that were different from before.

The reason for this change was, perhaps…….

‘It must be…….’

At that moment, I heard a commotion coming from the end of the corridor. I turned my head to the direction of the sound and saw a tall man.

“Ah, there he is.”

“Well, we’ll have to go then!”

“Eonni, we’ll go to the store next time!”

“What? Guys, wait…….”

Wooosh. The three of them ran away so fast that I didn’t have time to hold on to any of them.

In the meantime, Ki Yoohyun walked towards me with long strides. The murmurs grew louder and then died down, and I felt several eyes on the back of my head

A long shadow fell on top of me, Smiling softly, Ki Yoohyun greeted me.

“I thought we missed each other. I’m glad I ran into you.”

In order to talk about my relationship with Ki Yoohyun now, I must first go back to the day we returned from defeating the Demon God.

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.

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I was filled with many emotions: relief that we had finally defeated the Demon God, happiness that Ki Yoohyun was safe, sadness and longing…….

Overwhelmed with emotions, I kissed Ki Yoohyun, and he gently pressed his lips against mine, as if he felt the same way. His expression as he smiled at me was lovely, and his hand wrapped around my cheek felt warm.

He kissed me very …… well ……. No, let’s just skip this part.

It’s all good up to this point. If I hadn’t kissed him then, I’d have spent another month wondering if he liked me or not. I couldn’t bear that kind of sweet potato, hmm.

The problem was, the Dungeon vanished a little too soon.

Our lips touched once, then we pulled away, our eyes met, and he captured my lips again. In that brief moment, we had been brought back to where we came from, which was the densely populated city of Seoul.

It was a very warm and affectionate kiss, but I turned pale and pushed him away.

“Mm … haaa. Heuk, Yoohyun-ssi, wait … wait a moment! Please step away. Stop, stop!”

“Rieul-ssi, why…..”

“That’s not the point right now, please look around…….”

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.

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Ugh, just thinking about it again made me want to dunk my head in a bowl of water.

Anyway, in the aftermath of that incident…….

At the time when we hadn’t exchanged a single word about dating or anything yet, we were already being treated like the official Hunter World couple. I learnt my lesson to be mindful of my surroundings when kissing.

That still held true today. When he first appeared in the corridor, there was a commotion, but now it’s dead silent again. However, I could feel some passionate prying gazes flicking in this direction.

But I was the only one here who was concerned about the stares. Ki Yoohyun spoke to me in a casual manner without removing the smile from his face. Our distance was close.

“How have you been?”

“Me, well … I’m the same as usual. How about Yoohyun-ssi?”

“Me too. Ah, I heard you were working hard on today’s launch ceremony.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t. All I did was make coffee…….”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Strange. It’s such an ordinary thing to hear, but why did it make my heart stir like this just because he said it. I blurted out, quickly avoiding his eyes.

“So … I have work to do today, so I have to leave early.”

“Oh. That business you mentioned is for today.”

“Yes. But I’m happy to see you, Yoohyun-ssi, even if just for a short time.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“No, it’s not that far from here. You’re here for the launch today, so I can’t take up your time.”

“I’d be honoured if you would take up my time, Rieul-ssi.” Ki Yoohyun spoke these words without hesitation.

Is this normal? Do everyone really say such sweet things to each other in such close distance?

I didn’t know. As someone who had no experience with such things, except for the one time I was given a pepero from a kid from the other class when I was in the third grade of elementary school, there’s no way I could know.

“It’s okay, I’ll just go.”

When I repeatedly refused, Ki Yoohyun changed his approach.

“Then I’ll walk with you to the front.”

It was only a few steps to the front, but I didn’t say no this time. I wanted to be with him for a little longer too.

“Rieul-ssi, aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine, it’s warm today.”

We left the building where the event was held and walked side by side towards the exit. There was a small garden surrounding the building, and the weather was warm enough for a walk as spring had fully blossomed around us.

Naturally, our pace slowed down. We caught up with each other about the latest news. I heard that Choi Lona was also considering enrolling in the same school as the twins, and that James hadn’t returned to the US yet.

I couldn’t really focus on the conversation. I was distracted by his side profile, the sound of his footsteps, and his laughter as he spoke from the corner of my eye.

But Ki Yoohyun seemed unaffected. He carried on the conversation in a calm manner and walked regularly. He occasionally glanced in my direction, but he just smiled casually.

Oh, could it be? Is he the kind of guy who can kiss someone he doesn’t even like? He kissed me then because he was overwhelmed with emotions, but now?

… that couldn’t be possible. It’s been some time since I met Ki Yoohyun. I have a good idea of what kind of person he is.

If I mentioned what I just thought out loud, he would say something like this with a shocked expression.

‘What on earth do you think of me, Rieul-ssi…….’

Or he might furrow his eyebrows and say, ‘Do I appear to be such a scoundrel to you……?’

Ahahaha. Although it was just my imagination, it was quite realistic.

Ahahaha. Although it was just my imagination, it was quite realistic.

While I was thinking about this nonsense, I tripped over a rock. Phew, I was about to fall horribly. I quickly righted my off-centred body.

Ah, the hand.

“…….”

As I stumbled, the back of my hand lightly touched his hand. I didn’t grab his hand, nor did he hold mine. I had held his hand many times before, but it felt strange to touch him in this way.

I glanced up and saw his face. The calmness of his face was gone. I could clearly see that his cheeks and earlobes were now flushed.

“…….”

“…….”

Our loose conversation came to a screeching halt. But none of us pulled our hands away first. As we walked on, all our nerves focused on the back of our hands, the end came quickly.

“This is as far as we go, Yoohyun-ssi.”

“Ah. We’re here.” Ki Yoohyun replied with disappointment. His hand dropped. The back of my hand felt like it was burning.

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

“Okay, next time … I’ll see you next time.”

So what are we now…….

In a word, we’re having a some¹.

After we returned from defeating the Demon, when things had calmed down a bit from the chaos of the case, Ki Yoohyun sought me out and said very carefully,

“Before, I told you that I had something I wanted to tell you when we got back.”

“….Yes.”

“If it’s okay with you, Rieul-ssi, I’d like to say it now, will you listen?”

“…….”

I thought about it for a moment and finally answered.

“Just a little ……. Please give me a little more time.”

“If Yoohyun-ssi says that to me … if I get a confession, I won’t be able to refuse.”

“…Okay.”

“So can you wait a little longer until I can sort out my mind?”

I know for sure now. I like him.

But I couldn’t bring myself to start a relationship with him right away.

Ash and Mieum had not returned yet. I wanted to tell them first and foremost if I started dating him, but they weren’t around right now. Letting the past be the past and starting a new relationship with him was something I couldn’t handle right now.

Ki Yoohyun simply replied that he understood, and the subject was never brought up again. He didn’t seem nervous, and he acted like his usual self.

But that didn’t make him an ordinary acquaintance. I was happy when we met, my heart was pounding, and my cheeks burned when our hands touched, just like before.

I knew he was waiting for me. I need to organise my mind, think about what’s ahead, but…….

I don’t know. How exactly do I sort out my own thoughts?

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Translator’s Corner:

1. Some (썸): from the word “something”. Something is going on between two people but they haven’t defined the relationship yet. It’s like the phase between being friends and dating. There’s a really popular song by Junggigo dan Soyou about it that explained the relationship here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-FhDScM_2w&ab_channel=STARSHIP. ↩︎

Guys, I think whoever in the past who commented that my life sounds like cursed is right … why is everytime I say I have things planned out, SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED? T_T the part time job I was supposed to start this week suddenly cancelled because their work cancelled their resignation … omg now I dont know what should I do. but well. at this point I already got used with the bad things happening.

7 chapters left in the main story! I will finish them all this week before another more bad things happened since I don’t know when will I have time like this … and it’s not like I have another thing to do now hehehe let’s wait a little, I’ll get you the ending!