SOS! I’m Being Forced to Be a Villain - Chapter 25
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 25
Thud.
As soon as the entrance door opened, my thrown body collapsed helplessly. Sharp pain spread from both knees that had hit the floor. The cold air from the shoe cabinet seeped through my single-layer pants, chilling me to the bone.
Being treated like a piece of luggage made me furious, so I whipped my head around. However, the man in the black suit who had thrown me didn’t even make eye contact and coldly shut the door, leaving me to move my lips in vain while only hearing the electronic sound of the entrance door locking.
‘…Isn’t he really fucking crazy?’
Curses that I didn’t even have the strength to voice swirled in the back of my throat.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have readily agreed when those bastards offered to take me home earlier!’
Instead of biting my already swollen lower lip that I had chewed too much, I gritted my teeth. Then I just glared at the tightly closed entrance door. Even when the sensor light went out and darkness fell over the shoe cabinet, I didn’t withdraw my murderous gaze directed at that spot.
‘Petty bastard. Cowardly bastard!’
As soon as the main characters disappeared, he came running to me…!
About 30 minutes ago, after barely finishing our not-so-smooth dinner, we had left the restaurant. After getting angry for a while because Seo Jung-hoo had arbitrarily paid for the meal, I soon found myself looking up at the darkened sky, thinking I should head home.
I figured I had fed them as they wanted, so there shouldn’t be anything more they wanted from me. No matter how eager they were to torment me, they wouldn’t have the dedication to sacrifice their own time until late at night.
So I immediately turned around, but as if they had been waiting, I was caught by the two of them. When they said they would definitely see me home… no, that they would keep their eyes wide open and monitor me to the end, even the irritation I had barely suppressed rose again.
Apart from the emotional roller coaster that went up and down dozens of times a day, I could confidently say that I had spent enough time with them for one day. I didn’t want to be tormented by those two any longer, even on the way home that should have been quiet and peaceful.
So I took advantage of a brief moment when Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min were distracted and ran away recklessly. And then…
‘…I encountered that dark-clothed man.’
It probably wasn’t just a simple coincidence. The presence beyond the system window must have been watching only me all day. I was so creeped out that I felt like I might throw up.
Unlike Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min, who weren’t entirely without flaws, the man in black showed no gaps at all. He tenaciously grabbed my wrist where the handprints were just starting to heal and dragged me all the way home.
It wasn’t like I was trying to flee to another region, or deliberately causing trouble, or exposing the system’s secrets. The man in black, or more precisely the system beyond him, couldn’t hide his rough grip as if taking out his anger.
And so I had arrived at the present, sprawled out in such a miserable state.
If I had really done something wrong, that would be different.
‘Then at least I wouldn’t feel wronged.’
Getting angry by himself and taking it out on me however he wants, what bullshit…!
I forced myself to swallow the scream I wanted to let out. That guy might still be remaining right in front of the entrance door. Even if that wasn’t the case, the system bastard could send him to me at any time. So far it had ended with throwing me around or dragging me, but if he actually tried to raise his hand to hit me…
I shuddered with a start. At the anxiety rising up my throat, my heart seemed to drop with a thud.
‘…That can’t be. If he could handle me that roughly, he would have done it already.’
Convincing myself as if rationalizing, I slowly got up from my spot. When I staggered and leaned against the wall, my two legs that barely gained strength trembled.
Still, I was fortunate that I didn’t seem to have sprained my ankle. If I rested well for today, most of this damn fear and pain would subside. The bruise marks that must have colored my knees would also… fade.
I blinked slowly and stared into space.
…Ah.
“My head hurts too…”
Things about Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min, and things about the damn system and the men in black it sent, gradually disappeared beyond my consciousness. In the midst of being distracted by my aching body, there was no way I could afford to worry about other things.
I let out a silent sigh and kicked off my shoes. Soon I picked up the school bag that had fallen on the floor and stepped inside the entryway.
* * *
Since the weather had become quite warm, I had brought shorts instead of long pants for my gym clothes, but I didn’t know that would be a problem.
Standing alone in the classroom, I lowered my head. My eyes looking down at my legs were distorted with displeasure.
My white legs were exposed below the gym shorts that came up to just above my knees. And at the top, on my round knees that should have been nothing but pale skin, there were bluish bruises.
They weren’t small dots, but covered my entire knees like paint that had spread halfway, making them far too noticeable. It was a mistake that even though I had seen this state when changing clothes in the morning, I hadn’t thought to bring long gym pants.
I irritably rubbed my face and stamped my feet meaninglessly.
‘My brother’s going to get a call…’
It was a fact I had learned just a few hours ago on my way to school. Since the incident a few days ago when I had called my brother and suddenly declared I wanted to transfer schools, my brother seemed to be receiving detailed reports about my condition and daily life.
Of course, given my brother’s personality, he wouldn’t have done anything that crossed the line without permission, like hiring someone or bribing people around me. So I figured my brother was probably hearing about me through routine communication processes with the school.
But for that reason, the person named ‘Yu Baek-hwa’ seemed to have become a major subject of observation among the school teachers recently.
It hadn’t been long since I benefited from my brother contacting the school to ask them to ‘please be considerate since our younger sibling isn’t feeling well.’ Thanks to that, I was able to stay in the infirmary all day with a lame excuse and hide from Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min.
But that was, in another sense, tantamount to proving to the school that I was a weak and frail student, just as my brother had said.
So if there was even the slightest strange sign about me, my brother, who was my guardian, would be contacted immediately.
I removed my palms that had been pressing down on my face and rolled my tired eyes. The message bombardment I had received from my brother on the way to school today was still stuck in my head and wouldn’t leave.
Saying I hadn’t come out of the infirmary all day, saying I hadn’t eaten properly… He had even heard that Kwon Tae-min had come looking for me while I was in the infirmary, and asked who that kid was and how close a friend he was to me.
When the messages showed no sign of ending even after I sent several replies, I had turned off my phone. But less than a day later, here I was advertising the bruises on my knees.
I swallowed and turned my head toward the window. I could see our class students gathered in the center of the schoolyard and the gym teacher standing in front of them.
“…He asked about my knees.”
There was no full-length mirror in the locker room. So I didn’t think much of it while changing clothes and went straight to the schoolyard. It was only when I felt the gym teacher’s startled gaze looking at me that I belatedly remembered what state my knees were in.
The voice of the gym teacher who had hurriedly approached me asking where I had fallen, or if someone had perhaps hit me, remained vivid and unforgettable. Seeing how much worry and anxiety was in his voice, I wondered how much my brother must have pressured him, and on the other hand, I was also anxious that my brother might have told the school everything about my past.
When I shook my head at his question about whether I had applied medicine, the gym teacher pushed my back saying I should go to the infirmary first at a time like this. He added that I didn’t need to come to class and should rest well, so I reluctantly moved my steps.
And I had returned to the empty classroom instead of the infirmary.
‘My brother’s going to get a call. He definitely will.’
Then another message bombardment would arrive.
Suddenly I remembered what my brother had said during our last phone call. That it had been a long time since he’d seen my face…
‘…He’s not really thinking of returning to the country, is he?’
Being tormented by messages and calls was much better than meeting my brother face to face. Even though several years had passed, my brother still wasn’t very comfortable for me.
My bangs, disheveled from my deeply bowed head, blocked my vision. I was just glaring at the innocent floor beyond them when I heard the soft sound of the classroom door opening.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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