Chapter 225. Why Only Me (5)
"Phew."
After parting with Lee Hoyeon, Moon Surin stopped by the training hall.
She couldn't calm her excitement from the meeting.
'He said he'd send a photo if it's someone he knows.'
He also asked her to text when she got home safely.
Isn't that basically telling her to contact him?
"Hoo, hoohoo..."
Moon Surin chuckled to herself as she returned home.
"Huh? The air conditioner's on. Hmm, whatever."
She thought she'd turned it off before leaving... but maybe not.
She probably just forgot.
Hanging up her coat and humming, Moon Surin paused.
"Wait, isn't this... like flirting? Are we flirting now?"
Eating together, sending photos, asking about each other. The subtle flow between them.
This was definitely flirting.
Moon Surin tapped her feet in excitement.
Thinking back, it started from the beginning.
Her interest in Lee Hoyeon began from their first meeting.
Sure, his face was her type... but the more she saw him, the more she liked him.
Talented, compatible with her tastes.
And now they're flirting?
"Heehee. Hehehe."
She smiled and fixed her hair.
Then she opened the camera on her smartwatch and checked her look.
'Not bad.'
Not to brag, but... she could hold her own.
She wouldn't lose to any other pretty girl.
Click, click.
After taking some satisfying selfies, she entered her room with a smile.
Lee Hoyeon's words about sending photos to someone you know.
Moon Surin didn't miss the hint.
Everything should be natural.
Casually ask how he's doing... while sending her own status first.
Send a photo under the guise of checking in, and get one from him too.
'Wait, does that sound too obvious?'
She'd never sent photos before. Would it be weird to start now?
"No. We're flirting now. It's fine."
After a brief debate, she rationalized it.
In flirting, anything goes.
Hehehe.
She grabbed the Lee Hoyeon photos on her desk.
She'd planned to throw them out today... but now that he said it was okay, she'd put them back up.
Anyone who saw her room would be shocked.
Photos covered the walls.
She only kept the best ones, but they all looked good, so the number had grown.
She'd even recorded his voice on her phone—stored in her smartwatch.
"Hehe... heehee... Ah, I should wash up."
She'd been so caught up in thoughts of Lee Hoyeon, she hadn't even washed her hands.
Not something her usual cleanliness-obsessed self would forget.
Moon Surin began undressing to wash up.
Then—
Ding—
Her smartwatch buzzed with a new message.
"Who is it?"
The message came from a private number. Attached was a photo.
It showed her back as she entered her home.
"...What?"
Moon Surin's mood plummeted.
Not paparazzi—this was more like a stalker.
No one had ever gone this far before.
Even if the photo was one thing, how did they get her number?
Ding—
As she frowned at her watch, another message arrived.
This time, a video.
"...."
When she played it, the unthinkable happened.
Her living room was being recorded.
A man wandered around her house.
Sat on the sofa, turned the TV on and off.
Turned on the air conditioner, sniffed clothes in her wardrobe.
"...."
Gulp.
Goosebumps rose on her arms.
What the hell was this?
This wasn't just a stalker.
She had to report it immediately.
The man eventually entered the bathroom and closed the door. The video ended.
"3:40?"
That was the time shown on the living room clock when he entered the bathroom.
Moon Surin checked her current time.
- 3:43.
"...Huh?"
Three minutes ago.
The video was sent right after it was recorded.
Realizing this, she locked her bedroom door immediately.
If she hadn't been lost in thoughts of Lee Hoyeon—
If she'd gone straight to the bathroom as usual—
Gulp.
She swallowed hard.
"Call the cops, I need to..."
No time for anything else. Call first—
Knock knock knock.
Her hand froze over the watch.
A polite knock on her door.
But polite or not, it was coming from inside the house.
Moon Surin quickly contacted the Academy's security team.
They'd arrive within five minutes.
Knock knock knock.
The real question was: could she hold out for a few minutes?
"Not going to open up?"
"...Who are you."
Moon Surin tried to talk.
Just for a moment.
She only needed to stall for a moment.
Then security could handle it safely.
Crack—
But the intruder didn't wait.
A huge hole opened at the top of the wooden door.
He had torn it open with his fingers.
"Why won't you open up?"
"Hhh..."
With a chilling voice, the intruder's face appeared.
Goosebumps covered Moon Surin's body.
She couldn't even speak.
In her vision: a grotesque skull mask peeking through the shattered door.
Skull mask...
"Skull mask?"
It was familiar.
No way she'd forget it.
"Hoyeon..."
The same mask worn by the man who had attacked Lee Hoyeon.
"Hoyeon? Ah, you mean Lee Hoyeon. One went to him too. Probably done by now."
"...."
Hearing that, Moon Surin's mind went cold.
This emotion was rage.
Just like fear can mute a scream, extreme rage brings calm.
Today, she experienced both.
'I have to go.'
She had to go to Lee Hoyeon.
Save him as fast as possible.
Her fear and confusion vanished.
What she had to do was meet Lee Hoyeon.
"Hehe, shouldn't you be worrying about your own safety right now?"
"...."
Crack—
A fracture formed in the skull mask, then it split in two.
"...When did—?"
Somehow, even as an S-rank demon, he hadn't noticed what just happened.
Something was wrong—
Crrk—Shhhhk—
"Grk...?!"
All the objects in the house rushed at him with crushing pressure.
It wasn't the appliances that were dangerous—it was the mana wrapped around them.
The sheer speed and power of the magical force made it lethal.
The pressure kept increasing. Bones felt like they'd shatter.
And worst of all—it was almost impossible to escape.
"What the hell is this..."
It was completely different from the intel.
If she was this strong, they should've gone for a surprise attack.
He should've gone all-out from the start.
"Die."
Moon Surin didn't realize it—but her awakening had already begun.
Not because of some revelation.
But because she was a genius.
Her tier had been high already, just lacking a trigger.
The pressure of being student council president, the constant attention—
All of it fell away the moment she found something more important.
"You messed with the wrong person."
I just started flirting with him.
Who the hell gave you permission to touch Lee Hoyeon?