Don’t Get Cocky 13: Chapter 13.
Don’t Get Cocky * * * BZZZT.
Hyeon-yul left the medical room and answered his vibrating phone.
[Team Leader Oh Haeryeon] “Yes, Team Leader.” <Are you on your way?> “Yes.
I’m coming now.
Is something wrong?” Now that Jeongmin, the doctor in charge of his treatment, had joined the Black Eagle, receiving care had become far easier.
The medical facilities were also nearby, so Hyeon-yul visited frequently.
<No.
You know you have theory training today, right?> “Yes.
I know.” Hyeon-yul checked the time.
It was 9:11 a.m., and he had been told theory training started at 9:30.
“I was actually about to ask where I’m supposed to go.” <What…?
You didn’t get it?
Nothing came through on your smartwatch?> Hyeon-yul looked briefly at the smartwatch.
There was no record of any relevant notification.
“I received nothing.” He faintly heard Haeryeon mutter a quiet curse under her breath.
<Hyeon-yul, where are you right now?> “Near the medical room.” <Stay exactly where you are.> “Understood.” Hyeon-yul stood still where he was.
He glanced at his phone and let out a quiet, humorless laugh.
‘I knew they would try to screw with me, but they’re being awfully obvious.’ The moment he obtained the phone belonging to one of the people who had followed him yesterday, he acquired a separate spare device, transferred the data, and examined everything on it.
Some of the White Sparrows knew he had once worked for villains.
They disliked that fact enough to create an anonymous group chat dedicated to discussing him.
Apparently unable to find even a minor fault in his work, some members had gone so far as to suggest personally tailing him and finding a reason to drive him out.
‘And this is how they start.
What a childish, simplistic idea.’ Hyeon-yul already had results to his name and had signed his employment contract.
The more they wanted him expelled, the more impressive results he simply had to produce.
Every organization protected people who were useful enough.
“Hey.” A familiar voice reached him.
When Hyeon-yul turned, he saw a woman with layered, wavy dark-purple hair.
She held a phone in one hand and did not even look at him, her thumbs moving rapidly across the screen.
The star-shaped mark on her face and her elaborate nails were difficult to miss.
‘That’s Ye Juhyeon, Team 7’s leader.’ Hyeon-yul looked at her and answered.
She really did seem to love her phone.
“What is it?” “Why are you standing here?” “My Team Leader told me to wait here.” Juhyeon’s thumbs moved furiously for another moment before stopping.
She released a short breath.
“…Hah.” Hyeon-yul did not know why she was sighing, so he simply waited.
“There’s no way this is the training location.” “I know.” Hyeon-yul answered briefly.
Haeryeon had just told him as much, but she had also told him to wait quietly, so that was what he was doing.
“I heard you decided to stay here.” “That’s correct.” “I voted against you back then, but now that you’re in, you should at least carry yourself confidently.
What is this?” Juhyeon had intended to keep walking, but seeing him standing there without even knowing where the training room was made it difficult to ignore him.
It was not as though she did not recognize his face.
“Follow me.
I’ll show you where it is.” “I can’t go.” When Hyeon-yul refused, Juhyeon looked around.
She could feel subtle mockery in the countless gazes directed at them.
Had those people deliberately left Hyeon-yul stranded here?
The entire situation struck Juhyeon as utterly ridiculous.
“You think acting like this will make them stop?
They dislike you personally.
Nothing you do is going to change that easily.” From the moment Hyeon-yul was approved for entry, Juhyeon had tried not to involve herself.
The fact that he had once been a villain still bothered her, and many others shared the same feeling.
But she could swear she had never leaked information about him.
She was also investigating where the rumor had originated.
No matter how one looked at it, spreading such information was disgraceful behavior for someone working with the Black Eagles.
‘…What is she talking about?’ Hyeon-yul could not understand Juhyeon’s point, so he followed her gaze.
She was clearly watching the White Sparrows nearby with suspicion.
‘Ah.’ Only then did Hyeon-yul understand the direction of the conversation.
“I already know that.
I know they won’t change easily no matter what I do.
Even so, I can’t leave this place.” Hyeon-yul naturally went along with her assumption and reinforced it.
“I didn’t leak your information.” “Is that so?” Hyeon-yul was genuinely surprised.
Had she not opposed his recruitment?
“I don’t do childish things like that.
This matter is…” Juhyeon stopped speaking and released a long breath.
Whatever she said, Hyeon-yul would probably suspect her anyway.
His expression had not changed once from the beginning of their conversation.
CLICK.
Juhyeon took a photo in another direction.
The people gathered there flinched and backed away when they realized they had been photographed.
“This whole situation disgusts me too.” Juhyeon deliberately spoke loudly enough for them to hear.
“Thank you.” The sudden gratitude caught her off guard.
She had not said it because she wanted thanks from him.
“I’m not telling you this so you’ll thank me.
I read the mission records.
You seemed sincere, that’s all.” Juhyeon held her phone with both hands and resumed typing rapidly with her thumbs.
Hyeon-yul wondered what she was constantly writing.
His gaze settled on the phone, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.
“Team Leader Ye Juhyeon, can you hack electronic devices?” “That’s right.
You have a good eye.
I can interfere with electronics.
You should probably be careful around me too.” “Then if something comes up later, may I ask for your help?” “Out of nowhere?” Juhyeon lowered her phone and stared at him with surprised eyes.
She had just warned him about her ability, yet his response was to ask for help.
“Is that not allowed?” When Hyeon-yul asked directly, Juhyeon narrowed her eyes.
‘He really has some nerve.’ There was no reason for her and Hyeon-yul to become close.
She still found him suspicious, and surely he resented her for opposing his entry into the Black Eagle.
“What are you trying to do?” Juhyeon showed no intention of agreeing to the request immediately.
“I’m working on something that will benefit the Black Eagle.” “You’d better mean that.” “Thank you.” Hyeon-yul thanked her in advance.
Pretending to search through his pocket, he produced a phone and handed it to her.
It was the original device belonging to one of the people who had tried to follow him.
He understood what they had been trying to do.
The important question now was who had organized it.
He needed to catch the ringleader.
Because the chat was anonymous, identifying that person would be difficult.
He needed someone capable of doing what he could not.
“Could you find out who is behind this?” Hyeon-yul lowered his voice as he asked.
Juhyeon was dumbfounded that he had asked for a favor and immediately shoved the work into her hands.
“…What is this?” “A Manager followed me.
So I stole his phone.” “You…
stole it?
Y-You stole it?” Juhyeon’s dark eyes widened.
Hearing him admit to theft so confidently made her feel as though basic common sense was collapsing around her.
“Didn’t Team Leader Dojin or my Team Leader tell you anything?” The moment Hyeon-yul gave that hint, Juhyeon’s gaze changed.
Apparently, she had also heard that there might be villains operating inside the organization.
“This could become a way to resolve that problem.” “Does Haeryeon know?” Juhyeon lowered her voice before asking the next question.
“What do you mean?” “Does Haeryeon know about this?” “No.
I intended to tell her.
I happened to meet you first.” Juhyeon took the phone almost as though snatching it away.
“Tell her.
I won’t allow you to deceive her.” “Of course.” “Anyway, you.
If we meet again and you pull something like this…” “Thank you for helping.” Juhyeon narrowed her eyes and walked past Hyeon-yul.
He knew how to use his head, so why had he been standing here like an idiot?
‘Whatever.
I told him to follow me, and he refused.’ Juhyeon swept her hair back and continued walking.
Several times she almost looked back, but stopped herself.
He was not even on her team.
Hyeon-yul remained standing there after she left.
The surrounding murmurs gradually grew louder, then abruptly died away.
Everyone passing through the area split to either side.
Haeryeon approached through the opening with an unmistakably severe expression.
“Team Leader.
There’s something I need to tell you…” “Just follow me for now, Hyeon-yul.” Haeryeon was clearly furious enough that the surrounding air felt tense.
‘I’ll tell her on the way.’ Hyeon-yul quietly fell into step and followed directly behind her.
* * * “…I’ll keep this brief.” Hyeon-yul had wondered why there were several buildings, and it turned out one of them was reserved for the White Sparrows.
The moment they arrived, Haeryeon headed straight for the top floor.
Hyeon-yul watched from three steps behind her.
A plaque on the desk read Chief Administrator of Black Eagle Managers.
Was Chief Administrator the highest position here?
“Team Leader?
I don’t know what happened, but please calm down first.” The Chief Administrator could clearly see the Team 3 designation.
“First, I sincerely apologize for appearing without warning while you’re working.
But calm down?
I can’t do that.” Haeryeon narrowed her eyes.
She felt like burying every person responsible, so how exactly was she supposed to calm down?
“I will not tolerate people deliberately withholding information from one of my team members twice.” “Excuse me…?
What exactly do you mean?” “Don’t think you can escape this by claiming ignorance.
Information determines whether we live or die, and yet someone deliberately omitted information meant for my team member?” Haeryeon’s expression was more murderous than Hyeon-yul had ever seen it.
She looked ready to bury someone immediately.
“Team Leader, I’ll check.
I’ll check right away.” The Chief Administrator hurried to placate her.
Team 3 had been the center of constant noise lately.
How many people had been enraged after learning that the newly recruited Black Eagle had once been a villain?
There had been endless complaints from people insisting they did not want to support a former villain.
But their responsibilities as coworkers still had to come before personal feelings.
Now that Hyeon-yul was a Black Eagle, personal feelings had to be put aside and he had to be treated accordingly.
The Chief Administrator typed on his computer, then lowered the magnifying glasses he had been wearing.
“Hah.” A short, heavy sigh escaped him.
The system showed that the information had been sent to Team 3’s new recruit.
“As you can see, it says he was notified.
There appears to be some misunderstanding.” The Chief Administrator turned the monitor around so they could see it directly.
The status really did show that the information had been delivered, which only made Haeryeon more incredulous.
“That was marked manually.
Anyone can mark it as sent.” Haeryeon immediately turned her gaze toward Hyeon-yul.
“Hyeon-yul, show him.” At her instruction, Hyeon-yul held out his smartwatch and displayed the various notifications he had received.
There was nothing anywhere about the theory training.
Only then did the Chief Administrator’s expression stiffen.
“By design, notifications on this device cannot be deleted.
That policy exists to protect the Managers, not us.
To erase one, the watch would have to be taken separately to the repair room.” “Then perhaps the repair…” BANG!
Haeryeon slammed one hand hard against the desk.
‘Bullshit.’ “Stop making ridiculous excuses and call the employees responsible right now.
I’m filing a formal complaint!” “Team Leader, what happens if you file a complaint?” Hyeon-yul, who had been watching the entire exchange, finally spoke.
“We respect the Managers.
But interfering with our work is different.
This is a serious offense.
It hasn’t happened before, but this goes beyond disrespecting us.
It destroys the trust between our organizations.” “That certainly makes sense.
Once trust is broken, you can’t simply pick it back up and restore it.” Black Eagles and White Sparrows depended on mutual trust.
“But personally…
I’m wondering whether this will really be the last time.
Suppose I leave on a mission and the information I receive is wrong.
Just thinking about it is extremely frightening.” Hyeon-yul’s gaze settled on the Chief Administrator.
Despite his words, his eyes looked more like those of a predator than someone afraid.
A chill ran through the Chief Administrator.
“If I died without knowing that information had been altered, would things look like this again?
The system says the alert was sent, so the fault must belong to me for supposedly failing to receive it.” The more Hyeon-yul spoke, the darker the Chief Administrator’s expression became.
Hyeon-yul had not used a single curse word, yet every sentence landed with tremendous force.
“That’s…
what I meant was…” “Why are you still standing here instead of calling the employees responsible, Chief Administrator?” When Hyeon-yul pressed him, the Chief Administrator finally became aware of another stare.
The other stare belonged to the Team 3 leader.
Everyone knew how fiercely Haeryeon cared for her people.
Making her an enemy would be disastrous.
The Chief Administrator bowed his head first.
“I apologize for saying something that could be misunderstood.” “You’re remarkably slow at reading a situation.” Hyeon-yul whispered quietly as though offering consolation, though the faint mockery in his voice made the meaning obvious.
“Why did you do that to yourself?” After tossing out the loaded question, Hyeon-yul patted the Chief Administrator’s shoulder.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
The Chief Administrator could only listen to his own heart pounding coldly in his chest.
“Team Leader.” Hyeon-yul looked at Haeryeon with his usual expression.
“Yeah.” “If it’s all right, may I meet the people responsible after my training?” “…Ah!” Only then did Haeryeon remember what she had forgotten.
The instructor was probably waiting for him by now.
“You know the location?” “Yes.
I memorized it.” “I’ll make sure this is handled the way you want, so go to your training first.” “Then I’ll leave ahead of you.” Hyeon-yul bowed and left the room.
After waving him off, Haeryeon turned back toward the Chief Administrator.
The man reflexively lowered his gaze.
“Chief Administrator, I don’t want to see the person occupying your position changed.
You don’t want that either, do you?” The Black Eagles respected the White Sparrows.
How could they not respect people who worked tirelessly to support them?
But despite that respect, they were still the sparrows supporting the eagles.
They were not in a position to get cocky with an eagle.
“You understand, don’t you?” Haeryeon smiled brightly and delivered the warning in a quiet voice.
The meaning was unmistakable: do not get cocky with them.