## Chapter 160 – Backstabbed by a Trusted Axe (3)
***
Chaeri and Inyeong are diligently working in the office as the sun sets, having finished their meeting with Team Leader Ha Jaeyoon of Management Team 4.
“Ugh… I wish we had a mission to go on instead.”
Usually, typical heroes don’t need to do the kind of work Inyeong is doing.
They only write brief reports when problems arise during activities, as most of the work is handled by the management team.
“Iron Maiden, you’re one of only three S-class heroes. You have different, more important duties than other heroes.”
Inyeong is involved in unrelated tasks like hero competency management and budget approval because her position as an S-class hero is essentially the same as an executive in the association.
Therefore, she has to meticulously read documents that other heroes don’t even need to see, checking everything and signing off on things she doesn’t even understand.
Moreover, the other two S-class heroes who should be sharing the workload are unable to perform their duties, so Inyeong is effectively doing the work of three people alone.
Of course, unlike other heroes, she only deploys to very important battlefields, so on days without work, she enjoys a leisurely life that is practically unemployed.
‘I do this every day… What’s so hard about it?’
Therefore, Inyeong’s complaints just seem like minor grumbling to Chaeri.
“Ugh! Just one more signature and it’s over… It’s finally over!”
Inyeong is desperate to finish her work as quickly as possible. Her eyes are bloodshot from staring intently at the documents.
“Ggrrrr… Ugh!”
And finally, after signing the last document, she stretches her arms out and lets out a loud shout, celebrating the end of her work.
“Ah… It’s only 10 minutes until quitting time anyway. Well… If I hadn’t finished quickly, I wouldn’t have been able to rest tomorrow!”
She realizes that there isn’t much time left until she can leave work, and her joy starts to fade. But she is still filled with anticipation that she can relax tomorrow because she worked hard.
“I wonder how much longer our secretary has to go?”
“Well… I think I still have a bit more to do. I still have some backlog from the business trip… but it shouldn’t take too long.”
Inyeong took breaks during work to eat snacks and rest, but Chaeri kept typing away at the keyboard without even taking a break.
“Really? Then… shall we go out for dinner together when you’re done? Let’s go eat beef ribs since the business trip is over!”
Inyeong’s eyes sparkle as she urges Chaeri to go eat beef ribs.
“I have a prior engagement after work today. It was scheduled before the business trip… so I can’t cancel it.”
However, Chaeri gives a slightly shy smile and replies that she has a prior engagement and can’t help it.
“Huh? A prior engagement! What are you talking about!”
Usually, when it’s almost time to leave work, Chaeri wilts like a dying plant, listlessly getting up from her seat, slinging her bag over her shoulder, and trudging out of the office.
But now, she doesn’t seem tired even though she’s been working non-stop, and her trademark dark circles even seem to have faded.
‘What…! She never goes out to meet anyone because she’s tired…, but suddenly she has an appointment?’
Chaeri hardly ever makes personal appointments after work, and she even tries to avoid important company dinners if possible.
‘Could it be… did she really get a boyfriend?’
She seemed suspicious enough to bring back the doubts she had this morning.
“Ggrrrr…!”
The anxiety that Chaeri might really have a boyfriend, reducing the time they spend together, and that her unrequited love might end up as just that, surged within her.
‘Suspicious… Should I tail her?’
She intends to wait until Chaeri finishes her work and then follow her when she leaves.
Inyeong pretends to be hungry and flips through her tablet as if she has other work to do, waiting for Chaeri’s fingers to leave the keyboard.
5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes pass. Almost 30 minutes have passed.
“Then I’ll leave work now. Enjoy your dinner.”
“Ah! Okay….”
Inyeong watches closely as Chaeri gets up from her seat.
She makes sure to put the charger that she always forgets and has to buy new ones into her bag, puts on her jacket, slings her bag over her shoulder, and opens the office door to leave.
“She’s gone, right?”
Inyeong makes sure that Chaeri has finished preparing to leave and has left. She immediately puts on her jacket and starts following her.
‘I’m sure of it. She doesn’t usually walk so cheerfully when she leaves work like that. I’ve seen that back view of hers so many times…!’
It was a gait that was clearly different from what Inyeong, who has a crush on Chaeri, had been seeing. It wasn’t a tired, trudging walk, but a movement full of excitement and anticipation.
‘Ugh! I’m going to lose her at this rate…!’
Chaeri takes the elevator and tries to quickly go down to the first floor, so Inyeong urgently takes the elevator right next to it.
Fortunately, the timing difference between the two elevators isn’t significant, so Inyeong manages to continue tailing Chaeri without losing her.
Chaeri and Inyeong leave the Hero Association building.
Chaeri hums a tune and heads towards the downtown area near the association, not towards the officetel where she lives alone.
‘What…? This place is full of bars and karaoke rooms…. Could she really be meeting a friend?’
The day Inyeong was tailing Chaeri happened to be Friday, which signals temporary liberation for office workers.
Many office workers think of eating and drinking to their heart’s content because tomorrow is the weekend, and Chaeri may be meeting a friend with the same mindset.
But the place Chaeri heads to isn’t a nearby bar or restaurant, but a rather luxurious and expensive hotel.
A man familiar to Inyeong is standing in front of the hotel.
‘Wait… that man… isn’t that Team Leader Ha Jaeyoon from earlier?’
Chaeri has a conversation with the person who appears to be Team Leader Ha Jaeyoon, then smiles brightly and even hugs him.
‘Ggrrrr…!!!’
Inyeong bites her lip so hard that she bleeds, unable to bear the jealousy as the expectation she hoped was wrong turns out to be true.
But Inyeong doesn’t stop tailing them, even with the jealousy exploding within her.
As the two people enter the hotel affectionately, Inyeong also cautiously follows them into the hotel, pretending to be nonchalant.
‘What… are those two really dating? Otherwise, there’s no way they’d be coming to a hotel together so affectionately…!!’
Inyeong is bleeding from her lips, but she tries to eavesdrop on which room the two are staying in. She strains her ears, keeping a certain distance.
‘Room 1107… Okay….’
Inyeong confirms that the room the two are staying in is 1107.
She waits until the door of the elevator that the two people with the card key got into closes. As soon as the door closes and the elevator starts moving, she immediately runs to the front desk.
“Excuse me… is room 1108 available?”
“Excuse me? Room 1108… is available, but… if you’re purchasing on-site without a reservation, the price will be a bit higher….”
Inyeong runs up as if she’s being chased by someone.
Hotel front desk employees are usually taken aback when a guest mentions a specific room number.
“I don’t care. I don’t care how much it costs, so please! Let me stay in that room for today.”
But from Inyeong’s point of view, money isn’t the problem, and the front desk employee seems to realize that something unusual is going on and nods.
“Ah… I understand. I’ll help you with the payment here.”
***
Inyeong enters the expensive suite alone without any luggage, something she would never normally do.
“Tch…! I’m going to find out for sure.”
As if there’s no need to look at the neat and tidy interior of the room, she doesn’t even close the door properly and immediately presses her ear against the wall of the room where Chaeri is.
“Ah…♥ Master…♥”
Then, she starts to faintly hear the sound from room 1107.
A voice full of aegyo that she has never heard before calls someone “Master” and is acting cute, which Inyeong hears.
‘Huh…? There’s no way that’s Senior’s voice…?’
It was a bit different from the voice of Chaeri that Inyeong knows, and she thought that she might be confused because the soundproofing was somewhat effective.
But it’s clear that the room is definitely 1107, where the two are staying. And the next line that will turn doubt into certainty.
“Kyaa…!♥ If you do it so roughly… my pussy will get all wet…♥”
There’s no way Chaeri would say such vulgar and lewd words, but it was definitely Chaeri’s voice full of aegyo.
“Ggrrrrrrrrr…!!!”
Jealousy explodes and explodes again in Inyeong. She starts biting not only her lip but also her fingers.
But the third word that Chaeri will say next soon stops Inyeong’s actions.
“But… doesn’t it seem like someone is eavesdropping next door? I feel like they’re incredibly jealous and biting their lips or something.”
