episode_0099

099.

Private office at noon church.

“…….”

Rocksanu was quietly sitting in a chair, working on paperwork.

After the downfall of Sung Yura, Rocksanu, who had risen rapidly, was busy with many things to handle, staying up all night to focus on work.

Balancing academic studies in between, it was like a series of all-nighters.

“Phew… Should I call it a day here?”

Rocksanu stretched slightly to straighten her slouched body.

As she stretched her upper body and waist, her chest naturally swayed.

Her shoulders felt unusually heavy.

Why are my shoulders so stiff?

“Oh.”

She suddenly looked out the window.

A hazy twilight had descended on the summer evening.

She looked up at the slowly spreading colored clouds beyond the horizon.

The sun, which had been scorching hot, had set, and the moon, enveloped in a subtle chill, raised its head.

It’s already night….

She had been so busy with work since morning that her sense of time seemed to dull. She felt like she might hear a nagging remark mixed with concern from Cynthia again. Cynthia had a subtly worrisome personality.

– Knock, knock.

“Rocksanu, are you still working? Can I come in for a moment?”

It was a familiar female voice.

It seemed like Cynthia had come to visit.

“Oh, please come in.”

As soon as Rocksanu gave her permission, the doorknob turned.

With a creaking sound, the door to the office slowly opened.

Soon, a woman looked at Rocksanu’s face with a worried expression and slowly stepped inside.

“Take it easy. You’ll overwork yourself. Here, have some herbal tea. It’ll help you relax.”

“Thank you, Cynthia.”

Cynthia Gwynn.

She was a former third executor of the formidable armed organization with a notorious reputation even within the noon church.

With a sharp sword, she had a record of defeating all kinds of villains and monsters threatening the church and its people.

Her skills were as impressive as a high-ranker in England.

After the Sung Yura incident, Cynthia became deeply involved in Rocksanu’s activities and became her guard under the pretext of protecting the saint candidate Rocksanu from potential dangers.

From the perspective of England and the headquarters of the noon church, they were somewhat disappointed that such a powerful force like Cynthia was staying in South Korea, but they couldn’t stop her stubbornness.

She had always had a dictatorial temperament.

“Are you going to stay up late again tonight?”

“I’m planning to call it a day here. Luckily, there isn’t much work today.”

Was it worth working hard without a break for the past few months?

She felt that things were gradually slowing down.

Of course, there was still a mountain of work to be done overall, but she felt a slight breathing space.

“Phew. That’s a relief. You’ve been really busy lately with the ranking matches and final exams.”

“Yes… Thanks to the shortened final exams, I could breathe a little.”

The academy had reduced various schedules and restricted external activities, strengthening security measures in response to the Union attack incident.

To be able to respond immediately in case of any emergency.

“Even though it’s considered the best academy in South Korea, the Union seems quite fearful. They were so scared this time, thinking that villains might attack again.”

“It was really fortunate that nothing happened.”

If villains had attacked again and breached security, the Union Academy would have been in a real crisis.

“Ah, right, Cynthia.”

“Why?”

“I have a personal question to ask. Is it okay?”

At Rocksan’s question, Cynthia tilted her head for a moment.

A personal question?

From Rocksan?

“What is it?”

“Well… I invited a friend to dinner…”

Rocksan hesitated slightly, then glanced at Cynthia and hesitantly asked, “I’m not sure how to handle this since it’s my first time… Should I invite them to a nice restaurant?”

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“Friend~?”

With a cautious tone, Rocksan’s expression showed a hint of hesitation as she glanced at Cynthia.

“But… I’ve never experienced this before, so I’m not sure what to do… Should I invite them to a nice restaurant?”

“Hmm.”

“Excuse me?”

“Rocksan, listen. You shouldn’t consider those guys as friends.”

With a stern expression, Cynthia raised her index finger firmly.

She decided to give advice to this naive girl as a senior in life.

Rocksan, who was foolishly kind, might forgive those guys, but they would only take advantage of her kindness.

“Don’t be friends with bat-like guys. They’re just sticking to you because you’re doing well these days and you’re pretty. True friends are those who can help you when you’re struggling.”

“Then… can I consider that person a friend?”

Huh? Cynthia blinked her eyes.

Wasn’t there someone who helped her during her academy days?

She heard that everyone was busy trying to please Seong Yura.

Those with a background strong enough to stand outside Seong Yura’s influence wouldn’t bother helping Rocksan and risking a conflict with Seong Yura.

“During the ordeal, during the midterms, even at Seong Yura’s mansion… I received a lot of help from him.”

“Ah… You mean the guy, right? His name was Lee Jinhyuk?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She vaguely knew about him.

Quite a famous guy.

“I saw him briefly during the ranking match, and… he was quite impressive.”

Honestly, she thought he would be easily defeated when fighting against Baek Yurin, but he fought well.

Even when Cynthia saw him, Baek Yurin had skills beyond those of an active hero.

He seemed to have skills equivalent to a superior rank.

It was quite interesting to see him receive such praise.

Surrendering in the middle, Kim’s expression hardened.

“Are you planning to be friends with that guy?”

“Oh, yes… He asked me to be friends.”

Rocksan scratched his cheek awkwardly, as if feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“I’ve received a lot of help from him. So, as a way of repaying him, I decided to grant his wish, but he suddenly asked me out for a meal.”

“Heh… Look at this?”

With a smile that seemed to hint at something, Sinshia clicked her tongue.

“Anyway, all men are wolves, right? Wolves.”

“Sinshia?”

“Rocksan, can’t you see it? He’s targeting you.”

“Yes, yes? No, why would he target someone like me…?”

As Rocksan blinked her eyes widely, Sinshia sighed deeply, feeling an indescribable emotion.

Someone like me?

Are you saying that looking at your face and body, Rocksan?

This is deception, pure deception!

“…Rocksan. Do you look in the mirror? Right?”

“Yes.”

“…What do you think when you see your face?”

?”

Rocksan seemed to not quite grasp the essence of the question, raising question marks above her head.

Oh, come to think of it, Rocksan said she had little contact with boys her age because of Sungyura when she was young, right?

Sungyura must not have left boys with ill intentions towards Rocksan.

Anyway, Sungyura is quite a character.

“Until now, you may not have felt the boys approaching you because of Sungyura, but Rocksan, do you know you’re beautiful? I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you, even in England.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that…”

Do you know that you’re beautiful too?

It’s just that you don’t realize it well.

“And there are many beautiful women around Jinhyeok. I don’t think they would have such feelings for me.”

“No, Rocksan, look at your appearance and sexy figure! Any man would fall for you at first sight, right? And your chest, how is it? Is there a woman with such a chest around Jinhyeok? Men often have fantasies about chests…”

“…It’s sexual harassment, Sinshia.”

As Sinshia looked at Rocksan’s chest with a hint of inferiority mixed with emotions, Rocksan blushed slightly and covered her chest.

Sinshia tended to say inappropriate things sometimes.

“Anyway, what I wanted to say is that Jinhyeok, that guy, might have a romantic interest in you.”

“Oh.”

“Think about it, Rocksan. Why would a guy who is not interested in a girl want to be friends with her, ask her out for a meal?”

“Is that so?”

“A candidate for a church saint personally said she would grant any request, but he settled for just one meal? Oh~, he’s considering a long-term relationship.”

“…?”

Becoming more and more confused by Sinshia’s convincing but not convincing words, Rocksan started to feel puzzled.

“Oh, by the way…”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

“Well, there are words that I don’t pay much attention to because I think they’re just jokes.”

After successfully arresting Sungyura.

They had a brief conversation at the Academy Park bench to convey their gratitude.

During a short conversation, Jinhyeok’s childhood friend appeared and left first, indicating that they wanted to talk.

But then she remembered that she had left her phone on the bench by mistake.

She went back to the bench, but the two were having a strange conversation…

“Jinhyeok and Soyeon, his childhood friend, were talking for a while. It was about someone they like.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but… Jinhyeok told Soyeon that he likes me…”

“Oh.”

Sinshia let out a slight gasp, looking slightly surprised.

“No, of course you said it was just a joke.”

“What joke?”

Shin-sia flicked her finger.

“This is really obvious, really. Roksanne, let me tell you something. He likes you.”

“Ah… um….”

Roksanne seemed unsure how to react.

“Maybe you don’t have much experience with this, but it’s so obvious that it’s strange that you don’t notice, right?”

“But….”

“Oh. Can’t you trust me?”

Shin-sia was confident.

That guy, Lee Jin-hyuk, is interested in our Roksanne.

“Did he say anything else?”

“Um, it’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself….”

“No, what’s wrong?”

“He said… he likes you because you’re pretty and kind…. Ah, it’s embarrassing to say it myself.”

“Well, our Roksanne is pretty and kind. Yeah, yeah.”

“Shin-sia, please don’t say things like that.”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

Seeing Roksanne blush, Shin-sia started speaking with a slight smile.

“Okay, you said you’d treat him to a meal, right? Check your schedule and when you have time, invite him to the church.”

“To the church?”

“Yeah. It’s just a meal, so I’ll pay for a high-class chef.”

“No, I’m the one inviting him, so I should pay.”

“Just accept it when I offer.”

Shin-sia continued.

“And since it’s come to this, I should take a good look at his face too.”

“Shin-sia, you know it’s rude, right? I’m inviting him to repay a favor.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything unnecessary. I’m quite grateful personally, you know? He helped arrest Seong Yura. He also provided all kinds of corrupt information in the church.”

Since he had helped Roksanne so much, she had no intention of treating him poorly.

But….

“Regardless, I must make sure he’s a good guy.”

***

On the day of the meal appointment with Roksanne.

“Oh, the appointment time has already passed.”

I glanced at the clock and fell into contemplation.

There had been many events leading up to today, but I had managed to become quite friendly with Roksanne through our occasional conversations.

So if the atmosphere is good during the meal, I should ask him about the takedown of the criminal organization Seong Yura was involved in.