The Main Character Killed The Villain

#033

I stared blankly at Shin Haejun. What nonsense is he talking about?

“I’m going to consult a lawyer.”

“Do you know how terrifying the Haesung Group’s legal team is? You can’t win legally.”

I didn’t think I could win against the chaebol young master. But I pointed out one clause that Shin Haejun had forgotten.

“Look here, the contract isn’t finalized. It says the contract takes effect when my previous apartment’s deposit of 5 million won is returned, but no one has given me my deposit.”

“What?”

“5 million won might seem like pocket change to you, right? But it’s really important in a contract. I give back my money, I give back this house. Isn’t that fair?”

As I smiled and said this, Shin Haejun seriously scanned the contract and then trembled. He immediately took out his phone and called his secretary.

“Didn’t you properly check the contract with Kim Sehyun? Why isn’t one of the contract conditions, Lee Jaeha’s officetel matter, properly settled?”

He’s been throwing tantrums at me all this time, but he acts like a proper boss to his secretary. As I watched curiously, Shin Haejun’s voice grew louder.

“Then that means Kim Sehyun has that money, doesn’t it! Why didn’t you check properly until the end… Ah, forget it.”

As I tilted my head wondering what this was about, Shin Haejun sighed as if frustrated and abruptly ended the call.

“The contract seems… a bit ambiguous.”

“What do you mean?”

“My secretary did clear out the house and return the deposit. To Kim Sehyun.”

What? So Kim Sehyun just snatched my money?

He was already unlikable, and now he’s taken someone else’s money too?

“My 5 million won!”

Unforgivable!

“I’ll tell him to return it right away.”

As I clenched my fist and trembled, Shin Haejun spoke as if trying to soothe me.

It was unexpected. As I blinked and looked at him, he let out a long sigh.

‘I thought he’d say to just forget about it since it’s only 500,000 won….’

Shin Haejun didn’t say a word in defense of Kim Sehyun. Instead, he just tried to calm me down as if he understood why I was angry.

“I thought you’d say 5 million won is pocket change and to let it go, but you’re not?”

“It’s important to you, isn’t it?”

Shin Haejun replied to my question with a serious face.

“What’s important to you is important to me too.”

Hearing those words, I was speechless. I gaped at Shin Haejun’s serious face, then finally dropped my head.

***

In the end, the 5 million won was returned with an apology from Kim Sehyun, who said he had mistakenly thought he had sent it himself.

And I… somehow my heart softened and I postponed looking for a new house a bit. It was because Shin Haejun’s serious face kept coming to mind, making me feel strange every time I visited real estate agencies.

Anyway, since I still have the money, if things don’t work out, I can just use that money to look for a house again. Since the contract was essentially broken when I didn’t receive the deposit on time, Shin Haejun agreed not to say anything more. So staying in this house now was my autonomous decision.

‘Ah, it feels uncomfortable….’

And why does it feel uncomfortable?

Because this was the first time I met Kim Sehyun after receiving the 5 million won from him.

– I’m really sorry. But… we’re best friends, so I thought you’d naturally assume it was a mistake…. Did you hate me enough to tell Haejun that I’m a liar?

Even though I was the one who didn’t receive the money, Kim Sehyun burst into tears over the phone, making me feel really strange.

It seems Shin Haejun had said something implying that Kim Sehyun intentionally didn’t give the money. Having seen readers leaving angry comments, I roughly understood the flow of events. They were commenting again about how I was accumulating bad karma with my words.

‘He made the mistake, why is he making a fuss at me?’

No matter how pessimistic I am, I’m not unintelligent. Anyone could see that the strange behavior was his, so I couldn’t understand why he was trying to make me feel guilty.

“Re-verification… I didn’t expect I’d have to go through re-verification too.”

“I hope you don’t misunderstand, I didn’t request it.”

I suspect Shin Haejun might have ordered it, but anyway, I had nothing to do with it. There was no reason for Kim Sehyun to look at me with resentment over this issue.

“Anyway, the controversy should die down today.”

Kim Sehyun muttered, looking at the back of the staff member who was preparing the machine for re-verification.

‘Is Kim Sehyun really S-class?’

Seeing his confident appearance, it seems like he might be… But the suspicious matching rate and the fact that he wasn’t the protagonist from the beginning made me doubt.

I looked at Kim Sehyun’s profile, which seemed a bit gaunt, perhaps due to the rumors, then turned my head away.

“Lee Jaeha, are you feeling okay?”

As I was sitting quietly, the door suddenly opened and Shin Haejun boldly entered, standing next to me.

“Haejun.”

Kim Sehyun looked at Shin Haejun with moist eyes. Shin Haejun glanced at Kim Sehyun and moved. I thought he was going to Kim Sehyun’s side, but instead, he stood firmly between Kim Sehyun and me, looking at me.

As if trying to block Kim Sehyun from my view.

‘What….’

I caught a glimpse of Kim Sehyun’s jaw tightening slightly. As if he was clenching his teeth. Being completely ignored by his Esper, he must be feeling bad.

But I…

‘I know it’s strange… but it feels a bit satisfying.’

Since I no longer saw Kim Sehyun in a good light, I couldn’t help but like Shin Haejun’s behavior.

“My condition is fine.”

I answered Shin Haejun. He nodded with a satisfied expression and then looked around. Then he approached the examiner and started interfering, saying things like ‘Make sure there are no strange incidents like last time’. The examiner, suddenly receiving attention from an S-class Esper, trembled while preparing the machine.

Finding the scene amusing, I chuckled unconsciously, when a cold voice came from beside me.

“Are you enjoying this?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if you’re enjoying my Esper paying attention to you.”

Kim Sehyun was looking at Shin Haejun with a cold face.

My face stiffened reflexively. It irritated me that he was talking as if I was coveting something of his.

‘It’s not like I’m the one clinging to Shin Haejun first.’

Honestly, I was indeed flustered and shaken by Shin Haejun’s bold attitude. But knowing that being a pair doesn’t mean complete ownership of each other, I didn’t feel sorry for Kim Sehyun.

After all, I learned that being a pair is a kind of contract where the Esper protects the Guide, and the Guide only guides that Esper, signed with a contract.

Knowing that there are cases where pairs break up, I couldn’t really understand Kim Sehyun’s attitude of acting as if I had stolen his lover.

‘It’s not worth answering.’

I kept my mouth shut and ignored him. I could feel Kim Sehyun’s glaring gaze.

“They say there’s no problem with the machine today. We’ll get accurate results this time.”

Shin Haejun, who had returned at some point, spoke to me kindly. I felt the burning gaze on my cheek disappear and realized anew how much Kim Sehyun cared about his reputation.

“It’s good that we don’t have to do this three times.”

I whispered sincerely.

My re-verification was supposed to be carried out quietly, but things changed when Kim Sehyun got involved. I don’t know how it leaked, but the news that Kim Sehyun was being re-verified spread through the Awakened community. Naturally, reporters had flocked to the Awakened Center to quickly report today’s results.

Although it was Kim Sehyun’s re-verification that became more of a topic rather than mine, an F-class, I was a bit worried that I might get caught up in the aftermath.

“Is everything ready?”

The door opened softly and Hyun Dowoon strode in. Like Shin Haejun, he came straight to me and took my hand.

“How are you feeling? How’s your physical condition?”

“I’m fine.”

I answered, gently withdrawing my hand so as not to be offensive. Hyun Dowoon briefly twitched his lips, looking at his empty hand, then said, “I see.”

“Who will be re-verified first?”

“Jaeha, what would you like to do?”

In response to Kim Sehyun’s question, Hyun Dowoon asked for my opinion. It seemed he was willing to go with whatever I chose.

“I don’t care who goes first. Kim Sehyun, what do you want to do?”

No matter what I decided, it was clear that Kim Sehyun would be displeased with any outcome. Whether my results were good or his results were bad, he would blame me.

Intending to nip it in the bud, I let Kim Sehyun choose the order. After serious consideration, Kim Sehyun answered.

“I’ll go first.”

“Then let’s do that.”

After we agreed on the order, the examiner announced that the machine check was complete.

Kim Sehyun sat down at the machine with his usual dignified face. As the machine started operating, the device panel moved busily. Kim Sehyun closed his eyes after casting a moist glance at Shin Haejun with a calm face.

“Printing complete.”

The results were out. Until then, Kim Sehyun had kept his eyes tightly closed.

“What are the results?”

“The result is… S-class.”

Kim Sehyun slowly opened his eyes upon hearing the result. His eyes, full of certainty as if he had expected this, met mine.

“Now it’s your turn.”

Kim Sehyun said quietly as he got up from his seat. I sat down, feeling somewhat nervous.

As the surroundings became quiet, the sound of the result sheet being printed seemed loud. I thought I didn’t care what the result would be, but as I heard the printing sound, my heart started pounding.

‘Do I want my grade to improve?’

Actually, there’s no problem even if I’m F-class. Anyway, the expectation that my grade would be different was just others’ wishful thinking, and being F-class doesn’t make my inventory ability disappear.

People’s gazes and treatment might improve a bit, but honestly, I’ve been receiving strange looks for so long that I didn’t think much of it.

“The test result is….”