"..."
What's with this woman? Did she sell her "crazy blonde" title or sothing?
She stops at red lights and goes on green. She doesn't even speed up on yellow lights. She uses her turn signal when rging, respects the speed limit, and maintains a safe distance.
Is this really Irina? I expected her to show so Mad Max-level insanity.
"Why are you glancing at like that? Is it your first ti seeing soone drive?"
Of course, I'm looking because I'm curious. Not about the driving, but about Irina.
She drives so modestly? That Irina? The crazy blonde? I'd expect her to shout "Manners be damned! Speed limit be damned! Turn signal be damned!"
Screech—!
"Ugh."
A vehicle coming from the rging lane didn't seem to check properly. When Irina honked her horn, it quickly reduced speed. If the reaction had been a bit slower, there might have been at least a minor collision.
In this situation, it would be completely justified to get angry and curse. If you're going to rge, the basic courtesy is to check your side properly. Let alone Irina, who would curse and use physical force... but she's not?
'Even with this... she doesn't get angry? That Irina?'
At this point, it's not just surprising but almost frightening.
Am I really with Irina? I wonder if there's a villain who can mimic another person's appearance. In just a few minutes, I had all sorts of thoughts.
"First of all, yes, I am Irina."
"Uh, what?"
"You keep looking at like, 'Who the hell is this person? This doesn't seem like the person I know!' Our handso and suspicious Seojin oppa."
Her words were so accurate that I couldn't even respond and just blinked. At this rate, I need to be careful even about what I think in front of this woman.
"Secondly, I am quite careful when driving. Are you curious about the reason?"
"...A little."
"It's nothing special. When I first started driving recklessly, my mother scolded to death."
I wonder if Irina's mother is also an S-rank ability user? After pondering, the answer was "no."
Both of Irina's parents are naturalized foreigners in Korea. If those foreigners were S-rank ability users, both their ho country and South Korea would have made a huge fuss, that's for sure.
"You said you're going to the Academy, right?"
"Yes."
"That's strange. I asked those suit guys earlier, and they said you got leave."
When did she do that background check?
"And they even said it was paid leave. They said it was approved from above."
"That's right."
"You're saying you'll go to work even when they're offering paid leave? Are you in your right mind?"
Irina is making out to be crazy, but honestly, I have nothing to say. Even thinking about it myself, soone who would go to work when offered paid leave is indeed crazy.
If people who desperately want leave now heard about my situation. I'm confident they would curse at and ask for that leave instead.
"Is it because of that kid?"
"Who?"
"Why are you pretending not to know? That kid who's all giddy about Seojin oppa."
"Suhyeon."
Crack—
I thought I heard sothing breaking just now. I turned my head slightly and saw that the steering wheel Irina was holding was slightly dented.
Car steering wheels aren't made of clay, yet they got bent by her grip. I could once again confirm that she was indeed a crazy woman.
"Now you're even addressing her so intimately. It's EXTRELY annoying to hear."
"...I don't see why Irina should be annoyed by that?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Don't you rember how recently, I, the ever-single but ever-defensive Seojin oppa, was rejected by you?"
Would you please stop with the "single" talk? This isn't gaslighting, but you're making wonder if I really was single.
"Wait, and was that really a confession to date?"
"Wow. Look at this guy. Then did you think I was joking?"
"Yes. Of course I thought it was a joke."
At my answer, Irina makes a face as if she can't believe it. Then she even turns her head to fix her gaze on ...
"...No, no! Look ahead! The car, the car!"
As the traffic light changed, the car in front suddenly ca to a hard stop. Even though there was a safe distance, Irina isn't looking ahead right now! At this rate, we'll crash right into them...
Screech—
...or not. Does this woman have eyes on her sides too?
"That's really funny. You thought it was really a joke?"
"Well... honestly, yes. You were constantly joking with at that ti, and also..."
"So you thought the confession was a joke too. Like a prank disguised as a confession?"
I couldn't help but nod at Irina's words. At that, Irina let out a "Haa," sigh and stepped on the accelerator in sync with the traffic light.
By the way, her gaze was still focused exactly on .
"I might be crazy, and that's true. I won't deny that, but I don't stoop to the level of using 'myself' as a condition. And I'm a woman too, you know?"
She is a woman, that's true. That's why she's not a crazy "guy" but a crazy "woman."
"..."
After that, Irina focused on driving in silence for a while. Fortunately, she turned her head back and kept her eyes on the road. Thanks to that, the burden in my heart decreased ever so slightly.
'Yes, ever so slightly.'
I looked around to see how far we were from the Academy.
Seeing the increasingly familiar scenery, we seed to have nearly arrived. Ah, yes. If we turn left here, take the main road, and go a bit further...
Swish—
"...Irina?"
"What."
"You shouldn't turn right here. This way doesn't lead to the Academy but..."
"I'm not going to the Academy."
What are you saying? You just said earlier that you'd take to the Academy.
"Are you going to kidnap or sothing?"
"Kidnapping? What a bleak choice of words."
"Then what? Where exactly are we going now?"
"First, you need to pay the taxi fare. We've been driving for almost 40 minutes."
"...How much is it?"
"Forget the money. Do you know how much money I have? It's probably rotting away."
This might sound absurd, but the person we're talking about is none other than Irina. An S-rank ability user. Among them, she's described as the strongest in South Korea. Naturally, the various subsidies and compensations that co with that must be enormous.
The statent that 'money is rotting away' is probably true.
"Then what do you want?"
"I spent 40 minutes of my ti, so you also need to spare 40 minutes for ."
"What's that...?"
"I'm asking you on a date, are you really that dense?"
At the ntion of a "date," I reflexively looked at Irina.
I wanted to see if she was smiling like before. If she was laughing her head off, as the crazy woman she is, after pulling a prank.
'But, damn it. She's not laughing.'
Couldn't you just laugh at a ti like this? I'd really prefer it if she'd start cackling now and say, "Did you actually expect sothing? This is why you're single!" I might be annoyed, but I could laugh it off sohow.
"And you said you'd have dinner with but there's been no sign of that either."
But instead of laughter, Irina vented her grumbles in front of .
"Do you think I don't have n saying they like ? They're so annoying."
"That's a 100% lie. Who would dare to annoy you?"
Unless they're insane and have a death wish.
"Just answer . As taxi fare, 40 minutes on a date with . Deal?"
"What if I say no?"
"Then, I guess I'll have to take money instead. Hmm. Simply put, about 400 million won?"
"Let's do it, the date."
At my answer, Irina looks at incredulously once again. As if asking, "All this ti you acted like you wouldn't, but as soon as money is ntioned, you agree?"
'What can I do? 400 million won isn't pocket change.'
TN: If I had to pay to date Irina, I would think about it hahaha.
Given an S-rank's value, that amount would be reasonable. If Irina had done sothing more productive in the 40 minutes she spent with . It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she could have earned not 400 million but 4 billion won.
And knowing Irina, she's the type who would actually collect the 400 million. In that case, it's much better to just spend 40 minutes with her.
"I can't believe this."
Irina grumbles, but a subtle smile forms at the corners of her mouth. Watching her, a certain curiosity arose in my mind.
I have a feeling it might be to my disadvantage to ask. And I suspect I'll get an answer like, "that's why you're single" or sothing. But still, I felt like this was the right timing to ask.
"Let ask you one thing, Irina."
"As long as it's not weird."
She's recycling the exact answer I gave her before. It's a bit creepy that she even rembers that much.
"Why are you doing this? Why do you keep acting this way towards ? I don't understand the reason."
"That's a strange question. An adult woman asks an adult man on a date. Is there any special aning behind that? It's just because I like you. Seojin oppa. Are you really that inexperienced?"
"I'd prefer a more serious answer."
"I did give a serious answer, not a joke."
After that, Irina continued to mutter sothing under her breath.
After driving for a few more minutes, as we stopped at a traffic light,
"...Seojin oppa, you think I'm crazy, don't you?"
At Irina's sudden question, I almost answered with a "Yes."
If Irina's voice, and her expression, hadn't been so serious. I might have really answered that way.
"That's..."
"Why hesitate? It's true that I'm crazy. Yes, I know it too. That I'm a crazy woman. That I'm not in my right mind. Always causing trouble, acting before thinking, doing things that blur the line between ability user and villain. Being a crazy woman, yeah, I coolly admit it!"
It's good that she's self-aware. Sotis, there are people who are crazy but insist they're normal till the end.
"But, you know, Seojin oppa. I'm a 'monster.' A monster that no one can handle. Other people can't deal with ."
I suddenly feel her gaze on .
Instead of the eyes that had been sparkling with faint madness or excessive interest. Blue eyes containing sothing strangely profound were approaching .
"But with Seojin oppa, I feel like you could handle . Soone who could make a monster like , at least a little bit, more human-like."
TN: Ahh, this is sad, she just wants to feel “human”
Yuyu: Awwn
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