Confidence (3)

"...So you're saying Dad disappeared?"

"Yes. I was told he left the guild a short while ago."

Elise checked her smartwatch after hearing Sebas Chan's report. The display showed an hour that, even by night standards, was nowhere near late.

"This is normally when he starts working. So why the rush?"

Unlike most people, her father's real workday was only just beginning. Which made the urgency of the report all the stranger.

"Before leaving the guild... he told the vice guild leader he was going to see you, Miss Elise..."

"...Me?"

Elise's brow furrowed slightly.

"Yes. I'm concerned his visit may have something to do with Cadet Lee Ho-yeon."

"Hmm..."

Her daughter was getting massages — from a male masseur, no less. Who the hell is this guy putting his hands on my daughter? Let me get a look at his face. That was exactly the kind of thing her father would say. He chased after women himself, yet the moment his own daughter so much as met ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a man, he'd declare she was too young. A walking, talking double standard.

"Did you tell him I said I wouldn't see him if he came to Korea?"

"I did pass that along, however..."

The Guild Leader is so careless with paperwork, whether he actually read it is another matter... Sebas Chan swallowed the rest. He could hardly speak ill of her father in front of Elise.

"Mm. Then it's fine. He probably just used me as an excuse to go meet some woman."

"Is that so...?"

Sebas Chan tilted his head. He knew just how deeply the Guild Leader loved both the vice guild leader and Elise.

"Yeah. If he listened to me, he won't come."

Elise knew her father adored her to a fault — but she also knew he listened to her just as well. And so she trusted him. Completely unaware that Isaac was already preparing to come to Korea.

The Nam Da-eun sisters had gone out on some kind of picnic, and Liliana had started streaming from her room.

She didn't actually need to stream anymore. I'd gotten pretty comfortable financially, after all. But sitting around the house with nothing to do would kill anyone's will to live, so I told her to keep at it. She seemed to enjoy chatting with people in her own way, too.

"Hmmm..."

How does a stream like that even get popular? Amazing, honestly.

With Liliana's voice as background noise, I got ready to meet Mun Su-rin. "Getting ready" amounted to a quick wash and running a hand through my hair... but that was all it took. When you're born with it, skin and hair both come out looking good no matter what.

I opened the dorm door and stepped outside. The meeting place was, as always, the Korean restaurant Pungmidang. As I walked, I turned over what to discuss with Mun Su-rin.

I should bring up the publicity department... and the stalking, too.

I'd mentioned the stalking last time, and her reaction had been... off. Having the key to her route blocked off was a little frustrating, but I'd find a way to work through it.

"The route..."

Conquering Elise had taught me just how powerful affection points really were. Elise, ice-cold to everyone else, hadn't been able to treat me the same way. My face had something to do with it, sure, but the affection points weren't nothing. Which meant Mun Su-rin's route — where her affection rose on its own — might just solve itself. In the end, the one who falls harder always loses.

Of course, the problem was that I didn't have just one lover.

That last thought was pretty scummy.

My scumbag power was growing by the day. I needed to watch that.

I arrived at Pungmidang lost in idle thought. I opened the familiar entrance, and the usual attendant was waiting.

"Welcome."

"I have a reservation. Under Mun Su-rin."

"This way, please. Upstairs."

We passed several private rooms on the second floor, and the attendant bowed at the door of the innermost one.

"Please go right in."

"Thank you."

I slid the door open and found Mun Su-rin sitting there, looking at her smartwatch.

"Noona. I'm here."

"Mhm. You made it."

It had been a while since I'd seen her here. The last time was before I'd been hospitalized. Mun Su-rin put away her smartwatch, and I took the seat across from her.

Nothing unusual.

Her affection was still high, and nothing else stood out. Reliable as ever, that was Mun Su-rin. A smile was blooming across her face — overjoyed to see me and trying, poorly, to hide it. Cute noona.

"You're hungry, right? Let's talk over lunch."

"Sounds good."

The moment Mun Su-rin pressed the bell, food started arriving, and we began to eat. I stared openly at her as she slowly worked through her appetizer, and she noticed.

"W-what? Is there something on my face?"

Her eyes went wide. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed around her lips.

"No. I was just looking at you and it reminded me of when we first met."

"When we first met...?"

"Yeah. I was so shocked back then. Making a mistake like that without even knowing you were the student council president."

Looking back, approaching her by spilling coffee was pretty ridiculous. Then again, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't even adapted to this world yet... so as improvisation went, it wasn't half bad. Yeah. Probably.

"I was startled too. But I was drowning in work stress at the time, so it felt like a breath of fresh air. Plus I gained a junior I actually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠liked."

"I was the one who gained a cute noona."

"Ahem. Is 'cute' really the word you use for your noona?"

Mun Su-rin slurped her straw, a small smile on her lips, and leaned in toward me.

"Come on. It just means I like you that much. Speaking of, is there any more publicity department work? It's been a while since we did anything."

"...The budget hasn't come through, actually. We haven't even finished using the photos from your first shoot with Elise..."

"..."

When your models are that good, I guess this is what happens.

"Noona. Come to think of it, what exactly happened with the vice president?"

"...You mean Shin Dong-min?"

"Yeah."

The gloomy atmosphere and the dead-eyed expressions I'd seen at the student council last time were still vivid. Mun Su-rin leaned back in her chair, let out a sigh, and spoke.

"Haa... there's nothing special about it, honestly. One day he just stopped showing up, and then he vanished."

"His little clique ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stopped showing up around the same time, I bet."

"Yeah. So we've been handling everything ourselves. We need to recruit more people, but... the expulsion process is a pain."

"Well, it is the Victoria Academy student council."

A Victoria Academy student council position was an incredible line on a résumé. Which meant getting in — and getting out — was a bureaucratic nightmare. That said, where the hell was that bastard Shin Dong-min hiding? In the original, he'd been disgustingly persistent. No way he'd just give up like this...

Just then, Mun Su-rin tapped the table.

"Hoyeon, what if you took over? I'll give you the vice president seat. Nobody would complain if it was you."

"Uh, I'm kind of busy..."

"It'd look amazing on a job application later, you know? Or I could just get you hired at the Academy... or if nothing else, you could work under me...?"

"..."

I ran through every excuse I could think of.

I cleaned my dessert ice cream down to the last spoonful and leaned back in my chair.

"This place is delicious no matter when I come."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Mun Su-rin, sipping her Claire Rose Latte, broke into a bashful smile.

"Is there anything bothering you, noona?"

"Hm? Not really. Why do you keep asking if I'm having a hard time lately?"

"...No reason. Just because. It's sad when you're struggling. Haha..."

Tch. Leading the witness this hard was a bad habit. I scraped at the empty ice cream bowl for no reason, and felt Mun Su-rin's gaze. She looked like she had something to say.

"Noona, did you want to say something?"

"Um. Hoyeon. If... if the paparazzi are giving you too much trouble, tell me. I'll take care of all of them."

"...What?"

"You said so last time. That it was really hard."

The sudden mention of paparazzi threw me for a second, then I remembered. Last time we'd met, I'd used "it's been hard" as a cover story.

What kind of backwards situation is this?

I was supposed to be the one seducing Mun Su-rin. Instead, she was the one coming on to me. First things first... I couldn't let her waste her energy on something pointless. Honestly, being a guy, the attention wasn't even that bad.

"Nah, it's fine. I had a lot going on back then. I don't really care anymore."

"R-really...?"

As I kept talking, the corners of Mun Su-rin's mouth crept upward.

"Yeah. I mean, some stranger saving my photos is a little weird, but... I have to get used to it. I'm a public figure now."

Come to think of it, plenty of people set celebrity photos as their wallpaper without asking permission. I should treat it the same way.

"W-what if it's someone you know?"

Mun Su-rin leaned in a little closer.

"Huh?"

"Would it still be weird if someone you know saved them...?"

"?"

I didn't catch on immediately and frowned a little. Mun Su-rin's eyes flew wide. She jerked back into her seat and waved her hands frantically.

"Ah, n-no. Sorry. That's not what I— I phrased that wrong. Ahem. Ahem!"

Mun Su-rin launched into a sudden coughing fit.

What was that about?

"Ahem! Anyway! We've finished eating, so shall we get going?"

...Hold on.

My beast's instinct was screaming at me. I could not just let this slide. How many times had I been burned by this already? Casually brushing off something a heroine said had blown up in my face more than once or twice.

There was the heroine who wanted me to rape her. The one who'd assaulted me the moment I came back from being gone a week. The professor who milked me dry as "payment" for helping with her research. The twins who'd latched onto me wanting a threesome. The rich young lady with a voyeurism kink. The beautiful girl whose little sister was being held hostage, clinging to me and saying she'd live for my sake.

Thinking Mun Su-rin hadn't gone down some weird path of her own was naive. No — it was just stupid.

Judging by that reaction, I was right. Was Su-rin noona collecting my photos?

"..."

"...Hoyeon? Aren't you getting up?"

But honestly... that much is fine, right?

Compared to the other heroines, that was an incredibly normal hobby. She wouldn't be collecting nudes of me. Probably. Regular photos I could accept, like a celebrity fan club.

I pretended to think it over, then slowly spoke.

"Well... if it's someone I know, maybe it's fine?"

"...Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. Someone I know already knows my face. They could just ask and I'd give them a photo."

"...Then, ah, never mind."

Mun Su-rin started to say something, then shook her head hard. I had a pretty good idea what she'd been about to say... but I didn't press. This was already a little suspicious. Push further and it'd look like I was fishing on purpose.

"Noona. Shall we head out?"

"Y-yeah, let's!"

Mun Su-rin clamped down on a twitching smile and led the way out of the room. She was obviously holding back a grin.

"...Well. Compared to the rest, she's a saint."

Collecting photos? I could live with that. It wasn't even a weird fetish.