Chapter 374: Lie
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 374: Lie
I suppose I should consider it a stroke of luck.
Word of what had just happened didn't seem to be spreading.
Oh Yun-ji had raised her voice, but the music was blasting so loudly that no one nearby could hear her.
"A-ahem. I'm leaving now."
Senior Ju-hee wiped her mouth awkwardly and made her escape.
I wondered if it was right for her to just dip out like that after getting what she wanted, but at the same time, trying to explain things with her standing right there felt like it would only make matters worse.
Besides, how convincing would it be to claim I was the one being attacked when the person next to me was panting with a heavy flush on her face?
"Hmm."
Oh Yun-ji was looking back and forth between me and the bottle in her hand.
Seeing as she wasn't running off to tell the others, it seemed she had an ulterior motive.
"Yun-ji, look, about this..."
I tried to take the opportunity to explain, but Oh Yun-ji shook her head and gave a simple reply.
"Wait a sec. I'm thinking."
"...About what?"
"About where I should hit you with this bottle to take you out in one shot. Currently, the highest probability is your head."
"Sigh, just listen. I'm seriously the victim here."
"Was there anything about that situation just now that screamed 'victim'...?"
When she put it like that, she wasn't wrong.
But still, I felt wronged.
"Senior Ju-hee started it."
"..."
"Oh, please. Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you're listening to a dog bark."
"...Sharp, aren't you?"
Oh Yun-ji looked a bit surprised that I'd hit the nail on the head.
Not knowing how else to explain, I just kept rambling incoherently.
"I'm serious! I mean, she started it, but I tried to use a counter-strategy to push her away, and—"
"Pfft, I know."
"—and I took back the initiative... wait, what?"
What did she just say?
When I stared at her, Oh Yun-ji shrugged as if wondering why I was even bothering to explain.
"I know you didn't start it. I believe you were the one being jumped."
"Why?"
She believed me? Even after seeing a scene where anyone would assume I was the aggressor?
I suspected she was just trying to lower my guard, but Oh Yun-ji replied with an indifferent shrug.
"Do you think I met you yesterday? I can tell if you're lying just by looking at you."
"..."
"I actually came looking for you after hearing that Senior Ju-hee had pounced on you. It didn't seem like you were lying about that."
"Wow."
I wasn't being sarcastic; I was genuinely impressed.
I knew Oh Yun-ji understood me well, but I didn't realize it was to this extent.
"Well, we have known each other the longest out of everyone here."
Oh Yun-ji spoke with a shrug.
"Technically... yeah."
We did have the longest history.
We'd been together since the first semester of our freshman year.
Oh Yun-ji nudged the bottle toward me.
"Gargle with this."
"..."
I took a sip. It was slightly bitter but had a hidden sweetness that suited my palate quite well.
"Oh, what is this? What kind of alcohol is it?"
"Good, right? I had a feeling you'd like it the moment I tasted it."
"...You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"Was it that obvious?"
Oh Yun-ji stuck her tongue out playfully and laughed.
Maybe it was because we both had a bit of alcohol in our systems, but her acting all cute felt... well, cute.
'Get a grip.'
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and handed the bottle back to her.
"Thanks for believing me. I'll handle things with the Senior, so you go enjoy the party."
"Why are you wrapping things up so awkwardly?"
"Phew, how can it not be awkward? You're my ex-girlfriend."
This wasn't Hollywood.
This was Korea.
In Korea, an ex is usually the last person you ever want to run into.
"I thought we'd already cleared all that away?"
"We did. But you've been saying weird things lately. Like how I need to take responsibility and all that."
There was that time she called me while drunk, and the scene at the gukbap restaurant was a total disaster.
It would be a lie to say I didn't feel burdened.
Plus, I wanted to avoid those kinds of conversations or meetings because they could make the other girls feel insecure.
"Hmm."
"So, you got it? I'm going. Have fun. I saw plenty of guys here. Go find someone decent."
"..."
I turned my back on Oh Yun-ji and started to walk away.
Good, this was enough.
How many times had we already said our goodbyes?
We had ended things well; it was just that the Cyber Wrecker incident had reignited some emotions.
Since we'd done it once, we just had to put those feelings to rest again.
Yeah, that's all—
—Yun-jiiiiiiiiii!
My feet froze.
A familiar voice pierced my ears, making me go stiff.
—I really miss youuuuu! I said I miss youuuuu! Where did you gooooo!
That was my voice.
But when?
I had no memory of ever saying such things.
"Wh-what is that?"
I slowly turned around to find Oh Yun-ji holding up her phone with a sly grin.
The screen showed a recording.
Which meant those were definitely my words.
—I don't need any of the other girls!
Oh Yun-ji didn't say a word, letting the recording play on.
—Honeyyyyy! My honeyyyyy! I, hic! Seriously! hic! I miss you so much! Where the hell did you goooo!
—I can't stop thinking about you! Even when I pretend I'm not, you're the only one on my mind! Honey! We even picked out names for our kids! I seriously can't live without you, Honey!
"Shut up! Kim Woo-jiiiiiin!"
What the hell was that crazy bastard blabbering about?!
The recording ended after a few more similar outbursts.
Judging by the mentions of Seo Ye-rin and Choi I-seo in between, it contained some pretty significant slips of the tongue.
"..."
"..."
We stared at each other.
In the silence, Oh Yun-ji smirked and spoke.
"I was surprised. Back then, the company was still getting settled, so I was working overtime."
"..."
"Technically, I wasn't supposed to contact you until I'd proven myself. But I was so curious why you were calling me in the middle of the night that I just picked up."
I called Oh Yun-ji in the middle of the night?
From the sounds of it, it was after I'd gotten close to Seo Ye-rin and Choi I-seo.
In that case...
"Ah... it was when I first went drinking with those idiots."
The day I first met the Bald Man.
I woke up the next morning to find we'd all experienced a social death, and I had a record of a three-minute call to Oh Yun-ji.
"So it was then!"
Those idiots are never any help.
I already missed Han-gang and Pyo Jin-ho.
I wanted to go find them and blame them for everything.
"..."
But I knew that, in the end, no one had held a knife to my throat and forced me to make that drunken call. I did it myself.
In that case, there was only one thing to do.
Be bold.
"That was ages ago. Do you really think I'd be shaken by something from the past?"
If I remembered correctly, this was before I went to Gold One.
So, it was likely around the time I'd slept with Seo Ye-rin but wasn't dating her yet because of her mother.
I wasn't going to be swayed by something like—
—I want to suck your tits!
"..."
Damn it, Kim Woo-jin, just die already.
Oh Yun-ji had found that specific segment and played it back with pinpoint accuracy.
I was speechless.
As I hesitated, Oh Yun-ji asked, "Make a choice."
"About what..."
"Whether we release this and go down in flames together, or whether the two of us grab a drink and find some middle ground."
"I'm sorry, but I'm the youngest son of Uju Group. Do you really think I'd negotiate with a terrorist like you?! Huh?! You think I'd negotiate?! Are you underestimating our love that much? Do you think the girls would actually say anything to me just because of some drunken habit from the past?! So, what kind of alcohol should I bring?!"
"Whatever you want."
"I'll be right back!"
* * *
Clink.
The sound of the bottles hitting each other rang out.
Since a long time ago, I'd always thought this sounded like two magnets snapping together.
There was no particular reason.
It was just a thought I had.
'I'm desperate.'
I judged myself as I tilted the bottle and poured the liquid down my throat.
Right now, I was desperate.
I was thinking only of how to snatch Oh Yun-ji's phone away.
Alcohol acts like gasoline for the brain, providing fuel, but it can also become a burning fuse.
I need to stay sharp—!
"I feel like I'm living in the past."
Her melancholy eyes met mine, stinging with emotion.
We were sitting on a bench meant for spectators in a corner of the jokgu court.
Oh Yun-ji muttered the same thing again.
"I feel like I'm living in the past. Just me."
"..."
"I keep thinking about the conversations we had, and I still have the recordings of you telling me you love me."
"..."
"But on the other hand, you're trying your hardest to distance yourself from me."
She wasn't wrong.
I had been trying to distance myself from Oh Yun-ji by any means necessary.
In fact, Oh Yun-ji was a person of interest even more dangerous than Senior Ju-hee or anyone else.
"Yun-ji."
I placed a hand on her shoulder.
Now that we were both a bit tipsy, I finally found the courage to speak.
"If you know that, then just get lost."
"You piece of shit."
"Hey, you bitch. This is the fifth time you've tried to seduce me by acting all melancholy, including the time we were actually dating."
"This doesn't work anymore?"
Of course not.
"But your hand is still awkward. Trying to steal my phone?"
"..."
Busted, damn it.
Since I was caught, there was no point in hesitating.
"Give it here!"
I set the bottle down and lunged at her. But Oh Yun-ji was ready; she grabbed my face with her palm and shoved me aside as she stood up.
"Back off, Kim Woo-jin. Before I play this recording over the party speakers."
Oh Yun-ji took a stance like some kind of martial artist.
I glared at her, clenching my fists and mimicking a boxer.
"If you do that, I'll make sure you can't live in South Korea anymore."
"You'll be dead at the hands of I-seo and Ah-rin before that happens."
I was speechless.
She was right.
"You've always been too right. Am I your student?! Even when we were dating, I felt like I was being lectured by you!"
"Then behave yourself! I turned a rich chaebol brat into a functioning human being, and the moment I'm gone, you lose focus and seduce three women?!"
"You were just monopolizing a blue-chip stock!"
Time for physical force.
I lunged at her again, arms wide.
I wasn't the same person I used to be.
I could now overwhelm Oh Yun-ji in both strength and speed.
To think the reason I worked out as a man was to subdue my ex-girlfriend.
All that exercise was paying off.
I should work out even harder from now on.
"Tch!"
Oh Yun-ji seemed to realize she was at a disadvantage and threw her phone toward the jokgu court.
The phone bounced across the urethane surface and came to a stop.
"...!"
I immediately diverted my path from Oh Yun-ji toward the phone.
"Stupid girl!"
Thinking I didn't even need to subdue her anymore, I reached for the phone.
"Huh?"
But once I picked it up, I realized it wasn't the phone I'd seen earlier.
The case color was similar, so I'd been fooled, but it was a completely different model.
At that moment—
Whack!
Oh Yun-ji's dropkick slammed into my ribs.
"Urgh?!"
"That's my work phone, you idiot!"
I was sent sprawling by the kick.
"Gah!"
However, because Oh Yun-ji had committed to the flying dropkick, she couldn't stick the landing and tumbled to the ground as well.
Thud!
The two of us ended up sprawled out on the jokgu court.
"Ah, man. It looks so much cleaner in the movies."
But unlike me, who was reeling from the hit, Oh Yun-ji tried to get back up. In that split second, I grabbed a nearby jokgu ball and hurled it at the back of her head.
Thwack!
"Agh?!"
The ball hit its mark, and Oh Yun-ji went down again.
"Die, you bitch."
"Kim Woo-jin, you son of a..."
In the end, we both lay there on the court.
Exhausted, we struggled for a while before Oh Yun-ji suddenly looked up at the stars in the sky and spoke.
"You said you wanted to do it while looking at the stars back at the campsite."
"And you said it was too cold and made us go into the tent."
"If we'd had a fight like this back then, our bodies would've been warm enough to do it outside. Admit it."
"...I admit it."
"Hehehe."
"Sigh, my side hurts like hell because of you, Oh Yun-ji."
"My head is throbbing, okay? Did you throw a brick at me just now?"
"It was a jokgu ball. Don't exaggerate."
"Oh, it was a ball?"
"Phew, you've always been like this. Making a huge fuss over nothing."
"Look who's talking. You're the one who used to make a fuss and put bandages on me. Remember when I had indigestion and you pricked my finger with a needle? You sucked on my finger because you were so worried."
"That was..."
"Why would you even swallow black blood? And then you started sucking it so suggestively that we ended up doing it. Remember?"
"What about you? When I had a cold, you suddenly started giving me a blowjob. Remember? I asked you to order some porridge, and you said you'd do that after you finished."
"That was, well... I was frustrated because it was right after my period, and it just so happened you had a cold... But you got better because I caught the cold from you!"
As we continued to exchange trivial stories, our bodies, which had been heated from the exertion, began to cool down, and the chill set in.
Feeling better, I slowly stood up, and Oh Yun-ji followed suit.
"Hey, here."
I handed her the work phone I'd picked up.
"Thanks."
The party still seemed to be in full swing.
As we walked back together, I said, "I don't have any lingering feelings anymore."
To which Oh Yun-ji replied, "Do you think I-seo and the others would believe you if you said that?"
"..."
"Practice lying a bit. If you're part of the owner family, you need to be able to do at least that much."
Seriously.
"Are you my teacher or something?"
She knew me far too well.