The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

035 – Strong Women Usually Have Weaknesses #1

“Hey!!! Hanamjin!!!”

Bangdeongi was calling me and running toward me from far away. What on earth is going on? The important thing is, the guy was running so fast that he tripped over his own feet and fell.

*Crash—!*

Falling on an empty ground like that, he sure has some talent.

But the arrival of that guy did manage to ease the tense atmosphere a little.

“What’s up?”

“What’s going on?”

Students who were on their way home turned their attention toward the alley, and even the police sister, who had been half-threatening me with her fist, softened her stance a little.

“Looks like your little brother’s luck is better than I thought. Well, I’ll see you later. Keep the story about me touching your chest a secret, okay? If it gets out, I’ll have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet.”

Asking to keep it a secret, but spilling everything with his own mouth-.

Thanks to that, Bbangdaengi growled like an angry raccoon.

“What, what are you talking about breasts! Hanamjin, you! You said you liked Seo Gaeul, but as soon as she disappeared, you turned your eyes to someone else? Huh? Do you just like any girl?”

“I am only devoted to Seo Gaeul.”

“……”

Bbangdaengi Baek Yeoul looked at me with eyes full of dissatisfaction.

But it was also true that I had just received help from this guy’s appearance.

From noble mtl dot com

Should I say the timing and luck were good?

If I had been dragged away by that sister as it was, “GAME OVER” might have been just around the corner in many ways.

“Bbangdaengi, so what the hell happened? Didn’t you go home?”

At my question, Bbangdaengi stopped patting his knees and looked around.

Then he asked in a small voice that only I could hear.

“You, there’s nothing to eat at home, right? So you chose to suck on the ketchup bottle?”

“Hey, do we have food at home too?”

“Really? What do you have?”

“Ramen.”

“Not that kind of thing!”

What’s wrong with ramen.

Soon, Bbangdaengi hesitated like someone who had something to say but was stuck in his throat. Like having a mosquito bite on the sole of your foot but wearing shoes so you can’t scratch it?

When I wondered what it was, Bbangdaengi opened his bag and handed me something.

“You! You made fun of me for not being able to cook! That’s not true! So try this for dinner tonight!”

It was a lunchbox.

“I made it myself! I’m Baek Yeoul of Baekdang! I’m confident in cooking!”

A while ago, during a fight with Yeomhoon, I had shouted that Bbangdaengi couldn’t cook, and it seemed that he had been upset about it.

It was still warm, probably because it was well insulated.

“If you honestly admit it’s delicious, I’ll make you a lunchbox to eat every night from now on. Since I’ve received help from you in various ways, it’s a kind of return? Like give and take.”

Bbangdaengi said he would take care of my dinner every day?

It wasn’t a bad story for me.

But “Bbangdaengi’s cooking”? Wouldn’t it come with modifiers like “blackened” or “twisted underworld”?

When Baek Yeoul, who was nervous in many ways, finished saying what he had to say, he turned his head sharply.

“Maybe… Seo, Seo Ga-eul’s disappearance might be because of me.”

“Why?”

“Because I hated Seo Ga-eul. I wished every day that Seo Ga-eul would disappear. Did my bad luck transfer to Seo Ga-eul?”

“That’s not it. You don’t have that kind of power.”

“Ugh… Anyway! I’m leaving! Just rinse the lunchbox and return it tomorrow!”

With those words, Bbangdaengi ran off into the distance.

Along the way, they tripped and fell with a thud, but soon got up as if nothing had happened and ran off into the distance.

# # #

“Just so you know, if you offer me ketchup ramen again today, I’ll bite my tongue and die.”

After returning home, without even having time to unpack my bag, I went down to the basement where Seo Ga-eul firmly secured me.

I don’t know why someone who hasn’t eaten properly for days is so haughty.

What else is there to eat in our house besides ramen?

Oh, there is one thing.

Sizzle-. I took out the lunchbox I received from Bbangdaengi Baek Yeoul from my bag.

When I opened the lid, I saw roughly made rolled omelet, Vienna sausages, and soy sauce bulgogi neatly packed in compartments.

The delicious smell seemed to catch Seo Ga-eul’s interest.

“What’s this, a lunchbox? Did you make it?”

I hesitated slightly, wondering how to answer Seo Ga-eul’s question.

This lunchbox was made by Baek Yeoul.

Aren’t Baek Yeoul and Seo Ga-eul on really bad terms?

Something must have happened between them, but neither Baek Yeoul nor Seo Ga-eul spoke clearly about it.

“Of course, I made it. I’m good at cooking.”

I thought it would be better to lie and say I made the lunchbox. Seo Ga-eul, who is usually picky about food, was finally showing interest in it.

If I said Baek Yeoul made it, Seo Ga-eul would probably say, “You eat it yourself!” So I lied.

“Ah─.”

Seo Ga-eul opened their mouth wide at me.

What are they doing?

“Hey, pervert. You taped my hands, so I can’t use chopsticks or a fork. You have to feed me. So hurry up and put it in my mouth. Ah─.”

Ah, that’s what they meant.

I picked up the food from the lunchbox made by Baek Yeoul with chopsticks and placed it on Seo Ga-eul’s tongue.

A white and neatly arranged tongue looks fluffy and mischievous.

With this tongue, it seems like you hurl insults every day.

Mumble mumble mumble-.

“How does it taste?”

“Hmm, well, it’s okay, I guess?”

Baek Yeo-ul’s lunchbox is just okay for Seo Ga-eul’s taste.

Though she said that, Seo Ga-eul kept opening her mouth and devoured the entire lunchbox. Then, like a judge on a cooking competition show, she fell into deep thought.

“The degree of cooking for the vegetables is slightly unsatisfactory, but it’s been a real long time since I had a home-cooked meal like this, so I’ll give it a 6 out of 10. Next time, cook the vegetables a bit more thoroughly. Got it?”

It seemed that way.

Make sure to convey Seo Ga-eul’s request to Baek Yeo-ul.

I ate ketchup ramen with Ing-ing.

Maybe it was because I used a lot of ketchup from the infinite ketchup bottle I got today, but the umami was killer.

━Gyu-ing.

Ing-ing, who had turned into a cloud, floated around the basement as if feeling good about my ramen dish. That little guy is so cute!

“A ketchup bottle? You brought back just a ketchup bottle from the treasure hunt? Wow, I can’t even say I was kidnapped by a guy like this without feeling embarrassed.”

“It’s not just a ketchup bottle; it’s a rechargeable ketchup bottle! Isn’t that awesome?”

“So, can you use that ketchup bottle to kidnap Yoo Yeoreum? When are you going to kidnap her and tie her up next to me? If you succeed in kidnapping Yoo Yeoreum, I’ll help you with your weird plans.”

As her stomach got full, Seo Ga-eul became quite arrogant.

She was thumping the floor with her legs while talking, and I didn’t want to be swayed by that.

“Hey, I have a plan too. Don’t worry. So today, we’re going to do lower body exercises. It’s been quite a while since you’ve been cooped up in here, so your muscles must have gotten dull. Now, lie down.”

“W-what are you trying to do!”

“It’s just simple rehabilitation.”

I was somewhat of an expert in lower body rehabilitation.

Originally, my legs had been severely injured after being run over by a truck.

I grabbed Seo Ga-eul’s legs and moved them around to loosen her muscles.

“Pervert, rehabilitation is just an excuse for you to touch my legs, right? All men are the same. They pretend to be nice, but in reality, they only think about how to do something to women.”

Of course, Seo Ga-eul disliked it.

Should I give her some acupressure while I’m at it? When I pressed down on the Yongcheon point in the center of her foot with my thumb, a spot said to revive even a dead person, Seo Ga-eul’s body sprang up like a spring.

“Yikes!”

“So this is your weak spot? Then today’s rehabilitation is over!”

“…I’ll kill you. I swear I’ll kill you with my own hands. Just wait and see.”

“Oh, I love hearing that. It’s so sweet. By the way, I heard a missing person report was filed for you.”

“Missing?”

Seo Ga-eul, who had been making a racket like an angry fox caught in a trap, suddenly turned cold as if she were a different person. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

While I was thinking that, Seo Ga-eul spoke softly.

“TV.”

“What about TV?”

“Install a small one down here. You can just go to school, but I’ll go crazy from boredom in the meantime.”

TV? That’s difficult right now.

Instead, I brought the newspaper that used to be delivered to our house every morning.

“Isn’t this the newspaper we used to advertise in? I’ll tolerate the newspaper for now, but I hope you’ll install a TV soon.”

Seo Ga-eul scanned the headlines with her narrow eyes.

Her delicate fingers pointed to a corner of the newspaper.

“Opposition leader Yoo Do-gwan criticized the president’s ‘Awakener Registration Act’ this afternoon. This bill could oppress the rights of awakeners─.”

“That guy is Yoo Yeoreum’s dad.”

“Who?”

“Opposition leader Yoo Do-gwan. A presidential candidate.”

Yoo Yeoreum must have been amazing herself and had a strong family background.

How high is the position of an opposition leader?

Of course, a year from now, none of that will matter.

“But, she’s not his biological daughter.”

Srrr-.

Seo Ga-eul, who had been telling an astonishing story, opened her narrow eyes.

“If she’s not his biological daughter?”

“Yoo Yeoreum is actually an orphan from a foster home. The foster home was supported by our Seonam Group subsidiary, which is now split off and called ‘Jeongwang Group.'”

Yoo Yeoreum is from a foster home─.

Depending on the situation, this information might be useful for a kidnapping.

“But the foster home is closed now. Why it closed─you’ll have to investigate that yourself. Haven’t I told you enough about Yoo Yeoreum’s ‘weakness’?”

“Weakness? Does she even have a weakness?”

“Who knows? Now, come here, Yingying.”

━Gyu-iing.

Suk-. Seo Ga-eul called out to the floating Yingying, then used its fluffy cloud-like body as a pillow and lay down on the mattress.

When it was that she shouted that Yingying was a monster and had to be killed, and now she was treating it like a pillow.

Poor Yingying.

# # #

A wide training room.

In the pitch-black darkness where not even an inch ahead could be seen, a woman effortlessly lifted a barbell with 100kg weight plates stacked on it.

“… … .”

Even though it was a weight that would require numerous strong men to lift, she lifted it effortlessly, her expression not even flinching.

Only small beads of sweat trickled down from her forehead to her chin.

“That’s enough, Yeoreum. Let’s stop here. Even in a discharged state, you can easily handle 1,000kg? You’ve been in particularly good condition lately. Did something good happen?”

A middle-aged woman in a white coat meticulously checked and recorded Yeoreum’s records.

Yeoreum glanced at the middle-aged woman’s face.

It was quite amusing to see her wearing night vision goggles that looked bizarre like spider eyes.

“Something good?”

“How long do you think I’ve been watching you since you were a child? You seem to be subtly excited these days, similar to when you received an old birthday cake. “What’s going on?”

“Not really… .”

Yeoreum left the training room for the next training.

As she descended underground, even deeper into the darkness, a massive steel bunker appeared.

Clang, gooo-.

As she entered, pitch-black darkness enveloped Yeoreum’s body.

It was a sticky, complete darkness like ink.

【Alright, Yeoreum, since you seem to be in good condition today, it’s 12 hours.】

The voice of the middle-aged woman came from a speaker installed somewhere.

But only for a moment, shaaa- the sound of toxic gas seeing out from somewhere was heard.

【45th experiment on resistance to toxic gas.】

【Subject, 36 hours of complete fasting.】

【1984 hours since the last concept manifestation─】

In the darkness where not even an inch ahead could be seen, Yeoreum sat on the floor and immersed herself inwardly.

The “light” she had longed for over a long time was already within her.

However, the severe hunger was still unbearable.

And if there was one more thing that was hard to endure─.

─This night vision device is really good. It’s so dark, yet I can see the lines on my palm.

─If I beat him, you’ll really clear my debt, right?

In the pitch-black darkness, the voices of unknown people could be heard.

─Being allowed to beat up a high school girl reminds me of the old days. Back then, it wasn’t just beating-.

─Miss, how old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? Hehehe-.

Even though she tried to light up her eyes with a glare, the light she had charged with “photosynthesis” was all used up due to living in the darkroom.

This training was originally designed to intentionally adjust ‘crisis’ and ‘deficiency’ for the manifestation of a new concept.

In the end, the malice and blunt weapons of the thugs attacking from all sides wounded Yoo Yeoreum’s body.

“… … .”

In this chaos, Yoo Yeoreum didn’t even scream to avoid wasting energy. She just retired with violence as if it was familiar.

Thud, thwack-! Crack, snap-!

─aaargh! S-save me!

─Crazy monster b*stard! Monster!

─Let me out of hereee!

The measured values ​​made by Dr. Ahn and the others monitoring the situation are very pleased.

“Doctor, the vital signs are hitting new highs again! She might awaken the third concept soon!”

“It’s too early to celebrate. Unless she overcomes that weakness, Yeoreum is as good as a failure.”

Yoo Yeoreum had a fatal weakness.

If someone were to discover that weakness, even the seemingly strong Yoo Yeoreum might crumble like a sandcastle.

Fortunately, the security regarding Yeoreum’s ‘weakness’ was thorough.

So thorough that no one could notice─.

─Not even Yoo Yeoreum herself.