MTL NOVEL C25
#25. Even Villains Need Someone to Watch Their Back -2-
The long self-introduction time ended and a moment of peace came to the five non-Originals.
It was something they had to get off their chest someday.
As they say, strike while the iron is hot. If they had been standoffish from the beginning, it would have made for an uneasy atmosphere.
Yu-ha apologized for making the atmosphere gloomy because and began taking out food ingredients she had bought in advance.
Seeing this, Kim Seok-ho remarked, “I hope you’re not suggesting that I make celebratory food,” trying to set the mood.
“Huh? If I wasn’t going to ask you to do that, why would I have brought you here, uncle?”
Yu-ha naturally passed the role of chef for the celebration to Kim Seok-ho and quickly ran away.
Afterward, there was a chase.
“Aack!! Let me go!!”
Perhaps because the building was small, Yu-ha was caught quickly and returned, struggling.
And so, with cooking assistant Yu-ha firmly in Kim Seok-ho’s grasp, the celebratory dishes were completed one after another by the hands of Kim Seok-ho, a ten-year veteran of the food industry.
Perhaps because there were four enhanced humans gathered, the food disappeared as soon as it was made.
“Huh? When did I eat so much?”
Among them, Seolhwa, who had just become an enhanced human, ate the most food.
It was a normal reaction.
Until just recently, she had been a quasi-vegetative patient surviving only on IV fluids in the hospital.
“But enhanced humans are like cyborgs in a way…do they need to get nutrients through meals…?”
Agio, who was picking at bits of food, asked.
In response, Nazha, who liked to show off her knowledge, swallowed a mouthful of food with a gulp and answered.
“You don’t have to eat. You don’t have to sleep either. But if you don’t do those things, you stop being human.”
“What does that mean…?”
“To put it simply, your body may no longer be human, but your brain is still human. If you don’t live like a human, you’ll go crazy from cognitive dissonance.”
“Eek…”
Frightened by those words, Agio began eagerly moving food to her mouth.
If you ask whether a Vitaloid, who isn’t even an enhanced human, needs to do that, the answer would be no.
“I’m hungry…”
Meanwhile, chicken-tear-like drops fell from Yu-ha’s eyes as she had been doing nothing but preparing ingredients without even getting to taste anything.
If she had known it would be like this, she should have said she couldn’t cut with a knife, rather than maintaining some pride as a cook.
“Little sister, say ah-.”
“Um, I… me too…”
Two spoons headed toward Yu-ha’s mouth. She felt deeply moved by her angel-like colleagues and ate each of the foods they offered.
“Delicious!”
Yu-ha became happy.
Meanwhile, Kim Seok-ho, who had also been cooking on an empty stomach, gritted his teeth next to her.
“Brother, say ah- too.”
Seolhwa, who noticed this, brought him food.
Indeed, there’s nothing like having a sister!
Kim Seok-ho was touched deep inside, but his mouth unconsciously uttered cold words.
“It’s okay, I’ll eat later.”
“Tch.”
Disappointed by his cold response, Seolhwa offered her spoon to Yu-ha.
Yu-ha, opportunistically taking the food, laughed with delight saying it was delicious.
Kim Seok-ho became sad. What was a man’s pride worth? He should have just accepted the food.
Thus, the two cooks had a light meal with the food made from the remaining ingredients only long after the big eaters had finished their meal.
Kim Seok-ho went up to the roof to smoke a cigarette.
Seeing him, Yu-ha followed him outside.
“Why are you following me?”
Kim Seok-ho asked after taking a long drag of his electronic cigarette and exhaling with a “phah.”
“Ugh, don’t look this way.”
Yu-ha waved her hands to disperse the cigarette smoke that had reached her.
Perhaps because she had become a woman, even the cigarette smoke that she used to live with in her past life now felt only unpleasant.
“Uncle, you still dislike me, right?”
“Ask the opposite. How could I like you? A woman who almost ruined someone’s life.”
“That’s good enough. There should be at least one person like that.”
“Hmm?”
Yu-ha turned her back and returned to the house.
But before completely leaving, she left one more remark.
“Keep watching me like that, uncle. See if I carelessly become a villain.”
“……”
“Phah,” the cigarette smoke flew far away with his breath.
It seemed that Kim Seok-ho’s thoughts about Yu-ha were gradually coming together.
Meanwhile, Nazha, who had gone outside the building to take a call had a familiar voice rang loudly in her ear.
“Director Nazha! What on earth have you been doing lately that causes your employees to wail endlessly? And what did you do on the orbital elevator train!”
The owner of the voice was Cheon Yusil, the only daughter of Cheon Tae-woo, the CEO of Cheongang Group.
“Ah, so noisy. Are you my mother?”
“I told you to stay quiet for a while! But then you go and expose yourself on broadcast with your face clearly visible! And why didn’t you send that first-generation who stopped the train and fainted to our side?”
Nazha was beginning to find this voice increasingly irritating.
She hadn’t felt that way much when she was at Cheongang. They were targets of her revenge, but for the time being, they were capital slaves who provided her with research funds.
But now they weren’t even that anymore.
She had sucked everything she could out of Cheongang.
She had found two of the family members she had been searching for all along, and it seemed like she was making new friends too.
But what was this loud woman saying to her now?
‘Why didn’t you send that first-generation who stopped the train and fainted to our side?’
Wasn’t she asking her to hand over the sister she had just found to them?
“Whew…”
Given the circumstances, she had been very patient.
“What’s this? Did you just sigh? I’m the one who wants to sigh! Is it so hard to stay quiet like I told you to!”
“Hey, Yusil.”
“…Don’t call me by my name, we’re talking business right now!”
“I’m writing my resignation letter.”
-Click.
The phone disconnected.
At this, the brain of Cheon Yusil, who had been fuming, froze with a ‘snap’.
“What…?”
Late at night when everyone was asleep, Yu-ha, heavily drunk, quietly slipped out of the evil organization’s temporary hideout and headed somewhere.
It was because of a message from Jin Hyun.
If she didn’t respond, he would have understood, so why did he have to threaten to wait?
Yu-ha, with her intoxication at its peak, felt like her stomach was about to burst.
However, she couldn’t not go, because knowing Jin Hyun, he would really be waiting in the park until this late hour.
Jin Hyun appeared before Yu-ha, who was out of breath from running.
“Waah! You scared me!”
Yu-ha seemed greatly startled by Jin Hyun who appeared without any warning, placing her hand over her magnificent chest (heart) while exhaling roughly.
“M-make some noise when you move around.”
“I’m sorry. But, have you been drinking?”
“What does it matter to you if I drink or not…?”
“It’s very dangerous for an intoxicated woman to wander outside at this late hour.”
“You’re the one who called me out.”
“You didn’t have to come.”
“Says the person who waited until 12 o’clock?”
While the two were exchanging banter.
-Bang!
The park’s fountain, announcing the hour, began to shoot water vigorously.
With that sound, the heated air remaining at the spot flew away, and Jin Hyun spoke.
“Let’s sit somewhere for a moment.”
Yu-ha absolutely could not understand why this guy was suddenly acting like this but since she had come out with that intention anyway. Whether like this or that, it would be the same, she thought.
“Let’s sit somewhere cool.”
And so, two silhouettes sat on one bench.
People passed by the bench occasionally because the fountain marking the hour was something special in a city where rain or snow rarely fell.
How had she managed to come to the park at exactly the time when there were so many people?
Yu-ha felt her face becoming hot for no reason.
“Ms. Yu-ha.”
“Yes?”
“Are you perhaps avoiding me?”
At Jin Hyun’s question, Yu-ha naturally recalled the content of the text she had received from Yujin.
No, she wasn’t avoiding him. She had just been busy with many things lately.
Like, you know, helping to save the sister of that 33-year-old unemployed ex-convict uncle. And saving someone who was targeted by a 3 million Lexer Yu*Tuber.
But since she couldn’t tell the story as it was, Yu-ha began to create reasons with her characteristic improvisation.
“Oh come on, why would I avoid you? Is there a reason you feel that way?”
“According to Yujin, you and your sister took me to a nearby hospital.”
“Umm, yes. But why?”
“If someone takes you to the hospital, you’d expect them to visit, but apparently, you just dropped me at the hospital and never came back.”
“Hmm?”
Yu-ha felt something off about Jin Hyun’s words.
Speaking in this manner wasn’t typical of Jin Hyun, but rather more characteristic of Yujin.
Only then did Yu-ha understand who was behind this incident.
Yujin, that woman, had unnecessarily stirred things up with Jin Hyun.
In common terms, this is known as gaslighting.
“…To be honest, I am avoiding you.”
“May I ask why?”
“You got hurt because I asked for help. I felt responsible and was hesitant to meet you.”
Jin Hyun nodded as if he fully understood Yu-ha’s feelings.
He had similar experiences a few times himself. And at such times, there was one saying from someone in his memory.
“You don’t need to feel responsible. I ran to help even before you asked.”
“Still…”
“Then let’s do this. You helped me at the court last time, right? I was just repaying that debt.”
“We shouldn’t calculate like that. You helped me first at the restaurant. I’m the one who owes you.”
“Then next time I’m in trouble, you can come rescue me.”
“No, that’s…”
Yu-ha had no more words for Jin Hyun’s continued response.
Was he always this good with words?
Ironically, it was she who had described him as a performer who makes his living by talking.
“Aah! I don’t know! Let’s do that then!”
Yu-ha stood up abruptly, putting distance between herself and Jin Hyun as she spoke.
“But you’re incredibly strong, aren’t you? Will there ever be a moment when you’re in danger?”
“Who knows?”
Meanwhile, Jin Hyun seriously contemplated it.
Yu-ha found it so funny that she giggled for a while, trying to contain her laughter.
She was moderately tipsy. There was no moon in the sky, but it was quite a charming night.
“By the way, how long are we going to keep using formal language with each other?”
Perhaps because of that, words that would never have come out of Yu-ha’s mouth normally emerged.
Jin Hyun was greatly surprised by this and stared at Yu-ha like a mute who had eaten honey for a while.
“We’ve seen each other enough to be friends by now.”
“…You must be very drunk. I never expected to hear such words from you.”
“…Hehe. You were the one who spoke informally first the last time.”
The fountain that had been vigorously gushing water at the hour stopped.
“Ah, the fountain stopped. I should go now. Sorry for avoiding you. I won’t do it anymore.”
“Shall I walk you home?”
“Come on, don’t bother. It’ll get awkward if you follow me.”
Yu-ha swayed away, waving her arms as she gradually receded, while Jin Hyun was quietly watching her.
“Call me Hyun-ah next time.”
Startled by the voice that came so quietly only an enhanced human’s ears could hear it, she frantically touched her ear.
‘This time, I got you.’
The brief glimpse of Yu-ha turning back with a bright smile seemed to be saying just that.