The Thug Hides the Villainess

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053 – Poisonous Bait #1

“Where…?”

A middle-aged man in a gray suit, wearing glasses, trembled with frustration.

As the badge of a member of the National Assembly on his chest glimmered in the sunlight streaming from a luxurious balcony, he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and snapped.

“Where’s this nonsense coming from!”

Flap!

Member Yu Do-gwan tossed the newspaper, which had been making waves since this morning’s news, without a care.

The headlines sprawled haphazardly across the table screamed attention.

“SHOCKING! President in cahoots with terrorists?”
“Evidence of dealings with the Billunners revealed—.”

“Seo Do-cheol is suddenly making himself so suspect. Is it normal to run these kinds of ads in the papers suddenly with information everyone already knows? This must be poison.”

“Father, are you saying it’s poison…?”

His son Yu Taeyang asked for clarification from his fuming father.

Yu Do-gwan raised his voice, as if he had reached his limit.

“Mouse poison! A drug that kills you if you eat it! But how can I ignore this? As the opposition leader, it would be strange for me to sit idly by. Is Seo Do-cheol trying to use me as his hunting dog?”

This was a highly sensitive and precarious matter.

After all, illegal awakeners had tangled both sides of the political arena closely together.

It was like conjoined twins forced to stick together.

Hasty surgery could lead to their own downfall, so they were biding their time for a better opportunity, not expecting this kind of upheaval.

“Seo Do-cheol, if you pull this kind of stunt, you won’t come out unscathed either. Why? Why are you suddenly doing this?”

Yu Do-gwan was curious about what the lead of the Seo Nam Group was thinking. Depending on the situation, he could even play the role of a hunting dog biting into the president.

In a way, Yu Do-gwan had gained a useful ‘card’ to play.

It was the perfect opportunity to roast the president, who was acting like a dog without a leash.

“By the way, Father, about what I mentioned last night. You said you’d think it over by this morning. Have you thought about it?”

At Yu Taeyang’s question, Yu Do-gwan paused for a moment in thought.

He couldn’t remember what he had talked about with his son last night.

“What was it about?”

“Finding Yu Yeoreum. I know someone who, to be honest, I don’t really like personally, but I think he could be reliable. Why not let him handle it?”

“Right. We did talk about that. Anyway, where has that guy been wandering around at such a crucial time? I raised that stray cat, and he still can’t shake off those street habits.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s why a person’s roots are so important! Education! Bloodline! As you live, you can’t ignore these things. No matter how well you treat a stray you pick off the street, they can’t shed that stubbornness.”

Yu Taeyang nodded along, pretending to agree. He knew his father Yu Do-gwan had no affection for his adopted daughter Yu Yeoreum.

The way he treated her was more like handling a weapon than a daughter.

He vaguely understood that his father and researchers were putting Yu Yeoreum through ‘rigorous tasks’ in the lab.

If there were no health issues, leaving this house might actually be for his sister’s sake.

“Yu Taeyang, go find your sister. If that madman Nam Tae-geon goes off the deep end and declares martial law, your sister will need to step up.”

# # #

It was shocking.

That in the popularity vote conducted at school, I wouldn’t get a single vote.

“How could I not get even one vote? I’m feeling so lost in life.”

It was pure despair.

As I wanted to lay my head on the desk and cry, my back was slapped.

“Hey, Hanam-jjin! What strange nonsense are you saying? This is the F-class class president election! Your name shouldn’t even be mentioned! You’re a D-class student!”

“Is that so?”

I thought that with my current status, I could influence the F-class class president election, but it seemed I wasn’t there yet.

I needed to step it up.

Anyway, they said that after Yu Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul went missing, Kim Sam-soon was elected as the class president of F-class.

Kim Sam-soon.

Honestly, I didn’t even know who that was.

Is she really fit to be a class president?

I wasn’t the only one thinking this; there was someone else raising objections to the election.

It was Wang Ja-hyeon from F-class.

“Why am I not the class president? I was the vice-president, so doesn’t that mean I should step up as president in Yu Yeoreum’s place?”

He was practically demanding the impeachment of the F-class president.

However, it seemed most of the students in F-class thought, “Hey! You’re going to end up stepping down soon because of that incident anyway, so let’s just have someone stable who can handle things!”

With Yu Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul gone, F-class was internally divided.

What about our D-class?

It seemed that newly appointed Cheon Yu-ra was doing a good job, as things were surprisingly peaceful.

Buzzing all around, the noise continued—

So why was the atmosphere in D-class so chaotic?

“Is it true that the president dealt with the Billunners?”

“I heard impeachment talk is going around.”

“Hey, Min-cheol, your dad’s a congressman, right? Have you heard anything?”

And thus, another chaotic day came to an end.

On the way home with friends.

Bbang-daeng, who had been licking the ice cream we bought at the store, suddenly got angry.

“This is so annoying!”

“Why? Is it that the ice cream keeps getting smaller every time you eat it?”

“No! But thinking about it, that’s also frustrating! Why does ice cream shrink when you eat it? Wouldn’t it be nice to have ice cream that increases in amount every time you eat it?”

Oh dear.

Bbang-daeng Baek-Yeoul devoured the ice cream like a crocodile.

He pulled out a piece of paper from his bag.

“About this mid-term exam. They said we’re going to have practical sessions under active awakeners. I ended up working with Jeon Som-i. It totally sucks.”

Who was Jeon Som-i again?

As I thought hard, Chang-sik slapped my back.

“That model girl! The one who shamed us at Seo Ga-eul’s party.”

Ah, that girl.

So Baek-Yeoul would be doing an internship under her.

It must be an expedition into the Great Labyrinth.

Our No Leftover Day had also been scattered due to the midterm practicals.

I also received an assignment, and it was quite frustrating.

Of all people, I ended up under that Jin Ramyeon girl.

I had to ensure that the fact I was the one who kidnapped Yu Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul wouldn’t get exposed during the internship.

“Speaking of which, it seems like Tae-seong hasn’t been around lately.”

Chang-sik looked around.

Our friend Geum Tae-seong seemed really busy these days.

Soon, Bbang-daeng asked in a small voice.

“Tae-seong is acting weird. He leaves right after school. What if he has a girlfriend? Maybe he’s hiding her at home!”

“……!”

I jolted—

The usually timid Deok-soon shivered, and Bbang-daeng quickly said, “That’s unlikely!” while patting Deok-soon’s back.

Still, I believed Bbang-daeng had a point.

I was also hiding girls at home, so I had to head straight home after school like it was a rule.

Today was no exception.

But today, Bbang-daeng invited me over to his house.

“Come over to my house today! I couldn’t bring back my lunch because there was more than usual!”

Bbang-daeng’s lunch would serve as Seo Ga-eul’s staple food.

I reluctantly followed Bbang-daeng to his house, but upon arriving, it was much different from what I remembered.

The neighborhood itself was different, and the house looked different.

“We moved. Our house was sold at auction.”

So he was saying they had been evicted from the mansion they originally lived in.

The new place wasn’t too far from my house.

It was a rundown area.

“My mom and dad are out for work, so just come in comfortably!”

The house was old enough to rival mine.

In the shabby yard, jars of uncertain purpose were lined up haphazardly, creating quite a mess.

But Bbang-daeng seemed unbothered by this old house, carelessly kicked off his shoes, and gestured for me to follow.

“Come on! Hurry up!”

What was he in such a rush for?

Entering his room, Bbang-daeng dove under his bed covers.

He looked just like a raccoon burrowing into its den.

“Hanam-jjin! Come in here! Quickly!”

“What is it?”

Just as I stepped in under the covers, something sparkling appeared in front of my face.

“Glow-in-the-dark Kkeong-kkeongi!”

—Kkeong-kkeong…!

A spider Kkeong-kkeongi glowing with radiant light.

My hair stood on end.

Glow-in-the-dark spider, that’s pretty impressive!

“How about it? Isn’t it amazing? I think Kkeong-kkeongi has a concept of ‘glow’!”

“I wasn’t expecting much, but it’s genuinely impressive.”

This glow function wasn’t even something Ying-ing had!

How tempting!

Anyway, Baek-Yeoul had been secretly raising a creature from others.

She was quite the eccentric high school girl.

“This guy dances when I clap! Look!”

Dum-tiss dum-tiss—.

After watching Kkeong-kkeongi’s odd little tricks for a while, it had suddenly turned four in the afternoon.

As I began thinking it might be time to head home, Baek-Yeoul spoke.

“We’re supposed to go to our internships starting tomorrow, right?”

Just as Baek-Yeoul said, starting tomorrow was the midterm period, so we wouldn’t be going to regular school but to our internship locations. Baek-Yeoul said she would explore the Great Labyrinth with that model girl.

A party of Level 2 explorers.

Heading into the Great Labyrinth filled with traps and dangerous monsters seemed to have Bbang-daeng quite anxious.

“What exactly is this ‘Great Labyrinth’? It’s odd that it suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”

It was indeed strange.

Even for me, who had returned from the future, the identity of the ‘Great Labyrinth’ was hidden like a secret.

“I looked it up for the internship, and apparently, the ‘Great Labyrinth’ is part of a palace that the fairy king used to live in. The Great Labyrinth is the land of the fairies!”

Baek-Yeoul’s eyes sparkled like a girl who believed in Santa Claus.

Fairies, how intriguing.

“So it suddenly hit me—what if Seo Ga-eul disappeared into the ‘Great Labyrinth’? Maybe she was kidnapped to the land of the fairies and no one can find her.”

Now that was an interesting hypothesis.

Really.

# # #

Returning to the basement, I found two female students lying against the wall, each facing away from one another.

Here, everything outside—like the noise of midterms and impeachment—felt irrelevant.

“Did you guys have another fight?”

Yu Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul each had scratches on their faces. It looked like they had clawed and bitten at each other, pulling on their hair.

Yu Yeoreum stirred.

“She ruined my blanket.”

The new blanket I had given her looked like it had been attacked by a beast.

If she couldn’t have it, she’d ruin it—this was a clear representation of Seo Ga-eul’s character.

“What! What’s it to you!”

Even without me saying anything, Seo Ga-eul was growling already.

I told her, “Seo Ga-eul, we’re going for a walk today.”

Today was the full moon when Seo Ga-eul’s strength was particularly weak.

It was a month since Seo Ga-eul had been kidnapped.

“…A walk?”

Seo Ga-eul’s eyes widened.

She soon twisted her mouth into a smirk at Yu Yeoreum.

It felt like she was flaunting something others couldn’t have.

In fact, Yu Yeoreum looked particularly upset by the mention of ‘a walk.’

So I took Seo Ga-eul out of the house.

Though she was on a leash, she seemed immensely happy, smiling.

“What a long time it’s been to taste the outside air.”

I led Seo Ga-eul toward an abandoned factory.

Seo Ga-eul looked at me with thin eyes.

“Why the hell did you drag me to some creepy place? What are you going to do? It’s scary. You pervert.”

Despite her words, her face was filled with relaxation.

Her expression was one of utter confidence that I wouldn’t harm her.

I raised my palm and gave her a sharp slap on the cheek.

“…Aack!”

Seo Ga-eul, who always acted haughty even as a kidnapped hostage, fell over with a wretched scream. There was no surprise that her red eyes burned with anger and hatred as they focused on me.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Seo Ga-eul, I’m not someone to watch your back. I’m your kidnapper.”

Seo Ga-eul had been too comfortable lately.

She was acting unreasonably, despite her promise to cooperate in the awakening if I brought Yu Yeoreum.

Did the future Seo Ga-eul wish for this?

Definitely not. So I was willing to gladly take on the role of the bad guy.

Sure, I would end up being hated by Seo Ga-eul, but that’s how kidnappers and hostages are supposed to be.

Plus, there was something I personally wanted to do.

“I’m going to make some mouse poison. A drug that kills on consumption. But you won’t be able to refuse it. It needs to be a nice picture for tomorrow morning’s newspaper, so strike a pretty pose.”

Ding!

I raised my phone’s camera and began filming a video.

The murderous intent in Seo Ga-eul’s eyes intensified.

“Yaaah! Hanam-jjin, you bastard!!!!!”

“This audio is definitely not going to be usable.”