Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 22
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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!
EP22
Just as I knew Alpha’s habits, he knew mine.
In the end, I came clean.
“It was Zero.”
I answered as calmly as I could.
But inside, I was in turmoil.
I could only stare awkwardly at Alpha, who didn’t answer.
Alpha turned his head to the side and rubbed his chin.
“So it was that guy.”
Alpha’s brow furrowed, plainly visible.
“How was it?”
“…How was what?”
“Being with him.”
Alpha leaned his back against the railing, crossed his arms, and looked down at me.
His eyes were sharp.
Did I… make a mistake?
Flustered, I took a step back.
When I tried to turn and run, he caught the end of my blanket and wouldn’t let go.
“To survive alone on a deserted island with just the two of you, you must have gotten pretty close.”
“Hey! Don’t say things like that.”
Flustered, I clutched the blanket tighter.
“We were just together because we had to survive. It wasn’t a situation where we had time to get close or anything, okay?”
When the blanket, caught in his hand, didn’t budge, I pulled harder.
“Sure, whatever. I’m sure you had no choice. That’s why you lied, right?”
He only pulled harder, drawing me toward him.
Pulled by that force, I stepped closer to Alpha.
If I got any closer, he’d surely hear my heart pounding out of rhythm.
“Could you let go of this?”
“No. Tell me why you lied.”
“I’m sorry I lied, but I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Alpha didn’t look away; he kept his eyes locked squarely on mine.
I slowly averted my gaze.
“You should be sorry. Does it make sense that while I was running around all night trying to save you, you were over there laughing and chatting with that guy?”
“It’s not like that. What misunderstanding are you making such a fuss about?”
Seriously, this is maddening.
He’s been relentless this whole time, and I couldn’t figure out what had actually put him in a bad mood.
It’s not like he’s jealous or anything.
Huh?
Jealous?
I stole a glance at Alpha’s face.
His expression was still sullen.
“Wait… are you jealous?”
An unwarranted excitement crept into my voice.
I pressed down the smile that was threatening to escape.
“What nonsense, talking about jealousy.”
Then Alpha ran his palm down over my face.
I was startled by the sudden ambush, but what struck me more was that I’d stumbled onto something amusing.
“Wow, you’re totally jealous.”
I laughed and teased him on purpose.
“Shut up. Seriously.”
He reached out and came toward me slowly.
Then he lightly lifted the end of the blanket.
He smoothed the blanket over me, as if covering the shoulder that had slipped out without my noticing.
“Your blanket’s slipped off.”
When his fingertips brushed near my shoulder, goosebumps rippled over my whole body, as though a current had run through me.
I cleared my throat for no reason and turned my head away.
I could no longer hold his gaze.
“It’s not that I’m jealous, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
“Don’t get involved with him anymore if you can help it.”
He smoothed out the blanket neatly, took a short breath, and looked down at me.
The lightness from moments ago was gone. His eyes had turned unusually serious.
“Honestly, that guy hanging around your side isn’t funny at all.”
Alpha pulled his hand off the blanket and shoved it into his pocket.
He was doing his best to look indifferent, but he couldn’t hide the redness creeping up to the back of his neck.
Only now did I understand.
This guy had always been the one worrying, always anxious about whether I’d get hurt, whether I’d end up in danger.
Something in my chest tingled and ached.
I nodded quietly. He stared at me for a moment as if to say, *what’s gotten into you?* Then he let out a small breath through his nose, a faint huff, and looked away.
Without meaning to, the corners of my mouth lifted.
* * *
The boat drifted gently and bumped against the pier.
The splash of water and the thrumming of the engine faded beneath a rising swell of voices, growing louder until they pierced my ears.
“There! Over there!”
“They’re alive, thank goodness…”
“This way, this way! Get the stretcher ready!”
In the distance, Association agents, rescue workers, and a few familiar faces were rushing over in a frantic crowd.
I watched the scene with a dazed feeling.
Just as I was about to move and climb off the boat, Alpha quietly came up beside me.
“Stay still.”
A strange vibration rose up from the floor.
“Huh?”
The sensation that the ground beneath my feet had gone slightly weightless.
In an instant, my body grew light, and I felt myself being nudged toward him.
I looked up at Alpha in surprise.
He wore an indifferent expression, one hand lifted slightly, only the tips of his fingers moving lightly.
“You still can’t walk properly, can you?”
With those words, the tips of my feet settled softly onto the pier.
Only then did my body regain its weight.
“Hey, you said you shouldn’t use that carelessly.”
He winked and said, playfully, “What’s the big deal?”
At that moment, a frantic voice rang out from somewhere in the distance.
“Hae-h-Haesoo-ssi!!!”
I jerked my head up in a start.
A coworker from the company was running toward us, sobbing.
A familiar face. It was Assistant Manager Jung.
“Haesoo! Haesoo-ssi-iii!!!”
She came charging over without even managing to hold her phone properly, Jung Dae-
“I, I really…! I was so worried I didn’t know what to do! They said you were missing, and nobody knew where you’d gone… I was honestly…!”
I waved both hands in a flustered way and laughed.
“Assistant Manager, please calm down! I’m fine, really…”
Even so, she practically dropped down in front of me and stopped, grabbing my hand tightly.
“Really… I’m just so glad you’re alive.”
My eyes stung for no good reason.
I’d always thought of her as the cheerful, pesky type who never stopped chattering…
The fact that someone was worried about me was a great comfort.
The rescue workers readied the stretcher, while Association agents exchanged radio messages and reported the situation.
Through all that commotion, he stood quietly beside me, saying nothing, simply watching me.
The rescue workers hurried over and set the stretcher down.
I waved my hand.
“Ah, I’m really fine. I can walk just fine…”
But before I could even finish, my body, still wrapped in the blanket, was gently lifted up.
Lying on the stretcher, my view dropped lower, and Assistant Manager Jung’s tearful face came back into view above me.
“Haesoo… I really, really… I…!”
Her face was still a mess of tears and snot as she grabbed my hand without hesitation.
“Yes, yes, Assistant Manager, I’m fine… Really… Ugh, I can’t breathe, wait a moment…!”
I laughed on the stretcher, sweat beading on my forehead, and glanced toward the rescue workers.
“Um, could you please pry her off me for a moment…?”
The rescue workers, looking flustered, gently peeled Assistant Manager Jung’s hands away, and the stretcher began to move smoothly forward.
I craned my neck a little as they wheeled me away on the stretcher.
That kid walked alongside me as if it were the most natural thing in the world, ignoring the Association agents’ stares and the rescue workers’ explanations alike.
“Are you going to the hospital?”
When I asked in a whisper, he tugged the blanket up to my chin and gave a small nod.
“Of course.”
Now what kind of news story was going to come pouring out of this.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
The ambulance doors opened, and I was carried inside on the stretcher.
Outside, Assistant Manager Jung’s voice was still audible.
“Haesoo… can’t I come along to the hospital too? Waaah…”
One of the rescue workers smiled and asked, “Is she family?” I shook my head, half amused and half exasperated.
“…My coworker, sort of.”
Alpha dropped down onto the seat beside me, and at my words, he snickered.
“You’re popular.”
“…Are you jealous again?”
“I’m not, I told you.”
I tugged the blanket up to my chin and muttered.
“…You’re really funny.”
He snorted beside me and blurted out, “So are you.”
I turned my head away, afraid I’d burst out laughing.
I turned my head away, afraid I’d burst out laughing.
I buried my nose deep under the blanket on purpose.
It felt as though my heartbeat was echoing through the ambulance.
* * *
Once the ambulance had driven off, the pier quickly fell quiet.
People scattered in different directions, and the rescue equipment was packed away.
On the screen of someone fiddling with their phone, a single message appeared.
Text Message
A few hours ago
Coordinates, northwest shore. Estimated drift point.
That message had already arrived hours earlier.
He sent back a brief reply.
Target rescued.
A moment later, another text came in.
Text Message
Now
Contact me again if you need anything else.
The moment he read the message, the man deleted every text in the conversation.
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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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