The Villain's Sister - Chapter 69

Johan sat slouched on the sofa, watching Giselle get her makeup done.

He felt ashamed of himself for being swayed by Giselle’s absurd plan.

Even so, he kept glancing at Giselle wearing bright red lipstick.

“Big Hammer is really determined this time.”

“I don’t know why people keep tying me to him. Big Hammer’s not even my type. I wouldn’t take a guy who drinks, smokes, and has tattoos even if you gave him to me.”

Big Hammer?

Who the hell was the guy with that ridiculous name?

Johan took a deep breath to hold back the frown forming on his face.

In the meantime, Giselle shifted the topic from Big Hammer to another issue.

“Did he really quit the company for that reason? Just because he said, ‘This is too pink’?”

“He said the moment someone called magenta pink ‘too pink,’ he was sure the company had no future.”

“Pfft! I told you, he’s a total nutjob!”

Giselle burst out laughing so hard she started coughing.

“I’m not unhappy, but… I’m not happy either.”

Johan tightly shut his eyes.

Every time Giselle looked cheerful, that one line kept coming back to him.

But the longer he waited, the more it would hurt.

He confirmed Giselle was heading to the set and resolved to tell her everything today.

***

“How does it feel to be the model for a comic book your brothers made?”

“I regret not getting paid for it. Aurora paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars, but those guys settled with just a pizza!”

As the talk show started filming, Giselle maintained her usual composed demeanor.

“Thanks to that, you got to film Mist Island and receive a salary.”

“True. That’s why I’m planning to buy them a pizza.”

The audience laughed. The host began the main questions.

“Come to think of it, didn’t we meet recently?”

“Really? When?”

“At a basketball game. You came with Big Hammer that day.”

“Ah, I remember now!”

“I’ll be blunt. What’s your relationship with Big Hammer?”

Johan’s cheek twitched.

The fact that she went to a basketball game with a guy with that kind of name was absurd.

He had to be childish and idiotic.

Giselle should take lessons from Raphael and raise her standards.

The more his thoughts wandered, the more unsettled Johan became.

Meanwhile, Giselle shook her head in denial. “We’re friends. Just friends.”

Friends? A man and a woman can be friends?

Giselle seemed to want to believe that, but it was clear the guy had other intentions. How could that be friendship?

“Even if you met one-on-one on your birthday, you’re still just friends?”

“Yes!”

As the audience booed, Giselle waved her hands with a dramatically aggrieved expression.

“I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t believe me!”

The MC clearly didn’t believe her either, so Giselle hesitated, then confessed.

“Actually, I’m seeing someone else. On my birthday, he had work, so I hung out with Big Hammer.”

She shrugged confidently at the surprised host.

As the audience cheered, the MC excitedly asked, “How did you meet?”

“We’re from the same hometown! And he’s very handsome.”

“Who confessed first?”

“Hmm…”

Giselle rolled her eyes. The MC pointed at Johan, who was sitting among the audience.

“You came together today.”

The camera turned to Johan. A mic was passed to him from somewhere.

At some point, Giselle had once threatened him, who was unaware of Anti-Venom’s identity, with nonsense.

“I’ll tell them I was rolling around in a nearby hotel while he was gone.”

It was a dream anyway, so a mischievous prank wouldn’t hurt.

The chance that Giselle would remember upon waking was low.

It definitely wasn’t because Big Hammer bothered him.

Just a small act of petty revenge.

“She said if I didn’t accept her confession, she’d immediately go on a date with another guy that day.”

Giselle covered her mouth with her hand. The camera caught her blushing face.

“The other guy was a good-for-nothing cop.”

“A cop?”

The host turned back to Giselle with a wide grin.

The audience clapped and cheered.

Johan laughed out loud watching the flustered Giselle.

It was quite a pleasant dream.

***

Walking down the street, paparazzi snapped photos right in front of them.

Johan quietly stepped forward to shield Giselle.

After the talk show recording ended, she said they had to go on a date at a nearby shop.

“The street is full of paparazzi.”

“Are you saying we’re going to be photographed?”

“That’s right. I told you I needed a boyfriend.”

Johan, who didn’t understand the reason behind the fake relationship, couldn’t make sense of the situation.

“There are rumors because I’ve never shown myself on a date. That I like women.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“It’s true. That’s why, just from hanging out briefly with Big Hammer, people started saying all sorts of things… that we were dating and whatnot. I figured I needed to get a boyfriend just to put an end to the chatter.”

It was a world that made no sense to him.

It was Giselle’s dream anyway… but what kind of ridiculous dream was this?

While buying tangerine-flavored ice cream with orange jelly bits from the ice cream shop, paparazzi crowded outside.

“There are way more than I expected.”

Giselle was visibly flustered.

The crowd was so intense that some people were about to shove Giselle.

Johan quickly grabbed her wrist.

Giselle twisted her wrist, then interlaced her fingers with his.

Feeling her fingers sent a tremor through his chest. He turned his eyes away and checked on Giselle, desperately trying to hide his agitation.

“Are you all right?”

“L-Let’s go quickly.”

Her slender fingers clung tightly to him.

Apparently overwhelmed by the unexpected crowd, Giselle’s expression was far from calm.

They exited the shop and quickly crossed the street. Just then—

“Deva! Did you break up with Big Hammer?”

Swish—Johan’s head snapped around.

His icy glare shot toward the paparazzi who had mentioned Big Hammer, as if to kill.

His fierce pressure alone was enough to crush anyone who met his eyes.

So sharp it could stab, his aura made the paparazzi recoil.

In that moment, Johan wrapped his arm around Giselle’s shoulders and hurried away.

Once they escaped the street, Giselle lowered her head. Johan held back his growing irritation.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think the crowd would be this big.”

“You’re not a criminal. Raise your head.”

When Giselle didn’t lift her head, Johan did what she had done that morning—he grasped her chin and made her look up.

“W-Why?”

“Who is Big Hammer?”

“You heard earlier.”

Johan frowned, interrogating her. “I’m asking what he does, what he looks like, and how you know him.”

“He sings, I met him at a friend’s birthday party, and he looks—”

Giselle pointed at an electronic billboard.

“He looks like that.”

“Ha!”

Seeing his face, Johan was utterly dumbfounded.

Covered in tattoos up to his neck and full of piercings in his ears.

She was friends with that thug? It was a miracle Raphael hadn’t killed him.

“I’ve thought this for a while, but your standards are really low.”

“W-What did you say?”

Who would’ve thought a day would come when Tristan Lindbergh seemed like a fairytale prince.

Johan felt a sigh coming. He irritably ran his hand through his hair and asked, “If I weren’t here, would you have asked someone else to do this?”

“Hmm, maybe I would’ve gone on a few casual dates instead of asking.”

Her eyes rolled playfully, which annoyed him.

Johan reflexively clenched his jaw. “I risked my life to come here for you… this is truly absurd.”

“For me? What are you talking about? No, wait. How do you even know I dated a cop? I don’t know you, so how do you know me?”

Giselle, waiting for a serious answer, asked again before he could respond.

“Honestly, my memory isn’t perfectly intact. Though it’s more likely your memory is distorted. What kind of relationship did we really have?”

“You don’t remember? That’s very disappointing. We had a very intense relationship.”

Giselle’s eyes shook violently.

Johan calmly delivered a shocking answer.

“We were having an affair.”

Giselle covered her mouth, unable to even scream.

Watching her, Johan gave a crooked smile.

Just moments ago, he’d been boiling inside, but now he felt a little better.

He had risked his life to save her, only to see her in a scandal with a thug. He figured this level of revenge was justified.

“D-Don’t joke like that!”

Giselle’s lips had a smear of orange ice cream.

Johan slowly brushed her mouth with his rough, scarred fingers.

Her wide eyes followed his hand.

He withdrew his finger and tasted the sticky ice cream.

The tangerine flavor wasn’t his preference, just as he expected. Still, it wasn’t bad.

Johan looked at Giselle’s parted lips and said teasingly, “It’s too sweet. Like when you cheated behind your husband’s back.”

Giselle’s mouth dropped open in shock.