Chapter 30
When Wonyoung fell silent, at a loss for words, Taerim elaborated.
“I just wanted to observe you a bit more, so I gave you a reprieve. Didn’t I say it? That you’re interesting.”
“…Yes, I’m a clown.”
“I enjoyed watching today as well, Mr. Clown.”
“Don’t call me that!”
The moment Wonyoung shouted, a warning accumulated. Somehow, he thought today was going well.
‘No, there was nothing “well” about it…’
As Wonyoung sighed deeply inside, his feet suddenly left the ground. He was in Taerim’s arms again.
“Please stop treating people like luggage!”
When Wonyoung shouted indignantly, Taerim chuckled and asked.
“Where is there someone who carries luggage this preciously?”
“……”
For a moment, Wonyoung was speechless. Strangely, his heart was pounding. The air around him seemed to have become stuffy too.
‘Am I going crazy?’
Wonyoung rubbed his chest and decided to visit a cardiologist in the near future.
“It would be better for you to go home today. I don’t have a hobby of carrying around someone who’s fallen.”
“…I’m fine.”
“I’m not fine. What if you roll on the floor again? This is a matter related to my public image.”
“Ah, yes.”
Wonyoung answered halfheartedly and received his second warning. Now that he knew what abangsu was, he understood the warnings, but it was still unfair. So what, should he respond with “Yes… whine” every time? What an annoying game.
Anyway, if he got one more warning, that Lucky Pervert would appear again. Wonyoung decided to be careful. But as soon as he made that decision, crisis came to him.
“But really, couldn’t you put me down…”
He was being carried in Taerim’s arms again! past all the employees. All employees might be an exaggeration, but it was certain that all the employees on this floor saw.
But Taerim, as if he didn’t know shame, answered nonchalantly.
“You’re hurt, aren’t you? I’ll take you home, so go inside today and rest without moving.”
“My leg isn’t broken…”
“You couldn’t walk properly earlier.”
“That was…”
Wonyoung had nothing to say. He couldn’t claim that it was all the game’s doing.
So Wonyoung had to go to the car once again, playing prince and princess in front of countless people. Taerim’s arms didn’t even hurt, as he walked steadily. Anyway, he was a strong chaebol.
“Director-nim, surely you’re not planning to go home together.”
The secretary manager, who had been following anxiously from the middle, carefully asked as he watched Taerim put Wonyoung in the car. When Taerim’s eyebrow rose crookedly, the secretary manager flinched but still said.
“You have many appointments afterwards… Especially the seminar in an hour has not only the chairman but also prominent business people participating…”
“HS is mine anyway, so what can I gain by participating in such places? Meager connections that will break with one contract?”
“That, that’s…”
“Give me a reason. A valid reason why I should go there.”
I used to harshly interrogate employees like that too…
Lost in memories, Wonyoung belatedly felt troubled that the secretary manager seemed to be having difficulties because of him. In his flustered state, he unconsciously tried to restrain Taerim and firmly grabbed the hem of his clothes.
“Huk.”
What am I doing right now! He quickly let go the next moment, but Wonyoung was somewhat surprised by his own Narae-like behavior. He also felt doubtful that he had practiced abangsu too much.
Since Taerim also seemed surprised and whipped around to look this way, Wonyoung offered an embarrassed apology.
“I’m sorry for touching you without permission…”
“…No.”
He said no, but Taerim’s expression wasn’t very good. Well, he had heard that Taerim had a tendency to extremely avoid contact with others. Wonyoung realized he had made a big mistake and apologized again.
“I’m really sorry, I didn’t have any strange intentions…”
“Am I scary?”
“What?”
When Wonyoung was flustered and asked back at the sudden question, Taerim asked while slightly avoiding his gaze.
“I’m asking if my behavior just now perhaps frightened Narae-ssi.”
“…?”
However, Wonyoung couldn’t understand what this meant at all. With Narae’s face, he would seem to be frightened by small things, but having lived as the fierce elite Heo Wonyoung, he had never been afraid of anything or made others worry about similar things.
So not understanding what was supposed to be scary, he tilted his head and answered.
“No? I’ve never been scared of Director-nim.”
The fear Wonyoung thought of here was fear close to the ‘horror’ genre, not intimidation or coldness. But at Wonyoung’s words, Taerim showed a slightly surprised expression.
Wonyoung found that a bit unexpected. To think that Kyung Taerim would care about others’ opinions too.
After staring intently at Wonyoung for a moment like that, Taerim soon opened his mouth.
“Then that’s fine.”
He didn’t know what was fine, but at that moment, a tacky sound effect of ‘sharallarang’ flowed out and translucent hearts popped up in his vision. Wonyoung, who was frowning at that sight, checked his status window just in case.
Kyung Taerim
030/999
‘His favorability went up!’
When he checked, the favorability that was originally 20 had gone up by 10. Even so, he still had to collect 30 times more than what he had gathered so far, but perhaps because of the satisfaction of moving someone’s heart. Still, Wonyoung felt a little motivated.
‘I’ll continue like this.’
Wonyoung decided to push forward with this atmosphere!
“Besides, Director-nim has always been good to me… um… annoy, no… hand, hand, handsome… you are.”
But trying to compliment someone he used to call an annoying rich bastard, only the word annoying came to mind. Especially saying handsome to another man wasn’t easy. Well, he was somewhat handsome! But saying those words out loud would crack Heo Wonyoung’s pride.
‘This is ruined.’
He didn’t know his personality of not being able to say empty compliments would be poison at times like this. It would be nice if choices appeared at times like this, but as if mocking Wonyoung, there was no news of choices.
And sure enough, Taerim’s expression, which had become somewhat gentle, changed to one looking at something ridiculous.
“If you’re going to compliment, why don’t you do it properly? I won’t fall for your tricks anyway.”
“What? It’s not a trick!”
“Suddenly giving compliments that don’t even work? If I went with you, you’d pull tricks like last time again.”
“When did I ever pull tricks!”
“I really can’t let my guard down. I don’t know if you’re careless or thorough.”
“No, I said I didn’t!”
As Wonyoung, who was furious, tried to follow the departing Taerim, Taerim turned around sharply and sternly instructed.
“Sit still and go, don’t move unnecessarily. If you limp tomorrow, you’re fired.”
“But…”
Whether Wonyoung beat his chest in frustration or not, Taerim left with the secretary manager. When he checked the status window, the favorability that had gone up by 10 had dropped by 3 again. It was really a shitty game system and character.
‘I don’t fit with this game… Why did they choose me as a beta tester? Next time I meet the system, I’ll hit it.’
Wonyoung sat with his head in his hands, feeling self-loathing in the car. Without noticing that there was a car following him all along behind.
Soon the car carrying Wonyoung ran smoothly down the main road and reached near his house. The driver who parked the car on one side of the road asked.
“We’ve arrived, Rae-nim. Shall I take you to the front of your house?”
“You don’t need to add that ‘nim’… No. That’s fine. I’ll go by myself from here. Thank you. Please tell Director-nim thank you too.”
“Yes, please go in safely.”
Wonyoung, who got out of the car, slowly walked through the narrow alley where cars couldn’t enter. Thinking about the game, system, favorability, etc. Then he suddenly thought about the daily mission.
‘But why is there no change in the daily mission?’
No news of completion either. Puzzled, Wonyoung opened the mission window. The mission was still the same content.
‘Is it not just finding anyone? Or do I really have to find it like a hidden picture puzzle for it to be meaningful?’
Wonyoung walked lost in thought.
One step like that, two steps.
Then suddenly, really suddenly. Wonyoung finally felt the presence following behind him. At first, he thought it was just someone whose path overlapped, but even though he was walking slowly while lost in thought, it was strange that they didn’t overtake him.
‘Someone is following me.’
Having reached that conclusion, Wonyoung bit his lower lip. This damn game seemed to have changed genres to thriller again.
‘What should I do? Can I shake them off?’
First, he needed to know who it was. At least in this world, there were no characters hostile to him.
‘No, maybe it’s someone from Siyeon’s organization. Or that competing organization. It could be someone from Taerim’s family side… Could it be Heegang’s sasaeng? I heard sasaeng fans are so extreme.’
Was it because there were no normal characters? Why were there so many possibilities he could think of?
Among them, Wonyoung recalled the cruel acts of sasaengs he had encountered by chance in media and his face turned pale. Could they be trying to harm him like that…
‘No, wait. They’d be harming Heegang too, wouldn’t they?’
Heegang was a good person even if his personality was strange. He just lacked empathy and social skills a bit. Most importantly, he was a conquest character, so he couldn’t let him be harmed.
The same went for Siyeon and Taerim. If it was an existence that would harm them, he should rightfully catch them and make sure they could never do such things again. Only then could he conquer them and go home.
‘If I’m lucky, favorability might go up.’
The moment he thought of that, Wonyoung was reborn as an apostle of justice. He also had his own plan in his head.
As soon as he made his mental decision, he started running without delay. Then he felt that whoever was chasing him also started running the same way. Fortunately, the stalker seemed to have taken the bait called Wonyoung instead of running away.
