POSSESSED 10

What a surprise. The voice heard from right nearby brought my reminiscence to an end. The owner of the voice was Baek Joomyeong, the very person I had been trying so hard to avoid.

As our eyes met, I hurriedly averted my gaze. Taking that chance, I naturally checked on Yeonji. The child was hanging her head. She didn’t try to look at me, nor did she try to greet me.

Did something bad happen? Or…

“Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“Did something happen over the weekend?”

“Something?”

Baek Joomyeong pointed to my lower lip with his index finger.

“I see a bruise that wasn’t there even on Friday.”

A bruise? Oh, right.

I had forgotten that the area hit by the fist had bruised. It was painful, but only to a minor degree. In terms of the hierarchy of pain, the agony caused by using my ability had been much worse, so I hadn’t paid much attention to this.

Since I couldn’t tell the truth, I made up an excuse.

“Ah, it happened on Saturday. My feet got tangled and I bumped into a door.”

“To think you’d get like this from a door…. Are you alright now?”

“Of course. Just a slight split on my lip. My gums are fine, my teeth are fine…. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“The bruise is quite large for it to be just a ‘slight’ split.”

Well, a bruise can be large compared to the wound itself. Haha.

“And…”

Baek Joomyeong stopped mid-sentence. What was he trying to say? I’d rather he just say it. Anything is better than him staring at my bruise so intently with those questioning eyes.

I’m really going crazy. I can’t confess everything to Baek Joomyeong…

Smiling awkwardly and rolling my eyes, I suddenly bent my knees and sat down. It was time to welcome Yeonji, who was still staring only at the ground.

I feel so sorry toward Yeonji too. Not knowing that her teacher tried to hand over her own uncle…

“Yeonji, hello. Did you have a good weekend with uncle?”

I greeted her softly. Yeonji didn’t respond.

I tilted my head to get a better look at Yeonji’s face. It might just be my imagination, but the child’s eyes and lips were drooping downward, and she looked morose.

“Yeonji. Today is the day we do the coloring play you like. Shall we say goodbye to uncle and go inside?”

The child lifted her head. The eyes that usually shone bright at the mention of coloring play dimmed instantly. To be certain, I helped Yeonji take off her shoes and then had her greet Baek Joomyeong.

“Come on, you should say goodbye to uncle and promise to be good today.”

Yeonji remained silent. Her tiny lips merely twitched once, and that was it.

Right, so that’s how it is. She’s sulking at her uncle.

I entrusted Yeonji to a teacher from the same class who happened to be passing by. Yeonji looked at me pitifully, but she followed the other teacher into the classroom obediently.

“Yeonji hasn’t been in a good mood since this morning. Perhaps it’s because I couldn’t tie her hair prettily again…”

Baek Joomyeong also knew that Yeonji’s mood was unusual. But he was barking up the wrong tree.

A guilty conscience is one thing, but I had to do my job as a daycare teacher. Even if he is a busy Hunter. In the end, I decided, the child has to come first.

The news program today said a gate opened in the West Sea early Sunday morning.

“Hunter. You went to subjugate the West Sea gate early this Sunday morning, didn’t you?”

“I went to the scene, but I didn’t participate in the battle.”

“Is that so…? But what I want to ask is: did you leave Yeonji alone at night?”

Baek Joomyeong’s eyebrow twitched. He seemed not to like my question, but he answered sincerely.

“I didn’t leave her alone. There is a lady who comes over whenever I head out to a gate.”

“What time did you return home?”

“It was around 4:00 AM.”

“Was Yeonji sleeping well? Did the lady say she slept well? Without waking up once?”

Instead of answering, Baek Joomyeong’s face hardened. Even if he was answering steadily, he was probably wondering what I was doing. He might feel uncomfortable with me just prying instead of being direct.

It’s not about anything else.

“Do you remember the day you told me Yeonji hates it when her hair isn’t tied prettily?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Did Yeonji sleep well that night too? Did she not have a scary dream and look for her uncle?”

Last time, Yeonji had whispered to me that it wasn’t because of her hair. The real reason was Baek Joomyeong’s absence.

She’s only four years old. There’s no way the child understands gates clearly. It’s just that on that night, she happened to have a scary dream and felt the sad reality that her uncle wasn’t by her side.

It seemed to be the same reason this time. He said he went to the West Sea gate site and returned at 4:00 AM. He’s unable to answer the question of whether Yeonji slept well. If I’m right, the child who woke up from her sleep today must have looked for her uncle. But he wasn’t there. She’s sulking because she felt his absence once again.

“…”

Baek Joomyeong was quiet. He just stared at me intently.

Was I a bit arrogant to a person busy because of gates? Was it unpleasant because my tone just now sounded like I was lecturing him? I really have no fear. I’m already dying of guilt because of that Jeoksang Guild Hunter…

As the time those blue eyes spent staring at me grew longer, my spirit felt crushed, and cold sweat even began to run down my spine. Right, I thought Baek Joomyeong had been a bit too easygoing lately. I thought all his villain cells had died.

“It makes sense why Yeonji likes Teacher Jang Taeyeon.”

“Pardon?”

Baek Joomyeong took a step toward me. Even though the floor inside the center where I stood was one level higher than the floor he stood on, our eye levels met.

He called out to me in a low voice as I instinctively backed away.

“Teacher.”

And after checking the surroundings to see that no one was there, he asked politely.

“Do you have time after work today?”

Huh? Suddenly?

I tilted my head at the unexpected question. As one teacher passed by, Baek Joomyeong glanced back and asked again. His tone was a bit more relaxed.

“Do you not have time?”

“No. I do have time… but why?”

This Hunter wouldn’t be asking me out on a date. No matter if I’ve been possessed into a BL novel, even if the man in front of me is the lead, it made no sense for him to suddenly ask me out.

There’s no way he could have found out my identity, so then… Ah, is he going to ask me a favor regarding pick-up?

Since we were just talking about Yeonji, he probably decided to ask now rather than waiting for a separate timing. Thinking that, I spoke up before Baek Joomyeong could give his reason.

“Are you going to ask me to pick up Yeonji? Is it alright for it to be me?”

“I’ll be coming for the pick-up today.”

Hunter Baek Joomyeong is coming for the pick-up? Then why to me…

This time I tilted my head to the other side. Baek Joomyeong’s face was still hardened. Without changing his expression at all, he pointed to his lips and said:

“This time, I was thinking of applying ointment for you.”

“What? Ointment? Hu-Hunter, you’re going to… to me?”

If it’s repayment for the ointment, didn’t that get settled last Friday when you saved me from nearly falling? No, that’s not it. There’s absolutely no need, yet he’s going out of his way to find time to apply ointment…