VILLAIN 10

A character who genuinely cares for Seo Kangsan and is the only person who is not kicked out of this household even after he becomes an adult.

“That….”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I should have burned them right away… I just, I was too slow….”

Whether out of extreme shock, her lips trembled as she jumped up. The Mister [housekeeper], unable to even meet my eyes, bowed her head and apologized with her hands shaking violently.

…What’s with this reaction? Did this guy Seo Hosu act that viciously toward adults before I possessed him?

“Please don’t burn them.”

At my small voice, the Mister’s eyes widened.

“Pardon? That….”

“And please help me move these to my room.”

Her eyes seemed to ask what on earth I planned to do with these books. Somehow, it felt like she was worried I might use these books to torment Seo Kangsan again.

If he took them back to his room, he’d surely get in trouble again, so I planned to keep them in my room and have him look at them whenever he visited me. I briefly suspected that this housekeeper might have been the one who told Lee Sera about the books in Seo Kangsan’s room, but after reading her character description, it didn’t seem like it.

Since it says she’s on Seo Kangsan’s side… I can trust her, right?

“Hurry, before Mother comes.”

It would be better to move quickly before we get caught.

At my words, the Mister jumped up and hurriedly gathered the books.

“Move the books with me, then take any notebooks from my room and burn them instead.”

“Yes, yes….”

Among the books were workbooks so worn out they looked as if he’d kept reading them even after solving all the problems, along with many books suitable for adults.

The Mister and I groaned as we carried the books up the stairs and moved them into my room. Then, I took notebooks from my room and brought them back to the back door.

It’s a relief Lee Sera is always out at this hour….

Only after several trips back and forth were the piled-up books finally moved. Exhausted, I went out the back door and sat on the ground, watching the Mister tear up the blank notebooks and throw them into the fire.

“We’re going to run out of notebooks. I’ll go get a few more.”

“Ah, I’ll go with….”

The Mister told me to rest, saying I looked like I was about to collapse, and went inside the house.

She was right. Having carried heavy things up and down the stairs several times, my whole body ached. I wondered just how weak this body was to be aching this much after so little, but….

Thud—

Nice timing~~~ ㅇ3ㅇ// indeed!

…Ah, seriously.

Seo Kangsan, who opened the back door and stepped out, had completely disheveled hair and eyes that were quite red, as if he’d been crying.

As our eyes met and he saw the papers burning, Seo Kangsan bit his lip hard.

Why did it have to be now? Right when the Mister was gone.

There was no one to make an excuse for me, and I was sitting right in front of a fire where paper was burning. Wasn’t this the perfect situation to be misunderstood? Sigh. I let out a deep breath and, with the mindset that he could go ahead and misunderstand if he wanted to, I turned my head, tore a page from the few remaining new notebooks, crumpled it in my hand, and tossed it into the fire.

At this moment, I felt like I was the one who wanted to jump into that fire.

Grip!

Approaching me as I sat blankly near the fire, Seo Kangsan grabbed my arm tightly and looked down at me, his voice low.

“Right, I knew it was all an act. I knew you’d stab me in the back sooner or later.”

Since it didn’t seem like he’d believe me even if I denied it in this situation, I looked Seo Kangsan straight in the eyes.

His eyes, which were filled with anger at first, gradually sank as if he were wounded while speaking through gritted teeth.

Because his behavior toward me had become strangely kind, I’d wondered if this might happen—and sure enough. It seemed the protagonist, whose nature is too good to be harsh, had grown even a little attached to me because of the small bits of kindness I’d shown.

“Young Master, what should we do with this book? Should we try taping it back….”

It was then. The Mister, who said she was going to my room, had returned. Seo Kangsan’s expression changed in an instant. He seemed to quickly realize that the situation was turning out strangely. As expected of a protagonist, he’s quite quick-witted. Seo Kangsan looked back and forth between the two of us with bewildered eyes, holding the book that Lee Sera had torn.

“Give it to me, that one.”

Still, he isn’t as prickly toward the Mister who is kind to him as he is toward me. Seeing him reach out both hands with a measure of politeness was a bit unfamiliar.

The Mister, looking at me as if asking what was going on, carefully took Seo Kangsan’s hand.

“Don’t worry, Young Master. We moved all the books safely.”

“…Pardon? Moved what?”

“Your books, Young Master. Before they were burned, the Little Young Master stopped it, fortunately….”

His lips trembling, Seo Kangsan glared at me. However, his pupils were shaking slightly. I slowly shrugged my shoulders.

“I moved them all to my room. Come if you want to see them.”

Ah, this kind of result…. This was really not in the forecast…

Why would you tell him to come over!! ㅠㅅㅠ^

“The ones burning right now are my notebooks, so don’t worry.”

Well, nothing can be done. I guess I’ll have to aim for the next opportunity then.

Go to hell, Stem-ah.

I was worried whether Seo Kangsan could handle it if I gave him more affection, but seeing his face contort as if he were about to cry, I didn’t regret doing this.

Since I don’t know what this damn system will do, keeping a proper distance from Seo Kangsan might be a strategy, but… it seems it’s already too late. I’ve already given him a bit of my heart too. Though what I felt was likely just pity. I wondered if I was in any position to be worrying about someone else in this situation, but what could I do? Seo Kangsan was simply too much of a child to ignore.

“Let’s… try to tape the torn ones together.”

If I were to die, I hope it’s not in front of you. At the very least, I hope I die in a place you don’t know.

I carefully patted the head of Seo Kangsan, who was bowing his head while biting his lip. Then, feeling like he might be holding back tears because of me, I went back into the house first.

Ah, I must have overexerted myself; my whole body aches and my arms are numb.

I hope this is the end of this crazy stuff.

۶ৎ

Flutter.

From that day on, after feeding me the food he brought, Seo Kangsan would sit on the floor and start reading all the books in my room. He read the books that were originally there, and even the difficult-looking ones that were on my bookshelf.

Lately, the system window hadn’t appeared, to an ominous degree. Although Lee Sera caught Seo Kangsan coming to my room once and I made an excuse, both Lee Sera and the system were strangely quiet.

Isn’t it usually this quiet before a storm? There’s no way it should be this silent.

As if feeling my gaze while he was reading, Seo Kangsan looked up and frowned.

“What?”

“Nothing, you just look good.”

“What the….”

Hearing footsteps from a distance, Seo Kangsan and I both looked up toward the door at the same time. And as if by instinct, we both hurried to tidy up the books. Just as the sound grew closer, the door burst open.

Thud—

“My child, come out.”

“Yes?”

It was mealtime, but it had been a while since Lee Sera had come to find me personally. She reached out her hand with a smooth smile that looked ominously pleasant.

“Grandfather has arrived.”

…Here he is, the final boss.

At the mention of Grandfather, Seo Kangsan broke into a bright smile unlike anything I’d ever seen, jumped up, and hurried out of my room. Wow, he could actually smile like that. I also stood up slowly and followed Lee Sera down the stairs.

The scary-looking Grandfather, who had been sitting on the living room sofa, stood up with a warm smile, leaned down, and pulled the running Seo Kangsan into a tight hug. Yet, when he lifted his head while holding the child and looked at us, his gaze was so fierce and cold that I was slightly impressed. No matter how you look at it, those eyes perfectly view us as outsiders.

‘He must really hate us.’

Seo Kangsan gazed at his grandfather with a faint smile, then looked at me belatedly. Realizing his mistake, he scowled deeply. Even so, the way he was glancing at me….

Why are you looking at me like that? Seeing you being loved makes me feel at ease and happy.

My goodness, aren’t you even jealous?! ⊙△⊙ꐦ

Jealous?

Well… it’s nice to see. A child should be receiving that kind of love.

Would you like to view brief information on the character ‘Seo Taesan’?

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Seo Jun’s biological father and… the only person who knows that … did ….