Chapter 371: Traditionally, A Man Is
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 371: Traditionally, A Man Is
While Kim Woo-jin and his inner circle were hanging out inside the pension, a party was already in full swing outside, with music blaring despite it not being dinner time yet.
The Idiots were having the time of their lives, welcoming the stunning women they were meeting for the first time. Kang Han-gang and Pyo Jin-ho, in particular, were desperately trying to score points with the ladies.
Ahn Hyun-ho was the only one showing any restraint. He had previously misunderstood and thought his girlfriend, Gyu-a, was cheating on him, but after discovering the man was actually her cousin, their relationship had become even more solid.
Still, in this current situation, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. If he hadn't come with his girlfriend, wouldn't he be able to play around with these model-tier beauties too?
Meanwhile, Jeong Chan-woo was receiving more love from the women than anyone else. Since he was a handsome man of a caliber rarely seen even by professional models, the roles seemed somewhat reversed in his case.
James, the one who had brought these beauties, was sitting at a shabby outdoor table, sipping wine.
"I heard you're a runaway."
James tossed the question out casually. Choi Jin-ah hesitated for a moment, as if holding the answer in her mouth, before finally speaking.
"Yeah, that's right."
She answered as if it were nothing new.
"That doesn't sound like you."
"Really?"
"Most men my age have their eyes on you."
"On me?"
"It was the same at the reunion."
"……."
"You're a top-tier commodity, after all."
The term 'commodity' was quite grating, but Choi Jin-ah didn't bother to call him out on it. She was used to people of his ilk viewing others in terms of value. Her own father was the exact same way.
"The rumors your Chairman spread are still circulating. Surprisingly, quite a few people have asked me if I know where you are."
Choi Jin-ah took a sip of wine. She forced herself to swallow the sharp bitterness lingering on her tongue.
"I already told my father that I'm going to marry Woo-jin."
"Everyone is still interested because your Chairman hasn't acknowledged it yet."
"……."
"Besides, that's a lie anyway, isn't it? You're just using Kim Woo-jin as a shield."
James was quite sharp. He had quickly seen through the fact that Kim Woo-jin and his father were intentionally pretending to be in an engaged relationship to buy Choi Jin-ah some time.
"So? Did you come here to tell me to go back?"
"I'm telling you to be careful."
James let out a sigh and fixed his gaze on Choi Jin-ah, offering a warning.
"Among the people in our circle, you're something of a unicorn. You don't live a promiscuous life, there are no rumors regarding drugs or alcohol, and you have a high reputation as a violinist."
It didn't sound like a compliment. It felt like being an animal listening to a lecture on why it would fetch such a high price at auction.
"You know how it is. There are plenty of people with eccentric tastes in our world. Guys who say they want to 'defile' you and whatnot... there were quite a few of them even at the reunion."
"Stop it. I don't want to hear it."
"When your father picks someone like that and pushes them on you, you won't be able to refuse—"
"I said, stop."
Choi Jin-ah glared at him sharply. James's eyes slowly widened as he looked at her. Then, he nodded with a faint, relieved smile.
"I see. You really have changed."
The old Choi Jin-ah would have kept her mouth shut and just listened. Seeing her push back like this gave him a bit of confidence in her.
"Who are you?"
"Seriously, who are you?"
Two people had been listening to the conversation from the seats right next to them. Oh Yun-ji and Min Ju-hee were staring at Choi Jin-ah with wide, surprised eyes.
"……."
Choi Jin-ah glanced at them and quickly looked down, hiding her expression. She felt like she’d been caught playing an embarrassing role in a play.
"Ahem, cough! Ja-James? Could you leave now?"
"I'd rather not."
James stayed in his seat and took another sip.
They're quite beautiful.
He was honestly impressed as he looked at Oh Yun-ji and Min Ju-hee. The models he had brought were certainly beauties as well. They always did their best to groom themselves, and that was essentially their purpose in life.
But how should he put it?
It felt like looking at something wild and natural after seeing only farm-raised stock. It wasn't a charm that struggled to show off; it was a fresh, natural allure that radiated effortlessly.
"Jin-ah, I thought you'd become a different person. Our cute little Piggy."
"Do-Don't call me Piggy."
Piggy?
Her? Come to think of it, she did look like she’d gained a little weight since the last time he saw her.
"You have to watch your drinking, Jin-ah. You really have to be careful about a beer belly."
"Yes... Unni."
Choi Jin-ah's vibe felt a bit different than before. James, watching blankly, tilted his head and couldn't help but ask.
"This one is Kim Woo-jin's guard. And this one is Kim Woo-jin's ex-girlfriend, right?"
He had seen Min Ju-hee at the reunion, and Oh Yun-ji was already quite famous. Since James had nailed it, the two confirmed it, and drinks naturally began to flow between them.
However, there wasn't much room for James to join the conversation. Before long, they were just talking among themselves, and James simply sipped his wine and watched.
"No, I mean, why can't you just be honest with yourself?"
"Here she goes again."
"Yun-ji-Yun-ji..."
To James, Oh Yun-ji's personality was like a flame, matching her hair color. She was straightforward and proactive, yet she seemed to have some sort of hesitation regarding a specific area.
"Isn't three or four the same thing anyway?"
"It's not the same, you brat!"
"She got drunk faster than if she'd been drinking soju."
"Phew... am I... am I the only one living in the past?"
Oh Yun-ji huffed and puffed, grumbling about how unfair it was.
"Yun-ji, let's just calm down for a second."
"Right, James is right here too."
Min Ju-hee and Choi Jin-ah tried to soothe the increasingly intoxicated Oh Yun-ji. Discussing this topic in front of James didn't seem like a good idea at all.
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
There was no one there who didn't understand the words James tossed out.
"It's a famous quote by Les Brown. It means that if you set a high goal, you'll still achieve something great even if you fail."
James wet his tongue with wine.
"If you look at successful people, 'giving up' was never an option. Even if they failed, they definitely left something behind through that failure."
"...Do you even realize what kind of situation this is before you start blathering?"
Choi Jin-ah warned him sharply, telling him to realize what he was saying. But James replied with a smirk.
"It's a gathering of defeated soldiers who gave up."
"Phew, logically speaking, it's only natural to give up on a man who already has a girlfriend."
"Is that so?"
But would logic even apply in this situation?
"The other party isn't exactly logical, is he?"
"……."
"And the place where Kim Woo-jin exists is outside the realm of common sense. He's the youngest son of Uju Group. Why are you expecting common sense from someone like that?"
In truth, Kim Woo-jin was the man who least suited the word 'common sense.' What was particularly malicious was how he occasionally pretended to be sensible.
"To begin with, the guys around me usually have two or three lovers as a baseline."
He was being serious. There were indeed many wealthy men who had numerous lovers, and James himself had a fiancée from an arranged marriage, but that didn't mean his relationships with other women were clean.
"Fortune favors the bold."
James whispered the advice while looking at Min Ju-hee and Oh Yun-ji.
"Surprisingly... that man might have been the greatest stroke of luck in your lives."
"Wa-Wait! Come over here for a second!"
Finally, Choi Jin-ah couldn't take it anymore and dragged James away. They passed the men who were busy flirting with the models and stopped in front of the heated swimming pool.
Choi Jin-ah crossed her arms and confronted James.
"What's your intention? Why are you trying to drag ordinary people into this world?"
"……."
"Woo-jin already has many lovers. Why are you doing this again?"
"If you call three 'many,' my friends would all laugh at you."
"Woo-jin is different from you guys!"
"He is different. Compared to him, even a second-generation chaebol looks like a nouveau riche brat bragging about money without knowing his place."
"Ah, seriously! That's not what I'm talking about!"
Choi Jin-ah knew. She knew that James didn't have particularly good feelings toward Kim Woo-jin. Of course, he had helped with various things and had secretly become close with the Idiots.
They had become unexpectedly close, but they weren't so devoted that he would go around pushing women toward him.
"……."
"Be honest. Why are you suddenly acting like this?"
Choi Jin-ah's confrontational attitude was quite refreshing. Because of that, James decided he might as well be honest.
"I want to see him drowning in a sea of women."
"What?"
"Honestly, Kim Woo-jin or Uju Group isn't the type to be shaken just because he adds a few more women to his life, right?"
"……."
"But I want Kim Woo-jin to suffer a bit."
To be even more honest...
"I want him to have a hard time! As much as I suffered because of that bastard! I want him to get a taste of his own medicine!"
Choi Jin-ah was speechless.
"So..."
He was speaking confidently, as if he had hatched some grand scheme. But to summarize it simply...
"You're just throwing a tantrum because you want to pay him back for what happened when you were kids?"
"...Don't beautify my revenge so simply."
"No, no matter how I hear it, that's exactly what it is."
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Suddenly, Kang Han-gang's scream rang out. Everyone's eyes instantly turned toward the source, where Kang Han-gang was kneeling with a look of utter despair.
The despair radiating from his expression was enough to baffle everyone.
"Jin-ho-yaaaaa! You son of a bitch!"
"Huh? Why?"
Pyo Jin-ho, who had been having a great time with the ladies, looked at Kang Han-gang in shock.
"You said we enlist on Tuesday! Do you have udon noodles for brains?! They said Nonsan enlistment is on Monday! The entrance ceremony is already over!"
"Huh?"
Pyo Jin-ho asked back, confused. Then, he checked his own phone. Seeing him drop the phone because his hands were shaking so much, everyone realized what the situation was.
"I-I didn't look at the military texts properly... It said if it's a public holiday, enlistment is on Tuesday—"
Pyo Jin-ho poured out excuses. But could this really be blamed on Pyo Jin-ho alone? Since it was a joint enlistment, all the messages sent to Pyo Jin-ho were also sent to Han-gang.
In the end, both of them were responsible for not checking properly.
"T-They said to come right now! They said they'd still take us if we get there late!"
"Really?!"
Fortunately, since they were planning to drink with their college friends tonight, they had only had a few sips. Their minds were still relatively clear.
"We can get rid of the alcohol smell on the way! Let's just take a car—!"
They just had to go. But this was a pension deep in the mountains. There was no public transportation, and a taxi would take forever to arrive. There were several cars, but...
"I've been drinking."
Starting with James, then Min Ju-hee who rode her bike, Choi Jin-ah with her Porsche, and finally Oh Yun-ji. Most of them had at least one sip of expensive alcohol, so driving now would be an immediate DUI.
"Ah."
With weak steps, Kang Han-gang approached Pyo Jin-ho.
"I... my father said he'd literally kill me if I don't enlist this time..."
Kang Han-gang, who had a soldier for a father, had tears welling in his eyes.
"I have nothing else to do if I don't go now either! I don't even have any money!"
Pyo Jin-ho was in the same boat; if he delayed it any further, things would get messy with school and everything else. But there was no way to get there.
Why do we live like this? Why are we such idiots?
"Hwaaaaaagh!"
"Ugh! Sob!"
The two of them knelt and hugged each other, crying like children. They wailed sorrowfully.
Let's become better.
Let's become real human beings.
Since we've been burned so badly, let's melt ourselves down through this day and be born anew.
Their cries contained such a meaning. And perhaps God heard them.
Kim Woo-jin, whose face was slightly swollen as if he’d been beaten up somewhere, placed his hands on their shoulders.
"There's still one more person."
It was the sound of a fierce engine. The aggressive roar proved that it was a beast more dangerous than any other in the mountain valley.
They looked up. A massive off-road vehicle was pulling into the parking lot. And inside was...
Homo, the one who always saved them from crises.
"I called him."
The vehicle stopped as Kim Woo-jin gave a proud smile. And from it stepped the Bald Man.
The man had no idea what was going on. He had just come to hang out because Kim Woo-jin called him. But sensing the gazes fixed on him, he quickly crossed his arms.
"A man, by definition..."
The sky was darkening.
"Must know exactly when he needs to look cool."
His head, shining brightly under the newly lit streetlamp, looked like a beacon of hope to them.
"So this is the place."
The Bald Man took a deep breath and declared with a grin.
"The place where I shall shine."