Chapter 53

Startled by her genuine scream, Pado’s eyes widened.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-No, it’s just… you surprised me. Why are you kissing the slime?”

“Am I not supposed to?”

“Most people don’t. It’s a cleaning slime.”

It was a flimsy excuse.

The real reason Morae had screamed was because he’d kissed the slime so naturally.

On the first day—and ever since then—they hadn’t kissed.

She’d assumed he was the type who treated kisses as something special.

Maybe he was one of those people who would sleep with someone but only kiss the person they truly cared about.

She’d secretly been bothered by it.

Then he suddenly kissed a slime without hesitation, and the scream escaped before she even realized it.

Which made her wonder…

What had all that holding back before been about?

“It’s clean and cute, so what’s the problem? That’s practically a germaphobe’s way of thinking.”

Looking slightly embarrassed, Pado hugged the slime.

Even that bothered her.

Pouting, Morae asked,

“Did you hug all your old slimes like that too? If that’s how you’re going to treat them, I should’ve given you a pet slime instead of a cleaning one.”

“Really? Then give me one if you’ve got a spare.”

“No.”

Pado stared at her with an expression that plainly said, What is wrong with you?

After another brief staring contest, he hugged the cleaning slime even tighter.

“Fine. I’ll live with this one, so mind your own business. Doesn’t matter whether I hug a cleaning slime or a pet slime.”

“If you’re so lonely that you’ll cuddle just anything, you’re going to get yourself into trouble. Did you ever contact Downtown Workshop?”

“…Where did that come from all of a sudden?”

His eyes immediately became guarded, as though expecting her to start another argument.

Before he could close the door, Morae slipped her foot into the gap.

Thanks to the strength of her reinforced body, she easily forced the opening wide enough to squeeze inside.

“You got a whole stack of business cards, remember? The owner’s card, and all those guys’ cards. Didn’t you contact any of them?”

“Who knows. I probably lost them.”

Morae quietly studied his face.

There wasn’t even the slightest hint of guilt.

It didn’t seem like he was lying.

Pado kept his room rather bare, and he wasn’t particularly attached to his belongings.

If it was something he didn’t care about, like business cards, he had probably genuinely lost them or stuffed them into some forgotten drawer.

Feeling much more at ease, Morae plopped down onto his bed.

Standing a short distance away, Pado looked down at her with obvious displeasure.

His expression practically asked, What now?

In a deliberately casual tone, Morae said,

“I was just… suddenly curious about your type. Before, I said all those harsh things because I was worried you’d leave, but honestly… you’re at the age where you should be dating too.”

“Heh. So you finally admit it.”

“We’re not like the Hunter Association, following people around telling them not to date. We don’t oppose office romances either.”

Morae casually began laying the groundwork.

“I figured. Your parents are married, after all.”

“After experiencing it a few times myself, I get it now. Someone with as much stamina as you really needs to date. Otherwise, you’ll keep bottling things up until one day you do something reckless.”

“…”

She looked up at him as if asking, Well?

But Pado said nothing.

As she waited for his answer, Morae absentmindedly played with the blanket.

She felt nervous…

Yet her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

At this point, she’d practically spoon-fed him the answer.

The reason Pado became obsessed with her the moment they started having sex, yet stayed so quiet the rest of the time, was because his views on dating were a little warped.

She’d only suspected it before, but now she was sure.

Pado clearly had a deep-seated wariness when it came to romance and women.

It wasn’t that he disliked women themselves.

Rather…

He seemed to feel a faint sense of guilt whenever he showed interest in one.

He’d probably been scolded over and over ever since he was a child.

And since he was quietly conscious of Morae’s opinions, he likely couldn’t simply ignore what she’d once told him about not chasing after women.

What someone like him needed at times like this…

…was permission.

Acceptance.

If someone he trusted acknowledged that it was okay for him to date, maybe that burden would ease a little…

That was what Morae believed.

“That’s it?”

Instead, Pado merely frowned and asked flatly.

There wasn’t even the slightest hint of excitement on his face.

“No more to say? Got it.”

“H-Huh? Wait? You understood?”

“Yeah.”

“You really did?”

It was difficult to accept that he’d understood and still wasn’t happy.

She was literally sitting on his bed, practically handing him permission to make a move.

Seeing such an unenthusiastic expression genuinely hurt.

“Yeah. You’re saying I should find somewhere to relieve myself before I get so horny I end up causing trouble. I got the message.”

Pado wore an unusually uncomfortable expression.

“I appreciate you worrying about what’s going on below my belt, but I already told you before. If I ever need to let off steam…”

Leaning forward, Pado lightly flicked her forehead with his finger.

Flick.

Morae stared blankly after taking the hit.

She felt like she’d heard him say something similar before.

But this time…

It sounded different.

Back then, it had been playful.

Like he was teasing her on purpose.

Now…

There was a tired sigh hidden in his voice.

Why?

Before she could dwell on his puzzling words, a stream of water wrapped around her and carried her right out of the room.

Completely soaked, Morae spun helplessly around in the hallway.

Why?

No…

Why?

Life never went smoothly.

When she had been kidnapped while preparing an amazing birthday party, when her father had casually trampled over the research she had poured her heart into, Morae had always thought the same thing.

And now, another item had been added to the list of things in life that refused to go easily.

Yu Pado refusing to make a move on her.

No, seriously.

Why?

She couldn’t understand it.

Even after several days passed, there had been no progress.

When Morae visited him, they talked.

When she contacted him, he replied.

But Pado never took it any further.

Rather than approaching her, he even seemed to subtly retreat whenever it looked like things were about to develop.

At least, that was what it seemed like.

Unless she was some hopelessly oblivious heroine from a pure romance manga, or Yu Pado was some hopelessly oblivious male lead from a harem story, there was no explanation.

Either that…

Or he was a pathetic coward.

Or…

Even though the sex had been enjoyable, he didn’t think she was someone worth dating.

Or, as much as she hated to consider it…

There was also the possibility that he was already tired of even that.

But that was impossible.

Morae crushed the cup in her hand and erased the pointless speculation from her mind.

Anyone who claimed that possibility made sense deserved to die.

She might abandon Pado first.

But there was no way Pado would abandon her.

Not after he had gotten worked up while masturbating in front of her.

Of course, he hadn’t done it without permission.

But still, he had done it.

He had thrust into her while they faced each other.

Lifted her up and pushed himself into her.

Made her brace herself against the wall and continued.

And after all that, he had still whined that it wasn’t enough!

“It’s annoying.”

She wasn’t in the mood to research.

Morae threw aside all her research assignments and collapsed onto the bed.

Trying to soothe her lonely feelings, she turned on both her phone and tablet at the same time.

Immediately, the recent news caught her attention.

She couldn’t bring herself to scroll past the phrase “water ability user Hunter Yu.”

The community was still noisy with stories about Pado.

Once people found out that Pado was completely alone in the world, they began openly insulting him.

He had no remaining family members to worry about, and Pado himself couldn’t sue them for defamation, so people freely ran wild.

By the same logic, the harsh words thrown at Morae were just as vicious.

People who had found pictures of Morae somewhere online casually called her a loose woman.

The more extreme ones claimed that Morae had used her beauty to seduce Pado, severely damaging the honor of beautiful women everywhere, and that she should atone with her death.

She wasn’t particularly angry.

The West Sea Legion had been receiving insults for years.

And she wasn’t the type to get hurt just because weak people barked online.

That didn’t mean she had no intention of retaliating.

Morae opened a map and began considering locations to bombard.

If she blew up one or two places as an example, the negative public opinion would disappear out of fear.

At least online, anyway.

Unexpectedly, some of the more popular posts were sympathetic toward Pado.

Morae opened one of them.

[If Pado really got swayed because of a woman, isn’t the Association mostly to blame?

Who was the one who kept Pado away from women like some “men and women shouldn’t associate after the age of seven” rule?

When I showed interest in Pado during high school, who was it that swarmed in and stopped me?

I remember when we prepared chocolates for him on Valentine’s Day and they said bringing chocolates would get us suspended. LOL.

Anyone who went to school with him knows this. The Association desperately interfered with Pado’s romantic life.

The kids in the facility usually ended up dating each other because they only had each other, but Yu Pado didn’t even get that opportunity.

They protected him so much and tried to keep every woman away from him that we honestly thought he had a hidden mother somewhere.

Like some terrifying mother-in-law screaming that she couldn’t accept a woman like you as her daughter-in-law…

I knew they were interfering, but I thought I would regret it if I never confessed, so I confessed to Pado.

Things became awkward afterward, but later I found out that the Association had twisted the story into me being some woman with a tragic family background who was trying to use Pado to change my life.

I’ll never forget that.

I still don’t understand why they went that far, but if a promising Hunter ran away from the Association because he was “bewitched by a woman,” then maybe it was because the Association was so unbearable that they even interfered with his dating life.

If they interfered that much, anyone would leave just to feel like Romeo, no matter who they met.

It’s disgusting how people ignore what they did and act like Eun Morae, a peerless beauty who could topple nations, seduced Pado.

It’s not that Eun Morae was some woman capable of making Pado fall for her.

You were the ones who pushed him into that situation.

And I don’t know whether you realize this, but if you portray underground Hunters like Eun Morae in a positive light, a lot of people are going to become interested in them…]

The post had started with concern for Pado.

But it ended with subtle resentment and annoyance toward Morae.

The latter half definitely contained some personal feelings.

Still, it was understandable.

Considering the writer’s history, she had every right to feel wronged.

Morae had heard about it once before, but seeing such a vivid account from someone who experienced it firsthand felt different.

The environment Pado had grown up in was much harsher than Morae had imagined.

If someone grew up in circumstances like that, they could easily come to view breaking a vow of chastity like a devout believer who had been taught strict religious doctrine.

Even Morae had grown up surrounded by intimidating men who said they would never let “their Morae” get married.

But no one had ever seriously interfered with her relationships.

If the writer’s post was true, then the claim that Pado ran away because of a woman actually made some sense.

It wasn’t necessarily about sexual desire.

If someone’s freedom was restricted that much, they would want to throw away everything and leave.

Even if it meant giving up enormous wealth or a promising future.

But still…

Why wasn’t he making a move?

They had already slept together enough.

Morae’s mind began swelling with irritation again.

While she debated whether she should deal with the Hunter Association or Pado first, Pado called her.

Morae answered before the phone could even ring twice.