Chapter 114

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 113

Chapter Title: Staged Betrayal

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"Can we talk for a sec?"

"Haa..."

Choi Hyun-min blocked Hye-ri's path. He wore an openly annoyed expression, but he didn't back down.

"Make it quick, please. I have plans this evening."

Hye-ri's voice was nothing like the sweet whispers she'd once murmured while clinging to Yi Hyunwoo. She'd already decided she no longer needed to play nice with Choi Hyun-min.

"Got it."

The handsome face that had once captivated her now looked utterly ordinary. No, more like a clumsy nerd?

With those thoughts in mind, Hye-ri followed Hyun-min out of the office and toward the terrace. It was usually crowded with smokers because of the smoking booth, but maybe because it was after hours? No one was around.

"Hye-ri, don't take this as nagging—just hear me out."

Hye-ri's face soured at his very first words. And so began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his tedious lecture.

"Remember that time we went to the hotel? The day you forgot your phone. I happened to glance at it. Sorry about that first."

It even had a lock screen—truly just a 'glance'? Hye-ri snorted inwardly but kept her expression neutral and listened.

"What were you thinking, taking nude photos like that? And sending them to some random stranger on a chat app? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"

She'd definitely password-protected her messenger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apps too. He was pretending to care, but Choi Hyun-min had deliberately rifled through her phone and seen every single random chat conversation.

'I knew he knew something.'

It had all been on Hyunwoo's orders, but Hye-ri felt nauseous at Hyun-min's duplicitous act—snooping through her phone on his own and then lecturing her under the guise of concern.

For a fleeting moment, she couldn't understand why she'd ever been interested in a guy like him.

"Exchanging personal info, especially photos, on a site used by random strangers is..."

"You didn't meet that guy offline, right? If you gave him your address or personal details, that'd be really dangerous..."

Choi Hyun-min droned on with his fake-worried monologue. Hye-ri, clearly fed up, stared only at her smartphone screen.

'Ah, I miss Assistant Manager Lee.'

"...Got it? Are you even listening?"

While she was distracted, his sermon apparently wrapped up.

"You done? Can I go now?"

"Did you... even hear a word I said?"

She'd tried to end it on a polite note, but his clinginess grated on her nerves.

"Who are you to tell me what to do, Assistant Manager Choi? Frankly, shouldn't I be wary of you for snooping through my phone without permission?"

"...I'm... I'm your boyfriend. Can't I even talk to you about this?"

Hyun-min faltered at the phone accusation.

"Haa... Assistant Manager Choi, are you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really that oblivious? I've moved on ages ago."

"What?"

Hye-ri had been ignoring his calls and texts for days. He wasn't a rookie at dating; she figured that was message enough.

"So just stop. Assistant Manager Choi. I don't want to see you anymore."

"...No way. I absolutely can't accept that!"

Choi Hyun-min rejected her breakup declaration. Had a woman ever dumped him so one-sidedly?

With his decent looks and ample wealth, he'd always held the upper hand in relationships—women chased him, not the other way around.

His pride stung. Come to think of it, aside from that blacked-out hotel sex, he hadn't slept with Hye-ri. Not even basic skinship.

'Fuck, all the money I spent.'

That realization suddenly pissed him off. Not a single memorable fuck during their entire relationship?

In truth, his uncharacteristic clinginess stemmed from the work system's influence.

His arrogant, self-centered personality—full of pride and confidence—made him think only of himself. He was like a male version of Eun Seol. But now, he was a pathetic loser groveling to a 20-year-old college girl.

"Then I'm off. I have plans."

- Whoosh

Hye-ri left the terrace without a backward glance.

"Wait... ah..."

He tried to chase after her too late—she was already gone.

"You're... ignoring me?"

Left alone on the terrace, Choi Hyun-min's face twisted in anger.

- Got home safe?

- No more random chatting, right?

- Don't drink too much either

...

...

"This... fucking psycho."

She'd clearly told him it was over for good, but the idiot either didn't get it or ignored it—Hyun-min kept calling and texting Hye-ri relentlessly.

Even with Hyunwoo reducing Choi Hyun-min's Obsession, he refused to let go of Hye-ri. Were the other emotions influencing him?

Fed up with his behavior, Hye-ri immediately blocked his number. She even deleted him from her messenger— no more contact from him.

"Phew..."

Only then did she finally fall asleep.

"Let me see you for a sec after work. Not inside the office."

"Let's talk."

"Wanna grab coffee at a café?"

Blocking him online was easy, but offline? No such luck. Choi Hyun-min kept showing up at Hye-ri's desk.

She'd rejected him outright to his face, embarrassingly so, but with no pride, his clinging never stopped.

"Haa..."

Just as her patience hit rock bottom—

- Ding

The message from her long-awaited Master arrived. Hye-ri's face lit up with pure joy, utterly different from before, as she rapidly typed replies.

"What the? Since when am I her counseling hotline?"

Hyunwoo, messaging Hye-ri from the Master's account, had to silence his constantly buzzing phone from her message flood.

They'd established a clear Master-slave dynamic, yet Hye-ri wouldn't stop whining to her Master nonstop.

Sulking over his infrequent contact, complaining about the guy lately clinging to her and how exhausting it was.

'It's about Choi Hyun-min.'

Thanks to that, Hyunwoo got the latest on their drama. Hyun-min was still clinging despite her clear breakup notice.

'Hmm... Time to clean this up.'

Hyunwoo agreed with Hye-ri.

He'd disliked Choi Hyun-min from the start—pure-faced fox Hye-ri's antics and coworker Jae-hoon's trash-talk had soured him on the guy without reason.

When those two started flirting at the office soon after, Hyunwoo broke them up using the work system, not wanting to see it.

Afterward, he targeted Hye-ri and could have dated her. But why settle for one when he had admin privileges and a company full of women?

So he manipulated her into dating Hyun-min again. Just fucking her plain wouldn't hit the same; bonus was tormenting the annoying Choi Hyun-min.

Hyunwoo had his thrills: popping her cherry, summoning her mid-date with Hyun-min for quickies.

Skinship with Hyun-min? Strictly forbidden. No way he'd share with some other guy.

'But he's slipping out of control?'

Instead of pathetically jerking off while Hye-ri led him around, pointless emotions like Obsession and Love-Hate were complicating management. Definitely time to cut him loose.

"Hmm..."

As Hyunwoo pondered a cleanup plan—

- So what do you want me to do?

He subtly probed her intentions.

As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if she'd been waiting, Hye-ri fired off a long message with her scheme. Reading it, Hyunwoo—

"Kukukuku... Now that's Kim Hye-ri."

—marveled at her wicked genius.

- Fine, I'll help with that much.

- Thank you, Masteeer~

Hyunwoo decided to resolve this through her 'Master's' account, not his own.

- Assistant Manager Choi, meet me after work. Outside the office.

"Heh heh... Knew it."

Hyun-min grinned sleazily at Hye-ri's text. She'd played hard to get enough; he figured he still had a shot.

"Alright... Let's go."

Hopeful of rekindling things, he headed to the meetup spot.

"Hmm... This the place?"

Hyun-min arrived first. It was a chic café renting the top floor and rooftop of a building, decked out as a rooftop terrace.

Hye-ri hadn't shown yet. He savored the soft background music while waiting—

- Bzzz bzzz

—when her call came in.

- Assistant Manager Choi, you at the spot?

"Yeah. Got here early and grabbed a table. Great view, huh?"

- Check out the rooftop of the building next door?

"Huh?"

The sun dipped low, darkness settling over the city. Hyun-min peered at the adjacent building's rooftop, same height as the café. A man and woman stood there—had they been there long?

"What? That's you standing there?"

- Yep, it's me.

The buildings were close enough for Hyun-min to make out Hye-ri's face clearly.

Her cute, bursting-with-freshness face; slim yet voluptuous figure; see-through bangs and long brown hair with thick waves.

Exactly as she'd looked in the office hours ago.

But who was the guy right next to her? A mysterious man plastered to her side, face hidden by black sunglasses and a mask.

"Who's... that with you?"

- ...

The call was still connected, but Hye-ri fell silent.

- Thud

"What the!"

Hyun-min shot up from his chair. The man beside Hye-ri had started groping her.

His hand stroked her shoulder, slid down her arm, then grabbed her perky breasts over her thin short-sleeved blouse. Still early evening? The café was empty except for him.

Emboldened, the mystery man's other hand slipped under her short frilly skirt, covering half her pale thigh. The thin fabric perfectly outlined his moving hand. Hye-ri trembled, leaning against the railing—who knew exactly where he was touching?

"Wh... what the hell is this? What are you doing, Kim Hye-ri?!"

- Even after I said we're done..., haaah..., you wouldn't listen..., so I have to make you give up... hngh...

Her voice mixed with lewd moans amid the man's hands kneading her breasts and crotch.

- Grind

His jaw clenched so hard it made a chilling sound.

"Tell that bastard to stop right now. Unless he wants to die."

- What right do you have? You're not my boyfriend... hngh...

- Bang!

Even mid-call, the man shamelessly massaged her breasts and inner thighs. Hyun-min slammed the table in futile rage. Nothing changed.

The woman he loved was being toyed with by another man right before his eyes.

"You... stay right there."

Unable to take it anymore, Hyun-min bolted for the café exit. He was about to sprint to the opposite rooftop where Hye-ri was.