“Hello?”
“Ah, Chae Seungyeon-ssi. It’s been a while.”
Hmm…?
I momentarily removed the phone from my ear. Something about his voice sounded strange. His voice was much more subdued than before and seemed uncomfortable somehow.
“cough cough!”
Right after I thought that, coughing sounds came through the phone.
“Oh no, Professor, did you catch a cold?”
“Ah, well… cough cough!”
Professor Choi coughed violently for a while before finally clearing his throat.
“Hehe… The weather has gotten quite cold lately. But that’s not what’s important…”
Professor Choi briefly asked how I was doing and then told me he had found an omega suppressant that would work better for me, and that he’d like me to come pick it up in person.
“What? Now?”
It was already late evening. Heavy snow was still falling outside.
“The suppressant I gave you before was just a backup. I can’t guarantee it will be effective when your heat cycle comes.”
Noticing my hesitation, Professor Choi added more explanation to persuade me.
“But… I’m alone with the children right now…”
“Is that so? Then… could you come down for a moment? I’ll head over there now.”
“You’re coming here, Professor?”
I was shocked. I felt bad about calling someone much older than me out at such a late hour.
“Um, Professor… Would tomorrow be too difficult for you?”
“I have to go to the association early tomorrow morning, so tomorrow is difficult. Your place isn’t far from my route home, so I’ll just stop by briefly.”
“Ah…”
Somehow I felt that no matter what I said, I wouldn’t be able to change Professor Choi’s mind.
“Then… please call me when you’re nearby. I’ll get ready and come down.”
“Alright.”
In the end, I prepared my coat as Professor Choi suggested.
“It should be fine… just for a moment…”
I felt a bit uncomfortable leaving the children alone at home, but it would be fine for a short while. Neither Hyeol nor Kkotsu were troublemakers.
“Hyeol, Kkotsu.”
I told the children I would just be running a quick errand and instructed them to lock the door properly.
“Understand?”
The two who had been quietly listening to me rushed off somewhere as soon as I finished speaking, then came back.
“Dad, take this with you.”
What Hyeol gave me was a pheromone deodorizer. Though it wasn’t made for self-defense, Hyeol seemed to think it could repel the “bad people” he was worried about.
“T-teacher… t-this, this…”
Then Kkotsu handed me a jump rope.
“Why the jump rope…?”
I couldn’t figure out why he was giving me this, so I asked. Kkotsu opened his eyes wide and poked Hyeol’s side with the jump rope handle.
“I-if you h-hit with this… i-it will h-hurt…”
“So he’s telling me to hurt someone right now?”
Hyeol said with a sullen face. It was both funny and touching that the children were worried about me.
“I’ll be back soon. I’ll return quickly, and call me if anything happens, Hyeol.”
“Okay, take care.”
“T-take c-care…”
I put the deodorizer and jump rope that Kkotsu and Hyeol had given me into both pockets of my coat and left.
*
As soon as I came down to the lobby, I received a call from Professor Choi, as if he’d been waiting.
-You’ve arrived.
“What? Already?”
I had come down right after hanging up the phone, yet he was already here… I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was suspicious.
“Um… Professor, I’m sorry, but there’s a lot of snow outside… Would you mind coming in if that’s okay?”
-……
“Professor…?”
When there was no response, I checked my phone screen and saw that the call had ended.
“What’s going on…?”
I looked around in confusion, and noticed the lobby was quieter than usual. This luxury officetel always had security guards stationed at what served as a reception desk, but they weren’t visible now.
“Where did everyone…”
Click.
Just then, the revolving door at the lobby entrance opened, and men wearing black sunglasses and black suits appeared. They were striding toward me as if they had business with me.
“What is…”
All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind.
Could it be men hired by my mother-in-law? Are they trying to kidnap me again like before? When I saw her previously, she didn’t seem like she would do that…
It didn’t make any sense.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
And they called my name.
“Ah, why again…!”
Forget it. I quickly turned around and ran toward the elevator.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi…!”
As expected, the men hurriedly chased after me.
“I’m telling you this kind of thing isn’t acceptable! Tell that woman too! Even for a trashy novel, it’s too much to keep doing this… Aack…!”
As I was shouting and running to avoid being caught by them, I tripped over a potted plant by the door and fell flat.
“Quick, help him up.”
As soon as the man who appeared to be the leader gave the order, his subordinates approached me.
“Ahhh…!”
I yelled loudly while half-lying on the floor. Seeing them hesitate, apparently startled, I quickly put my hand in my coat pocket and firmly gripped the self-defense items from Hyeol and Kkotsu.
“Look, Chae Seungyeon-ssi. There seems to be a misunderstanding…”
“Take this!”
I quickly took out the pheromone deodorizer and sprayed it directly in the man’s face with a “psssht.” As the unsuspecting man screamed and fell to the side, I immediately pulled out the jump rope and swung it at the person behind him.
Smack! Smack!
A loud sound echoed as the jump rope handle struck the man’s forehead.
“Argggh!”
The man must have been hit directly, as he clutched his forehead and crouched down in pain. Taking advantage of the gap, I quickly got up and ran toward the entrance.
“Get out of my waaay! You’ll get hit! You’ll get hiiiit…!”
I pulled the jump rope out long and swung it wildly. Although it wasn’t as formidable a weapon as nunchucks, just the way I was swinging it must have been threatening. The man who appeared to be the leader froze in place, surprised.
What? Are the things the kids gave me actually effective…?
Smack!
“Ouch…!”
I got careless. Due to the recoil of the jump rope handle I was swinging wildly, I ended up hitting myself. From the pain of being hit squarely on the forehead and the embarrassment, I crouched down.
“Ugh…”
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
Meanwhile, the man approached me directly. I thought he would either kidnap me or grab me, but he didn’t.
“W-who are you people…? How did you get Professor…”
I took a step back while trying to maintain my vigilance as much as possible. Then the man handed me a business card.
[RK Security and Protection Chief. Seok Jihoon.]
“Pleased to meet you. You can call me Chief Seok.”
“Chief Seok…?”
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi, actually, the call from the professor just now was voice-modulated. I apologize, but we had to meet like this… because we had circumstances.”
“Excuse me…?”
“The reason we’ve been quiet until now is because it’s been extremely difficult to approach you while avoiding the eyes of others.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
