Chapter 226: Uninvited Guest?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 226: Uninvited Guest?
The movie was fun.
Even without doing anything special, it was just fun.
I’d gone to see a movie where things get smashed and blown up in the first place, so it was exactly what I wanted to see.
In the middle of it, Seo Ye-rin reached for my crotch under the guise of grabbing popcorn, but Yoo Ah-rin stopped her.
It would have been better if Seo Ye-rin hadn't dodged Yoo Ah-rin’s attempt to swat her hand away, causing Ah-rin’s arm to smack me right in the junk instead.
“What should I do? Watching that movie makes me want to fight, like, right now.”
We stopped by a cafe after the movie.
There, Seo Ye-rin was throwing punches in the air, saying she couldn't shake the lingering excitement from the film.
“Swish! Swish-swish! Swi-swi-swish! You son of a…!”
“You’ve suddenly turned into something weird.”
It was obvious she’d end up hurting her own hand if she actually hit anything.
Yoo Ah-rin, a former athlete and practically an expert in this field, just sipped her coffee with a smile as if watching a cute puppy.
“I have a hard time with violent stuff, so it was a bit much for me,” Lee Seo-ah, the film major, grumbled.
Come to think of it, I did hear a few muffled screams coming from her side next to Yoo Ah-rin.
By the way, Han Bom, one of the Four Musketeers, had already left with her boyfriend.
They were acting all lovey-dovey since the movie started, and as soon as it ended, they bolted. It was quite the sight.
“About Bom-i,” Seo Ye-rin muttered softly after taking a huge bite of cake with her fork. “She probably went to a hotel, right?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
All three of our gazes landed on Seo Ye-rin at once. Lee Seo-ah, in particular, looked bewildered, as if she wasn't quite used to this side of Seo Ye-rin yet.
“Did you really have to say that out loud?”
When Yoo Ah-rin sighed in annoyance, Seo Ye-rin countered with an aggrieved look.
“I was the one sitting next to them. They were whispering and touching each other the whole time. I seriously wanted to hit them.”
Now I understood why she was practicing her punches so hard after the movie.
“So I thought, ‘I’ll show them too!’ and…”
Seo Ye-rin started mumbling about touching my crotch before suddenly remembering we weren't the only ones there.
“Hah.”
Lee Seo-ah stared at us blankly for a moment, pushed her coffee aside, and asked bluntly, “Are you three… dating?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I don’t know.”
The answers came in order: me, then Yoo Ah-rin, then Seo Ye-rin.
Three pairs of eyes pierced into me simultaneously. I stood my ground and spoke confidently.
“I’m asking them. Asking if we can date.”
“For the record, there’s one more,” Yoo Ah-rin added. “Choi I-seo, the 2nd-year English Literature department representative.”
“…This is so Hollywood.”
Lee Seo-ah looked like she couldn't process what she was hearing. She thought about it for a moment, scratched her head, and replied, “I have a lot I want to say, but you guys figure it out. It’s not like anything will change just because I say something. But Kim Woo-jin, if you make my friends cry, I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t worry,” I replied with a faint smile. “Before you can kill me, Yoo Ah-rin will have already finished the job.”
“…”
Realizing that wasn't exactly wrong, Yoo Ah-rin nodded in agreement.
After taking a sip of coffee, I turned the question back to Lee Seo-ah.
“But how did you know? Was it just because of how they were acting today?”
“Ugh, you have no idea how much these two talk about you in our group chat, do you?”
“Hey! Hey! Seo-ah!”
“You’re exposing that?!”
Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin scrambled to stop her, but my interest was already piqued.
“What do they say? Like what?”
Startled by all three of us lunging toward her at once, Seo-ah leaned back so far her chair almost tipped over. Yoo Ah-rin caught it just in time.
Having narrowly regained her balance, Lee Seo-ah glanced at the two girls and spoke in a tiny voice.
“Mostly just… cursing you out.”
“…”
That was both disappointing and unsettling.
However, under the intense pressure of Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin’s glares, Lee Seo-ah shut her mouth and timidly sipped her coffee.
Then, her shoulders hitched as she suddenly stood up.
“W-wait. Does this mean I’m currently crashing your date?”
“Yes.”
When I nodded shamelessly, fists flew at me from both sides. Judging by the lack of power behind them, though, it seemed they were thinking the same thing.
“I-I’ll get going then. Sorry, guys. H-have a good love life!”
Lee Seo-ah grabbed her bag and hurried toward the exit as if she’d committed some grave sin.
Then, she paused, glanced back at us, and asked with a bizarre expression.
“But is that really right? No, I mean, doesn't it just not make sense?”
She marched back toward us. It was as if a hypnotic spell had broken and she’d regained her senses.
“Are you guys really okay with this? I mean, sure, he’s gotten pretty handsome lately. I’ll admit that. But is he really worth dumping someone like Chan-woo for?”
At Lee Seo-ah’s question, Yoo Ah-rin rested her chin on her hand and answered indifferently while eating cake.
“Money. He has a lot of money.”
It felt like she was just giving a lazy answer to get it over with.
“No matter how much money he has, how much could—”
“He’s a Chairman’s son. Gold One is apparently one of their subsidiaries.”
“…”
Lee Seo-ah glanced at me.
Since I had no intention of hiding it anymore, I gave a small nod. Lee Seo-ah’s eyes began to tremble violently.
“W-w-was that post on the Bamboo Forest actually true? There were posts for a while saying you were a Chairman’s son.”
That must have been when the seniors were calling me out.
It flared up for a bit, but then those seniors deleted all their posts, so it died down quickly.
Lee Seo-ah, staring at me, suddenly looked like she was about to drop to her knees.
“Could I… enter as a concubine? There are some new arrivals from Shax and Ellesse that I really want to buy.”
“You crazy bitch! Don’t cross the line!”
Yoo Ah-rin stood up, looking annoyed and ready to kick her.
In the meantime, Seo Ye-rin tried to make her own appeal.
“Woo-jini’s thing is also this big!”
Seo Ye-rin spread her hands wide in an exaggerated gesture.
Seeing that, Lee Seo-ah stood back up awkwardly.
“Oh, that’s a bit…”
The idea of loving something excessively large only happens in adult videos. In reality, if it’s too big, it’s just painful.
“I’m really going now. I feel like I’m becoming weird just being around you guys.”
I didn't know why she was blaming us, but Lee Seo-ah said she was leaving for real this time—and then stopped yet again.
“Seriously, last thing, Woo-jin. Are you really okay with this?”
Her expression was quite serious now.
“Normally, creating a situation like this is just unthinkable. You’re just being a piece of trash and a bad guy.”
“…”
“Don’t you feel any guilt? I’m asking out of pure curiosity.”
I felt gazes from both sides at her words. It seemed Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin were also curious about my answer.
I replied with a bitter smile.
“Of course I do.”
How could I not?
I’m human too.
“Naturally, I feel sorry. I know I’m being selfish, and there are times when I feel a pang of guilt.”
But.
Yes, but.
I clenched my fists.
What was reflected in my clear, dark eyes was a conviction.
Noble because it was unwavering.
Sublime because no one else had reached it.
I gave voice to that conviction.
“But the moment I’m touching both of their breasts at the same time, all of that just disappea—!”
Thwack!
A fist flew in from somewhere.
Leaving the departing Lee Seo-ah behind, I simply took a thorough beating.
If Senior Ju-hee hadn't brought over some cake as a service, I might have actually been beaten to death.
“Swi-swi-swish! You son of a…!”
“Ugh, you absolute piece of trash.”
I had fulfilled Seo Ye-rin’s wish to throw punches with my entire body.
Beside her, Yoo Ah-rin took the cake from Senior Ju-hee with an annoyed expression.
“Guys… it’s fine to play around, but please try to be a little quieter.”
To the senior, did that look like we were just "playing around"?
I felt a bit wronged, but I tried to pull myself together.
“How can every single thing you say be so trashy?”
“…”
If I said I was being serious, I’d probably get hit again. I’d been getting hit quite often lately, so I decided to restrain myself.
Anyway, Lee Seo-ah was gone.
In the end, it was just the three of us.
The conversation never ran dry.
We talked about everything from mobile games to Yoo Ah-rin’s Taekwondo days, Seo Ye-rin’s encounters with famous actors, and how my second sister-in-law was bored at our house.
While we were passing the time with various stories…
Jingle!
The door opened, and several large men walked in.
“Hah, the coffee smells good.”
“Why is this place so cramped?”
The moment I saw the group that swarmed in, I knew immediately.
These weren't ordinary people.
Based on my experience living with thugs for a few days recently…
I figured they were active gangsters.
‘There shouldn't be any around here, though?’
As far as I knew, thugs had been wiped out in this neighborhood, so there shouldn't have been any left.
Were they from another area?
While I was considering the possibility, the men approached Senior Ju-hee.
“Wow, Ju-hee. You look like a totally normal college student like this.”
“Long time no see, Ju-hee!”
“Holy shit! Min Ju-hee is actually serving coffee!”
Senior Ju-hee’s expression darkened instantly.
The shop owner and the other part-timers looked terrified as well.
‘Now that I think about it, Senior Ju-hee said this when we were dealing with President Hwang…’
That even if you clear these guys out, more just keep coming.
Since she’d been a bit of a rebel in high school, I could see how she might be connected to people like this.
“You two, go wait outside.”
When I gave them the tip-off, Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin refused.
“No way. I’m a better fighter than you.”
“Swish! Swish-swish!”
I let out a deep sigh at the blunt Yoo Ah-rin and the shadow-boxing Seo Ye-rin.
“I’m going to call my bodyguards, so just go outside.”
“Oh, shit. I’ve always wanted to see something like that.”
“Are we filming Crime Town?”
Persuaded by my words, the two slipped outside.
Because of their looks, they caught the thugs' eyes for a moment, but the men didn't actually try to mess with them.
‘Bodyguards, my ass.’
Only my big brother has those.
There was no way a guy like me would have bodyguards following him around.
Just as I turned back to Senior Ju-hee to monitor the situation…
Vibrate!
A Tok arrived from Yoo Ah-rin, who had just stepped out.
It was a photo.
It was a picture taken next to the cafe entrance, and the moment I saw it, my eyes widened.
Clench.
I was seized by an indescribable rage.
“Hey! Ju-hee, let’s go outside and talk for a second.”
“Huh? Or should we just keep waiting here? Maybe we should just order a coffee and camp out?”
“The shop is small enough as it is, let’s not do that.”
After sending a Tok each to my little hyung and big hyung, I stood up abruptly.
“Hmm?”
“What’s up, pal? You got business with us?”
Senior Ju-hee and the other employees looked at me too, but I’m sorry, I didn't have the mental capacity to worry about them right now.
This was personal.
“Hey, out there.”
Suppressing my rage, I pointed outside the cafe.
“Which one of you fuckers came here on that black bicycle?”
Everyone stared at me as if they had no idea what I was talking about.
So, I gave a more detailed description.
“Sleek black base! Elegant white logo! Carbon fiber frame with a 16cm carbon saddle! Duna brakes! Every single drivetrain component color-matched to the Milliness brand! That incredibly sexy-looking bike!”
I gritted my teeth, shouting with spit flying.
“Which one of you bastards put a front wheel on it that looks like it was scavenged from a fucking wheelchair?!”