The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 88



088 – I Will Live for Myself

088 – I Will Live for Myself

High views are the exclusive property of the privileged.

Everyone envied Seo Ga-eul, who lived in the penthouse of the Seonam Building, for that reason.

But now, Seo Ga-eul was living not in the penthouse, but in a secluded villa located in City D.

Even though it was called a villa, it was an ordinary family house, not a luxurious one.

An old two-story house.

A garden that hadn’t been maintained for a long time.

A living room with a wooden floor that creaked with every step.

The only high thing in this house was the wall touching the next-door neighbor.

“Nam Tae-gun, that b*stard, used me as a shield after all. I’ll take care of everything, so you just stay healthy.”

Seo Do-cheol felt deeply humiliated by having the Seonam Group taken away by Nambada.

So he had no choice but to run around east and west, vowing to bring his daughter back to that penthouse.

In fact, Seo Ga-eul didn’t care about the penthouse at all.

It seems she never liked high views even once.

Seo Ga-eul simply enjoyed the comfort of being back home.

Checking the piled-up messages on her SNS or freely taking out a cola from the fridge.

「Dong-ho: Ga-eul, what are you doing? Do you want to meet if you have time?」

「Sang-hyun: I heard your family is having a hard time. Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.」

「Na-yoon: Our middle school friends decided to go on a trip during summer vacation. Do you want to come?」

Gulp, gulp.

Drinking a whole bottle of cola by herself, Seo Ga-eul slowly read through people’s messages one by one.

It wasn’t fun before, but now it felt even less fun.

The taste of cola was the same.

Not long ago, the cola that tasted so good didn’t taste as good now.

The bed was so unnecessarily comfortable that it actually kept me awake, and the attention I received at school was just annoying and burdensome.

‘Am I broken somewhere?’

Seo Ga-eul couldn’t understand why she felt this way.

But thinking about it, it was natural for her to feel this way.

She was a victim of a kidnapping incident.

Like the tragic heroine that the whole world was watching.

It would take quite some time for her to return to a normal life after going through such a horrific time. She was angry thinking it was all because of Han Nam-jin.

‘An appointment? Ridiculous. He let me out and isn’t even worried? If I just open my mouth, I could ruin Han Nam-jin’s life.’

A few days after Seo Ga-eul was released.

Han Nam-jin treated Seo Ga-eul as if she didn’t exist.

It even felt like he was intentionally avoiding her.

Seo Ga-eul was very displeased with this situation because she had a lot to talk about with Han Nam-jin. She had many questions about where Yoo Yeoreum was and what he planned to do with her in the future.

“Damn it, it’s unfair.”

Why did she have to be so submissive to Han Nam-jin?

Now that she had finally returned to her daily life, she should just enjoy the present.

But, Seo Ga-eul thought about Han Nam-jin every day.

It was the first time she had thought about a man for so long, and she was even afraid that she might have fallen in love.

“…Could this be Stockholm Syndrome!?”

They say that a hostage who has been kidnapped for a long time rationalizes their captor as a good person for the sake of their mental health and even falls in love with them.

If she had really fallen in love with Han Nam-jin─.

“Absolutely not. I want to tear that b*stard apart.”

Seo Ga-eul hated Han Nam-jin.

But, on the other hand, she couldn’t hate him completely.

Because she felt like she was the one who made Han Nam-jin that way.

‘If I hadn’t pushed Nam San-ho that day…. Han Nam-jin’s parents would still be alive, and our relationship would be different now. Is it really because of me? Because of me….’

Ding-dong-.

At that moment, someone rang the bell of Seo Ga-eul’s house.

Thinking it might be annoying reporters, she stepped out into the yard and saw many children entering her yard.

There seemed to be at least ten of them.

“Ga-eul, we came to visit! Surprise party! How is it? Surprised?”

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“Are we going to live here for a while? The atmosphere is amazing.”

“Guys! Let’s hang the balloons! Get ready for the party!”

Rumble-.

These were the kids Seo Ga-eul often met at parties. Each one was either the daughter of a company executive or a young SNS model, kids who had lived without worries and seemed like they would continue to do so.

“Here’s a gift!”

“We’ll decorate the house for you!”

In their hands were cat dolls and decorations that would look good placed around the house.

‘They’ll just take up unnecessary space.’

That thought crossed her mind, but Seo Ga-eul, who had returned to her daily life, couldn’t say it out loud.

Seo Ga-eul smiled like a “graceful lady.”

“Thank you. It’s really so pretty. The cat doll is cute too.”

There was no reason not to smile.

She had finally returned to the daily life she had longed for.

In a situation where she didn’t know how the kidnapper Han Nam-jin’s attitude might change, it would be a loss not to enjoy this moment. It was then.

“Wow, but this place really sucks.”

“Is Ga-eul going to live in a place like this from now on?”

“Haven’t you seen the news? Seo Do-chul is completely finished. If he’s been marked by Nam Ba-da, there’s no way to recover.”

“Shh, be quiet.”

One of the kids had annoyed Seo Ga-eul.

Seo Ga-eul pretended not to hear.

But in fact, Seo Ga-eul knew. She knew that the eyes of the kids who had flocked to her house were looking at her with subtle ridicule and relief.

Suddenly, she remembered the time she had been confined.

Back then, she didn’t have to force a smile. If she wanted to get angry, she got angry. If she wanted to curse, she cursed. She just lived raw, as she was born.

It was strange.

Back then, she was the false one, and now that she had returned to her daily life, she was living the life of the “real Seo Ga-eul.”

For some reason, Seo Ga-eul felt like her current self was the fake one.

“…Get out.”

“Huh? What did you just say, Ga-eul?”

“Guys! It looks like Ga-eul has something to say!”

“Get out of my house.”

“What? What did you just say?”

“Wow, Seo Ga-eul, aren’t you being too harsh? We were trying to─.”

“Get lost! aaah!”

Seo Ga-eul screamed out loud, feeling a sense of relief.

The children, either scared or disgusted by Seo Ga-eul, made faces of revulsion and left the room in a rush.

Of course, not everyone was like that.

“Ga-eul, it seems like you’ve been struggling a lot since the kidnapping. If it gets too hard, contact me. I’ll buy you a meal or something. I’ve been through tough times too, so I understand how you feel.”

It was a man.

A man whose name she couldn’t even remember, but his intentions seemed clear.

“Do you think pretending to comfort me will make me hold your hand? Stop drooling and go home to your mom, you idiot.”

“…Huh? What? Idiot? I felt sorry for you, but are you really crazy…”

“What. Do you want to die? Want to taste some superpowers?”

Wooong-.

Seo Ga-eul’s hand was wrapped in “miracle.”

The man, seemingly terrified, ran away in a hurry.

Only after everyone had left did Seo Ga-eul feel a sense of relief.

And she had to admit it.

She could never return to what was called ‘normal life.’

It was because of Han Nam-jin.

“You b*stard!”

Seo Ga-eul now picked up her phone and went on SNS.

She could already see posts like “Seo Ga-eul is so annoying” or “Went crazy after being kidnapped lol,” but she didn’t care.

Seo Ga-eul was thinking of deleting the SNS she had cherished so much and erasing her account.

Looking back, she couldn’t understand why she had been so obsessed with it.

“The real world is outside of SNS.”

Seo Ga-eul thought of the ‘real world.’

She recalled the “giant monster” and “demon Nam Woo-joo” she had seen in the Colosseum.

It was something so terrifying that it seemed like it could come out of a nightmare.

In the ‘real world’ that Seo Ga-eul felt, such things were waiting with malice to cross over into everyone’s daily life.

Thinking about that time still made her legs tremble.

‘But at that moment, Han Nam-jin showed no sign of fear. The one I thought was the craziest, Han Nam-jin, was the calmest in that situation.’

As if he knew all along that such a thing would happen.

‘If, by any chance, Han Nam-jin’s delusions were even remotely true…? If the world were to be filled with monstrous people dying…? Damn, am I really going crazy? There’s no way that could be true.’

As Seo Ga-eul was thinking this and about to delete the account, a message caught her eye.

「This is Yoo Do-gwan, Yoo Yeoreum’s father. I’d like to meet and talk about my daughter who was kidnapped along with you, Ga-eul. When would be a good time for you?」

「I’d like to meet as soon as possible.」

Yoo Yeoreum.

Seo Ga-eul recalled the name that Han Nam-jin had hidden somewhere.

It was strange that the only person who could empathize with her situation was Yoo Yeoreum, who had gone through the same pain.

Even though she disliked her so much.

No, in fact, there was one more girl who could empathize with Seo Ga-eul’s situation and genuinely comfort her. But, Seo Ga-eul didn’t want to say anything to that girl.

# # #

“Hehehehe, hehehehehe…!”

Jin Eun-byeol’s head, tied to the bed, turned 360 degrees.

Kim Tae-seong was horrified at the sight.

“Wow, it’s even scarier seeing it for real.”

Five minutes later.

Jin Eun-byeol caught her breath and calmed down.

“Did I have another seizure just now? Ha… Even after the concept of ‘demon’ disappeared, this still happens sometimes. Once you have a concept, it leaves a deep scar on your soul.”

Jin Eun-byeol was still affected by the concept of ‘demon’.

That’s why Chang-sik had tied Jin Eun-byeol to the bed.

“Still, I’m lucky. If the concept stone is extracted or destroyed while you’re alive… that person either becomes a wreck or dies.”

Jin Eun-byeol trembled.

I found it strange that Jin Eun-byeol knew as much as I did about the fate of those whose concepts were extracted or destroyed.

Though I could roughly guess the reason.

“Here, drink some water first.”

As Jin Eun-byeol received warm water from Chang-sik and sipped it slowly, I asked.

“So how did Chang-sik manage to hide you here? It’s really impressive.”

Chang-sik was as skilled at kidnapping high school girls as I was.

As expected, a VVIP!

Chang-sik scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“…Haha, it’s actually not that impressive.”

“…Pervert. Don’t talk to me from now on….”

Deok-soon, half-joking and half-serious, scolded Chang-sik.

Even that butt smacked Chang-sik’s back with a slap.

“How are you any different from the Namsan Tiger who kidnapped Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum! You crazy b*stard, Chang-sik!”

“Th-that…”

“Chang-sik did nothing wrong. I asked him to. Using my power of ‘foresight,’ I identified streets without people and places without CCTV, and asked him to come get me. My legs are weak.”

Jin Eun-byeol couldn’t walk.

So Chang-sik carried Jin Eun-byeol into this container.

However, Jin Eun-byeol added something as if it was more important.

“Nambada is conducting some ‘experiments’ on ordinary people and awakeners. Illegal experiments, and I helped.”

Inhumane and unethical experiments.

If revealed to the public, it would be a fatal blow to Nambada’s Achilles’ heel.

Jin Eun-byeol was a colleague and member of those experiments.

That’s why she knew so well about the extraction and destruction of concepts.

It seemed so.

“Nambada will definitely kill me to keep me quiet. If Chang-sik hadn’t come to check on me just in time, I probably… I don’t even want to imagine.”

That means Jin Eun-byeol has ‘information’ that Nambada needs to silence.

Lucky. If we protect Jin Eun-byeol, we can gain an advantage if we clash with Nambada.

“Nambada is the person who was newly appointed as the chairman of Seonam, right? I didn’t know he was such a bad person.”

Butt clenched his fists and trembled.

Geum Tae-seong, who was listening to this story, had a slightly darkened expression.

“…Isn’t there some misunderstanding? Brother Bada isn’t that bad of a person.”

“No, he’s not. You guys be careful too. Nambada is a dangerous person, though it’s hard for me to say. And there’s another person you need to be careful of. That person is….”

“The opposition leader Yoo Do-gwan, right?”

I finished Jin Eun-byeol’s sentence for her.

Then Jin Eun-byeol seemed greatly surprised.

“…How did you know?”

How could I not know.

Who do you think Nam Bada collaborated with for the ‘illegal experiments’ on Awakened and ordinary people?

It was the opposition leader, Yoo Do-gwan. That man intended to use the experimental subjects as his adopted daughters, like nuclear weapons.

Chairman Seo Do-cheol of Seonam had been conducting ‘Awakened experiments’ at the orphanage, but when it yielded no results, Nam Bada and Yoo Do-gwan took over.

Yoo Yeoreum was one of those experimental subjects.

And if my guess is correct, opposition leader Yoo Do-gwan has now contacted Seo Ga-eul.

Seo Ga-eul should act according to my expectations.

Of course, I wasn’t worried. Seo Ga-eul would do well.

The only regret is that I can’t witness that amusing scene myself!