Villain Eaten By The Hero - Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44
“Why are you doing this?”
“I’m just hugging you. We’ve done worse things than this.”
Belze wasn’t one to grit her teeth at being hugged by someone else, but it was different when she couldn’t move her body like today. She couldn’t push him away with her arms or body, or kick him with her legs, so she had no choice but to endure his embrace, as annoying as it was.
“You’re being petty. I’m just providing a backrest for you, in case leaning against the wall hurts your back.”
“If it looks difficult, just send me home to sleep.”
“If you want me to come with you, I will.”
“Why are you saying that?”
What kind of stupid villain would want to go back to their lair with a hero on their back?
Belze dismissed the nonsense and Seo grinned over her shoulder.
“Then stay here. How about that?”
His voice tickled Belze’s ears in a way she wouldn’t have expected from his usual voice. It was astonishing how a slight change in tone and pitch could create an entirely different impression.
“You’re the one who made me like this.”
His personality had definitely changed. Seo was not particularly talented in acting.
But why did the change feel so precarious?
He wasn’t aggressive or sharp, but he’s still a bit of a jerk, and he’s much more persistent than usual.
Plus,
“If you don’t like it, I have no choice but send you to the Hero Disaster Headquarters.”
He readily voiced much more severe threats than usual.
The usual Seo was violent but did not resort to threats to get his way. At least he didn’t use force recklessly to achieve what he wanted.
However, the Seo that emerged from the personality switch device had held Belze at his hideout with words that seemed like threats to goad her into going along with it, and it worked.
There were two reasons for this.
He couldn’t be sure that the rabbit’s temper was completely gone,and he simply didn’t want to go home alone.
The former was uncertain, but the latter was clear. No matter how many times Belze asked what the big deal was, Seo did not budge on his opinion. He simply didn’t want to go home alone.
It would have been nice if she could accept the fact that he didn’t want to be alone, but the person she was dealing with right now had a changed personality. It might be genuine, but the possibility of it being a tactic couldn’t be ignored.
It went without saying, but Belze couldn’t accurately grasp this unfamiliar Seo.
He’d become more flirtatious, acting coldly towards someone to easily succumbed to temptation, and becoming a personality that was difficult to understand.
As long as he wasn’t violent, it was fine, she had vaguely prayed. She drawn the short straw in the personality lottery, hoping for anything but a violent personality.
He smiles and looks easygoing, but he was definitely not to be underestimated. With no way to guess his true personality, and being in a situation where she was helplessly caught, Belze just stopped struggling and sighed quietly.
“I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
“Alright, I’ll go make some. Just wait here and don’t run away. You won’t be able to move anyway.”
Still, the only fortunate thing was that this new Seo, in exchange for Belze’s cooperation, was at least considerate and didn’t insist. Belze lay down on the bed, holding back the desire to ask him who had made her unable to move.
Logically speaking, it was all the villain’s fault. Unfortunately.
*
His hideout, which was essentially a small room with a closed door in the living room, had poor soundproofing. Belze could hear every noise coming from the kitchen while lying on the bed.
If described with onomatopoeia, it sounded like this: Thud, thud, whoosh, ah, swoosh, thud, thump, chop, thunk, oops, swoosh, thud…
It meant that nothing was going right.
Just by listening, one could imagine some disaster unfolding in the kitchen. Eventually, due to Belze’s refusal to eat unappetizing food, they ended up ordering takeout for dinner.
Seo, looking disheveled and a bit tired, placed the delivered stir-fried octopus on the table. His sleeves and upper clothes were damp.
Belze gulped down the side dishes that Seo put on her rice spoon and whined.
“Can you really not cook like this? You live alone. How do you manage usually?”
“I eat out or order in.”
“Maybe you can afford it since you have a high salary, but nobody likes a man who can’t even cook for himself. That’s a minus twenty points.”
It was truly so. She had no plans to date Seo, let alone marry him, but even so, his charm points were diminishing.
She thought his frantic behavior might be cute, so she would give him a plus 10 points again, but that fact would remain her own secret.
Seo, who had instantly lost twenty points, pouted with a dejected expression.
“I never learned because I’m always busy dealing with villains.”
“That sounds like an excuse.”
“Even after work, I have to take paperwork home and fill it out, write reports on the damage amount. If my skills are lacking, I have to step back to support roles, so I have to manage my skills…”
“Still sounds like an excuse. You must have lived with your parents until you became an adult, right? You could have learned at least something by watching over their shoulders.”
If he turned the kitchen into a watery mess while trying to cook, that was a problem preceding his skills. It meant he had barely been in the kitchen.
At her harsh criticism, Seo poked at his food with chopsticks, looking like he had been pricked in a vulnerable spot.
“I see…. I’m sorry. I’ve been raised in an institution since I was fourteen.”
His apologetic words halted her chopstick poking. But as far as Belze remembered, Seo had perfectly fine parents.
“Where the heroes go to school? “
When Belze probed into his background before, she found out about it. Students who displayed exceptional abilities from a young age often attended specialized schools focused on heroes, which did not disclose their curriculum to outsiders. Seo had been part of such a school too.
Seo nodded, confirming,
“I grew up in conjunction with that institution. As a potential hero candidate like me, we were rigorously managed.”
Specialized schools like military academies, police schools, and maritime academies were typically entered based on personal desire. However, youth hero institutions combined a voluntary system with a recruitment system.
Those recruited were usually children with either highly dangerous or versatile abilities. Since these dangerous abilities could veer off course, they were strictly managed, and they were encouraged primarily to become heroes.
The strictness often went overboard. Jet, who had given Seo rabbit ears and a tail, had also attended a hero training school, and the memories of those days according to him made Belze shake her head in disbelief.
Belze wondered whether Seo had enrolled voluntarily or had been recruited. Regardless of his personal choice, Belze concluded that he must have been recruited. It wasn’t just a matter of attending the institution; he had been part of it. So, the latter was more likely.
Seo’s ability to manipulate metal was powerful and, consequently, dangerous. Bending or crushing metal was basic for him, and he could even lift it into the air. He must have drawn attention as a noteworthy figure due to these abilities.
Exceptional abilities were easy to exploit. The country managed such individuals under the pretext of them becoming heroes.
Thinking about his strict upbringing during his adolescence, separated from his family, she felt a bit of sympathy. Belze adjusted her assessment of him accordingly.
“Well then, I’ll give you twenty points back. If you didn’t have the opportunity, you couldn’t help it.”
Not being able to cook at all was a drawback, but if there were circumstances, there was nothing to be done. She didn’t want to be overly critical, especially of someone who grew up without even setting foot in a kitchen due to their childhood circumstances.
It was only fair to dock points if there was an opportunity to learn but no willingness to do so. After all, Belze thought, life is long, and she wasn’t necessarily going to marry Seo, anyway.
With this, the fact that he couldn’t cook became endearing, earning him ten points. Sympathy for his past added another five points, totaling fifteen. But Belze intentionally left this on her conscious thoughts.
It’s better not to think about unnecessary things. Because, to paraphrase Wonha, heroes don’t like villains.
“Teach me, and I’ll do my best to learn.”
Seo said, placing another spoonful of stir-fried octopus on her plate. Although Belze found this odd, she continued to eat the side dishes diligently.
“I’m not interested in cooking. The cafeteria staff takes care of our meals. It’s too bothersome to cook.”
Upon hearing this, Seo’s lifeless expression suddenly transformed into an expression of disbelief, and then he burst out laughing.
“You really do whatever you want.”
“I’m just speaking the truth.”
“Minus ten points.”
Well, it was still better than minus twenty points. He was being generous.
Belze added some bean sprouts and pickled radishes onto Seo’s spoon. The look on Seo’s face, so visibly pleased, was so unfamiliar it gave her goosebumps.
*
Late in the evening, Belze received a call from Wonha.
[Ms. Belze, are you okay?]
“Yeah.”
[There are no condoms there… should I bring some over?]
“No, heroes get injections for contraception, so it’s okay without… Why are you assuming things so boldly?! No! Not happening! I won’t do it anymore!”
[You said you’re in good shape now. I thought you might want to seize the opportunity while you can, given Seo’s respectful attitude.]
“What do you think of me? I’m not taking advantage of him!”
“You can if you want.”
Sitting on the bed, Seo unbuckled his pants, spread his arms, and tilted his head a little, assuming a haughty posture that seemed to invite seduction. It had a certain sensuality that could have appeared in a magazine, but her pride was even stronger.
“No!”
“I’ll make it a special one-plus-one offer just for you.”
“Ah, a bold discount… but no!”
[Belze, it seems you’re easily swayed.]
“No!”
[As long as contraception is ensured, take care of yourself, and good luck. We’re entrusting Kim Seo to you not only because of that but also because we trust you.]
“Oh, come to think of it, did everyone just abandon me? You ungrateful and disloyal bunch!”