Does This Actually Work?
"Why do you look so shocked?"
"D-do I not look like someone who'd be shocked...? You said once he's done with her, he loses interest and dumps her..."
Ju Han-yeong seemed to be taking his words completely seriously.
A normal person would laugh it off or look at me like I'm crazy. But she's taking it this seriously?
Even watching her, Gwang-deok couldn't believe it. If someone spewed this kind of bullshit, the normal reaction would be to stare at them like they were running some scam, or glare in total disbelief—but she was genuinely taking every word to heart.
Gwang-deok lifted his glass of draft beer and brought it straight to his mouth.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
The cold beer hit his throat with its carbonation and slid down easy.
"Why are you sitting there looking so serious? Come on, wet your throat with some beer."
Ju Han-yeong nodded and lifted her glass, taking a couple of sips. But the shock clouding her face didn't seem ready to fade.
"Is what I said that shocking?"
"I... I never saw my senior that way. He really seemed so kind and caring..."
From the way she spoke, it was clear she had no small amount of affection for that senior of hers.
Well, she wouldn't be dating him if she didn't like him.
But that wasn't the issue. It was Ju Han-yeong's expression—the fact that despite liking him so much and having started to go out with him, she was this deeply shaken by Gwang-deok's words.
Gwang-deok picked up a garlic chicken wing with the tongs, brought it to his mouth, took a bite, and chewed as he spoke.
"Guys like that are all the same. On the outside they're kind and well-mannered, right? But it's all an act."
"An act?"
"Yeah. Just figuring out how to get you on your back and screw you. That's all it is."
"......!"
"The second he laid eyes on you, that was it. 'There's this freshman girl named Ju Han-yeong—bet she'd be delicious if I sweet-talked her into bed.' That's what went through his head."
Gwang-deok continued with a serious expression, as if offering sincere advice.
"So you really need to think carefully. Keep this up and you might get meokbeo'd."
"Meokbeo...?"
"Eat you and dump you."
"?!"
Her eyes went wide, pupils trembling. This one had hit her pretty hard too, apparently.
Wow, she just takes everything I say at face value? Is this even real?
From Gwang-deok's perspective, Ju Han-yeong's reaction was utterly fascinating. Look at her—not a shred of doubt, just swallowing every word. It felt like he'd become some kind of master word-magician.
"You want to get meokbeo'd?"
Ju Han-yeong shook her head.
"Then there's only one way."
"D-do you mean... I should break up with him?"
At her tense question, Gwang-deok nodded.
"You have to break up. Otherwise you're getting meokbeo'd."
"......!"
"Here, eat a drumstick."
He picked up a garlic chicken drumstick and set it on the plate of the still-reeling Ju Han-yeong.
"Just eat something good for now and loosen up a little."
Gwang-deok was acting generous, as if he were the one treating her. Ju Han-yeong nodded, but her face remained dark.
Meokbeo...
The idea that her kind, well-mannered senior was only seeing her so he could meokbeo her filled Ju Han-yeong with overwhelming shock and betrayal.
Senior isn't that kind of person...
He'd always been so polite and caring toward her. But listening to Oppa Gwang-deok sitting right in front of her, it all made perfect sense. All those tender gestures he'd shown her—every single one of them now felt like calculated moves to win her favor, to win her heart, just so he could meokbeo her.
No—it actually seemed like that was exactly right. She couldn't deny it; Gwang-deok's words sounded far too logical to her.
"You should count yourself lucky. If I hadn't gone out of my way to tell you the truth, you'd have ended up as some pathetic girl who got eaten and thrown away."
"...Yes."
"Just eat for now. Eat and get your strength back."
Ju Han-yeong nodded weakly.
And so they ate garlic chicken and seasoned chicken, washing it down with cold draft beer. Ju Han-yeong ate slowly, while Gwang-deok, by contrast, tore into the food like he was filming a mukbang, genuinely devouring it with relish.
"Buuurp."
Gwang-deok let out a satisfying belch and patted his stomach.
"Ahh, that hit the spot."
He stood up and headed for the counter, and Ju Han-yeong paid with her phone. The total came to thirty-five thousand won.
When they stepped outside the shop, it was past nine in the evening—well into the night.
"Um... Oppa, are you heading straight home?"
"I just freeloaded a delicious meal off you. I'll walk you home."
"All the way to my place?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"But..."
"You called me a loser oppa and bought me chicken because you felt bad, but I'm not that kind of shameless bas—...guy."
He'd been about to say "bastard" but corrected himself to "guy," then jerked his chin toward the street.
"Lead the way."
Ju Han-yeong had expected him to insist one more time that it was fine, but instead she found herself leaving the shop alley with Gwang-deok, walking along the sidewalk beside the road.
Just as she'd said, after about fifteen minutes of walking they turned into an alley, and on the third villa-like building was a sign that read Sewoon Villa.
"That it?"
"Yes."
Ju Han-yeong stopped in front of the main entrance beside the parking lot and looked at him, and Gwang-deok spoke.
"Punch in the code."
"Huh?"
"We've come this far—I might as well come up too."
"O-Oppa too?"
"It's because of that look on your face. You look wrecked. I'm wondering if I said something I shouldn't have."
"N-no, not at all! What do you mean, something you shouldn't have? I was shocked, but... I'm grateful you told me the truth, Oppa."
"The fact that you're calling it 'the truth' means you feel like what I said makes sense too, right?"
Ju Han-yeong slowly nodded.
"The truth hurts. But I can't just lie to you, can I? Gotta tell it like it is."
"Then... would you like some coffee?"
"Instant mix coffee?"
"...Yes. That's all I have..."
"Of course—that's what every studio apartment has. Let's go."
Coffee from a twenty-year-old freshman like Ju Han-yeong was always going to be instant mix, odds were.
Ju Han-yeong punched in the entrance code at the villa's front gate, and the door opened.
"Please follow me..."
She went in first, and Gwang-deok followed behind her.
Holy shit, am I really walking into a girl who lives alone's place this easily?
Following her through the front entrance and up the stairs, Gwang-deok couldn't believe how smoothly everything was falling into place.
This is a superpower.
The fact that Ju Han-yeong was letting someone she thought of as a "loser oppa" into the home where she lived alone meant she'd developed that much trust in his words. From Gwang-deok's perspective, that trust had nothing to do with him being a smooth talker—it could only be the power that mysterious man had given him: the ability to make even the most half-assed bullshit land perfectly.
They climbed the stairs to the third floor, and Ju Han-yeong stopped in front of Room 301.
"This it?"
"Yes."
She entered the door lock code, and with a beep the lock released.
"Please come in."
The front door opened. Ju Han-yeong stepped inside, and Gwang-deok followed her in.
So this is a girl's room?
A space with a shoe cabinet, a decently sized room, and even a kitchen sink. It was a one-room studio.
Wow, this is way better than my rooftop room.
Compared to his old, cramped rooftop room, this place had an air conditioner mounted on the wall, a vanity with bright curtains, a bed, a small wardrobe and hangers, a TV—she clearly kept things neat and lived well.
So this is what a girl's room smells like.
More than anything, the scent that hit Gwang-deok's nose was nothing like the musty, damp smell of his own rooftop room. It was almost like a floral fragrance.
Perfume.
It was somewhat similar to the scent that came off Ju Han-yeong's body, and he recognized that this flower-like fragrance was perfume.
"There's a table over there—you can sit on the floor cushion."
"Oh, over there?"
Gwang-deok walked over to where a round table sat near the TV and settled into place. While he turned on the television with the remote and flipped through channels, Ju Han-yeong filled the coffee pot with water, pressed the button to boil it, prepared two cups, opened the sink cabinet, pulled out two packets of instant mix coffee, and poured the powder in.
"Has that senior of yours been here?"
"Here...?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, a few days ago he drove me home... He stopped by briefly and left."
Somehow he managed not to touch her.
Gwang-deok found it remarkable that the senior—despite having driven her home—hadn't laid a hand on Ju Han-yeong.
Weird. In porn and hentai, they go for it right away.
Having never actually been in a relationship himself, Gwang-deok found it purely baffling that the guy hadn't immediately jumped her like a horny male in the adult videos he liked to watch.
Meanwhile the coffee pot finished boiling and clicked off. She slowly poured water into the cups, stirred with a teaspoon, brought both over, sat down, and set one in front of Gwang-deok.
"Can I ask you one thing...?"
"What?"
"If what Oppa said is true... that day, Senior could have touched me... so why didn't he?"
"That's obvious."
"Huh?"
"He lets the first opportunity pass naturally, showing you he's not that kind of guy—that he's not looking at you with those eyes. Do that, and of course you'll think, 'Senior doesn't see me that way—he's meeting me because he genuinely likes me.'"
"Ah."
Ju Han-yeong let out a sound of realization, as if a great truth had just dawned on her.
"And then—the moment you fully trust him! That's when he knocks you down and screws you."
"......!"
At the sight of Ju Han-yeong sitting there open-mouthed in shock, Gwang-deok's cheekbones twitched as he barely suppressed the laugh rising in his throat.
"You're seriously lucky. That's exactly how the real scumbags operate."
"Th-that's how it is..."
"Obviously! He's probably been screwing girls left and right like that. Hell, he might even have a collection."
"A c-collection?"
"Guys like that always work the same way. Screw them, then save it straight to their personal collection. 'Year whatever, so-and-so, popped her cherry today.' That kind of thing."
"Th-that's...!"
Ju Han-yeong's face went pale. The more she heard, the deeper the shock and sense of betrayal seemed to cut.
"Now do you get what I've been saying?"
"Y-yes..."
"The ones who look kind and well-mannered on the outside are the worst."
"I... I had no idea..."
Trembling.
Pale-faced Ju Han-yeong was so thoroughly shaken that even the hand holding her coffee cup was shaking.
"I should tell him I want to break up tomorrow."
And from Ju Han-yeong's lips finally came the answer Gwang-deok had been waiting for.
Wow, this actually works?
He marveled inwardly, but kept a serious expression as he spoke.
"You serious about that?"
"Yes... I... I had no idea Senior was that kind of person. Hearing what Oppa said, I'm so shocked and I feel so betrayed..."
"Can't bring yourself to see him anymore?"
"How am I supposed to keep seeing him when he looks at me like that...? I... really......"
Perhaps because she'd trusted her senior so completely—in that moment, Ju Han-yeong covered her face, and her shoulders began to shake.
I-is she crying?
"Euhk..."
She was crying, all right.