Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 4
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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!
EP04
It’s been a whole week since I started showing up to work at Halo.
Thankfully, life has been calmer than I expected since Zero made his appearance, but that didn’t mean my mind was at ease.
“Good morning.”
“Hey~ Good morning to you too.”
I exchanged greetings with Assistant Manager Jung, who sat in the seat next to mine.
For someone who’d just said “good morning,” everyone’s face was strangely blank.
It’s the kind of greeting you toss out of habit, even when nothing about the morning is good.
“Are you really okay?”
“It’s because of that villain lately, right? Yeah, I know. Nothing like this has ever happened before…”
Whispers drifted over the top of the partition.
The biggest hot topic at Halo right now.
That would be me.
“Ugh, there they go again.”
Assistant Manager Jung pushed her lip out, clearly displeased.
She was the only person at Halo who refused to get swept up in gossip.
“Haesoo, don’t let it get to you!”
“No, I’m not bothered.”
My heart was far too small to hold on to every single one of those remarks.
In moments like that, the best thing to do is tell yourself, ‘Maybe it’s just because I’m too pretty,’ and win the argument in your own head.
Ding.
The company messenger chimed.
💬
Team Leader Ahn Gyeong-un
Team Leader Ahn Gyeong-un
There’s a meeting at 2 p.m.
* * *
Maybe I’d eaten too much for lunch, because drowsiness started creeping over me the moment the meeting began.
‘No way! I have to hold on…’
Then a voice blew every trace of sleep right out of me.
“The model for this campaign will be Alpha.”
W-who did he say…?
Team Leader Gyeong-un sat at the front, flipping through his materials as he led the discussion, while each team member traded opinions in a serious atmosphere.
Only my mind had gone somewhere else, and I was scrambling just to keep up with the flow.
“Let’s have Manager Yoon handle the PM role.”
Everyone nodded at the team leader’s words.
Manager Yoon was a veteran of the PR Team, and as a project manager, she was the perfect fit for the role.
“However, Manager Yoon can’t handle everything on her own, so we’ll need a main support staff member. Does anyone want to volunteer?”
As if they’d all agreed on it beforehand, silence settled over the conference room.
Then a woman from the Marketing Team spoke up.
“Well, I think Haesoo would be the best one to provide support for this, don’t you think?”
The silence deepened for a moment.
Everyone’s eyes darted back and forth between the woman who’d spoken and me.
“Huh…?”
I blinked and asked her back.
“Oh, I mean… since you two know each other personally. I figured you’d be able to pick up on charms we don’t quite know about.”
It was an obvious jab.
I wasn’t so young that I couldn’t tell.
The woman saying it surely knew that too.
No matter how much she disliked me, I didn’t appreciate being mocked this openly.
“Ah, no. I’m a little…”
I wanted to firmly declare, ‘I can’t do it!’, but how could someone who’d only been at the company a week say something like that?
The mood had already tipped in one direction.
Well, what could a lowly new hire do about it anyway?
When told to jump, I had no choice but to jump.
Alpha, the ‘Hero,’ was an object of admiration for everyone, but there were rumors that he was a difficult business partner.
Uncooperative, or so they said…
“Alright. Haesoo will provide support, and we’ll move forward with that.”
And that’s how I ended up in charge of promoting my ex-boyfriend.
It was the worst meeting outcome imaginable.
* * *
Left alone in the office, I tore at my hair in front of the computer.
The PowerPoint displayed Alpha’s official profile and photo.
It had been another day where the whispering around me made it impossible to focus on work.
The only small mercy was that everyone had gone home and the place had gone quiet.
Leadership, decisiveness, a spirit of sacrifice for the citizens…
Why Alpha Is Special: Overwhelming Ability and Irresistible Humanity
The Hero Who Protected the City: Alpha’s Glorious Footprints
I’d spent the entire day combing through articles and blogs that sang that guy’s praises.
Do you know the feeling?
Having a friend who keeps dragging in news about your ex-boyfriend, whether you want to hear it or not.
That’s what this damn media is to me.
In the photo, that guy looked neat, handsome, and flawless.
But the Alpha in my memory… wasn’t so flawless, was he?
Utterly indifferent to the world, yet full of pranks, clueless about how the world works, and sleeping more than you’d expect…
And every now and then, he could be tender.
I scrolled down and clicked on a video without thinking.
An interview video. There he was, in a crisp suit, speaking to the camera with a grave expression.
「The safety of the citizens is our top priority.」
A sense of duty. As if that were anything special.
I suppose Alpha has always been like that.
I knew he was the sort who seemed detached yet worried about civilians’ safety, the first to reach the scene before anyone else.
I pulled out my earbuds, leaned back, and stared up at the ceiling.
The chair wheels creaked, letting out a small noise.
“Seriously, why am I even doing this…”
And yet, the PowerPoint held neatly organized information about Alpha.
Looks like the Marketing Team’s Assistant Manager wasn’t joking when she sneered at me during the meeting.
Nine years had not been wasted after all.
The little habits and preferences I’d observed up close during our dating days had been transformed into core material for PR.
“Ha, I’m ridiculous for still remembering all this stuff.”
It was a good thing for work, but it stung that it was all thanks to my ex.
In that instant, the smiling Alpha in the photo looked infuriating.
I’m this miserable, and you’re grinning?
My grip on the mouse tightened.
I’m sick of looking at him. Should I just delete the photo?
After hesitating for a long while, my finger clicked the pen tool instead of the delete button.
I drew a mustache over Alpha’s smiling face, stuck on cat ears, and added a ridiculous speech bubble.
I’m handsome, right? You still like me, don’t you?
“Ha, seriously, so obnoxious…”
“Is that supposed to be me?”
Startled, I looked up to find a man with the exact same face as the one in the PowerPoint poking his head beside my monitor.
“W-what? When did you get here?”
I was so startled I nearly got knocked off my chair.
Alpha stared at his own face, mutilated on the screen, with a grave expression.
My face burned, and I reached out to turn off the monitor, but Alpha quickly blocked me.
“This is pretty elaborate, isn’t it? The mustache especially. The detail is really good.”
Alpha nodded toward the photo on the monitor and mimed drawing a mustache with his hand.
Humiliated, I glared at him and shook off his hand.
Before he could interfere again, I shut off the monitor.
Alpha made a disappointed face, like someone who’d had his favorite toy taken away.
But then he glanced around the room and asked me.
“Why are you alone? I heard everyone went home.”
Watching him ask so carelessly, utterly oblivious that he was the cause, I felt nothing but exasperation.
“Overtime. Thanks to somebody.”
I answered with an indifferent face.
Then Alpha asked in a serious voice.
“Who?”
The playfulness vanished from his face. He tilted his head slightly and quietly waited for my answer.
“…What would you do if I told you.”
What could I possibly do to him…
He shrugged, then picked up the coffee on my desk with his usual playful air.
“This is an Americano? Your taste hasn’t changed.”
“Give it back.”
I rose from my seat and reached out, trying to snatch the coffee back.
The harder I reached, the higher Alpha lifted his hand, keeping it just out of my grasp.
“Just one sip. You always drink nothing but Americanos.”
“Please, put that down and get lost.”
I still had to finish at least one more page of work.
I had no time to keep bickering with this guy.
“Fine, fine.”
Alpha pressed the coffee back into my hand and turned to leave, but he hadn’t gone more than a few steps before he stopped.
“That drawing from earlier, save it. I kind of like it.”
Right before he stepped out the door, the guy tacked on one more pointless remark.
Only after the door clicked shut did I slowly lean back in my chair.
My heart was still pounding.
I glanced around, then turned my monitor back on.
The photo of Alpha, the one I’d ruined, was still there.
Just as I was about to close the file, I hesitated.
I stared at the monitor for a long moment before quietly saving the file.
As for the file name…
‘FINAL_REALLY FINAL_REALLY REALLY FINAL.pptx’
As I pressed save, I felt something both pathetic and absurd.
“Seriously… what am I even doing.”
A self-deprecating smile flickered across my lips.
* * *
Halo Internal Conference Room, Presentation Day
The PPT slide appeared on the projector screen.
The presentation was going quite smoothly.
Then, a sudden silence.
“…What is this?”
Team Leader Gyeong-un’s voice carried an unmistakable note of bewilderment.
Smack in the middle of the enormous screen,
was a crooked, scribbled doodle drawn over the face of ‘Hero Alpha.’
A ridiculous mustache, cat ears, and even a speech bubble reading: ‘I’m handsome, right? You still like me, don’t you?’
My breath nearly stopped.
‘FINAL_REALLY FINAL_REALLY REALLY FINAL.pptx’
It was the wrong file.
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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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