A Generous Proposal
One day, Park Taejun, sitting in a cafe with his girlfriend who was two years his junior, found himself in a tight spot due to her sudden remark.
"A trip?"
"Yeah. You said you liked traveling, babe."
He had said that. He'd figured claiming to love travel would give him a better shot at seducing her. Honestly, the idea of a trip didn't appeal to him at all. It would be one thing if he had money to burn, but as a guy studying for the civil service exam, how much spare cash could he possibly have? He'd much rather save that money to buy better food.
But he couldn't bring himself to be honest now, not after everything he'd already spouted. And as if the trip itself wasn't enough of a headache...
"With a friend, too?"
"You know Sia, right? It's just, you're not exactly great at taking photos, and I know you wouldn't want us fighting over that on our vacation."
"..."
Now she was saying her friend was tagging along. Dammit. Instead of trying to avoid fighting over photos, she was already planning to rip his head off if the pictures didn't turn out well.
Still, he had to suck it up. A girl this pretty and two years younger than him didn't just grow on trees. He had put so much effort into winning her over; he couldn't let a single trip ruin things.
Fortunately, he had enough money to cover his own expenses. The problem was that if he had to chip in for her friend, Song Sia, things would get incredibly tight... Even if Sia claimed she would pay her own way, traveling together meant he would inevitably end up shouldering various costs. And his girlfriend certainly wasn't the type to manage those boundaries for him...
What should I do? As his anxiety mounted, his girlfriend's expression began to sour. Sensing he was running out of time, a sudden spark lit up his brain.
That's it! A brilliant solution to this dilemma flashed through his mind.
He could invite the new boarder to join them. Since Song Sia was gorgeous, there was no way the kid would refuse. Men were absolute suckers for pretty girls. Besides, the guy didn't even have a proper job and seemed to have plenty of cash to burn... It was definitely worth asking.
Since he was bragging about his money earlier... The kid had been flaunting his wealth, so he wouldn't start pinching pennies now.
"Hey, in that case, do you mind if I bring along a close younger friend of mine?"
"A friend? So suddenly? I don't want things to be awkward..."
"Come on, it'd be great to have someone there to carry your friend's heavy bags."
"What does he look like?"
"He's decent-looking. Pretty manly."
"Hmm. You're not trying to set him up with my friend, are you?"
"So what if I am? Your friend probably has super high standards anyway."
"True... Alright, so we're going on the trip?"
"Yeah."
Fortunately, when he asked the kid, he got an immediate yes. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Whew.
"We're sharing a room, right? I'm absolutely not budging on that."
"Sia said she has an acquaintance living nearby."
Phew.
I hummed a tune after accepting Taejun's offer. Man, I didn't think he had it in him, but he was actually a pretty decent guy. Introducing me to girls and all. Now that I had money, I was itching to meet women... I had been thinking about hitting up a club, so this proposal couldn't have come at a better time.
"A trip to Japan, huh..."
Nice. It would be my first time traveling abroad. And doing it with this much cash made it even better. Of course, since this was my first time being rich, every single experience felt brand new.
"Should I buy some new clothes?"
As I was preparing for the trip and wondering if I needed a new wardrobe, my bedroom door suddenly swung open, and a bored-looking Shin Narae walked in.
"What's up? Did something happen? You look incredibly cheerful."
I hesitated for a moment. Should I tell Narae? I felt a bit reluctant to mention that I was going to hang out with other girls. But then again, why shouldn't I? We were pretending to just be friends anyway. If telling her made her jealous, that would be pretty fun in its own way. Besides, we weren't dating, so why should I walk on eggshells around her? Even if we did end up in a relationship, I had no intention of being whipped.
"I've got a trip planned. You know Taejun, right? I'm going on a trip with him, his girlfriend, and her friend."
"...Oh, really? I guess you've gotten close to him."
"Well, we live in the same boarding house, so it's only natural we'd get closer, right?"
"...Are you happy?"
"I'm just going. I think the trip will be fun."
"...I mean, are you happy leaving your friend behind to go on a trip all by yourself?"
Cute. Why was Narae so adorable? Whether it was romantic jealousy or just friend jealousy didn't matter. Her trying to act like she didn't care while clearly being jealous was just precious.
"Do you like traveling, Narae?"
"Of course I do."
"Then we can just go on a trip together later."
"...No, I'm good."
"Why not?"
"Trips cost way too much money."
That was true. As Doun had told me, his family wasn't exactly rolling in cash. Even if Miyeon ran a boarding house, how much profit could it really bring in? It wasn't like she had a massive inheritance, and her divorced ex-husband wasn't exactly sending constant financial support either.
"I can just take you."
"No thanks. Do you think I'm just trying to leech off you?"
"I'm doing it because I want to. Fine, don't come. I'll just go with your mom, Jisu, and Doun."
"...Do you even have any idea how much that would cost?"
"Of course I do. You don't need to worry about that. I got lucky and made a ton of money."
"What money could you possibly have..."
"That's not the point. What matters is that I have enough to take everyone on a trip without feeling even a slight pinch. And I want to go to the Maldives with your mom, Jisu, and Doun. So, what's your choice?"
"...W-Well, if I don't go, won't you be lonely without your friend?"
"That's why I'm asking. Please come with us."
"Well, if you're going to put it like that..."
I watched Narae look at me sheepishly, clearly embarrassed. For some reason, I didn't find her reaction annoying at all. Was it just because she was pretty? But wait... if we went to the Maldives, did that mean I'd get to see Miyeon, Jisu, and Narae in bikinis...?
"But isn't the Maldives insanely expensive?"
"I told you, don't worry about that."
"How can I not worry?"
"If it starts to hurt my wallet, I'll let you know."
"...I'm only worrying because we're friends."
"And I'm telling you this as a friend, too."
In the end, I somehow ended up making a promise to go to the Maldives with Narae. We hadn't set a date or made any detailed plans yet, but I could figure all that out after I got back from Japan. How much could a trip to the Maldives possibly cost? A few hundred thousand dollars? Even if it cost that much, I could easily make it back. As time went on and my seed money grew, my earning speed would only accelerate. I was absolutely confident I could make more money, faster.
"I'll probably spend a good chunk of change in Japan, too..."
How much would I need for Japan? It didn't matter. If I kept trading from now until the day we left, I'd make more than enough to cover the entire trip. Over the next few days, I kept busy making money and shopping for clothes. Then, about a week before the trip, a group chat was created. It included Taejun, his girlfriend, and the girl he had praised so highly—Song Sia.
"Holy crap..."
I had heard about her, and Taejun had briefly shown me a photo, but clicking on her profile picture made me feel a wave of infinite gratitude toward him. No matter how obnoxious his behavior or what his hidden motives were, just letting me travel with a woman like this meant he had more than fulfilled his duty as an older brother figure.
And...
"...Man, you're a real piece of work. A total scumbag."
Once again, I had to admit that I was a bad guy. Sia was gorgeous, sure, but why was Taejun's girlfriend, Baek Ari, also catching my eye? Hmm... I felt like I was standing at a crossroads of whether to fully embrace being a complete bastard. Still...
"I'll decide based on how he acts..."
Whether it was a shred of conscience or just self-justification, I decided to let his behavior dictate my actions. Of course, whether either of them would actually like me was a completely different story. Even so, whether I actively pursued both of them or focused solely on Sia would depend entirely on how Taejun behaved. And then...
Seeing the messages pop up in the group chat, I felt a sudden wave of gratitude toward Taejun. Thank you for being such an absolute tool. It really helps ease my conscience.
He was helping me out right until the very end.
Now, where was the most expensive hotel in that area?