I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss

“I became a childhood friend of the middle boss”

Chapter 11.2

“Okay, I’ll let you touch it. Touch me.”

Permission fell from the mouth of Light Sky, who pressed her ear against mine warily.

“Are you serious? Can I touch you?”

“Just tell me you’re not feeling well, so I don’t have to tell you later.”

“That won’t happen; don’t worry. I promise.”

“And it’s only for a moment, don’t touch me for too long, okay?”

Yeon haneul repeated, emphasizing.

I nodded absentmindedly.

For once, I had the chance to touch a rabbit ear that was bigger than Monsil’s, and there was no reason not to.

I stiffened my shoulders and reached out toward her cowering form.

Finally, my fingertips touched the bunny’s ear.

“Oh…. Soft, fluffy.”

“Uh… Don’t squeeze it too hard; just touch it gently. It’s sensitive there.”

“I think I’m going to get addicted to this.”

“No, you won’t. Now gmaaahhh!”

Yeon haneul made a disgusted sound.

I pretended not to hear it and touched the rabbit’s ears in a circle.

* * *

I’m ashamed, so ashamed.

Somehow, Yeon Haneul, who had let the dog touch her ears until the rules started, was so embarrassed that she couldn’t look up properly.

“Why is she so good at touching him?”

She didn’t do it when she touched herself.

She didn’t do it when people at the daycare center touched her out of curiosity.

Something was different about the dog’s ears when he touched them.

Is it because she has a rabbit?

There was something indescribable about his touch, skillful yet delicate and affectionate.

I was so frozen by his touch…

‘I almost fell in love with him, too.’

For a moment, Yeon Haneul lost her self-control and almost let go of my head completely.

I was lucky to make eye contact with my classmates in front of me.

Well, that’s a bit of a stretch.

My classmates were staring at me blankly as they heard the noise I made.

‘Embarrassing, embarrassing, embarrassing….’

I wish there was a rabbit hole to hide in.

Yeon Haneul remembered the incident again and felt her face heat up.

She buried her face in her textbook to hide her face.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye and squinted at Do gyeon woo, the one who had gotten her into this mess.

“Ouch.”

To her embarrassment, Do-gyeon-woo was yawning through his jaw as he listened to the class.

“I hate you.”

Of course, she didn’t hate him.

If he had, he wouldn’t have let her touch his ears in the first place.

“At least you’re awake.”

Yeon Haneul covered the corner of her mouth with her sharp hand and laughed softly.

The dog, who had seemed groggy earlier in the morning, seemed to have improved his complexion after touching his ears.

He hadn’t been paying attention in class, but now he wasn’t dozing off.

To tell you the truth, the dog simply woke up because it was getting close to lunch, and he hadn’t slept since yesterday.

Embarrassed and Stoic, she attributed it all to herself.

It made her feel unnecessarily good.

“Maybe I should let her touch me from time to time.”

She thought to herself.

It was then that Do Gyeon woo spoke to her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What? When did I do that?”

“You were looking at me earlier.”

“I wasn’t looking at….”

“Oh? I must have been mistaken.”

“….”

I wonder if I was staring too hard.

He was caught by Do Gyeon Woo.

She hadn’t expected him to talk to her in class, so she was surprised and quickly excused herself.

Do-gyeon-woo didn’t question her further, but instead made a hmm sound and moved on.

Yeon Ha Neul felt that Do Dog Woo’s response was strangely mature.

“Is it because he seems relaxed?”

She wasn’t sure.

Sometimes Do Gyeon-woo gave off that vibe even though they were the same age.

Meanwhile…

“I was thinking, why don’t you and I become hunters together?”

“What?”

Sometimes, once in a while… No, not often.

Sometimes, now and then… no, not often… Do Gyeon woo would say something out of the blue and give off a rascal-like vibe that would catch people off guard.

Like now.

“….”

Let’s become hunters together.

It was too casual a tone for someone who was trying to set a person’s career path.

Yeon Haneul didn’t know what to say, so she just blinked.

Then, perhaps sensing that he hadn’t explained himself well enough, Do Gyeon Woo spoke up.

“I think you have enough qualities to be a hunter.”

“Qualities? How do you know?”

“I come from a long line of them.”

“….”

Somehow, he sounded like he was lying.

She was curious to hear what he had to say, so she decided to listen.

“Well, for one thing, you’re an Ain, so your physical abilities are probably better than everyone else’s.”

“Hmm… Any other reasons?”

“I think you’ll be good with magic. The mana you usually shed outside your body seems to be quite dense.”

“I’ve never shed any mana….”

“Everything alive sheds mana unconsciously.”

“….”

“I can sense it because I know how to manipulate mana.”

“… Is that true?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Hmm….”

I don’t think it’s true….

Yeon haneul narrowed her eyes and tried to read his mind.

But she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

In the end, she returned to the original topic and pondered Do Gyeon Woo’s proposal.

‘Hunter….’

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about it.

Twelve years old.

She was due to leave nursery school in seven years, when she turned nineteen.

At this age, with her head still somewhat big, the chances of her being adopted in the interim were slim to none.

So she needed to prepare herself for life on her own in seven years.

In that sense, hunting was the profession she could realistically expect to earn the most money and receive preferential treatment.

In effect, she had very few options if she wanted to live a so-called successful life in this society.

‘It’s not that I haven’t thought about it….’

Of course, she also considered the soft sky.

If she was lucky enough to receive a sponsorship, it would help ease the cost of becoming a Hunter.

The only problem was…

“Would I be good at it?”

That was the question.

She had never handled mana before, not since middle school, when she was required to learn the art of mana control.

That made her nervous.

She didn’t know if she’d be good at it.

On top of that, Hunter was going to have to fight a life-and-death battle against a monster.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he was strong enough to do it.

But Do Gyeon Woo didn’t seem to mind.

“You can do it.”

“….”

“I promise. You’ll be with me when you become a Hunter anyway.”

“Yeah… right?”

“Don’t worry if you can’t, I’ll be right by your side. I’ll take care of everything.”

“….”

What in the world does he know about her to make such a promise?

She stared blankly at her friend, whom she didn’t recognize.

But strangely, his words made it seem like it would happen.

A part of her felt comforted and trusted.

I wanted to lean on him, to trust him.

Yeon Haneul fiddled with the rabbit’s ears and replied in as nonchalant a tone as she could muster.

“Okay, then you’ll be in charge.”