Adjusting the Gangster Male Lead’s Intensity [Novel] Chapter 29

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 29

Chapter Title: For Adjusting the Yakuza Male Lead's Intensity

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Do-gyeom Seo was acting strange.

"……."

Something was definitely off. Yi-hae Baek blinked.

It was the time when she'd finished helping with his studies and had lain down to sleep, yet a status window popped up saying he was alone in his room, thinking of her.

Yi-hae Baek was genuinely confused.

"What's gotten into him all of a sudden? No way... he actually fell for me...?"

She'd been lying on the bed but quickly propped herself up on her elbows, pondering seriously.

She'd been racking her brain over how to pair him with Eun-seol Yeo, and now he was fated to be her first love position!

'Not sure if it's first love, but that blockhead doesn't seem like the type to have ever liked another girl before.'

If he'd ever had experience liking someone, he would've realized ages ago that his feelings for Yi-hae Baek were rational.

The handsome original male lead liking her didn't feel bad. Honestly, it even made her toes tingle with a soft, fuzzy sensation.

But she couldn't just swoon over it. Do-gyeom Seo already had his destined partner. Plus, he was the character meant to send Yi-hae Baek back to her original world.

Right, a character.

'Get a grip. No matter how real it feels, this is just a game world.'

No matter how realistic everything seemed, it was a world she'd have to leave someday. A world with no place for her.

Don't delude yourself. Yeah, both she and Do-gyeom Seo were just mistaken right now.

Because they'd grown too casually close.

"Status window. No, Player?"

She'd worried for a split second that it might ignore her call, but fortunately, a message appeared like a status window right in front of her.

"Is Eun-seol Yeo really the original female lead?"

She'd suspected it, but to think Eun-seol Yeo was really the original female lead. She'd thought the appearance and transfer timing matched, but still!

Yi-hae Baek asked her burning question with a tense expression.

"Then, to see the happy ending, I have to get Do-gyeom Seo and Eun-seol Yeo together... right?"

Unlike before, there was no reply. Just as she was about to call out again, thinking it was ignoring her, a new message appeared before her.

"No, that's the most important basic info!"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum! Ugh, seriously. Just talk normally. It feels like chatting with an AI, and it's creeping me out."

At least the Player chat window felt like talking to a person.

Yi-hae Baek let out a deep sigh and flopped back onto the bed. The status window followed her gaze, now floating on the ceiling.

"What happens if Do-gyeom Seo likes me?"

"He seems interested in me right now. Well, at that age, curiosity about the opposite sex peaks, I guess."

She said it jokingly, but she was tense waiting for the response. Part of her hoped it might say it was fine to go with Do-gyeom Seo like this.

She didn't know why she had that expectation.

But the Player's response dashed her hopes like a bucket of cold water.

It even felt like it was mocking her, as if saying such a thing would never happen.

Feeling a bit stung, she snapped back irritably.

"But what if he already likes me? People's hearts don't change easily, and Eun-seol Yeo is a guy—what am I supposed to do?"

The conditions the Player had laid out were simple.

First, achieve a happy ending recognized by all.

Second, adjust the level of brutality.

Third, make the female lead... truly happy in her ending.

'Ah, the female lead.'

Recalling the conditions made her realize how pointless her question had been.

She wasn't the female lead to begin with, so she didn't fit the happy ending criteria.

That meant turning Do-gyeom Seo's heart was the priority. It was still just curiosity for now.

"Damn Player. You're such a jerk."

The response was annoyingly cheeky.

She ignored it and pulled the blanket over her head, a silent signal she was done talking. Even so, the Player chat popped up again.

Yi-hae Baek didn't look at it.

It was gentle advice, but it felt like the Player knew she wouldn't see it.

She squeezed her eyes shut. The Player and Do-gyeom Seo's status windows vanished from view, but her heart pounded.

'I'm not the female lead.'

But Do-gyeom Seo was aware of her. He even thought she was lovable.

That fact kept lingering in her mind.

'The one Do-gyeom Seo should love isn't me.'

But as long as he ended up with Eun-seol Yeo in the end, maybe it was okay to let this brief first-love phase play out.

Unlike the original, the current Do-gyeom Seo wasn't that scary, and even when awkward, he took good care of her.

Yi-hae Baek buried her face in the pillow. If Do-gyeom Seo could see a status window too, it might tell him she was thinking of him with a fluttering heart right now.

'Good thing only I can see it.'

Even with her face in the pillow, her ears—unguarded—were flushed bright red.

Morning came.

Having tossed and turned all night, Yi-hae Baek dragged herself to the kitchen with a somewhat haggard face.

"Sis, what happened to you? Did you have a ghost dream last night or something?"

Yeol Seo, who'd come down first, freaked out at her face and scampered over. His cute worry made her pat his head.

Breakfast was already prepared, and the only ones there before her were I-heum Seo and Yeol Seo.

"Do-gyeom Seo hasn't come down yet?"

"Big bro had stuff to do and left early. He said you'd go to school just the two of you today."

Stuff to do?

Yi-hae Baek's eyes widened in question, but she soon nodded.

Without the source of her sleeplessness, she actually felt a bit relieved.

"Sit down."

I-heum Seo spoke while looking at his documents, as usual. It was to Yi-hae Baek and Yeol Seo, who hadn't sat yet.

Now used to it, she took her seat, and I-heum Seo asked without lifting his eyes from the papers.

"Yi-hae, you're not sick or anything, right?"

When had he last seen her face?

She was a bit tired but not sick, so Yi-hae Baek smiled to reassure him.

With her naturally pale skin and dark under-eye circles, it wasn't very convincing, though.

"I just had trouble sleeping last night. I'm not sick, so don't worry."

Yeol Seo across from her muttered that it had to be a ghost dream, looking genuinely sorry.

Whatever misunderstanding he had, he seemed to think she was as big a scaredy-cat as the Seo brothers.

"Ghosts are just superstition."

Whether Yeol Seo had told him or O Seo-bang reported it, I-heum Seo seemed to know about last night.

He seemed indifferent but knew all the little episodes about his kids.

"No ghosts or people will threaten you. So don't worry and get a good sleep tonight."

It felt like he was saying to relax because he was watching over them.

Yi-hae Baek smiled faintly, her heart warming as she nodded. As they started eating, she glanced at the empty seat across from her.

'What could he be up to? Even after I-ryeong Cha left, he used to come pick me up in the mornings.'

She'd thought it a hassle before, but without Do-gyeom Seo, it felt oddly empty.

Her appetite was off. She poked at her food listlessly.

I-heum Seo glanced at Yi-hae Baek's gaze toward Do-gyeom Seo's empty seat.

A faint smile tugged at his lips, but it was so brief no one noticed.