Beta read by Stratos and someone else.

Seha let out a small sigh. "What is wrong with me…"

"Hm? Is there something wrong, Seha?"

Seha looked up to see Yuri, who was sitting down in front of him. "Oh. Hey there Yuri."

"So, you seemed to look a bit distressed here. Is there something wrong?"

"Well, I suppose so, but I don't know what it is though." Seha said with another sigh. "However, my heart does feel a bit funny."

That got Yuri a little worried. "Your heart feels funny? What do you mean by that? Does it happen often?"

"Well, not quite often. It's just that…whenever Mirae comes into my thoughts, my heart suddenly throbs for a bit. Not only that, but whenever Mirae's face suddenly appears in my mind or if her name is mentioned in a conversation, my head heats up for a moment. What is this feeling? Do you have any idea what this is?"

Meanwhile, Yuri's eyes widened upon hearing Seha's words. "Oh my god, it's finally happening! Seha is starting to realize that he's having feelings for Mirae!"

"Well…before I answer your question, I have a few questions to ask of you." she said as she cleared her throat. "First of all, what do you think of Mirae?"

"Eh? What do I think of Mirae?" he asked, to which Yuri nodded in reply. "Well…she's a nice person, a good teammate I can rely on, a friend, and…someone who understands me well."

"I see…how was it living with her?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

Seha blushed. "Well…it was a bit awkward at first…but it got comfortable later on."

At that moment, Yuri's curiosity went up even further than before. "Really now? What did you two do during then?"

"Well, you know. Getting to know each other, helping each other out, that sort of stuff."

"I see…in that case, I know what you're dealing with!"

"What is it?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're in love with Mirae after all of the time living with her!"

Silence occurred before Seha exploded in embarrassment. “HUHHHH?!”

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"What's wrong, Mirae? You look a bit down." Eunha said as she sat down next to her.

"Oh. It's nothing. I'm just a little tired."

"I see." It was then Eunha noticed something. In Mirae's hands was her smartphone, and she noticed that her phone cover was different from what she remembered. "Mirae, your phone's color looks different."

"Oh? This?" Mirae replied as she showed Eunha her phone, which looked like it was in a new phone case. "It's a new phone case."

"I see. Did Seha buy that for you?"

"Yes." Mirae said with a soft smile.

Upon seeing the smile on Mirae's face, Eunha had a few thoughts going through her head. "Say Mirae, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"What do you think of Seha?"

"What do I think of Seha?" Mirae said as she glanced at the sky. "Well…Seha is a nice person who is very considerate towards other people and helps them. In fact, during our time together, he has taught me many things I did not know before. However…"

"However?"

"He seems troubled about his past."

"Really?"

Mirae nodded in reply. "During our stay together, there were times I accidentally brought out mentions of his past, and from his reaction, I saw a bit of sadness. Even when he told me that it's no problem, I could not help but feel guilty bringing it up, unintentionally or not. Like that time at the festival…" she said with a sad look on her face.

Eunha then patted Mirae on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If he said it's no problem, then you shouldn't feel guilty about it." she said.

"I know, but still…"

It was then Eunha noticed how guilty Mirae felt, and some thoughts came into her mind. "Wow. She is really considerate of Seha. I wonder if she has feelings for him…well, time to find out." she thought as she changed the topic. "Mirae, can I ask you something?"

Mirae nodded in reply.

"What is it like living with Seha?"

"What is it like living with Seha? Well, every day, I would learn something new whenever I'm with him. Like learning how to cook, new things about the world, and many more." Mirae replied as her mood improved. "Not only that, but he would also take me to new places and let me see new things I have never known before. And…every time whenever I'm with him…I feel warm and I don't want to let him go."

As Eunha saw Mirae's mood brighten as she told her experience living with Seha, her assumptions had come true. "Okay, it's settled. Mirae does have feelings for Seha…" she thought to herself. "Mirae. I'm going to be blunt with you. It sounds like you have a crush on Seha."

"Hm? A crush? What is that?"

Eunha let out a small sigh. "Looks like this will require some explaining…"

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"Y-You're saying I'm in love with Mirae?" Seha asked in disbelief.

"Yes! And before you start to make any excuses, I got proof for you! That time you two were together in the library, the time you two were at the water park, that festival from earlier, I'm pretty sure those count as dates between you two!" she said with a smirk.

Upon hearing those words, Seha's face went red in embarrassment. "I-It's nothing like that!" he yelled.

"Oh really? I can't tell because your face is red like a tomato!" Yuri said with a teasing tone of voice. At that moment, Seha's already red face now turned crimson. "Well? What do you have to say?"

For a moment, Seha did not say anything as he was still processing his emotions. After a short while, he said his answer.

"Alright. I…have feelings for Mirae."

Instantly, Yuri's grin grew even further than before. "I knew it! You do have feelings for Mirae! When did it happen?"

"Well…it was during the festival." Seha replied while turning away from Yuri. "When we were at the riverbank that day, I let out a few bits about my past after Mirae accidentally brought it up."

At that moment, Yuri's cheerful demeanor dropped a bit. "Oh."

"Yeah. Even though I told Mirae that it was no problem, she somehow knew that I was a little depressed. What happened next was that she comforted me by telling me that she understands that there are some things that I don't want to talk about and enjoy the fireworks at the event. Then she left for a short while before returning with pajeon for us to share."

Yuri looked at Seha with eyes of awe. "As I expected! The moment I saw you and Mirae sharing food together, I knew something had happened between the two of you! Well, what are you going to do now?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Yuri let out a small groan. "You know what I mean! When are you going to confess to her?"

"Well…I'm not sure. In fact, I just don't know what to do. I mean, this is the first time I've ever had feelings for someone. Not to mention that the person I have feelings for actually sees me as a person. Honestly, I'm scared. Possibly more than when I'm up against a dimensional monster."

Yuri then patted Seha's shoulder. "Relax! You'll be fine! All you have to do is to confess to her and see how it goes!" It was then both Yuri's and Seha's phones vibrated, making them look at them. "Looks like that will have to wait! A bunch of dimensional monsters suddenly appeared! We got to go!"

“Yeah!”

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"So that is what a crush is…" Mirae said as she was done hearing Eunha's explanation of what a crush is.

"Yes. After how you talked about Seha, it's obvious that you have a crush on him. So, do you?"

For a moment, Mirae was quiet before saying her answer. "Yes. I have a crush on him."

"I knew it. When? Was it at the festival? Or during your time living with him?"

"Well…if I were to be honest…it was during last year's Christmas event."

Eunha was slightly surprised at Mirae's answer. "Really? That long before?"

"Yes. It happened after the gift giving. When he said that he wanted to give all of my points to him, I felt how considerate he was to me which made me think he's a good person to be with. To be honest, when I heard that I was living with Seha for this assignment, a part of me was happy with this arrangement."

"I see…when are you going to confess to him? By that, I mean saying that you're in love with him."

"Well…I'm not sure. I mean, I like Seha…but I'm scared at the same time because of it. I mean, what if he and I fall in love, but he ends up dying before me? Ara and the others' deaths still hurt even now, so if Seha dies…I don't want to imagine the pain that comes afterwards…"

"Mirae…"

"Eunha, if I were to be honest, a part of me wants to keep Seha out of the fight to keep him safe. However, I can't, because of what we are."

Eunha let out a sigh. "It's sad, but that is true. I now know that you want to keep him safe, but the problem is that you and him are Closers, and being a Closer always involves fighting, and we can't run away from it. We can only face it."

Silence occurred between the two before Mirae let out a sigh. "Eunha, what do I do?"

"Well-" It was then both of their phones began to vibrate, making them check. "Sorry. Looks like we'll finish this conversation later. Right now, we need to meet up with the Black Lambs."

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"Yes…" Mirae replied as she and Eunha left. "Seha. I hope you are alright…"

"Ora!" Seha yelled as he cut down a dimensional monster. "Yuri! How are things on your end?"

"Fine! I just finished killing the last one!" Yuri replied with a sigh of exhaustion. "Seriously, I have never seen this many dimensional monsters coming here! And in waves nevertheless!"

"Yeah." It was then Seha noticed a portal appearing. "And speaking of which, there's another wave coming!"

"Oh come on! We just finished here! Can't we take a break here?!" Yuri yelled in annoyance. "Hopefully, backup should arrive at some point!"

"Did you call?"

Seha and Yuri nearly jumped upon hearing the voice. As they turned around, they saw Mirae and Eunha. "Ah! Mirae! Eunha! Thank god that both of you are here!" Yuri said with a sigh of relief.

"No problem. So, what's going on here?" Eunha asked.

"Ah, you know. The usual, although there's a lot more than normal!"

"Got it. Mirae, let's go."

"Wait." Mirae turned to Seha. "Seha, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go."

Mirae nodded and left with Seha. Shortly afterwards, both Yuri and Eunha left as well, heading towards the massive horde of dimensional monsters in front of them. As the group clashed with the horde, they were slowly separated due to the large amount of dimensional monsters.

"Damn it. We're not getting anywhere with this…maybe I should use that." Seha thought to himself before turning to Mirae. "Mirae, can I ask you to do something?"

"You have an idea?"

"Yeah. You might want to stand behind me for a bit."

Hearing that, Mirae quickly went towards Seha and stood behind him, hugging him. As she was behind him, Seha blushed for a moment as he felt her large breasts were squished on his back before shaking his head to focus. He then focused his phase force into his hand before turning it into a fist and releasing it.

Immediately, the phase force was turned into a massive wave of blue fire that completely annihilated the horde in front of them. As the fire cleared, Seha let out a sigh of relief. "Hah…that should do it."

"Seha, are you alright?" Mirae asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to be fine…just a little tired. Nothing I can't handle though."

"I see." It was then Mirae noticed that some dimensional monsters still remained. "Try to take it easy, okay? We'll finish them together."

Seha nodded and the two began to make quick work of the remaining monsters easily. As the two were finishing them off, Mirae could not help but feel warm. "So far, Seha seems fine. Looks like nothing will happen here…that's a relief." she thought to herself as she cut down a dimensional monster. "Maybe after this…I'll tell Seha how I feel about him.."

Meanwhile, Seha was feeling the same way. "Looks like Mirae is uninjured…that's good. And we're almost done with them, so something else shouldn't happen right now…I hope. And maybe later…I'll tell Mirae what I feel about her…"

Soon, both of them were done with them, and they were exhausted. "Now then…should we regroup with Eunha and Yuri?"

"Yeah. And-Mirae! Behind you!" Seha yelled.

Upon hearing Seha's voice, Mirae quickly turned around just to see a serpent-like dimensional monster with scythe hands appear out of nowhere. Mirae tried to defend herself, but it was too late as the serpent's scythe hands were posed to kill her, and she was too exhausted to defend herself.

And the hands of death came upon her…

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As soon as Mirae saw the dimensional monster ready to kill her, she felt like her fate was sealed. "Ah…so this is how I die…" she thought. For a moment, various thoughts, feelings, and memories went through her head. However, one thing stood out from all of that.

Regret. The regret of not telling Seha how she felt about him.

"Seha…sorry…"

And then, blood was spilled…but it was not her blood.

It was Seha's.

In front of Mirae was Seha, who got himself slashed by the dimensional monster in order to protect her. Upon seeing him getting hurt, Mirae felt fear and sadness flowing through her body. "S-Seha…"

Meanwhile, Seha raised his gunblade at the dimensional monster with little strength he had left and shot at it, killing it instantly. Seha soon fell, but Mirae caught him. "M-Mirae…are you alright?" Seha asked weakly.

"S-Seha! You're bleeding! You shouldn't be talking right now! I'll get help!" Mirae said as she laid him down on the ground. She then grabbed her smartphone and dialed a number. "Come on…hurry and pick up!"

"Mirae? Me and Eunha-"

"Yuri! Get over here! Seha's injured very badly!"

"Eh?! A-Alright! We'll be there!" she said before she hung up.

Mirae then turned to Seha, who was breathing heavily. "M-Mirae…" he muttered.

"Seha! Don't speak right now! Just rest!" she exclaimed in worry.

"I-Is everyone okay?" he muttered, to which Mirae nodded in reply. "That's good then…" he muttered before he slowly lost consciousness due to the blood loss and exhaustion, alarming Mirae.

"Seha! Don't die! Please!"

(Later…)

"Mmmng…mmmmgh…" Seha groaned as he was opening his eyes slowly. As he blinked, he slowly got a better view of his surroundings. "This is…the hospital?" As he rose from his bed, he felt a bit of pain stinging through his body. "Oh yeah, I got hurt from that attack…wait, where is Mirae? Is she alright?" However, his question was answered as he noticed that he was not the only one in the room he was in. On the bedside was Mirae, who was hunched over, sleeping soundly. Seha let out a sigh of relief, now knowing that Mirae is safe. "Mirae…"

"Mmm…Seha…don't die…please…" Mirae muttered in her sleep. Seha smiled softly as he brought over his hand and rubbed Mirae's head.

After a short while, Mirae's head slowly turned as she was waking up. "Mmmnh…Seha?"

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

For a moment, Mirae was a bit silent before answering his question. "Y-Yeah…" she said nervously. "A-Are you alright?"

"Yeah I suppose." However, it was then another bit of pain stung his body, making him slightly fall over as he was holding his wound, alarming Mirae.

"Ah! Don't move! You're still injured. Just rest." Mirae said as she gently pushed Seha down onto the bed. "You shouldn't push yourself."

"Sorry." he said as he let out a sigh. "How long was I out?"

"Well…about the entire afternoon."

"I see."

For a moment, the room was silent as nobody said anything until Seha decided to speak up. "By the way…are you okay?"

"Eh? Ah…yes…" Mirae muttered softly.

The silence returned again.

"Seha…I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For the condition you are currently in. It's my fault that you're in this position right now."

"It's fine, Mirae." Seha replied. "What matters is that everyone is okay."

"I know…but I can't help but feel guilty that because of me, you nearly died. Not only that, but I didn't notice that a dimensional monster appeared behind me, and it was planning on killing me from the beginning. If anything, it should have been better if I was the one who-"

It was then she felt one of Seha's hands grab onto her arm and held it tightly. It was then she saw a glimpse of Seha's face, which showed a serious expression. "Seha?"

"Mirae. Don't finish that sentence. It's not your fault that I'm in this condition. This is what I chose to do in order to protect you. If it means getting injured in the process, then so be it. And I don't regret making that decision."

After hearing Seha's words, Mirae's body trembled as she was letting out tears. "Why…why would you do so?"

"Well…it's because I love you."

For a moment, Mirae was completely speechless with what Seha just said. "Eh? Seha…you love me?"

Seha blushed before answering her question. "Y-Yes. I love you, Mirae."

"...Why?"

Seha's blush grew even further than before. "W-Well…it's that you're the first person outside of my teammates who truly accepted me for who I am and respected my boundaries. Then during our time together, I felt like…well, myself improving because of me helping you…and I'm grateful for it…guess it was a bit embarrassing saying all of that huh? Then again, I'm not good with words…"

"It's not embarrassing." Mirae said as she got closer to Seha without him noticing.

"Eh?"

With swift action, Mirae placed her lips on Seha's, kissing him. For a moment, Seha was shocked at Mirae's sudden action before he quickly got used to the kiss. After a few minutes of this action, both needed air to breath, and Mirae released her lips from his. "Mirae…?" Seha said.

"Seha…it's not embarrassing to say all of that…because I love you too."

This time, it was Seha's turn to be surprised. "Y-You love me?"

Mirae nodded in reply. "Yes. I had feelings for you ever since the Christmas event last year. And when we were living together during the assignment, those feelings grew the more time we spent together. Every time whenever you would help me or teach me something new, I felt a bit of happiness inside of me. And…when you were about to die…it was something that I didn't want to happen." she said as she grabbed onto Seha's arm, trembling. "Ever since then, I've been here in this room, waiting and hoping that you would wake up."

"Mirae…"

"Which is why I want to be with you. I want to be by your side from now on, Seha."

For a moment, Seha was stunned. Within Mirae's eyes, he saw determination. The same type of determination he had when he became a Closer. And right now, the determination she was showing was to stay by his side as she loved him.

And he loved her as well, which left him with one simple answer.

"If that is what you want…then I'll be by your side too."

Mirae's face lit up with happiness upon hearing Seha's words. "Then…Seha…can you kiss me again?"

"...Sure."

And the two shared a kiss again…not knowing that they were being watched.

"Well…I knew this was bound to happen eventually, but today of all days? That's unexpected." Yuri whispered.

Eunha nodded in reply. "We should give them their privacy."

“Agreed.”

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