Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Leave the hero’s ex-girlfriend alone!
EP15
* * *
On Sunday morning, sunlight spilled crisp and clear through the window.
Yesterday I’d been sick enough to feel like I was dying, but now I was back to my usual self.
The cleaning and laundry I’d put off were on the schedule, along with a peaceful day with Simba.
At least, that was the plan…
“…Simba?”
Her food bowl was empty, and she wasn’t on the cat tower either.
I checked the bathroom, peeked behind the curtains… but he wasn’t there.
Something was off.
Normally, she’d come racing at the mere sound of a treat bag.
‘No way…’
When I turned toward the balcony, the window was slightly ajar.
“Oh, crap.”
* * *
“Ah! Disappearing like this is supposed to be my specialty!”
I wandered the entire neighborhood with a grim expression.
They say pets take after their owners, but she didn’t need to pick up this habit too!
I threw on a hoodie, pulled on shorts and slippers, and headed out.
My hair was a mess and I hadn’t washed my face, but none of that mattered right now.
“Simba! I’ve got treats! Where are you!”
A few neighborhood residents glanced at me.
I knew exactly how unhinged I must look right now.
Still, I couldn’t stop.
Just as I turned into the next alley, gasping for breath, someone flashed past overhead.
A dark figure pushed off a garden wall and vanished over the rooftops, and right after it, I caught sight of three silhouettes giving chase.
I didn’t need to see his face to recognize the back of the one running at the front.
“Hey!”
I shouted without a moment’s thought.
“What are you doing out here? Dressed like that.”
The guy, who had stopped just short of vaulting the wall, looked down at me and spoke.
Nearly in tears, I reached out my hand.
“Simba’s missing! My cat!!”
He glanced for a moment in the direction the villain had fled, then whispered something to his teammates, brushed off his clothes, and climbed down.
“Seriously?”
I dragged my slippers closer to him.
“Yeah, I think he got out through the window. But I don’t know if he made it this far…”
I rambled on, my words tumbling over each other.
He grabbed my shoulders and patted them a few times.
“Calm down. I’ll help you look.”
“…What about the villain?”
“The others will catch him.”
And just like that, Alpha joined the search for Simba.
I padded through every alley in my dragging slippers, checking trash bins, under lower steps, even narrow gaps in the walls.
“Left! There, I see a black tail!”
“That’s just a black plastic bag.”
“Then right!! Over there, on top of that stone wall!!”
“Ah! Nope, that’s not it.”
I chased false leads dozens of times.
My slippers kept slipping off, and it was driving me up the wall.
But what annoyed me even more was…
…this strange awkwardness.
This was the first time we’d been face to face since that day, so I kept catching myself being aware of him.
The way he walked along as if nothing had ever happened felt out of place.
No matter how desperate I was, I shouldn’t have asked this guy for help!
I clawed at my hair and writhed in frustration.
That’s when we were circling in front of the park.
Through the leaves, I spotted a cat’s tail swaying.
“Oh! A black tail!”
I kept running.
My heart was pounding like crazy, and my slippers were on the verge of slipping off.
The moment I rounded the bench, someone came into view.
A man holding Simba.
I remembered that face.
Golden hair that caught the light, eyes holding the green of summer leaves.
It was Zero.
I had no idea why Simba was with him, but I had to take her back first.
If anything happened, Alpha would step in, and if he had really meant to harm me, he would have finished it back at Halo.
I approached as carefully as I could and asked.
“From Halo… right?”
The man, or rather Zero, narrowed his eyes at my words.
It was only for an instant, but his face looked strangely delighted, just like before.
“You’ve got a good memory.”
Zero said slowly.
“Most people seem to forget everything.”
He tilted his head to one side.
Only then did Alpha, who had been standing beside me, speak up.
“Zero…?”
The guy turned his head beside me.
Confusion was written all over his face.
His eyes swept over Zero’s face, but he couldn’t seem to be sure of anything.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Zero let out a soft laugh at my reply.
Brushing Simba’s ear with one hand, he murmured,
“So you’re certain….”
Zero rose slowly, lifted Simba lightly, and handed her back to me.
On instinct, I raised both arms and caught her.
Soft fur brushed against my hands.
“Now that I’ve returned the cat…”
Zero trailed off and took a single step closer to me.
His fingertips were just about to graze the side of my cheek, heading somewhere in a flash.
The moment I sensed a strange current against my skin—
Whoosh.
An arm wrapped around me from behind.
“…!”
“Don’t touch her.”
Alpha had pulled me against him, wrapping me in his arms.
While I stood frozen, unable to say a word, he glared fiercely at Zero.
“Ridiculous. Who are you to reach out like that?”
“Ah, it was just a greeting.”
Even as he answered, Zero kept his gaze fixed on my face.
At his words, Alpha tightened his arm a little more.
Before I could draw a breath, my chest was pressed tight.
Caught between the subtle standoff of the two of them, I felt like a shrimp in a fight between whales.
Now that I’d found Simba, all I wanted was to go home.
Just as I twisted my body, trying to slip out of his embrace—
Simba wriggled free of my arms and bolted past the tall grass in an instant.
“Simba?!”
I shouted, stunned by how nimbly she’d landed on her feet.
Simba flicked her black tail and dashed behind a tree.
I left the two of them tangled in their squabble and started running.
The two of them reacted on instinct and followed.
“Oh, for real… that cat just keeps making us run.”
Alpha grumbled, one hand planted on his hip.
“Right. You’re the one who always pesters Haesoo, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“Well, isn’t it? Am I wrong?”
I didn’t even look back at their chatter, just shouted,
“Quit talking and run!”
Dust rose from the park floor, and between the small clumps of shrubbery, Simba’s tail kept flickering into view.
“Left! It went left!”
At my shout, Zero veered in that direction.
I’ll give him this much: his reflexes were something else.
“Hey! Why aren’t you running?”
Panting, I turned toward him.
“…Wait, that thing’s not going to bite me, is it?”
I wiped the sweat running down my face and asked.
“I’ve been wondering this whole time, but isn’t this exactly what your power is for?”
“I don’t want to… It’s a cat.”
It was a ridiculous excuse.
I let out a heavy sigh, swung my arms, and charged forward again.
After running, calling, and crawling around for what felt like forever, I heard a whimpering cry from the pile of cardboard boxes beside the warehouse.
It was Simba.
Covered in dust, Simba was crouched right there as if nothing had happened at all.
“Simba-ah… Look at you, you’re completely filthy.”
I dropped to my knees on the spot and pulled Simba into my arms.
Fur clung to my arms in thick tufts, but I had no time to care about that.
I was too absorbed in smoothing out Simba’s coat.
Was there some injury I couldn’t see at a glance?
I was busy checking each ear carefully, the left one and then the right.
* * *
Alpha stood in front of Zero without a word.
The distance between them was barely two spans of a hand.
He glanced for a moment at Haesoo’s back as she held the cat, then turned his gaze to Zero and looked him straight in the eye.
“I don’t know what you’re after, but don’t come any closer.”
Wariness filled his voice.
That unpleasant premonition, that tangled knot of feeling he couldn’t put into words, he threw into a single, very simple sentence.
Zero narrowed his eyes and studied Alpha.
Then he smiled faintly and spoke.
“Is that jealousy?”
Zero lightly tapped Alpha’s shoulder.
Then, from a very close distance, he said in a low, whispering voice,
“But… are you really sure that feeling is yours?”
Alpha’s eyes wavered, just slightly, but he soon regained his composure.
“Shut up.”
“I barely said anything.”
Zero grinned.
In response, Alpha also wore a faintly bitter smile.
“I have no intention of trading jokes with you.”
“Neither do I, I’m afraid.”
A fierce spark crackled between the two of them.
“Why are those two acting like that?”
I shifted Simba in my arms and watched the Villain and the Hero exchanging smiles with a puzzled look.
* * *
After Simba’s runaway incident, I installed a home cam inside the house.
“Looks like he’s sleeping soundly.”
At work, whenever I had a spare moment, watching Simba through the home cam had become a routine.
Just then, someone came up behind me.
I jumped in surprise and switched off my phone screen.
“Haesoo, did you hear? We’re getting a bonus vacation this time!”
“A bonus vacation?”
I spun my chair around to face the person.
“Yes! After the Hero Campaign was such a huge success last time, you know.”
I’d heard it had gone reasonably well, but was that really enough to earn a bonus vacation?
Doubts crept in, but a free trip instead of showing up for work was no reason to refuse.
“So where are we going?”
Even as I asked, filled with anticipation, I wasn’t expecting much at all.
It was probably just a domestic trip, at most.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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