episode_0582

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I roughly understand what Jiyoon means.

About half a year ago, Seo Woojin and I had a similar conversation.

Back then, I think I used the term “mutually assured destruction”…

Looking back, it was probably something like that.

If one side reveals a secret, the other side does the same, and everything falls apart.

So, in the end, both sides end up keeping each other’s secrets.

A strange kind of symbiotic relationship.

This time, unlike back then, it was a one-sided relationship where only I knew Jiyoon’s secret… but starting today, things are a little different.

Now, Jiyoon also holds a secret.

And it’s just as powerful as the one I hold.

A pervert who cheats with her older sister’s boyfriend.

A pervert who cheats with her close friend’s boyfriend.

To an outsider, both are equally insane.

So, I roughly get what Jiyoon means.

Now that she knows one of my secrets, she wants to satisfy her personal curiosity under the condition that we both keep our mouths shut.

She didn’t phrase it in some convoluted way, so I understand that much.

But as I said earlier, I only roughly understand—there’s still one part that doesn’t make sense to me.

“…….”

…She wants me to take pictures of Woojin when he’s aroused and send them to her later?

“…I’ll keep it in mind for now.”

Do real perverts

just casually think like that?

582

Hero Agency!

A symbol of success as a hero, the dream of many aspiring heroes, and the final destination that many sidekicks desire as much as owning their own home.

A building that literally embodies the aspirations of countless superhumans…

In reality, it was filled with several times more ordinary people than superhumans.

The reason? The regular employees working at the agency.

Sure, there were the occasional perfectionist heroes who tried to handle everything themselves, but most usually delegated minor tasks to their subordinates.

And the higher a hero’s name value, the more pronounced this tendency became.

Receiving intel on villains, focusing on equipment engineering, organizing visual data from CCTV, preparing medical staff in case of injuries, handling legal issues with civilians, even dealing with taxes…

With people taking care of the so-called “backstage work,” heroes could focus more on their main duties.

But since these tasks were tedious and labor-intensive, most employees lived lives like hamsters on a wheel.

So even small changes in their daily routine felt significant.

Like these days, for example.

When academy students came to the agency for “field training.”

“Jiyoon, did something good happen?”

“…Huh? Something good…?”

“Yeah, well… You were smiling to yourself earlier. Usually, you look like you’ve been at work for an hour by now.”

And if the students happened to be good-looking? Even more so.

It was human nature—some would try too hard to be memorable, while others would outright harass them.

The man talking to Lee Jiyoon right now was no different.

Just twenty minutes ago, he’d been drinking coffee with his colleagues, saying, “If only I were five years younger…”

Yet here he was, still the same age—no, technically twenty minutes older—chatting up Jiyoon like it was nothing.

“…Was I really like that?”

“Yeah, yeah. Should I have taken a picture to show you?”

Wow. That was the first time he’d gotten three whole sentences out of Jiyoon.

A small victory, but his eyes were more drawn to her appearance.

Deliberately curling his lips, the man’s gaze slowly, lazily, swept over Jiyoon.

Soft, snow-white hair.

A small face that could rival a fist in size (with a bit of exaggeration).

A figure with decent curves—not jaw-dropping, but noticeable.

If the so-called “7/10 woman” was a thing, Jiyoon would easily be a 9.

He was just about to imprint this pleasant sight into his memory when—

“Something good… yeah, it happened. Nothing major, though.”

“Oh, really? What was it…?”

“Well… ……It’s really nothing special.”

“I’m curious. Really curious.”

“…Sorry, but it’s not something I can talk about here.”

“Aw, come on. Okay, got it. I’ll take it to my grave. I may look like this, but I’m great at keeping secrets, you know?”

By this point, he could feel eyes on him from all around.

He didn’t need to look to know whose they were.

The envious gazes of men who’d never managed to hold a conversation with a trainee like this.

So he deliberately lowered his shoulders—which kept wanting to rise—and casually spread his arms to the side to look cooler in front of Jiyoon.

Then, someone poked his shoulder.

He turned his head.

“Pretty sure I told you a few days ago.”

“…Ah.”

“Not to creep on the trainees just because you’re older.”

The owner of the Hero Agency “Will-o’-the-Wisp.”

A-Rank Magic-Type, Park Jiwon.

Dressed in her usual suit, she glared at him with bloodshot eyes and a chilling gaze—

which he hadn’t noticed at all.

“Sorry about that. I had my staff warn everyone to watch their words around the students, but there’s always that one guy who treats advice like garbage…”

Instead of showing the students a cool side on their first day, she’d ended up needing to step in.

The humiliation of that had faded somewhat by now, but…

Why did it have to be this kind of humiliation?

Park Jiwon, who had brought Jiyoon back to the reception room, sighed with a tone that screamed “Ugh, seriously.”

She had a headache for multiple reasons.

First, the fact that Jiyoon—the top-ranked first-year, and thus a potentially valuable connection—had been subjected to something unpleasant.

Second, not a single employee had stepped in, despite watching the scene unfold with interest.

The latter was at least understandable.

Even as the leader of an organization, you couldn’t control every underling like they were your limbs.

Annoying, but something you could brush off with “I tried, but what can you do?”

The real problem was the former.

No matter the circumstances, there was no getting around the fact that Jiyoon must’ve felt uncomfortable…

“It’s fine. It was a little awkward, but I wasn’t that upset.”

“…Really?”

Judging by the atmosphere, she’d survived this one.

This time, Jiwon let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Still, I’m sorry. I guess some of the staff got too comfortable around you since they see you often. Plus, you’re younger.”

“It happens. Honestly, I’d probably do the same in their place.”

“Sigh… I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. Maybe I’ll gather them for some training or…”

“It’s okay. It’s not like they did anything that wrong, right? If you’re curious about something, it’s natural to ask persistently…”

“…….”

“…? What’s wrong?”

“…Ah, no. Nothing.”

But the sigh she let out at the end was more confused than relieved.

The “Lee Jiyoon” Park Jiwon had known until now was, well, a little…

Not the type to speak so politely. Or so understandingly.

To put it bluntly, she was more of the “no manners” type.

Come to think of it, Jiyoon had said something earlier while with that employee.

“Nothing major, but something good did happen.”

So what on earth could’ve made her this docile?

It really must’ve been something good—but what?

She was just pursing her lips, not wanting to end up like that guy earlier, when—

Jiyoon spoke.

“By the way, Director, since we’re talking… Can I ask you something?”

“Huh? What is it…?”

“It’s a girl-to-girl kind of question… Would that make it easier to explain?”

“Girl-to-girl…?”

This was completely out of nowhere.

Sure, she’d heard something about Jiyoon and that employee talking about “something good,” but girl-to-girl?

“You’re a woman too. And you’ve lived longer than me… Plus, you’ve probably had more relationships than I have.”

“…….”

Yes, I’m a woman.

Yes, I’m an old hag compared to Jiyoon.

And as for having more relationships…

…Well.

If you included the ones in her imagination, then sure, she’d had some.

Though if you excluded those, the number would multiply to zero.

Anyway.

She had enough knowledge to hold her own in a conversation.

So she nodded, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to talk.

“…….”

The result?

The question Park Jiwon was faced with was this:

“…Is his preference more important, or mine…? …You’re asking that?”

“Yeah. Like, if the two preferences are completely opposite… That kind of situation…”

“Uhh… Well, I think it depends on the person? There’s no one right answer.”

“…I figured.”

“For me, maybe taking turns… or something… Uh…”

“Taking turns…”

Jiyoon had clearly said she didn’t have a boyfriend.

That male student she was always with? Just a friend—no, her older sister’s boyfriend, she’d said.

…But now,

it kinda seems like

she might have one.

That kind of question.