Did you see the video that came out yesterday? Yeah, it was crazy. They say many people died.

No, they say there are many injured but not many dead. Who came to save them this time? Um, who was it with the last alphabet…

I didn’t have the energy to control the children who were chattering without focusing on the class.

Na Eun picked up her phone to check the group messenger chat with Seung Joo and Sun Jin.

In the late night, in response to her worried message, she received a reply from the person involved saying [Got a bit hurt but fine. Your school senior is also okay.], but her concern didn’t go away at all.

Hee Won, who had anticipated that she would be pacing back and forth with worry since yesterday evening, had conveyed Seung Joo’s safety through the communicator, but that didn’t make her uneasy feelings disappear.

It was Na Eun herself who had pushed Seung Joo, who didn’t want to go, to attend that church service.

When she apologized for causing unnecessary trouble and getting her hurt, Hee Won, who heard about it, found it a bit absurd.

Whether she went there or not, if that chaos had erupted, the pager would have rung anyway, and Hee Won firmly dismissed Na Eun’s guilt as unnecessary meddling, saying it was rather fortunate that she happened to be there since she would have had to go anyway.

After hearing a similar response from Seung Joo as well, she once again felt that the mindset of heroes was extraordinary in many ways.

Far from disliking being caught up in the accident, they felt relieved that they were already at the scene and could respond quickly.

It was a sense of responsibility that she couldn’t even imagine.

“Teacher, teacher! There was an accident yesterday, aren’t we closing the academy?”

The immature young students seemed to have useless expectations that the academy might close its doors briefly due to the tragedy that occurred nearby.

Na Eun stared expressionlessly at the students chirping like sparrows surrounding Jae Kyung at the end of the hallway.

Disgustingly, Han Jae Kyung, who didn’t wipe the gentle smile from his face, was softly coaxing the students.

“It doesn’t seem like the academy plans to close.”

Instead, your parents might be worried, so let’s all go straight home after class. Don’t wander off elsewhere.

It was a typical thing a good adult would say while thinking of the students.

The girls blushed and agreed, while the boys didn’t hide their disappointment at the lack of expected closure.

Na Eun, who had watched this scene from beginning to end, felt her insides burning.

She was about to turn around and leave the hallway, feeling like her stomach would turn if she kept watching.

“Teacher Na Eun.”

The villain approached from a distance.

Jae Kyung, who had sent all the children into the classroom under the pretext of preparing for class, was walking towards her with a smile.

He stopped about a meter away from Na Eun and inserted a coin into the vending machine right next to her.

As soon as Jae Kyung pressed the button, there was a thud sound announcing the fall of an aluminum can.

He took out a blue canned drink from the vending machine outlet and exchanged it with the canned coffee Na Eun was holding.

“I saw you drinking coffee earlier too. It’s not good to keep drinking it.”

It was a kindness that could be misunderstood as blatant flirting if anyone saw it.

She alternately looked at the coffee that had been taken from her and the canned drink in her hand.

Ha. She couldn’t even laugh because it was so ridiculous.

Na Eun looked up coldly at Jae Kyung, and then moved her hand to throw the canned drink he had given her into the trash can right next to her without even looking at it.

Thud. The empty can fell to the bottom of the empty trash can. A passing student gasped at the sight.

The hallway was quiet, but there weren’t completely no eyes watching, so it wasn’t really a good choice.

But right now, Na Eun decided to act as she pleased, feeling utterly unable to control her emotions.

She turned her body towards Jae Kyung, who was looking down at her with a smirk, without removing her cold expressionless face.

Without a word in reply, openly showing her unwillingness to associate with him, Na Eun left, and Jae Kyung didn’t try to stop her.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Aagh. That bastard, seriously!”

Seo Hee Won almost spat out the juice he was drinking when Na Eun got into the car and immediately started cursing, pulling at her hair.

He hurriedly looked to the side after barely avoiding making a mess by covering his mouth with his hand.

Na Eun was still fuming, seemingly unable to calm her anger.

Since he was receiving real-time updates on everything happening at the academy, Hee Won, who could guess why she was angry, remained silent.

At the same time, Na Eun’s phone rang.

Although it was Hee Won’s car, it was as familiar as her own, so Bluetooth connected automatically, and Sun Jin’s name appeared as the caller.

Angry as she was, Na Eun’s worry for her injured friend took precedence, and she quickly asked about her well-being first.

“Sun Jin! Are you with Seung Joo? How is she?”

[I’m fine.]

Seung Joo’s voice was heard behind Sun Jin’s. It seemed they were together and on speaker mode.

Hee Won muttered quietly, ‘I told you she was fine,’ but it didn’t register in Na Eun’s ears.

[We called first because we were worried you’d be concerned. Are you with Seo Hee Won now?]

Hee Won, who was already used to these kids four years younger than him calling him by name so casually, showed no reaction. Na Eun also didn’t pay attention and answered.

“Yeah. He’s next to me. Hey, you guys. What would you do if I died?”

Na Eun, who had heard about her friends’ safety many times and even confirmed it directly through the call, now seemed somewhat relieved and quickly changed the topic.

Hee Won looked at her at the sudden question, and there was also a subtle reaction from the other end of the phone.

[What nonsense are you talking now?]

Na Eun spoke with undisguised anger at Seung Joo’s voice, which had become a bit heavier.

“Would you avenge me?”

You would avenge me, right? The atmosphere became awkward at her tone, which seemed to hope for that.

“In movies, they often say things like, ‘My friend wouldn’t want me to be obsessed with revenge like this,’ and then forgive the other person. You guys wouldn’t do that, right?”

What movie did she watch this time?

The sound of Sun Jin mumbling quietly was transmitted through the speaker, but Na Eun paid no attention.

Discussing the typical role of a sacrificed victim who appears in dreams or visions, murmuring wistfully, ‘Don’t take revenge for me. I want you to be happy,’ Na Eun fumed.

“Of course, I want you to be happy even if something happens to me, but I’d like you to take revenge first and then be happy!”

If you might be misunderstanding me, understand this clearly! Na Eun glared at her friends beyond the phone, who couldn’t see her, and said.

“What I want is bloody revenge. Got it? I’m dead, right? Make that bastard Han Jae Kyung suffer much more painfully than how I died! If you don’t, I’ll really become a vengeful ghost wandering this world! Even if I become a ghost, I’ll definitely take Han Jae Kyung with me, I swear!”

Her voice was already full of anger. For a moment, silence fell in the car.

Apart from Na Eun’s rough breathing as she fumed alone, trying to swallow her anger, no one else spoke.

Eventually, Hee Won, who had been staring at her with surprised eyes, blurted out without thinking.

“…Didn’t you say you weren’t interested in revenge?”

“Ah, I don’t know! Didn’t you hear what that bastard did today!? I’m so pissed off, seriously!”

Profanity kept coming out of Na Eun’s mouth today, though she usually didn’t use such language.

Hee Won, who had rarely heard such curses from her, stared at Na Eun’s side profile as she gritted her teeth, not knowing what to do with her boiling anger. He bit his lip.

He turned his head to suppress an inappropriate laugh. Somehow, he felt that laughing would only further provoke her anger.

“If only I were stronger, I would have grabbed Han Jae Kyung by the collar and punched him today, seriously!”

Hee Won eventually lowered his head onto the steering wheel, looking at Na Eun’s short hair that had become disheveled from pulling at it again because she couldn’t suppress her anger.

Unlike Hee Won, who was chuckling quietly, the two friends who knew this side of Na Eun to some extent reacted calmly.

[…Team leader. Take her out for some malatang.]

Explaining kindly how to handle Na Eun, Seung Joo and Sun Jin said she’s simple and will feel better soon after eating something delicious.

Hee Won gritted his teeth to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out and released the parking brake.

“Alright, let’s go. I’ll buy you malatang, so cheer up.”

“…Seo Hee Won, do you like malatang too?”

Na Eun, who had been pulling at her hair, asked, seemingly a bit calmer after hearing about her soul food. Hee Won chuckled and shook his head.

“I’ve never tried it.”

“What?”

[Huh.] [Really?]

Hee Won, who had been answering plainly, turned the steering wheel in surprise at the suddenly chilled atmosphere around him.

He felt a bit embarrassed feeling Na Eun’s gaze on him as if she couldn’t believe it. Is this really such a surprising thing?

“…Why?”

“Well… I just wasn’t that interested?”

Some of his ex-girlfriends (if all the relationships he had played around with could be called that) had begged to eat it together, but he had never gone with them as he wasn’t particularly interested.

So is it such a big deal that he’s never tried it? Na Eun, who was looking seriously at Hee Won who didn’t think much of it, said.

“…Seo Hee Won.”

Hee Won flinched at Na Eun’s voice calling his name seriously. Na Eun raised her hand and grabbed Hee Won’s shoulder.

While he inwardly gasped at the sudden contact, she said with a resolute expression.

“Malatang is really delicious.”

“…”

“Really, really. For real.”

“…Oh, okay.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Hee Won, who had ordered in advance through a delivery app so that her soul food would arrive as soon as they reached her house, roughly parked the car in front and unlocked it.

As Na Eun unfastened her seatbelt, he said with a smile.

“Go in quickly. Enjoy your meal and cheer up.”

Na Eun stared blankly at him as he spoke in a tone like he was soothing a young sister, then hesitated for a moment before asking.

“Do you want to come in and eat together?”

“…”

Hee Won struggled to keep his smile from faltering. Trust was quite a heavy emotion.

It was grateful that there were no boundaries, but when she was so defenseless like this, completely unaware of his feelings, Hee Won sometimes felt like crying.

“What happened to your principle of not sharing a meal alone with a man?”

“…I thought it would be okay with you.”

“…Try that line of seduction on your boyfriend when you get one later. He’ll fall for it right away.”

He urged her to go in quickly, covering his bitter feelings with his characteristic light joke.

Na Eun, who had been staring at him as he unusually pushed her to go home quickly today, asked.

“By the way, why did you dye your hair?”

Na Eun belatedly pointed out that his once brilliantly blonde hair had returned to jet black, and Hee Won smiled.

“You said I stood out, remember?”

“…”

Na Eun closed her mouth. A man who always parked his car in front of the academy and drove her home.

In a situation that could easily be misunderstood as a romantic relationship, Hee Won, with his flashy appearance from head to toe, was bound to stand out even more.

After being discovered by students or other teachers and interrogated about whether he was her boyfriend more than five times, Na Eun had just the other day made a weak complaint that he stood out too much, starting with his hair color.

It wasn’t that she particularly disliked it. She felt sorry, thinking it was probably because of her.

She had unfastened her seatbelt, packed her bag, and now just needed to get out, but she fidgeted, stalling for time, and said.

“Black hair suits you well too. You’re handsome.”

“…”

Hee Won just smiled. Just when he was thinking about how to deal with that bad habit of hers that changed with a single word, he felt his shoulders relax when he met her clear eyes without any malice.

What could he do? Hee Won was an anchorless ship helplessly swaying on the sea that was Yoon Na Eun.

He could only stagger as she stirred him.

“You don’t feel suffocated or anything when you see Han Jae Kyung now, right?”

Na Eun was a bit taken aback by Hee Won suddenly changing the topic. Hee Won smiled at her lack of response.

“You’re getting stronger. Look at today too. You got angry and cursed, but you didn’t collapse, right?”

“…”

“Your friends won’t need to do any bloody revenge, I’ll handle Han Jae Kyung at my level. So don’t worry and go in and focus on the malatang you like.”

I promised, didn’t I? That I’d make it a happy ending. Hee Won’s gaze as he said this was so warm that Na Eun felt dazed for a moment.

“It’s cold. Go in quickly.”

Hee Won urged with concern, and Na Eun finally got out of the car.

But as she lingered without leaving, Hee Won lowered the passenger window.

“…Are you really not going to eat malatang together?”

Hee Won just smiled brightly at that little devil with an innocent face and answered.

“Later.”

When you’re completely happy again, and when I’ve completely given up on you so that our relationship is truly safe.

When that time comes, I’ll gladly accept your invitation and go with you.

“…Just let me off today.”

Na Eun didn’t understand Hee Won’s words, but soon arbitrarily concluded that it must be because he was busy.

After confirming that she had obediently gone into the house and the door had closed, Hee Won moved the car with a small sigh.

And not long after he started driving, a call came through his communicator.

After checking the caller, Hee Won answered immediately.

“Yes, Director.”

[…Your words were right. From three years ago until now, the number of terrorist incidents in your assigned area has been much lower than in other areas.]

Even so, working day and night was six of one and half a dozen of the other, but anyway, Hee Won realized the reason why he had been able to provide personal escort for Na Eun on every way home if he reduced his sleep, and he sneered coldly.

Except for cases where he happened to be near an accident scene or was called separately for a major incident, the Seoul metropolitan area that Hee Won was in charge of had fewer incidents compared to other areas for the past three years.

‘The reason you’ve been able to stay by Na Eun’s side all this time is because I allowed you to be next to her.’

‘You’re a quite capable shield that I gave to Na Eun as a gift.’

“…This damn bastard.”

Hee Won cursed as he realized that he wasn’t the only one who had been constantly hovering around and watching Yoon Na Eun all this time.

The situation had become more serious than expected, with this madman who couldn’t be satisfied unless he had everything on his palm now falling in love.