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Side Story Chapter 25 - Rose Time (1)

"What? You can\'t get in touch with the construction company we contracted?!"

The office floor was as earsplitting as a battlefield. Guild members wearing the official Red Rose uniform were endlessly answering calls on their desks, eyes like those of a dead fish. They were so haggard that one wouldn\'t expect them to be one of the top five guilds in the world.

The condition of the red-haired woman buried in a mountain of paperwork was especially bad. Her usual waist-long glossy red hair was dry and large dark circles were formed under her eyes as if she had not slept for days.

"Urghhhhhhhh," the fatigued Cha Yeon-Joo groaned as she collapsed on her desk.

She teared up as she stared at the mountain of approval documents on her desk that did not shrink no matter how much she worked. She had been in a relentless battle against these documents for over a month, but she did not see an end to them.

\'At this rate, I\'ll...\'

Something snapped inside her head.

"ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!! FUUUUUUUUCK!!" She recoiled as if she were having a seizure and pulled her hair. "I WANNA FUCKING REST!! I WANNA REST!!!"

Her hysterical screams echoed inside the office.

"The guild master is going insane again!!"

"Stop her! She\'ll break out again like last time!"

"Shit! How the hell are we supposed to stop her?!"

The guild members paled as they heard Yeon-Joo\'s screams. There would be no one to finalize the approvals if she were to disappear. In other words, the contracts and proposals they risked their lives for would be halted. The Seoul redevelopment project that forces from all over the world were jumping at was nearing its end, so it would be nothing short of a disaster if progress was halted.

"Haha. Calm down, guildmaster. We\'re almost done."

An intelligent-looking middle-aged man in glasses approached Yeon-Joo as the guild members were in a frenzy. He was Park Hyun-Woo, the second-in-command of Red Rose as well as the one in charge of general administration.

Yeon-Joo glanced at Hyun-Woo and sulked. "You... said that three days ago."

"You can think of it as a pep talk from a school principal. Regardless, we are actually close to the end this time. Land purchasing is finished, and now all we have to do is to agree on a price with the construction company."

"I believe I heard someone shouting they couldn\'t get in touch with that company."

"That\'s..."

Hyun-Woo turned to glance at one of the guild members holding a phone.

The member flinched and fiercely blabbered, "Yes, hello! This is Chief Jeon Dae-Hyun of Red Rose! I\'m calling about the—"

"Enough of the bullshit."

Seeing through the obvious act, Yeon-joo sighed deeply and flopped back over the desk.

"A-Ahem. In any case, please keep it up for a little longer."

"Alright, alright. I won\'t run away, so stop pestering me."

"I will hold you to that."

Hyun-Woo bowed and left Yeon-Joo\'s office, closing the door behind him. Silence fell on the office filled with documents. Yeon-Joo swung her legs back and forth, still flopped on the desk.

"Haaaaaah~ I wanna sleep~ I wanna play League~ I wanna drink~" she whined as she rubbed her forehead on the desk.

\'And...\'

Yeon-Joo carefully took out her smartphone. She looked around warily as if she were about to watch porn in secret. She confirmed no one was around before going through her smartphone.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

Yeon-Joo opened a photo album after entering a complex password and stared intently at a picture on the screen. It was of a young man with upturned eyes, biting down on a large chicken skewer. She had zoomed in on the group photo they had taken back when the party had a picnic together and saved a copy with only Kang-Woo in it.

"I... wanna see him," she said without realizing it.

Click!

"Yeon-Joo unnie— I mean, Guildmaster!! I brought some more approval documents!"

"Kyaaaaaaaaah!!"

Crash!

Yeon-Joo fell off her chair and shouted with her face as red as her hair, "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Choi Eun-Bi! I told you not to come into the office without knocking!!"

"Aha~" Eun-Bi smiled and stared meaningfully at Yeon-Joo. "Were you staring at the picture of Kang-Woo oppa again?"

"Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! Not at all!" Yeon-Joo shook her head so fiercely that she was about to take off. She then turned to Eun-Bi after noticing something weird. "M-More importantly, how do you know Oh Kang-Woo?"

"Hihihi. It was only for a super~ short moment, but I got some coaching from him way back when I first Awakened as a Player."

Eun-Bi giggled with her hand covering her mouth.

"You were... coached by Kang-Woo?"

Yeon-Joo stared at Eun-Bi wide-eyed, hearing that for the first time. Eun-Bi was a rookie guild member who joined after the war against Bael, but she and Yeon-Joo hit it off well at a drinking party and ended up getting close enough for Eun-Bi to call her unnie when in private. Yeon-Joo was shocked to hear that she had been coached by Kang-Woo in the past.

"Well, everyone was all so strong that I ended up falling behind shortly after," remarked Eun-Bi as she scratched her head, smiling awkwardly.

"You fell behind...?"

Yeon-Joo stared at Eun-Bi incomprehensibly. Eun-Bi was a mage Player who was head and shoulders above the first-year rookie members and stood out even when compared to the guild as a whole. Yeon-Joo couldn\'t believe a Player who was no different from a Ranker in skill fell behind in strength.

"The party members I received Kang-Woo oppa\'s coaching with were Tae-Soo oppa, Seol-Ah unnie, and Si-Hun oppa."

"Oh..." Yeon-Joo nodded in understanding. She was not well-acquainted with Kang Tae-Soo, but she knew the other two very well. "I mean... It\'s pointless even comparing yourself with them."

She clicked her tongue and shook her head. It was no exaggeration to say that both Seol-Ah and Si-Hun had far surpassed human limits in their field of expertise. Seol-Ah had practically become an angel because of the soul of the Celestial Goddess dwelling inside her, and Si-Hun had awakened Deific Essence on his own and practically become a god.

"But that\'s not important right now." Eun-Bi giggled and trotted toward Yeon-Joo. She smiled teasingly and poked Yeon-Joo as she asked, "So~ the picture you were staring at so longingly was of Kang-Woo oppa, wasn\'t it?"

"I-I said it wasn\'t!" Yeon-Jo shouted as she stuffed her smartphone back in her pocket.

"Hihi. There you go again~ It\'s too late to try and hide it now~ Don\'t you know rumors of your unrequited love have already spread far and wide?"

"Ngh...!" Yeon-Joo flinched and glared at Eun-Bi. She asked cautiously, "What... are you talking bout?"

"Hehehe. I mean, you stare so affectionately at your phone whenever you have the chance. Did you think no one would notice when we\'ve practically lived in this building for the past month because we were so busy?"

Eun-Bi giggled with her hands on her waist. Yeon-Joo bit her lip anxiously.

She quickly averted her gaze from Eun-Bi and answered curtly, "I-It\'s none of your business."

"Come on~ Why are you acting like this~? Just tell me how you really feel! I\'m quite the love doctor, you see."

"Argh! I told you it\'s none of your business!" shouted Yeon-Joo as she glared at Eun-Bi. "That aside, do you have the time to be slacking off like this? I\'m gonna tell Hyun-Woo on you."

"Uh... Th-That\'s a bit..."

"Hurry up and get back to work. Leave the documents here."

Yeon-Joo waved her hand to shoo Eun-Bi away.

Riiing~

Just then, her smartphone rang.

"Fucking hell, who is it now?"

Yeon-Joo frowned in irritation. Ever since the guild began to purchase land in Seoul, she received dozens of calls per day from all over the world, including attempts of blackmail, coaxing, or scamming.

"One more of this pointless shit, and I\'ll give them a visit myself and bash their heads—"

Yeon-Joo\'s expression froze after checking the called ID.

"Hm? What\'s wrong, unnie?" asked Eun-Bi as she was about to leave the office.

Yeon-Joo\'s hand holding the smartphone shook. She couldn\'t stop the corners of her mouth from rising.

"H-Hehehe," she giggled as she held the smartphone with both hands.

Her irritated expression was instantly replaced with a radiant smile.

"Aha, it\'s Kang-Woo oppa, isn\'t it?"

"Huh? Wh-What? You haven\'t left yet?!"

"Fufu. Shouldn\'t you be answering that? It might end."

"Ah!"

Yeon-Joo flinched and quickly pressed the answer button.

She took deep breaths and answered as nonchalantly as possible, "What\'s up?"

[I haven\'t heard from you at all lately, so I thought I\'d call to ask how you\'re doing.]

Yeon-Joo heard a familiar voice from across the phone. Sparks traveled throughout her body. It had been so long that she was about to cry.

"H-Hmph. What\'s it to you?"

[You\'re as cheeky as always.]

"The hell you say?"

[If you keep acting like that, I\'ll have no choice but to play the secret voice recording—]

"Kyaaaaah! D-Don\'t you dare!!"

[Kehehe, I\'m joking. That aside, do you have any free time? It\'s been a while, so why don\'t we meet?]

"..."

Yeon-Joo remained silent after receiving the sudden offer. She looked at the mountain of documents in front of her and clenched her fists.

"Unnie, unnie," Eun-Bi whispered to get Yeon-Joo\'s attention.

She then wrote something on a scrap piece of paper.

[Unnie, I\'ll keep the Vice Guildmaster at bay, so get going already! >_<]

"..."

Yeon-Joo\'s eyes shook.

[What? Are you busy?]

"N-No, gimme a second." The sweet temptation was pulling her in. She gulped as sparks traveled throughout her body and answered even more nonchalantly than before, "Th-Then... just a little bit should be okay."

Yeon-Joo twisted and turned in embarrassment as she held her smartphone with both hands, but accidentally hit a pile of documents that then scattered all over the floor.

"Ah..."

Her expression darkened as she read the words Final Approval on the documents.

\'If I leave...\'

Yeon-Joo turned to look at Eun-Bi. She had her thumbs up as if telling Yeon-Joo to trust her, but she also had dark circles under her eyes.

"Haaa..." Yeon-Joo sighed.

If she were to leave, the hard work done by her guild members would go up in flames. She smiled sorrowfully.

"Actually, no. I\'m busy today, so I don\'t think I can. Maybe next time."

[Really? Okay.]

Kang-Woo hung up instantly as if he couldn\'t have cared less. Yeon-Joo\'s expression darkened even more.

"Wh-What did you do that for, unnie?!" Eun-Bi shouted.

"Forget it."

Yeon-Joo shook her head with a sorrowful smile. Hyun-Woo was pretty much Red Rose\'s de facto leader but she was still the master of Red Rose. She couldn\'t sacrifice her guild members for private matters.

"Let\'s get to work," Yeon-Joo remarked.

"Unnie..."

"Hyun-Woo\'s gonna scold you if you stay here any longer, you know?"

"..."

Eun-Bi lowered her head and turned around to leave Yeon-Joo\'s office.

Click.

Silence fell in the office again.

"Haaa." Yeon-Joo looked down at the smartphone screen. "Bastard..."

\'I did say I was too busy to meet up, but he could\'ve at least been a little bummed about it.\'

Yeon-Joo placed her smartphone on the table and reached for a pile of documents.

Slide.

"Holy shit, are these all documents?"

Just then, an arrogant-looking boy opened the window from the outside and entered the office. He looked different from the young man in the picture saved on Yeon-Joo\'s phone, but she knew they were the same person.

"O-Oh Kang-Woo? Wh-What are you doing here...?"

"Huh?" Kang-Woo frowned as if not understanding what Yeon-Joo was talking about. He walked over to the pile, grabbed a handful of documents, and answered, "You said you were busy, didn\'t you? I came to help out."

Yeon-Joo forced down the rising corners of her mouth with all her might.