novelraw Chapter 237 : Chapter 237
Chapter 237 : Chapter 237
Chapter 237: Relationship
Clington Academy.
This year alone, large-scale attacks, terror, and accidents had occurred several times, but they had all been managed and overcome somehow without major damage.
However, it ultimately could not withstand the attack of the Trait Liberation Society led by Smiley.
The destruction was so severe that it was impossible to continue the semester, and the damage wasn't limited to just buildings and facilities; the professors needed for lectures also suffered greatly.
Eventually, a temporary school closure was declared, students were sent away, and the academy focused on restoration.
Now, several months later, most of the facilities have been restored.
If one had to pick a positive, would it be that the aged buildings and facilities, which had stood in their spots for the past several decades, were all replaced with shiny new ones?
At the very least, it could operate normally starting next semester.
In a small park newly created like that, light exercise equipment was lined up in a corner.
Ji-an was dangling precariously from a pull-up bar in the corner, her two legs lightly hooked over it.
With her arms crossed, her body swung lightly like a swing.
Her hair, having fallen, was dangerously close to touching the ground, but not quite.
She blankly stared at the world, which was turned upside down.
Right now, countless people were busily coming and going outside the park.
Even though this place was so wide, and so many people were passing by, there was not a single person by her side who was her person.
Like a castaway stranded on a deserted island.
Everything felt meaningless and achingly lonely.
“Haah…….”
Ji-an let out a faint sigh.
She, too, had a precious person who made her forget she was alone.
Her first friend, whose face was now blurry.
She hadn't been a person in the lab, but one of the test subjects whose errors were just being corrected, and she died.
Ho-cheol, whom she missed and cherished more than anyone.
He was busy taking the blame and sacrificing himself for strangers whose faces he didn't even know.
And So-hee, to whom she had just started to open her heart…… just when they were getting close, she had to go and get kidnapped.
Of course, she knew it wasn't a kidnapping.
The fact that So-hee wasn't kidnapped, but had voluntarily followed Smiley for Ho-cheol's sake, was a secret known only to her, aside from the person involved.
Just before So-hee was kidnapped by Smiley, she had given a small hint in advance, figuring Ji-an, whom she was protecting, should know.
The reason was different, but in the end, So-hee's judgment was right.
If it weren't for that, Ji-an would have also caused trouble to help So-hee, albeit in a different way than Ho-cheol.
Maybe not as much as Ho-cheol, but Ji-an also held a certain affection for So-hee.
“Haah…….”
She let out another sigh, deep enough to make the ground sink.
It made her depressed, to the point where she even had the foolish thought that maybe it was her fault that people around her kept leaving.
But that, too, was brief.
She shook her head violently.
There was a surefire remedy for when sad thoughts like this came up.
She fumbled in her pocket and took out her cell phone.
Ho-cheol's face filled the wallpaper.
Ji-an's lips curved into a smirk.
Although he wasn't looking this way because she had taken it half-secretly, she was satisfied with just this.
If it were a proper photo, it would probably be bad for her heart every time she turned on the phone!
She gently rubbed Ho-cheol's forehead on the screen with her finger.
“Mister, what are you doing. Are you thinking of me, perhaps?”
I hope so.
She wondered how he could not accept her affection even when she craved it so blatantly, but truthfully, she even liked that reaction.
Because she could clearly feel that he wasn't just pushing her away, but that he cherished her.
Ho-cheol wasn't completely free yet, and she, too, was in a delicate position.
Once all those external limits and restrictions were gone, she believed that then, as person to person, he would properly receive her feelings and give her an answer.
Each day waiting for that day was also a joy for her.
However…….
She pouted and poked Ho-cheol's cheek on the screen.
That was all limited to when Ho-cheol was by her side.
When he left her alone like this, there was no joy or anything!
She checked her phone's text message history.
Other numbers remained as just numbers, not even worth saving, but she had saved Ho-cheol's number securely.
And the texts exchanged with him.
If she sent 10 long texts, just one short reply would come, a very poor exchange rate.
But she was in no position to calculate such cost-effectiveness, as her feelings for him were more than 10 times greater.
So, come to think of it, maybe it wasn't so bad?
After Ho-cheol left, although they exchanged light greetings via text once a week, she couldn't hear his voice, see his face, or even feel his warmth.
She wanted to be a little more stubborn and ask for phone calls, but she knew if she did, she'd soon be begging for a video call, and after that, she'd obviously be whining to see him in person.
If she couldn't endure that flow, it was right not to even start.
Not that this disappointment disappeared completely.
She pulled the phone closer, brought it to her lips, and whispered.
“Mister. Where are you. I miss you.”
With her eyes closed, she was in the middle of picturing Ho-cheol in her mind.
Sighing for what felt like the umpteenth time, she turned her head to the side.
“The mister I'm talking about is my mister, not guys like you.”
At the end of her gaze, sturdy men had entered the park.
They weren't workers for the construction.
For that, their eyes were reeking of hostility.
The men walked toward Ji-an without hesitation.
“Villain Ji-an. We're from the Association. We recommend you come along quietly.”
“Ah, I see.”
So that's what it was, people from the Hero Association.
She, too, had been active as a villain once.
And she knew well how hideous and duplicitous the Association was.
She had expected the incident Ho-cheol caused to affect her daily life, but she hadn't expected them to react this quickly.
The academy was in a state of chaos.
There were no students, and construction workers were coming and going, so the security system, which was usually strict, was turned off.
Even the Dean wasn't at Clington due to personal business, so they must have thought now was the perfect time.
However, the funny thing was that only a few men had come for her.
Did they really think she'd be captured obediently?
Or did they hear a doctor's opinion that she had gotten weaker?
She had gotten weaker, but not to the extent of being caught by just a few heroes like that.
“How arrogant. You should have brought 100 times this number to even pretend to catch me.”
She spun her body and came down from the pull-up bar.
She slowly raised her palm.
She opened her hand and covered her mouth with the back of it.
“I'm not in a good mood today, so.”
Because of her promise with Ho-cheol, she wouldn't kill people, but that just meant she wouldn't kill them.
“All of you, be prepared to leave an arm behind.”
However, before they could even lunge at Ji-an, their bodies staggered greatly, and they collapsed, their eyes rolling back.
Ji-an, who had taken a stance, blinked her eyes.
I haven't done anything yet?
But upon discovering the familiar face standing behind them, her legs gave out, and she plopped down on the spot.
“Ah. Aah?”
Her voice, letting out a stupid sound, trembled pathetically.
“……Is this a dream?”
“It's not.”
Even the firm voice, as if telling her to snap out of it, was so familiar.
How much had she missed it.
Ji-an couldn't even show a happy reaction and just stared blankly up at Ho-cheol.
Ho-cheol, who had knocked out the heroes, trudged over and bent one knee to meet her eye level.
He let out a hollow laugh.
He had insisted she stay quiet when he left her, but he was the one who had caused the huge incident.
He felt so awkward, wondering what she would think of him, coming to find her for the cleanup.
Still, he had to do what he had to do.
Ho-cheol lightly held out one hand.
Ji-an, who had been staring fixedly at that hand asking her to go with him, pouted and asked in a blunt tone.
“Is it hard to be alone?”
It could have been a random question, but Ho-cheol immediately recalled where that question came from.
When Ji-an was still a villain, he had tried to persuade her, and when she was saddened that he, who had quit being a villain, was alone, he had reached out his hand without hesitation.
The moment she grasped that hand, she was no longer alone.
This time, she was asking the reverse.
Ho-cheol smirked and played along with her words.
“Yeah. It's pretty tough alone, one way or another.”
“Then.”
Only then did Ji-an's expression soften, and she grasped his palm.
“From now on, we are two.”
Then she pulled strongly on the hand she held and buried herself in his embrace.
***
After returning to Unhappy's hideout, Ho-cheol immediately led Ji-an to a room.
There were several problems to solve for her to stay here.
And the number one priority would undoubtedly be this.
Ho-cheol, standing in front of the door, knocked lightly.
A low 'come in' voice returned from inside the door.
He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.
“Oh, Professor? What's going on?”
“Professor?”
Ye-jin, who spotted Ho-cheol standing at the door, erased her expressionless face and brightened up.
Dayeon, who had been comfortably lying on her stomach reading a book on the bed, also belatedly sat up and greeted Ho-cheol.
It was extremely rare for Ho-cheol to visit their room.
No, it was the first time since he had kidnapped them and shown them their room.
It was always Ha-rin, the only female villain in this building, who brought them food or visited for other errands.
Ho-cheol, of course, refrained from visiting as much as possible out of consideration for them, but on the flip side, Dayeon and Ye-jin felt inwardly disappointed.
And they had been looking forward to this visit just as much.
Ho-cheol scratched the back of his head.
“Well, it's not for any grand reason……. No, in a way, it is a grand reason.”
He mumbled, looking a bit unconfident unlike his usual self, and reached his hand out toward the hallway, invisible from the room, gesturing.
When he stepped aside, Ji-an stood hesitantly in front of the room.
At first, the two reacted with puzzlement at the appearance of an unfamiliar girl their age, but when they realized her identity from their memories, their eyes widened in shock.
“Uh, Ah. Ah?”
“……This is.”
Ho-cheol placed a hand on the shoulder of Ji-an, who was cautiously checking his expression.
Her body flinched.
Of course, it wasn't because she was facing the victims.
Just the last time they met, hadn't she leisurely eaten ramen?
The reason she trembled was because of the request Ho-cheol had made before coming.
Honestly, if it's not a sincere apology that comes directly from the heart, then an apology is not needed.
―That was Ho-cheol's usual theory, but that was limited to when the perpetrator and victim wouldn't have to see each other all the time.
But now, they would be seeing each other all the time under one roof.
Even if an apology and forgiveness weren't achieved, shouldn't they at least maintain a minimal relationship?
That's why, for this time only, he had recommended that Ji-an bend first and go in.
“Hmm. I'm sure you have a lot to say. And a lot of built-up feelings. To let all of that flow, first…….”
Ho-cheol pushed Ji-an, whom he was still holding, into the room.
“It would be best if I stayed out of this, right?”
And then he even closed the door, as if to really tell them to handle it themselves.
“Uh, Ah! Mister! If you leave me like this, what am I……!”
What do you mean, what?
She has to handle it herself.
Still, knowing Dayeon's and Ye-jin's personalities, he believed they wouldn't torment her to death.
That's why he had pushed her into the room like that.
Perpetrator and victims.
Clington's senior and juniors.
And a rival for him, though Ho-cheol didn't know it.
Their relationship was endlessly ambiguous, hard to define with just one word.
What was needed most of all to resolve such things was conversation.
About 10 minutes passed like that.
“Shahaaaak!”
From far away, a sound similar to that of a cat being doused with water shrieked from inside, echoing.
And not long after, Ji-an came running.
She, on the verge of tears, tightly grabbed Ho-cheol's collar.
She stomped her feet urgently.
“Mister! Th-they!”
“Why. How much did they torment you for a kid to have a fit.”
Dayeon and Ye-jin followed behind.
Ye-jin put both hands behind her head and smiled lightly.
“I didn't torment her much. I didn't.”
Ye-jin particularly emphasized the word ‘I’ at the end.
Didn't that mean the other one had been tormenting her gleefully?
Indeed, Dayeon closed the distance in an instant without making a sound.
Then, from behind Ji-an, she grabbed her cheeks and massaged them.
“Euheoheoeu. Uueuigeoeok. I said let go……!”
“Squishy.”
No matter how bad Ji-an's condition was from overusing her Trait recently, she was still overwhelmingly stronger than the two who had barely reached A-rank.
She could have shaken off that hand anytime, but she didn't resist or get serious.
Certainly, Ji-an was enduring it well.
Of course, on the flip side, it seemed Dayeon and Ye-jin were also willing to let it go with just this.
Either way, it was good news for Ho-cheol.
If one side hadn't yielded their emotions and maintained a serious relationship, he would have been completely helpless.
He probably would have had to find another building and have Ji-an stay there alone.
Ho-cheol detached Ji-an, who was clinging to him, and instead pushed her toward Dayeon.
“Mister?”
Ji-an was bewildered as if she had received an empty lunch box, while Dayeon's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“I'm busy, too. For the time being, the three of you stick together like a set menu.”
“Leave it to me.”
Dayeon said, continuing to squish Ji-an's cheeks even more diligently.
Ho-cheol smirked and lightly patted the tops of all three of their heads in turn.
“Don't torment her too much.”
“I'm not tormenting her.”
“Same goes for doting on her.”
“……I'll try.”
Ho-cheol turned his back, letting Ji-an's wail of 'don't leave me' go in one ear and out the other.
As he walked down the hallway, the light smile he had just moments ago was completely gone.
It wasn't that he didn't feel the genre changed too lightly when he was with them, but the world he belonged to was still a dark place rampant with blood and violence.
Now that a huge fire was lit in his relationship with the Association, his next target was, naturally.
“Heroes, is it.”
Ho-cheol muttered quietly and took a document from his pocket.
A list containing the personal details and information of all S-rank Heroes.
He folded it in half and bbuuk― tore it.