Correcting the Villainess of the Academy - Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Heaven’s Door (11)

***

“Yeseo! It’s been a while!”

The person who spotted Jin Yeseo was a second-year senior, exuding a refreshing charm reminiscent of a peach. It was Kwon Yuri, distinguished by the tear mole under her right eye.

“Unni… No, seniors…”

Jin Yeseo gulped as she looked at the seniors who had approached her without her noticing.

“Oh, come on! I told you to just call me unni, not senior. Are you giving special treatment only to Seoyeon? I’m hurt…”

“Uh… no, that’s not…”

“When we’re at school, it’s right to call us seniors. When juniors like you get too casual, the hierarchy falls apart.”

Kwon Yuri was about to pretend she was really hurt when another girl, with her hair braided into two pigtails and glasses, interrupted her in a blunt voice.

“Not funny. That’s why you’re still not engaged. When was it again? Even last week, I’m sure…”

As Kwon Yuri pouted her lips, Choi Ireh, who had been holding back, burst out.

“Hey! I told you not to bring that up in front of juniors. And you’re no different, so why are you pretending otherwise?”

“I’m not unable to get engaged; I’m just choosing not to.”

“You…!”

Kwon Yuri, with her innocent voice, stabbed Choi Ireh in the heart, who, now flushed red, fumed with her rigid personality.

Jin Yeseo was well aware of how these two, despite always hanging out together, would bicker at every chance they got.

“Don’t worry too much, Yeseo. Ireh means well for you.”

And the one who tied these seemingly mismatched personalities together was Baek Seoyeon, with her jet-black hair and golden specks in her eyes.

Her family, beauty, and personal skills were impeccable, making her one of the three pillars of the second-year students.

Despite being the most popular figures in the Cradle, their overwhelming background earned them the nickname “flowers on a cliff.”

To Jin Yeseo, they were respected seniors. Unlike Choi Woojin, who was always growling as if he would devour her, she maintained a decent relationship with Choi Ireh.

On any other day, she would have greeted them with a bright smile and shared various stories.

But today.

For some reason, Jin Yeseo felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her chest.

“Were you heading out for a mission?”

Baek Seoyeon asked with her signature gentle smile.

“Huh? Yes… And you, seniors…?”

For some reason, Jin Yeseo couldn’t meet her eyes properly.

“We’re heading out for a mission too.”

Kwon Yuri, ignoring Choi Ireh’s sharp words, approached Jin Yeseo.

Like Jin Yeseo, they were also equipped with various gear and weapons.

Kwon Yuri, who had been grinning, suddenly widened her eyes as she looked at Jin Yeseo.

“But Yeseo, your face looks so bright.”

“Huh? My, my face…?”

“Yeah. Just a few days ago, you looked completely dead. Did something good happen?”

“Uh… I-I’m not sure…”

Jin Yeseo, flustered, began to sweat.

It was something she had been hearing from others recently.

Jin Yeseo knew better than anyone the exact reason for it.

But she could never tell them the truth.

“Right? You even look prettier. That’s a relief…”

“Ah, haha… I guess I’ve recovered…”

Jin Yeseo stammered in response to Baek Seoyeon, who agreed with Kwon Yuri.

“Ah, I’ve got it!”

Suddenly, Kwon Yuri, who had been listening to their conversation, smirked mischievously, a look that didn’t suit her refreshing appearance.

She glanced around before lowering her voice and whispered.

“Yeseo… You got a boyfriend, didn’t you?”

“Wha-what?!”

Jin Yeseo, startled, bit her tongue without realizing it.

Her face was full of panic.

Seeing this, Kwon Yuri leaned in closer, as if she’d caught something interesting.

“I was just teasing, but why are you so surprised? That makes it even more suspicious…”

“N-no, that’s not it…!”

Jin Yeseo, realizing the misunderstanding, frantically shook her head in denial.

“Not it, huh? Your face says otherwise. Who is it? Come on, just tell us…”

“Hey. Stop it. Do you really think Yeseo would do something like that? Be realistic.”

Choi Ireh, who had been watching with a smirk, immediately refuted Kwon Yuri’s words.

It was already well-known that Jin Yeseo had submitted a list of male students who secretly flirted against the school rules to the student council, resulting in severe punishment for them.

However, Jin Yeseo could no longer continue the conversation with them.

Her heart pounded loudly, and her vision darkened, making it hard to see her surroundings.

“S-sorry, seniors… I’m running late… Good luck with your mission… Then…!!”

“Yeseo? Wait…”

Jin Yeseo, who had been slowly retreating, finally couldn’t take it anymore and turned around.

She barely managed to offer a rushed goodbye before hastily leaving the spot.

Even as voices called out to her from behind, she didn’t stop walking.

***

Northern District of the Capital. A quiet alley. In front of a shabby record store.

A girl with long, jet-black hair stood quietly, holding her bag.

She leaned against the brick wall of the now-closed store, lost in thought.

Her eyes, as black as her hair, and her sharp jawline and high nose made her a natural beauty, the kind that passersby couldn’t help but glance at.

“…Tsk.”

But the girl frowned slightly, as if irritated by the attention she was receiving.

Just then.

Like flies drawn to a flower, a few large men swaggered out from the alley and approached the girl.

They had been watching her with interest for a while.

With intimidating muscular bodies and grotesque tattoos covering parts of their exposed torsos.

“…”

The girl shot them a displeased look.

In the Republic, tattoos were strictly prohibited by law. This was because criminals and mutants often used tattoos as a medium to perform powerful dark magic.

The men soon surrounded her in layers. The stench of drugs and unpleasant breath quickly filled the air.

If they were truly dangerous criminals or dark magicians, they wouldn’t be wandering around in broad daylight, leaving such obvious traces.

In other words, these men were just cheap thugs, relying on their notorious appearances to bully others.

“Miss, are you alone? Did you lose your way?”

“…”

“It’s dangerous to be alone in a place like this. How about we help you out? Hmm?”

“You look like the most dangerous thing here.”

“Pfft!”

“…”

Despite the continued taunts, the girl remained calm, showing no reaction. In fact, she seemed more like she was lost in thought, contemplating something.

Seeing this, the thugs’ playful expressions began to sour.

One of them, quickly losing patience, grabbed her wrist.

“Hey. I’m being nice to you, and you… Aaaargh!!”

But before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly screamed loudly. He flailed like a fish out of water, but it was as if something was binding him, rendering him immobile.

His companions looked at his arm in shock.

The frail girl had grabbed his wrist tightly.

“Aaagh! It’s burning! It hurts!!”

-Sssss…

A sizzling sound accompanied by the smell of burning flesh wafted through the air.

From the spot where the girl held him, a strange black flame, writhing like a snake, began to eat away at his skin.

When the particle array hidden beneath her sleeve was revealed, the thugs’ faces turned pale with horror.

They finally realized who they had messed with.

A first-class citizen, a walking weapon, the chosen one.

No matter how grand the title, it wouldn’t feel out of place for this three-letter word.

A magician.

“A m-magician…!”

“Run, run away…”

“Eek…!”

The thugs abandoned their captured comrade and fled in a panic.

Seeing their lack of loyalty, the girl sneered coldly.

“Aaagh… My arm!!”

The man, still held by the girl, continued to scream in agony.

She gave him a contemptuous look before flinging him to the ground.

Then, she glared down at him with a voice as sharp as a blade.

“Get lost.”

“Eek…”

The man, trembling, scurried away on all fours like a dog, disappearing into the alley in an instant.

The girl, watching the scene, muttered with disgust.

“Pathetic worms.”

Jin Yeseo shook her hands as if trying to rid herself of the unpleasant sensation.

She had half a mind to cut off all their limbs and hand them over to the Security Bureau, but if she caused too much commotion, it would defeat the purpose of her disguise.

Her blonde hair and green eyes, inherited from her Western lineage, were too conspicuous for a covert operation like this.

That’s why she had dyed her hair and wore colored contacts to hide her irises.

But her distinct beauty was something she couldn’t conceal, leading to this annoying situation.

If she had appeared in her original form, she wouldn’t have had to deal with this at all.

Her blonde hair and green eyes were clear proof that she was a member of the Baekgwang Jin family, one of the Five Families.

“…Why is he taking so long?”

Jin Yeseo checked the time and grumbled, but there was still plenty of time before their meeting.

They had agreed to meet at a designated location after each completing their disguises.

Jin Yeseo was curious about how he would disguise himself. He needed a more thorough disguise than she did.

After all, his glaringly white, creepy, perverted mask was recognizable even from 100 meters away.

His appearance was one of the hottest topics in the Cradle.

Especially among the female students, it was a popular subject of debate, and Jin Yeseo had been dragged into one of those heated discussions before.

At the beginning of the semester, the prevailing opinion was that he must be ugly. After all, a well-bred young man, loved by everyone, wouldn’t have such a cold and curt personality.

But after it was officially announced that he was the second son of the Heukryeon family, opinions began to shift.

Considering the stunning beauty of Heukryeon’s matriarch and Sa Jaehyuk’s appearance, it was unlikely he’d be hideous.

However, Jin Yeseo leaned more toward the theory that he was hideously ugly.

Otherwise, why would he still hide his face even after his identity was revealed?

“…Maybe he’ll show up without the mask this time?”

It was a contradictory thought, but one that seemed possible given his unpredictable nature.

Perhaps today, she would finally see the face that no one in the Cradle had ever seen.

Of course, spending time with someone hideously ugly wasn’t exactly appealing… but then again, she wasn’t particularly interested in men’s looks to begin with.

“…”

She thought back to her encounter with the seniors earlier.

Why had she been so flustered by Kwon Yuri’s question? Because of that, she might have caused an unnecessary misunderstanding.

‘No, it’s not really a misunderstanding…’

Jin Yeseo bit her lip lightly.

It wasn’t the blunt term “boyfriend” that had startled her, but rather the betrayal she was committing behind Baek Seoyeon’s back.

To Jin Yeseo, men were like those thugs earlier. Annoying flies. Tell them to get lost, and they would. Command them to crawl, and they would crawl. If they didn’t know their place and became a nuisance, she could just crush them.

Even though she had planned to bring in a stud, the thought of it disgusted her.

The mere idea of mingling with such inferior beings made her want to vomit.

“…”

But even with such thoughts, she had long since become completely leashed by someone.

By a man who was undoubtedly hideous, with a twisted and cruel personality, and a perverted taste for wearing that creepy mask.

“Sigh…”

Jin Yeseo let out a sigh filled with frustration.

While she was lost in thought.

A familiar voice called out to her from behind.

“Jin… Yeseo?”

Startled by the sudden presence, Jin Yeseo quickly turned around.

But her face soon twisted with disappointment and confusion.

“…A gas mask?”

Standing there was a tall man dressed in shabby clothes, wearing an old gas mask.

Through the foggy lenses, she could barely make out his dull eyes.

If it weren’t for his familiar voice, she might have mistaken him for another thug and dealt with him accordingly.

“…Your hair, what happened to it…”

The boy muttered as he looked at her, his voice unusually filled with bewilderment.

“…What? There’s nothing wrong with it. I even made sure to get rid of the dye smell.”

Jin Yeseo grumbled in dissatisfaction. In fact, she was quite proud of her disguise.

She had even added a personal touch, imitating her respected Seoyeon unni’s style.

And she was very pleased with the result. With her hair color matching, she looked so much like Baek Seoyeon that they could be mistaken for sisters.

She was even tempted to keep this look when she returned to the Cradle.

Yet here he was, wearing a gas mask, and criticizing her?

“…Never mind. It’s nothing.”

He quickly shook his head, but his voice still sounded deflated.

Somehow, he didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

Feeling a bit annoyed, Jin Yeseo snapped back at him.

“Hey. Worry about yourself. What’s with that ridiculous look?”

“…Is there a problem?”

“Problem? Of course, there’s a problem. Isn’t the point of a disguise to avoid standing out? I even dyed my hair… You might as well have come dressed as a clown.”

But the masked boy responded calmly.

“You don’t get it. This is the perfect disguise to blend naturally into the city.”

“What the…”

“Masada’s northern district has poor air quality due to the industrial emissions and the black clouds that blow down from the Demon Realm. While magicians with strong bodies aren’t much affected, the non-sensitive residents often suffer from respiratory problems.”

As he spoke, Jin Yeseo glanced around.

The dust-filled air made the setting sun burn even redder. Among the people passing by, it wasn’t hard to spot some wearing masks or covering their mouths with cloth as they coughed.

And occasionally, there were even people wearing gas masks like him.

“…I see.”

Though not entirely satisfied, she had no choice but to accept it.

“Let’s head out before it gets any later. But…”

The boy in the gas mask was about to turn around when he paused and carefully examined her.

From head to toe.

He seemed more focused on her body than her face.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Jin Yeseo instinctively shrank back.

“W-what… Why are you looking at me like that?”

“This won’t do.”

“Won’t do? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

The boy shook his head.

Then, he dropped a bombshell on Jin Yeseo, who stood there dumbfounded.

“Take it off.”

End of Chapter