Belze had a concern that she couldn’t even confess to anyone else.

‘I ended up sleeping with a hero… and he was quite good at it.‘

Villains might be generally crazy, but even in madness, there should be a certain level of sophistication.

That’s why, despite feeling anxious and have her subordinate to comfort her, Belze calmed down and let go of her internal conflicts.

As she became more composed, her subordinate, who was playfully spinning her chair, stopped and faced her directly.

“Didn’t you say we should live as we please, regardless of what others say? And not hesitate even if we face criticism, isn’t that our motto?”

“But… to feel good in that kind of situation, it’s just like a major m*sochist, isn’t it?”

“Why would you call yourself a m*sochist in front of me? Besides, if you keep nitpicking about such things, there will be no end to it. There’s even someone in our organization who missed a job interview because of the traffic jam you caused.”

“When you put it like that, my life sounds better than those with hopeless lives!”

When Belze clapped her hands, the man’s face turned a little blurry.

“Perhaps finding hope in such situations would be good, but that part of you seems wicked as a superior officer. Anyway, well, it’s not like you liked that guy just because he gave you a thrill. Even if we go to court, Belze, you’ll win, so relax.”

“Is… that so? You think? I’m not some, really lewd and low-quality person, am I?”

Belze’s face brightened slightly as she gathered her hands and covered her lips. It seemed that she finally came to realize what her subordinate was telling her, and she quickly nodded in response.

“Pl*asure is just a response to stimulation, so there’s no need to feel guilty about it.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Yeah. Sounds good. I was worried for no reason! Let’s get to work quickly then. Did a lot of tasks pile up while I was resting? How about we attack the Seowon Station today?”

Belze casually accepted her subordinate’s reassurance and comfort. Although she could have delved deeper into her inner conflicts, analyzing what Seo did, she chose not to. Getting rid of the immediate discomfort was more important than anything else for now.

The first principle to live as a happy and joyful villain is to interpret everything in a way that benefits oneself.

Belze diligently adhered to this principle and prepared to move forward. Just as she was about to leave the office after gathering various things, she paused mid-step.

“Do you think he was also feeling good about it?”

“….”

“Well, he stood up, so… he must have enjoyed it, right?”

“Ms. Belze.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s too explicit to care about.”

The pen left in Belze’s hand was fiercely stabbed into her subordinate’s chest.

***

“Sir, you seem to be in great shape these days. Your face looks bright, and there’s a different aura about you.”

Seo, who was doing leg exercises with the heaviest weight attached, raised his head. The trainer who had been assisting him with his personal training greeted him with a delighted expression.

He slightly nodded his head without compromising his posture.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing well lately.”

“Really? You look so refreshed. Did something good happen?”

While stretching his legs straight for five seconds during the leg exercise, he recalled some recent positive events. There weren’t many things that could improve his condition, but a few came to mind quickly.

He received a higher than usual risk allowance and partly destroyed the hideout of an evil organization <Cheonha>. Also, before that, he formed a connection with a troublesome villain.

The corners of his mouth twitched at the memory.

“There was something.”

Seo firmly subdued the one who was causing trouble and pinned her under his legs, completely overpowering her. Some might argue that it was morally questionable, and even though it wasn’t something he couldn’t proudly share with others, Seo considered it a satisfying accomplishment.

Belze had been a persistent nuisance to Seo for a long time. Usually, villains didn’t dare to confront Seo because he followed the principle of paying back twice the trouble he received, unless they have a reasonable chance of winning. They learned the hard way that it wasn’t wise to rashly challenge him if they didn’t want to end up as his stepping stones. They didn’t want to become an easy target for him.

However, Belze stubbornly persisted, using her modest but unyielding power to challenge Seo. While most villains would retreat when things got risky, trying to save face, Belze refused to back down as if she didn’t know the meaning of surrender.

Yet, despite her tenacious persistence, Belze was met with an unprecedented defeat. Seo took advantage of the opportunity to retaliate for all the mocking he had endured and did things he wouldn’t have dared under normal circumstances.

It felt as satisfying like untangling a tangled thread all at once.

“I won against a troublesome opponent.”

“Don’t you always win? Have you ever lost, sir?”

“Never.”

The trainer looked puzzled. Seo realized that he had said something a little odd. He thought for a moment then corrected himself.

“I meant to say that I won more triumphantly than usual.”

“Ah, I see. It must feel great to achieve success at work. You must have defeated that human trash of a boss.”

Calling Belze human garbage without personally facing her in a fight seemed a bit harsh to Seo. As soon as he had that thought, he stretched his legs for a little longer, trying to erase those distracting thoughts. He needed to clear his mind from such unnecessary distractions.

Seo couldn’t bring himself to say out loud that he felt victorious after defeating a high-ranking official in the evil organization, who might not have had much physical power but was of great influence. Those words hovered on the tip of his tongue but remained buried deep within his heart, like a heavy burden weighing on his mind.

The trainer’s expression changed enough for Seo to notice, and he felt a bit annoyed that such a small incident bothered him. After all, it was just about defeating a weak villain…

Seo took a moment to reflect on his feelings. Did he really dislike Belze that much?

That wasn’t likely. Seo was always the kind of person who repaid in kind whatever he received. In other words, if he became the target of hatred, he would accept it, but he wasn’t the type to hold grudges.

“Since it didn’t make the news, it wasn’t the boss, right? But you still took down someone important in that organization, right? And besides, it seems like there were other good things happening to you…”

The trainer squinted his eyes, as if he knew everything, and smirked. This time, it was Seo’s turn to look puzzled.

“You’ve always disliked exercising, but today you achieved your goal without any urging. Your condition seems to have improved a lot, and I’ve seen many members over time, so I can tell… when people are doing well with someone they like, they tend to be like this.”

Seo’s diligent back-and-forth leg movement abruptly came to a pause, as if his legs had turned to stone. It wasn’t just a pause as when he was holding the weight, but a sudden loss of strength that interrupted his exercise.

“What?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll keep it a secret. I won’t leak anything to the press or the internet. You’ve had a lot of people showing interest in you for a while now. You’re doing well with one of them, right?”

“Oh, don’t say that. They were just friendly interactions.”

“That’s what it seemed like.”

“No, really, they were just friendly interactions. Some villainous guys tried to take advantage of my weakness.”

During the time when Seo was being targeted by beautiful women, they would go through great lengths, they used coincidences and pretended to have an interest in him, even invading his private time at the gym. The ones the trainer mentioned were those people.

The trainer scratched the back of his neck apologetically at Seo’s words.

“Ah… I see. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. It must have been frustrating for you.”

Seo expected such a response. Without bothering to correct the misunderstanding, he chose not to respond and remained silent.

As a hero dealing with evil organizations, you should not trust everyone who approaches you. Villains may have charming or sympathetic appearances to manipulate and approach their targets.

People often share similar stories and warnings about that.

People say things like, ‘It’s unfortunate that we have to be suspicious when an attractive person approaches us’ or ‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have let my guard down’ or ‘It must be challenging to resist when they approach boldly’.

However, when Seo mentioned that he didn’t feel the same way about them, they thought of him as rude, much like how they perceived Belze.

They speculated with various opinions about him, such as Seo possibly liking men, which was just an assumption. Others went beyond mere curiosity and suggested that he could be a pervert who had immoral desires or had unpleasant and fetishistic tendencies.

While Seo wouldn’t reveal his true feelings easily, discussing such matters, talking about him like this made him feel unjustly treated.

Seo genuinely develops normal affection for others. He also has a healthy s*xual desire and doesn’t possess any significantly unusual or problematic s*xual preferences.

When reading novels with explicit scenes, he would skip ahead. And while watching risqué movies, he find himself swallowing uncomfortably. He empathizes more with captivating characters and engaging narratives.

Indeed, every provocative situation has its context. In reality, there would be a relationship or connection between oneself and the other person, while in fiction, the engagement into a character depends on the narrative and portrayal. Seo just doesn’t lust after others without that context.

To him, the female body was not significantly different from the male body. The fact that there were many differences between his body and a female’s body prevented him from blindly turning the female body into an object of desire.

That’s why Seo didn’t fall for the people who tried to seduce him with their beauty. Their explicit temptations or displays of seduction, despite the limited time they had, couldn’t captivate Seo’s heart in the slightest.

Seo had never felt a s*xual attraction to strangers in real life. There were very few people he felt comfortable being close to and experiencing physical contact with, to the point where it was almost rare.

Sure he had gotten an er*ect*on in front of Belze, but that was because Belze teased his genital relentlessly. It was only a natural response to stimulation.

Even after that, he vigorously swung his er*ect p*nis, but he could have done that to m*sturbate; there was nothing strange about it.

“But seriously, nothing happened? Seems like you lost your touch. I’ve never been wrong about these things before. Do you have a girlfriend?”

Seo, who was lost in thought, snapped back to reality. At that moment, the trainer tapped his chin with a puzzled expression, as if contemplating something.

“You slept with a girl.”

“….”

Seo was momentarily taken aback by the surprisingly accurate deduction made by the trainer.

Curious about what Seo might be thinking, the trainer lowered his upper body, and spoked in a hushed voice.

“You know, before becoming a trainer, I used to work as a couple matchmaker. While women may not show it, men’s expressions change after sleeping with someone they like.”

“….”

“It feels like your three-year pent-up frustration has lifted, and your face looks refreshed. That’s why you seemed that way… you’ve been out of the game for a while.”

“……That could be possible.”

Seo pulled himself together and barely managed a reply. Gathering what was left of his wits, he stopped the trainer as he went to see another m*mber. There was something that bothered him.

“…But.”

“Go ahead and say it.”

“If you sleep with someone you don’t particularly like, can it still be refreshing? Like, if you happen to sleep with a woman you don’t know well, but the chemistry is good, and it feels nice… Things like that happen quite often, don’t they?”

“Huh? Not really. Sleeping with a girl you don’t know well, but having good chemistry is like winning the lottery jackpot. Well, that’s just an example, but it’s possible to get along reasonably well, you know.”