Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: A Day of Pretenses
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The instructor took Jung Hye-na inside for a private lesson.
I started warming up, feigning disinterest.
The stylish woman in her 40s from yesterday asked me a question.
“Is she your sister?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my, you two get along so well. It’s nice to see siblings working out together.”
“My mom asked me to turn her from a pig into a person.”
“What are you talking about? She’s absolutely gorgeous as she is.”
“In my mom’s eyes and mine, she’s a pig. A talking pig.”
To think pigs are such clean, pretty, and cute animals.
In reality, a pig’s body fat percentage is only around 13-15%.
For a human, that would be considered starvation level.
Though for pigs raised for consumption, it can exceed 20%.
One must remember that the average adult woman’s body fat is between 20-30%.
“How can a brother and sister both be so good-looking? Your parents must be so happy just looking at you. By the way, does your sister have a boyfriend?”
“With a face like that? You think she would?”
“With a face like that... ah, she might not. When a woman is too beautiful, men are often too intimidated to approach her, so she could be single.”
This woman, Mi-hee, wanted to introduce me to her daughter yesterday, but today...
“What do you think of this guy? He’s 27, a bureaucrat who passed the senior civil service exam. He works for the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, so he has a bright future ahead of him.”
“He’s handsome.”
“Coming from you, that sounds like sarcasm. My Jae-min isn’t bad-looking, you know. Though if he stood next to you, he’d probably look like a fat squid.”
I felt like I should be jealous in this situation.
But it was just funny and amusing.
Is this the joy of the humblebrag?
“He’s my nephew. His parents bought him a place, so he owns a new 1,300-square-foot apartment in Gangnam. He has a Bentley and a Grandeur for commuting.”
“Ah, I see. He doesn’t seem to be lacking in anything.”
“Ask your sister and let me know if she’s interested. I can introduce them. I feel a bit hesitant to ask her myself since we’ve just met.”
We’ve only known each other for two days, you know?
And yesterday was our first meeting, yet you had no problem asking me to meet your daughter, did you?
Come to think of it, there were quite a few people here for this early in the morning.
I guess there are a lot of diligent women in Gangnam.
The male-to-female ratio seemed to be about 2 to 8.
The few men present were all pretending to work out while sneaking glances at Jung Hye-na.
My feelings were complicated.
I felt a sense of displeasure, but also a swell of pride that made my shoulders puff out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The male members all shared the same thought.
Blood doesn’t lie.
Of course, the sister of an incredibly handsome man would be incredibly beautiful.
Aside from being good-looking, they didn’t seem to resemble each other much, but it was a case of all roads leading to Rome, of convergent evolution.
Just as horse-riding cavalry and field artillery evolved into the modern, similar forms of tanks and self-propelled guns.
The ultimate beauty of the siblings felt similar, even if they didn’t look alike.
The fact that beautiful people often look similar means they have all converged on the standard of perfect beauty that humans pursue.
The gorgeous sister diligently performed squats under the instructor’s guidance.
The male members pretended to exercise while busily stealing glances at her.
Then, pricked by a guilty conscience, they would sneak a peek at her handsome brother.
The handsome brother paused while pulling the long pull bar and briefly looked over at his sister doing squats.
His eyes seemed to hold a hint of disapproval.
“Is she even getting a workout doing it with just her body weight like that...?”
She’s doing perfectly fine, so why?
The male members who overheard the handsome brother’s muttering were momentarily confused.
Then they saw the weight he was pulling with ease and were convinced.
‘Wow, he’s stronger than he looks.’
Some of the male members had seen the handsome brother the previous evening.
They had been awestruck by his visuals and despaired at the thought of having to work out alongside ‘that’ starting the next day.
It was obvious that the female members’ attention would no longer be on their hard-earned muscles.
Instead, it would be monopolized by that face, which had done nothing but be born to the right parents.
But now, the male members were starting to feel a strong sense of goodwill toward the handsome brother.
If they could get friendly with him now, maybe they could start something with his gorgeous sister later?
Such hopes began to bloom.
A male member, who wasn't particularly muscular but had a decent professional job, was the first to gather his courage.
“You’re much stronger than you look, aren’t you?”
“You think so?”
“Yes, you have natural strength. But your form is a little off. You could get injured like that.”
“Ah, the instructor showed me yesterday, but I’m not used to using my body.”
“It’s important to learn the correct form from the beginning. Let me show you.”
In order to win over the gorgeous sister.
Male members began to first target her handsome brother.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After about an hour of working out, we showered and left the gym.
I could feel the disappointed gazes of the male members on my back.
The women were the same, of course.
But I didn’t have the luxury of paying attention to that right now.
With her hair still slightly damp, Jung Hye-na linked her arm with mine and grumbled.
“What a pain, doing this so early in the morning.”
“It’s all because Mom wants you to become a proper human being.”
“What are you talking about? I’m the prettiest and skinniest among all my friends, you know?”
“I’m the most handsome among my friends too.”
“I bet. You don’t have any friends.”
“...”
“Speechless after getting hit with the truth, huh?”
Our sibling act was still ongoing.
We hadn’t left the building yet.
We had to part ways in front of the building since we were heading in different directions.
“Good work. Report diligently to Mom.”
Jung Hye-na brought her hand to her forehead in a salute.
Her acting is no joke.
Judging by her expression, she really looks like a female housemate I bicker with. Like a real sister.
After we parted, I had a mischievous thought on my way to the cafe and sent her a text message.
Not through our usual Tok-app, but a standard text.
The chat room was completely empty.
[Me] After killing your lower body
[Me] If you kill your lunch, you're dead
[Me] Report to me what you ate
[Jung Hye-na] Ugh, seriously
[Jung Hye-na] Don't be like this about food, seriously
[Jung Hye-na] Mind your own business
The once-empty text message app was now filled with a sibling-like conversation.
This felt a little strange.
This time, I sent her a message through the Tok-app.
[Me] You worked hard
[Jung Hye-na] ♡♡♡♡
Look at her, instantly switching off real-sister mode and turning on girlfriend mode.
Cute.
[Me] Let's just act like we did today at the gym from now on
[Jung Hye-na] Okay,,,,!
[Jung Hye-na] It was kinda fun for me too, felt like we were shooting a one-act play,,,,!
[Me] That older woman who kept following me around was hilarious
[Me] She said her nephew is a 27-year-old bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance and wanted to introduce him to you
[Jung Hye-na] But I only need you, Oppa,,,,♡
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Today was just like yesterday.
The cafe was packed with customers, every table was full from opening to closing.
The order turnover was high, and the owner couldn’t wipe the smile off his face all day.
“It’s Friday night. Want to grab a drink together?”
“What about the cafe?”
“Sales drop off once you leave anyway. There’s no need for me to stick around.”
The owner is 37, four years older than my past self.
And 15 years older than this body.
“I’d like to have a drink with you too, but I have to go home and play a game.”
“You must be really into that game.”
“Yes. It’s really fun.”
Wrestling naked with Jung Hye-na.
There’s no way a normal man wouldn’t find that fun.
“That’s a shame. I really wanted to have a drink with you, Chang-woo.”
“Hold on. Let me check today’s raid schedule. The raid leader has a job where he often works late.”
“Hurry up and check.”
I sent a message to Jung Hye-na.
[Me] What time do you get off work today?
[Jung Hye-na] ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Jung Hye-na] Looks like I'll be leaving after 2 AM at the earliest,,,!
[Jung Hye-na] But I'm definitely off on Saturday and Sunday!
Ah, what a relief.
Not because I had time to drink with the owner.
But because she was definitely off on Saturday and Sunday.
This means I should book that room with the indoor pool I’ve had my eye on.
“He says there’s no raid today. I think I can drink.”
“Oh, really? Alright, my treat. I’ll go all out.”
“This isn’t a company dinner, is it?”
“Of course not. Just the two of us. Ah, my girlfriend might join us, though.”
“Well, Yeon-ju is practically a part of you, so that’s fine.”
Choi Ji-soo dropped by the cafe in the morning, and Hwang Ah-young in the afternoon.
There were no seats, so they both got drinks and cake to go.
“I really can’t get used to this. You, working so diligently at a job.”
That was what Choi Ji-soo said.
“It’s so hard to get a seat here, I’m thinking of hiring a part-timer to stand in line and save a spot for me starting tomorrow.”
And that was from Hwang Ah-young.
Just as Jung Hye-na advised, giving them some breathing room made them both calm down.
It seemed Lee Chang-woo had pushed them away relentlessly without giving them any space at all.
At 6 PM, the owner and I started getting ready to leave.
The closing shift would shut down the cafe at 11 PM.
“Want to go to a club?”
“Huh? A club?”
“I’ve never been. I’m curious what it’s like to go to a club with someone like you, Chang-woo.”
“Ah... clubs won’t be open for a while yet. They open at 11.”
“How would I know? I’ve never been. Well then, let’s just go for a drink. What do you want to eat?”
“Is sashimi okay?”
“Sashimi sounds great. I know a good place, let’s go there.”
“Okay.”
The place the owner led me to was a high-end sashimi restaurant, even at a glance.
It had an open-kitchen format like a bar, and the owner sat down at the counter as if he were a regular.
“Hey, Mr. Gong. When did you make a celebrity friend like this? Wow, I’ve never seen anyone this handsome before.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“He’s really handsome, right? The manager at my cafe. I’ve been smiling a lot lately thanks to this guy.”
“Business must be booming.”
“Booming is an understatement. Sales have jumped dozens of times since he came.”
“Is that so?”
The owner seemed close with the chef.
“Just give us the best you have. We’re definitely spending over a million won tonight.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll have to raid the fridge. Just a moment.”
The owner poured me an expensive liquor from a brand I’d never seen before.
“I’ve really been living with a smile on my face thanks to you lately.”
“I’m smiling thanks to you too.”
“Ah, today’s total was a little over 8 million. We won’t know the exact figure until the end-of-month accounting, but it shouldn’t be too far off.”
“Then you earned ten million won today.”
“Exactly, so I should be the one paying.”
A short while later, a plate piled high with sashimi arrived.
It looked luxurious and delicious at a glance.
What looks good, tastes good, after all.
I took a picture and sent it to Jung Hye-na.
“Who are you sending that to?”
“My sister. I’m putting her through special training to get rid of her stealth fat. This is to motivate her.”
“That’s evil.”
“It’s all out of love.”
I had switched on my real-brother persona without even realizing it.
Well, it’s not like the owner will ever meet Hye-na.
“Is my sister Ji-hyun bothering you?”
“Not really?”
“Every time I see her, she seems to be following you around and trying to talk to you.”
“There are others around who are much more intense, so I don’t really think much of it.”
Try getting ambushed with a kiss by another woman in the middle of Gangnam during a date.
Gong Ji-hyun is just a cute follower in comparison.
“Think you can come in tomorrow?”
“Was that your goal?”
“Not exactly.”
“This weekend’s raid is confirmed, so I don’t think I can. I’ll just let you know first when I have a weekend without a raid.”
“Alright. I guess I was being a bother.”
“Not at all. You’re always welcome to.”