The Hall's Heavy Silence
The living room of this vast Lee Siwoo mansion lay buried in an incomprehensible silence.
“……”
“……”
An unknown silence pressed down hard between us, heavy as chains.
Choi Chang-won’s two eyes wandered like a lost child, lost in confusion until they finally met Soyeon’s gaze.
For a moment their eyes tangled.
The emotion that filled Soyeon’s gaze was not blame or resentment.
It was, rather, the faintest trace of sorrow and pity.
As if he had read her eyes, Choi Chang-won flinched at his shoulders, bit his lower lip, and quickly averted his gaze.
He no longer seemed able to meet her eyes.
Even though his flaws had been laid bare, instead of scolding him she had pitied him, and that alone was humiliation and shame enough for Choi Chang-won.
Head bowed low, Choi Chang-won simply bit his lip harder.
“Chang-won-ah.”
“……”
I don’t know why you did this.”
“……”
I was the one who……”
“……”
Suddenly.
“……ha.”
Choi Chang-won let out a laugh that was not really a laugh.
“……fuck. Really.”
With that one word of profanity he gave a hollow expression.
“……Yeah, that’s probably it.”
Half-resigned, he muttered to himself.
“Hah, yeah, that’s what you mean? You don’t know why I did it?”
At last he let a thick, dark smile spread across his face and turned his gaze toward Soyeon.
The eyes of a man who had already given up everything.
“Jin Soyeon, you really don’t know why I did this?”
“Chang-won-ah……”
Choi Chang-won, who had already given up, seemed to have decided to spill out every ounce of the pain he had been feeling.
In an instant he roared like a wounded beast, voice rising sharply.
“It’s all because of you, you!”
“Ah.”
“You fuck! You were the one who came at me first!”
“Came at me? What the hell do you mean by that……”
“You barged in on your own and pretended to be interested!”
From what I knew, Choi Chang-won was a man starved for affection.
His parents had worked double shifts since he was little, so he rarely came home on time, and he grew up without real attention or love.
He had talent and could enter the Union Academy, but because he had spent so much time alone as a child, he struggled to form proper human relationships.
He only hung out with the other kids; he had no one to confide in.
Then Soyeon had come along.
She had helped Choi Chang-won fit in with the other kids, and whenever he had problems she had promised to help and listened to everything.
A gentle, kind girl smiling sweetly, helping with everything, listening, always laughing—Choi Chang-won must have been thrilled at the time.
And I knew Choi Chang-won was gullible.
Though there were girls who liked him because of his talent, most lost interest after talking to him because he had an ordinary, slightly creepy, and boring personality.
But Soyeon was different.
She had helped him sincerely, listened when he had problems, and hung out with him.
“So you just like flirting with other boys, right?! Isn’t that it?!”
“Ah, no.”
So of course he had misunderstood.
After all, Soyeon had been helping everyone without expecting anything in return.
Think about it—pretty girls helping boys and smiling at them beside them.
Boys would definitely think, ‘Oh, she must like me?’
In the old days, most boys had girlfriends and Soyeon’s beauty had made them hesitant to get too close.
But Choi Chang-won had been a new student ranked 34th, and since Soyeon had broken up with her boyfriend, he had probably thought she liked him.
Of course, that didn’t make his actions right, but——
“You were completely flirting and seducing! And you do it to other boys too!”
“Chang-won-ah, you know that’s not it, I was just helping you……”
“Fuck, get lost! You fucking bitch!”
……His words were a bit too harsh.
Choi Chang-won no longer hesitated and spat out abusive language at Soyeon.
If he said that, she could no longer hold back.
Lee Siwoo, who was supposed to be the villain’s fiancé.
The reason I had been quiet so far was because of Soyeon.
She had kept gesturing that she was fine.
But when Choi Chang-won said that, she couldn’t stay silent.
What if Siwoo didn’t step in?
Then I would.
I was a little angry too.
I had been listening on purpose to try to calm things down, but this guy was just spouting nonsense.
“Jin Soyeon! You do this to other boys too……!”
“Shut up, Choi Chang-won.”
“Siwoo, you also played with that girl…… hah?!”
“I told you to keep your mouth shut.”
Siwoo’s cold expression didn’t change as he reached out and grabbed Choi Chang-won’s throat.
Soyeon had been insulted multiple times; she looked furious.
Choi Chang-won struggled for a moment, then unleashed his mana to shove Siwoo’s hand away.
Siwoo stepped back one pace.
“Cough, cough, fuck, this bastard Siwoo……”
“……”
Siwoo stood behind Soyeon and watched Choi Chang-won with his usual indifferent gaze.
Choi Chang-won, unable to stand the sight, once again summoned mana and threatened both Siwoo and Soyeon.
“Fuck you bastards, you’re always like this, always. It’s always me getting screwed. Right?”
“You brought this on yourself, Choi Chang-won.”
“Chang-won-ah, stop it, just stop.”
“Shut up! You fucking…… in the end you should prepare for this. You two.”
His face twisted, his eyes burning with dark anger as he glared at Soyeon and Siwoo.
Since nothing could be fixed now, Choi Chang-won felt like he had nothing left to lose.
But this bastard.
He didn’t even try to stop me.
Well, I hadn’t planned to step in anyway.
Siwoo alone would be enough, and I had prepared various countermeasures anyway.
……More importantly, this was my highlight scene.
Siwoo should be the one to take him down so the picture would look good.
“Die, fuck!”
“……”
In the blink of an eye Choi Chang-won formed a mana sphere and fired at Siwoo and Soyeon, but Siwoo swung the baton he had hidden under the table and deflected the sphere sideways.
Soon the mana sphere slammed into the wall with a loud bang!, and Siwoo used the opening to rush forward and strike Choi Chang-won’s abdomen, temple, and throat.
Oh? That’s impressive?
“Kek!”
For a moment while Choi Chang-won was paralyzed, Siwoo kicked his legs, toppled him to the floor, pinned him with a knee on his back, and completely restrained him.
‘……It’s surprisingly cool.’
Like a scene from an action movie?
In a flash he charged and struck, then perfectly pinned the opponent—half-joking, it was the kind of scene you’d see in an action film.
‘A handsome guy like that definitely looks great.’
I muttered to myself in admiration.
‘To think Choi Chang-won would be taken down so easily. He was ranked 34th after all.’
Of course he had been unarmed and Choi Chang-won was weak up close, so Siwoo had the advantage.
But I hadn’t expected it to be this easy, so I was a little surprised.
Siwoo seemed much stronger than during his performance evaluation.
Even without any talent, the male lead grows strong on his own.
“H, hold on!”
“Choi Chang-won. I told you I would give you a chance earlier. That’s because of Soyeon.”
“Wha, what?”
“If you had confessed honestly and asked for forgiveness from the start, Soyeon would have shown some leniency.”
“Th, that……”
Of course it was only leniency.
In the end Choi Chang-won could not escape punishment.
After all, Siwoo had already been furious.
He wouldn’t have let it go.
Bang!
“Are you all right, young master!”
“Young master!”
The security team rushed in through the front door.
The guards in black suits stood armed, staring at us.
Most were former heroes, so they were powerful.
They could handle anything Choi Chang-won might try.
“I’m fine. Everything’s wrapped up.”
“I see.”
One guard glanced at the fallen Choi Chang-won and nodded.
They had already been warned in advance, so their reactions were casual.
“Then shall we take this man with us?”
“Yes. As for his treatment…… I’ll decide later. For now, just do that.”
“Understood, young master. Then——”
One guard signaled with his chin, and the others approached and led Choi Chang-won out of the living room.
Choi Chang-won struggled with a twisted face, but it was useless.
Soon only the three of us remained in the living room.
Soyeon, Siwoo, and me.
The three of us stood in silence for a while without saying anything.
And then.
“Ah, well, it seems everything’s settled.”
“……Yeah.”
Soyeon nodded weakly.
“Speaking of which, what are you going to do with Choi Chang-won?”
“Hmm. Considering what happened today, I probably need to report it to the academy and see how they handle it. Reporting to the police won’t mean much anyway.”
“He might even be expelled?”
“Probably.”
Since an eccentric stalking incident had occurred where a hero-in-training stole a girl’s used item or took photos, the punishment would be severe.
As the top hero training institution, they punished such behavior strictly.
We…… well, technically we had committed trespass, but Siwoo would handle it properly on his own.
‘As expected, Siwoo’s background is useful.’
Using connections to quickly investigate, quickly find out Choi Chang-won’s personal info, having former hero guards…… it was all useful in many ways.
‘Yu Seolhyeon too, Siwoo too. I guess I need to get closer to them to some extent.’
This time it was just a simple stalker case, but I would be involved in much bigger incidents later.
At those times, Siwoo and Yu Seolhyeon’s backgrounds would act as a strong shield and powerful spear.
“……Well, then I’ll head out first. I’m a little tired. See you later.”
“Yeah, Jinhyuk.”
Should I give up my seat a little?
Siwoo had taken down the stalker brilliantly, so it would be better to let him talk to Soyeon alone.
I had suspected Choi Chang-won might be the stalker, but after that Siwoo had taken care of everything smoothly, so Soyeon would owe him a lot.
I felt a little sad that the friend I thought I had was actually a stalker, but I figured Siwoo would comfort her properly.
Because of that, this incident might even bring us closer.
‘Soyeon too…… if she keeps helping boys without thinking she might end up like this.’
Of course, even if she stopped helping others because of this, she wouldn’t stop helping everyone in general.
She might gain a bit more caution after this.
Or not.
‘……Anyway, I want to be left alone and get closer to Siwoo.’
With that thought, I slowly turned and left.
***
“……Soyeon. Are you okay?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Soyeon had been staring at the retreating back of Jinhyuk, then suddenly heard Siwoo’s voice and snapped back to herself.
When she glanced over, Siwoo was looking at her with his usual indifferent gaze, but she could see a trace of worry in his eyes.
“……I didn’t know Chang-won thought that about me.”
“Soyeon-ah.”
“……That’s why he even did something like that.”
Soyeon muttered bitterly.
Yeah, she hadn’t known.
About Chang-won’s feelings.
She had thought they could just be friends…… friends.
There were people who believed friends and boys and girls couldn’t be friends, but Soyeon had thought otherwise.
She believed they could be friends.
But how had it come to this.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t even know Jinhyuk liked me and I hurt him…… I did the same to Chang-won……’
There’s a saying that one coincidence is nothing, but two are fate.
Soyeon mulled over the words Chang-won had spat out.
“You fuck! You were the one who came at me first!”
“You barged in on your own and pretended to be interested!”
“So you just like flirting with other boys, right?!”
“You were completely flirting and seducing! And you do it to other boys too!”
“……Did I do something wrong?”
“That’s not it.”
“Siwoo, you also think my actions were a bit……”
“Soyeon-ah……”
Actually, there were plenty of excuses.
After all, Soyeon hadn’t been harboring any black-hearted feelings while helping the boys.
She had always helped anyone who needed help with sincere effort, regardless of gender.
She wasn’t like Yu Seolhyeon, who secretly seduced and used men.
She had simply wanted to help others.
Of course, some boys had gotten feelings for her along the way.
“Soyeon-ah. It’s really good that you’re friendly with the kids. But if you get too close to the boys…… misunderstandings can happen. You should be a little more careful.”
“……Yeah, I know.”
Soyeon was confident she could distinguish between boys who liked her and those who didn’t.
She had actually been able to tell, and she had tried to behave properly.
She couldn’t give unnecessary leeway to a boy who liked her.
But when it was truly important, she tended to miss the signs.
Like now.
“Ah.”
Out of nowhere.
Out of nowhere.
The words Jinhyuk and Yu Seolhyeon had mentioned several times flashed through her mind.
……That Siwoo didn’t actually like her or something.
“……Siwoo.”
“Yeah.”
“……Um, I hope you don’t overthink it and just listen if that’s what you meant.”
“……”
Normally she wouldn’t have worried about such words, but the cases of Jinhyuk and Chang-won had happened.
And Siwoo didn’t seem close to other girls, but with Soyeon he was especially close.
Helping her today was no different.
Isn’t there also a saying that people who are too close might get killed?
Because of that, Soyeon’s expression turned slightly hazy and her eyes trembled a little as she moved her lips.
She wanted to say it with the thought that Siwoo at least wouldn’t do something like that.
“……Um, that is, if……”
“……Soyeon-ah?”
Did Siwoo notice that Soyeon’s mood was a bit off?
He looked at her with a more serious gaze.
“Siwoo, you…… you don’t have any feelings like…… for me…… right……?”
In an instant.
“……”
Siwoo’s expression hardened.