“I ate two containers. They said it was 1+1.”
“……”
“I haven’t touched this.”
Before I could adapt to Baek Woojin’s joke, he pushed the mini udon toward me.
“Won’t you eat it…?”
When I asked in a slightly dejected voice, Baek Woojin shook his head.
“It seems like Chae Seungyeon-ssi likes noodle dishes… there’s no other reason.”
“That’s true, but…”
It was true that I liked noodle dishes. The buckwheat noodles I had before too… I definitely found noodle dishes convenient to eat and delicious. Actually, as Baek Woojin said, I could eat about one more bowl of udon.
No, isn’t this basic for an adult man? Honestly, if I weren’t in Chae Seungyeon’s body, I could have eaten two servings of pork cutlet and still had room.
“Then let’s eat together.”
Still, I couldn’t just steal all of Baek Woojin’s food, so I placed the udon bowl in the middle. But throughout the meal again, Baek Woojin only ate a few pieces of pork cutlet and didn’t touch the udon at all. In the end, I ate all the udon noodles and ingredients.
“Ah, I’m full…”
After sweeping up all the food we ordered, I rubbed my stomach with satisfaction that reached up to my throat.
“It’s good that you have a good appetite.”
“……”
Just then, Baek Woojin said that with an expression as satisfied as mine. It was true, but being called out for having a good appetite made me embarrassed somehow.
“I’ll pay the bill.”
After ending what felt like a one-sided meal, I fumbled for the envelope I got from the bank and finished paying with two 10,000 won bills.
“Lunch time must be over now, you should probably go back in.”
As I came out of the pork cutlet restaurant and checked my watch, Baek Woojin said with a calm expression.
“There’s still time left. I know a place with delicious dessert… Would you like to go?”
“Dessert…?”
My stomach was so full that there didn’t seem to be any room left for more…
“It’s antibiotic-free milk ice cream, and the portions aren’t that big, so you could just have a simple taste.”
“…Really?”
If he put it that way… I had no choice but to make room in my stomach.
“Alright, I’ll pay for dessert today too!”
I declared confidently, but not long after, standing in front of the dessert shop, I couldn’t help but gasp.
“Wow… I can’t believe milk is this expensive…”
I was already a bit worried when Baek Woojin suggested going to a department store… Even just ordering two bowls of milk ice cream required three bills.
“Since I suggested dessert, I’ll pay.”
“Oh, no, I’ll buy it!”
Still, since I had already said I’d pay, I wanted to at least treat him to dessert.
“Please go ahead and eat first. I think I need to make a phone call…”
“Yes, yes, come back before it melts.”
As soon as we found seats in the shop, Baek Woojin said he had something to take care of and hurriedly left the store. I waited for him to return while slowly tasting the milk ice cream with my spoon. As he had recommended, it was so delicious that it practically melted on my tongue.
“Hm? What, I already finished it all…”
When I was ordering, it seemed like quite a large portion… With a wistful feeling, I looked toward the counter and decided to get takeout for Hyeol and Kkotsu.
I was taking bills out of my bag and heading back to the counter when it happened.
“Oh my, honey?”
…Huh?
When I turned around at the voice clearly pointing at me, there stood a young woman decked out in flashy luxury goods.
“Running into you here? I was just at your mother’s hospital but was disappointed I couldn’t see you. I heard the story – you’re living at a friend’s house now?”
Based on “hospital” and “mother,” she seemed to be someone closely connected to the Gwak family.
“I’m jealous, finally escaped from the Gwak family?”
“……”
The woman kept talking to me even though I wasn’t really responding. I couldn’t tell if that was just her style or if she was doing it on purpose, so I stayed quiet.
“Ihan-ssi was worrying about you a lot, but seeing you now, there’s nothing to worry about. You look much brighter than before, don’t you?”
Ihan-ssi…? Who could Ihan-ssi be… Or could this woman be the “sister-in-law” saved in my phone?
“Jin doesn’t tell me anything about you at all. Not a single call, I was so hurt. Not that I’m free either… Oh my?”
That’s when it happened. The woman was chattering away when she suddenly peeked her head toward the side of the shop and started making a fuss.
“Crazy, he’s so handsome! Damn. What? That visual looks like he just jumped out of a magazine?”
Following the woman’s gaze as her shoulders bounced with excitement, sure enough, Baek Woojin was striding toward us.
“Excuse me, that person is with me…”
I moved slightly closer to the woman and muttered. But she let my words go in one ear and out the other, her eyes sparkling.
“Oh my, look at that nice body, he must work out. …Hm? This scent… is he in rut?”
Rut…?
Baek Woojin had said something like that earlier too, but what exactly is rut…?
“Let me see…”
My confusion was brief. The woman pulled something like perfume from the handbag on her shoulder. She shook it lightly and then spritzed it here and there on her body with a pssh, pssh.
For perfume… the scent wafting over was somehow unique.
“Hm? Want me to spray some on you too? Hehe, then shall we bet on who can seduce him first?”
“What? What do you mean…”
Don’t tell me she’s planning to seduce Baek Woojin right now?
“Hey, honey. Don’t make that face. Anyway, this is a secret from Ihan-ssi again.”
“……”
I couldn’t follow the woman’s conversation at all. Was she not from the Gwak family? Should I stop her first? I didn’t know much, but I had an uneasy feeling, so I grabbed the shoulder of the woman who was about to dash out of the shop.
“Wait, that perfume… what is it?”
“Hm? Don’t you know? I just scored this. Omega heat pheromone perfume.”
“Heat”…?
Just hearing it was embarrassing, and I realized it was something dangerous. There was no need to hesitate. I reached out to stop the woman.
“Wait, that person is with me…!”
“Oh my, oh my!”
But the woman easily shook me off and went outside the shop. Then she pretended to lose her balance and stumble, falling right to the ground.
“Aaah!”
At her theatrical scream, Baek Woojin stopped abruptly.
“Ah! My ankle! Ow ow…”
The woman even had tears at the corners of her eyes as she rubbed her slender ankle with her hand.
“I can’t get up… Oh, what should I do…”
The woman sniffled while looking up at Baek Woojin. As soon as their eyes met, the tears hanging at the corners of her eyes streamed down.
Wow…
I found myself admiring despite everything. Compared to my mother-in-law’s acting, this woman’s acting skills were far too excellent.
“……”
But Baek Woojin stared at her for a while, then turned his head toward me with an indifferent expression.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“Oh… yes?”
“Are you alright?”
“…Yes?”
If I didn’t mishear, was Baek Woojin asking about my condition rather than the woman who had collapsed right in front of him? He had absolutely no reaction to the woman, as if he was looking at dust floating in the air.
I was a bit flustered and didn’t know what to say in response.
“What, what? Did you know each other?”
Then, the woman who had quickly grasped the situation jumped up and wiped her tear-stained cheeks.
“Honey? Why didn’t you tell me sooner…”
The woman who had somehow gotten close to me whispered as if aggrieved.
No, I’m the one who should feel wronged…?
“I told you twice…”
“Oh, whatever. Ah… how embarrassing…”
The woman blushed as if even she thought her behavior was shameful. Then she took out a different perfume from her handbag and sprayed it on herself with pssh, pssh. Seeing the strange smell emanating from her disappear, it seemed to be a deodorizer.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
