novelraw Chapter 273 : Chapter 273
Chapter 273 : Chapter 273
Chapter 273: Christmas (2)
After sending Seong-woo down first, Ho-cheol lowered his head and covered his eyes with his palm.
He repeatedly wiped his face with a deep sigh.
When he raised his head again, his gaze turned toward the man and the loan sharks.
The moment they received the look that peered through his fingers, they instantly sensed death.
It was an intense killing intent they hadn't felt even when a hitman from a hostile organization stabbed their stomach with a knife, or when their car was moments from falling into the river tens of meters below in a bridge collapse.
This killing intent even erased all will to live.
The moment Ho-cheol moved even slightly, they would die.
Everyone in the room thought so.
However, instead of moving, Ho-cheol spoke in a very small, but clear voice.
“Today, you saw nothing, and heard nothing. Let's keep the memory of this place a secret just between us, for life.”
They all nodded their heads violently without waiting for anyone else to go first.
Only then did Ho-cheol relax the atmosphere and smile lightly again.
“Good. It’s nice when we can communicate well. If it had been like this from the start, there would have been no need for secrets or anything else.”
Ho-cheol reached out and placed his hand back on the man's shoulder.
“And since we made up, I apologize for acting a little rough just now.”
Well, his car was lost after falling into the river.
Of course, he must have been heartbroken.
It seemed like he was empathizing, but given what he had done, it didn't seem friendly at all.
In fact, his voice was friendly, but there was not even a fragment of that in the look he cast down upon them.
“But shouldn't you apologize for speaking harshly to me earlier?”
“Ah, yes. Yes. I’m sorry, I was very sorry.”
Ho-cheol let out a short laugh and released his hand.
“Just kidding.”
Of course, no one here relaxed their tension.
They would bet their entire fortune that even that faint smile was a lie.
Ho-cheol opened the door and walked out, and everyone simultaneously collapsed onto the floor.
Their legs had gone weak, making it impossible to even stand any longer.
“Wh-what kind of professor is that?”
Someone's muttering represented the feelings of everyone present.
***
Ho-cheol suddenly stopped while descending the stairs.
He crossed his arms, leaned his body, and rested his head against the wall.
Something had momentarily welled up inside him right at the end, but he managed to restrain it.
However, that anger hadn't disappeared; it was merely suppressed.
It still tightly clogged his chest, suffocating him.
Closing his eyes, he dwelled on the situation.
For Ho-cheol, who, as a Villain and now a professor, was far from a 100% pure Hero, this issue today could not simply be dismissed as the deviation of a single, ill-tempered civilian.
Even the loan sharks who heard the situation reacted by saying, Even so, a Hero shouldn't do that.
It was a sentiment, unpleasant and even horrific, spread throughout society to the extent that it implied abusing power wasn't the problem, even if they didn't do it themselves.
It's okay to do anything to a Hero.
How awful and terrifying this mindset was.
If this trend were to continue, the real catalyst to collapse this society might not be a Villain or a monster, but the very Heroes they never doubted.
No, in fact, several Heroes had exploded after failing to endure this kind of stress.
But until now, the media, civilians, and the Association all uniformly dismissed it as an individual Hero's mental issue, completely ignoring the root cause.
Of course, a society filled with such thoughts might deserve to collapse once, but with his students all aspiring to be Heroes, that was problematic in its own way.
The problem was that Ho-cheol could not solve this situation at all.
This enemy—human prejudice—was fundamentally different from the enemies Ho-cheol had faced so far.
It wasn't the kind of thing Ho-cheol could easily overcome.
Even after deliberating for a long time, there was no immediate solution.
He eventually sighed and went back down the stairs.
Seong-woo, who was waiting for him near the building's entrance, bowed at a right angle.
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Thanks for what.”
“And I’m sorry. I feel like I caused you so much trouble, Professor.”
“Trouble for what.”
Ho-cheol tapped—Seong-woo’s waist with his fist.
He forcibly straightened him and waved his hand.
“Rather, I should be sorry. I’m the professor, and I didn't even notice until the student couldn't take it anymore.”
Seeing Ho-cheol apologizing instead, Seong-woo gave a wry smile.
“...I thought I knew Professor well, but I guess I was mistaken.”
“It's only been half a year, and we see each other just two or three times a week at most. It would be stranger if you knew me well.”
Ho-cheol sighed again nearby and examined Seong-woo.
“Right now, you’re the only one who caused trouble, but the other guys are probably in a similar situation, aren't they?”
An explosion that occurs after holding back until the critical point is crossed.
Since it wasn't just a matter of momentarily failing to control their emotions, the result would be the same for everyone, even if the timing differed.
Normally, he would say that would never happen, but in the current situation, where he knew a little more about what kind of person Ho-cheol was, it wasn't the time to jest about unnecessary worries.
“There are kids in our group chat who are just as stressed as me, or even more so. I think they might be reaching their limit soon.”
“Yes. That’s how it is.”
Ho-cheol bent his index finger and pressed firmly on his lips.
In fact, starting next year, all his students would go out again for Hero internship activities.
However, at that time, mental care processes were mandatory.
Thanks to that, incidents rarely occurred.
However, this external activity was hastily organized, leading to an absolute lack of such a systematic management system, which resulted in this situation.
“Whether it’s the Association or Clington. I'll have to go and raise hell so that all of you get a staff member in charge.”
Of course, this Hero experience period would end in just ten days, but there was no guarantee that such an incident wouldn't happen again during those ten days.
Ho-cheol finished his various calculations for a moment and then removed his hand from his lips.
“Let’s go right now. We’ll resolve your Villain designation, and while we’re at it, we’ll take issue with that too.”
Seong-woo’s eyes widened in surprise, as he hadn't expected Ho-cheol to go that far.
Ho-cheol scoffed.
Although he didn't say anything, the reaction shown on his face was enough to guess his thoughts.
“What. Did you think I would abandon you, saying something like, I've reached an agreement with the victim, figure out the rest yourself?”
“...A little bit.”
It wouldn't have been exactly abandonment.
He thought he could solve and take responsibility for the rest on his own anyway.
“That’s your problem. You’re barely 20 years old, so why are you trying to act like adults? Just say thank you and take the help when it's offered.”
Then he grabbed the back of Seong-woo's neck and dragged him away.
“But...”
While heading to the car, Ho-cheol suddenly furrowed his brows at a doubt that had sprung up.
There was a word in their conversation that bothered him considerably.
“Do you guys have a separate group chat that I’m not in?”
“Uh, ah. Did I really say that?”
“Yes. You clearly said that. I thought everyone was just busy lately and quiet, but I was the one being ostracized.”
Cold sweat began to trickle down the back of Seong-woo's neck.
***
Ho-cheol spent the entire day busily going around, meeting with the Association, Clington, and Seong-woo's Hero in charge to finalize the situation.
The Association didn't want to make a big deal out of the issue since an agreement had been reached with the victim, and the Hero in charge didn't blame Seong-woo much because the problem arose after he had sent Seong-woo away when he should have been by his side.
Clington, of course, sided with the student, so there was nothing to see there.
Ultimately, the penalty Seong-woo would face was extremely minor compared to the incident he caused.
After finalizing the incident and returning home, it was already close to night, long past dinner time.
Completely exhausted, Ho-cheol fell onto the sofa as if collapsing.
“You worked hard.”
Seeing him, So-hee smiled faintly and went behind him to pat his back.
Ho-cheol, staring blankly at the ceiling, muttered softly.
“Politics. Is politics needed, too?”
Individual strength, group force.
At no time had he lacked power in any situation.
However, the problem currently facing Ho-cheol was the kind that could never be solved with mere power.
So-hee, looking puzzled at his muttering, asked in return.
“Politics? Are you going to get into politics too?”
“It’s not that I want to. I just wish someone—anyone—with a similar mindset to mine would do it. No matter how much personal strength I have and how much influence I build, it seems merely improving the perception of Heroes won’t change the social phenomenon itself.”
Ho-cheol narrowed his brows and looked out the window.
Heroes are ultimately in a similar context to police officers or firefighters.
Yet, simply because they carry the title of "Hero," civilians regarded them as fools and emotional dumping grounds.
Of course, the foundation of Heroes was once a type of symbol that required noble morality, consisting of unconditional self-sacrifice and devotion, not merely a "profession."
But that was now a fading remnant of the distant past.
Even if that were the case, it was no reason for them to be treated this way.
Ji-an stealthily approached Ho-cheol and gently pressed and smoothed out the wrinkle on his brow with the tip of her index finger.
“Ing. Mister shouldn’t get wrinkles.”
Ignoring Ji-an, who was clinging to him, Ho-cheol leaned his head back and asked So-hee.
“You want to do it?”
“...Excuse me? Do what?”
“What else besides politics.”
Most of the essential elements required to enter the political arena could be gathered by Ho-cheol quite easily.
“If you say yes, I can fast-track you to become a Congress member.”
So-hee smiled, looking a bit troubled.
“First, you offered to make me an Association executive, and now this. Aren't you asking me to do too many things?”
“Because I think you’d do well.”
“No, thanks. I’m faint-hearted, so those high positions are physically a bit too much.”
So-hee refused for practical reasons.
Ji-an raised her hand high and bounced excitedly.
“Me, me! I want to do it! If you let me do it, I can do really well! If I go to the National Assembly!”
Ho-cheol scoffed.
“That would be a sign of a doomed country. If you get that golden badge and appear on the news, I think I'd immediately start preparing to immigrate.”
“Ah, don't be like that!”
“Anyway, think about it. I’ll unconditionally vote for you.”
Saying so, Ho-cheol got up from the sofa.
He tossed Ji-an, who was clinging to him like a cicada, onto the sofa and headed toward his room.
However, he paused and tilted his head upon seeing a signboard hanging on the doorknob.
“What is this?”
It was a double-sided sign that read OPEN and CLOSE, the kind one might see in a restaurant.
“Ah, that?”
So-hee helped Ji-an, who had been flipped over, sit up and explained.
“We thought we lacked too much privacy. So we prepared it. If the sign says CLOSED, we try not to open the door for each other if possible.”
“If you wanted to respect privacy, couldn't you just go back to your own houses?”
“We don't intend to respect it that much.”
“I should have known.”
Grumbling so, Ho-cheol examined the signboard for a moment and then nodded.
In fact, it was a quite welcome sign for him.
Why was he constantly running around outside?
If those two were to suddenly open—the door while he was preparing the gifts, it would be a disaster.
But since they, not he, had prepared this sign first.
Now, they wouldn't ignore it and burst in arbitrarily.
He didn't forget to check for the final risk factor.
“Are you also in agreement with this?”
“Ah, yes. Well, right?”
Ji-an nodded.
“Then let's try it right away.”
Ho-cheol immediately closed the door with the CLOSE side facing up.
If there were no interruptions according to this sign, he could prepare the gifts at his leisure.
Thump—
Ho-cheol's door closed, and Ji-an and So-hee sighed in relief, looking at the closed door.
Today, they had tailed Ho-cheol, chased the woman he was with, and heard the full story.
They were considerably shocked that he was making the gifts himself, not for any other reason, but specifically for them.
And that the reason he was going out was to avoid getting caught making those gifts.
They also felt a little guilty.
If they hadn't arbitrarily opened the door so much, Ho-cheol wouldn't have had to run away from home like that.
It was a signboard for him.
If they guaranteed they wouldn't interfere, Ho-cheol wouldn't have the bother of having to go outside.
Although Ho-cheol's surprise gift event was ruined, they felt lucky to have found out beforehand.
What if they had offered him some casually chosen gift on Christmas?
And what if they had received a gift filled with Ho-cheol's sincerity and affection?
Of course, Ho-cheol would surely accept even such gifts with gratitude.
But they could never tolerate that.
They would have been twisting in agony and guilt at least until the next Christmas.
Therefore, the two people fell into considerable deliberation.
They didn't know exactly what Ho-cheol's gift was, but it clearly required immense effort and sincerity.
Shouldn't they also show their feelings with a gift that was not inferior—no, even superior—to his?
But since Ho-cheol wouldn't be happy with just an expensive item, they had to give him a gift that genuinely contained their sincerity and effort.
And it couldn't overlap with what the other person was giving.
They both groaned for a long time, sharing the exact same worries Ho-cheol had.
What should they really do?
Ji-an, who had been thinking for a long time, came up with a clever idea.
“What about wrapping a ribbon around my body, and the gift is me? How’s that?”
So-hee merely let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground, offering no reply.