After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 39

The word “also” was used with remarkable precision.

The man had a bag slung over his shoulder and was wearing gloves; he had clearly come well-prepared.

Without waiting for Yu Chucheng to respond, he displayed a high level of professional focus, beginning to open the lockers one by one from top to bottom. He didn’t say a word throughout the process, his eyes filled only with love and dedication to his “work.”

Yu Chucheng silently tucked away his test strips.

He knew today couldn’t possibly go that smoothly.

Seeing the man pull a wallet out of a girl’s locker, Yu Chucheng didn’t even have time to put down the ID badge in his hand. He lunged forward in a single stride and snatched the wallet away.

“Give it back! It’s every man for himself here—why are you stealing my commission?!” The man lowered his voice, glaring viciously at Yu Chucheng before reaching out to snatch the wallet back.

Yu Chucheng, naturally, wasn’t about to let him succeed. He dodged the man’s reaching hand with a flexible sidestep.

Yu Chucheng weighed the wallet in his hand and let out a cold snort. “You’re overthinking it. I’m not a thief. Not only are you not getting this wallet today, you aren’t taking a single thing out of here.”

The man was dismissive. “You’re covered up even tighter than I am—who’s going to believe you aren’t a thief? If you want that wallet so bad, fine, keep it. I don’t care about that little bit anyway.”

Yu Chucheng: “…”

Judging by the level of facial coverage, he did indeed look more like a thief.

The man continued rummaging through the lower lockers, his movements fast and rough. He didn’t care if things were valuable; if he liked the look of it, it went into his bag.

Yu Chucheng stepped directly in front of him. Since the man didn’t believe him, he didn’t feel like wasting any more breath. He slammed the locker door shut in front of the man with a sharp clack. “Put everything you just took back into the lockers, or don’t blame me for being impolite.”

He absolutely could not let this thief take a single item. This was partly an act of courage, but it also carried a bit of selfishness.

If staff members found items missing after their shift, the boss would definitely check today’s surveillance footage. Then, he would see Yu Chucheng sneaking into the staff breakroom. Explaining that would be a nightmare.

Yu Chucheng did not want everyone to know that he was like some celebrity’s obsessed sasaeng fan, opening Duan Huaijin’s locker in secret just to collect a bit of pheromone.

The man shot a nervous glance toward the breakroom door and gripped his bag tightly. “Not a chance.”

The man didn’t dare cause a scene here. Seeing that he couldn’t finish raiding the rest of the lockers, he decided to cut his losses and turned to flee.

Yu Chucheng was quick to grab the man’s bag, hissing through gritted teeth, “You can go, but you have to leave the stuff behind!”

The man flailed his arms frantically, trying desperately to yank the bag back from Yu Chucheng. “You mother—! I only took a few things, why are you being so greedy?! I’m telling you, if the staff comes in, neither of us is getting away!”

Yu Chucheng: “Fine by me. If you’re so scared, let go right now, or believe me—I’ll call for help!”

Both of them were whispering their threats in hushed tones, neither wanting to be discovered by the people outside.

They remained at a standstill until the man finally pleaded for mercy. He had already been inside twice for theft; he didn’t want a third round.

“Fine, fine! You’re so young—of all the things you could do, you have to steal the livelihood of us forty and fifty-year-olds!”

Yu Chucheng didn’t let go. Instead, he signaled with his eyes for the man to return the items to their original owners himself.

“What bad luck. Meeting you was the misfortune of eight lifetimes.”

The man muttered curses under his breath as he pulled the items out of his bag one by one and tossed them back into the lockers under Yu Chucheng’s supervision.

“Pah! A glutton for ‘sole profits’ will never get rich.”

Once everything was back, the man lowered his head and opened the breakroom door, still muttering curses.

Then, a deep, cool voice rang out.

“Who’s a glutton for sole profits?”

The man’s sturdy frame shuddered; he nearly collided head-on with the person standing at the door.

Duan Huaijin stared down at him coldly, watching the sweat break out on the man’s forehead instantly. Then, he lifted his eyes to lock onto Yu Chucheng inside the room.

Yu Chucheng felt a sudden surge of heat up his back; his mind went completely blank.

Why is Duan Huaijin here?! Didn’t they say he was off today?!

In a panic, he tossed the ID badge back into the locker and slammed the door shut with a loud thud.

Seeing that they were exposed, the man decided to drag Yu Chucheng down with him. He pointed at Yu Chucheng and shouted, “It’s him! He wanted to steal things!”

Yu Chucheng: “You—!”

Duan Huaijin was carrying a bag. As he entered the room, the thief saw his chance, ducked his head, and squeezed through the gap to escape.

Before bolting, the man didn’t forget to look back at Yu Chucheng with a triumphant, gloating expression.

The look on his face seemed to say: Serves you right for not sharing!

Click.

The moment the door closed, the noise from outside was cut off.

Yu Chucheng lowered his head in embarrassment, reaching up to pull his hat lower. He had almost his entire face covered; he didn’t know if Duan Huaijin had recognized him yet.

Yu Chucheng fervently hoped he hadn’t. He was so nervous his palms were sweating. He scrambled for an excuse. “Sorry, I… I walked into the wrong room.”

Duan Huaijin arched an eyebrow. “It says ‘Staff Breakroom’ on the door.”

“Ah, really? I didn’t see it. My eyesight is actually quite poor.” Yu Chucheng habitually reached up to rub his nose, but the gesture was far too obvious; he forced himself to restrain the impulse, his gaze flickering toward the door.

He was measuring the distance between himself and the exit.

Through the light brown lenses, Duan Huaijin stared at the pair of eyes he knew all too well. His voice was calm, devoid of emotion. “But that man said you were stealing. You can’t leave until I’ve confirmed it.”

After a few seconds of silence, Yu Chucheng explained with a mix of defiance and guilt, “He’s framing me.”

“Is that so?”

Duan Huaijin took a few steps closer. Yu Chucheng felt himself being enveloped by a shadow.

Yu Chucheng looked up uneasily. Upon meeting Duan Huaijin’s deep, dark eyes, his own gaze froze, as if time had stopped at that moment. He forgot to move, and all his thoughts were suspended.

It felt like a handful of small beads had been scattered across his heart. Yu Chucheng shifted his gaze in a blur of confusion and panic. “It… it is…”

The temperature in the room suddenly skyrocketed, leaving his ears and back radiating heat.

Just then, the test strip originally in Yu Chucheng’s pocket somehow slipped out. Under the weight of both their gazes, it drifted slowly to the floor.

Yu Chucheng’s head buzzed. He almost instantly crouched down to grab the strip. “I’m leaving now!”

With that, regardless of Duan Huaijin’s expression, he charged toward the door without looking up.

But before he could even take a full step, the back of his collar was hooked by something. Yu Chucheng lost his balance and stumbled back, only steadying himself after several steps.

“Let… let me go.”

The moment he spoke, Yu Chucheng felt the world brighten. His sunglasses were pushed up to his forehead, and his hat slid off the back of his head onto the floor.

The fluorescent light in the room was blinding, forcing him to squint. Before he could even see clearly, he heard Duan Huaijin’s voice, which carried a trace of a smile.

“Yu Chucheng, what are you hiding for?”