Episode 21: Hey! What Are You Doing?! Finally In Heat?!
Sizzle sizzle.
Bubble bubble.
The room filled with the aroma of tteokbokki.
Pomi, excited, peeked over Seol Harin’s shoulder, sniffing eagerly.
“Tteokbokki?”
“You know tteokbokki?”
“Of course! I’ve never tried it, though! My last master ate it all by herself!!”
“…”
Pomi had initially avoided interacting with Seol Harin, but over time, they’d started talking.
Still, calling their relationship “progress” would be a stretch.
Click.
At the sound of the door, Pomi bounded toward the entrance, tail wagging.
“Master’s back! Master!!”
“Heh heh heh. Were you waiting?”
“Super waiting!! What’d the dean say? Anything bad? Want me to scare her??”
“Nothing much. That brat just needed someone to chat with… What’s that smell?”
Perfect timing.
Seol Harin set the tteokbokki on the table, smirking with a haughty expression, her nose practically touching the ceiling.
“Gifts are meant to be reciprocated. Since you gave me earrings, I’m making this specially. Not everyone gets to taste this, so consider it an honor.”
“Huh?”
Kim Taeyang, looking suspicious, sniffed the tteokbokki.
Shaking his head, he plopped onto the sofa.
“W-What’s with that reaction? You’re not gonna eat it?!”
“Are you stupid?! No master eats food made by a slave!!”
“Why not…?”
“It could be an assassination attempt!!!”
Clang.
It felt like a hammer to the head.
‘He distrusts me that much…?’
Despite their usual bickering, Seol Harin thought they’d built some bond.
Wasn’t there trust forged through training?
The “assassination attempt” comment stung a little…!
“Master! Is there poison in this? Can’t I eat it…?”
“Hey, you can eat it. Never heard of a constellation getting poisoned.”
“Yay! Woof woof!”
Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp!!!
Pomi gleefully inhaled the tteokbokki.
Her cheeks puffed out, sauce smeared around her mouth, she looked up and shouted,
“Delishus!!!!!!”
“…”
At least Pomi enjoyed it, which was a relief.
But Seol Harin wasn’t ready to give up.
She scooped some tteokbokki onto a small plate and approached Kim Taeyang, lounging on the sofa.
“Just try one bite.”
“You’re pushing so hard, it’s even more suspicious.”
“It’s not like that! Treating my effort like this… you’re such a jerk!”
Nom.
Seol Harin ate a piece herself to prove there was no poison.
“Satisfied now?”
“How do I know you didn’t pick out the safe ones?”
Her tteokbokki was something only her parents had tasted.
She’d gone to the trouble of making this rare dish, and he was calling it an assassination attempt?
Fuming, Seol Harin pounced on Kim Taeyang.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Finally in heat?!!!”
“Ugh, just… eat it! It’s good!!”
Kim Taeyang lay on the sofa.
Seol Harin climbed on top of him.
A fork with a piece of red-hot tteokbokki trembled near his mouth.
‘I’ll shove it in when he calls me a sow!’
By now, Kim Taeyang was bound to call her “sow.”
Seol Harin planned to slip the tteokbokki in the moment he opened his mouth for the word “sow.”
“Hey! Are you crazy, you sow—?!”
Shove.
Her prediction was spot-on.
Chew chew…
Once the tteokbokki was in his mouth, Kim Taeyang chewed thoroughly.
“So? It’s good, right? Say it’s good.”
“…It’s actually pretty decent. But seriously, no poison, right?”
“I said there’s none!”
Unable to resist Seol Harin’s insistence, Kim Taeyang finally sat at the table.
“Thought a rich girl like you wouldn’t know how to cook. This is unexpected.”
“I don’t usually cook, but I do it sometimes as a hobby. It’s good for mental discipline.”
“Hmm… This is good enough to promote you to maid.”
“M-Maid…?”
‘This guy’s treating me like a maid?’
It was absurd, but thinking of it as a form of acknowledgment made her a bit proud.
“If I keep earning your approval, how far can I climb? The top rank… w-wife, maybe? H-Haha…!”
“?”
“…”
Silence fell.
She’d meant it as a playful joke, but it clearly crossed a line.
“Hey. Wanna be my wife?”
“W-What are you saying?! As if I’d want to be the wife of a crude, sleazy guy like you!”
“Huh? I wasn’t offering, slave girl!!”
“…”
The only sound was the fork scraping the plate.
The two sat in silence for a while.
Seol Harin broke the silence first.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Huh?”
“Why did you join the disciplinary committee? It doesn’t seem like you actually want to do committee work…”
“Heh heh heh. Obviously, to get more slaves.”
“…!”
Seol Harin flinched slightly.
She’d expected it, but hearing it out loud made her uneasy.
“Is Chloe-senpai your target…?”
“Yup. And I’m gonna make that slithery constellation mine too!”
“So one slave isn’t enough for you…”
“Hey! The more slaves, the better!”
Seol Harin briefly imagined a slave life alongside Chloe.
Would she be pushed down the priority list?
Would Kim Taeyang neglect her while training Chloe?
The thought made her oddly anxious.
“Do you even have a way to take her? Chloe-senpai’s constellation, Lashara, would hate a delinquent like you.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve got a plan~ Just thinking about that slithery thing doing some hilarious tricks already cracks me up. Heh heh heh.”
Lashara was a stoic, serious constellation.
How did he plan to make her submit?
Seol Harin couldn’t fathom it.
“You said you’re swapping Pomi and Lashara for a week, right? It’s unlikely, but… what if Pomi changes her mind…?”
Pomi was the one who snapped at that.
“I won’t betray Master!!”
“But you betrayed me!”
“Your stench was too much, so I had no choice!!”
“…”
Arguing with Pomi was pointless.
She had her trump card, after all.
“Hey, Pomi. Don’t fall for their tricks. Keep their souls in check, got it?”
“Yup! I can do that!”
“Don’t worry about seducing that slithery one. When the swap’s over, I’ll have two constellations. Heh heh.”
“I like making new friends too!!”
Part of Seol Harin was curious.
Not a hero chosen by a constellation, But a hero who seduces constellations…?
‘How’s he going to do that?’
As an ordinary hero, Seol Harin couldn’t even imagine it.
***
Shin Hyewon woke up.
As she pieced together what happened, she trembled with humiliation.
‘He hit me with… that?! He dared to…?!’
The dick punch.
Not once, but three times.
It was blatant assault on a professor.
She wanted to dispatch the disciplinary committee to arrest him immediately…
‘But that’s too humiliating…!!!’
Shin Hyewon didn’t want to be known as the professor knocked out by a student’s manhood three times.
So, she started by silencing the witnesses.
She half-threatened the two boys who carried her to keep their mouths shut.
It wouldn’t stay quiet forever, of course…
The key was to expel Kim Taeyang as quickly as possible.
To hide her shame, she had to act fast.
“Professor, I’m here.”
“Good. Sit.”
Shin Hyewon, Chloe, and Lashara gathered.
It was a meeting Shin Hyewon had arranged.
“Kim Taeyang… We need to kick that bastard out…”
“I know, but things aren’t looking good. He’s already in the disciplinary committee…”
“Hmph. Don’t rush, Chloe. We’ll be the ones to win in the end.”
Despite the vice-dean’s words, Chloe couldn’t calm down.
Kim Taeyang.
Since he appeared, she’d lost twice.
Once when she tried to whip him.
Again with the entrance duel.
And now, the constellation swap loomed ahead.
‘If I lose this time too… my life as a hero is over…!’
If Lashara was taken from her, Chloe felt she’d have no hope left.
Lashara, the Goddess of Punishment.
In her whip form, she rose slightly and patted Chloe’s head.
“Child… Don’t worry… No matter what tricks he pulls, they won’t affect me…”
“Lashara-nim…”
(°꒫°)…
The tiny face at the end of Lashara’s whip was as resolute as ever.
Expressionless.
A face radiating unshakable trust, like a massive boulder.
“Chloe, I suggested the constellation swap because I trust Lashara. She’ll never betray you. She’d never choose a delinquent like him, not even in a parallel universe.”
“Yes… That man is the type of hero I despise most… You needn’t worry…”
The vice-dean had a plan.
Lashara would never fall for Kim Taeyang.
She loathed delinquents.
But Pomi?
“Glacis is different. She’s already betrayed her master once. With food, walks, and lots of attention, she can be swayed.”
The likelihood of defection seemed high.
It was a reasonable deduction.
Having betrayed once, what’s to stop her from betraying again?
Of course, if they understood the nature of constellations like Kim Taeyang did, they’d never entertain such thoughts.
“Once we take Glacis, leave the rest to me. I’ll use everything in my power to get him expelled…!!”
“…Got it! I’ll trust you, Vice-Dean!”
Chloe perked up.
She started chattering excitedly.
“That oversized jerk must be so smug right now, huh?”
“Heh, probably.”
“What’s the use of being that big?”
“You’re right.”
“Brains matter more than size, don’t they? Being that big just makes him look dumb. Right?”
“…Yeah.”
“A guy that big? Women probably hate it. Too big, it’d hurt just bumping into him. Just a big, stupid giant with no other merits.”
“…”
“Can you stop saying ‘big’?”
“?”
The vice-dean’s face was inexplicably flushed.
The constant talk of “big” kept bringing yesterday’s incident to mind.
‘It was huge… Freaking massive…’
Her jaw still throbbed from the anaconda’s strike.
Anyway, it was just a mishap.
Nothing happened in the end, so it was a memory to forget.
But… why did it keep nagging at her?
“Vice-Dean? You okay? Your face is red. Got allergies or something?”
“…No. If he shows up tomorrow, report to me.”
The vice-dean hurriedly left.
***
Kim Taeyang won the entrance duel on Saturday.
Sunday was the calm before the storm.
Finally, Monday arrived.
With the storm approaching, the disciplinary committee was on high alert.
“That guy really joined the disciplinary committee…”
The members gathered in the clubroom. Second-year member Kim Angyeong clenched his fists, trembling.
“President…! We need a plan! We can’t let our committee fall like this!! Your constellation isn’t safe either!!”
“Don’t worry about my constellation. I’ve talked with the vice-dean. It’ll be fine.”
“R-Really?”
“But we do need a plan at the committee level. To keep him from running wild… we all need to work together to stop Kim Taeyang.”
Chloe’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
‘The president… is shaking?!’
The flawless disciplinary president, Chloe.
Her nervous demeanor was a first for the members.
‘We have to support her!’
‘She’s led us all this time! Now it’s our turn!’
Seeing her falter, the members began to rally…!
“We’re ready!!”
“I’ll give my heart for you, President!!!!”
“That delinquent! We’ll show him the true power of our committee, and he’ll be begging for mercy!!”
“We have justice on our side!!!”
“Just give the order, President!!! I’ll die if you say die!!! I’ll kill if you say kill!!!!”
“Our committee is stronger in a crisis!! We’ve got your back, President!!!!”
The members’ resolute shouts.
Chloe’s eyes welled up slightly.
“You guys… you’re really something…”
“Haha…!”
As they were swept up in a wave of emotion—
CRASH…!!!
A commotion erupted in the hallway, followed by shouts of “Hey! Get out of the way!!”
‘It’s him…!’
The entire disciplinary committee tensed and stood up.
‘He’s coming…!!’
Some even drew their weapons, standing resolute like soldiers awaiting a monster.
Then, he kicked the door open and stormed in.
BOOOOM────────────────────!!!
“Hey!!!! You’re not even gonna welcome a new member?! Or are you all trembling in fear?!?! Huh?!?!?!?!”
“Urgh…!”
“My eardrums are gonna burst…?!”
His roar alone overwhelmed the entire room with ferocious intensity!
“Just his entrance is making my hair flutter…?!!”
It was actually the fan, but his presence was so overwhelming it felt like more!!
“Turn off the fan!!”
Leading the charge, as expected, was Chloe.
Step-
With heavy steps, Chloe Maiden stood before Kim Taeyang.
In her hand was her whip constellation, Lashara.
“Heh heh heh! Swapping, huh?! Freaking thrilling, isn’t it?!?!”
“Woof woof!”
Kim Taeyang had brought Pomi along.
Kim Taeyang’s disciplinary committee debut!
The constellation swap was now a reality!!
“Hurry up and hand over that ultra-flexible, slinky, SSS-grade leather constellation!!!!”
The storm was just beginning to rage.
****
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