The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 231

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Yeo Joo Saves the World
Part 2, Episode 52

She was the kind of woman who kept him awake at night, yet not a trace of resentment could be found on Kang Han’s face as he gazed at her sleeping form.
The living room wasn’t particularly spacious, which meant the distance between him and Yeo Joo was remarkably close.
Kang Han quietly turned his body toward her.
At a distance where merely reaching out his hand would let him touch her face, this was the first time he had observed her for so long from such proximity.
The living room was dark, illuminated only by the faint moonlight, but an S-rank’s vision shone brilliantly even in such moments.
Kang Han unconsciously held his breath.
Her long eyelashes, curled delicately at the tips, and her small, upturned nose captivated his gaze for an extended time.
Her face, which had displayed countless expressions throughout the day, now softened by sleep, seemed like a secret gift.
Tick, tick.
In the quiet living room, where deep, rhythmic breathing mingled with the gentle rise and fall of her chest, only the ticking of the clock’s second hand marked the passage of time.
“Mmm….”
After some time had passed, Yeo Joo furrowed her brow and shifted, unwrapping the blanket that had been wound tightly around her body.
But it was only brief—her body curled up again in response to the cool temperature of the living room.
Kang Han rose silently and draped the blanket over her small frame once more.
His hands were endlessly careful, pressing down along the edges to prevent any cold air from seeping in.
Then, Yeo Joo’s eyes, which had been gently closed, slowly fluttered open.
“…Kang Han?”
There was no way to escape.
Kang Han froze completely, unable to even blink.
For some reason, he felt like a child caught doing something wrong.
Then, suddenly, he became aware of how close the two of them were.
He felt he needed to offer some explanation.
“I, it’s just… that is.”
Kang Han’s lips moved as he searched for words.
Yeo Joo, watching him with eyes still heavy with sleep, smiled softly.
And she murmured as if sleep-talking.
“You’re handsome.”
“…Me?”
“Yes.”
Fortunately, she hadn’t fully awakened from sleep.
Realizing this fact, courage quietly blossomed within Kang Han’s heart.
“Does my face… please you?”
“Of course it does.”
“Where are you going?”
“…Are you asking because you don’t know?”
As if drifting back to sleep, Yeo Joo’s words trailed off slowly.
Her drowsy voice was so different from her usual crisp manner of speaking that Kang Han’s lips were about to curl into a smile when—
“Kang Han is cute.”
“…What did you say?”
“You’re cute, so I’ll let it slide… really.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
It was a word I hadn’t heard since my age entered double digits.
Cute, of all things.
“Who’s calling whom cute?”
Kang Han looked at Yeo Joo’s face, already lost to sleep again in that brief moment, and eventually let out a soft laugh.
Then suddenly, his gaze caught on her slightly parted lips.
“…”
His intense stare lingered there for a long time.
Finally, Kang Han rose completely from the bedding.
He couldn’t stay in the same space with her any longer.
Click.
As he opened the front door and stepped outside, the breath he’d been holding burst free in the frigid dawn air.
Whoosh—
He collapsed onto the wooden platform in the courtyard with enough force to make it creak, and only after the wind struck his face several times did his senses finally return.
“Sigh.”
Click.
After a long, drawn-out breath, he heard the sound of the door closing behind him.
Kang Han’s shoulders flinched slightly as he slowly turned around.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Association Director.”
The one who had come out to the courtyard was Hunter Ji Jung Hwi.
“I stopped being Association Director a while ago.”
Ji Jung Hwi sat down on the wooden platform beside Kang Han, grumbling.
“The Kang Han Guild Master seems to have a lot on his mind too?”
“…Pardon?”
“Leading an organization isn’t easy. Especially not a guild with as much history as the Justice Guild.”
“Ah, yes.”
Only then did Kang Han grasp what Ji Jung Hwi meant by “thoughts,” and he nodded with inward relief.
“There are certainly worries that come up from time to time, but there are many people around me who help, so it’s manageable.”
“You seemed unaware of the Darkness Purification ability. Do you still trust her?”
Ji Jung Hwi asked directly without beating around the bush.
“It can’t be easy to keep trusting someone who doesn’t tell you something so important.”
“…I think there must be a reason she didn’t tell me.”
“What reason?”
“I’m not sure. But I’m not uncomfortable not knowing the reason. That’s the trust I have in Yeo Joo.”
Kang Han let out a soft chuckle as Ji Jung Hwi regarded him with those penetrating eyes.
“Ever since Yeo Joo came to the Justice Guild with a bag of money just before it was taken over by the Sama Group, I stopped asking for reasons behind her actions.”
“…That’s fair enough.”
Ji Jung Hwi nodded in agreement.
For a while, silence hung between the two men.
Each was lost in their own thoughts.
Then Ji Jung Hwi rose first from the wooden platform.
“You should go inside and get some rest, even if it’s just for a moment.”
“Yes, understood.”
Though I answered that way, I made no move to stand.
As Ji Jung Hwi watched my stillness and turned to leave, that’s when I spoke.
“Association Director.”
“…What is it?”
“When Yeo Joo asks you to trust her, you can.”
When Ji Jung Hwi turned back toward the wooden platform, I was smiling at him with genuine ease.
“Not just me, but everyone who’s been helped by Yeo Joo would say the same. If that’s what’s keeping you awake, please rest easy now.”
“That’s rich coming from someone standing outside in the middle of the night.”
At Ji Jung Hwi’s still-gruff words, I answered with a bitter smile.
“It’s myself I can’t trust.”

* * *

The next morning.
I spoke to Kang Han, who was folding the bedding I had spread out the night before.
“I guess sleep really is best taken at home. You don’t look like you got any rest at all.”
“….”
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“For someone who claims that, you slept pretty well yesterday, Yeo Joo.”
After dropping that comment, Kang Han’s back as he methodically folded the large blanket like a towel somehow looked sullen.
‘…Did I snore last night?’
If that were the case, I’d feel genuinely sorry.
An S-Rank Hunter wouldn’t lose sleep over missing one night, but Kang Han’s complexion looked so haggard—like someone who’d been tormented by worries all through the night.
“Um, Guild Master.”
I called out to Kang Han, intending to apologize.
The Master Bedroom door creaked open, and Ji Jung Hwi stepped out.
But then.
“…Huh?”
“What do you mean ‘huh’?”
“No, Ji Jung Hwi… that’s you, right?”
Overnight, Ji Jung Hwi had returned to his former self.
The thick beard that had obscured his original features was gone, and his hair—which had looked like a bird’s nest—was now neatly groomed, revealing his forehead.
But the most dramatic change was his fashion.
The garish, multicolored hiking gear that seemed to change design every time we met had vanished, replaced by jeans and a crisply ironed white shirt that fit him shockingly well.
As I stood there with my mouth agape, staring blankly, Ji Jung Hwi clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Don’t make such a fuss.”
Ding—
His grumbling tone mixed with an incongruous sound effect.
And when I saw the affection gauge that appeared above Ji Jung Hwi’s head, I lost my words once more.

《 ♥ 13 》

…All of a sudden?
Just yesterday, there wasn’t even a hint of affection forming.
Such a dramatic shift in just one night!
‘What on earth happened last night?’
I rubbed my eyes blankly, and Ji Jung Hwi must have mistaken it for drowsiness because he pointed toward the Restroom and spoke.
“Go wash up and come back. Let’s leave quickly.”
“Where are we going?”
“Seoul.”
“You too, Ji Jung Hwi?”
“The Association Director asked me to.”
“Oh, well that’s true, but… Are you really going to resume your position?!”
Sleep vanished from my mind instantly.
If Ji Jung Hwi became the Association Director again, I’d sleep twice as well at night.
“Resume? You think I can just become the Association Director again whenever I want?”
“Well, that’s true, but still.”
“There’s a candidate registration and vote for the Association Director position at the Awakeners Association today, I heard.”
“Today? You’re going to handle all of that at once?”
“The tactics the Sa Ma Group uses are always predictable.”
Ji Jung Hwi clicked his tongue disapprovingly as he spoke.
“But how did you know that?”
“I served as the Association Director for quite a long time, so naturally I still have a few people loyal to me.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————