Side Story 5. The Story After (5)

The Professor’s Building, where Victoria Academy’s professor research labs were gathered.

Among them, Dr. Kang Hyorin’s research lab was special.

“No matter how I think about it, giving me a lab like this isn’t for surveillance, is it?”

Kang Hyorin scanned the spacious lab and spoke to her friend sitting opposite her.

Scarlet tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and let out a deep sigh.

“Hmm. Maybe it’s just a favor? The student council president doesn’t seem like that kind of person.”

“A favor? From Moon Surin? You don’t know her well enough. You haven’t had a private meeting with the student council president. Unlike her image, she’s got a snake hidden inside.”

Kang Hyorin is a visiting professor at the Academy and the head of the Iris Guild’s Korean branch.

Originally, her identity was a secret, but as the friendship between Victoria Academy and the Iris Guild deepened, her identity was naturally revealed.

Moon Surin, who was disheartened by the fact that she had let an Iris Guild operative into the Academy, quickly regained her spirits and even provided Kang Hyorin with a spacious lab.

No professor, except for Professor Im Sol, had such a large lab all to themselves. It was Moon Surin’s pure goodwill towards the Iris Guild.

…Only Kang Hyorin, who felt a bit guilty about something, was anxious on her own.

“When she was with Team Leader 1-nim, she was like an angel, but when it’s just the two of us, the atmosphere suddenly changes. Eugh…”

It was a good thing she hadn’t leaked any important information from Victoria Academy; if she had… she didn’t want to imagine it.

Kang Hyorin shuddered, imagining herself floating in the sky while arguing with Moon Surin.

“Stop talking nonsense and get back to work.”

Student Council President Moon Surin is famous for being kind. She’s probably just feeling guilty about something herself.

Scarlet shook her head and focused on the documents. Her task was Kang Hyorin’s paperwork.

The paperwork was such a mess that if Scarlet hadn’t been there, she would have been severely scolded by Team Leader 1-nim.

It was truly amazing how she managed to snag the Korean branch head position despite being so bad at her job.

“Scarlet. Don’t look at me with such pity. I’m good at other tasks besides paperwork. Even Irene-ssi acknowledges it.”

“Don’t you know Irene’s personality? It’s not the first time she’s given empty praise.”

“Wow. You’re calling her Irene now. How cool.”

“Kang Hyorin-ssi. Isn’t it strange for me to call her Team Leader 1-nim when I’m not part of the guild?”

Working with Kang Hyorin always felt like this.

Small talk and jokes slowed down the progress of work.

Scarlet tried to ignore her and focus on work, but Kang Hyorin couldn’t stand it for even five minutes before speaking again.

“Scarlet.”

“What.”

“How about coming back to the Iris Guild? I’ll make sure you get a good salary.”

“…What are you talking about out of the blue?”

Scarlet put down her papers and looked at Kang Hyorin.

Kang Hyorin was standing there with her arms crossed, looking frustrated.

“No. The quality of people coming to the Korean branch lately is just too low. If they were even half as competent as you, my workload would be cut in half.”

“What’s the point when I’m helping you out anyway?”

“I can’t entrust you with the truly important tasks! Don’t you know Team Leader 1-nim’s sensitivity? Even if it’s you, if it’s discovered that an outsider is doing the work, I’ll lose my head too.”

“Still, no. I had a tearful farewell with the Guild Master-nim. I said goodbye to all the guild members, so it would be awkward to return.”

That wasn’t the only reason.

The Iris Guild was a good place, but she preferred the peaceful life she had now.

“Truly, a tragic girl who left even the guild for love…”

“…”

“Hmm, this coffee is bitter.”

As Scarlet frowned, Kang Hyorin uncrossed her arms and brought the coffee cup beside her to her lips.

She didn’t forget to blame the perfectly fine coffee for no reason.

‘…I’m debating whether to hit her or not.’

Scarlet looked at Kang Hyorin, who was nervously watching her reaction, and shook her head.

It was better to deal with Liliana; Kang Hyorin only teased her up to the point right before getting angry, while nervously gauging her reaction.

If she weren’t paid so much, Scarlet would have already hit her dozens of times.

“So, speaking of which, how are things going with Lee Hoyeon?”

“Haa. Why him all of a sudden?”

“Why? He’s the man the world is focused on right now. I need to gather some information too.”

“…So-so?”

“What? ‘So-so’ won’t cut it. Do you know how many women are around him! It’s fortunate that the people he’s helped are diligently covering for him. Otherwise, there would already be a huge scandal about his romantic conquests.”

“Stop talking nonsense. The work is finished, so if you have nothing else, can you just let me go home?”

Scarlet overcame Kang Hyorin’s distractions and finished the paperwork.

Why is this friend so interested in romance?

Could it be something like old maid hysteria?

“I know your personality well. You have the ability, but you don’t act on it. You need to fix that personality.”

“Kang Hyorin-ssi. Why are you saying so many unnecessary things today?”

“Think about it. If you had just put your mind to it, you could have become a branch head like me. You only do what you’re told, which is why you stayed as a guild member.”

“That’s more comfortable for me. I don’t like taking responsibility.”

Scarlet’s personality had always been like that.

Because it was easier to live an ordinary life without unnecessarily stirring up trouble.

That’s why she liked her current life.

“You idiot. You can’t be like that when it comes to romance. I’ll give you a bonus to use for dating Lee Hoyeon. No, wait. I’ll give you a lecture today.”

“…You’ve only worked your whole life and never dated anyone, have you?”

Scarlet and Kang Hyorin were best friends who knew each other’s situations completely.

She obviously knew Kang Hyorin had no experience.

“I saw it on a drama.”

“….”

The lesson learned from spending time with Liliana came to mind.

To find happiness, one must not converse with fools.

It was her own fault for engaging in conversation with a fool.

Scarlet ignored Kang Hyorin and prepared to go home.

*

“I don’t know if this one is kind or stupid.”

Back home, Scarlet threw herself onto the sofa and looked at her smartwatch screen.

• Kang Hyorin: I’ve deposited the bonus, so go have fun with Lee Hoyeon!!! Fighting!!!

She wondered why Kang Hyorin let her go home so early, but she really did deposit money as a bonus.

Looking at the amount, it was exactly double her monthly salary. She got a performance bonus just for chatting.

‘If it’s like this, I should engage more in chatting starting tomorrow.’

A sucker was right here.

Maybe I should ask for relationship advice starting tomorrow.

If it doesn’t work out with him, I bet I’ll get an even bigger bonus.

“What are you doing here.”

“…”

At the sudden voice, she turned her head to see Lee Hoyeon looking down at her.

‘This person is handsome even when looking up at him.’

She was surprised anew.

Was she too focused on the bonus? Or did he just enter too quietly?

Lee Hoyeon blinked, seeing the flustered Scarlet, and then spoke.

“Scarlet. Weren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Weren’t you, Hoyeon-nim, supposed to be at the Academy? Did you quit the Academy as per my advice?”

“…Something like that.”

Getting kicked out of class, he decided to come home for a bit to rest and see Liliana.

Anyway, the afternoon class today was practical training.

It was called sparring, wasn’t it? If he got involved, Lee Hoyeon’s opponent would just end up getting hurt.

“Isn’t Liliana here? I heard something about fish-shaped pastries, so I came because I was worried.”

“Rebecca-nim said that as soon as she received the fish-shaped pastry machine, she went out onto the street. I don’t know what happened after that.”

“…This is really annoying. Well, she’s not a child, she’ll probably manage on her own.”

Suddenly, he remembered the first time he met Liliana.

She had run away from home refusing to sign the ‘Hell’s Rogue’ contract and was being threatened by thugs, so he saved her.

…Back then, she was pure and cute, comparatively.

Liliana, having regained her memories, is not weak enough to get beaten up anywhere; she’s more likely to do the beating.

I should rest a bit first, then go look for her.

“It’s been a while since it’s just been the two of us. Move over a bit. I want to sit too.”

Scarlet was wearing hot pants made of a comfortable material, like pajamas, which revealed her thighs.

Lee Hoyeon naturally slipped his hand between her thighs.

“You’re casually committing sexual harassment.”

“…Maybe you should start getting used to it.”

“I can only sigh at how you don’t even get embarrassed anymore.”

Scarlet said that, but she shifted her body to make room for Lee Hoyeon to sit.

Normally, she would have gotten up and sat next to him too, but for some reason, she didn’t feel like it today.

• Even if you’re a woman, you can’t just stay still. Sometimes you have to pretend to be cute, pretend to be weak, and get some concern. Men like that.

Scarlet remembered Kang Hyorin’s lecture on romance, learned from dramas.

It was a useless lecture, so she mostly tuned it out, but one sentence still caught her ear.

‘What is pretending to be cute, and what is pretending to be weak?’

It was something far removed from Scarlet’s nature.

Receiving concern? Scarlet hated causing trouble for others the most.

“Scarlet. Liliana will be okay, right?”

“Liliana-nim isn’t weak enough to get beaten up anywhere.”

“That’s not it, I’m worried she might be the one doing the beating.”

“…She’ll probably be fine.”

Sadly, she couldn’t be sure, but Liliana wasn’t that reckless.

Liliana only acted recklessly when she was at home.

“I hope so. Liliana’s matured a bit now.”

“By the way, is touching my flesh while talking about Liliana-nim also part of the sexual harassment?”

“…This is just a habit.”

Lee Hoyeon had his hand between Scarlet’s thighs.

It felt good because it was soft, but he wasn’t doing it for any particular reason.

‘Liliana-nim shouldn’t need to worry.’

Lee Hoyeon was particularly worried about Liliana.

The reason was that she caused so many accidents.

Actually, it wasn’t just Lee Hoyeon. Everyone living in this house worried a lot about Liliana.

It was such a natural thing that she felt nothing, but today, a strange emotion bloomed.

‘What would it feel like… if someone cared about me like that?’

Scarlet also took care of Liliana.

But now, there was no need for that.

She wasn’t weak enough to get beaten up anywhere, and she had matured somewhat now.

Scarlet didn’t notice it, but Kang Hyorin’s words were stirring her emotions.

She envied Liliana, who made Lee Hoyeon worry even when she wasn’t present.

‘Pretending to be cute?’

Doesn’t that happen sometimes? When you suddenly feel like doing something strange.

A day when she wanted to try what Liliana did every day, just once.

For Scarlet, today was that day.

“Ah.”

“Ah?”

Lee Hoyeon, who had been looking at his smartwatch, turned his head.

Scarlet opened her mouth with her usual blank expression.

“Aaaang. I wanna go out and playyyy.”

“…What?”

Lee Hoyeon froze like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Did I just hear that wrong?

“…Aaaang.”

“……?”

“Ah, cough! It’s nothing.”

She almost tried it again, thinking he might not have heard correctly, but seeing Lee Hoyeon’s eyes and mouth widening, she snapped back to reality.

Scarlet quietly closed her eyes.

What did I just do?

She felt embarrassment slowly creeping in, her face flushing.

‘…I need to kill that crazy woman, Kang Hyorin.’

Because she was spouting nonsense, useless thoughts entered her head.

This kind of behavior doesn’t suit her. Scarlet opened her eyes, maintaining a blank expression as much as possible.

“Scarlet.”

“I was imitating Liliana-nim. Hoyeon-nim. H-how was it?”

She tried to play it off somehow, but she couldn’t hide her flushed face and trembling voice.

“Cute! Try it again.”

Lee Hoyeon smiled, looking at Scarlet’s flushed face.

Why is she acting like this today?

“…I don’t think I can do it twice.”

“What? If it was only good for one try, I would have watched more intently. Do it again.”

“No!”

Scarlet turned her body and stood up from the sofa.

If she stayed here any longer, her face might explode.

She needed to go to her room and meditate.

However, Scarlet was pulled back onto the sofa with a thud by a force gripping her wrist.

Turning her head, she saw Lee Hoyeon smiling.

“Where do you think you’re going, Scarlet?”

“If you don’t let go of my wrist, I’ll die.”

“Don’t die, let’s go on a date.”

“…A date? Right now?”

“What are you going to do if you get flustered? You said you wanted to go out and play, didn’t you?”

She wondered why he was acting like this today, but why did the reason matter?

She’s cute, too. If she wants to go out, I should take her.

Lee Hoyeon happily got up from the sofa.

“Alright…”

Scarlet blankly watched Lee Hoyeon’s back as he went upstairs, saying he was going to wash up.

…Maybe I should postpone hitting Kang Hyorin for a bit.

She cleared her throat, thinking such thoughts.