Chapter 137
Why the hell did I, a student, have to do this kind of crap?
If someone reported this to the education office, I was certain they'd send an inspection team to the school and haul away every single teacher who'd unloaded their work like this.
Still, to earn Shin Eunah's favor, I shoved aside my annoyance and wasted precious time to help her.
It seemed my efforts weren't in vain.
"Eep...!"
During lunch, the moment I happened to run into her in the hallway, Shin Eunah let out a short gasp.
Yet she tried to act like nothing was wrong. With a composed face, she approached, gave a light greeting, and walked right past me.
The moment she passed me, her footsteps quickened as if she were trying to escape.
Her eyes and expression clearly showed that she had favorable feelings toward me.
But she seemed flustered by this unfamiliar emotion she'd never felt before, and perhaps because she was embarrassed that I'd casually placed my hand on her forehead back then, she couldn't stand confidently in front of me and was too busy running away.
Her actions were quite cute.
She kept running away like that every time we ran into each other, but since we were bound to meet in the student council eventually, she didn't seem to realize that her reactions every time we met made me smile without meaning to.
"Looks like things are going well."
To be honest, all of my current women had come into my grasp far too easily.
Nayoung and Heera noona—once I helped them improve their looks, they were already head over heels before I knew it.
Chaeyeon, Mijin, Eunbi, and even Yeona noona—I somehow ended up seducing them without even realizing it.
As for the remaining slave bitches, I'd crushed them with my authority and capital, ravaging them almost like rape until they became trained.
Unlike a one-sided romance that required carefully investing time to win someone's heart, the women in my life had come to me far more easily than I'd ever expected.
But Shin Eunah was different.
Well... her situation was similar to Nayoung's and Heera noona's pasts, so with a little help she'd probably come around soon enough, but I still had to approach her carefully.
And shouldn't I play a little push-and-pull too?
Lost in serious thought, I watched Eunah noona's back as it grew smaller in the distance.
Soon, her figure completely disappeared.
"Jihoon. Jihoon."
Nayoung, who had been walking beside me, tugged at my sleeve.
"What did you do to make Eunah unnie react like that?"
"Nothing much. I just did some of her work after school... and the only skinship was putting my hand on her forehead."
"Heee......"
Nayoung smiled brightly, looking intrigued.
"I think you're more than halfway there."
"Huh?"
"I said more than halfway there. Since you put your hand on her forehead."
I tilted my head in confusion.
I couldn't understand why putting my hand on her forehead meant I was more than halfway there.
"Why?"
"Hmm. Jihoon, you've fucked so many women, but you still seem lacking when it comes to romance!"
"......"
I couldn't refute that.
It was only natural since I'd rarely—no, never—won a woman over the way other men did.
If you told me to seduce some random woman on the street while hiding my wealth, I'd definitely fail.
That's how much I knew about women while also knowing so little.
"Anyway, once you seize the opportunity and properly knock her down, it'll pretty much be over, right?"
"That's how it looks."
Even with my lack of insight into women, I couldn't be that oblivious.
If someone kept receiving endless consideration and favor—something they'd never felt from anyone of any gender—they'd inevitably open their heart to me without even realizing it, just like Nayoung and Heera noona had.
So if I knocked her down just once, it wouldn't be strange at all for Shin Eunah to give me her body and heart at any moment.
That's how close Shin Eunah was to falling for me.
But that was also the problem.
It was true that she had favor toward me that she'd never shown anyone else, but it still wasn't quite love yet.
If I approached her the same way I'd done with everyone else, it would either mean nothing or, in the worst case, could have a negative effect.
After all, unlike Nayoung and Heera noona, she wasn't completely isolated from society.
"Want me to help?"
She was offering to lend a hand if I needed it.
"No. I want to try this on my own."
"Hehe. Good idea!"
Nayoung patted my hip as if she was proud that I'd grown.
"But if it really doesn't seem like it's working, you have to tell me. Okay?"
"Of course. I'll ask for your help then."
"Okay!"
We clasped hands.
Glances filled with jealousy bordering on resentment stabbed at me from all around, but I paid them no mind and kept walking.
*
The sun had completely set, and the sky had darkened.
Yet the streets were bright and noisy.
People who seemed to be releasing all the stress from school and work were wandering around with their friends, enjoying themselves.
But for every person enjoying themselves, there were those who couldn't.
Take, for instance, the secluded corners where people's gazes didn't reach.
I stepped into a restaurant on the first floor of a shabby building.
More than half the seats inside were filled with customers.
Despite having quite a few customers, given the busy street with heavy foot traffic and the number of people still roaming outside, I could immediately tell the business wasn't doing well.
Naturally.
"Not great."
That was my impression after ordering food and tasting it.
To survive in a place with high rent, you'd need to sell a lot of food, but this place was just average compared to others.
So ordinary that it bordered on tasting bad.
It was almost amazing it hadn't gone under yet.
Anyway.
"Can't see her."
From outside, I couldn't see inside the restaurant—specifically, the kitchen.
According to the information I'd paid a detective agency to find out, Eunah noona, abandoned by her parents and left alone, had somehow found a way to earn money, but her problems were far from few.
First of all, the vicious owner, taking advantage of the fact that Eunah noona was an orphan bitch desperately in need of money, made her work like a dog while paying her less than minimum wage.
Even knowing how unfair this was, since she was still at an age where she couldn't even get a part-time job without parental consent, Eunah noona found herself in the worst situation—doing the work of two people by herself without proper pay, having given up in despair.
If there are good people in this world, there are also devilish ones like this.
But not only did they fail to show any consideration for her desperate situation, they worked her like a slave, which really pissed me off.
Maybe that's why the food tasted even worse.
I'd only taken two spoonfuls, but I put down my spoon and watched the owner, who was bustling around so much from the suddenly crowded customers that her legs were a blur.
Fine wrinkles covered her face, and beads of sweat were starting to form.
She was busy enough, but with business going well today, the corners of her mouth were practically touching her ears.
Scrape.
I stood up from my seat.
Pretending to go to the bathroom, I quickly slipped into the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, a man who appeared to be the owner's husband—the one who had been greeting and serving customers out front—was tirelessly preparing food.
And behind him.
I spotted the back of a person with a hefty build.
If it weren't for the long hair, I might have mistaken them for a man because of their build.
More than that, though.
The amount of dishes piled up right next to her was nowhere near what one person could handle alone.
It was clearly the accumulation of several hours' worth of continuous work.
I wondered if they even had this many bowls and plates to begin with.
The restaurant wasn't even that big.
Judging by how they treated Eunah noona, I suspected they'd rather buy new ones than bother washing the dishes.
And as soon as they hired Eunah noona as a part-timer, they'd waited for her to show up, then dumped everything that had piled up from this morning until now for her to do alone.
The more I saw it, the more vicious it was, and the more I felt that Eunah noona, working silently, was amazing.
If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to hold back and would have caused an incident just to quit.
It was almost admirable how she acted like nothing was wrong at school despite all this.
Anyway, without disturbing her, I left the kitchen and returned to my seat.
I picked up my spoon again and took a sip of the broth.
It tasted even worse than before.
I immediately put down my utensils, stood up, and headed to the counter.
"Huh? You finished already?"
The owner asked suspiciously, seeing that I'd barely touched my food.
"Yes, I'm done. It really doesn't taste good."
"......"
The owner's face twisted.
"Huh? It's bad?"
One of the customers who had just sat down, having overheard my comment, quietly got up.
"Should we go somewhere else?"
Seeing a student who probably didn't have much money trying to pay without even touching his food made them trust my judgment.
"Yeah, let's."
As one group left, another group followed.
The owner's expression twisted even more viciously as she glared at me like she wanted to kill me.
"That can't be. It should be delicious. Try eating again."
"No. I think it'll taste the same no matter how much more I eat, so please just ring me up."
In the end, she grudgingly processed my payment.
I left the store and spent time aimlessly nearby, staring at my smartphone.
Another hour passed. When there were no customers left in the store.
Eunah noona came outside to get some fresh air.
"Ah.....?"
She let out a gasp when she saw me.
The expression on her face clearly asked, "What are you doing here?"