Surviving as a Brainwashing Villain in a Hero World 13

## Chapter 13 – Any Guy Who Buys Me Beef Is a Good Guy!

***

Early evening at the Hero Alliance Dormitory.

“Jiwu! Wanna grab dinner in a bit?”
“Huh? Dinner?”

Dohwa asked Jiwu while drying her wet hair with a hairdryer after her shower.

“What are we eating?”
“There’s a new beef place that opened up in front of the dorm. Let’s go there.”

Dohwa, looking excited, suggested to Jiwu that they go to the newly opened beef restaurant. Jiwu’s eyes sparkled at the mention of beef, and she took off her headset.

“Let’s go. Right now.”
“Seriously, you really love beef, don’t you?”

She quickly changed into a loose hoodie and denim shorts.
Jiwu bounced around, putting on her sneakers with excited steps.

“Ah! Are you leaving already?”
“Huh? Why? We gotta go quick, or it’ll get crowded, right?”

Dohwa grabbed Jiwu’s hand as she was about to run out, hesitating for a moment.

“Um… well, it’s not just the two of us. Another friend is coming with us.”
“Friend? Who? You have friends, Unni?”

Jiwu casually dropped the rather heavy question of “You have friends?” without a second thought.

“What do you mean by that, Jiwu?”

Dohwa bit her lip tightly and widened her eyes at the dagger-like question.
It was true that she didn’t really have any friends.

However, the reason Dohwa was taking Jiwu with her, even though she said a friend was coming,
wasn’t just because Jiwu liked beef, but for another reason.

“It’s a senior I knew from high school. We got in touch again recently by chance.”
“Oh, really? What time did you make plans for?”
“Huh? I think we can head out in about 30 minutes.”

Usually, when you hear about meeting a guy, you might ask if he’s a boyfriend or someone you’re seeing,
but Jiwu didn’t seem to care, taking off her sneakers and picking up her game console again.

Jiwu, the gaming addict, had no interest in romance or love stories,
and in the first place, she probably didn’t even think Dohwa would ever be in a relationship.

“Does he know you’re a hero?”
“Of course not. You can’t tell other people, you know.”

Hiding one’s identity is a basic principle for heroes.
You shouldn’t tell anyone, no matter how close you are.

“Then should I just pretend to be a younger friend of yours?”
“Yeah. I told him just in case.”

***

A beef restaurant near the Hero Alliance headquarters.
It was just past 6 PM, but the smell of grilling beef was already wafting through the air.

“What? He’s not here yet, I guess.”
“Ah! Oppa!”

A man came into view of Dohwa and Jiwu, who were waiting in front of the restaurant.

“Hi. It’s been a while!”

The man Dohwa called Oppa was none other than Siyoon.

The reason Dohwa had called Jiwu out was because of Siyoon’s orders,
to introduce Jiwu to Siyoon as a ‘Dominator’s spy.’

Now, she was even trying to offer her roommate and colleague to her master.

“Ah… hello.”
“Ah! So this is the… younger friend.”

Jiwu looked up at Siyoon with a slightly uncomfortable expression and greeted him,
and Siyoon bowed his head to Jiwu with a bright smile.

Jiwu’s height was 157cm.

She wasn’t super short for a girl,
but compared to Siyoon, who had a towering height of 184cm, there was a head’s difference.

Siyoon’s behavior of looking down at her like a child
wasn’t a pleasant experience for Jiwu, who was usually sensitive about her height.

“My name is Ha Siyoon… and your younger friend is…?”
“Why do you need to know?”
“Jiwu! Her name is Jiwu. She’s two years younger than me.”

Siyoon revealed his name first with a flustered expression,
but Jiwu turned her head as if to say, “So what?” and walked into the beef restaurant alone.

“How many people?”
“Three.”

The three people sat down at a table guided by the employee.
Siyoon picked up the menu and showed it to the two of them.

“Dohwa, what do you want to eat? Jiwu, too.”
“I like something with less fat… hehe.”

Dohwa pointed to the somewhat expensive beef sirloin with a bright smile.
Siyoon seemed a little surprised by the price, but he didn’t show it.

“Well… I’ll have the same thing….”

Jiwu said she would choose the same thing as Dohwa.

Siyoon’s head spun for a moment at the not-so-easy price of sirloin,
but he couldn’t lose a big shot like an A-class hero over a mere few hundred thousand won.

‘Ugh… why did we have to come eat beef of all things?
Well, I guess it’s been a while since I’ve greased my insides.’

“Excuse me! Three servings of sirloin, please. And some stew and rice, too.”
“Three servings? That’s it?”

Jiwu grumbled in a dissatisfied tone, asking if that was all they were going to order.

To have that attitude while getting a free meal that costs 40,000 won for about 150g per serving.
Siyoon wanted to flick that purple chestnut head of hers.

“We can order more later after we eat! You can’t eat that much anyway, Jiwu.”
“Tch… fine.”

Knowing that it wasn’t a cheap price even for an A-class hero who earned a lot of money,
Dohwa stopped Jiwu with a troubled expression.

“What about drinks? Tomorrow’s a weekday, so are drinks okay?”
“One bottle? Should we share one bottle of soju?”
“You drink, Unni?”

Jiwu was surprised and asked Dohwa if she usually drank, at the suggestion of sharing a bottle of soju among the three of them.

It was natural for Jiwu to be surprised at Dohwa’s suggestion to drink.
She had never seen her drink in the years they had lived together.

Even when a new delicious highball was released and she asked her to drink it together,
Dohwa had refused, saying that alcohol was not allowed for a diligent hero.

‘This is really weird. First she says she’s learning games, and now she’s suggesting we drink.’

She wasn’t paying any attention to the fact that she was meeting a guy,
but Jiwu couldn’t hide her suspicion at Dohwa’s recent behavior, which was clearly different from usual.

“Here’s your beef! Don’t overcook it, just grill it lightly and eat it.”
“Ah! Thank you. And can we get a bottle of Green Dew, too? With three glasses.”
“Wow….”

However, as soon as the beef arrived, the suspicion from just a moment ago quickly disappeared as if washed away by the sight of the marbling.

“Jiwu-ssi. You must really like beef.”
“N… no, I don’t?”

Siyoon saw Jiwu admiring the beef marbling with a sincere expression.
Jiwu turned her head and tried to change the subject, pretending to be nonchalant.

Jiwu usually has a small appetite and can’t even finish half a bowl of rice,
but even she wouldn’t be able to resist the glistening beef.

– Sizzle-

The sirloin began to slowly grill on the heated grill, making a sizzling sound.
The tickling sound and smoke that rose as the surface touched the grill made the onlookers salivate.

“Beef doesn’t taste good if you grill it for too long, so you can eat it soon.”

The tongs moved, flipping it slightly and evenly grilling each side.
And the savory and rich smell that wafted out in the process.

Jiwu forgot that Siyoon was a strange person who looked down on her,
and Dohwa forgot that she was doing spy work, admiring the beauty of the grilling beef.

And after a while.

Perfectly grilled beef was neatly placed on the two people’s plates.

“Enjoy your meal. Jiwu-ssi, enjoy your meal, too.”
“Thank you for the food!”
“I’ll… enjoy it.”

Jiwu and Dohwa put the well-cooked sirloin directly into their mouths without dipping it in any sauce.

“Wow! No, this is really good? Oppa, you should try it quickly, too!”
“Oh…!!!”

The luxurious beef fat melted in their mouths and disappeared quickly.
The two people, with wide eyes, were greatly surprised and slowly savored the savory taste.

“You can order more if you don’t have enough, so eat slowly.”

Siyoon ate the beef nonchalantly without any reaction, as if it were nothing.

‘Ha… expensive beef is really delicious. Mmm…’

…he thought, secretly very satisfied.

“Um… Siyoon… what do you do, Oppa?”
“Ah. I run a small shop nearby.”

Siyoon introduced himself as running a small shop in the neighborhood, hiding his true identity.

On the surface, his hideout was set up like a quiet bar,
so strictly speaking, it couldn’t be said to be completely wrong.

Of course, Jiwu wouldn’t imagine that the place was a place where he did such things,
that it was a place she would soon be going to.

‘She was so hostile just a moment ago… why is she suddenly like this?’

Siyoon seemed somewhat surprised that Jiwu was suddenly talking to him directly.
He didn’t understand that her reaction had changed after eating a few pieces of beef.

However, it was true that the reason he couldn’t understand had influenced Jiwu’s change in attitude.

‘To just buy me something this delicious… he must be a good person. Hehe…’

She had been upset that the tall Siyoon looked down on her because she was short,
but now she was starting to like him for buying her beef.

Whether this should be called pure or just plain stupid.
Siyoon decided to think of it as a stroke of good luck.

“Wow… Oppa, your hands are really big.”
“Huh? My hands? They are a bit big.”

Perhaps because of the few glasses of alcohol that went in with the beef, Dohwa was fiddling with Siyoon’s hand.
She seemed fascinated by the big, thick man’s hand.

[ Applying body manipulation to target: ‘Ignition’ Yoon Dohwa. ]

But this was also part of what Siyoon had planned in advance and made Dohwa do.

In order to engrave the mark of his ability on Jiwu as well,
Siyoon’s hand had to directly touch Jiwu’s body.

“Wow… it’s really big. It seems bigger than my dad’s hands.”
“Haha… this is embarrassing. What’s so good about these rough hands.”

…Siyoon said, also subtly fiddling with the two people’s hands.

‘Last time, I didn’t really know because it was by chance… I guess I should focus on my fingertips.’

He focused his senses on his fingertips.

The softness of the chest he had felt when he accidentally engraved the mark on Dohwa a few days ago.
Recalling that sensation, he gently stroked Jiwu’s palm.

– Shoooo-

“Ah! If you touch it too much… it might be rude…?”
“Huh? No! It’s okay. If you’re curious, you can keep touching it.”

A small diamond-shaped mark engraved on Jiwu’s palm.
It emitted a faint red light and then disappeared as if nothing had happened.

Without even guessing that her hand contained the terrible truth about the beef,
Jiwu just thought he was a nice Oppa who bought her beef and grinned.

Siyoon smiled with satisfaction as he looked at Jiwu.

[ Status: Engraving Stage 1 (Subjugation 0%) ]