Wolf's Greed
I groaned. In the end, I ended up downing three glasses of wine in a row. The finale was me unloading a torrent of curses at Angel. Even so, Catena… no, Miss Geum Yu-seon didn’t seem drunk at all.
“Ah, that was delicious…. What about you, Jung-woo-ssi? How was it?”
“It was good. The alcohol… was much easier to drink than soju.”
“Of course. It costs way more than soju, so it better be.”
Delicious or not, my head was pounding. If the drink had been just a little stronger, I might have actually enjoyed the atmosphere. Right now, my entire body was screaming at me to vomit out every drop of alcohol I’d consumed.
I somehow managed to finish paying and headed down the stairs. One careful step at a time. Don’t fall. Stay steady.
“Are you okay? Can we… maybe go for round two?”
Round two? In this body?
“I’m sorry. I… I don’t think I can handle it.”
“Ah, right…. You did say you were weak. What should we do? I feel like I pushed you too hard.”
As she spoke, she slipped under my shoulder and gently supported me. Somehow, even though she was a hero who looked incredibly tall, she was actually smaller than me. Must have been the proportions. Only a few centimeters difference, though….
“I can at least make it home.”
“That mask… isn’t it stuffy? Taking it off might help a bit.”
“No, no.” That would be a disaster. I had no intention of showing my face to anyone.
“You’ve already shown me your eyes and lips. All that’s left is your jawline… and your nose, right?”
She must have been talking about when we first met while I was wearing the mask. It’s not like she could piece together my entire face from that… what was she even saying? If anything, this was only making people more curious about my face—wait, no. What the hell am I thinking? Yeah, alcohol really is the worst.
“Don’t worry. There aren’t any cameras here anyway….”
“That’s not the problem. It’s just… me.”
“I won’t be disappointed. I already love the shape of your eyes.”
Damn it. I couldn’t tell if my burning face was from her relentless compliments or the alcohol. On top of that, her body felt softer than Bianca’s, and before I knew it, she was practically leaning into me.
“And your lips are so red. Did you put on lipstick?”
“…I think we’re both a little drunk, Miss Geum Yu-seon.”
“You can just call me Yu-seon. It’s fine when it’s just the two of us, isn’t it?”
“….”
What exactly was supposed to be fine about that? And anyway, the moment she found out I was colluding with villains, her face would freeze over. Caught between heroes and villains, unable to relax my heart even for a second—what the hell was I even doing—
“Ah, yes. I found him. Yes. I’ll bring him right away.”
Someone spoke up right in front of us, loud enough that it felt like they wanted me to hear. I barely lifted my heavy head and saw two burly men wearing masks, just like me, walking straight toward us.
“Who the hell are you?”
With a metallic clatter, chains spilled across the ground. She lightly set my drunken self down on the stairs and stepped in front of me. Only now did I realize her dress was the kind that clung tightly to her body. Even from the back. It was getting hard to know where to look.
“We’re sorry. We’re here to escort your companion.”
“Companion? And who exactly is my companion?”
“….”
Unable to answer, the two men quietly glanced at me. Not at the hero standing right in front of them. Just as I started wondering what their identities were, one of them subtly rolled up his sleeve toward me.
…Bulph? And that black-and-white mask tucked at his waist. They were Bianca’s people? Why? Were they here to pick me up…?
“You’re not answering, huh. What, are you after my manager? Revenge for the last incident or something?”
“No, that’s not—”
“No, Yu-seon-ssi, it’s not that.”
When I tried to stand up, staggering, chains suddenly wrapped around me. They locked me tightly to the stair railing like handcuffs.
“Like hell it isn’t. It’s obviously suspicious.”
Why did both Catena and Bianca treat me like this? Because I had no strength, they could just push me around however they wanted.
“…I told you, remember? That I have someone I work with.”
“You said a person. You never said it was these shady-looking thugs.”
“He must have sent them. I probably shouldn’t have ignored those texts.”
She turned on her phone as she spoke, and sure enough. Ten unread messages, but twenty missed calls. The time… it was exactly on the hour. Had I really been so caught up in conversation that I hadn’t noticed time passing?
No, that wasn’t the point. I’d said I’d be late, but sending people out to find me? What the hell? All because I turned off my phone?
“Ha, is Jung-woo-ssi some kind of child? Sending people to come look for him?”
“It’s probably not like that. They must have come because something important came up.”
“….”
Her face showed clear disappointment. I really hoped this wouldn’t ruin things between us.
“Next time, I’ll make sure we can go for round two.”
“…Are you really that busy? Busy enough to have people sent to drag you away?”
“Mm… there are quite a few things I need to take care of from now on…. Yeah.”
I couldn’t exactly tell her I planned to actively use her to eliminate the rebels inside Bulph. Bianca also needed to deal with Stahlleder soon. With a mountain of things to discuss, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to have another evening like this for a while.
“Sigh… if that’s how it is.”
Still, she clearly had her suspicions. She looked like she wanted to spend more time together. But since Bianca had gone so far as to send people to retrieve me, I had to go along with it for now.
“Shall we meet again when you have time?”
“Yes, let’s do that. Next time, we should meet earlier.”
“Sounds good.”
Only then did the chains release me. I couldn’t avoid the stinging gaze she gave me, though.
“Well then.”
In the end, I was led away by the two men toward their car. But the way she stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at me… ha. What was I supposed to do about this? If I’d known it would turn out like this, I should have started the conversation in broad daylight from the beginning.
“Huuu….”
The smell of alcohol rose straight from my breath. Even climbing the stairs was getting difficult. Instead of sobering up, the intoxication seemed to be getting worse.
“The password….”
I slid the panel open to enter it, but the door opened immediately. And then—
“Cough?!”
I tumbled to the floor. As if being drunk wasn’t bad enough already.
“Fuck, you reek of booze.”
My body wouldn’t move properly. My head was throbbing.
“Get up.”
“…Ugh.”
“I said get up.”
My back was grabbed and I was thrown onto the sofa. I understood she was angry that I came home late and drunk, but… she was being way too rough.
“Bian, kuh, ca.”
“Shut your mouth.”
She must have been listening to ASMR or something. She yanked out my earphones, threw them aside, and stood right in front of me. Then she planted her knee on my thigh.
“I told you not to mess around.”
“Wait, you’re heavy…!”
“Drinking with that hero bitch. I warned you. I fucking told you not to mess around with that woman.”
Every time I got involved with a woman, it turned out like this. What was the big deal about me meeting women anyway?
“I’ve been going easy on you all this time. I let the face-hiding and name-hiding slide. But.”
She grabbed my collar so hard my back sank deep into the sofa.
“Ugh….”
“You fucking bastard. Was playing with me that fun?”
“What the… hell…!”
The sound of grinding teeth. Her lips trembled. Why? Had someone reported seeing me with Geum Yu-seon? Even the way she’d been dressed at the time.
“Yeah. That restaurant you went to. Fuck. I heard it’s famous as a place heroes take their lovers.”
“…What? I—”
“Don’t make excuses, you son of a bitch. What, were you planning to sell out a villain like me and run off into normal society? Fuck, and I actually trusted you.”
“I told you that’s not it—ack…!”
“Shut your damn mouth. Can’t you read the room?”
I couldn’t breathe. No matter how much I struggled, there was no way I could escape. My mind had understood that a long time ago, but my body kept twisting, desperately searching for a way out. It only made the pain worse.
“So today, this is all your fault.”
At this rate, something was going to break. If my arm snapped, that might actually be a blessing. Or maybe she’d just kill me right here for pissing her off—?!
“Chuuup.”
Our lips overlapped. Bianca’s flushed cheeks and shaking eyes were right there with me. She still had her mask on. But her lips were thoroughly, relentlessly wetting mine.
“Mmph, ngh?!”
“Stay still, fuck.”
Her tongue forced its way in, stirring wildly inside my mouth. It stabbed everywhere, touching every spot. She even stole my breath, drinking it straight from my lungs.
“Kek, nghk….”
“Haa, I said stay still…!”
Soft breasts. Yet hard arms and legs wrapped around me. My head was a mess from the alcohol, and now even my lips were being bitten.
“Haa, ugh…. Heh, hehe, you little shit, your eyes are completely glazed over.”
“Haa, haa, haaa, what the… hell.”
By the time my mouth was completely soaked. By the time the pain faded and it throbbed so much it might leave teeth marks. Only then did Bianca pull away, looking satisfied. She wiped her mouth with her forearm.
“This way you won’t even think about hooking up with that bitch.”
“…What are you even saying?”
Did she actually have romantic feelings for me? Was that why she was jealous? But that couldn’t be… right?
“You still don’t get it, you idiot?”
I hadn’t even shown her my face. I hadn’t even told her my real name. There was no way I’d fallen in love.
“If that woman thinks you already belong to someone, she won’t try to seduce you while getting you drunk like that.”
She gave my chest a light thump, then walked away. Leaving me there, completely lost.
“…I don’t understand.”
The strong scent of wine still lingered. The soft yet rough sensation that remained on my lips. For a long time, I kept touching them, trying to organize the chaos in my drunken mind. The incident with the hero whose real name I had learned somehow completely vanished from my thoughts.