11 Virtues A Hero's Civilian Friend Must Uphold - Chapter 28

Today was a bit tough.

After attending two major classes and one liberal arts class, followed by finishing my part-time job as a teaching assistant at an academy, I had to tutor two classes back-to-back.

It was a forcefully packed schedule to make up for the previously canceled classes. Realizing my physical limitations once again, Na Eun resolved not to do this again.

Moreover, since she had planned to go to her main home where her mother was instead of her studio apartment today, she would have to drive for over an hour once she got in the car.

Wondering if she could drive safely with her current concentration, she walked weakly with heavy steps. A shadow blocking her view stopped her in her tracks.

Na Eun lifted her head without surprise. At the end of her gaze was Hee Won, standing crookedly and looking down at her.

He held out his hand.

“If you grab the steering wheel like that, you’re likely to hit someone. Give me the keys.”

It was a serious piece of advice that, given her usual driving habits, it would be best not to get behind the wheel now.

Since everyone who had ridden in her car, including her friends, said something similar, Na Eun did not bother to refute the criticism of her driving skills.

Obediently handing over the car keys to him, Na Eun crawled into the passenger seat.

As soon as she sat down, she pushed the seat back and lay down comfortably. Hee Won, who was now in the driver’s seat, glanced at her sideways.

Throughout the drive to her house, the car was enveloped in silence.

They had more conversations recently, but in fact, when the two were together like this, there was more silence than chatter.

Since they did not define each other as friends, there was no need to put effort into the relationship. And if the person being guarded and the person guarding them had to engage in intimate conversations, well, that wasn’t necessary either.

Moreover, Na Eun, who was exhausted from today’s busy schedule, had no energy to chat.

She closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the movement of the car, about to drift off to sleep.

Her phone, which had been sitting obediently in her bag, rang.

More precisely, the Bluetooth that automatically connected when she got in the car was informing her through the screen on the right side of the steering wheel that a call had come in.

Na Eun opened her eyes, and Hee Won checked the caller ID. She moved first to answer the call.

“Yes, oppa.”

Hee Won’s gaze turned to the side. Na Eun, seemingly lacking the energy to even pick up the phone, started the conversation without disconnecting the connected Bluetooth.

As a result, the other person’s voice filled the car so that Hee Won could hear it too.

[Ah, Na Eun. Sorry for the late call. Are you home?]

“No. I’m on my way after finishing work.”

[Gasp. You worked until this hour? You must be so tired. I’m sorry. I’ll be quick.]

After that, Seok Hoon began informing her of what she needed to know regarding the event preparations in a fast voice, as if he really didn’t want to disturb her when she was tired.

He also didn’t forget to apologize, saying that he originally talked about it through messenger, but it seemed like she hadn’t read what needed to be compiled by today, so he had no choice but to call.

Na Eun increasingly felt that Seok Hoon was a good person.

People who were aware of their rudeness, apologized first, and were careful were usually good people.

After a brief one-minute call, Seok Hoon told her to rest quickly and ended the call right away.

Na Eun, who was blankly staring at the screen indicating the call had ended, opened her mouth.

“You probably got the gist from listening, but you really don’t have to come pick me up on the last Friday of next month.”

“From the call, it sounded like a late-ending event. Shouldn’t you be asking me to come instead?”

Na Eun failed to notice the oddly sharp tone in Hee Won’s voice. She spoke slowly, yawning.

“Seung Joo and Sun Jin are coming over to hang out that day. What’s there to worry about when they’re around?”

“I’m still worried even with Kwon Seung Joo and Lee Sun Jin there. Contact me if anything happens that day too. I’ll be on standby.”

“……”

“What.”

Feeling her gaze quietly staring at him as he drove without answering, he glanced at her sideways.

Na Eun, who he thought would refute him, saying he was being excessive or that she didn’t like it, just smiled and laughed softly.

“That made my heart flutter a bit just now.”

Her face, laughing and saying that about a topic that wasn’t fluttering at all, was hateful, so Hee Won remained silent.

“Is this why you’re so popular with girls?”

“Seems like the reason is what you’re looking at right now.”

“Wow, look at that confidence.”

There was not a hint of hesitation or shyness in his attitude, bluntly stating that the reason for his popularity was his face.

Just an expression of accepting facts as facts, what else could he do? Na Eun thought it was a bit nauseating.

“If you acted as gentlemanly as you are handsome, you’d be even more popular.”

“I’m already doing plenty of that.”

“No, I mean more than just looks.”

“……”

“If you were a bit more gentlemanly, you’d be super popular.”

“Well, the more carelessly I treat them, the more they seem to like it. I prefer girls who treat me roughly too.”

“Ah, my ears are rotting again.”

Don’t make my ears go bad.

Covering both ears with her hands despite no one being around, Na Eun muttered into the air and suddenly laughed, remembering the past.

“When I first saw you, I really thought, ‘How can such trash exist?'”

“Hearing that, this trash feels quite hurt.”

“Haha. But now, my respect for you has grown even more. You’re a hero, after all.”

There was no hidden intention in her brightly smiling side profile.

This pure goodwill directed towards him was not much different from a child’s eyes sparkling at the hero who saved them.

Hee Won, who knew this best, expected nothing.

He had already made up his mind to do so.

If someone asked if he was running away out of fear, he could confidently answer that it was a strategic retreat based on judgment.

In the first place, it was only a fool’s act to charge into a losing battle without assessing the odds of victory or defeat.

Meeting people, forming relationships, gaining the upper hand, and discarding them when it seemed no longer necessary to continue.

In this battle that Hee Won had been breathing since childhood, he had never lost.

So the easiest thing for him until now was love.

Just a few sweet words and they would soon become his. Emotions that he could easily discard without much damage when he got bored after enjoying and enjoying them.

People around him said that the women who met him all cried, but in fact, if you look into it, it was a tug-of-war where the other party also gained a lot.

Why was it his responsibility if they cried after letting go of the rope first in a game they had mutually agreed to play?

It was for that reason that he had the nasty hobby of stealing other people’s lovers until a few years ago.

If they couldn’t anticipate being abandoned themselves after abandoning others and coming to him, it proved that it was because they were stupid, not because he was bad.

That was why he could always hold his head high even when he was criticized everywhere for having complicated relationships with women.

Because there was a line of people who were desperate to kiss that trash even once.

But at some point, he realized that someone was struggling alone, hanging onto a rope he hadn’t even pulled hard.

It felt like being forcibly thrown into a game he didn’t want to participate in. He didn’t want to know when it started.

It was just humiliating, and he didn’t want to lose. No matter how hard he tried alone, the other person wouldn’t even treat him as a game opponent anyway.

Then, the answer was not to participate in the game in the first place.

Why do that if it would make him miserable rolling on the ground alone? Hee Won didn’t want to become like any of the other women who clung to him crying and wailing whenever they broke up.

His pride wouldn’t allow that.

That was why.

“Thanks for driving me. I arrived safely thanks to you. Get home safe.”

Leaving behind the woman who messed him up so well and greeted him calmly alone, Hee Won searched for any nearby hotel and went in after dropping her off.

He opened the messenger window and clicked on the person at the very top of the blocked list.

It was quite a distance from the center of Seoul, but that wasn’t much of a problem.

There were plenty of people who would fly to where he was with just one call anyway.

[This is the timeline separator]

As soon as the woman entered the hotel room, Hee Won undressed her outerwear and led her towards the bed.

In the midst of the atmosphere ripening, a sound other than the woman’s moans was heard.

Beep−. Hee Won, whose movements paused for a moment at the ringing sound from the phone he had roughly thrown on the table next to the bed, cursed under his breath.

It was always a problem that this damn workplace had no distinction between night and day.

Ignoring the woman’s whining that he shouldn’t answer if it wasn’t urgent, he roughly sat up and grabbed the phone.

And Hee Won’s expression changed in an instant upon checking the screen.

“…? Honey?”

He abruptly got up from his seat with a stiffened face and picked up the outerwear he had roughly hung on the chair.

Without even the leisure to fix his disheveled clothes, he headed for the door without looking back, without a hint of hesitation.

Hey. The woman, whose excitement was ruined and felt insulted, called out to him angrily.

But he didn’t even pretend to listen. The woman’s face became more and more distorted.

Even when they were dating, there were times like this occasionally, but Hee Won would at least pretend to console his girlfriend, saying it was an inevitable matter, even if he showed signs of not wanting to go.

But now, let alone her feelings, he was treating her as if she didn’t even exist. Suddenly calling her out on his own and treating her like this. No matter how attractive he was, there was a limit to what she could tolerate.

Hey, you bastard! She yelled, filled with irritation and anger, but Hee Won had already left the room.