episode_0007

#7

“Gyaaa …

Yunseol keeps crying and muttering, “I’m crazy.”

It was a roar that sounded like the cries of a pterosaur that went extinct during the Permian extinction.

The reason, of course, is that last night’s disgrace unfortunately remains in some memories.

“Boss. What do you think about the hero named Yoon Seol?”

“I don’t want to go home… ?”

​

“I see. Oh my… This is my house! But I don’t want to go… .”

“I’m crazy… seriously….ugh.”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Only after hitting the pillow and blanket a few times was Yunseol able to calm down a little.

A headache that comes eventually.

She’s not usually the type to get hungover, but yesterday she went overboard… and the result was miserable.

“Ugh. My head.”

I should have bought some hangover cure. Yoonseol felt a little regretful and laid back down on the bed, holding her pounding head.

‘Let’s just sleep more… .’

She closed her eyes, thinking that.

… but the human brain has always had a tendency to remember more when you try not to remember something.

Thud. Thud.

Yunseol continued to struggle in the pain, and because she struggled so much, she got a headache, and when she calmed down for a bit, she remembered what happened last night again—she fell into the cycle of pain.

And one thought that came to the end of it all.

That was the reason why I, who usually doesn’t visit the same shops often, ended up going to that cocktail bar several times.

‘I somehow ended up going there again…’

Yunseol buried her face in the pillow and recalled the day she visited the oasis for the second time.

*

That day, like any other day, I was waiting to be called in the waiting room of my management company.

“… Sister Yunseol. The boss asked you to come to the office for a moment.”

“To the president’s office?”

As I was lying on the sofa dazed, the manager spoke to me cautiously.

‘What’s going on?’

I’m sure that’s not the story, since you’ve stated that you’ll be refusing any interviews or advertising requests for the time being… What happened next?

With slightly uneasy thoughts in my mind, I headed upstairs to the president’s office.

…Why do anxious premonitions never turn out to be wrong?

When I arrived at the president’s office, the president’s older sister spoke to me with a complicated expression as if she couldn’t hide her regret.

“Seol-ah. That… That scene we went to recently? It looks like there were injured people there.”

If it’s the scene we’ve been dispatched to this time…

“… Shinhan Bank? Of course not. I checked everything… You know, I’m thorough in that regard. At least after I got there… ”

“I know, I know. But there’s that reporter Kim Mi-young. That person… .”

“ha… ”

As soon as that disgusting name came out of the boss’s mouth, I immediately understood how the situation was going.

‘It’s that guy again…’

Why are you so impatient because you can’t catch me? Last time, you were talking about a scandal that didn’t work, and now you’re talking about a bullying article, and now you’re talking about going on a mission.

“… You know, that guy, he keeps on pushing me.”

“I also requested a correction… Seol-ah. I think I should at least express my regrets briefly.”

I can’t help but get angry when I see the boss bowing her head repeatedly, saying, “I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t the boss’s fault in the first place.

“… Okay, you don’t have to apologize, Unnie.”

“I’m sorry, Seol-ah.”

… … I told you not to apologize.

‘Yes. This isn’t the first or second time this has happened. You can bow your head.’

If it weren’t for the CEO and the company employees, I could just ignore it… but if I, the poster girl for our company, cause trouble, it will have a ripple effect that goes beyond just damaging my reputation.

I think this is the moment where cyber wreckers and reporters will happily bite and tear at each other.

‘Even if I apologize, he’ll bite me.’

“Sigh.”

As I returned to the waiting room with a complicated sigh, the manager who had been curled up on the sofa, Jiyeon, came to me, sobbing.

“Sister Yoonseol. Are you okay…? Really. Really bad. That Kim Miyoung… .”

“Don’t cry. It’s okay, unnie.”

“Ugh. I contacted the person who was injured at the scene… I think he must have conspired with that Kim Mi-young. He said he got frostbite, but there’s no way my sister would make that kind of mistake.”

When I see Jiyeon speaking with a trembling voice and tears welling up in her eyes, something makes me feel suffocated.

What should I say? It’s not like I’m angry or anything… It’s like there’s a weight on my chest.

Of course, it wasn’t because of the president or Jiyeon. And it didn’t seem to be because of Kim Miyoung either.

“… Jiyeon-ah. Stop crying. It’s okay, sis. You know it anyway. It’ll calm down soon. ”

“Still… … .”

After comforting the crying Jiyeon, I left the company after finishing the interview scheduled for that day.

‘It’s already 8 o’clock in the evening.’

The interview turned out longer than I thought.

It was already a long time since the sun had set outside, and it was the first time in a long time that I had breathed fresh air outside.

“Tomorrow was a day off… .”

In modern times, it is rare to find a hero who works alone without being affiliated with any management company.

Passing the hero exam will allow you to join the Hero Association, but the Association does not manage interviews, advertisement offers, or compensation for individual heroes.

Since the appearance of a villain automatically sends an alarm to the Hero Association, the role of a hero management company can be seen as similar to an entertainment company that manages celebrities.

It’s true that I’m definitely more comfortable now than when I was working alone, but…the problem is that annoying things like this happen sometimes.

“I don’t want to go home…”

Even if I go back to an empty house, all that greets me is silence. I have no desire to go at this point.

That doesn’t mean there’s really anywhere to go.

As I started my hero activities and started to gain fame, my friends naturally started to drift apart.

Cafes were out of the question. With this stuffiness in my chest, I simply couldn’t face people who recognized me.

‘So, where should I go?’

There is no place for me in this glittering city. I feel like I’ve been lost.

Suddenly I felt like crying. No, I was already crying.

“Hey. That girl… looks like she’s crying? But she’s really pretty.”

“Wait a minute. I’m going to talk to you.”

People around me are gossiping and looking in my direction.

“Excuse me, excuse me. Are you having a hard time? Why don’t you sit down and talk with me? Huh? You. By any chance, Yunseol… ”

“… No.”

Among the people who were watching, there were some who recognized me, so I ran away as if I was running away.

And I walked on with my hood up. Eventually, my tears dried and my legs started to hurt, so I looked around.

“Here is….”

A bit of a remote alley, but familiar.

It was near the cocktail bar I went to last time. It was a shabby place that I wouldn’t have gone to normally.

The reason I first went there was because I was resting at home when I received an order to go to a nearby area. After finishing up some simple work, I happened to find that place.

The store name is definitely…

“Oasis.”

From what I remember, there were hardly any customers in the store. Last time, I was the only one there.

I walked towards where the store was, searching my memory.

‘…It’s open.’

The main entrance had an open sign hanging. Looking inside, it seemed like there were still no customers.

I opened the door, went in, and spoke to the shop owner, who was wiping a glass.

“Please give me the strongest drink in this store. Something that will make me completely drunk. So I can’t come to my senses.”

*

‘Yeah, that’s right.’

The cocktail I had that day was overly sweet, but its sweetness was a great comfort to me, who was exhausted.

Yeah, like an oasis.

And yesterday was a day of expressing regret for what happened that day.

That’s why I decided to visit the cocktail bar again to change my mood.

“What a mood change…..ugh.”

I turned over on my pillow, resisting the urge to tear out my hair.

‘I heard that when other people drink, they just don’t remember anything. Why am I like this…?’

I wish I didn’t remember at all. It was more painful when I closed my eyes and the events of yesterday came back to me one by one like puzzle pieces.

“That, there are often news articles that deliberately package it in a provocative way to grab people’s attention. That’s what it felt like… In fact, the biggest reason is… ”

​

“What is the biggest reason?”

​

“… You don’t seem like that kind of person? I’m a physiognomist. ”

Hearing that, I was dumbfounded, but somehow I felt relieved as if a lump in my throat had been released, so I drank a lot of alcohol, even though I don’t usually drink much… and ended up sleeping on the side of the road, and the boss had to bring me here.

Even the process was not smooth.

“You must be crazy… Seol-ah. Are you crazy…? How can someone be like that…”

I don’t remember exactly, but I think he tried to take off his clothes in the taxi, and he even threw a tantrum in front of my house because he didn’t want to go in.

The cocktail bar owner was kind, so it was an issue that could have turned into something quite serious if it had been caught by a bad person.

“I should go apologize later….Ah…Aaak!!!”

After kicking the blanket on the bed for a while, my eyes turned to the monitor in the corner of the room.

‘Sir, surely there’s something more I don’t remember?’

There are several home CCTV cameras installed near my house, which are connected to the monitor in my room.

I put it up after a past incident where a sasaeng fan tried to break in while I was away…

“Shouldn’t I look…? No. I need to know what trouble I’ve caused… … .”

As if opening Pandora’s box, I launched the home cam program.

Click. Click.

‘What time did I get home? I think I went to the cocktail bar around 2 o’clock. Ah. I found it.’

When I looked at the CCTV installed near the front door, I saw myself and the boss, sobbing in an unsightly manner.

Fortunately, other than making a fuss in front of the house and not wanting to go in, it seems like he didn’t do anything special… Huh?

“Hey, wait a minute. Boss?!”

On the screen, I saw myself lying face down on the floor, unable to keep my balance.

—And the sight of the CEO watching me like that and then carefully embracing me in a princess-like position.

‘When I woke up, the reason I was sleeping in the shoe closet was… … .’

At first I thought I had walked on my own two feet, but the reality was so cruel.

Getting drunk and being hugged by a stranger and even having the front door password cracked…

“You’re really crazy… Seol-ah.”

I even checked the CCTV near the shoe cabinet, wondering if something really strange had happened.

Fortunately, the boss dropped me off inside the house, watched me for a while, then closed the front door and left.

“Phew.”

What I felt when I saw that sight was a sense of guilt for having doubted the poor CEO.

and,

‘Ugh. Somehow…’

It was a little frustrating.