I Don't Want To Do a Romantic Comedy With a Villain! - Chapter 1

Episode 1

1. Truly heartbreaking

Fire erupted. Sparks from the wooden stick held tightly in the hand soared into the sky as if intending to engulf it. Those who witnessed it cheered and reveled in excitement.

By the riverbank, in a place where the fire could be suppressed at any moment, Min-joo struggled vigorously against the tightly bound ropes. The paler Min-joo’s face became, and the more she resisted with protests, the more the crowd erupted in ecstatic cheers.

The stacked wooden pieces underfoot seemed ready to ignite at any moment, and the ropes binding her body embraced Min-joo. The people gathered around Min-joo were undoubtedly insane. In an era where trains traversed continents and firearms were utilized in wars, was a public execution by fire a sensible thing?

Min-joo screamed in frustration.

“Am I crazy? If I were a sorcerer, would I have spared you?!”

Despite her shouts and accusations, the crowd was ecstatic, much like watching sports or a circus. Whether Min-joo was a real sorcerer was not essential; it was just a spectacle trivialized as entertainment.

The burning stick approached slowly. As it drew nearer, Min-joo, pouring out arrogant insults, struggled and writhed more. A thick wooden pillar embedded in the ground shook.

“Save me! I’m not a sorcerer! I was just curious and read some books!”

Even though the people in front undoubtedly heard, they shook their fists in the air, shouting in unison. Min-joo’s voice was drowned in the cheers.

The approaching fire was ruthlessly thrown onto the piled wooden pieces. The fire spread to the wood, gradually swelling to engulf Min-joo.

The ground was hot. Min-joo, shedding tears, writhed with all her might, feeling the emptiness of the impending death. All she wished for was to return home. It wasn’t an excessive request for someone who only desired to go home.

There must have been moments when she was willing to die to return home. She had tried many times. But not anymore.

She wants to live. She wants to go home alive.

Feeling the flames licking at her toes, Min-joo sobbed. The more Min-joo suffered, the more cheers echoed in response. She despised the joyful people, resented her helpless situation, and felt empty.

Thud! The large wooden pillar embedded in the ground shook with impact. Min-joo screamed in terror. 

Thud! Once again, the pillar shook violently. The pillar entangled with Min-joo convulsively thumped on the ground.

Over the burning fire, Min-joo, precariously hanging above the river, sensed the danger of drowning and resisted. Min-joo’s hair touched the water’s surface and swayed.

“Too noisy.”

A low voice echoed sharply. Despite the previous commotion, the people collectively closed their mouths and observed the situation.

In no time, the tree to which Min-joo was hanging was pulled up by the powerless. Soldiers in uniforms lowered Min-joo to the ground and swiftly cut the ropes with simple movements. In an instant, Min-joo regained freedom of her limbs.

Even during her confusion, Min-joo checked her toes. There were no traces of burns.

“…Isn’t it tiresome to meet like this every time?”

Min-joo lifted her head following the source of the voice. Ah. A dazed sigh escaped.

Green, nervous eyes stared down at Min-joo, dark chestnut hair, and even thick hands adorned with black gloves. It was a familiar man. His face, as if carved with meticulous care over a long time, exuded irritation. Min-joo’s expression, too, was distorted.

“You, what’s going on? Why are you showing up again…”

He was a man Min-joo didn’t want to see again. Nevertheless, there was a sense of relief and joy. Min-joo’s cheek was moist with tears.

Brushing aside his chestnut hair, Vehen approached the listless Min-joo, who was sitting and sobbing. The knights put out the fire on the wooden pieces and began dispersing the gathered crowd. It was chaotic.

“I saved you. Why are you crying?”

“Annoying, you. Really annoying…”

The scent of wet wood and coffee mixed with the odor that clung to his nose. The chestnut hair that had been brushed aside flowed down to his forehead. Vehen looked at the weeping Min-joo and pulled his arm gently. It was a weak pull.

“Do you hate being saved?”

“…”

“If you don’t hate it, come with me.”

“Why should I go with you.”

Min-joo weakly got up. Facing each other, Vehen raised the corners of his mouth in an annoyed manner. His low voice was quite gentle.

“Asking you to pick it up.”

As Vehen spoke, the sun, hidden behind him, revealed itself. Unable to read the expression in the backlit light, Min-joo grabbed onto Vehen’s clothes. 

Even though Min-joo was the one holding on, she was also the one being held.

* * *

Min-joo had met Vehen a month ago. Unable to submit her final assignment and having dimension-shifted, Min-joo chose death to return home. Due to the sleepless nights before the dimensional jump, Min-joo’s logical thinking was impossible.

In the moment she leaped to board the carriage, thick arms encircled her waist. The carriage brushed past the tip of Min-joo’s nose, and she was immediately embraced by the unfamiliar man.

The scents of water, coffee, and a subtle smell of ammunition mixed, making her feel dizzy.

‘If you want to die, do it outside my sight.’

That was his first statement. It was harsh, lacking any kindness or concern. Min-joo accepted it quite obediently. She was in no state of mind. Without further words, Vehen released Min-joo immediately.

Min-joo, absentmindedly, walked towards the building in front of her. Although it had a low floor, she considered jumping off.

‘That’s my building. Go somewhere else.’

Even that failed. Min-joo gazed into the void for a moment and then turned her head. He had already left. Min-joo spent a few days wandering the streets, unable to find a way to resolve her situation or secure a meal.

During those days, Min-joo tried to thoroughly investigate the place she arrived at to find a way back, but she failed. She also realized that the place she dimension-shifted to was the setting of her own drama script, and the man who hindered her was the sub-male protagonist in the script. It was an important fact, but not one she could comprehend deeply.

Min-joo discovered a river and, driven by hunger and fatigue, attempted to jump in. What stopped her, grabbing the back of Min-joo floating in the air, was Vehen.

‘I told you not to die in front of me.’

The sub-male protagonist Vehen is a duke of the Syrite Empire. He is the queen’s nephew and a close friend of the third prince, the male protagonist, possessing connections, money, and power. 

Min-joo had no intention of getting involved. She didn’t want to unnecessarily affect the story, and if she could just go back home, that was enough. She especially disliked getting entangled with the unlucky-speaking and behaving Vehen.

‘I’m just saying what I want. Why do we keep running into each other?’

‘It’s you who’s wandering. Don’t speak as if I’m following you.’

The first meeting was a coincidence; the second meeting was fate, didn’t they say that? 

Min-joo even started to have the delusion that she was destined to be entwined with Vehen. So, with embarrassment, she grabbed Vehen. Even if she felt like dying after a week of homelessness and neglecting proper meals, it’s an instinct to find a way to survive. 

‘It seems like destiny, so please take me with you. If you feed me and let me sleep, I’ll pay for the food.’

‘Are you worth the trouble?’

Vehen’s response, which seemed to have twisted Min-joo’s pride as if he had trampled on it, left her questioning why she was in such a state. In other novels or comics, protagonists often transmigrate into the lives of wealthy nobles or start a happy life after rebirth. Why was she in such a miserable situation?

‘Enough, even if I speak, it always ends up like this! Let’s not meet again, please!’

Min-joo left without looking back. Vehen, who remained standing silently, was the only one left.

After that, Min-joo decided to find another way to safely return home. Fortunately, she found a job that provided meals. It was a job as a stagehand, cleaning theaters and assisting a theater troupe.

Watching a play from behind the stage while catching her breath was not an unfamiliar feeling. Min-joo was a drama script major. The assignment she failed to submit was also a drama script.

‘My grades…’

That was the biggest reason Min-joo wanted to go home. While guarding the theater, Min-joo pondered how to return home and recalled the existence of a world where persecuted sorcerers hid.

She thought that using magic could easily take her home. So, she searched for magical books and pursued the whereabouts of a sorcerer whose existence might not even be known. All without knowing what consequences it might bring.

About three weeks after finding a place to stay, Min-joo was caught with magical books by the theater manager, and, without a word, the actors, whose scents pierced her nose, crowded into her room, and instantly passed her off as a sorcerer.

‘I’m not a sorcerer, please believe me.’

‘Who else would save magical books if not a sorcerer?’

Shortly before the play started, her ears were full of accusations. Guests and members of the theater pointed fingers at Min-joo, and no matter how loudly she denied it, insults echoed back like an echo.

‘Park Min-joo, I thought you were a good person!’

‘We need to root out the seed of the sorcerer!’

‘Let’s burn her at the stake!’

There was nothing she could do to stop them. As if it were a natural order, she was persecuted, taken to the riverside, and placed on a wooden piece. 

And once again, she met Vehen.

* * *

“Have a drink.”

Vehen pushed a cooling teacup toward Min-joo. She couldn’t even grab the handle. 

The trembling at her fingertips showed no signs of stopping. The fear persisted even after thirty minutes since arriving at Vehen’s office. Even though Vehen had already handed her a cup of coffee and set it down, he sat silently for a moment.

“Spectators, executioners, handed them over to the police. It’s clear suspicion, you won’t be able to avoid punishment.”

Min-joo finally lifted her head. Her pale face was alarming.

The warmth she felt at her feet was still vivid and dreamlike at the same time. She couldn’t understand why Vehen brought her here.

Looking at Min-joo, who had her mouth tightly shut, Vehen frowned with a composed expression, full of annoyance.

“Is that mouth just for show?”

“Why?”

Finally, Min-joo opened her mouth. Vehen remained silent and listened to Min-joo’s words. Min-joo wrapped her trembling hands around herself and struggled to hold back the tears she had tried so hard to contain.

“Why did you save me again? Why did you bring me here?”

Vehen didn’t respond, and Min-joo continued speaking, her voice starting to crack. The stifling tears that had been forcibly held back began to flow.

“How terrifying it was… I thought I was going to die. People… looking at me was so… disgusting.”

Though it wasn’t Vehen’s fault, blaming something felt like it might bring comfort. 

Of course, she felt grateful. She felt relieved. Who wouldn’t be pleased to be saved by a prince on a white horse? Min-joo still buried her face in her trembling hands and sobbed. The fire that burned under her feet was too vivid, and she couldn’t bear it.

Vehen raised his hand to cut off Min-joo’s words. Min-joo, watching Vehen’s actions through the gap in her fingers, closed her mouth.

Vehen leaned forward, narrowing the distance between them. His tone was a mix of reproach and perplexity as if blaming Min-joo for not answering the question about her worth.

“You didn’t answer. I asked if you were worth it, and you just yelled.”

“How… was that even a question?”

It sounded so absurd that Min-joo burst into a hollow laughter.