20 – Hero Stand (4)
After the villains were subdued.
The chaotic atmosphere in the bank gradually calmed down.
After checking on the defeated villains, the strategic crisis management team disguised as policemen began to inspect each of the civilians who still lay flat on the ground one by one.
In the meantime.
Avoiding the eyes of the people, Ruina and I, escorted by the men in black suits, slipped out of the bank back door.
While being helped by them and getting into the black van.
Woooooo!
Finally, the noisy sirens started to ring, and patrol cars began to gather at the bank one by one.
Thud—.
Boom.
The chaotic scene outside was abruptly cut off as the man in the black suit closed the van door.
“It’s a message for you.”
Afterwards.
What he took out of his pocket was a sturdy-looking walkie-talkie.
As I kept stroking Louisina’s shoulder, which was sticking closely to me, I accepted the walkie-talkie.
“Handler on the line…?”
A crackle─.
[I’m relieved that both of you are safe. Especially, Handler, I was quite worried about you.]
Next, came the noisy voice of Team Leader Itaeseok.
But, contrary to my tense speculation, his voice was relatively calm.
Even though Louisina had almost killed all the villains in front of her.
“Did you observe the bank robbery incident entirely?”
[Not entirely, but I did grasp significant details.]
Could there perhaps be a micro-camera somewhere on Louisina or my body?
There was no one around who looked like a National Intelligence Service agent, but when Louisina was about to kill the villain, someone could have intruded opportunistically.
“……What happens to us now?”
I straightforwardly hit the crux of the matter.
Undoubtedly the previous night.
Team Leader Itaeseok had threatened to confine me as soon as Louisina revealed the villain’s identity.
Although no one had died, someone must have surely witnessed Louisina’s cruel side.
This alone was already an unfavorable situation.
[There won’t be any problems.]
“So it’s like that…huh?”
[There won’t be any problems, at least for now.]
Team Lead Itaesuk kindly repeated the same words twice for me.
At his recurring response, my face paled for a moment and I unknowingly murmured without saying anything meaningful.
“But wasn’t it a different story last time?”
[Well since there’s no noticeable trouble at the moment, we plan to intervene in the police investigation with adept distortions and control of testimonies.]
“Haaah…”
My jaw dropped at Team Lead Itaesuk’s blatant declaration of gaslighting.
It seemed like the right call to restrain Luina in that tight situation.
If the villain’s head had been completely smashed by Luina like a watermelon, the outcome we’d be witnessing right now might have been the exact opposite.
Though there may not be problems now because Luina is by my side, it surely would have affected me the moment we got separated.
“Luina.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Perhaps the fact that she almost broke our promise came back with a significant weight on her shoulders.
They stayed silent, leaning their head on my chest with a gloomy expression ever since then.
I extended my hand to stroke her hair, from roots to her warm cheeks.
“I should be sorry. I almost dragged you into dangerous mess.”
“Well, it’s expected of you, being a hero… I still don’t quite understand…”
Yes, I guess it’s hard for her to understand for now.
Let’s be thankful that she acted on my behalf.
[Your handler was on her way to work. We will escort you to the company from our side.]
“Ah… Thank you.”
Then I realized I’d completely forgotten.
I was on my way to work.
I checked the time on my cell phone.
1:52 PM.
If I had run on foot, I would have been late for two days in a row.
“Then we’ll get going.”
The man in the black suit who had been waiting for the end of my conversation with Team Leader Lee Tae-seok started the vehicle immediately.
Vroom…
“……..”
Damn. It feels like an ice rink in here.
It was just a three-minute car journey, but those three minutes felt unbearably long.
Louina, who was so jovial, is now sulking.
The black-suited men looking at me behind their sunglasses are always silent anyway.
And I can’t start another conversation with Team Leader Lee Tae-seok.
“Sigh…”
With men of considerable size already in the car, the interior felt stifling.
All I could do in this narrow and stifling space was to let out a small sigh.
After an eerie silence of three minutes.
“Please wait a moment.”
The door opened with a soft sliding sound. A man in a black suit who emerged before us stealthily glanced around.
What I could see over his broad shoulders was surely my own office, the HERO National office.
Presumably, these were precautions taken to prevent any potential trouble.
After all, our team’s name is the Strategic Crisis Response Team.
“There’s no problem. You can get off now.”
“Haah…”
I couldn’t see any noticeable difference, but…
Either way, it’s security that ordinary people wouldn’t understand.
I might as well not raise unnecessary complaints and just get off.
Upon getting out of the car, I looked back.
From Noble mtl dot com
Inside, I saw Louina standing some distance apart from me, looking extremely nervous and staring at the ground.
“Louina, can you come here for a moment?”
I called her gently.
Silently, Louina separated herself from the spot and slowly approached me.
“…Ah.”
Directly, I reached out and gently pulled the approaching Louina by her hair.
Even in a country where favoritism towards women isn’t particularly strong.
If my girlfriend is feeling down because of what I’ve done, I know what I need to do.
Somewhat boldly,
I gently kissed Luina’s lips as she was pulled close to me.
Luina, who had been looking gloomy all along, blinked very fast, her cheeks flushing.
“Didn’t you say that only the strong have choices? It’s one-to-one with this.”
“Hon, honey……”
“Thank you for worrying about me and protecting me from threats. So don’t make that face. I think I can’t be without you now.”
“Re… really…?”
“Would I dare lie in front of my girlfriend who is lovely, cute, and strong.”
I didn’t utter a single empty word.
I was really filled with my raw feelings for Luina.
“Luina. Can you be alone for a while? I’ll rush back as soon as the work is over. Tomorrow is a day off, so let’s stay together all day long.”
“Ah, uh, yes! Yes!! Of course, I can be alone! I’ll be waiting patiently!”
At this surprising kiss, Luina’s face brightens up as she wipes her lips with her hand.
Smiling back at her, I swiftly turned towards the office.
“Work hard~!!”
From behind me, I could hear the strong cheering of my girlfriend, giving me strength.
* * *
Thanks to the help of the agents, I successfully managed to get to work in the afternoon.
But.
Despite everyone supposedly being in the middle of their work schedules.
For some reason, the employees were gathered together.
Even the manager was standing at the edge of the crowd, straining his neck to see something.
“What is everyone doing?”
Unable to contain my curiosity, I abandoned my belongings at my desk and joined the crowd to ask.
The most senior employees nearby looked back at me, eyes wide open.
“Huh? Everyone! Seunghoon’s here for work~!”
“Ohong!?”
“He’s here!?”
“Oooh!!”
What, what is this situation?
Why are they reacting so explosively just because one person came to work?
At the senior’s shout, the crowd of workers all turned to look at me, letting out their individual exclamations.
“Hey, hey, hey! Jo Seunghoon! What have you been up to!?”
My newly appointed contemporary, Kyeongtae, asked me impatiently while holding his phone up.
“What, what are you talking about?”
“Do you happen to know about the incident that happened at the bank nearby?”
“A bank robbery?”
“Exactly, man! A voice recording of the on-site situation just went up on the Internet!”
Kyungtae, who had been speaking, firmly pressed the play button displayed on his phone screen.
A buzzing sound.
A rustling sound.
[Well. Will it be quicker for the rat to stop crying, or for you to obediently listen to my words?]
A moment of noise passed.
Then the provoking voice of the villain we’d heard live just minutes before rang out.
Had someone been recording in the midst of the chaos?
………Hold on.
Hold on! Just a minute!?
Which meant the next words to be heard would be!!
[Stop!!]
Immediately after a very familiar voice burst into a shout,
Kyungtae timely pressed the pause button.
I rolled my eyes around and saw my colleagues all staring at me with twinkling eyes.
“I can’t believe our Sunghoon would do something so brave.”
“You’ve been doing some pretty cool stuff behind our backs. You’re a real hero!”
“If it were me, I could never have confronted the villains.”
“That voice calling out for him… isn’t that Sunghoon’s girlfriend?”
“Yes, yes, it’s Yuri!”
Following Gyeongtae’s excited answer,
The employees started to clap for me.
I didn’t stand up from that spot just to receive such excessive celebration…
“Even though it’s something that happened outside the company, it will be reflected positively on Seonghun’s performance review. Well done, hero.”
“Eh…Yes, yes!? Th-thank you, manager!!”
In the meantime, as I was momentarily stunned,
I straightened my posture due to the manager’s compliment that snapped me to attention.
Even though I didn’t confront a villain like a real hero.
I almost had serious trouble if it weren’t for Luina’s help.
Anyway, in this situation where everyone is treating me as a hero.
“Th-thank you, everyone…!”
I felt extremely lighthearted.