92

<<Unstoppable>>

Returning to Cheonha, Belze received a scolding from the boss. The boss, well aware of the consequences of getting involved with heroes, lectured her for a while, asking where she had been and what she had been up to. However, after the scolding, the boss expressed affection towards her, having thought he might have lost her.

[From now on, don’t do that again.]

With that one statement, the conflict between the boss and Belze came to an end.

After a victorious confrontation with DDD and dealing with a couple of schemes targeting Belze, the entire organization was much more relaxed to welcome her back.

The main topics of discussion were about where she had been and how she managed to get entangled with Seo. The latter, especially, caught the interest of the members who had been involved in the beauty trap once for Seo. Composed of people who were attracted to Seo in their own way, their curiosity was partially revealed.

“Goodness… Kim Seo’s preference was your face, Belze? Or your body? If only we knew earlier, we could have adjusted accordingly and made our moves!”

“Well, I might be a bit exceptional, but going for just my face? I am quite charming, not just for my appearance.”

With that, Belze smirked confidently. Born with the ability to enjoy the envy and admiration of others, she found their jealousy quite satisfying.

When she returned to her private room, she found Hyena casually sitting by the desk, sipping wine. Belze didn’t go over to her immediately, but instead began stripping off layers and layers of clothing to pick out a new outfit.

“I heard you had a hard time while I was gone. Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t just say thank you, you should get down on your knees and apologize. I’ve been through a lot without you.”

“Well, things don’t go smoothly without me, that’s for sure.”

“If you’ve been through hard times too, I won’t hold a grudge. But while I was struggling, you were probably having fun with Kim Seo, right?”

After hearing from Belze what had happened, Hye-na threw a small cushion at her with all her might. The cushion hit Belze in the shoulder and fell to the floor.

Belze also wanted to immediately turn around and throw the cushion, but she was not in a position to do so, she was busy changing her underwear.

“If you went through such hardships, you should have brought him home with you. You should have dragged him here with all the determination to face penalties and disciplinary action, arranged for him to hide at your private lair. You should have kidnapped him or something.”

“That’s what I wanted to do. But surprisingly, Seo isn’t cut out to be a villain. It would have been better if he were a villain from the beginning, but it’s too late now.”

“Why not? The world is full of people who do bad things and go rogue for their own gain.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. But really, unexpectedly, he has a strong sense of morality and is kind to people around him.”

“Ugh.”

Hyena frowned as if she heard something strange. Belze, wearing a pink slacks and a white blouse over the newly changed white underwear, turned around, making a gun-like gesture with her fingers, and aimed at Hyena.

“You’re always walking a tightrope on discipline, only doing what you think will win you the popularity contest.”

“Just acting weak.”

“That’s true. But that’s the point. If you had pretended not to hear other people’s criticisms and just gone all out, it would have been more intense. But you can’t do that.”

Seo, as much as possible under the rules, deviated only as much as the world tolerates. There were slightly more people who tolerated him than those who disliked him, balancing it out. 

Just enough so that he couldn’t be said to be completely wrong.

Belze had seen many people like this. People who came to be villains, but couldn’t stand it and ran away.  The desire to live freely often stops easily in the face of the desire not to be hated.

They’re okay with being exposed, but they’re not okay with being out in the open and being judged, or they’re okay with being judged, but they can’t bear to see their family and friends suffer because of their actions.

“It can’t be helped. Seo is too much of a top hero. If he becomes a villain now, his family and close ones will be condemned to the point of wanting to die, and he can’t endure that. I understand because I once abandoned myself.”

At eighteen, when she found out the reason for failing in the competition, Belze discarded her original name and adopted the name Belze. To be precise, she created a new identity.

Belze never doubted that she could live as a villain. Even if she failed, it was a problem she had to bear. At the same time, she knew that her family couldn’t bear the shackles of being a villain’s family.

She wanted to live as a villain. She could endure the life of a villain. But it was regrettable to unnecessarily  involve her family.

Many people, even if they want to live freely, often think of others and end up killing themselves, but Belze was different.

She created a new identity. She disguised herself as an international student and threw her old identity away.

“If I try to launder my identity now, they’ll find out, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Belze, who had her own past where she had thought about her family, somewhat understood Seo’s reluctance. Becoming a villain is more difficult than becoming a hero.

At that moment, Hyena chuckled as if finding it amusing.

“So you’re going to put up with it? Belze, you’ve changed a lot. Look at how much you care about Kim Seo. Do you like him that much?”

“Yeah.”

Hye-na’s face lit up at the shy affirmation. Repeating the word ‘crazy,’ she quickly drank the wine in her glass. Her slightly contorted face, initially ruined by Belze’s nonsense, brightened again as she thought about it, finding it amusing.

“Yeah. No wonder you like it. Heroes are good at what they do because of their stamina and abilities. Oh, this materialistic world.”

“What! Just because someone is good at something doesn’t mean I’ll like them. Do you know how cute Seo is?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. But even if I don’t know, don’t say anything, you’ll be disgusting, bragging about everything about him. So, are you all dressed up to meet Kim Seo now?”

It made sense for Hyena to make such comments, considering Belze had put on a neat outfit, applied a perfume she hadn’t worn in a while, and was now almost done with her makeup. Finishing her preparations, Belze playfully tucked a few strands of her hair that stuck out a bit and blushed shyly.

“Yeah.”

Hye-na’s jaw dropped at how pretty she looked.