Ch.205Side Story 5

*Knock knock*

Hakjun Ma’s expression was quite displeased, as if something was bothering him greatly.

Standing before him were Seojin Baek and Jiyoon Han.

“…Examiner Seojin Baek, you.”

Finally, when Hakjun Ma opened his mouth, something quite shocking came out.

“Are you perhaps becoming like Rina?”

“Principal! How could you say something so harsh?!”

Jiyoon Han was more surprised than Seojin Baek and waved her hands frantically.

Even Hakjun Ma had an expression that said ‘Was I too harsh?’ after saying that.

Meanwhile, Seojin Baek was thinking, ‘That might actually be true.’

“Japan has sent an official response. They’re extremely grateful for the help during their national crisis. From a humanitarian perspective, it was commendable, but diplomatically speaking, there were some regrettable aspects.”

“I acknowledge that.”

It wasn’t as if their own S-rank abilities had been wiped out, and they hadn’t requested support from Korea.

Moreover, no one had even informed them that “Korea is sending support!”

Seojin just ignored everything and headed to Japan as soon as he heard the news, as if possessed.

Thanks to that, the Portal Management Department thought villains were invading Japan.

It made sense since he entered without going through portal immigration screening.

They also added that next time, they would appreciate advance notice.

“It’s fortunate the outcome was good, but if there had been massive collateral damage like with that Rina, it could have caused serious diplomatic conflict. Shouldn’t you at least give our government time to coordinate?”

“I apologize. My thinking was shortsighted.”

Unlike Rina, who never admits her mistakes and makes all kinds of excuses.

Seojin quickly acknowledged his mistake and apologized.

With this response, Hakjun Ma had nothing more to say.

“Geez. Those Japanese bastards are still complaining. We help them and they still bitch about it.”

Meanwhile, Jiyoon Han muttered those words, subtly taking Seojin’s side.

Of course, from Hakjun Ma’s perspective, this support seemed rather uncomfortable.

“Are you becoming like Rina too, Jiyoon?”

“Wh-what kind of harsh thing is that to say?! Why would I be like her?!”

“What you’re saying now sounds just like her. If there had been any damage while helping, it would have been troublesome for both sides.”

There was a similar incident when Rina went to support China before.

She hadn’t been requested, nor had she informed them she was coming—it was truly Rina’s unilateral action.

It was good that she defeated the Elder, but she also achieved the feat of nearly destroying half the city.

They were angry because it felt like someone came uninvited and caused chaos.

Yet they couldn’t complain because she voluntarily came to help, so they just suffered internally.

Since Seojin almost recreated that past, this reaction wasn’t excessive.

“Still! Saying he’s becoming like Rina is a serious insult! Apologize!”

No, is that really something to openly demand an apology for…

“I’m sorry. I suppose my words were a bit harsh.”

“…”

Rina, what on earth have you been doing all over the place…

“Well, that’s what I’m asking for in the future, and anyway, since Japan officially expressed their gratitude, it turned out well in the end. I think you’ll receive quite a welcome if you go to Japan later.”

“Isn’t it already all over videos? ‘Korean S-rank ability user one-shots S-rank monster.'”

“I was lucky. I didn’t expect my single strike to hit so perfectly.”

He wasn’t just saying that—he really was lucky.

If they hadn’t informed the S-ranks about incidents in nearby countries.

If the S-rank monster had appeared somewhere other than the Academy.

If the monster hadn’t been distracted trying to catch weaker individuals first.

‘…Hmm. Would the result have been the same anyway?’

Honestly, even Seojin himself thought he was excessively powerful.

Thinking back, he didn’t seem this strong before.

He just did what he normally does, yet an S-rank monster died in one hit.

“Ah, Principal. About that joint academy…”

“Don’t worry about that. From what I hear, Rina handled it well.”

“She didn’t go around smashing things and beating people up, did she?”

“I was worried about that too, but apparently not. She just threatened them verbally, saying she could do that, and declared the examination over!”

“She seems to really hate being disliked by you,” he muttered.

As Hakjun Ma chuckled, Jiyoon Han let out a small sigh.

Who would have thought that crazy woman would change so much because of one man.

*

Am I really becoming like Rina? That would be a serious problem.

Even he thought this wasn’t right.

*Click*

Seojin Baek opened the door and let out a sigh.

He had a strange feeling, and it wasn’t his imagination.

Someone was in the house. Not Sujin Hyun. Then…

‘Rina, breaking in again…’

She had done this once before, and he had scolded her harshly.

No matter how close they were as lovers, this wasn’t right.

A home should be a cozy place to rest, not a place for surprises.

He had told her that if she did it one more time, he would really get angry!

She had nodded earnestly, so he thought she understood.

But seeing this now, it seemed she only pretended to agree.

“Hey, Rina, you…”

“Why are you suddenly talking about Rina, Examiner?”

Huh?

Surprised by the unexpected voice, Seojin looked toward the kitchen.

There stood Soohyun Kim, wearing an apron and holding a kitchen knife.

“Soohyun? Why are you here…”

“I asked you first, Examiner. Why did you mention Rina first?”

“…”

Come to think of it, he had kept Rina’s break-in a secret from Soohyun.

The reason? Obviously because they had adult business to attend to.

If he mentioned that, jealous Soohyun might react unpredictably.

Since it was just repaying a debt to Rina, he thought it was better left unsaid…

‘I didn’t expect this to snowball like this.’

The red glow in Soohyun’s eyes was growing more intense.

If it had been anger directed at him, that would be one thing, but it wasn’t.

That was hostility toward Rina, who wasn’t even here. It was obvious.

Seojin knew exactly how to handle this situation.

“Soohyun. What brings you here? You said you were going home earlier.”

Subtly changing the subject. This would never work with Rina.

“Ah. I moved out. You could call it… independence?”

But it definitely worked with Soohyun.

“Independence? You left the Chairman’s house?”

“Yes. Grandfather told me to stay, but… I wanted to try living alone.”

“That’s not bad… but the Chairman must be disappointed.”

“I can visit him often. And it’s not far, it’s in this special residential area.”

“What? So you’re living here too, Soohyun? I’ll be seeing you often then!”

“Yes. You’ll see me very often. My place is right below yours, Examiner.”

Uh, oh. Ah. I see. …That must be a coincidence, right? Yes, it must be.

“Actually, I came early today because I needed to organize my place… I heard the news. You went to Japan, dealt with a monster, and saved people.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

“You’re amazing. Others would either not go because they’re busy with various things, or they would have been too late. You really are such a good person, Examiner.”

Soohyun, please don’t say that. It makes my conscience hurt too much.

I don’t care about anything else—I just wanted to go wild once properly.

And I was even more enthusiastic because the Academy was nearby.

“Um, but Examiner, about Rina earlier…”

“Ah! So! You heard about me and then what?”

“Huh? Oh. Since you worked hard, I wanted to cook a meal for you myself, so I came.”

Up to that point, she could be considered a truly lovely girlfriend.

The problem was that she shouldn’t have this house’s password, Seojin’s fingerprint, or iris scan.

How on earth did she get into the house so easily?

“Examiner. About Rina…”

“Ahhh! Oh, oh, what’s on the menu tonight?!”

“You said anything was fine last time, so I made everything.”

He thought she was just saying that, but when he looked, she really had prepared a feast.

It was comparable to going to some luxury traditional restaurant.

“Ohhh! Korean food is the best!!”

If Rina saw this scene, she would have exclaimed that Korean food is the best.

Oh no. I’m thinking about Rina again. Stop it. If this gets caught, I’m really dead.

“How is it?”

“How could it be? It’s almost too beautiful to eat. Wow… I’m eating food prepared by someone else. I’ve made it.”

“I’ll make it like this for you every day from now on.”

“…Every day?”

“Yes. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. All of them. Oh, you eat lunch at the Academy, so excluding that? But you don’t go to work on weekends, so I’ll prepare lunch then too.”

That statement somehow felt like she was stamping her claim as the mistress of this house.

Various thoughts came to mind, but Seojin decided to continue the conversation for now.

It didn’t seem like Soohyun had completely forgotten about Rina yet.

“Right. Since you just moved, I should visit for a housewarming.”

“No, no! You don’t have to come!”

“I should. It’s a housewarming. What should I bring? Is there anything you need?”

Soohyun’s body flinched.

After looking at Seojin for a moment, she fidgeted with her fingers and then spoke.

“Then… would you like to come after dinner?”

“Huh? But I don’t have anything prepared yet?”

“You can bring what’s missing.”

“What is it?”

“…”

What Soohyun pointed to was none other than—

“…Oh.”

Seojin Baek himself.