A case of Transmigrating as a Sick Villain chapter 91

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Jingyeom tried hard to ignore the incessant vibration of his phone.

He already knew who was trying to reach him without even checking.

Since sending out his apology message, there had been several people persistently trying to contact him.

Whenever someone got too persistent, he immediately blocked their number.

But whoever it was, they kept finding ways to contact him, borrowing phones from other people or using other numbers.

And it wasn’t just that they brought up old incidents; they would also send messages laced with insults or lewd jokes.

Once, he answered a call from an unregistered number, only to find it was someone he had blocked, insistently asking to meet.

The list of blocked numbers continued to grow.

Despite that, the relentless attempts to call showed no signs of stopping.

Leaving his phone on silent wasn’t an option, as messages from Soohyuk, who was on a business trip abroad, would come in from time to time, and Jinwoo would also contact him whenever he had a break at work.

“…Should I report this? At this point, it seems like I could file a stalking report.”

Even if it wasn’t technically stalking, there was enough evidence to report them for other reasons.

However, considering the favors he’d received from some of these people, Baek Jingyeom felt reluctant to escalate things further.

Though he wasn’t studying at the moment, the continuous buzzing of his phone was distracting.

He tried to muster all his concentration to focus on the text in his book, but that effort soon shattered into pieces, scattered in the air.

It wasn’t the quietest neighborhood, but there hadn’t been any recent construction.

Yet the banging and clattering sounded unbearably loud, as if someone was hammering right outside his door.

Unable to stand it any longer, Jingyeom frowned and swung the front door wide open.

“…Huh?”

It was his own front yard, but there were strangers there.

“…Who are you?”

It seemed like these people were the ones making all that noise earlier.

Wooden boards and tools were scattered around them, as if they were building something.

“What are you doing in front of my house?”

Jingyeom was about to slip his feet into his slippers and step outside, but then he stopped abruptly.

His eyes squinted, and his pupils began to tremble.

Fear suddenly washed over him as the strangers, all holding tools, turned to look at him. He took a step back into the house and quickly locked the front door.

Moments later, he saw a figure approaching the door.

‘Who are they? What’s going on?’

Only Soohyuk and Wonbeom ever came to this place.

Was it those debt collectors who had stopped coming around, or the people who had been sending him threatening messages lately?

Fear took hold, and his smartwatch began to beep with warning alerts as his heart pounded.

With trembling hands, Jingyeom grabbed his phone, intending to call Jinwoo immediately.

He had just unlocked the screen when, to his surprise, “★Wonbeom-hyung★” appeared with a vibration.
He hurriedly answered the call.

“Hello?”

He kept his voice as quiet as possible, afraid it might be heard outside.

— Open the door.

“What?”

“Open the door.”

He suddenly realized that Wonbeom’s voice wasn’t just coming through the phone—it was coming from outside the door.

Jingyeom glanced back and forth between the phone and the blurry figure beyond the frosted glass, then cautiously asked,

“Are you… in front of the house right now?”

“Yeah.”

Only then could he release the tension that had been gripping him.

His arm dropped limply to his side, still holding the phone, and he slowly approached the front door, pressing his hand against his aching chest.

When he unlocked and opened the door, Wonbeom, who still had his phone pressed to his ear, met his eyes.

Jingyeom, unable to calm his pounding heart, blinked rapidly and his lips trembled.

Wonbeom’s eyes twitched slightly at the sight of tears welling up in Jingyeom’s eyes.

“Who was it?”

“…What?”

“Who made you cry? Tell me who.”

His voice sounded as if he was gritting his teeth.

Jingyeom wrinkled his nose, rubbing his face with both hands.

Recently, he had been receiving threatening messages saying they wouldn’t leave him alone, which had scared him.

He glanced past Wonbeom, looking at the people behind him.

They seemed to be busy with something, not paying attention to him.

“Did you come here with them?”

“I think I told you I don’t like repeating myself.”

“…”

Jingyeom fidgeted with his hands, unsure of what to say. Wonbeom tilted his head slightly, looking up at the ceiling.

He didn’t like how Jingyeom seemed to flinch at every little thing he did. But he didn’t want to scare him any further.

“Who is it?”

“…You.”

“Me?”

“Yes… You just showed up without warning, so I was surprised.”

Wonbeom stared down at Jingyeom in silence.

It didn’t seem like he was lying, but he couldn’t understand why someone would be so scared just because he arrived without notice.

“…I’m serious.”

It didn’t seem like Wonbeom entirely believed him.

Jingyeom’s light brown eyes, which had been looking at Wonbeom, gradually lowered until they were staring directly at the ground.

‘Why is he just staring at me like that?’

After exchanging phone numbers, he thought they had gotten a bit closer, exchanging messages now and then, but he guess he was wrong.

It’s less intimidating than before, but Wonbeom still scared him.

Probably because of the way he looks at me.

“I trust you. Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not scared!”

“Then don’t look at the ground or avoid eye contact when you’re with me. If you’re scared when I haven’t done anything, that makes me feel bad.”

Jingyeom pressed his lips together.

He thought he was avoiding eye contact naturally, but apparently not.

He didn’t expect to get caught so quickly. Putting on a harmless smile, Jingyeom quickly changed the subject.

“Sure! But, uh, what are those people doing over there?”

“Stop burying yourself in books like a shut-in and get some fresh air outside.”

“Excuse me?”

Honestly, he hadn’t been studying like a shut-in… But what does that have to do with the current situation?

Wonbeom, looking at the people building something, spoke again.

“I brought this because it seemed empty last time.”

“Brought what?”

He says he hates repeating himself, yet he keeps making me ask twice.

As Jingyeom’s voice grew louder, Wonbeom’s lips curled up into a grin.

The frightened look had vanished quickly, and the tears that had been welling up in his eyes were gone.

He always felt it, but Jingyeom’s emotional changes were remarkably fast.

When Wonbeom just kept staring at him without answering, Jingyeom couldn’t wait any longer and stepped outside to see what they were doing.

Maybe some time had passed since the last time, but now it was starting to take shape.

“A bench? No… it’s bigger… Oh! A platform?”

As Jingyeom glanced back and forth between the materials yet to be assembled and the shape that was already forming, Wonbeom nodded instead of answering.

He showed up unannounced and surprised him, only to suddenly start installing a platform.

Jingyeom wondered if this had been discussed with Jinwoo, but he quickly realized it hadn’t.

If it had, Jinwoo would have told him.

Watching the platform slowly take shape, Jingyeom noticed a person in a suit, unlike the others who were working.

He was so focused on Wonbeom and the platform that he only noticed him now.

The person in the suit was Lee Cheongoh.

Since his work at the office wasn’t finished, and he didn’t want to bring Jinwoo or Secretary Yang, Wonbeom had brought Cheongoh along.

When Cheongoh made eye contact with Jingyeom, he pressed his arms tightly to his sides and bowed with a blank expression.

Jingyeom also clasped his hands together and bowed in return.

He didn’t know who the other person was, but since they greeted him, he responded with the same courtesy.

As he stood there, watching, Cheongoh approached.

“Hello. I’m Lee Cheongoh, the personal secretary.”

“…Personal secretary?”

Jingyeom had thought that Wonbeom only had Jinwoo and Secretary Yang as his secretaries.

Who would have thought he had a personal secretary as well?

Blinking briefly, Jingyeom let out a small exclamation.

“Personal secretary, Lee Cheongoh? …Lee Cheongoh!”

He remembered who he was.

For company affairs, the secretaries were Jinwoo and Secretary Yang, but for everything else, it was Lee Cheongoh.

He was what remained of the remnants of the underground world.

Still, it would be foolish to act like he knew that, so Jingyeom quickly wiped the surprise from his face and smiled.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Baek Jingyeom.”

He didn’t add any extra titles, just gave his name.

That seemed to be enough for Cheongoh, who lightly nodded with the same blank expression.

“But, hey, hyung.”

Wonbeom prompted Jingyeom to speak, matching his gaze.

“This place is rented, so you can’t just install something like that without permission.”

Jingyeom wanted to stop them before the platform was fully assembled in case the landlord asked for it to be removed.

You can’t just install things like this without the landlord’s permission and agreement.

“The landlord is a pretty nice guy, but…”

“He said he liked it.”

“…Huh?”

It seemed they had already talked to the landlord.

Given the cost of purchasing and installing a platform, it seemed the landlord gave permission because they offered to handle the installation themselves.

Jingyeom had often thought it would be nice to have a platform in the yard. Even though it wasn’t that big, the empty yard often made him feel like filling it up.

More importantly, every time he ate outside, he had to lay out a mat, which was a hassle.

If they had a platform, he could just wipe it clean, which would be much more convenient.

“It’ll take a bit longer to finish installing. It’s noisy here, so let’s step out for a bit.”

“Where to?”

“Anywhere.”

After thinking for a moment, Jingyeom agreed to Wonbeom’s suggestion since he couldn’t study anyway and had been cooped up at home for a while.

But he couldn’t leave empty-handed, so he went back inside to grab his things.

He also took some medicine, just in case.

“You’re dressed lightly.”

“It’s just for a bit, so I didn’t bother changing… I’ll go change.”

He had been comfortably at home, wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

He had just thrown on a jacket to go out, but Wonbeom’s intense gaze made him retreat back inside.

The way he looked at him while he changed was reminiscent of how Jinwoo often stared at him.

“No way… Maybe he just told me to dress warmly because he thought I might complain about being cold later.”

Jingyeom didn’t think Wonbeom was worried about him getting cold.

While changing clothes, he also sent a message to Jinwoo, letting him know that Wonbeom had come over and was installing a platform outside, so it was noisy, and he’d be stepping out for a while.

He condensed the situation into one sentence. Soon after, he received a call.

Jingyeom repeated the situation he had explained in his message.

—So you’re going out with him now? Where are you going?

“He didn’t tell me where we’re going. Maybe just a nearby café? He’s waiting outside, so I’ll send a message once we decide!”

—…Okay. Don’t be too late.

“Got it!”

Jingyeom, now dressed in long sleeves and pants, put on his coat, grabbed his bag, and headed outside. By that time, the platform installation was in its final stages.

“Looks like it’ll be done soon. Maybe I could just stay home?”

Now that it was quiet, he felt like he could stay at home.

When Jingyeom paused to look at the almost-completed platform, Wonbeom stepped in to block his view.

“Much better. Let’s go.”

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