I’m Not That Villain

25 – Underdog (5)

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

Minho Lee.

Seojisu’s bodyguard spoke with a cigarette in his mouth in front of me.

“Don’t contact Jisu privately.”

“…….?”

He’s a bit taller than me. A bit of a big guy. But it’s not like there’s a huge difference in height.

About the same. Of course, that’s not all. That intimidating attitude came from the confidence that he could take me down in one go.

But you know what?

Damn. So what.

Why should I be scared?

“Why?”

“…What?”

“No, why. Give me a reason. Why do you care if I contact her privately or not?”

“…Don’t speak informally.”

“You started speaking informally first.”

“Are you the type that doesn’t understand words?”

He stubbed out his cigarette. He stood right in front of me.

Looking down coercively, he lightly loosened his hands.

“To me, getting rid of you is nothing.”

“Gasp, really?”

“…Does it sound like a joke? After dealing with you, I can just tell Jisu. That you came here to cause trouble. That was your purpose.”

“Yeah. Go on.”

“What I’m saying is, even if you die here, it doesn’t matter to me. This is Seoul. A city where no one cares if a body is found behind a building.”

He lightly pushed my shoulder.

It was clear that the heavy thing was deliberately applying force.

“I don’t want to get my hands dirty with blood, so I’ll give you a chance to end this with words. Before I fold you in half, stay away from her. Just take the money and leave. Got it?”

“I understand, but…”

I stared blankly at the hand pushing my shoulder.

“So why should I do that?”

“…You know what? I’ve seen a lot of guys like you who try to keep their pride.”

Lee Minho sighed.

I saw the hand that was pushing me clench into a fist.

“My job was to fold guys like that. This is your last warning. If you show that pathetic pride one more time… I’ll just crush your head.”

“Is Seo Jisoo your girlfriend or something?”

“Yeah. She’s my girlfriend. So stay out of it.”

“Ho…”

Only then could I grasp the subtle relationship between the two.

Boyfriend and girlfriend? Is that it? Or maybe… ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend?

Either way, it didn’t really matter to me.

I had almost no romantic interest in Seo Jisoo.

But the fact was, I felt dirty. I had no feelings, so why was this guy making such a fuss?

My slight favor towards Seo Jisoo also diminished a bit, as she kept her ex-boyfriend around. I didn’t know what their story was, but the damage was affecting me.

I took a step back and raised my hands slightly.

“Well, fine. I didn’t have much interest in her anyway.”

“…At least you can be reasoned with.”

“But you know what.”

I clicked the record button on my phone.

“After hearing your story, I’m too scared to work here.”

“…What?”

I had already gotten everything I needed. I had only worked here for about two weeks, but…

It didn’t seem meaningful to work here any longer. Besides, I didn’t want to work near such an idiot.

I raised my voice so it could be heard inside the building.

“Seo Jisoo!”

“…Yes?”

A voice that seemed to answer from afar was heard inside the building. Immediately, Minho Lee grabbed me by the collar.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“You’re the one doing the nonsense. I told you, I wouldn’t contact you. I’m trying to keep that promise now.”

“So what…!”

The door rattled open.

Jisoo Seo saw me being grabbed by the collar and screamed.

“Hey! Minho Lee! Are you crazy?! What are you doing?!”

“Oh, no… this is…!”

An amazing three-way confrontation.

And in the story of the ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, I naturally pressed the play button on the recorded conversation.

[Speaking bluntly.]

Minho Lee’s expression changed drastically. He immediately tried to snatch the phone from my hand.

Wow. As expected of someone with abilities, he’s really fast. How do you stop that?

I can’t stop it.

But others can.

Bang!

A metallic sound burst from the fist. Of course, it wasn’t my hand that collided with his.

A sturdier, smaller hand. It was the hand of Lily Bennettwater, who was closely guarding me.

“Ugh?!”

Minho Lee staggered back. Lily, who had landed like a shadow in front of me with her hood pulled down, sighed.

“What…?! This is ridiculous…?! How did you…?!”

“It’s a difference in strength, you b*stard.”

Minho Lee’s expression crumbled as he alternated between looking at his hand and Lily standing in front of him. Money well spent, I thought, as I placed my hand on Lily’s head.

“Nice timing.”

“It was an unmaid-like decision. It was reckless.”

“But effective, right? Thanks to you, we recorded everything he truly felt.”

“What, what?! Who are you?!”

I played the rest of the recording on my phone, facing a flustered Jisoo Seo.

“You need to hear it all, Ms. Jisoo Seo.”

As the recorded conversation continued, Jisoo Seo’s expression crumbled. In the rapidly flowing conversation, Minho Lee urgently opened his mouth.

“Oh, misunderstanding….”

“You crazy b*stard!!!”

“It’s fine if you two fight.”

It’s a love triangle fight. It’s fun just to watch.

But I didn’t particularly want to do that right now. The fact that I was involved itself was unpleasant.

I chuckled behind Lily, who was wearing a hoodie.

“Please exclude me. I don’t see any reason to work here while listening to this kind of talk.”

“Wait…! Just a moment! Mr. Lee Seo-jun! It’s a misunderstanding! I can explain!”

“No need for explanations. You’ve paid me for the work I’ve done so far, so I’m satisfied with that. I didn’t complete the full month, but… I’m too scared to work here, so let’s end it here. Saying you’ll fold me in half, or that no one cares if a corpse is thrown behind the building… I don’t see any reason to work here while receiving death threats, do I?”

Seo Ji-soo’s expression crumbled. Ah. Yes. That’s a natural reaction.

I worked really hard while I was here. And didn’t Seo Ji-soo say it from time to time?

That she had never seen anyone as excellent as me. That I couldn’t even be compared to the people she had worked with before.

It must hurt. But what can you do? The ship has already sailed. She should have managed the people around her well. Even while working in the workshop, that b*stard kept staring at me so hard that I thought a hole would be drilled in the back of my head.

“I’m scared and trembling, so I have to run away. Anyway, I won’t come to work from tomorrow. I won’t contact you separately. Just as that person wanted.”

“Mr. Lee Seo-jun! Just a moment! Just…!”

I turned around cleanly. I had already taken out everything worth taking out. It was a pity about the money, but I didn’t want to work in the same place anymore.

Political maneuvering, office romance, I had experienced enough of those in the Black Chain Workshop. And if you get involved with those things, you know. It really tires you out. Immensely.

I had a lot to focus on right now, and I didn’t want to do that. Seo Ji-soo was personally the type I liked, but…

If you can’t manage a relationship properly, there’s nothing more to see. I shook off Seo Ji-soo’s arm that was holding me.

“Don’t come out too far. We won’t see each other again anyway.”

“Mr. Lee Seo-jun!”

Ignoring the words trying to hold me back, I left the workshop. Hmm. It was quite a good experience, but the ending wasn’t good.

But you know. Apart from that, my view of Lily changed a bit. I knew she was strong because she had abilities, but…

What kind of sound comes out of that small body? I thought a bomb had exploded.

“You’re really strong?”

“They were weak.”

“That was weak?”

There was a metallic sound from the punch, what do you mean.

But still, it wasn’t entirely wrong. As soon as Lee Min-ho collided, he stepped back, touching his hand that had turned red.

It seemed more accurate to say that they were weak rather than that this side was absurdly out of standard. Didn’t Cha Seo-yoon say it? That there was nothing to fault in terms of ability.

I was genuinely impressed by Lily’s strength.

“A maid-like strength.”

Lily glanced back at me at my words.

Her slightly raised shoulders were amusing.

“Well, it’s basic.”

A child. A child.

Anyway, it hurts a bit not to have received the money…

After deducting the 500,000 won commission for the black market, only 500,000 won was left from the first transaction.

And the total allowance received so far was around 200,000 won…

I’ll have to tighten my belt for a while. But it’s okay.

I gained more than I lost.

Just finding what I wanted to do made me feel secure. Yes, indeed.

. . .

Crash!

Seo Ji-soo, who had thrown the items on the desk, bit her fingernail.

No. No. No.

How could I lose such a talent? Someone I was determined to take in…

And now I’ve lost them like this?

I tried to resolve the situation belatedly, but the other party no longer responded. I even wrote a long letter via email, but of course, there was no reply.

Seo Ji-soo recalled their last moment together. Eyes that seemed to have lost all affection due to a series of events.

She gritted her teeth and looked back. Lee Min-ho, who was sitting on the sofa, tried to lower his voice.

“Calm down, Ji-soo. He was suspicious from the start.”

“…….”

“If he had such a bodyguard, he wasn’t an ordinary person, right?”

“…Ah…”

Seo Ji-soo tried to suppress her rising anger.

But she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Shut your mouth, will you?”

“…What?”

“Shut your mouth, you b*stard. Girlfriend? Damn it. Why would I be your girlfriend?”

“…I just wanted to keep that suspicious person away…”

“Suspicious? What suspicious? Damn it. Why do you arbitrarily decide that someone who does their job well is suspicious? Did they try to use me for something? Or did you see any sign of them trying to take advantage of me?”

“If they stayed longer, they might have.”

“Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn… You damn b*stard!”

Bang!

The hand that struck the table peeled off the skin. A sharp pain surged, but even so, the heart did not easily calm down.

My head is dizzy. Ah. The heat rises to the top of my head.

“Did I ask you for anything? Huh? Did I ask you to drive away any man who comes near me?”

“…Jisoo, calm down first…”

“Calm down, damn it! You can’t even do that! Did I ask you for much? Just to protect me! Just that one thing! Why are you doing things I didn’t ask for!”

Lee Minho’s face hardened.

“I am your bodyguard, Seo Jisoo. Of course, I have to choose the best way to protect you. It’s right to nip any suspicious person in the bud around you.”

“Acting all logical, huh. You damn b*stard. Then why did you tell me not to have personal contact? Huh?”

“…Because that person might do something dangerous to you…”

“Was that the nuance? Was that the nuance?”

Seo Jisoo turned her body around. A burning thirst surged in.

But she suppressed it. It must be completely resolved now.

Otherwise, I feel like my insides will really burst.

“This is… This is my workspace. It’s not your dating playground.”

“Jisoo.”

“Stop pretending to be okay, pretending to be normal, as if you’re obviously right. It’s really annoying. Do you know why I haven’t terminated your contract all this time? Because you did your job properly as a bodyguard. Because you actually saved my life a few times.”

“…….”

“But… but damn it. I can’t do this. Hey. You once told me that you saw me as a woman, right? But I told you straight up. If you’re going to see me like that, don’t come into my workspace. What did you say then?”

Seo Jisoo sat on the desk. She swept her face.

“You said it was a joke. That it never actually happened. That’s what you said… you damn b*stard… but what was that just now…? Huh…?”

“…Jisoo. Listen to me first…”

“I’ll listen. Go ahead. But think of it as your last chance and speak carefully. If you try to persuade me with nonsense again…”

Seo Jisoo picked up her phone. She held her hand over the number of the Blue Steel headquarters, ready to call at any time.

“You’ll be responsible for all the consequences.”

“…….”

Lee Min-ho bit his lip. He stood up and approached Seo Ji-soo.

She warned him.

“Take one more step. See what happens.”

“…….”

Maintaining the distance, Lee Min-ho sighed.

“I… I… I mean… I…”

He ran his hand through his hair and spoke.

With a serious look in his eyes.

“I love you, Ji-soo. I’m serious.”