The Thug Hides the Villainess

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036 – Strong Women Generally Have Weaknesses #2

It’s been about a week since the news of Yeomra’s death was reported.

In the meantime, my daily life has somewhat stabilized.

If there’s anything unusual, it’s that Deok-soon and Tae-sung seem to have grown a bit closer after attending a rock concert together?

“Deok-hee, I listened to the musical ‘Death Notebook’ you recommended the other day and it was great. Do you have any other song recommendations? I want to listen to them while working my convenience store job.”

“I recommend you definitely check out Radiohead’s ‘Creep.’ I particularly like the lyrics where the person laments feeling like a weirdo and that they’re nobody in front of their crush…”

It seemed that Deok-soon, who knows a lot about various things, had started a sort of feedback loop with Tae-sung where she recommended music and movies, and he would watch and listen to them.

When quiet and composed Deok-soon and socially awkward Tae-sung talked, they looked like they were completely in their own world, separate from the noisy Class D.

The issue was with the ‘Bbangdaengi’ (butt).

“Bbangdaengi, why are you staring so wide-eyed?”

“I feel like Deok-soon and Tae-sung are getting closer but not making any progress. If only Deok-soon could muster just a little more courage… don’t you think?”

Bbangdaengi seemed to think that Deok-soon had a crush on Tae-sung. And we, the members of ‘No Leftover Day,’ felt a sense of duty to help their love.

“Is there any way we could help Deok-soon’s love?”

“Do we really need to? We’re not Cyrano. Bbangdaengi, why don’t you think about how to connect me with Seoga-eul? Don’t you know what kind of food she likes or what movies she enjoys?”

Bbangdaengi and I had formed a mutual contract. If I teamed up with Bbangdaengi and gave him a ‘shop’ role, he would provide me with information to increase Seoga-eul’s likeability toward me.

These days, I felt like I was going crazy because of Seoga-eul. It was as if I was being bombarded with requests without any awareness that I had been kidnapped, and my limits were being tested. Just the other day, she insisted for an hour, “Mimic a cat for me.”

My manifestation of reasoning hadn’t progressed or gained any fruit since ‘the length.’

“In elementary school…”

Baek-Yeoul said.

“I remember a time in elementary school when I ate all the apples and made her really mad. Seoga-eul loves apples. But with her missing, does this information even matter?”

I handed a clean lunchbox to Baek-Yeoul, who tilted her head.

“I enjoyed yesterday’s lunch. The rolled omelet was a bit salty.”

“Salty? No way.”

These days, Baek-Yeoul was packing me a lunch every day. I was giving that lunch to Seoga-eul, which was obviously a secret from Baek-Yeoul.

This time, Seoga-eul criticized the rolled omelet as being salty. I passed that off as my own critique to Baek-Yeoul, who then reflected it in the next lunch she packed—this cycle had become my daily routine.

Even though it felt like nothing significant had happened in the past few days, I knew this peace wouldn’t last much longer.

Why?

Because I had to start preparing to kidnap Yu Yeoreum.

“Hey, Hanam-jjin!”

Bbangdaengi poked me in the side.

“We’re still friends, right?”

“Always a soulmate.”

“But what if Seoga-eul doesn’t come back like this…”

“Seoga-eul?”

“…Nah, it’s nothing!”

What was that? Such a bland guy.

While making the rolled omelet salty.

# # #

After school, on the last day of community service.
I was picking up trash around the school with Yu Yeoreum.

“……”
“……”

Yu Yeoreum generally didn’t talk much.
Whenever silence settled between us, I didn’t force myself to speak either. After a long silence, Yu Yeoreum would start to talk, as if organizing her thoughts.

“Are you still enjoying your hobbies?”
“Hobbies?”
“Watching adult videos next door.”

So that’s what she was referring to.
The trouble with lying is that to maintain one lie, you have to create two more lies, and to keep those two, you need four more lies.

“I watch them every day.”
“Every day?”

Yu Yeoreum seemed a bit surprised by my answer.
Soon, her eyes looked at me with suspicion as if I were some kind of pervert, so I decided to reveal to her one of those secrets known only to men.

“Every guy you know probably watches them every day. Our school instructors, the boys in your class, and all the guys you pass on the street.”

“……”

Yu Yeoreum didn’t seem to believe me at all.
Was my expression the same as when I found out Santa didn’t exist?

“Is that how guys normally are?”
“Yup, it’s normal. Most girls probably watch too.”
“Girls too? That’s normal?”

I could see concern creeping across Yu Yeoreum’s face. After another brief silence, that silence continued until the moisture from the drink cans I had set aside to drink ended up soaking the table.

“Do I need to watch them to be normal like everyone else?”
“That would be good.”
“Then, do you have anything to recommend?”
“What’s your taste?”
“Taste?”

Yu Yeoreum’s eyebrows shot up.
“I don’t know. I’ve never watched any before.”

What? Never? There really was a natural monument of a virtuous maiden!
Suddenly, I was curious about Yu Yeoreum’s preferences.

“So, what do you usually do at home? Do you have any hobbies?”
“Just training or watching squirrels.”
“Watching squirrels?”
“Squirrel YouTube videos. They’re cute.”

She seemed tough as steel, but surprisingly had a girlish side.
In fact, I liked squirrels too. They were quite cute when they scurried around, and they tasted good when fried.
There weren’t many animals that could delight your eyes and mouth like squirrels.

With that feeling, our volunteering time came to an end.
As I realized I wouldn’t be able to exchange information with Yu Yeoreum anymore, I felt a bit sad.
Now, what excuse would I use to meet her again?
While I was thinking about this, Yu Yeoreum said.

“Do you want to come over to my house today?”
Yu Yeoreum invited me to her home.
“Why?”
“I was wondering if ordinary people invite their friends over. I feel like you and your group often visit each other’s houses, but for some reason, everyone around me seems to find me intimidating.”

It’s understandable to find her intimidating. Being friends with a girl who shoots laser beams from her eyes would feel like living near a missile that might explode at any moment.
Does Seoga-eul really want to kidnap someone like this and keep her by her side?

Thus, I ended up following Yu Yeoreum to the apartment where she lived.
Knowing where your target lives is common sense and basic for a kidnapper.

“Ah, Yu-reum, you’re home. Did you bring a friend?”
“Yes. I’ll be going up.”

It was a high-end apartment with a security guard on duty at all times. It felt like a place where elegant breakfasts would be served in the apartment dining hall every morning.
Yu Yeoreum lived on the top floor, the 21st floor.
When the elevator doors opened, the entire floor was Yu Yeoreum’s home.

“Is anyone home? Can I just go in?”
“If you wear the slippers over there.”

Wearing the unusually fluffy indoor slippers, I walked in and saw a large photo hanging in the living room.
In the picture, a man was standing behind Yu Yeoreum, clutching her shoulder.
“Is that your dad? I feel like I’ve seen his face somewhere. Was he a famous member of parliament?”
“Maybe.”

I pretended not to know, yet it seemed like Yu Yeoreum wasn’t very interested in talking about her father.
Yu Yeoreum then went straight into her room.
I followed her in and thought, since it’s her room, it’s probably filled with barbells, dumbbells, and a punching bag. Surely, a jiu-jitsu mat would cover the floor.

But the moment I stepped into the room, I was completely taken aback by the sight of colorful plush toys scattered everywhere.
Even Bbangdaengi’s room, which was filled with pink due to hair dye, wasn’t this feminine.
Yet, it was surprising that Yu Yeoreum, the toughest steel high school girl, had her room filled with so many ‘Pokémon’ figures.

Swish-.
Yu Yeoreum sat in a chair and turned on her computer, ignoring whether I was looking at the dolls or not.
And then she asked,
“How do you watch adult videos?”

Is this for real?
When Yu Yeoreum asked in her usual blunt and cool tone, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a trap to lure me in.
Out of curiosity, I asked,

“Why do you suddenly want to watch adult videos?”
“I’ve never watched them before. You’re the only person who has talked to me about this.”

She wanted to watch them simply because she has never seen them before—such a straightforward mindset.
I could understand that.
In that sense, I decided to download the ‘Complete Education’ I had uploaded to the cloud and played it in front of Yu Yeoreum.

“Ahhh, ahh—.”
As the explicit sounds and flesh began to intermingle, a heat ray from somewhere suddenly shot through the center of the monitor.
Seeing my monitor turn into a donut shape, I could only step back in shock!

“Eek! What the hell is happening?!”
Crash-! Boom-!
My desperate struggle to survive led to my elbow colliding with Yu Yeoreum’s face.

“…Oops.”
Yu Yeoreum hurriedly covered her eyes.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. What is this? I’ve never had anything like this happen to me before.”

By her attitude, it seemed she hadn’t intentionally shot the heat ray at the monitor. Her cheeks were noticeably flushed beneath the palm she used to cover her eyes.
Drip-.
Thanks to bumping her face with my elbow, I noticed blood trickling from my nose.

「Name: Yu Yeoreum
Hold: Show more details ☜
《???》 – You lack the emotional level to peep at this.
《Photosynthesis Lv.2》 – You have photosynthesis abilities like an ancient tree.
Status: 《Tension and Embarrassment》 – You feel small in an unfamiliar experience and atmosphere. You are in a situation where you cannot control your abilities. You are also hungry.」

Yu Yeoreum seemed just as flustered by the recent situation. I could pick up on her typically cool voice trembling slightly with my “emotional” instincts.

“Yu-reum, so your body shoots out lasers when you get excited, huh? That’s understandable. In my case, when I get excited, my tailbone stiffens. The front tail.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever had a nosebleed. Oh, it stopped.”

From just this experience, I realized the weakness Yu Yeoreum had been trying to tell me about!
Yu Yeoreum’s weakness was definitely adult videos!
Surely, she wouldn’t be able to control her powers while watching them. That explains why blood was trickling down from my blind elbow!
The kidnap plan that seemed to have no progression suddenly made huge strides. Good ideas began flooding my mind.

Conclusion.
The kidnapping of Yu Yeoreum is tonight.

Clatter, creak-.
At that moment, the apartment door swung open, and a man stepped inside with long strides.
“Yu-reum, I’m back. What’s that noise—?”
He was about to come straight to Yu Yeoreum’s room, but upon seeing the speaker still emitting groans despite the broken monitor, the blood-stained bed, Yu Yeoreum, and me, he frowned.

“What the hell are you doing?!”
He looked ready to pounce on me at any moment.
Cursing right off the bat? What a rude guy.
Not one to be outdone, I shot back.
“I’m Hanam-jin, the guy who watched adult videos for the first time with Yu Yeoreum and made her bleed! Who are you?!”
“What? What the hell? You made her bleed for the first time? I’m her older brother, you bastard!!!!”

Bam-!
The man lunged at me like a starving tiger.
I was a man who never shied away from a fight, so I kicked him right in the groin like lightning.
“Han-jin Kick!”
“Ughhh!”