Chapter 14: Don’t Mess With Me (2)
‘Is it because it’s the first day? Pretty relaxed.’
As I stepped outside during the break, I found it hard to shake the strange feeling.
Teaching knowledge like this… it felt like being in school.
While I was moving toward the water dispenser to grab a drink, I suddenly froze.
As if reacting to me, a few people passing by also slowed their pace for a moment.
The moment I turned my head sharply, I caught sight of someone sprinting away like they were fleeing.
‘What are they doing?’
I stepped back in front of the water dispenser.
Even the person who was about to drink quickly turned and ran off.
I paid it no mind and took a sip of water, then quietly chuckled.
‘…Ah, the rumor’s already spread?’
Word must have gotten out that Hae-ryeon had gone to confront the White Sparrows' Coordinator.
If not, people wouldn’t be reacting this obviously.
I liked it.
‘Now that it’s become a bigger deal, the ones with guilty consciences will huddle up and whisper, wondering what to do next.’
Now it felt worth listening in.
Until now, it would’ve just been people talking behind my back, so I hadn’t bothered to listen.
I went back inside to continue the training.
There were three new recruits in total, including me.
It was obvious the others were biting their tongues, their lips twitching with unspoken questions.
With the infamous Team 3 in their presence, they had to be dying of curiosity.
But whether they were just patient or had other things in mind, they said nothing to me and didn’t even make eye contact.
I sat at my seat, propped my chin on my hand, and pretended to rest while actually covering my ear.
My ear melted into shadow, slipping into the cracks of the building.
There was only one kind of conversation I wanted to hear.
“…Hey, what do we do?”
That voice—filled with fear.
‘Found you.’
“What if they found out it was us?”
The voice came again, sounding almost like a desperate complaint, and I listened quietly.
“Don’t jinx it. It’s not us—it’s you, you.”
“W-What are you talking about! You’re the one who told me to do it! You said to withhold that bastard’s info…”
“You’re the one who blabbed. About that ex-villain joining Black Eagle. I only told you how to handle it because I was worried for you as a teammate. You’re the one who actually did it.”
‘I hate this kind of talk the most. Twisting words to make someone else look like the idiot.’
I touched my temple lightly as I kept listening.
“If you say it like that…”
“And you didn’t do it, right?”
“…What?”
“You didn’t do it. Remember that?”
My eyes narrowed.
So they were planning to cover this up.
“Y-Yeah. I didn’t do anything. It wasn’t me!”
“So make sure you remember. You and I—we didn’t do anything.”
“Okay. Got it. We didn’t do it.”
“And seriously, even if you were desperate, come on. I must’ve been too nice to you. For you to forget that there’s a difference between you and me.”
That smug line—drawing a line between ‘upper’ and ‘lower’—almost made me laugh.
Time to see who it was.
I dropped my hand from my ear and casually ran it across my brow like I was brushing away my bangs.
Faces came into view.
One was a Black Eagle.
The other, a White Sparrow.
Quite the pairing.
Now I was sure who I needed to deal with.
‘You first.’
I let my hand fall and smiled quietly.
As soon as training ended, I headed out.
I could hear someone following me, but I ignored it and lost them quickly.
There was only one reason people would want to talk to me right now.
They were either after the truth behind the current rumors—or wondering why Team 3’s Team Leader had visited the Manager Coordinator.
‘Gossip really is universal no matter where you go.’
I’d found it annoying how strange rumors followed me every time I changed jobs, and it looked like this place was no different.
I entered Team 3’s room and looked around.
‘No one’s here.’
Hae-ryeon had told me I didn’t need to head out into the field during theory training.
She said to enjoy this time.
But I couldn’t quite relax.
Was it really okay to rest?
Sure, I’d handled everything myself, but I had still done all sorts of things just to avoid getting fired.
I knocked and opened the door to the room where Hae-ryeon was.
“You’re back?”
Hae-ryeon greeted me warmly.
I gave her a slight bow.
“Theory was boring, wasn’t it?”
She grinned.
People usually found theory dull after being out in the field.
“No. I was fine. It helped me understand what it might feel like to be a student.”
Hae-ryeon blinked rapidly.
She closed her lips, then forced a smile.
She knew I’d never been able to attend school.
“That’s good to hear. I think tomorrow’s theory will be even more fun.”
“Is that so?”
I responded calmly.
After a brief silence, I called out to her.
“Team Leader.”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“…Ah.”
She paused mid-sentence, as if remembering something.
She’d been so angry earlier over the Coordinator situation that it had slipped her mind.
She interlaced her fingers and exhaled slowly.
“No matter how urgent it was, you shouldn’t have stolen someone’s property.”
‘Should I have taken it by force instead?’
The thought came to mind, but I didn’t say anything.
It wasn’t the villain’s way anymore.
“And if something like this happens again, you need to come to me first—not Team Leader Ye Ju-hyeon.”
“I’ll do that from now on. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
I bowed my head immediately.
That quick apology made her inhale.
Whether it was genuine or not, it still hit her somehow.
“No, it makes sense. Everything happened so fast. You just got hired and this mess lands on you. This won’t happen again. And even if it does, I’ll handle it. So just leave it to me.”
After finishing her sentence, she checked the time.
“In about five minutes? The people who didn’t send your alert will be here. If you’ve got something to say, now’s your chance.”
“Were they fired?”
“That’s right.”
For just a moment, a smile flickered across my lips and vanished.
“Hyeon-yul. I know I’m being overly cautious, but… you haven’t met the Poison King again, have you?”
“No. I haven’t contacted him since.”
That was the truth.
I’d honestly debated it—but decided against it.
There was no reason to rush anymore.
I already had a job and was doing fine.
“And again, just being careful here—but if the Poison King shows up and offers you a really sweet deal… would you go?”
She was trying to test me.
“How sweet is the deal?”
“What…?”
“…W-Wait a second!”
Just then, Shin-woo burst in through the door and shouted in panic.
He ran straight toward me without catching his breath.
Maybe he’d just come from a fire mission—he smelled like smoke.
“Hyeon-yul! That’s not even a deal worth hearing!”
Shin-woo declared with certainty.
“Why not? There’s nothing wrong with hearing someone out. They say you should always listen well to others.”
“…Is that from that book?”
Hae-ryeon hesitated as she asked.
She vaguely remembered the title being something like 101-something.
“Yes. More than anything, I’ve always been good at listening to people.”
I shrugged proudly.
Listening didn’t mean I had to agree or comply—it was my choice how I responded.
My confident expression seemed to stump Shin-woo for a moment.
He fiddled with his slightly long hair and took a sharp breath.
‘This guy’s gonna drive me nuts.’
If he didn’t say something soon, it felt like I really might just waltz off and join the other side.
This kind of education should’ve started from childhood.
Humans were social creatures, after all.
But Hyeon-yul hadn’t had that kind of upbringing.
Now Shin-woo was learning where the gaps were.
“I know you probably don’t want me interfering, but we’re talking about the Poison King. The fact that he wants you—that alone is suspicious, don’t you think?”
“I killed Shin Dae-ho. That’s all that matters over there. The more people you kill, the more they like you.”
My blunt reply left Shin-woo speechless again.
His mouth twitched with words he couldn’t say.
From what he’d seen so far, I had a weakness for company benefits.
For example, this room had a break room with premium ice cream and snacks.
When I first saw it, I asked if I had to pay.
When I heard there was a company cafeteria, I quietly cheered.
And when I learned meals were free, I looked genuinely confused.
Like I’d never experienced any sort of benefits before.
How could he not be worried?
‘I can’t let him go over there.’
Shin-woo was desperate.
New recruits like this were incredibly rare.
“I understand why you’re both concerned. I’m not going. And even if I do go, I’ll only pretend to.”
I let them know, just enough so they could breathe easy.
Why would I walk into an obvious trap?
“Seriously…”
“Not even pretending. That’s dangerous too.”
When Hae-ryeon cut Shin-woo off firmly, Hyeon-yul gently closed his lips.
As he wondered how to persuade her, a question he’d been curious about suddenly surfaced.
“Ah, Team Leader. I have another question I’d like to ask. May I?”
“Go ahead.”
Hae-ryeon looked at Hyeon-yul seriously.
“What rule does someone have to break to get kicked out of Black Eagle?”
It was a rather peculiar question—but coming from Hyeon-yul, it wasn’t unexpected.
Hae-ryeon thought carefully before answering.
“You can’t harm or kill civilians. Aside from that… well, killing another Black Eagle… or killing a manager, maybe? Otherwise, if you fail too many missions? There’ve been people who ran off, but no one’s been fired yet.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
Hyeon-yul smiled lightly.
‘So basically, I can kill people—as long as I don’t get caught?’
Honestly, that was a field he was pretty confident in.
It’s how he’d always operated.
Knock knock.
“Who was supposed to come?”
Shin-woo asked.
“Former managers. They’re here to apologize to Hyeon-yul.”
“Apologize for what?”
“They didn’t tell him where the theory training was.”
Hae-ryeon glanced subtly at Shin-woo.
To be honest, the timing worked out well.
Shin-woo couldn’t stand injustice.
“…Ah. So that’s why things were kind of noisy.”
Shin-woo’s eyes were already narrowing.
“That’s right.”
“What was their punishment?”
“They were fired.”
“That’s it?”
“Of course not. They’ll be questioned by the police, too.”
“I’ll help.”
Shin-woo said firmly, and Hae-ryeon smiled brightly.
Though she appreciated the support, Hyeon-yul felt a twinge of discomfort at the conversation between the two.
‘Those guys weren’t the real culprits.’
They were just pawns.
He couldn’t let them become the scapegoats and get exhausted over this incident.
“You don’t have to go that far. I appreciate the thought.”
Hyeon-yul declined politely.
“What? Why?”
“Team Leader is more than capable. You can trust her. She’ll destroy them.”
Both Hae-ryeon and Shin-woo jumped in, disappointed by his refusal.
“That’s not it. I just wanted to see what kind of people they were.”
“You called them just… to see?”
Hae-ryeon didn’t understand.
They’d crossed a massive line already—wasn’t he even angry?
“I’ve never been fired, but I know what it feels like to lose a job.”
Hyeon-yul stood from his seat and walked toward the door.
Shin-woo stared after him, stunned.
If this had happened during a mission, it could’ve easily cost someone their life.
It was a dirty, despicable act.
Was he really willing to forgive it?
“That’s why I wanted to talk with them.”
Without caring about the looks from behind him, Hyeon-yul greeted the two people who had entered.
“Hello.”
Both were startled by the softness in his voice.
‘So this is the guy from the rumors…?’
They knew his appearance had changed due to magic that blurred perception, but facial expressions couldn’t lie.
He didn’t look angry at all.
Still, the two bowed slightly and felt uncomfortable in his presence.
No matter what anyone said, they were fired because of this man.
They hadn’t done anything wrong.
He was the one at fault.
Why would a villain come to a place like this?
A villain should know their place.
Anyone would think he was a spy.
“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”
Hyeon-yul used a tone he personally hated—but knew was extremely effective.
“You weren’t the ones who did it, after all.”
As if he knew something.
As if he was comforting them.
That vague tone slowly began to chip away at their defensiveness.
Even if it didn’t work now, it didn’t matter.
They needed to be shaken longer, deeper.
“If you ever need help, just let me know. I know it wasn’t your doing.”
Hyeon-yul spoke even more gently.
He knew better than anyone how powerful the words “you didn’t do anything wrong” could be in justifying someone’s actions.
‘See? Their eyes already look different.’
He chuckled to himself inwardly.
Hyeon-yul sat at a café, sipping coffee.
He stared blankly out the window.
‘Nice.’
The life he had only imagined was now right in front of him.
A life of ease.
If he could keep living like this, he had no more wishes.
But unfortunately, that wasn’t why he was here today.
He needed an alibi.
The CCTV in this place would prove his location.
He was planning to erase one of the main perpetrators behind today’s incident.
He already knew where they lived.
He would now excuse himself to the bathroom for a moment, and in that time, his target—who was too far to reach normally—would still be there.
‘But I can reach them. And no one knows that.’
Hyeon-yul rose from his seat.
He walked calmly toward the bathroom.
Once inside a stall, his body melted into shadow.
Between shadow and shadow lay countless spaces.
So dense and tightly packed it felt like a vast sea.
You could lose all sense of direction inside.
That’s why, back when he teleported the villain, he’d ordered them to hold their breath—because who knows what you'd inhale here.
The scenery changed.
The room had no lights on, but Hyeon-yul could see clearly.
Beep beep beep.
The sound of a keypad being pressed came from the front door.
Click.
The motion-sensor light flicked on, and something shadowy came into view.
The target, just returning home, was wrapped in a strange chill the moment the door closed.
Someone was standing in the entryway.
Who was it?
He couldn’t see their face.
Shrouded in smoke, it was like the figure had been dyed pitch black.
He opened his mouth to speak.
But just as he was about to say something, something flowed.
It was hot. And thick.
Drip… drip drip.
As it streamed out in rivulets, his field of vision dropped.
He blinked.
He could see his own feet.
“That’s what you get for messing around.”
That single sentence was the last thing that reached his ears.
Slowly, the light disappeared, and darkness descended.
Hyeon-yul emerged from the bathroom and washed his hands.
He stepped back out.
Just before returning to his seat, he walked to the counter.
“One slice of cheesecake, please.”
To leave a more lasting impression, Hyeon-yul bought a slice of cake.
He remembered that people often looked at him strangely, as if cake didn’t suit him.
After placing his order, he sat back down.
‘They knew what kind of person a villain is, so why did they mess with me on the day I joined?’
He rested his chin in one hand and looked up at the sky.
He survived.
In the world of villains, that alone was proof of worth.
‘Maybe I’ll stop by and buy a lottery ticket before heading home.’
He couldn’t wait to hear what kind of rumors would be flying around work tomorrow.