Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 2

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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!
EP02
In the sunlight, that man’s figure was striking—dazzling to look at.
Long, sharp eyes; a height well over 180 centimeters with a perfectly balanced frame; beneath his black coat, the lean, muscular lines of his silhouette looked like they belonged to a model.
Alpha jumped down from the wall where he’d been crouching and landed in front of me.
“You’re not hurt anywhere.”
“Not yet, but I’m about to be. Can’t you see the knife at my throat?”
I glared at him, scowling at his sudden appearance.
If he was going to help, I wanted him to do it fast; if not, I wanted him gone faster.
If someone saw us together,
rumors like “They’re definitely dating” or “So the breakup was just an act after all” would crystallize into fact.
“Excuse me.”
He spoke to the agitated villain holding the knife.
“Everything’s fine and all, but don’t you think you picked the wrong hostage?”
But the already-frenzied villain didn’t seem to hear him.
“D-Don’t come any closer!! If you don’t want to see this woman die—!”
Shriek—
The villain pressed the blade closer to my throat and screamed.
The blade edge grazed my neck slightly.
Snick—
In that instant, a faint ripple emanated from his fingertips.
A red light shimmered, and the villain was swept into the air in one fluid motion.
Alpha’s ability: Telekinesis.
The same power that had once carried me through the sky.
Alpha flicked his fingers, and the villain dropped straight to the ground.
The villain didn’t stir at all—completely unconscious.
“Is it over?”
I exhaled in relief and glanced at Alpha sideways.
I tucked the now-useless self-defense spray back into my pocket.
He tapped the device on his wrist and spoke.
“District 12. Cleanup required.”
While he was occupied with the radio, I planned to slip away.
More than anything, I needed to get out of here.
Tap-tap-tap—
Thump-thump.
Tap-tap-tap—
Thump-thump.
“Don’t follow me. I’m calling the police.”
“Go ahead. I’m on good terms with them these days.”
There it was again—that wordplay.
I’d been the one to suggest we break up first, but Alpha had accepted it without resistance.
💬
♡
♡
That was it.
That was all. As if I’d held all the choices.
I’d grown tired of it—but not of Alpha himself. It was the danger that followed me that I couldn’t bear.
Perhaps it was just a tantrum.
But that single text message forced me to let go of my feelings for him.
A year has passed since then, yet I still find myself floundering in the same mire.
If only I didn’t see him, I might have found peace. But each time we meet like this, I end up back where I started.
“By the way.”
I kept walking, ignoring him.
But I couldn’t help turning around at the words that followed.
“That’s a contract violation.”
……What?
Alpha looked directly at me and spoke again.
“Contract violation. You signed—no comment about the hero, no disclosure whatsoever.”
I’d completely forgotten.
For a moment I felt I’d made a mistake, but I decided to walk out with my head held high.
Compared to the humiliation I’ve suffered because of that bastard, this is nothing.
“……What happens if I break it?”
He shrugged and spoke.
“I’m giving you a warning out of courtesy.”
“This is all your fault anyway.”
I scratched my neck irritably.
“Ugh.”
Now I noticed why it had been itching since earlier—I had scratches on my neck.
Damn that Villain!
Alpha pulled something from his pocket and pressed it into my hand.
“A band-aid?”
When I widened my eyes and stared at him, Alpha tapped his own neck with a finger.
“Put it on your neck.”
Well, fine. Thanks, I guess.
* * *
8:55 AM. On my way to work.
It happened the moment I was about to scan my employee ID at the lobby gate.
I stood frozen before the access gate, holding a steaming coffee and my employee ID in one hand.
“Sorry, but let me say this one more time.”
I faced the self-proclaimed Villain through tired eyes.
Murmurs rippled through the lobby.
“It’s Haesoo again?”
“Doesn’t she ever get tired of this?”
The people in the lobby, as if used to this routine, either pulled out their phones to take pictures or passed through the gate to get to work.
After discovering that the Villain was targeting me specifically, they’d stopped running away at first and now just watched from a distance.
I let out a long sigh.
“I broke up with Alpha. Really.”
“But today is my Villain debut, you see.”
The rookie Villain, clutching a strangely designed rail gun, contorted his face into an expression of distress.
The words “What does that have to do with me?” rose to my throat, but I swallowed a bitter smile instead.
“If it’s your debut…… wouldn’t blowing up a mountain or hijacking a plane be more impactful?”
“But everyone does it that way. Kidnapping the Hero’s girlfriend is the custom…… or so they say.”
His words left me speechless.
Who the hell came up with that convention?
Fortunately, thanks to a security guard’s report, a Hero on patrol nearby responded, and the incident wrapped up without major damage.
Or rather, it should have.
But the Villain disturbance in the lobby eventually reached the ears of the company president.
My team lead set up a meeting with me immediately, and I was offered a severance package.
“Haesoo…… I’m sorry, but we can’t continue working together if this keeps happening.”
And so, in May of 20XX, my career at the company came to an end once again.
At twenty-eight, I’d barely managed to reemploy myself and scrape by, only to hit a dead end.
I didn’t even get proper time to hand over my responsibilities before being processed for termination.
All that remained from my time at the company was a single cardboard box.
The moment the automatic doors of the company building closed behind me, I kicked at the ground with the tip of my shoe.
“Will I even qualify for unemployment benefits……?”
As I muttered while staring at the coffee I held limply in one hand, someone called out to me from behind.
“Fired again?”
That guy appeared—apparently off duty today, wearing a black baseball cap and a hoodie—shuffling toward me.
“……You.”
I no longer had the energy to quarrel. I wanted to just ignore him and keep walking.
But this bastard looked oddly pleased.
My life was literally crashing down in real time, and he was finding it amusing?!
“Are you seriously laughing at this?”
“No.”
Despite his words, his face was full of amusement.
The anxiety of having to prepare for another job search, combined with the dread that even if I succeeded, this would just happen again—it was unbearable.
Maybe it would actually be more stable to get hired at some Villain company…… .
“So you’ll be unemployed for a while?”
He pressed close to me and asked.
“Well, I guess I could always do side gigs as a masked Hero or something.”
Of course that’s nonsense.
“Want me to get you a job?”
I stopped walking and stared at him.
What was he saying—that he’d get me a job?
I spoke with suspicion thick in my voice.
“I don’t trust that.”
“It’s a civilian research institute that supports Heroes. We happen to be hiring a new member for the publicity team right now. Citizens who’ve been wronged by Villains like you are given priority.”
I couldn’t decide whether I should be grateful that he acknowledged my suffering or resentful of it.
I took a sip of coffee and asked back.
“…It’s full-time employment, right?”
“Of course.”
He’s suspicious, sure, but he’s not a liar.
“I’ll text you the address and interview date. Just show up on time.”
I wasn’t sure I should accept this so readily, but I decided to treat it like getting compensation and agreed.
That night, he sent me the address and date by text.
💬 When you start, your salary is frozen
Halo.
255 Jung-jeong District, Seoul, Hero City Tower Building A, 19th Floor. 20XX. 05 XX 2:00 PM.
Don’t be nervous.
I read the text slowly and couldn’t help but laugh at the last sentence.
“Nervous about what……”
Just this morning I was an ordinary office worker passing through the company lobby with a coffee in hand, but now I couldn’t even make it to an interview without his help.
“What, am I a stock that crashes without warning or announcement?”
I’d tried so hard to become a complete stranger to him, yet somehow we kept getting tangled back together.
* * *
Interview day.
I walked into the company lobby with a slight flutter of nerves.
“Let me check.”
I confirmed the text again and got in the elevator, pressing the button for the 19th floor.
This is making me more nervous than I expected.
I’d been through interviews countless times, cycling between hiring and firing, but I never got used to it.
‘I hope it’s not some weird company…’
Ding.
As the elevator doors opened, a man was standing in the lobby.
“You’re Eun Haesoo, here for the interview today, right?”
“Oh, yes!”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ahn Gyeong-un, team leader of the publicity department.”
His thoroughly professional demeanor actually put me at ease.
I followed Team Leader Ahn Gyeong-un into the office.
“Can I get you some coffee?”
“No thank you. I’m going to skip it for a while.”
Just thinking about coffee brought back the pain of being fired.
The interview was more ordinary than I’d expected.
“Since you came on a recommendation anyway, there’s not much I need to say. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
I thought for a moment before asking one thing.
“Villains can’t get in here, right?”
For a moment there was silence, but then the team leader burst out laughing and answered.
“That’s right. Absolutely not.”
That answer pleased me more than anything I’d heard so far.
“You’ll sign the contract on your first day of work… Well then, I look forward to working with you, Haesoo.”
The team leader offered me his hand, and I accepted it with genuine satisfaction.
I was in a very good mood after such a satisfying interview.
The elevator arrived at the first floor, and as I was about to step out, I noticed someone leaning against the doorway ahead.
“What are you doing here?”
“I recommended you, so I have to make sure you’re doing well.”
Was I supposed to bow and grovel in gratitude?
Then he suddenly extended his hand toward me.
“Welcome aboard. New employee.”
He was still grinning as if he found the whole thing amusing.

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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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