The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

I tied up Seo Ga-eul’s arms and legs and wrapped her entire body in a blanket.

Seo Ga-eul Kimbap, complete!

Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle—.

Since Seo Ga-eul struggled so fiercely, the process wasn’t easy.

“Mmmph! Mmph!”

But it was meaningless resistance.

Seo Ga-eul, whose strength had weakened, couldn’t fight back against me, an Awakened one.

The difference in physical ability between an Awakened and a non-Awakened is as vast as that between an elementary schooler and a high schooler.

“Seo Ga-eul, the full moon really is your weakness.”

“……!”

Seo Ga-eul, you’re mine!

With Seo Ga-eul Kimbap slung over my shoulder, I jumped off the office terrace.

Just before hitting the ground, I used the 「Leap」 ability I had luckily acquired to reset my position and kinetic energy, making the landing remarkably easy.

All that was left was to disappear into the darkness.

I sprinted toward the empty neighboring house as planned!

According to my research, the neighboring house had a sturdy basement, and there was no better place to imprison Seo Ga-eul.

Once I arrived at the basement of the neighboring house, I placed Seo Ga-eul in that old, moldy-smelling room.

“……!”

Under the flickering light, Seo Ga-eul, tightly bound with tape, glared at me with her red eyes.

If looks could kill, I would have died at least ten times by now.

“Don’t hate me too much. I wanted to act like a gentleman, too. But Ga-eul, you didn’t cooperate.”

I’ve captured Seo Ga-eul and locked her in a place that only I know of.

It feels like a dream.

You really did it, Han Nam-jin!

“Ga-eul, I’ll take the tape off your mouth now, but you have to behave. I want to get along with you. If you listen to me, I can be an angel. If you don’t, I’ll become a devil.”

“…….”

“If you understand what I’m saying, nod your head.”

Nod, nod.

Good.

Is this what it feels like to communicate with someone?

It felt like we were truly connecting with each other.

Riiip—.

I peeled off the tape from Seo Ga-eul’s mouth.

The moment I did, Seo Ga-eul leaped like a carp and bit down on my ankle.

Crunch—!

“Aaaaagh! You bitch! Aaaagh!”

It hurt like hell! It felt like my ankle was going to snap!

“Let go! Let go of me!”

Thud! Thud!

To save my leg, I had to hit Seo Ga-eul’s head repeatedly, and as she weakened from the blows, she collapsed onto the floor.

“You bastard! You perverted freak! Let me goooooooo!”

Seeing Seo Ga-eul, bleeding from her mouth and nose, screaming like a madwoman, I realized it.

How absurd the request I had received from Seo Ga-eul truly was.

In truth, the kidnapping wasn’t the goal.

The request Seo Ga-eul had given me wasn’t for ‘kidnapping’, but for ‘training’.

In other words, the real work was just beginning.

“Aaaaagh! Help me! Someone, please help meeee!”

Seo Ga-eul screamed frantically, her bloody mouth wide open.

So very, very loudly.

But I knew full well that no one in the area would hear her no matter how loudly she screamed.

“Ga-eul, shouting for help won’t do any good. I’m the one saving you. Someday, you’ll thank me.”

# # #

Beep-beep-beep—.

The alarm on my smartwatch rang.

7 a.m.

Time to head to school.

I’d stayed up all night in the basement of the neighboring house where I’d imprisoned Seo Ga-eul.

I had tried to talk to Seo Ga-eul and discuss the direction of things, but her attitude was extremely uncooperative.

After realizing that screaming for help was pointless, she completely shut her mouth.

It was as if her entire body was saying, “I won’t say a word to you.”

In a situation like this, most people would be scared and start cooperating, but not Seo Ga-eul.

She remained dignified without faltering.

It felt like there was a massive, unbreakable pillar of pride under her pale skin that wouldn’t bend.

In a situation like this, her emotions should have been unsettled enough for something to appear in my《Emotion Reader》, but nothing did.

Just how strong is her mind?

Is she made of steel?

It seemed like training Seo Ga-eul was going to take some time.

Could I complete the training to Seo Ga-eul’s satisfaction within the roughly one year left until the world’s destruction?

Could I receive the reward I was promised, the ‘Soft-Soft’?

That would be the key.

Ssssk—.

For now, I tightly bound Seo Ga-eul’s fists with black tape.

Considering how she had threatened me yesterday in the bathroom with her open palm, saying, “Come any closer and I’ll kill you,” her ability definitely came from her palms, so I had to disable them first.

Clank—.

I also shackled her arms and legs with chains and put a collar around her neck.

This neighboring house used to be a dog farm, but it had been abandoned after the government banned dog meat.

Thanks to that, I’d obtained a sturdy chain and a solid basement for free.

“…….”

Throughout the entire process, Seo Ga-eul didn’t make a peep.

Tough girl.

“You want to escape, right? Try awakening a new ability. You’re a multi-ability user, aren’t you? You’re special, aren’t you? So, if you want to escape, you’ll have to train hard. Do some meditation and yoga, too.”

Maybe Seo Ga-eul holds the key to stopping the upcoming ‘destruction’.

At least, that’s what she believed when she requested my help.

Anyway, I need to get ready for school.

Seo Ga-eul’s disappearance last night is bound to cause a huge commotion at school and in the world, right?

If I’m late on a day like this, I might end up a suspect.

“I’m leaving this water bottle here. If you get thirsty, open it and drink. If you need to go to the bathroom, figure it out. I’ll clean up after you. Seo Ga-eul, I’m prepared to accept all of you.”

“…….”

With that, I quickly tidied myself up and headed to school.

Though I wasn’t late, I wasn’t early either, so a few students were already seated in the classroom, but something caught my eye.

My deskmate, Butt girl.

Her hair—.

“Pink?”

How is a person’s hair pink?

A lot of surprises this morning.

“Don’t… don’t look!”

Butt girl, who was actually Baek Yeoul, covered her head with her hands in reaction to my response.

“What flavor?”

“Yaaah!”

Her loud voice echoed through the room.

Still, seeing Butt girl acting all lively and silly improved my mood a bit.

Honestly, kidnapping Seo Ga-eul was a huge gamble for me, so I’d had trouble calming my nerves.

“So, nothing special happened yesterday?”

Butt girl asked me.

Nothing special happened yesterday, you ask?

There was a ton.

“Nothing much.”

“Really? I thought Wang Ja-hyun’s group would’ve definitely tried to mess with you. Always be careful. They might pick a fight with you out of nowhere. So, uh….”

Butt girl hesitated.

“Can I come over to your place today?”

“My place?”

“I mentioned it in the group chat yesterday. We’ll have another practical soon, so we should strategize together—.”

Did she say that in the group chat?

I was too preoccupied with my important mission last night to check my phone.

But coming to my place today?

No way.

Seo Ga-eul is in the house next door.

If Seo Ga-eul screams, it might be heard from my house.

“I don’t think today’s a good day to come over.”

“Why?”

Why?

Why, you ask?

Since when did Butt girl have so many questions?

She was looking at me like a detective trying to crack a case.

“Hey, Baek Yeoul. I heard you caused a scene yesterday?”

A girl with dyed yellow hair approached us.

She was the one who had spilled hot chocolate on me before.

“What’s with your hair? Do you have a problem with society?”

Swoosh—.

The delinquent girl reached out to touch Baek Yeoul’s oddly pink head.

“Don’t touch me!”

Baek Yeoul growled like an angry raccoon.

I was surprised by her attitude, and so was the delinquent girl, who took a step back.

Did Baek Yeoul just show some courage?

But the delinquent girl snickered as if Baek Yeoul’s attitude amused her.

“What are you going to do if I touch it?”

“If you touch it… I’ll get angry! And when I get angry, who knows what might happen! Do you want to have bad luck all day? If I write your name with this red pen, your luck will be terrible today!”

Swoosh—.

Baek Yeoul brandished a red pen, threatening the delinquent girl.

Now, all eyes were on us.

「Name: Kim Jin
Status: 《Flustered and Angry》 – Feels disrespected by Baek Yeoul and wants to assert her dominance in front of everyone.」

“Go ahead, do it.”

Swoosh—.

The delinquent girl, Kim Jin, ran her colorful nails through Baek Yeoul’s pink hair, messing it up completely.

Baek Yeoul’s hair became a disaster in no time.

Kim Jin didn’t stop there.

She knocked Baek Yeoul’s hand cream and pencil case off her desk and onto the floor.

Thud, thud, thud—.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“You! Just you wait!”

Baek Yeoul, not backing down, wrote Kim Jin’s name with the red pen.

And that was it.

Nothing happened.

Where had Baek Yeoul’s sudden confidence come from?

Had her brain gotten fried by the hair dye?

Crash—!

At that moment, the sound of glass shattering filled the room, and a baseball flew out of nowhere, hitting Kim Jin squarely on the head.

Thunk—!

Since Kim Jin was an Awakened, getting hit by a baseball didn’t cause any serious injury, but she lost her balance and stumbled.

As fate would have it, she stepped on the hand cream that had fallen on the floor.

“Whoa—!”

Kim Jin wobbled for a moment, and then—thud—she fell.

The problem was that her skirt, already too short, flipped up, exposing her white thighs and underwear for all to see.

Her underwear was surprisingly plain compared to her flashy appearance.

“What, what are you looking at, you perverts? Look away!”

Kim Jin, startled, hurriedly pulled her skirt down and glared at Baek Yeoul as if she wanted to kill her.

But sensing that something was off with Baek Yeoul’s gaze, Kim Jin quickly turned around and left.

“This isn’t over, Baek Yeoul. You just wait!”

Yeah, best to avoid a mad dog when you can.

Kim Jin, her face bright red, stormed out of the classroom, and Baek Yeoul, who had been growling like an angry beast, turned to me and spoke.

“Did you see that? Did you see? I can now control my concept! My 「Misfortune」 has upgraded to 2nd grade! I can control my misfortune to some extent now!”

Baek Yeoul could control her concept now?

I didn’t know what had happened yesterday, but it was impressive.

Maybe the experiences at the party had triggered a big change in her.

Creak—.

Just then, Captain Kang Cheol-min entered the classroom.

“As most of you know, there was an incident last night.”

Why was that the first thing he said upon entering?

He was obviously going to talk about Seo Ga-eul’s kidnapping.

“Han Nam-jin, why did you cause a scene outside the school?”

“Who, me?”

“These videos that got posted on Stargram. Don’t you know that students at our school are required to maintain dignity? As punishment, you’re getting 20 hours of school service.”

Stargram?

Ah, he must be referring to the video of me grabbing Sa Ma-jun by the groin and making him apologize and then getting a peek at the model girl’s panties.

Twenty hours of community service for something like that?

Bad luck, I guess.

Still, it’s a relief they weren’t bringing up Seo Ga-eul’s kidnapping.

And so, after school—

I had been distracted all day, worrying about Seo Ga-eul, whom I had left behind.

I now understood why husbands with new brides were always eager to get home early.

‘For someone as famous as Seo Ga-eul to be kidnapped, the world sure is quiet.’

No one was talking about Seo Ga-eul’s disappearance or kidnapping, which was strange.

“Nam-jin, is this really you?”

“This video is insane!”

Everyone was only interested in the silly videos from the party.

The day passed as if nothing had happened.

Regardless, I wanted to check on Seo Ga-eul, but unfortunately, I had to serve my punishment for causing trouble—20 hours of community service.

Picking up trash around the school.

However, I unexpectedly ran into someone during the service.

“Aren’t you Yoo Boreum?”

“It’s Yeoreum.”

“You caused trouble too? I didn’t expect you to be doing community service.”

“I’m doing it voluntarily.”

It was Yoo Yeoreum, who had given me the tip that helped me successfully kidnap Seo Ga-eul.

The class president of Class F and a certified genius.

Meeting a benefactor like her during school service was a pleasant surprise.

Indeed, fortune and misfortune were two sides of the same coin.

Since she was a classmate of Seo Ga-eul in Class F, maybe I should ask her?

“Yeoreum, can I ask you something? How was Seo Ga-eul at school today?”

“Seo Ga-eul? She called in sick today.”

Called in sick?

Not missing?