Chapter 5
Chapter 5
My Assigned Villain
The next day, as Marie walked through the Association hallways, a few colleagues cautiously approached her.
It seemed they had seen the morning article about her failing to catch Pink Witch.
“Marie, did you see the article? Don’t stress over it too much.”
“Exactly. Honestly, it’s not that you’re weak, sunbae. That Pink Witch is the problem. She just keeps running and dragging people around in circles. Total trash of a villain.”
“If that crazy bitch gets caught one day, I’m seriously going to grind her into—”
“Do you not have work to do?”
“…What?”
Marie’s voice was cold enough to freeze the air.
The heroes who had been trying to comfort her froze instantly.
Marie stopped walking and slowly swept her dark eyes over them, her gaze full of displeasure.
“Pink Witch is my assignment. My villain. Stop worrying about her and focus on your own missions.”
“No, we just…”
“Sorry. About the article.”
They lowered their heads.
Marie turned away from the stiffened heroes.
They should focus on their own work.
Creak.
The moment the office door shut behind her, Marie loosened the top button of the shirt that had been tightening around her neck and leaned deeply into her chair.
Pressing at her brow, she calmed her emotions and turned on her computer out of habit.
[Your photos are up again, sunbae.]
It was a message from her fellow hero, Kang Hye-eun.
A moment later, Marie saw the post and let out a dry laugh.
[Goddess Jo Marie’s night-view photos are insane. Selling first come, first served.]
They were the photos that pink-haired girl had taken on the rooftop last night.
She hadn’t even waited a few days before uploading them.
Marie chuckled under her breath and sent a message to the familiar seller.
[I’ll buy all of them. 100,000 won per photo. Take the post down immediately.]
“Da-in, the photos are up again.”
Marie spoke toward Da-in, who was sitting across from her clicking a mouse.
“Ah, yes! I’ll buy them all.”
“At 100,000 won each.”
“100,000...? Okay, I’ll do that.”
Da-in looked confused.
It was double the listed price.
But she nodded anyway, assuming there had to be a reason.
Marie looked at her photos a few more times before closing the browser.
Straightening her posture, she began signing off on paperwork.
By the time the sunset spread red-orange across the office windows, dyeing the room in warm amber—
WEE-OOO! WEE-OOO!
The dispatch alarm blared, turning the hallway red.
Marie noticed that her personal office alarm hadn’t gone off.
She glanced at the monitor.
A moment later, she shot up from her chair.
“I’ll go.”
“Yes, have a safe trip.”
Leaving the office staff behind, Marie headed toward the city district where the villain had appeared.
The center of the city was already chaos.
Dust filled the air.
The streets were a wreck.
In the middle of a crosswalk intersection, a villain holding a giant chainsaw screamed wildly, rampaging as a young man struggled against him, clearly overwhelmed.
Through the chaos, Marie appeared.
Steady footsteps.
A clean black suit.
“Ah…! M-Marie!”
The rookie hero holding up a barrier against the villain’s attack cried out like he had found salvation.
Marie slipped one hand into her pocket and casually raised the other in acknowledgment.
The villain, who had been raging confidently, faltered at the sight of Jo Marie.
He stumbled backward.
But soon, veins bulging in his eyes, he yanked violently on the chainsaw’s starter.
Vrrr! Vrrr!
“Come at me, Jo Marie!”
The chainsaw screamed like it wanted to tear flesh apart.
The villain raised it and taunted her.
Marie watched him quietly.
Then let out a small laugh.
Ha.
They really looked down on Jo Marie.
The moment her laugh escaped, the chainsaw in the villain’s hands began swelling larger and larger until it was as big as a tree trunk.
“Die!”
The spinning blue blade came crashing down toward Marie’s head.
The rookie hero screamed and shut his eyes.
But Marie didn’t dodge.
She simply stood there.
Waiting.
And the moment the blade reached her—
Tap.
She casually struck the flat side of the chainsaw with the back of her hand.
BOOM!
The giant chainsaw crumpled and shattered, rolling violently across the asphalt.
The villain’s eyes widened in horror.
Before he could react—
Marie had already closed the distance.
Her hand grabbed the back of his neck.
BANG!
She slammed his face into the asphalt.
The villain coughed blood and struggled.
“Ghk—!”
It hadn’t even taken a few minutes.
A hollow, effortless suppression.
“Just… just kill me! You damned hero bitch!”
Marie looked down calmly at the villain writhing beneath her.
“I don’t kill people.”
“Kill me!”
“Go to prison. Get rehabilitated and come back.”
With those cold final words, Marie handed the villain over to the cleanup team that had finally arrived.
Then the rookie hero awkwardly approached and bowed deeply.
“T-thank you! I’m Leo! I just started hero work recently!”
Even under Leo’s admiring gaze, Marie answered dryly.
“I see.”
She dusted off the dirt on her black suit.
Then casually looked around before turning to leave.
And that was when she saw it.
A familiar color in the distance.
Marie stopped walking and narrowed her eyes.
In the dusty alley between dark buildings—
A bright pink head of hair was peeking out.
How did she even know and come to watch?
The corners of Marie’s lips softened upward instantly.
“Heh.”
A laugh too quiet for anyone else to hear.
Pretending not to notice, Marie naturally turned the other way so that villain wouldn’t realize she’d been spotted.
The hand that had crushed a villain moments ago was now holding her phone, tapping away.
With every short sentence she typed, the blue light of the screen reflected against Marie’s face.
And her expression softened with expectation.
[Did you eat dinner?]
The moment she pressed send, the unread mark disappeared almost instantly.
[Not yet!]
The immediate reply made Marie bite back a smile.
Then she typed again.
[Then want to eat together?]
[Yes!]
Marie put away her phone as she watched that pink-haired figure disappear in an instant.
[Ji-eun, I’m eating with Marie unni tonight!]
The moment Yuri got home, she sent the message and immediately threw open her wardrobe.
The moment work ended, Marie looked for her first?
Anyone could see what that meant.
This was basically asking her on a date.
That meant she couldn’t just throw on anything like usual.
Standing before the vanity mirror, Yuri carefully applied a lively coral tint to her lips.
Thin eyeliner.
A soft white blouse.
Comfortable short pants.
Shoes with slight heels.
Perfect.
Thinking of unni waiting for her, Yuri summoned a black puddle beneath her feet.
Like a swamp of darkness, it swallowed her and carried her straight to a quiet alley near the city center.
“Ah, hurry, hurry.”
Then the word suddenly came to mind.
Date.
Yuri ran her fingers through her naturally pink hair.
Wherever her hand touched, the pink instantly turned into ordinary, neat brown hair.
As she walked toward the meeting place, she saw a tall woman leaning against the wall, wearing sunglasses even though it was barely evening.
Yuri quietly approached on light footsteps and spread her arms wide.
“Unni—!”
She tried to throw herself into a hug.
But Marie smoothly twisted her body away.
Yuri’s arms cut through empty air.
Her hug failed.
“Ah, you startled me. …What do you want to eat?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Anything’s fine. Pasta sounds good today?”
Hiding her disappointment, Yuri tilted her face up at her from her best angle and smiled with her eyes.
That smile caught the attention of passing pedestrians.
People kept glancing over.
Marie’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Ah…”
Then Marie suddenly grabbed Yuri’s small hand.
“I know a place. Let’s go.”
Marie pulled Yuri closer, almost shielding her from other people’s eyes, and walked forward decisively.
Maybe it was partly because of her own noticeable sunglasses.
But seeing other people’s eyes even briefly land on Yuri after she had dressed up like this—
It bothered her.
She should have picked somewhere more private.
Meanwhile, Yuri—
Was completely distracted by their joined hands.
She held onto Marie’s beautiful hand tightly, the one that completely wrapped around her smaller one.
They had brushed before.
But Marie had never intentionally led her like this.
Yuri had always been ready to take her hand.
But now that she had—
Her chest felt ticklish.
Her face kept heating up.
Afraid her face would turn bright red, Yuri pressed her free hand to her burning cheeks.
Then even fanned herself.
The clicking of their shoes continued for a while.
And finally, they stopped.
In front of an elegant high-end restaurant filled with low lighting and soft jazz music.
The moment they were guided into a private room, Yuri stayed close beside Marie, looking intimidated.
“The atmosphere here is so fancy… isn’t this expensive?”
“It’s not expensive. What exactly do you think I do for a living?”
Did she forget she was a hero?
Marie looked at her in disbelief.
She guided the nervous Yuri into a soft chair.
Yuri opened the thick leather menu and looked at the prices.
Her eyes trembled pitifully.
Marie quickly snatched it away.
“One truffle pasta, two sirloin steaks. One house red wine. And lemonade for her.”
The order was smooth and immediate.
But just as the staff member took the menu—
Tap.
Yuri lightly slapped the table and widened her eyes.
“Huh? Unni, I want wine too.”
“No. You’re drinking lemonade.”
A firm answer.
Absolutely not.
Yuri immediately puffed out her lips and lowered her head pitifully.
“…I’m an adult too. Ji-eun and everyone else always treat me like a kid.”
Her cheeks puffed up.
Her sulking was painfully obvious.
How was she twenty-two?
Marie lost.
“Haah…”
Letting out a long sigh, Marie raised her hand again.
“Cancel the lemonade. Same wine for her too.”
The moment the order changed, Yuri’s face lit up brightly.
As if she had never been upset at all.
“Yay! As expected, Marie unni is the best!”
Under her crescent-shaped eyes, those coral-tinted lips shone softly under the light.
Marie stared at those fuller lips, brighter and more alive than usual.
Without thinking—
She swallowed.
“Ahem. Ahem!”
Marie coughed loudly and hurriedly turned her head away.
Her fingers tapped at the table to hide the heat rising to her ears.
Yuri leaned forward slightly and whispered softly.
“But why did you call me out so suddenly? We didn’t even make plans.”
“Today… I just didn’t want to eat alone.”
Marie pretended to look around the room casually.
But the fingers tapping the table had turned into rubbing the table.
Seeing that awkward behavior, Yuri laughed inwardly.
Just as I thought.
Unni really can’t even eat alone without me.
While Yuri smiled to herself, the food arrived.
“I’ll cut it for you!”
Yuri declared confidently, reaching for the knife—
But Marie was faster.
She took it first and skillfully began cutting the steak.
“Ah… I wanted to take care of you.”
Yuri had wanted to watch Marie eat the pieces she cut herself.
Her disappointment was obvious.
Then Marie slid a plate of neatly cut bite-sized steak toward her.
“Sit still and eat what you’re given. With wrists that look like they’d snap if someone tapped them, what are you doing trying to cut meat? Doesn’t that scary little sister of yours say anything about those arms?”
Ji-eun’s nagging flashed through Yuri’s mind.
But Yuri puffed up and answered back.
“I’m actually really strong, you know.”
Marie stabbed a piece of steak with her fork and smiled lazily.
A mature, charming smile.
“Really? Then when you become stronger than me, I’ll hand you the knife.”
The moment Yuri saw that smile—
Her heart jumped violently.
That calm, adult confidence dripping from Marie’s expression was unbearably attractive.
The room was lit with warm yellow indirect lighting.
But to Yuri—
It felt like warm spring sunlight.
“Why are you staring instead of eating? Is there something on my face?”
Marie asked, wiping at the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
Snapping back to reality, Yuri smiled brightly and popped a piece of steak into her mouth.
“No.”
Lifting her glass of red wine, Yuri quietly swallowed down the truth circling in her mouth along with the bitter alcohol.
It’s just because you’re too pretty, unni.
That’s why I was staring.