Villain Eaten By The Hero - Chapter 13
“Ahhhh, ughhhh, ahhhh….”
“Ah, hoo, haa…. Good?”
“Yeah, yeah, uhh, aahh.”
Suddenly, the movie’s background music became quieter, and the rustling sounds became clearer. Unable to bear it any longer, Belze extended her right hand and gripped the armrest, only to find Seo doing the same thing at the same time. Both of them had reached for the armrest with their hands.
Their hands overlapped on the armrest. Their skin, still slightly damp from clutching their drinks, touched, and before anyone could say a word, they quickly withdrew their hands and stood up from their seats.
“……!”
“……!”
After exchanging wordless glances, Seo took the first step outside the theater. Without much thought, Belze hurriedly followed behind.
Seo rushed out and immediately entered the restroom. Belze stood nearby, spinning around, waiting for Seo to come out.
She wasn’t even sure why she was doing this herself. Perhaps she didn’t want to be left alone in the theater where the couple was indulging in intimacy, or she didn’t want to mistakenly think that she fled first after misinterpreting Seo’s signal. She stayed in front of the restroom, rationalizing her actions and making up excuses.
After what seemed like an eternity of curiosity about what Seo was doing inside, he finally emerged from the restroom.
With a slightly different appearance, he looked somewhat embarrassed and quickly brushed past Belze, as if he had committed a crime.
Belze diligently followed Seo, but could not outrun him until they were outside the building.
Once outside, the chilly air enveloped them. Still, since it was not yet 2 AM, there were plenty of cars running on the road and the streets were well lit.
Seo moved ahead, navigating through the streets. The bustling bars were lively, and occasionally, groups of people who seemed to have had a few drinks gathered together and laughed.
Trying to avoid the smell of alcohol from the tipsy crowd, Seo turned halfway and asked.
“Why are you following me?”
“I’m going my own way.”
“Are you stalking me?”
“No, I’m not. I go home this way too.”
Pouting her lips, Belze grumbled and crossed her arms. Even with her bare hands hidden under her coat, the wind still felt a little chilly. The daytime temperature had been high, so she had dressed lightly, but now, with the temperature dropping drastically at night, she regretted not bringing warmer clothes.
“You go first.”
“Have you gone crazy? I don’t want you to know where our house is. It’s scary to think that you might climb over the wall in the middle of the night.”
“Where did you get that idea? Don’t you have your men around?”
“I say this as a hero! As a hero! You asshole.”
The dim light illuminated Seo’s face in the darkness. His expression seemed to have softened. The distance between his eyebrows and eyes, partially hidden behind his glasses, appeared narrower than before, making him look different.
Belze’s shoulders tensed, half-expecting him to cause a scene, but nothing of the sort happened. Seo silently turned around and continued walking. Belze followed him silently.
While they could have taken a different path to reach their accommodation, she just wanted to follow him.
She wasn’t entirely sure why she felt that way. It was such a trivial annoyance, but she felt that enjoying this kind of annoyance would be nice.
Seo, who seemed determined to walk without hesitation, kept stopping his steps repeatedly. Each time Belze looked around in the direction of his gaze, there were stores nearby.
First, it was a pub, then a chicken restaurant, followed by a grilled intestines place, then a bar, and a world beer pub… But he only glanced at them without entering any of the establishments.
Perhaps Seo was conscious of going alone. If that were the case, it’s a bit cute. Belze thought this as she maintained a distance of six steps from Seo.
In Seo’s sight as he stopped for the sixth time, there was a 24-hour convenience store. He stepped into the store and began to choose something. Belze didn’t follow him inside the convenience store but stood near the door, watching to see what he would buy.
After a short while, Seo came out of the convenience store, holding two canned beers in his hands. He looked directly at Belze, who had been waiting for him.
Even though Belze knew that Seo noticed that she was following him, there was no sign of surprise or annoyance on him. Seo’s face was as stoic as ever. Considering how he usually appeared more intimidating and cunning, it was a bit fascinating to see this side of him.
“Why aren’t you going?”
“If I go… I thought you might follow me.”
It sounded like a lame excuse, and Belze rubbed the back of her neck. She tried to avoid his direct gaze, but suddenly a can appeared in front of her.
“Drink it.”
It was beer. Belze eyed the can as he handed it to her.
“Are you high?”
“If you don’t want it. Give it back.”
“No. You can’t take what you give. You act all heroic and cool.”
“You keep saying ‘hero’ at your every sentence… It’s getting annoying, really.”
Seo avoided his touch and reached a canned beer for Belze to hold. With a ‘pop’ sound, he opened his can, and out comes the sound of frothy foam rising.
Compared to the bustling daytime, the night streets were much quieter. The carbonation in the beer created a flurry of foam, producing a distinct fizzing sound as Seo took a sip from his beer.
Without worrying much about the suspicious can, Belze opened the can of beer that Seo had given her and took a deep sip. Despite feeling like she had consumed enough carbonated beverages, as the beer entered her system, it washed away the lingering unpleasant emotions that had built up until now.
She took her mouth away from the can and made a gulping sound, and then looked up to see Seo looking at her with a blank expression.
“… What? Why?”
“The movie we were watching.”
His beer-soaked lips twitched.
“Yeah.”
“Do you know the ending?”
“The ending?”
“It’s a movie I’ve been looking forward to. It’s a bit hard to find time for a while, but if the ending is good, I’ll make time to go see it when it’s available on the streaming site in two months. Is it a happy ending or realistic?”
The movie they watched together was a romantic comedy with a blend of action. It depicted a man and a woman belonging to different organizations, one from a government agency and the other from a gang, who unexpectedly got entangled in a relationship involving kisses and even sex. They then made efforts to keep their organizations from finding out about their situation, making it a classic and typical film.
However, as romance movies often do, in the latter half, the story shifts away from the comedic plot and delves into serious conflicts due to their respective positions.
Belze didn’t know why Seo thought that she would know the ending, but Seo’s intuition was sharp. Belze had already heard and knew the ending of the movie.
“They couldn’t give up their own work, so they broke up. It was a bittersweet breakup, and they promised to respect each other’s positions. Then, they coincidentally meet on a staircase in another city. At first, they try to ignore each other, but suddenly, they turned around and kissed before going on their separate missions again. People loved that scene, finding it heartwarming and enjoyable. It’s neither here nor there.”
“It’s a happy ending. It’s like betrayal when a gang member keeps a secret from the boss. If it were our boss, we would have lost.”
“Ah, yeah.”
Belze’s response was more of a mumble ‘I guess so’. She finished his beer and looked at Seo.
“If it’s a movie you were looking forward to, you should have told the people behind to shut up. You usually pay back as much as you receive, so why did you hold back this time?”
“I was going to.”
Seo’s words abruptly halted. He didn’t let his sentence trail off, but cut it off sharply, like a steel rod being snapped. And then, after a brief pause, he spoke again.
“I thought about it, but…”
Seo’s focus seemed to drift aimlessly, and his voice waivered. It was an unusual reaction for someone like him, who usually displayed unwavering strength. He always appeared confident, and even in moments of pain, he never showed signs of self-doubt or inner turmoil.
But, now, he couldn’t seem to finish a sentence properly, and Belze wondered if he had perhaps had one too many beers or if there was something personal going on between the man and woman he saw at the cinema.
“You did, but…”
“….”
“Why did you stop talking?”
“Are you not bothered at all?”
“Why are you suddenly changing the topic?”
“You didn’t say anything either, you ran away too.”
“Am I the same as you? I’m an immoral person. Have you forgotten that you keep criticizing me for that? Why should I bother with public morality when I don’t even follow the law?”
Of course, it wasn’t because of any such grandiose beliefs, it was just awkward to tell them to stop. But then again, everyone has their own way of packaging things.
As a villain, she could wield such excuses. Whether they were justified or not.
Trying to maintain the facade, Belze chuckled while shaking the half-empty beer can. But then, the teasing remarks quickly followed.
“You washed your hands, right?”
“Seriously, I’m gonna kill you….”
It was no place for such attacks right there.
In the heat of clenching her fist, Belze forgot about the can she was holding, causing the can to crumple and the beer to gush upward. The beer spilled out of the can and drenched the bridge of Belze’s nose and over her lips.
Belze scrunched her eyebrows and wiped the beer off her face with her fingers. Suddenly there were three or four fingers.
It was Seo’s fingers touching her face.
“You’re acting all grandiose even though you ran away embarrassed.”
“No, I’m not. But, well, were you embarrassed by that? Ah, you’re still just a kid. Just over something like that…”
“Then do me one favor.”
“Why should I…”
“If it wasn’t embarrassing for you, this won’t be a big deal either.”
“You don’t mean to say that….”
“A kiss.”
“….”
“I want to try it. I hope we do. Just say it’s okay to do.”