The Guild Members Are Obsessed with the Intern – Chapter 22: The Cooperation Mission Briefing
My hand moved faster than my heart.
I had thought about Lee Minsu countless times. And even after he returned to the Flame Guild.
Inside my head, I ran through endless simulations of how I could make him look back at me.
*I have no real experience with romance... but I’ve gathered plenty of information.*
My hobbies were never martial-arts training. From childhood I was lost in romance novels, pure-love manhwa, and dramas. Theory came to me naturally.
Not content with that, I also scoured web communities for dating after-stories and advice.
And I even wrote my own posts in painfully awkward Korean.
*So my conclusion is...*
I couldn’t just sit still anymore. I had to move myself.
Looking at the advice I’d received, an inexperienced girl like me would find it extremely difficult to seduce Minsu.
*There are already two women with deep relationships around him...*
The hunter world is narrow, so posting the question openly would risk exposing me or Soso. I had to couch it as a consultation for someone in a different industry.
[In the dating-advice gallery...]
└ Like the post I made last time... my ideal man is a golden-spoon beauty CEO ex-girlfriend, and a woman who looks like a maxed-out charmer in a subtle fling... of course, the house background is at least as good as the ex-girlfriend, and lately I’ve heard a few compliments about how pretty she is... but I keep worrying about the women around my ideal man... ㅠㅠ
└ Soso-ya, so what’s the job of your crush?
└ That’s... my crush is a sports player, an absolute prodigy... he suffered a terrible injury, now he’s back on the team as a rookie and has a shot at the rookie-of-the-year award... he’s ridiculously handsome and skilled, so girls can’t stop talking about him... that’s why I feel suffocated every single day, like I’ve eaten a whole box of sweet potatoes... ;;;
The question was posted in the strangest tone imaginable, but because the community had been active for ages, Soso’s membership rank was high and the replies were kind.
Most importantly, the community accepted her awkward Korean as part of her unique concept. Soso was a well-known figure there.
*And the things I wrote would sound like lies to outsiders...*
In reality, it was all true. Yuri and I both came from backgrounds that could appear on a drama.
Our family backgrounds were nothing special, but Arin, as a pure woman, possessed a level of charm far beyond both of us.
The selfless, voluptuous junior girl who could make any man weak for her was none other than Arin.
The complicated relationship that felt like a female-targeted drama suddenly captured the attention of the dating-advice gallery. Soso’s concern post often became a popular thread.
Though some replies were clearly playful, there were genuinely caring ones.
Above all, Soso was famous in that community as the “NTR-ed girl” who had been abandoned by her crush after he fell for the student-council president of Eins Academy.
*Even back when I attended academy, I posted in the gallery a lot.*
Every time I saw Yuri and Minsu growing even closer after the special winter training of our second year, my chest ached so much I couldn’t bear it.
That was when I created the Blood Demon persona and poured out my heart to the gallery members who were the only friends I had at the time.
└ Soso-ya. The galleries know you’re super shy. There’s only one way. If you’ve heard the word “pretty” lately, the best thing is to just drink together and throw yourself at him with your body... I did that and ended up dating my crush! Of course it was the ex-girlfriend story...
└ That won’t work! It has to be purely mental with your crush...
└ Stop being so weak! You almost got NTR-ed again after becoming single? Honestly, if you’ve been this close and there’s still no progress, are you really going to keep seeing Soso as just a girl?
└ No way!! I... I’ve held hands with my crush... I even kissed him...
└ Really? But nothing happened after that? After doing that, shouldn’t you have gone all the way already? Then you’d be dating right away.
└ That’s impossible!! How can I... be so embarrassed...! A woman’s chastity in Muguk is different from Korea!
└ Huh? Still, after kissing, if nothing happened afterward, it’s really dangerous. It’s a big deal! Because she didn’t feel Soso as a woman. The wording is strong, but since Soso has experienced NTR, this is just advice. You have to do something soon;; ㄹㅇ it’s real.
I was already this restless just from receiving the advice.
The gallery members were right.
I had already kissed Minsu. I had been alone with him in a luxurious hotel. There had been zero progress as a man and woman.
Mental, physical, everything. And today I had run into Senior Ha-eun by chance.
The words she had used to lure Minsu to the alumni reunion were driving me insane.
*Minsu goes to the alumni reunion... and maybe... with Senior Ha-eun...*
Minsu’s appearance had always been average, but after he stood out at the end of our second year, his reputation skyrocketed.
He didn’t do public appearances, so the mysterious aura worked perfectly. More than that, the academy star who had produced a perfect win-and-victory record for the academy.
Among the nineteenth-generation classmates, he was already worshipped as the hero who saved them all. Senior Ha-eun wasn’t the only one; plenty of other female alumni would find him attractive.
*No. If Minsu is thinking about going to the alumni reunion...*
I had to act faster. Make Minsu clearly aware of me. And I knew him well.
Given his meticulous and kind personality, he was still carrying the grudge from the winter special training when he used me.
I made up my mind.
*I can’t let him get stolen from me like I did in academy. I’ll accelerate, or use that guilt...*
I slowly moved my hand that had been resting on Minsu’s thigh and said,
***
“Lee Minsu. About this alumni reunion... there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
As I spoke, my hand stroked his thigh. The touch was too bold. I froze for a second.
*Soso... right?*
Someone who would do something like this on the spot would naturally be the Blood Demon. But I felt none of that ominous aura.
If it were the Blood Demon, my instincts would have triggered the PTSD I feared.
“What do you mean by alumni reunion...”
Just then Yuri was called to the front by the guild representatives and left the briefing room for a moment. From beside me she whispered quietly,
“Senior Seo Ha-eun... or Ha-eun-senpai... the alumni reunion. Are you planning to attend?”
I had been quietly worried about that reunion anyway. My conclusion was to go.
It wasn’t bad to create a connection with the future villain who might become Ha-eun-senpai.
*Of course I was only planning to go for a short while and then leave...*
But I wasn’t sure if Soso would even be interested in the alumni reunion. As far as I knew, Soso wasn’t the type to attend gatherings like that.
“Yes. I think I’ll probably end up attending.”
“Hmm. Is that so. Then... I wouldn’t mind joining you. Hehe...”
My answer was completely unexpected.
*Soso is actually willing to go to a place full of people?*
Of course, that was completely different from the gloomy second year when I barely left the library. Still, Soso, who was terrified of people and had stayed buried in books, was now considering going.
My first connection with Soso had been by chance in the library, where I went because I knew nothing about magic but studied magic theory.
“Why? Do you find me uncomfortable going with you?”
As she said that, Soso pressed her body even closer to mine. She glanced around, then leaned in and whispered into my ear,
“Hehe... I want to go to the alumni reunion with you. Like the old days when we were always together.”
The hand on my thigh became even more assertive. With her face so close to my ear, I felt her breath grow hot. It was strangely stimulating.
It felt like she was seducing me. No. At that moment I knew.
Soso was seducing me.
*Like the old days.*
Just like she said. We really had been inseparable.
I, the reincarnated one, had no friends.
After I bent Yuri, I was openly confronted by the students for months until the end of second year.
After the chance meeting in the library, Soso had always treated me with warmth.
But I, still dumb and only thinking of Yuri at the time, never noticed that Soso’s heart had already moved beyond friendship.
*Now I know.*
That was why I didn’t meet her privately. But I had already confirmed that her feelings were unchanged through the Hong Kong trip and the Pyongyang business trip.
“You don’t like it? Or is it that there’s someone around you who would be inconvenienced if I went with you? Why are you looking so tense?”
Because of Soso’s sudden move, I felt my own body stiffen. No, not fear. An emotion I hadn’t expected rose in me.
Soso, right now, felt extremely seductive. The hand stroking my thigh was full of longing.
Even though it was far from lewd, my body reacted on its own.
*What is Soso thinking?*
Maybe because of the repeated side effects of being restrained by the Blood Demon. I desperately denied the forbidden thought that crossed my mind.
If only it were the Blood Demon... that would have been fine.
Whatever the case, right now Soso was the one seducing me.
“I’m not against it.”
“Is that so. Then that’s good.”
As she said that, Soso whispered again into my ear.
“I like you.”
The words that confirmed the feelings I had already known left me speechless.
Soso withdrew her hand from my thigh and laced her fingers tightly with mine.
“I will never let you go to another woman this time.”
I had no reply. Maybe Soso had blocked my answer with Heavenly Demon Divine Art. I thought that was it.
Just then Yuri returned.
“You two, what’s going on? Is something wrong?”