Pizza Delivery Girl (Han Yeseul)

Haa.

I'm so nervous.

Please!

I plead to a god I don't even believe in.

Please let me pass!

Ah! Oh god!

The email I'd been waiting for.

I clicked.

Ah……

Ugh……

My consciousness drifted away.

I'd really thought I had a shot this time.

Haa~

I felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like crying.

No.

A woman shouldn't cry just because she failed an audition.

It wasn't as if I were some soft-hearted, teary-eyed man.

I pulled myself together.

"Yeseul! Go deliver that order."

"Yes, unnie."

Haa. Busy, what with it being Saturday night.

I packed up the pizzas and loaded them onto the motorcycle.

I'd really been confident this time……

The regret still clung to me.

Should I try calling Unnie Miryeong?

If it was Unnie Miryeong, she'd at least tell me why I'd failed.

I found her number in my contacts and pressed it.

Unnie hesitated.

As one of the judges, telling me the reason for rejection actually went against fairness.

"Unnie, seriously. I feel so wronged this time. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I really thought I'd make it. This time."

"Haa. Fine. Alright. I'll tell you."

I tensed up.

Gulp.

"Yeseul, you're pretty — I don't even need to say it; you're famous for that in this industry. You already know your face isn't why you got cut."

That was true.

I was confident about my face.

Back in my school days, countless boys used to wait out front with chocolate just to catch a glimpse of me. I'd received business cards from famous managers more times than I could count. I even had a small fan club. Women kept asking me out, too, without end.

But.

"Whew. It's a little awkward to say with my own mouth, but… you already know it's because of your height, right?"

Ah, fuck.

That damn height.

So it really was the height again.

Truly the single blemish of my entire life.

My height is 162 centimeters.

The same as it was in my third year of middle school.

In a world where the average height for women is 175 centimeters, I was basically a hobbit.

I'd trained myself bloody for three years at YJ to become a girl-group idol. But my height was the obstacle. Other trainees usually grew about ten centimeters over the training period. Only I stayed exactly the same. Because of that, after three years of preparation, I alone was forcibly cut from the girl group Pandora right before debut.

And now, as you can see — I was a pizza delivery girl who went around open auditions.

It had already been two years since I graduated high school. I felt anxious. Stifled. Was I going to spend my whole life as a pizza delivery girl and end up with nothing? Surviving on a pretty face alone wasn't easy in Korea.

If only I were a man.

With a handsome face alone, I could have achieved everything. Super-handsome guys just showed their faces on Twinchi TV and money rolled in like mountains. Throw in a sexy dance, and sponsors rained down money bombs. Seojin, famous as a Twinchi hottie, casually twerked once and made twenty million won in a single day.

Fuck. This world was so goddamn unfair.

Female streamers did stupid shit and tried to be funny all day long and still struggled to make fifty thousand won. Even a famous female streamer only pulled in about three million a month. Well — who'd watch a female streamer anyway? All you saw on the streets were women.

"Haa. I understand, unnie. So it was the height after all."

"Hang in there, Yeseul. Still, your face is top-tier. Your body and proportions are good too. You'll get a good result next time."

"Thank you, unnie. I have a delivery to make. I'll call you later."

"Yeah, okay~ Be careful of cars when you're delivering."

Click.

Haa. At least the connections I'd made at YJ helped when it came to auditions. I'd met Unnie Miryeong during my YJ trainee days, as trainer and trainee.

No — wait. I'd wasted three years of hellish training. Should I really call leftover connections "helpful"?

I climbed onto the motorcycle, put on my helmet, and started the engine.

Vroom.

I flicked my lighter.

Click.

The flame was bright.

My life was darkness, though.

Still, the summer city night streets were beautiful.

I arrived at the delivery address and checked the order.

Tonight's destination: Jamsil, Hwashin Apartments, unit 1203. One Hawaiian pizza. One mint-chocolate pizza? One 1.5-liter bottle of cola.

Mint-chocolate pizza? Weird taste. Well, it did sell now and then these days.

Mint-chocolate pizza.

Ding. The elevator stopped.

1203.

I pressed the button. The building was old, so it was filthy — even the elevator had graffiti. Haa. Depressing. Saturday night, delivering pizza to a rundown apartment. The ones who'd trained with me were probably on overseas tours by now. Pandora had been doing well abroad lately, too. Not long ago, their new song had even cracked the Billboard Hot 100.

When I'd first started preparing as a trainee, I'd been the face of the group. Who knew my life would fall into the abyss over just height.

Whew.

The pizza felt especially heavy today. Better hurry before they started bitching about a late delivery.

12…

1203…

Found it.

Ding-dong.

"Pizza delivery."

"Ah, uh… just a moment."

A man's voice. A pretty cute one.

"Deliveries are backed up, so please come out quickly."

"Yes — coming, coming."

The man cracked the door open and stuck out his hand.

"Give it here."

"Ah, the pizza's going to spill. This is ridiculous."

I grabbed the door of unit 1203 and flung it wide open.

And then — as if the gates of heaven themselves had opened — radiance poured out from within.

What… what is this?

Why is an angel living in this old apartment?!

The angel looked at me with a flushed face, panting. He seemed to have been working out. Over his unbuttoned white shirt, a glimpse of white, firm chest showed through.

Sexy.

Cold sweat ran down me before I even realized it. The angel gazed at me with beautiful eyes that looked ready to rain down stars at any moment. The harmony of his slightly tousled black hair and pale face was almost mystical. Had someone carved that face with a sculptor's chisel? His sharp V-line was perfect. The hand visible against the white shirt looked tough; blue veins stood out clearly on translucent skin. Residual muscle, clearly built with a trainer. Broad shoulders, small face — his proportions were perfect too. Abs showed through the slightly undone buttons.

So a man's abs could be this sexy.

Abs like that were common enough on women. But most men — fragile, and finding exercise hard — didn't have them at all. Without intensive training, it was impossible.

A face beautiful as an angel, and a well-sculpted body. He had to be either an idol trainee or an aspiring actor. But I could say this with absolute certainty: even at Korea's No. 1 management company, YJ, I had never seen a man more beautiful than the angel standing in front of me now.

I'd seen handsome men to the point of boredom as a trainee. But a man whose looks made my heart stop for an instant like this — first time.

On top of that, a scent came off him. A scent I'd never smelled in my life. Like night…… like the scent of night flowers. Intoxicated by it, I wanted to keep breathing in that thick, clinging fragrance.

"Ah. Uh…… the, the pizza…"

Only then did I notice my mistake. I was just a pizza delivery girl, and I'd abandoned my duty, stunned by that angel's beauty. Panic was plain on his face. Ah — well. In the dead of night, a strange woman had been staring at him without a word for quite a while. I'd have nothing to say if he reported me.

I handed over the pizza and bowed at a full ninety degrees.

"I'm sorry. I must have gotten excited seeing a handsome man for the first time in so long. I won't look at you with such lecherous eyes again."

Ah. That apology was a little off. It was the kind of apology that could easily get me taken for a pervert.

I slowly raised my head to gauge the angel's reaction.

But then—

Uh.

Uhhh!

Haaaah!

As I slowly lifted my head, I saw something I shouldn't have.

The angel's long, straight white legs. Firm thighs. And above those sexy thighs — sexy black Calvin Klein boxer briefs. The white panel at the center made them even more attractive. Limited edition? And sleeping inside them, that heavy……

Male cock.

Though the briefs covered it, I could tell just from imagination how thick and beautiful that cock was. Cold sweat ran down me. I should have realized from the start. He'd clearly tried to open the door just a crack and take only the pizza. But I'd flung it wide open. How shocked must he have been? Looking at it, he seemed to be home alone. A situation where I could be arrested for sexual harassment on the spot with nothing to say for myself.

I wanted to keep looking at the angel's heavy cock, but I closed my eyes. I couldn't defile him with my vulgar, desire-filled gaze.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll accept any punishment."

How shocked must he have been? Not a word. I resented myself.

I heard a rustling sound. Then the angel's voice.

"Um, this……"

I opened my eyes and looked at him. My heart felt like it would melt like ice cream on a summer day. The angel smiled faintly and held out a card to me.

"Carrier discount ten percent, right?"

"Y… yes?"

I was flustered. A completely unexpected turn. I hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even dreamed of taking money for the pizza. I'd been ready to be dragged off by the police and accept my crime gladly. If he'd demanded compensation, I'd been ready to empty my entire bank account.

When I stayed silent in shock, the angel put the card away.

"Ah. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guess that doesn't work in this world. Um, here's twenty thousand won. Keep the change. That… ah, sorry for making you smell that dirty scent. Take care. You're too pretty to be delivering pizza."

The man carefully closed the door.

It just ended like that? No police report. No demand for rightful compensation? And dirty scent…… All I'd smelled was the mysterious night-flower fragrance coming off the angel.

What on earth had just happened?

Those three minutes with unit 1203 felt like a whole year. My heart still wouldn't stop pounding. No — tonight, this pounding probably wouldn't stop until dawn.