episode_0022

22

The academy’s infirmary was quiet.

To be precise, it was the infirmary during winter break, when most students were away for training, leaving only a handful on campus.

And since it was still early in the morning, the room was filled with the chilly air that had settled overnight.

The beds and chairs left unattended were no different. A faint white puff of breath was visible with every exhale.

I, clad in a pristine white coat, immediately turned on the heater.

Fortunately, Yozora wasn’t as strong a drinker as I’d thought.

“Liquor enthusiast” suited her better than “heavy drinker.”

Buying ten bottles of soju had just been bravado.

Far from finishing them all, Yozora had already slumped onto the table, giggling drunkenly by the eighth bottle.

Of course, considering she’d been chugging beer and soju like water, that was to be expected…

Well, her exact alcohol tolerance wasn’t important now.

What mattered was that an obstacle had appeared in my upcoming “enjoyable life as the health committee member.”

Ideally, I’d have preferred to tame female heroes to my liking without interference, but Yozora kept barging into my personal life at the worst times.

The chances of persuading her to back off were practically zero.

So, my options were to either keep avoiding her…

Or make her mine.

Those seemed like the only solutions.

The first option was cleaner, but now that I’d given up being a villain, the latter was oddly tempting.

Taming Yozora, the alcoholic villain, into submission…

Not a hero, but not a bad idea, either.

From a third-party perspective, heroes and villains weren’t all that different.

Like fans and anti-fans of celebrities—their goals and mindsets might differ, but their actions were similar.

Both were active in their own ways, and just as heroes had paparazzi chasing them for photos, villains ironically amassed thick fanbases online despite being criminals.

All from a few blurry pictures.

Yozora, who was practically unknown now, had started gathering self-proclaimed “fans” (read: lunatics) after I joined the company and she began making a scene.

That was around the time she started wearing pitch-black masks when going out for drinks.

…Well, since I wasn’t a hero, I never laid a hand on her.

But now that I’d turned my back on villainy…

It was kind of tempting.

Sigh.

Forget it.

I had my hands full setting traps for Lee Hayoon and Lee Jiyoon. I didn’t have the energy to perfectly control Yozora, too.

If I wasn’t careful, I might lose all three rabbits at once.

For now, Lee Jiyoon was the priority.

I turned on my laptop and started looking for a new place.

If I couldn’t find one, I could always ask Seok Jaehwa, the academy’s director.

Since she liked me a lot, I might even score a decent apartment nearby.

For now, I scrolled through listings for well-lit, fully furnished studios—at least 300 square feet.

As I jotted down promising options, a light knock sounded at the door.

Who’d come at this hour?

Maybe Hayoon? I closed the laptop and straightened my collar.

“Come in.”

The moment I spoke, a familiar face peeked through the door.

Lee Hayoon.

The girl who’d climbed the “adult staircase” last night blinked her emerald-green eyes at me.

“What brings you here so early, noona?”

“I… I missed you, so I came…”

“Missed me? Me?”

“…Yeah.”

Hayoon nodded vigorously before cautiously stepping inside.

The sterile white space was suddenly filled with her bright energy.

Step by step, she approached until she stood right in front of me, avoiding eye contact as she mumbled.

“Ahem, ahem. So, uh… is your back okay?”

“My back? Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Last night, I looked it up online, and it said even guys can feel sore after…”

“Ah… Um… Are you asking about me?”

Hayoon nodded, her hands stuffed deep in her pockets.

Was she really asking a healing-type transcendent if he was in pain? Still, I smiled faintly and assured her I was fine.

If I wanted, I could go days doing nothing but sex.

No point saying that, though—it’d just make her blush.

“What about you, noona? Did you wake up sore anywhere?”

“I’m fi— Ah, no. Actually, my back is a little…”

“Your back? Near your pelvis? Or your spine?”

“…Spine.”

Hayoon poked at her lower back with her thumb.

This happened more often than you’d think.

During intense sex, the excitement numbs the pain, but once the body cools down, the soreness hits.

Or maybe it was just muscle strain.

But I was sure I’d healed everything that needed healing last night before escorting her home…

Probably just slept wrong.

“Let me take a look. Do you have class soon? I don’t know your schedule.”

“Yeah, in about five minutes…? I usually have more time, but I was running late today…”

Hayoon scratched her cheek, embarrassed.

I stood and gestured for her to turn around.

But—

“Mmph…!”

“……?”

She lunged into my arms like an overexcited puppy, sending my hand somewhere it shouldn’t be.

Her pocket held something hard and rectangular.

My fingers brushed past it, grazing her hip before finally resting on her firm backside.

“……”

Her affection was growing—which was nice, but problematic.

I quickly pulled away and glanced at the door.

Luckily, no one was watching.

Relieved, I gently pushed Hayoon’s shoulders.

Not that getting caught would be impossible to handle.

But image mattered.

A health teacher (well, committee member) fooling around with a student first thing in the morning…

Even if I could spin it, playing the kind, clean-cut guy was far more convenient.

“What are you doing?”

“Morning greeting… fan service… and, uh, getting treated…”

“……”

So,

Hayoon wanted her back treated like this.

Hugging each other.

Affectionately.

…Not sure what she meant by “fan service,” though.

“Noona.”

“Yeah?”

“What if someone sees?”

“If they see, they see… Why? Are you embarrassed…?”

“This isn’t exactly professional. This is my workplace.”

“……Oh. Uh… Yeah…”

“Save this for outside the academy, okay? Not here.”

“Okay……”

Scolded, Hayoon deflated and stepped back.

I couldn’t tell if she was just affectionate or starved for love.

Sometimes, her lack of boundaries was hard to understand.

She categorized people into:

– Strangers. – Friends.

I’d noticed this when we first talked, but lately, it felt more pronounced.

Not that I disliked it.

Actually, I liked this side of her.

The reason was simple.

With how bright and friendly Hayoon was, surely she had male friends, right?

I, who’d taken her virginity, didn’t care—but how many of those guys had feelings for her?

If I flaunted my closeness with Hayoon in front of them, how would they react?

Just imagining it made my head buzz with a sticky, possessive thrill.

Not that I’d actually do it.

For one, image management.

And watching fools desperately reach for an unattainable flower was far more entertaining than seeing them turn their backs in disillusionment.

Hell, wasn’t that why I’d wanted to “bag a hero” in the first place?

The tiny, filthy footprint I’d left first made my heart race.

“Uh, I should get to class.”

After an awkward silence, Hayoon checked her watch and bolted out before I could even say goodbye.

The door slammed shut.

…Judging by her perfectly normal gait, her back probably wasn’t even sore.

She’d just needed an excuse.

With a small sigh, I sat back down and resumed typing.

Total failure.

Failed to act like a cool noona and ask if he’d enjoyed last night.

Failed to take the lead and steal a morning kiss.

Failed to slip the condoms I’d just bought into his pocket with a casual “for your place later.”

Couldn’t even muster the courage to ask him to lunch.

Pathetic.

Hayoon’s deep sighs trailed behind her all the way from the main building to the lecture hall.

The only thing she’d succeeded at?

Using her “sore back” as an excuse to hug Seo Woojin.

And even that wasn’t perfect.

Too focused on her goal, she’d barged in without considering how uncomfortable it might make him.

Haaaa…

Well, it was practically a secret relationship.

At home, Jiyoon was constantly nagging her to be careful around guys, so she couldn’t breathe a word.

And if she so much as hinted to friends, rumors would spread in under an hour: “Lee Hayoon’s dating the new health committee member!”

Then Jiyoon might hear…

Meaning she had to keep it all under wraps.

But—

Uggghhh…

What do I do?

Sex.

It felt so good.

How could anyone not enjoy this? Maybe the problem’s your boyfriend.

I wanna talk about it so bad my mouth itches.

Maybe I should just vent online somewhere.

“Got railed like a dog by this guy I just met” kind of post…

Hayoon covered her face with both hands.

After another deep sigh, she steeled herself and opened the classroom’s back door.

The room was eerily empty.

Aside from her, no one was there.

During the semester, it’d be packed, but only a few hardcore students came to the academy during break.

And since their schedules varied, she often had the room to herself.

Hmm. Perfect timing—looks like the professor’s late, too.

With nothing else to do, Hayoon pulled out her phone and mindlessly scrolled through SNS.

Photos and videos of everyone having fun.

One friend was on field training with a pro hero.

Another was skiing on their day off.

Someone else posted a cute cake for their 300-day anniversary.

…Meanwhile, my life’s boring as hell compared to theirs.

In a fit of pettiness, she almost posted something cryptic like “Day 1.”

But she caught herself and turned off the screen.

Hold back. If I spill anything, Woojin’s the one who’ll suffer.

As she stuffed her phone back into her pocket—

Her fingers brushed against the condoms she’d just bought.

“……”

A flood of thoughts instantly made her head throb.

……Should I?

……Or should I hold back and do it somewhere safe?

Woojin said to keep this stuff outside the academy, but…

…….

….

.

There’s no one here…

Would it… really be so bad?