SHOWR 13

Chapter 13

I doubted my own eyes.

This is how you sign a contract…?!

My hand gripping the contract trembled uncontrollably in my confusion.
Seriously, what kind of thinking led to making an item like this?

“Why?”

When I just stared at the contract without saying anything, sunbae bent at the waist and peered at it together with me as he asked.
His low voice brushed past my ear. The distance closed in so suddenly that I could almost feel his breath.

In that instant, the scent of his soap washed over me. A clean fragrance, like he had just stepped out of the shower.

Startled, I sucked in a breath and froze.

Was it because he leaned in even closer?

At that moment, I ended up facing his flawless profile head-on.
The high bridge of his nose, a jawline as sharp as if it had been carved, and even his long eyelashes.

My heart, which had been perfectly fine, suddenly began to race.

“Ah, n-no. It’s just…”

I was flustered by how close he was and ended up stammering.

I’d been spacing out at his unreal profile, but snapping back to my senses, I hastily hid the contract behind my back.
Trying to conceal my face, which had heated up in an instant, I opened my mouth awkwardly.

“Th-this contract method is just a little… surprising.”

“Surprising?”

As I edged my body away from him, he straightened his bent back.
Only then did it feel like I could breathe again.

“Do I have to pay some kind of price?”
he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

It’s not a huge price… but it does require enduring that level of embarrassment.

“Um.”

Trying to explain it was awkward. Grabbing his hand out of the blue would be weird, too.

That was when it happened. As if urging along my hesitation, a quest time-limit status window popped up before my eyes.

^[Time Remaining: 470 hours 1 minute 40 seconds]^

‘Okay, I get it! I get it! I’ll do it!’

I already thought three weeks was cutting it close, but seeing the time steadily decrease made me even more anxious.

I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted out loudly.

“I—I have to do it with you!”

“……?”

Ah, I’m screwed.

0.1 seconds later, I realized I’d left out the object of the sentence—and that a sentence without an object could cause a huge misunderstanding.

My cheeks burned hotter than ever before.

Seeing sunbae’s face tilt crookedly in clear confusion made me want to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.

“W-we have to hook pinkies and stamp and copy… that thing.”

My voice trailed off. Fortunately, sunbae understood what I meant.

“Ohhh. I thought you meant something else.”

Aaaah! So he did misunderstand!

Before I could even hide my flaming red face, sunbae suddenly held out his hand.
It was a hand with thick fingers, covered in scars.

“……?”

When I blinked blankly for a moment, sunbae’s amused voice reached me.

“You said let’s do it. With me.”

Seriously, I want to disappear somewhere.

When I timidly raised my hand, sunbae tugged my right hand straight toward him.
Our pinkies hooked together tightly, as if binding each other.

“Promise.”

Then sunbae lightly shook our joined hands up and down.
My stiffened hand moved along with his regardless of my will. Using our hooked pinkies as a pivot, our thumbs met.

As he pressed them together long and deliberately, like stamping a seal, I sensed a mischievousness uncharacteristic of him.

“Stamp.”

Sliding our joined thumbs, sunbae gently traced down my palm.
It was a brief, passing touch, but I could clearly feel his hot body temperature and rough skin.

“Copy.”

It was the moment a one-of-a-kind contract in this world was sealed.

The instant he withdrew his hand, I felt like I wanted to run away.
I never imagined that at my age, I’d be doing something this childish—on top of that, with sunbae.

‘Was this really the only way, Mimi?’

Soon after, a status window with cat ears appeared before both sunbae and me.

^[Employment Contract Successfully Signed!]^
^[Title Acquired: Novice Boss]^
^[Successfully run the shop together with your part-timer for one month!]^

I subtly turned my head to sneak a look at sunbae’s as well.

His messages read:

^[‘Boss’ Part-Timer Registration Complete]^
^[Remaining Contract Period: 30 days]^
^[Adjusting Stats, Calculating Progress of Mana Addiction]^

Ta-da—!

Along with the same flashy sound effect I’d heard before, a copy of the employment contract appeared in sunbae’s hand.

‘Seriously, an item that’s unnecessarily faithful to the basics.’

As the cool air cooled the awkward heat, sunbae met my gaze.

Then he said this:

“Please take care of me, Boss?”

“……You too.”

The contract was safely completed, and it looked like the quest would proceed without issues.

‘So why do I feel this exhausted?’

Putting on a faint smile, I emphasized to sunbae,

“The time limit is tight. We might not always be able to clear other gates as smoothly as this one……”

“It’s fine.”

Sunbae cut off my unsteady words and said firmly,

“As long as you’re here.”

“…….”

There wasn’t a shred of unease in the eyes looking down at me.

‘It’s been a while—why aren’t they coming out?’

Ian, who had been pacing back and forth in front of the rooftop door, suddenly snapped his head up.

The door had opened.

With the bright sunlight pouring in through the crack, a clear smile bloomed on Ian’s face as well.

No more overtime, no more Chairman Maeng’s nagging, no more curses hurled at him in every language across the globe!

Ian’s mood, which had been floating sky-high, crashed straight to the ground in an instant.

Because of Bitna, who brushed past him with a dark expression.

“Huh…?”

Sensing that something was wrong, Ian hurried over to Jinseo.

“Hyung! W-what is it? Wasn’t it that woman? What happened? What did you talk about?!”

After putting up a soundproof barrier around the two of them again, Ian bombarded him with questions.

His desperate urge to get answers was instantly shattered by a single casual hand gesture from Jinseo.

Jinseo didn’t open his mouth until they got into the car, and during that time, Ian felt like he’d been dropped straight into hellfire.

“If you don’t talk, I’m not driving.”

When Ian played hardball, Jinseo leaned his head back against the headrest and tossed out his words.

“We’re going to Japan. No time, so charter a private jet right away.”

“What are you talking about? Why Japan all of a sudden?”

“To clear a gate.”

“Huh? Out of nowhere? Why are you being like this, seriously?”

Ian pulled up his upper lip, wearing an expression of utter disbelief.

He’d always known Jinseo was the type to think alone and speak however he pleased, but wasn’t this going too far?

At least give some explanation so I can pretend to understand.

“Why would you go to Japan when you’re supposed to send that woman? Don’t tell me she’s not a clearer? Seriously?”

If that woman wasn’t a clearer either, he had no idea where or how they were supposed to find the real one.

Just as he felt like tearing his hair out—

Jinseo spoke again.

“Actually, it’s me.”

“…….”

“Sorry. I deceived you.”

Ian’s face twisted sharply.

At lightning speed, he slapped a barrier over his own mouth and spat out a string of vicious curses.

I should’ve just died.

It felt like his lifespan had shortened by ten years. Ian took long, repeated deep breaths.

Based on eight years of experience dealing with this lunatic, it was obvious Jinseo was hiding something.

But apologizing so brazenly like that was no different from declaring that he would never explain it.

Ian chose to believe him rather than ask.

“Hyung, there’s no need to rush. Chairman Maeng is listing up the rewards each country is offering right now. There’ll be food supply for the gate too, so if we just wait a bit—”

Having finally managed to suppress the anger boiling inside him through sheer force of will, Ian spoke as if nothing had happened—only to explode at Jinseo’s next words.

“I have to go to a reunion. Tomorrow.”

“No, f—! Hyung, seriously!”

Because he’d put up the barrier a moment too late, his profanity burst out unfiltered—an entirely intentional mistake.

A black cat that had been warming its fur under the cozy sunlight slowly opened its yellow eyes.
Its vertically slit pupils wandered through the empty air.

“So in the end… you signed a contract with the rank 1 hunter.”

Its black tail lashed sharply from side to side, thwap, thwap, striking the floor.

Soon, the cat stretched long and stepped forward with its front paw.

A portal opened in the empty space, swallowing the cat whole.

Right after the cat vanished, the shop door burst open.

“Yemimi! Where are you?!”