episode_0023

As I went to work at Cheonjihae today, I had a terrifying experience from midday.

A ghost story, you ask?

I would rather that have been the case than this spine-chilling event.

“Oh my, Mr. Park Dohyung, you were here?”

It was none other than the only daughter of and a second-generation chaebol.

The Barrier Master, Yu Yeonhwa, spoke to me in a friendly voice.

‘…What is this, really?’

The woman I beat to a pulp before is suddenly smiling and talking to me.

Is this a red light?

‘No, seriously, why?’

The Yu Yeonhwa I know is a smart and cunning character.

You could say she’s someone who’ll do anything for her goals and interests.

That kind of woman got her ass kicked and suddenly greets me with a smile.

No matter how I think about it, I can only think it’s dangerous.

‘Especially in a place with so many people.’

Trainees don’t just receive training during work hours.

There are gaps between lectures from time to time, and there are also breaks.

During these times, trainees study in the library, train in the training room, or rest in the lounge.

I was in the lounge preparing for the next lecture.

I wasn’t the only trainee, so there were quite a few sitting around.

Their eyes were on us.

“What’s going on? Why is Yu Yeonhwa suddenly talking to him?”

“Didn’t they say Yu Yeonhwa got beat up after a fight? Did they reconcile without us knowing?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just shut up and watch. It’s gonna be fun.”

There’s no way a smart woman like Yu Yeonhwa wouldn’t have thought about all this.

You could say she’s planning to show it off openly to others.

Or maybe she doesn’t even care about that.

“…What’s the matter?”

“What do you mean, what’s the matter? I’m disappointed. I just came to be friendly with a fellow trainee.”

Yu Yeonhwa smiled brightly and naturally sat down across from me.

At this point, I was starting to get really scared.

“We’re not strangers to each other, right? It’d be nice if we got along.”

“You want to get along after getting beat up like that?”

*Grind.*

Yu Yeonhwa momentarily ground her teeth fiercely.

Wow, scary.

I should have just kept my mouth shut just now.

“Ohohoho…! Well, that was a fair duel with mutual consent, right? It’s not very mature to hold a grudge just because I got beat up a bit there.”

I don’t think it was just “a bit.”

In the first place, Yu Yeonhwa isn’t that cool of a character.

Rather, she’s the type to grit her teeth and harbor resentment.

Even now, she’s trying hard to manage her expression, but it’s obvious she’s heated.

“As I said before, I think highly of you.”

Yu Yeonhwa said with a bright smile.

If I didn’t know her personality, it was the kind of beautiful smile that would make me fall for her.

“I failed to bring you into my faction, but it’s okay to be friends separately, right?”

Yu Yeonhwa handed me a basket that was on the table.

“It’s a lunchbox I prepared. You haven’t eaten lunch yet, right? If you don’t mind, let’s eat together.”

“…Did you put poison in it or something?”

“What do you take me for?”

If it were the Yu Yeonhwa I know, she would be capable of it.

Although she wouldn’t do it in front of so many people.

“Let’s shake off the past with food. I’m serious about wanting to be friends with you.”

Yu Yeonhwa took out a sandwich from the lunchbox and handed it to me.

It smelled good, so I took it for now.

“How is it? Is it good?”

“Mm, not bad.”

“Of course it should be. Do you know how much the ingredients cost to make this?”

I guess even lunchboxes are different for second-generation chaebols.

The sandwich was packed with high-quality ingredients.

“…This is just something I was thinking about, but how did you do it last time?”

“Do what?”

“You know~ You destroyed my barrier in one shot. If you don’t mind, could you tell me the principle behind it? I’d like to refer to it for my future studies.”

Yu Yeonhwa poured me orange juice while subtly hinting.

I took a sip of the juice and answered.

“No can do. It’s a secret.”

“Oh, that’s so stingy. Are you really going to be like that?”

“I might die if I told you.”

It’s not a joke.

The moment the existence of the instant-kill technique is revealed, I can safely say that I would become the target of all exorcists, politicians, businessmen, and sorcerers in the world.

“Tch! If you didn’t want to tell me, you could have just said so.”

But Yu Yeonhwa didn’t believe me.

It was a sad era where sincerity didn’t work.

“Well, okay. Let’s say you’ll tell me if we become closer in the future.”

“Is it okay to say all those intentions out loud?”

“Unfortunately, this is my way. I don’t know how to make friends in a normal way.”

Yu Yeonhwa gave a bitter smile.

“Perhaps this is the opposite of honesty, the way I’m treating you now. You’re someone I’ve already beaten to a pulp, so I don’t have to be careful.”

Yu Yeonhwa is the daughter of a businessman, so she has a habit of judging people based on profit and loss.

She’s good at creating factions and attracting people.

But she didn’t have a friend to confide in sincerely.

I guess not knowing how to make friends is what she meant.

“I’m confident that I’m attractive as a woman, you know? I’m the one clinging now, but you’ll be the one clinging to me later.”

“…Is it okay to say those things? People will misunderstand if they hear you.”

“Oh my~ Of course, I’ve set up a soundproof barrier. Isn’t that basic?”

As expected of the thorough Yu Yeonhwa.

“I have circumstances that require me to be friends with you. Please take care of me in the future, Chief.”

*Nom,* Yu Yeonhwa also took a bite of the sandwich.

‘I think I got caught up in something troublesome.’

It seems she approached me to dig something up after being shocked that her barrier was broken.

But I’ll never tell her the truth.

As I said before, anything about the ‘instant-kill technique’ must be kept secret.

‘Well, she’ll probably give up on her own if she keeps doing that.’

It’s not like Yu Yeonhwa is causing me any harm.

I wonder if she’ll try to give me something as a bribe.

I have no reason to refuse, so I’ll just take it.

‘Either way, I’m not affected by whatever Yu Yeonhwa does.’

…I definitely thought so, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

“What are you two doing?”

A chilly voice was heard at that moment.

Yu Yeonhwa definitely said she had set up a soundproof barrier to block out sound.

It was someone who could break through it without any trouble.

“J, Jiyeon-ah?”

The first trainee I became friends with after joining Cheonjihae.

The swordsmanship genius, Cheok Jiyeon.

Her gaze was fixed on the lunchbox we were eating.

“I came to call you to have lunch together….”

Before I knew it, I, Cheok Jiyeon, and Yu Eunhye had become lunch buddies who always ate together.

She looked shocked that I was eating lunch separately with Yu Yeonhwa.

“Besides, isn’t that the Barrier Master? The one who got caught talking behind my back.”

Cheok Jiyeon’s tone was very cold.

In fact, Cheok Jiyeon isn’t the type to care about people talking behind her back.

She’s already used to it, and she’s only interested in swordsmanship and her Oppa.

Rather, she would be happy that I got angry on her behalf (not).

‘So I thought she would be okay with it….’

I guess it’s different when the person in question is right in front of her.

Cheok Jiyeon’s eyes were fierce as she looked at Yu Yeonhwa.

“What’s going on here?”

Cheok Jiyeon looked at me and demanded an explanation.

Feeling a slight sense of impending doom, I quickly opened my mouth.

“Jiyeon-ah, it’s not like that….”

“Oh my~ What is it?”

But before I could explain properly, Yu Yeonhwa jumped in.

“Are you acting jealous in such an unseemly way right now?”

“Jealous? It’s not like that….”

“Or what is it? Does Nam Dohyung need to get your permission to meet someone?”

Yu Yeonhwa shrugged her shoulders.

Cheok Jiyeon was momentarily speechless.

If you think about it coldly, Cheok Jiyeon didn’t have anything to refute.

“Knowing full well what your family’s image is like. Isn’t it too shameless to interfere with someone who’s making friends besides you?”

“…You’re the one who’s been meddling without any loyalty. Are you targeting Nam Dohyung this time?”

“Why not? I’m just trying to make more colleagues, unlike someone else?”

“You mean gathering useful subordinates. As expected of a family that only cares about money and runs a business.”

“Ha!”

This time, Yu Yeonhwa’s eyes twitched.

“I thought you were a fool who couldn’t talk because you were so focused on swords. Turns out you have a knack for scratching people where it hurts?”

Yu Yeonhwa also glared at Cheok Jiyeon, as if she was also fired up.

“That’s so funny. Who are you to interfere in someone else’s conversation when you’re not even anything to him?”

“Nam Dohyung and I are friends.”

“Do you think you can do this just because you’re friends? Ah~ Or are you ‘anxious’ that you’ll have your only friend taken away by another woman since you’re a loner?”

“You b*tch….”

Cheok Jiyeon placed her hand on her sword.

Yu Yeonhwa also smiled leisurely and raised her spirit energy.

Cheok Jiyeon is naturally superior in pure combat power.

But Yu Yeonhwa, who specializes in barriers, was also confident in her defense.

‘No, what’s wrong with these two….’

I’m the only one in between them who’s dying.

You guys are skilled, so you can just brush off most things and accidents.

But I don’t have the connections or the skills, okay?

I don’t want to get caught up in a pointless fight and get kicked out.

“Wow, look at that. Yu Yeonhwa and Cheok Jiyeon are fighting over the Chief.”

“Did he hook up with two women in that short amount of time? Even those two? The Chief is different after all.”

“This is so fun. I should have brought some popcorn.”

Even more strange things were being said in real-time among my colleagues.

‘Why did this happen?’

It seemed my work life was going to get a little more complicated than it is now.