11 Virtues A Hero's Civilian Friend Must Uphold (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 13
Seung Joo was badly injured.
She, who never even blinked at ordinary injuries and always showed up to school without fail, didn’t even attend graduation and then vanished completely for several months.
As her friend, I wanted to visit her in the hospital, but all I received was a cold reply telling me not to come.
Worse still, I hadn’t even heard it directly from her—it was Seon Jin who passed on the message.
Seon Jin tried to comfort Na Eun, saying Seung Joo would be fine and just needed a longer recovery period, but she never revealed where or how badly Seung Joo was hurt.
That was the distance between them and Na Eun.
She was forced once again to realize there was an impassable wall standing firmly between them.
After graduation ended without Seung Joo, Na Eun finally turned twenty.
Like many students do before starting university, she began looking for a simple part-time job.
Her parents, who were strictest of all about financial responsibility, firmly held to the principle: “Earn your own allowance.”
Still, Soo Hyun didn’t want her daughter doing hard labor somewhere, so she introduced Na Eun to the middle-school-aged son of an acquaintance who needed tutoring.
Though Na Eun didn’t know the standard tutoring rates, this job seemed unusually well-paid.
On her first-ever tutoring visit, after preparing thoroughly for the lesson, she encountered an unexpected person at the house.
“Say hello, Na Eun. This is my eldest. I was sorry we couldn’t introduce you properly back then, but here you are now.”
The mother of the student Na Eun was supposed to tutor smiled contentedly and pointed to her son standing beside her.
Still holding her book bag, Na Eun finally realized the woman before her was the same one who, at the wedding, had stomped her feet in frustration, eager to introduce her son.
“Hey?”
Though visibly surprised himself, Hee Won quickly shifted his demeanor and grinned.
As he raised his hand to greet her, Na Eun bowed stiffly, not wanting his mother to realize they’d already met.
“Hello.”
“Speak casually, okay? You’re only four years younger than Hee Won. My friend is your mom, so you two should get along like older brother and younger sister.”
Somehow, it felt like she wanted more than just a simple older-brother-younger-sister relationship.
While Na Eun hesitated over how to respond, the boy standing awkwardly on one crutch nearby cut in.
“Then can I speak casually too?”
“Don’t be rude! You should call her ‘teacher.’”
Jae Won, the student Na Eun was about to tutor, scowled even more deeply.
Hee Won watched with amusement as his younger brother, who’d nearly retorted that he was also only four years older than her, got scolded harshly again by Mrs. Kim.
Thanks to his mother nudging them inside, saying she’d bring snacks soon and they should hurry up and study, Na Eun headed straight to Jae Won’s study room.
Fortunately, the first tutoring session wasn’t too difficult.
Although Jae Won had initially shown a sharp, defiant attitude, he didn’t act more disrespectfully toward the teacher who’d come to teach him, and he seemed fairly capable academically.
However, he clearly lacked any real drive to achieve good grades, which Na Eun guessed was exactly why Mrs. Kim found him so frustrating.
About an hour into the scheduled two-hour session, Na Eun excused herself to use the restroom and briefly left the room.
As soon as she stepped out, the long hallway felt utterly unfamiliar, leaving her unsure which way to go to find the person she wanted to see.
While she wandered, a now-somewhat-familiar voice interrupted.
“The restroom is that way.”
“…”
Hee Won quickly turned around and pointed toward the far left end of the hall at Na Eun, who was staring at him in surprise.
Na Eun fixed her gaze on him for a moment before speaking.
“I wasn’t actually looking for the restroom.”
“So you were looking for me?”
“…”
“Why?”
Though he could roughly guess her reason, Hee Won pretended not to know and asked anyway. After a brief hesitation, Na Eun said,
“It’s our first time seeing each other since that day, and I never properly thanked you.”
She lowered her head.
“Thank you.”
Hee Won, hands in his pockets, watched her with amusement—she still remembered the incident at the hotel months ago.
He stepped closer, teasingly.
“If you’re thankful, how about a little gratitude in return?”
“Huh?”
Unable to understand, Na Eun lifted her head, only to see her expression crumple as Hee Won pointed to his own lips with his finger. She glared at him coldly.
“…When someone thanks you, you either accept it quietly or ignore it. Those are your only two options.”
“Sorry, you didn’t like that? Most people usually enjoy it.”
Hee Won laughed, genuinely surprised—having grown used to meeting people, making contact, and exchanging shallow affection, his good looks usually earned him eager kisses, not slaps, so he genuinely hadn’t realized he’d done anything wrong.
Apologizing with a shrug and saying it was just a habit and she shouldn’t take offense, he watched as Na Eun gave him a strange look.
She held back her anger—after all, he’d saved her life and her parents’ lives—but she couldn’t suppress her curiosity, so she asked quietly,
“So do you do that at work too?”
“Do what?”
“That…”
She glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby before lowering her voice.
“When you’re working—that job—and you save someone, do they… give you a kiss as thanks? Stuff like that?”
“…”
His eyes sparkling with amusement, Hee Won stayed silent for about three seconds before bursting into laughter.
“You really must love those kinds of movies.”
“…”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t usually do that. What if my face got exposed?”
He shrugged. “It’s just my personal life.”
“Honestly, just catching a coffee cup before it spills gets people overly grateful—enough to offer a kiss.”
Ah, so he’s just a pretty-faced, smooth-talking flirt who knows how to use his looks.
Na Eun mentally scolded herself for briefly imagining him as James Bond with a Bond girl.
Her first impression had been right all along.
Seeing her face openly filled with disgust and contempt, Hee Won—who’d just barely suppressed another laugh—suddenly grew curious and asked,
“But you’re using polite speech today? Last time, you spoke casually.”
“…”
“Does your attitude really shift this much depending on the situation?”
At their first meeting, she’d used honorifics; at their second, disliking him, she’d switched abruptly to casual speech. Na Eun now avoided his eyes.
No matter how much his character displeased her, he remained the person who’d saved her and her parents’ lives.
Moreover, he was also the older brother of the student she tutored.
Though she knew he was four years older than her, it had become difficult to keep using casual speech, so she’d been about to say she’d stick to polite speech from now on—when Hee Won cut in first.
“You can just speak casually. I actually prefer it when girls are blunt with me.”
“Fine, then.”
Annoyed by his mocking tone, Na Eun immediately dropped the honorifics.
He laughed again at her lightning-fast shift in demeanor.
But just as Na Eun hesitated, about to ask something, his expression hardened and he cut her off.
“Don’t.”
“…”
I haven’t even asked anything yet. At her puzzled look, Hee Won coldly warned,
“You want to ask where Kwon Seung Joo is.”
“…”
“If Lee Seon Jin isn’t telling you, then there’s a reason for it. You understand that, right?”
Hearing her name—Na Eun Yoon—called out almost like a warning, Na Eun’s eyelashes trembled faintly.
Hee Won stepped closer. Closing the distance in an instant, he whispered softly,
“I told you before—if you pry into things that don’t concern you, I’ll kill you.”
“…”
“Don’t dig deeper. If you want to keep living peacefully like you have until now.”
She had enough sense to tell whether someone meant what they said.
Right now, this man was completely serious—and so Na Eun stayed silent, though she could feel her hands trembling slightly.
Having delivered his deadly warning, Hee Won instantly brightened as if nothing had happened and pointed behind him.
“You should head back now. My brother’s probably dying waiting for his teacher.”
Intimidated by his tone, Na Eun obediently turned and walked back toward the room she’d come from.
Hee Won, thinking she’d finally understood and was about to return to his own room, heard a sudden voice from behind.
“Hey.”
He turned his head.
At the edge of his vision stood Na Eun, looking slightly frustrated as she glared at him.
“I’m not prying pointlessly—I’m just worried if she’s doing okay.”
“…”
“You’re clearly the type with no friends.”
And with that, she spun around and bolted back to the room like she was fleeing.
Now labeled a friendless idiot incapable of understanding her feelings, Hee Won let out an empty chuckle, oddly charmed and disarmed by her clumsy, almost cute retaliation.
[This is the timeline separator]The best thing about becoming a college student wasn’t the adult freedom to do whatever you wanted.
It was finally being able to attend the same school as the person you liked and proudly walk around campus as an official couple.
Moreover, even if their majors differed, they could choose the same general education courses and attend classes together, so every single moment—eating school meals or sitting side by side in lectures—felt pure happiness to Na Eun with Jae Kyung.
She’d gotten into her dream university, started school with her boyfriend, and even found a decent part-time job.
Everything felt perfectly aligned.
Except for one thing.
“Still no reply?”
At the campus cafeteria, Jae Kyung cautiously asked as she absentmindedly fiddled with her phone mid-meal.
Na Eun nodded, her expression somber.
It was the last week of March, and it had been nearly four months since she’d last heard from Seung Joo.
She kept in touch with Seon Jin, who’d gone to a different university, but even those messages had become rare lately.
After scrolling through her chat with Seon Jin—now showing no “read” receipt for three days—Na Eun flipped her phone facedown onto the table.
“She said she’d contact me once she felt better, so she probably will soon.”
She deliberately added strength to her voice to sound nonchalant, but Jae Kyung wasn’t fooled.
He placed his hand over hers and gently patted it.
He knew well that words couldn’t truly comfort her now.
Touched by her thoughtful boyfriend’s silent care, Na Eun fiddled awkwardly with her food before finally speaking.
“What if I hadn’t gone to the amusement park that day?”
“…”
“Then maybe Seon Jin and Seung Joo wouldn’t have fought there.”
She knew it was pointless self-blame, yet the thought kept returning lately.
If the four of them hadn’t gone to that amusement park that day—or at least gone somewhere else—maybe a different hero would have arrived, and Seung Joo might not have been injured so badly that she had to hide away for so long.
Watching Na Eun, who’d lost her appetite and just held her chopsticks limply, Jae Kyung said quietly,
“It’s not your fault.”
“…Thanks for saying that.”
Na Eun gave an awkward smile. Then, aiming to lighten the mood, she joked,
“It’s a good thing you’re not the hero, Jae Kyung.”
His gaze sharpened, fixed more intently on her.
Occasionally, Na Eun found it slightly strange when Jae Kyung looked at her like this.
When his dark, doll-like eyes stared at her so blankly, it secretly scared her for just a moment.
Deciding not to dwell on such fleeting unease, Na Eun smiled and said,
“I’ve always thought, watching movies or reading comics—that I could never be a hero’s girlfriend.”
Being kidnapped or threatened was frightening, yes—but the real terror lay elsewhere.
“Just waiting anxiously like this… I don’t think I could handle it.”
And again, almost instinctively, her eyes drifted back to the phone lying on the table.
“…If being a hero’s friend is this overwhelming, being his girlfriend must be terrifying.”
“What about a villain, then?”
Startled by Jae Kyung’s sudden question, Na Eun lifted her gaze from her phone to look at him.
When she stared at him with wide eyes, Jae Kyung grinned, resting his chin in his hand, and asked again,
“Would a villain be okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
Na Eun broke into bright laughter at his playful nonsense and lightly swatted his arm.
Thanks to her boyfriend’s easygoing charm, she pushed aside her gloomy thoughts, gripped her chopsticks more firmly, and refocused on her meal.
Watching her, Jae Kyung’s dark eyes grew even deeper, more unreadable.
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
_____
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Wow! Finally a glimpse of the Center Directors scolding >.<