Episode 161. Preparing for the Party is Hard (2)

Thursday afternoon.

Time flew by quickly, and only two days remained until the social party.

Today, I spent time at a cafe with the twins, Lucy and Lumi.

I passionately explained to the two, whom I met at the academy, that I wasn’t dating Baek Ahyoung and was just going to the party together with her.

Still, seeing my face directly and explaining seemed to surprisingly earn their immediate understanding.

Slurp-

“Is that really delicious?”

Lucy said, looking at the light green drink I was consuming.

“Yeah. I’m telling you, it’s delicious.”

The drink I ordered was a Claire Rose Latte.

It’s a drink Moon Surin likes.

Honestly, it doesn’t taste good, but I keep drinking it consistently to maintain the concept.

Maybe I’ll get used to it someday.

“What does it taste like?”

“Hmm… It’s the subtle fragrance of rose and the coolness of mint, with a spicy kick added.”

“… That sounds like it would taste bad.”

Lucy slurped her chocolate frappé placed in front of her.

“Hoyeon-ssi, please have some of this too.”

“Thanks. You have a bite too.”

To Lumi, who was slicing her cake to share, I offered my Claire Rose Latte.

“Uh… I’m okay.”

“It’s my treat. Please eat it.”

Honestly, it was a bit much to eat alone, so this worked out perfectly.

“… Yes. Slurp. Sniffle.”

“You don’t have to tear up about it.”

Lumi closed her eyes tightly as if drinking poison and sipped the Claire Rose Latte.

It’s not that bad that she needs to cry.

“I told you not to bully my sister.”

Seeing that, Lucy threatened me with the fork she was using to eat her cake.

“No, Lucy. This is… kinda tasty too.”

“Right. Lumi says she’s fine, so why are you making a fuss?”

Startled, I waved my hands frantically, and Lumi backed me up.

“… What? Are you two teaming up without me again?”

Lucy pouted.

Seeing Lumi and I getting along so well made Lucy’s jealousy obvious.

“Hmph. Sorry, Lucy.”

As expected, unlike the other heroines, I feel at ease with the twins.

Compared to the other heroines, I can laugh off this level of jealousy.

Lumi and I worked hard to appease the sulking Lucy.

*

“Yes. I intend to participate in the party as well.”

Inside the Victoria Academy Student Council room.

Moon Surin’s voice echoed in the quiet room.

Moon Surin submitted her party participation application, which she had been putting off, and leaned back in her chair.

Fatigue from work washed over her entire body.

Normally, this would be the time to relax before finishing up work, but she didn’t have that luxury.

“Hoyeon-ah….”

Baek Ahyoung’s interview was playing on the smartwatch on her wrist.

Moon Surin trembled nervously, biting her fingernails.

“I should have acted just a little bit faster…!”

Fortunately, the two weren’t actually dating, but perception among people is a powerful thing.

Baek Ahyoung clearly wanted everyone to see them as a couple.

But if they weren’t actually dating… that meant the Saintess was my competitor.

To avoid falling behind a competitor, she needed to put in the effort herself.

Moon Surin picked up her smartwatch.

Navigating to the voice recording files, Moon Surin tapped the file named ‘[Lee Hoyeon Love]’.

This was the result of secretly recording and editing Lee Hoyeon every time they met.

• Surin noona… I love. you. Really.

The voice file, even with its pitch adjusted, sounded incredibly natural.

“Mmm… Hoyeon-ah.”

Moon Surin listened to Lee Hoyeon’s voice, calming her heart.

Although her competitor had taken a step ahead, it was still okay.

She could make up for it somehow. Somehow.

*

After playing with the Lucy-Lumi twins, I returned to the dorm.

Tonight’s dinner was, of course, chicken.

“Scarlet.”

“Yes, Hoyeon-nim?”

Leaving Liliana, who was diligently devouring chicken, I spoke to Scarlet.

“If you were ordered to extract information from the Buyer Guild, what do you think you would have done?”

I suddenly became curious.

How people in this line of work handle things.

Three days had already passed since Dr. Kang Hyorin decided to rescue Nam Daeun’s younger sister, Nam Dahee.

With the deadline approaching and still no news, I was contemplating whether I should visit them tomorrow.

“Hmm… From what I saw last time, their security was so tight it seemed difficult to breach. In such cases, you need a long-term approach. For example, going undercover through fake employment or disguising yourself as an existing employee.”

“Oh… If it were you, how long do you think it would take?”

As expected, Scarlet suddenly becomes sharp when talking about work.

“If it were me, I estimate it would take about a month. Those methods require time to avoid suspicion. I don’t know how the Korean Branch Manager will conduct the investigation. Since they’re likely more skilled than I am, they might opt for a direct approach, which would shorten the time.”

“Don’t you guys share information with each other?”

Scarlet seemed to have less information than me, despite being from the same guild.

“If we’re not in the same department, we often don’t know. I didn’t even know there was a Dr. Kang Hyorin here.”

“Hmm, interesting.”

I didn’t quite understand, but I figured the information guild must have its own rules.

Anyway, this is what worries me.

Scarlet is quite capable, too.

But could Scarlet, capable as she is, handle a task that takes a month in just a week?

I wasn’t worried at first, but with no contact by Thursday night, my anxiety grew.

“Is it a hassle if a client checks in on the progress midway through an assigned task?”

“It’s not exactly welcome… but it’s not a hassle. It’s the client’s right.”

Okay.

I’ll have to visit tomorrow.

I didn’t want to seem like an impatient, demanding client, but the situation was urgent, overriding my reluctance.

“Scout. I’ve thought of something for you to do!”

Liliana, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly shouted, holding up a chicken drumstick.

“Huh? What is it?”

“Let’s visit all the chicken joints around our place and find out which one is the most hygienic. Then we can order only from there.”

“Oh… That’s one way to approach it.”

“… Can we please drop the chicken concept already?”

How long does she plan to keep this up?

But contrary to my wish, Liliana seemed completely serious.

Liliana started checking chicken restaurants with Scarlet, looking at a map.

Fine. Play amongst yourselves.

If you enjoy it, I don’t mind, Liliana.

“I’ll just have to go tomorrow and urge them on.”

Nam Daeun was still holed up in the dorm, and there was no way to contact her.

All I could do was push them.

I guess I should focus on doing that diligently.

*

The Magic Tower, where the magic professors’ research labs were located.

In Im Sol’s lab, which occupied the entire second floor, Baek Ahyoung, Min Yeji, and Im Sol were having a conversation.

The topic of conversation was, naturally, Baek Ahyoung.

“You like student Lee Hoyeon, don’t you? Huh? Right?”

Min Yeji nudged Baek Ahyoung and asked.

Her face was filled with a smile, as if she’d found something amusing.

“….”

Baek Ahyoung lowered her head deeply.

How could I have done something like that?

She was already ignoring all the messages coming to her smartwatch.

It was because Baek Ahyoung wasn’t thick-skinned enough to say, ‘Oh, it’s nothing like that,’ after saying something that anyone would misunderstand.

And honestly, since it wasn’t a bad misunderstanding, she decided to just let it be.

“Sol-ah, you should say something too. Huh? This is huge news!”

Min Yeji patted Im Sol’s arm, shaking her head vigorously.

“Sigh. Ahyoung-ah. Why did you do that? How could you feed this beast something to chew on?”

“Sorry….”

Baek Ahyoung bowed her head so low it looked like she might hit the floor.

Im Sol clicked her tongue watching her.

Im Sol was initially taken aback by the interview, but upon thinking slowly, it didn’t make sense.

Because she hadn’t sensed anything like that from Lee Hoyeon yesterday when he said he was going to meet Baek Ahyoung.

He probably really agreed to be her partner for the party.

But they weren’t dating.

Lee Hoyeon likely chose her as a partner without much thought, just to attend the party, and Baek Ahyoung probably knew that.

Yet, yesterday’s interview clearly had the intention of deliberately creating a misunderstanding.

That meant Baek Ahyoung genuinely had feelings for Lee Hoyeon.

Even Im Sol became curious at this point.

“So, do you really like him?”

“….”

With Im Sol joining the questioning, Baek Ahyoung could no longer ignore it.

“Right? You’re already 28, and you’re trying to date a 20-year-old.”

Min Yeji started teasing Baek Ahyoung again, and Baek Ahyoung finally spoke.

“… An 8-year age gap is perfectly bridgeable.”

“Wow, Sol-ah. Look at Ahyoung talking. You’re a professor, and Lee Hoyeon is your student, you know?”

“The school nurse isn’t a professor. She’s staff.”

“Oh my, she’s really fallen for him. Amazing.”

Finally, Baek Ahyoung admitted it.

It was the first time she had confessed her true feelings properly in front of others.

“Sigh… Yes. That’s right. I like Hoyeon. Are you satisfied now?”

Actually, saying it out loud like this relieved the frustration she felt.

But at Min Yeji’s next words, Baek Ahyoung’s hair stood on end.

“Sol-ah. What are we going to do? It looks like you have a competitor now?”

“C-competitor?”

Baek Ahyoung flinched and looked at Im Sol.

“I’m not a competitor. Ahyoung, you enjoy it when I react to every little thing, don’t you?”

“Sorry….”

Baek Ahyoung glared at the teasing Min Yeji, who apologized.

Watching the scene, Im Sol pondered.

‘Lee Hoyeon….’

To Im Sol, Lee Hoyeon was still an endearing student.

They could connect magically, and he was one of the few mages who could understand her.

He was also a delicious source of sugar.

“Ahyoung-ah. Shall I teach you a surefire way to seduce student Lee Hoyeon?”

Min Yeji looked at Baek Ahyoung with a face full of laughter.

“… What is it?”

Baek Ahyoung didn’t want to rely on Min Yeji, but asked again just in case.

“Just throw yourself at him physically. A 20-year-old guy would totally fall for it.”

“….”

“Oh my, I’m serious! It’s a direct hit.”

Min Yeji said this half-jokingly, half-seriously, but Baek Ahyoung was indifferent.

‘It didn’t work before.’

If he had fallen for the physical approach, she wouldn’t have gotten this far.

Baek Ahyoung felt frustrated that she couldn’t say, ‘I have sex with Lee Hoyeon every time we meet,’ even though she wanted to.

She had confessed her feelings, but she didn’t want to mention their physical relationship.

“Sol-ah. Ahyoung doesn’t believe me.”

“….”

Im Sol watched Baek Ahyoung, who was seriously contemplating Lee Hoyeon, and thought.

‘I can’t let Ahyoung find out.’

She couldn’t let it slip that she sucked his dick every time Lee Hoyeon visited her lab.

Of course, the reason was purely academic – needing to replenish her sugar levels for research – but it was a concept so far ahead of its time that it would take about 100 years for others to accept it.

And somehow, seeing Baek Ahyoung stomping her feet felt rather amusing.

She had already established a deep relationship with Lee Hoyeon, seemingly ahead of Baek Ahyoung.

‘I’m not a child, yet I feel good about this.’

Im Sol shook her head and took a sip of her instant coffee mix.