Episode 22
Chapter 3. The heroine is too stupid, please give a refund
"Good morning, everyone~!"
Lee Ruri, slice of bread in mouth, opened the door and called out.
When she saw Min Hyemi sitting in her seat, her eyes went wide.
"Ah, Hyemi-chan! You're back!"
"Yeah."
After a short vacation, Min Hyemi had returned to the team.
'Ah, this familiar scent…'
Wait, is there actually a scent? Am I imagining it? Oh, it's Yeseul's smoky perfume.
At that moment, Kim Chan-neul approached Hyemi as if he had something to say and started flapping around excitedly.
"Team leader, did you see that?"
"See what?"
"The director of the headquarters has changed!"
"Oh. Why would that happen now all of a sudden?"
Hyemi asked without much interest. Kim Chan-neul struck a dramatic pose and blurted out.
"They fired the old director because there haven't been any results on the Exodus recently!"
"What?"
"There are rumors that the new director has some serious backing."
"Well, that's not our business…."
"Still, that person's personality is awful."
"Huh?"
Kim Chan-neul looked aggrieved and went on to describe what had happened while Hyemi was on leave.
"It was while the team leader was away, the new director already caused a ruckus. He bosses the lower staff around so much."
"Really?"
"Of course government culture is conservative, but the Disaster Response and Safety Headquarters used to be better because it's mostly hunters. Since the new director took office, we're turning into a total public institution!"
"Hmm…"
Hyemi, who hadn't yet experienced the director firsthand, could only respond with a lukewarm expression.
"He even told us to stop playing soccer and go hiking instead, he kept nagging about that!"
"You just hate it for that reason…."
Realizing the real reason for Kim Chan-neul's anger, Hyemi shook her head.
Well, it's not worth paying close attention, seems like his personal bias showing.
But unfortunately for her, Min Hyemi would soon have to meet that director in person.
***
On the way to the parking lot for field work, Lee Ruri, who had spotted someone, leaned close and whispered to Hyemi.
"Hyemi-chan, that person is the director-chan."
'…Are they even calling the director "-chan" now?'
Hyemi felt the urge to protest that honorific, but she glanced to where Lee Ruri pointed.
A middle-aged man was walking with several subordinate staff behind him. He had the stereotypical look of a politician.
The director got closer.
Hyemi, keeping her composure but showing proper manners, bowed slightly.
"Good morning."
"Hmm?"
Just when she expected him to pass by, the director stopped in front of them.
Hyemi realized his gaze was fixed on her.
'…Damn.'
She'd gotten used to being surrounded only by the people she knew lately, so she'd forgotten.
Strangers usually reacted like this when they saw her for the first time.
Well, of course they did.
She was strikingly beautiful and irresistibly captivating.
To go even further, there was a sort of… instinctive pull she had on people.
While Min Hyemi struggled to maintain a polite expression, the director spoke to her.
"Which team are you with?"
"I'm the leader of Probationary Team 2."
"Probationary Team 2?"
"We handle monster by-product disposal, Director."
She heard one of the employees whisper behind him.
"Ah, really? A young lady like you does that kind of work?"
There it was, the classic condescending old-man tone.
Min Hyemi did her best to suppress the human-disgust rising again from deep in her chest.
"Ahahaha! With how beautiful you are, I thought you were a model from the PR team!"
"H… ha ha ha…."
The employees behind him laughed awkwardly, sensing the atmosphere.
"Hahaha!"
A vibration-laugh slipped out of Hyemi.
A vibration-laugh, every woman knows this one, the shaky, awkward laugh you make when you have nothing to say and need to survive the moment.
"Hahaha, right. You've heard who I am, yes?"
"Yes, I heard you've recently been appointed as the new director."
"Good, good. Let's get along. And if anyone bothers you, tell me."
He puffed himself up confidently.
"A beautiful young lady like you needs to be protected. Ahahaha!"
"……"
No. Calm down. Don't let the misanthropy show. Just try to be like Seo Jejun… like Jejun…
Without realizing it, her brow twitched, but she did her best to suppress it.
***
"Director?"
The next day, while Hyemi was sitting at her desk working, Kim Chan-neul's startled voice echoed through the office.
When she looked up, the director himself had just opened the door and walked in.
'…This is bad.'
A warning alarm blared in Hyemi's chest.
And of course, the director's gaze immediately latched onto her.
"Oh, the beautiful team leader I saw yesterday."
At that outdated, sleazy comment, Hyemi's body started trembling in suppressed rage.
Sure, in high-rated R19 romance-fantasy novels, you'd never see a realistic middle-aged man like this.
But this guy belonged squarely to the type she despised most, men with an inflated sense of self.
"What brings you here today?"
She asked in the calmest, most rational tone she could manage.
But the director didn't seem capable of reading her icy aura at all.
"Well, I figured our team leaders need some bonding time over a meal."
"……"
"I already had lunch with the HR team leader and the PR team leader, you see? So today, I'll treat you. Come on, get up."
"……"
Kim Chan-neul, normally quick-witted, glanced at her with fear, as if he was worried she was about to explode.
[Skill <Steadfast Rationality> activated!]
Apparently even the system sensed her urge to smash the director's head in with a hammer and stepped in automatically.
'Yes. Maintain reason. Maintain reason….'
Min Hyemi looked straight at the director with an expressionless face and replied.
"I actually have enteritis right now. So I don't think I can eat anything."
"Oh dear, what a shame. Then we'll have to eat together next time, hmm?"
"Yes, let's plan for next time."
"When would that be? Shall we set a date?"
Unfortunately, the director completely failed to realize she was rejecting him and looked fully ready to actually schedule something.
At that moment, Min Hyemi's rationality finally snapped.
'This crazy bastard…'
Love for humanity?
She definitely wasn't cut out to be a benevolent person like Seon Jejun.
For now, she would simply hate the human standing in front of her.
How could she chase the director away effectively?
'If I were a romance-fantasy heroine, I'd just wait for the male lead to swoop in and save me.'
But she had zero intention of becoming a rofan heroine.
She was the type to deal with a crisis herself.
And so, she reached the following conclusion.
"Instead, how about you have lunch with one of my team members today, and then have lunch with me next time?"
"A team member?"
"Yes, one of my team members. How about it, Yeseul?"
When her name was called, Jung Yeseul turned her head toward them.
She looked completely lifeless, but she was still quite pretty, so the director didn't refuse.
"Then shall we do that?"
Hearing this, Min Hyemi struggled not to burst out laughing.
Jung Yeseul was dressed in all-black, every inch of clothing muted and dark, with long black hair falling down her back.
With her pale skin, dark eyebrows, and sharp features, she might have seemed like a normal quiet beauty… but...
'You clueless idiot.'
Jung Yeseul came from the indie film scene,
and she was the kind of person who was more familiar with knocking a man out with a hammer than sharing a meal with one.
"If that's what you want, Team Leader, I'm fine with it."
Jung Yeseul looked at Min Hyemi and gave her a soft, crescent-eyed smile.
When Min Hyemi caught the gaze of someone who had come from a world where the very existence of men had been erased, she smiled with approval.
"I'll trust you, Yeseul."
"When have I ever disappointed you…?"
Yeseul gazed at her with a sticky, lingering look.
"If I do a good job, praise me later."
🍓; I made a change from Trainee Team 2 to Probationary Team 2
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