Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: A Sincere Apology
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[This is Hwang Ah-young. I'm so sorry about yesterday. Please, just read this...] I squeezed my eyes shut and tapped the message.
It’s not like she’d know whether I read it or not.
Just tapping on ...
...was incredibly stressful for a former sexless virgin.
Jung Hye-na was lying on her stomach in front of me, working on her MacBook.
The sight of her in dolphin shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt was surprisingly arousing.
She acted as if she wasn't paying any attention to the message.
“Phew.”
I composed myself and turned my eyes to the screen.
A super long message was waiting for me.
[This is Hwang Ah-young. I'm so sorry about yesterday. Please, just read this.
I think I was crazy. My head was a little... no, completely messed up, and I did something terrible to you. To embarrass you like that in the middle of the street...
I know you must be completely fed up with me.] Was this really the same woman from yesterday?
Did a friend write this for her?
[It's just that I couldn't reach you for days, your phone was off, and I was so frustrated.
You know I can't even last a week without you.
I'm not trying to be obsessive, but I can't help myself... I try not to, but I just keep doing it...] This style seemed so familiar.
I think I used to send messages just like this to girls I had crushes on.
Though I was later shocked to find out I was the only one who thought we were in a ‘some’ relationship.
[I really, really won't be obsessive. I'll never do something like that in the middle of the street again.
I just lost my mind for a moment. Please, forgive me just this once...
If I could, I'd cut open my stomach to show you my true feelings...] No, why would you cut open your stomach?
I already know your favorability is S-rank without you doing that, so please don't.
[Can't you meet me just once? I want to tell you how I feel in person...
I feel like I'm going to die from insanity right now...
I haven't eaten or slept since yesterday, I've just been crying...
I've been crying this whole time and just now worked up the courage to write this message...] I checked the time the message was sent. 5 PM.
It was a time that showed just how meticulously she had planned when to send it.
A time when I, having had my Friday night ruined from the start...
...would get wasted, go to a motel with the girl I was with (Hye-na), and have sex.
A time when I'd wake up late the next day, get over my hangover, and finally feel my body and mind relax.
She’d aimed for around 5 PM to send the message.
The reason I was so sure? I used to do the same thing.
I might not understand much else, but I can easily understand the hearts of the women who cling to Chang-woo.
So I have something in common with these women after all.
The position of the victim, the underdog, the weak, the one at the very bottom of the pecking order.
[I'll be waiting for your reply...
Don't feel pressured, just contact me whenever you feel better...] Every single word was painfully earnest.
I could picture her typing each letter with great care, tears streaming down her face.
And that's why my heart ached too.
It overlapped so much with my own past situation.
“Hye-na. That woman from yesterday, do you know her?”
“I saw her for the first time too. But I recognized her name when you said it. You've mentioned Ah-young a few times before.”
“I-I did? Ah, I don't remember, but her name just popped into my head when I saw her face.”
“I know. You did the same with me.”
That’s a relief.
She doesn’t seem to mind.
“What was our relationship? What did I tell you about her?”
“You said she was good in bed. And that she was very obsessive.”
“...”
I don't have the courage to look at Jung Hye-na's face right now.
Her voice was so nonchalant that it was actually scarier.
“Hey, you want to see the message?”
“Me?”
Is this one of those situations?
‘Me? That? Why?’
“Uh, well. I just don't want you to misunderstand, so I thought I'd show you...”
“I'm not misunderstanding anything. But if it makes you feel better for me to see it, I will.”
“Please look. I think I'll feel more at ease then.”
“Okay.”
Jung Hye-na sat up and crawled over to my side.
Through the gap in her loose-fitting t-shirt, I could see her soft, braless breasts.
I wanted to reach out and touch them, but the mood right now was just...
After reading the whole message, Jung Hye-na spoke.
“You should meet her and accept her apology.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm worried she might actually write your name in a suicide note and kill herself.”
Fuck. That gave me goosebumps.
“I don't think she'd actually go through with it, but another suicide attempt would just stress you out. Think of it as putting out a fire before it spreads. It's better to just meet her.”
“...Another one? What do you mean?”
“The number of women who've attempted suicide because of you... just the ones I know of, I think it's seventeen.”
“You're not one of them, are you? Please don't do that.”
“But I will?”
My heart nearly dropped to my stomach.
How can she say something so terrifying with a sweet smile?
“If you die, Oppa, I'll die too. I don't think I'd have a reason to live anymore.”
“...Don't do that.”
“So please live a long and healthy life. And don't try to die like last time.”
“I have no intention of dying, but life doesn't always go as planned, right? If I die in an accident or something, you'll follow me?”
“Yesss.”
“Please don't. You need to live a long, healthy life.”
“If you live a long life, I'll live a long life too.”
“If I die in an accident, I'll come back as a ghost and get you pregnant. So live on, raising our child as if you're raising me. Or... do you hate the idea of being pregnant?”
“Oh, I'd love to be pregnant with your child, Oppa. Then of course I'll have to live a long life.”
Jung Hye-na clapped her hands, delighted.
It was like she’d been teasing me from the start.
“It's Sunday now, so meet her when the sun comes up. It's for your own good, Oppa.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm sure.”
Still, for her to show no worry or anxiety about me meeting an obsessive woman...
Is it because she trusts me, or does she really not care about anything else as long as she's by my side?
Feeling a little mischievous, I asked a teasing question.
“What if I give in to temptation and end up sleeping with her?”
“Then the three-year countdown starts again from that moment.”
I lost.
I was completely defeated by that beautiful smile and flawless logic.
“Alright. I'll meet her when it's light out.”
“You should send a reply now. She's probably unable to do anything right now.”
I know that feeling... It reminded me of my old self, so it was hard for me to just coldly ignore her.
The text-bombing from other women I'd never met was fine. I didn't know their faces or voices.
But with Hwang Ah-young, I'd seen her (and been kissed by her) bawling in the middle of the street, that pitiful sight of her being dragged away by her friends.
Now, she and I were directly entangled.
She had become someone who could weigh heavily on my conscience.
“Okay. But what should I send?”
“Just send the time and place. ‘What time, where.’ Like that.”
“...Did I used to do that to you?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, I remembered the message the original Chang-woo sent to Jung Hye-na three days ago, when I first woke up as him.
<Exactly 4:30>
Wow, seriously.
You son of a...
Anyway, I thought about what to reply.
She probably hadn't slept or eaten properly since last night.
She must look like a mess.
After sending the message at 5, she's probably been anxiously waiting for a reply, barely breathing.
Is it really right to just curtly send the time and place?
I wracked my brain, agonizing over the reply.
[Let's meet tomorrow at 1 PM at ○○.
You can stop worrying now, so eat something and get some proper sleep.
I won't cancel, so rest easy.] I didn't send it. I deleted it immediately.
This wasn't like Chang-woo.
I’d already experienced how an un-Chang-woo-like response made yesterday's situation so much worse, right?
But hurting her with a Chang-woo-like notification... my conscience bothered me.
[Tomorrow 1 PM at XX]
[Do your makeup properly so you don't embarrass me]
[If it looks like you've been crying, I'm leaving immediately] Before sending it, I showed it to Jung Hye-na.
“What do you think? If I send this, she'll eat well and sleep well tonight so she can be in good condition tomorrow, right?”
“Wow, that's so sweet of you. Don't you think she'll be too excited to sleep tonight?”
“...”
I sent the message, and a reply came back in less than ten seconds.
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Okay, I'll sleep well tonight and take care of myself so I can look super pretty for you tomorrow♥] I even showed the reply to Jung Hye-na.
Jung Hye-na truly showed no signs of being upset.
“Have a good meeting tomorrow.”
“When are you going to sleep?”
“After I finish my work. If you're sleepy, Oppa, should I go work in the bedroom?”
“I just want to sleep with you.”
The moment I said that, Jung Hye-na shut her laptop.
“Hehe, shall we go to sleep then?”
“Don't you have more work to do?”
“I can do it at the office. It's not like they pay me extra to do it at home.”
I opened my arms slightly.
Jung Hye-na crawled into my embrace and lay down.
Her bright, untroubled smile was so beautiful.
“This is the first time we've slept together like this.”
“We slept together yesterday too.”
“Wasn't that more like passing out than sleeping?”
Yesterday, I'd pushed her to her physical limits, causing her to pass out from exhaustion.
We hadn't been able to just hold each other close like this, patting each other and sharing breaths.
The living room of the small studio.
I loved this cramped space so much it felt like I could cry.
Even if I live somewhere else later, I'll never forget this place for the rest of my life.
“Hye-na. What's your dream?”
“Being with you, Oppa.”
“Not that. I mean for your career, your future.”
“I'm not sure yet.”
“Is editing fun?”
“Yes, it's fun.”
“Have you thought about specializing in that field?”
“Actually, the Representative told me that if I study this field hard, I'd have a competitive edge if I became a YouTuber later on.”
That 33-year-old IT YouTuber with 4 million subscribers.
I don't like him even though I've never met him, but I'll let it slide this time.
“Rather than that, I was thinking about starting a YouTube channel making sketch comedies.”
“Sketch comedy?”
“Short video content, with each episode under 10 minutes. It's not too demanding to produce, and a lot of YouTubers have gotten famous that way.”
“You're pretty, so if you starred in them, you'd probably get popular.”
“I'd rather produce than act. I enjoy filming and editing.”
“If you need an extra later, let me know. I'll make an appearance.”
“Oppa, are you confident in your acting?”
“I can play a guy who's been single since birth, a terminal cancer patient, or a grad student.”
“Those all sound like roles you'd be terrible at.”
We held each other close and chatted softly until we drifted off to sleep.
Right now, I'm the happiest person on Earth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Chang-woo, have you been waiting long?”
I almost spat out the water in my mouth.
Hwang Ah-young's outfit was unbelievably bold.
No, more than that.
[Hwang Ah-young] [Age: 24] [166cm, 50kg, G-Cup] A black tube top, proudly displaying its majesty.
The overwhelming volume of her chest, guaranteed by the status window.
Was she always a G-cup?
To my naked eye, they had only looked slightly large.
Was she hiding her volume back then?
To be honest, the first time I saw her status window, I only looked at the first and last lines.
Just her name and the time of her last internal ejaculation, that’s all.
My god.
I've never seen breasts like that in real life.
Do things like that actually exist?