Chapter 390: Spark
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 390: Spark
“Hah!”
The moment the female moan drifted from inside, all sorts of thoughts flashed through Oh Yun-ji’s mind.
It was around dinner time, and her high school friend had suddenly sent her to this pool villa.
Working in the internet broadcasting industry, Yun-ji knew all too well that this situation was a classic trope of horror games, but...
“Nngh!”
When another moan followed, she immediately realized what was actually happening.
“Choi I-seo, you...”
She pulled out her phone and called Choi I-seo right away, but there was no answer.
While her head was spinning from the implications, an innocent voice drifted out from the room.
“Woo-jina, didn’t someone just come in?”
“Must be I-seo.”
“You think?”
“Whatever, just focus. You’re gonna end up like Ah-rin at this rate.”
“I-I better focus then!”
“Dammit, Kim Woo-jin! Since when do you use binds?!”
Binds?
Yun-ji furrowed her brows and marched inside.
It seemed Kim Woo-jin’s sexual preferences had evolved in ways she hadn’t expected during her absence.
“Agh! Ujinaaa!”
“Get on your knees and beg!”
At Seo Ye-rin’s scream, Yun-ji’s pace quickened.
She wondered what kind of play could possibly elicit such words, but then—
“Ah! I lost!”
In front of a massive TV, three people were sitting on the sofa, clutching game controllers.
“...”
The moment she saw the words ‘1P WIN!’ flashing on the screen, Yun-ji realized she had been completely mistaken.
“Oh, what? Oh Yun-ji, what are you doing here?”
“Huh? Yun-ji’s here?”
Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin both turned to look at Yun-ji as she entered.
Kim Woo-jin, who had been celebrating his victory, flinched and cautiously approached her, gauging her reaction.
“H-how did you find this place?”
“I-seo told me to come here in her place.”
“I-seo did?”
“She’s making a run for it?!”
“Wow, Choi I-seo is insane.”
Rather than Kim Woo-jin’s flustered state, the reactions of Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin behind him were more notable.
With her sharp intuition, Yun-ji could more or less guess what had happened here.
She also understood why Choi I-seo had sent her.
“I mean, is she the only one having a hard time? We should all be working together!”
“That bitch Choi I-seo isn’t even picking up! I think she really bailed!”
Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin’s reactions were milder than expected.
In the past, they would have flared up in a rage and told her to get out immediately.
Now, they seemed more annoyed by I-seo’s desertion than anything else.
These two have been tainted strangely, too.
Perhaps it was because she had just gotten off the phone with Choi Jin-ah.
It felt like these two, whose sense of common sense had already crumbled, had been thoroughly influenced by Kim Woo-jin.
“Ahem, so... Yun-ji? About what happened here...”
“You don’t have to say anything, just stay quiet. I’ll talk to Choi I-seo separately.”
“Yes, ma’am. Please do.”
She tried calling again, but I-seo still didn’t answer.
Huffing, Yun-ji crossed her arms and sent a text before looking at Kim Woo-jin, who was standing awkwardly in front of her.
“...”
Just look at him, not even knowing what to do with himself.
To avoid the atmosphere getting any weirder, Yun-ji changed the subject.
“I heard you’re enlisting.”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“The Representative told me.”
“My little hyung? Ah, right. That makes sense.”
“When exactly? You’re not planning to delay it?”
“I’m enlisting at the end of January. I thought about pushing it back, but I decided to just get it over with.”
“Hmph.”
He had changed a bit.
How should she put it?
If it were the Kim Woo-jin she used to know, he would have been worried sick about the girls having second thoughts while he was away.
But now, he seemed to possess an unshakable confidence.
“...”
Yun-ji stared at Kim Woo-jin for a moment before nodding with a sigh.
“You have beer, right? Let’s have a drink.”
“Didn’t you drive here? Are you staying the night?”
“Yeah! I’m staying! Choi I-seo sent me here to do exactly that!”
“...”
Left speechless, Kim Woo-jin trudged toward the refrigerator.
The remaining two girls, still seated on the sofa, spoke to Yun-ji.
“If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
“Hey, rookie. This is a battlefield.”
What are these girls even saying?
They really had been corrupted in a strange direction.
“Are you guys really okay with this?”
Yun-ji sat down on the sofa.
When asked if they were okay with the situation I-seo had engineered, the two answered without much hesitation.
“I hate it.”
“Me too.”
“...Then why are you accepting it?”
Seo Ye-rin gave an embarrassed, awkward laugh.
“It’s kind of like... mutual trust?”
“Trust?”
“Yeah! We’re connected by trust, friendship, reliability, and love—that kind of thing!”
“That’s bullshit. It’s just because it’s so damn exhausting that I figured having one more person wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Ah-rin...”
“Exhausting?”
“Actually, this is perfect.”
Yoo Ah-rin shifted her posture and asked Yun-ji bluntly.
“Be honest. When you did it with Kim Woo-jin, it was exhausting as hell, right?”
“...Huh?”
What kind of question was that?
As Yun-ji sat there dazed, unable to answer, Yoo Ah-rin shrugged.
“Ah, no need to act tough. We already know everything anyway.”
“...”
“Honestly, I even feel a sense of respect. I wonder how you handled that bastard all by yourself.”
As Yun-ji remained silent, unable to follow the conversation, Seo Ye-rin tapped Ah-rin’s shoulder as a warning.
“Geez! Ah-rin! You shouldn’t ask things like that!”
“Huh?”
“There’s no way Woo-jini is the same now as he was back then! The partner is different!”
“Ah.”
What was with these girls?
Were they trying to pick a fight?
“Woo-jini was probably average back then! But he’s different now! Because he has a super-kawaii beautiful girl like me!”
“I can’t agree with that, but I get the sentiment. Sorry, Yun-ji. I asked something unnecessary.”
“Are you two picking a fight with me right now?”
Yun-ji forced a smile that looked like a vein was about to pop, and Yoo Ah-rin shrugged in response.
“Maybe a little?”
“Not me, Yun-ji!”
Unlike the bold Ah-rin, Seo Ye-rin waved her hands frantically and shouted.
“A fight?! Perish the thought! It would be a disaster if a top-tier high school-level beauty and the number one most anticipated rookie actress like me fought a regular college student! It’d be like Tyson one-punching a high schooler!”
“...What is she even saying?”
“Basically, she’s Tyson and you’re the high schooler.”
“Right.”
Yun-ji didn’t quite get the logic, but she understood the insult.
“I think she’s the one looking down on me the most right now.”
“Exactly. She’s the biggest crazy bitch while pretending not to be. You know, right? The Bamboo Forest Sex Expert. That’s her.”
“What?”
“A-Ah-rinnn!”
This was truly news to Yun-ji, and she was caught off guard.
Seo Ye-rin desperately tried to cover Yoo Ah-rin’s mouth, but the secret was already out.
“Seriously? She’s the Bamboo Forest Sex Expert? That lunatic?”
“Sigh, I guess there’s no helping it since I’m caught.”
Releasing Ah-rin’s mouth, Seo Ye-rin struck a pose.
She took a stance like a villain from an anime and declared in a low voice.
“That’s right. I am the Sex Expert.”
“Cut the crap.”
“Ah-rin! This is a very cool scene!”
No matter how much the two bickered in front of her, Yun-ji could only shake her head in amazement.
As the CEO of an MCN company, she knew that many people said things anonymously that they would never dare utter in reality.
This is truly surprising.
She never imagined that the infamous legend of the Bamboo Forest would be right in front of her.
Especially not Seo Ye-rin, whose looks were considered the pride of Gahyeon University.
Thinking about it that way, she actually seemed to suit Kim Woo-jin quite well, and the eccentric behavior she had often shown in Hawaii finally made sense.
“Wow... that’s insane.”
She wondered if any of the people spamming her creators’ broadcasts were like this.
She was slightly curious, but there was obviously no way to find out.
“Anyway. A man’s excitement depends on the woman. When that bastard is with us, he goes at it without stopping.”
“And that’s why you got wrecked and Choi I-seo called me? This is ridiculous.”
“Excuse me! I-seo is the only one who got wrecked! We stayed behind without running away!”
As Seo Ye-rin spoke proudly, Yoo Ah-rin’s head drooped slightly.
“Damn. Should I call Senior Ju-hee as a substitute even now?”
“Ah-rin?!”
“I’m joking, you idiot.”
“...”
Watching the two of them play around, Yun-ji surprisingly began to understand.
It’s nice.
Should she call it peaceful?
The way they picked a fight with her was a bit annoying, but she could see why Choi I-seo stayed with them.
She also understood a bit of why Kim Woo-jin loved them.
“Yun-ji?”
Just then, Kim Woo-jin returned from getting the beer.
She wondered why it took him so long just to go to the kitchen, but what he was holding wasn’t beer—it was a phone.
“I’ll put I-seo on.”
Kim Woo-jin handed over his phone.
Yun-ji took it and headed outside.
“Hey, Kim Woo-jin. Come here. I need to hold this guy down so he can’t go anywhere.”
“Ack! What’s this all of a sudden!”
Kim Woo-jin was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Yoo Ah-rin and pinned to the sofa. Yun-ji closed the door just as Seo Ye-rin climbed on top of him, claiming she was performing chest compressions as first aid.
— Hello?
“Hey, what is this?”
— ...
Choi I-seo didn’t answer.
That only fueled Yun-ji’s emotions further.
“Are you kidding me? Did you think I’d actually like this?”
— ...I was giving you an opportunity.
“Opportunity, my ass! Ha, are you seriously trying to piss me off, Choi I-seo?”
— Yun-ji.
“Hey, shall I tell you why you did this?”
Her voice naturally grew louder, but Yun-ji was too worked up to notice.
“You’re still feeling guilty. Guilty that you’re dating him when I’m his ex. That’s why you keep leaving an opening for me with Kim Woo-jin.”
— ...
“After you found out Kim Woo-jin still has feelings for me, you purposely stepped aside because you were afraid he wouldn’t be able to choose me because of you!”
Always.
Choi I-seo worried about Kim Woo-jin.
Even when there was a strange tension between Kim Woo-jin and Min Ju-hee or Oh Yun-ji at the pension.
‘He’s struggling because he’s wavering toward other people like this. Because he feels sorry for us.’
That’s what Choi I-seo had said.
Even in the midst of actions that could be called cheating, Choi I-seo always worried about Kim Woo-jin.
This was a similar case.
If Kim Woo-jin had even a shred of feeling left for Oh Yun-ji, she wanted to accommodate that.
“Shall I be honest? You’re the craziest bitch of them all, I-seo.”
Seo Ye-rin?
Yoo Ah-rin?
No.
The one most fanatically obsessed with Kim Woo-jin under the guise of devoted love was Choi I-seo.
“You wear a mask and play the normal person on the outside. But in reality, as long as Kim Woo-jin is by your side, you don’t care about anything else.”
How did she know so well?
“Because I was the same way, you bitch.”
— ...
Choi I-seo had nothing to say.
She felt that Yun-ji might not be wrong.
Wasn’t she giving her man a chance to legally cheat so he wouldn’t leave?
It could hardly be seen as a normal kind of love.
If she had to use a metaphor, it was like feeding a wild beast in a zoo.
“Do you think I’ll just snap this up? This scrap you’re tossing me like an act of charity?”
— That’s...
“You’ve known me since high school, and you still don’t know me? I’m not someone you can look down on. I’m not your subordinate.”
Yun-ji straightened her back.
The setting sun shone on her, adding a brilliant luster to her red hair.
“I’m Oh Yun-ji.”
A burning heat was coiled in her chest.
Though she had unintentionally shown a lot of vulnerability lately, externally, Oh Yun-ji was not the type to bow down to anyone.
“I’m not an easy enough opponent for you to be acting so relaxed.”
— ...
“Get your head straight. I’m not someone you need to look out for; I’m the one coming to take him away.”
— Phew, fine.
The short sigh contained many meanings.
— That’s more like you.
At Choi I-seo’s declaration of surrender, Yun-ji grinned and shouted.
“You bitch! Come here right now and apologize to me and Kim Woo-jin! Unless you want to die!”
— ...Alright.
“And bring alcohol when you come! The expensive stuff!”
— Got it.
“Hang up! You shitty friend!”
Click.
After hanging up, Yun-ji let out a long sigh.
She felt so hot she wanted to dive into the pool right in front of her.
“Take it.”
“Yeah.”
As Yun-ji held the phone out behind her while still standing, Kim Woo-jin, who had approached at some point, quietly took it.
“Phew, manage your girlfriend better. She’s super obsessed with you while pretending she isn’t.”
“Uh... sorry.”
“Well, I’m not really one to talk.”
As an ex-girlfriend, she could empathize with I-seo’s feelings to some extent, so she couldn’t just blindly curse her out.
“Is there anything good to eat? I want to eat something amazing today.”
“Something amazing?”
“Yeah, something freaking delicious! Because I just kicked something freaking delicious away with my own two feet!”
“...”
Kim Woo-jin didn’t really answer.
He immediately realized that the ‘freaking delicious thing’ she had kicked away was himself.
“Don’t worry, I’m not in the mood for that today.”
Yun-ji patted Kim Woo-jin on the shoulder and walked inside.
Her back looked confident and unwavering.
She was truly a woman like a flame.
That was Oh Yun-ji.
Damn.
Suddenly, Kim Woo-jin recalled the time they were dating and clicked his tongue, slapping his own forehead.
The way she looked now was so similar to how she was when they were deeply in love.
She was brilliantly confident and full of self-assurance.
Just like the Oh Yun-ji of the English Literature department who had captured his gaze more than anyone else back then.
* * *
— Yun-ji, what did you talk to I-seo about?
“Hmm?”
Yun-ji, who was inside gulping down beer, was on the phone with Jung Min-ji.
Min-ji, who lived with Choi I-seo, sounded worried.
“Why all of a sudden?”
— No, I-seo was super anxious until a moment ago. She was pacing the living room, then went into her room to scream into her pillow and cry a little.
“...”
— But she was on the phone for a while just now, and then she suddenly asked if I wanted to go with her to see you.
“Heh.”
— What’s going on? You guys didn’t fight, right?
“Good grief, Choi I-seo.”
That cute little thing.
“We didn’t fight! You come too! There’s tons of good food here.”
— You really didn’t fight, right? I’m coming with a light heart then.
“Just get over here. I want to tease that cutie as soon as possible.”