Chapter 119
“I didn’t know there was such a nice cafe around here. It’s really pretty.”
After lunch, the four of them headed to a cafe. Da-bin, who had settled inside, looked around curiously.
“Da-bin, the photos we took outside earlier came out really well too.”
“Really? Let me see.”
While Da-bin and Woo-jun put their heads together to look at the phone screen, Cha Yoon sat across from them with a crooked posture. He looked visibly displeased to anyone who saw him.
Others might think “here we go again,” but from Cha Yoon’s perspective, he couldn’t help but feel this way.
This morning, when Cha Yoon received the date message, he began thorough preparations. He chose clothes similar to what Seo-jung had once complimented as cool, recalling his last memory, and even used the precious cologne he rarely wore.
As a result, though unintended, they ended up in couple outfits, and he received Seo-jung’s rare attention. With the particularly nice weather added to the mix, Cha Yoon’s steps to the date location were lighter than ever.
Cha Yoon arrived at the park first, as instructed by the production team. He didn’t even notice the surprised expressions of the other contestants who arrived at different times. Although other people were involved, he focused solely on the fact that this was the date with hyung he had been dreaming of, waiting for Seo-jung. How did it end up like this?
Swallowing a sigh, Cha Yoon’s eyes fell on Park Woo-jun sitting across from him. Cha Yoon bit his lower lip. Right, Park Woo-jun. He was the problem.
Come to think of it, it had been that way from the start. From the first day he entered the X House, he showed interest in Shin Da-bin, making Cha Yoon let his guard down, then suddenly stole a kiss from Ki Seo-jung. Today was no different. He came out saying he would date Shin Da-bin, but as soon as he saw Seo-jung, he started giving subtle hints.
Typical examples were pretending to be clumsy while driving to receive Seo-jung’s concern and care despite his 10 years of experience, handing him the menu at the restaurant, and pushing plates towards him encouraging him to eat more.
What a playboy. What on earth did hyung like about such a guy? As he was glaring at Park Woo-jun and cursing him internally, a buzzing sound pulled Cha Yoon out of his thoughts. It was the vibration bell announcing that their ordered drinks were ready.
“I’ll go get them.”
Seo-jung was the first to stand up at the sound. As Seo-jung, who had been sitting next to him, rose smoothly, Cha Yoon’s head naturally lifted as well.
“Didn’t we order quite a lot? I don’t think you can carry it all alone. Let’s go together.”
Da-bin, who had been leaning forward looking at her phone screen, spoke as she got up. Woo-jun looked back and forth between the two of them. Then he naturally stood up.
“Da-bin, you just stay here. I’ll go with Seo-jung.”
From Woo-jun’s perspective, it was just an action to prevent Da-bin and Seo-jung from being alone, to keep Seo-jung in check, but it meant something entirely different to Cha Yoon. There he goes again. What is he planning to do following our kind, cute, innocent, and nice hyung?
Having already completely demonized Park Woo-jun in his mind, Cha Yoon glared at Woo-jun with a seething expression. He couldn’t just watch Park Woo-jun follow Seo-jung like this.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Cha Yoon abruptly stood up. As his large frame rose suddenly, the gazes of the other three at the table turned to him. Feeling their eyes on him, Cha Yoon raised his hand.
“I’ll go with hyung.”
“You, Cha Yoon?”
“Yes, I’ll go. Just stay here.”
Cha Yoon spoke as if he was doing them a favor, stating what he wanted.
“I can just go alone.”
“No, Da-bin is right. We ordered four drinks and lots of desserts. Come together.”
“Yeah. Don’t make two trips, just go together.”
Seo-jung, who didn’t want to go with Cha Yoon, tried to decline politely. However, Woo-jun wasn’t about to miss the chance to be alone with Da-bin even for a moment. With Da-bin’s words added, Seo-jung had no choice.
“Let’s go quickly.”
By then, Cha Yoon had already picked up the vibrating bell with its red light and was waving it. Seo-jung followed him out, looking resigned.
Even as they walked to the counter without exchanging a word, Cha Yoon’s mind was busy. He needed to quickly break Seo-jung’s attraction towards Park Woo-jun. The easiest way to do this was to reveal Park Woo-jun’s true nature to Seo-jung in detail. But given Ki Seo-jung’s personality, he wouldn’t appreciate hearing negative things about others. So what should he do?
“You can take the tray.”
“Thank you.”
When the two handed over the vibration bell at the counter, the part-timer gave them a tray with the prepared drinks and desserts. Seo-jung thanked them with a polite smile.
As Cha Yoon picked up one of the trays, he thought: Why is our hyung so kind and nice? While naturally praising Seo-jung’s gentle nature in his mind, Cha Yoon suddenly blinked as an idea occurred to him. That’s it, a good method.
Cha Yoon quickly stuck close to Seo-jung’s side as he walked ahead.
“Hyung.”
“Don’t stick so close, watch where you’re going and walk carefully.”
“What? Oh, I won’t fall. That’s not the important thing. You know,”
“I’m worried the cake might topple over.”
“Oh, come on… Do you think I’m that clumsy? I absolutely won’t. Anyway, that’s not the issue. Hyung, I’m rich.”
“…What?”
Rich? Out of nowhere? In this situation?
Seo-jung frowned at the abrupt end to the sentence. But to Cha Yoon, Seo-jung’s reaction was just the right bait. Cha Yoon’s eyes sparkled as he began to pour out words.
“It’s true. I inherited a building when I was young, and I have houses in both Korea and the United States. And I didn’t know this, but apparently 188cm tall men are not common in Korea. But I’m over 188cm. When I’m in good condition, I even reach 189cm.”
“…”
“Also, I’m still only twenty-nine years old. You know, for men, the younger the better, right? Both in terms of looks and functionality.”
Of course, hyung is an exception. Hyung was pretty, cute, cool, handsome, and adorable at twenty-four, and at thirty-one. I think you’ll probably be the same even when you’re a grandfather. No, not probably – you definitely will be.
Cha Yoon hastily added his sincere thoughts, as if not wanting to be misunderstood. Listening silently to Cha Yoon’s words, Seo-jung realized what he was doing. Cha Yoon was listing his strengths, taking time for self-promotion.
“I never got anything but the top grade in major subjects throughout all three years of high school. As for being good with my body, well, you probably know without me saying much, so I won’t go into detail.”
“What on earth are you…”
“And this is the most important thing.”
Cha Yoon, who had been laying out his own stage that no one had set for him, had now brought up his high school grades. While it was absurd to hear this, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable coming from Cha Yoon, who had the mental age of a 22-year-old, having taken the college entrance exam only 3 years ago.
Seo-jung, who had been listening speechlessly, opened his mouth thinking it was about time for Cha Yoon to stop. But Cha Yoon lightly cut off Seo-jung’s words and brought out his final, carefully saved trump card.
“There’s no one in this world who can love you more than I do. If you want to check, you can spend a lifetime by my side to confirm it.”
“…”
“Actually, I’d like you to check. Like, you constantly demanding that I prove it every day. Then some days I’d write essays on why I like you, and on other days I’d carry you around all day until you beg me to put you down… Just imagining it makes me so happy.”
As the conversation took an entirely unexpected turn, Seo-jung was at a loss for words for a different reason. After maintaining eye contact with Cha Yoon’s confident gaze for a while, he tried to ignore his rapidly beating heart and finally opened his mouth.
“It fell over.”
“What?”
“The cake you were carrying, it fell over.”
Seo-jung nodded towards the tray Cha Yoon was holding. As Seo-jung said, the tall stack of cake could be seen toppled over.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be clumsy and absolutely wouldn’t let it fall?”
“…”
“I think you also said you were good with your body… Seeing the cake fall over in such a short time, well, I’m not so sure anymore.”
At Seo-jung’s words, Cha Yoon made an aggrieved expression, but he couldn’t say anything as the evidence of his mistake was right in front of him.
“Instead of talking more and risking the rest of the cakes falling over too, just carry them carefully.”
With those final words, Seo-jung resumed walking. Shit, this isn’t how it was supposed to go… Watching Seo-jung’s retreating back, Cha Yoon let out a deep sigh and followed.
***
Perhaps because he had drastically lowered the credibility of his own words by toppling the cake, Cha Yoon’s hostility towards Park Woo-jun burned even more fiercely than before.
“Good job, both of you.”
“It’s nothing, of course the youngest should go.”
Maybe that’s why Cha Yoon deliberately responded to Da-bin’s comment, which he would normally have ignored. He especially emphasized the words “the youngest” in his voice. It was to emphasize that he was younger and better than Park Woo-jun, but none of the other three people noticed Cha Yoon’s intention.
Seeing people busy distributing forks without any reaction to his words, Cha Yoon swallowed a sigh and sat down. He felt frustrated that the situation wasn’t going as he wanted. Cha Yoon gulped down his iced Americano without a straw. All the while, he didn’t stop glaring at Park Woo-jun sitting diagonally across from him.
A friendly atmosphere surrounded the table. Cha Yoon was the only one who didn’t fit in with this mood. As he was silently observing people exchanging conversation while chewing on ice, he noticed Seo-jung rubbing his arms as if cold.
Cha Yoon naturally looked up at the ceiling. Despite the cool air, it was a day with hot sunlight pouring down. In this ambiguous weather, cold air conditioning was constantly flowing in the cafe.
Having assessed the situation, Cha Yoon stood up from his seat. As he suddenly rose without a word, the three people who had been chatting turned their attention to him. Cha Yoon left his seat without minding their looks.
When Cha Yoon returned shortly after, he was holding several blankets. He held out the pile of blankets he had received to Seo-jung.
“Cover yourself with this.”
Seo-jung looked at the tower of blankets in Cha Yoon’s hands with an expression that seemed to ask what on earth this was. Cha Yoon somehow understood this and continued his explanation.
“You kept rubbing your arms because you were cold, right? I asked them to turn up the air conditioning temperature, but I don’t know when it will warm up, so cover yourself with this first. Don’t catch a cold for no reason.”
I was cold, huh. Now that he heard it, it did seem that way. It was something he hadn’t even realized himself, being focused on Woo-jun and Da-bin.
When Seo-jung just stared at him without taking the blankets, Cha Yoon finally took the initiative. He folded the blankets he had brought into double layers and covered Seo-jung with them.
“There, you shouldn’t be cold like this. But if you’re still cold, tell me. I’ll ask them to turn off the air conditioning completely.”
“This is enough, so sit down now.”
Seo-jung, who had suddenly found himself wrapped in blankets, looked over the fabric covering his body and quickly shook his head.
“Thank you.”
At the added words of thanks, Cha Yoon felt good, as if he had finally made up for his earlier mistake. Just as he was about to sit down, lifting the corners of his mouth at the thought of having accomplished something…
Cha Yoon’s eyes fell on Da-bin sitting across from him. He blinked quietly. Thinner clothes than Seo-jung’s. His eyes were drawn to someone else’s outfit, which he normally wouldn’t have paid any attention to. Cha Yoon looked down at the blanket in his hand.
The extra blanket still in his hand, Seo-jung sitting next to him, and Park Woo-jun in front of him. Cha Yoon realized that this was a good opportunity to score additional points.
Once his thoughts were organized, his actions were quick. Cha Yoon handed the blanket to Da-bin.
“Shin Da-bin, you should cover yourself with this too.”
“Can I use this too, not just Seo-jung?”
“Yes.”
Even at Da-bin’s question, which seemed to ask “What’s this about?”, Cha Yoon nodded. Having received an answer, any further refusal would be meaningless. Da-bin reached out and took the blanket.
“Cha Yoon, you’re so considerate. I was feeling a bit chilly. I’ll make good use of the blanket.”
“Well, this much is only natural.”
While Cha Yoon played down the praise about himself, saying it was nothing, he glanced at Seo-jung. ‘See? How well I treat others and how kind I am.’ His eyes seemed to be saying exactly that.
“Right, that much is what any man should do.”
The funny thing was that the one who responded to that look was none other than Park Woo-jun. Hearing a response from someone he hadn’t expected at all, Cha Yoon felt deflated. Why are you butting in and making things worse? As he looked at Park Woo-jun with an annoyed expression, for some reason, unlike a moment ago, there was now a fire flickering in his eyes as well.
What’s this? Why is he suddenly like that? Cha Yoon stared at Park Woo-jun, who was suddenly baring his teeth, not understanding, and only sat down when Seo-jung gestured for him to do so.
I must have seen wrong. Thinking this and brushing it off, Cha Yoon soon drastically revised his thoughts.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
