Chapter 67
“Cha Yoon?”
When Cha Yoon’s words abruptly stopped, Min-wook tilted his head curiously and turned around. Upon seeing Seo-jung, Min-wook spoke first.
“Oh, Seo-jung, you’re out?”
“Sae-young asked me to tell everyone that dinner is ready.”
“The food’s ready, huh. Actually, I was just about to tell Cha Yoon…”
“Let’s go now.”
Cha Yoon, who had been listening to their conversation with an uneasy expression, hastily cut in.
“Pardon?”
“The food, I mean. Let’s go eat.”
After finishing his words, Cha Yoon cleared his throat with a “hem” and glanced at Seo-jung before entering the kitchen. Min-wook scratched his cheek, puzzled by Cha Yoon’s sudden change of heart, but didn’t think much of it. Maybe he changed his mind after smelling the food.
“Ah, hearing that the food is ready makes me even hungrier. Seo-jung, come quickly too.”
The simple-minded Min-wook grinned, pointed towards the kitchen, and followed after Cha Yoon. Seo-jung watched their retreating figures for a moment before knocking on Joo-ah’s door.
***
All the cast members, except for Shin Da-bin who hadn’t arrived yet, gathered at the dining table. With a resounding “Let’s eat,” the meal began. The residents clinked their glasses together and moved their chopsticks.
“The food is all so delicious today, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. Shouldn’t the three of you start a business together?”
As always, pleasant compliments were directed towards those who prepared the dinner. Seo-jung chuckled and deflected the praise to Sae-young and Ji-yoon.
“I just hovered around, wouldn’t Sae-young and Ji-yoon be at a disadvantage if I joined?”
“What are you saying? I was just thinking about putting your face on our signboard in big letters.”
“Ji-yoon, great idea! Wow, we’ll be rich in no time.”
“You three better not forget about us when you get rich!”
“We’ll decide that based on how Min-wook behaves.”
“Ji-yoon, you’re making me feel left out again.”
The only one who couldn’t laugh at the jokes was Cha Yoon. Who are they calling ‘we’? The people in this house seemed to have no sense of individuality whatsoever. Just look at how they always lump Ki Seo-jung and themselves together as ‘we’.
“What…”
Just as Cha Yoon put down his spoon with an irritated expression, about to speak without a filter, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words. It was because of Seo-jung’s face that came into view as soon as he turned his head.
He was wearing a light smile. Normally, Cha Yoon would have thought, ‘What’s so good that you’re grinning like that?’ But what came to mind was Seo-jung’s cold voice from the day before.
This was already the third time today. Without intending to, he found himself hitting the brakes on his behavior whenever he saw Ki Seo-jung’s face. Damn it, why am I being so cautious of Ki Seo-jung? He couldn’t understand why he kept faltering whenever Ki Seo-jung appeared. He opened his mouth wide, determined to speak his mind, but when he found he just couldn’t do it, Cha Yoon ended up saying nothing and just drank his water.
With the usual troublemaker staying quiet, the dinner proceeded peacefully. It was when the atmosphere had become quite convivial.
From afar, the sound of the locked front door opening was heard, followed by a voice saying, “I’m back.”
“Oh? Looks like Da-bin is back.”
Min-ha was the first to react. She pointed towards the living room with her ears perked up. Hearing this, Min-wook downed his shot of soju in one gulp and said,
“That’s great. The kimchi stew is so delicious, I was worried Da-bin might miss out.”
Da-bin, come to the kitchen quickly! Min-wook, emboldened by the alcohol, shouted loudly from his seat. At his voice, everyone at the table turned their eyes towards the kitchen entrance.
The sound of slippers on marble floor was heard in succession, and soon Shin Da-bin appeared at the kitchen entrance.
“I’m back.”
Da-bin waved her hand and then pointed to her side.
“But I’m not alone, I’m with a new resident who just arrived.”
As she said this, a man with a refreshing impression appeared. After about 3 seconds of silence, the cast members each made surprised sounds and stood up from their seats. Seo-jung also put down his chopsticks and rose.
“Hello.”
The man smiled and gave a small nod as their eyes met. His manner was as neat as his impression. Seems like he’s a cast member joining later, like Da-bin. Seo-jung thought this as he returned the greeting to the man.
With the appearance of the new resident, the X House instantly became noisy. At the insistence of the other cast members that he should sit in the center as today’s main character, the man took a seat in the middle of the table.
“Da-bin, come over here too. I feel awkward sitting here alone.”
“Should I?”
He also didn’t forget to call Da-bin, who was heading to the opposite side, to sit next to him. Once the excited atmosphere had settled down a bit, the man introduced himself.
“I’m Park Woo-jun. I work as an accountant.”
“Woo-jun, hearing your job makes you seem even smarter!”
“Really? How do you feel about smart men, Da-bin?”
“Hmm, I do prefer intelligent men.”
Because I don’t really like people who are hard to communicate with. Da-bin shrugged slightly and picked up her glass.
“By the way, how did you and Da-bin come in together?”
“Woo-jun and I went on a date today.”
“Ah! That’s right, Da-bin, you hadn’t had your first date yet! What did you two do?”
“We made perfume together. It was quite fun. Wasn’t it fun for you too, Woo-jun?”
“For me, it wasn’t just ‘quite’ fun, it was really great. Da-bin even made perfume thinking of me and gave it as a gift.”
Cha Yoon, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, raised one eyebrow. The words this Park Woo-jun person had been saying since his arrival were giving off quite an interesting vibe.
While he seemed to be speaking casually, he appeared to have quite a liking for Shin Da-bin. It wasn’t just the words he was saying out loud. His body was turned towards Shin Da-bin, and his eyes had been fixed on Da-bin ever since he entered the X House. Park Woo-jun was truly using every method at his disposal to express his interest in Shin Da-bin.
Cha Yoon moved his eyes while lifting the water glass in front of him. In the direction of his gaze sat Ki Seo-jung. Cha Yoon examined his face carefully. He had to. From his perspective, hoping for a reunion with Shin Da-bin, this was no different from the appearance of a rival in love.
But Ki Seo-jung’s expression seemed the same as usual. Despite the utterly unwelcome situation unfolding, a gentle smile never left his face.
Not only that, Ki Seo-jung even showed kindness to Park Woo-jun without any hesitation. From Cha Yoon’s perspective, it was incomprehensible. Was it a high-level act? Or was Ki Seo-jung so empty inside that he could laugh and smile even at his own rival? Or was his thinking about reuniting with Shin Da-bin gradually changing? As Cha Yoon followed these thoughts, he unknowingly raised the corners of his mouth.
“Cha Yoon, why are you smiling?”
“When did I?”
“What do you mean when? You’re smiling right now. The corners of your mouth are up to here.”
Maliciously. Joo-ah pointed at Cha Yoon’s lips with a disgusted expression. At her remark, Cha Yoon finally realized he was smiling. Damn, why am I smiling? He pulled down the corners of his mouth that had risen high.
“I wasn’t smiling.”
“Sure, sure, if you say so.”
He heard the sarcastic tone, but Cha Yoon pretended not to hear it and ignored it.
Whatever the reason, this was 100 times better than seeing Ki Seo-jung upset while watching that scene. Thinking this, Cha Yoon was nodding his head slightly when he suddenly stopped moving.
Better? What’s better? Why is it better? Wouldn’t it actually be good for him if Ki Seo-jung’s mood turned sour? At this point, his only wish was for Ki Seo-jung not to be happy, just that one thing. From that perspective, if Ki Seo-jung was sitting there in a bad mood, it would actually be a situation that aligned with what he wanted.
So why on earth did he think this was better? Cha Yoon was only confused by the thought that had unconsciously popped up. His heart was beating fast, as if he had touched something he absolutely shouldn’t have. It was while Cha Yoon was struggling, unable to easily escape from that thought.
“It seems like everyone’s finished eating, shall we clean up the kitchen and go out for round two?”
Min-wook clapped his hands to draw attention and pointed at the mostly empty dishes. Min-wook’s voice pierced through the sound of Cha Yoon’s heartbeat and dug into his ears. Thanks to that, Cha Yoon barely managed to escape from his thoughts that had been like a swamp.
At Min-wook’s words, the cast members all stood up, saying it was a good idea. Cha Yoon, who had been ruffling the back of his hair, also got up.
The cast members who hadn’t prepared the meal took charge of the cleanup. Included in this, Cha Yoon stood in front of the sink without complaint and rinsed the dishes.
Unlike the dishes that were regaining their color as the soapy water was washed away by the stream of water, Cha Yoon’s mind was still tangled. It was because of the problem that hadn’t been resolved yet. It felt like he could figure out the reason if he thought about it a bit more, but the closer he tried to get to the answer, the more he felt an instinctive rejection that he should stop.
“Damn…”
After pondering for a while, Cha Yoon finally gave up thinking. He looked at the problem as simply and objectively as possible.
Park Woo-jun, the new resident of X House, is interested in Shin Da-bin.
And Cha Yoon hopes that Ki Seo-jung and Shin Da-bin won’t end up together.
There was only one thing that could be obtained from these two propositions. That Park Woo-jun was on his side with a common goal.
Even excluding this, Park Woo-jun seemed like a pretty decent person. He didn’t irritate others by saying unnecessary things, and he didn’t pay attention to anyone else as he was focused on Shin Da-bin. It was a very desirable attitude. For the first time since entering X House, Cha Yoon gave someone a generous score.
He was a rare sane person who met his standards. Although he despised teamwork, it didn’t seem bad to be on a team with someone like that.
Having formed this one-sided alliance, Cha Yoon shook off the water from the last dish.
