Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Supply and Demand
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“Hey, accepting this could lead to trouble. You should call and return it. Want me to do it?”
When I told my boss about it after work, he gave me some serious advice.
“Did you see her face?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Let’s take a look.”
My boss played the CCTV footage on his phone, and I watched it with him.
“Is this the woman?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, just from her figure, you can tell she’s got to be a total knockout.”
“Her face was very small. I don't think her proportions were those of an ordinary person.”
“So, one of your kind, huh?”
“Hey, don’t say that...”
“What, she wasn’t on your level?”
“It’s not that. You know how humble I am about my looks.”
“I know you have a habit of humblebragging.”
It’s not humblebragging; it’s a remnant of my former life as a sexless virgin.
I lived as a solo for 32 years, and it’s been less than three weeks since I started living with this face.
“But you need to know something. Just because a woman is gorgeous doesn’t mean she won’t become obsessive or a stalker.”
“Oh, I know. When it comes to love, it doesn’t matter if you’re pretty or not; everyone’s the same.”
“And you know very well why that is.”
“I don’t think I do. Please explain.”
“You don’t? Ah, right, the priest can’t shave his own head. It’s simple. It’s the difference between supply and demand.”
“That doesn’t sound simple at all.”
“There are plenty of pretty girls out there. But there aren’t many handsome guys. I’m talking purely in terms of gender comparison.”
“Hmm, that seems right. Men don’t tend to care as much about their appearance.”
“At the top tier, with the drop-dead gorgeous and incredibly handsome, the imbalance between supply and demand is even more extreme. If there are ten gorgeous women, there are maybe one or two equally handsome men.”
Where have I heard this before?
Ah, right.
That one handsome guy from my university who said that if a man is good-looking, women will open their wallets first.
He said something similar.
“That’s why a guy like you can meet gorgeous women as easily as breathing, but it’s not that easy for them.”
“You know how it is, right?”
“There are tons of guys who haven’t even dated once by their late twenties, but almost every woman in her late twenties has been in three or four relationships.”
“What do you think that means?”
“One handsome guy gave several women their dating experience?”
“Now that it’s about your own experience, you finally get it.”
My boss nodded, looking satisfied.
“The top predator in the dating market isn’t a beautiful woman, but a handsome man. It’s an economic outcome resulting from the imbalance of supply and demand.”
“As expected of a man of assets, you’re skilled at market analysis.”
“This Ten Million Won Girl is desperate to get a hold of you somehow. She offered an amount that would make it impossible to refuse giving her your number.”
“It is too much money to refuse.”
“Since it’s a high-value check, she could easily cause you trouble if she has twisted intentions. It’s best to shut it down early.”
“Understood.”
My boss’s advice was rational.
I took it a step further, considering another possibility.
Could it be Yoon Jae-kyung?
Of course, the phone number was completely different.
But New Chang-woo is living so differently from the original.
A suspicion arose that Yoon Jae-kyung might be doing this to test me.
She might find the change in my personality strange.
I needed to check.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A hotel lounge bar.
Arriving at the meeting spot, I found Choi Ji-soo sitting by the window, sipping coffee.
A 175cm, D-cup, super-tall, glamorous woman my age.
Ahem, I must not be swayed.
I calmly approached and sat down opposite her.
Choi Ji-soo, who was sitting with her legs elegantly crossed, glanced up at me.
I tried my best to hide my awkwardness and offered a smile.
“Do I know you?”
What the.
She’s still holding onto that.
Sigh, I’ll play along.
“I have something to discuss with you.”
I don’t have eyes in the back of my head.
But I could clearly feel the stinging gazes from all around.
I was definitely a spectacle right now.
“Then just talk to yourself.”
“...”
Choi Ji-soo cut me off coldly, went back to her coffee, and started tapping on her phone.
Sure, I was the one who wanted to meet, but...
What am I supposed to do in this situation?
I don’t have the talent to carry on a conversation with a woman who doesn’t want to talk.
I’d been getting by with the power of my items, but now that that was blocked, my own lousy skills weren’t enough to break through the situation.
“Pfft.”
Suddenly, Choi Ji-soo burst out laughing.
She kept laughing, clutching her stomach as if she was having the time of her life.
“Hey, this is fun. It’s the first time I’ve seen you make such a dumbfounded face.”
“I was wondering why you were acting like that.”
“Just kidding, just kidding. I thought you were into this kind of thing lately.”
“...”
“But you really have changed a lot. You’re not the Lee Chang-woo I knew. It’s like... the shell is the same, but the inside has been completely swapped out?”
She’s sharp.
“Anyway, we’re going straight up, right?”
“Up where?”
“This is a hotel. Aren’t we going to have sex?”
“...”
“What? Did you really call me here just to talk?”
So she didn’t suggest the hotel lounge bar for the atmosphere.
I showed her the CCTV footage of the Ten Million Won Girl that I got from my boss.
“Do you know who this is?”
“I don’t. But why are you asking me?”
“Could this be Jae-kyung noona?”
“Hey, her bone structure and body type are completely different from Jae-kyung unni’s. What are you talking about?”
“Besides, if it were Jae-kyung unni, you’d recognize her immediately, no matter how much she covered her face.”
“You two have known each other for years.”
So it wasn’t Yoon Jae-kyung.
I felt a sense of relief, but also a slight drain of energy.
“Thanks. I’m leaving.”
“Hey, are you really just going to ask that one thing and leave? Isn’t that too harsh?”
“What, should I buy you a meal or something?”
“Let’s just go have sex. I want to do it with you.”
“I told you, I’m not doing it with other women anymore.”
“You’ve really fallen hard, haven’t you? I wonder how long that will last. Fine. Then just buy me a meal.”
If the obsessive G-cup girl, Hwang Ah-young, is like a puppy that follows only me around...
Then the tall, glamorous Choi Ji-soo is like a cat that playfully darts away but never strays too far.
Not wanting to go far, we ate at the hotel's Korean restaurant.
Come to think of it, besides the fact that she drives a Volvo, I don’t know much about Choi Ji-soo.
Trying not to reveal my memory loss, I asked in a roundabout way.
“How have you been lately?”
“Same as always. Golf, working out, going to the salon, shopping.”
“Work?”
“Work? Are you asking me what I do for a living?”
Did I say something wrong?
“It’s strange for you to be curious about something like that. You really have changed. You never asked about things like that before.”
Our Chang-woo isn’t a bad person.
He’s just a little uninterested in his surroundings. That’s what I believe.
“I run a chain business, you know. Inherited, though.”
“A chain business? What kind?”
“Hotels.”
A thought flashed through my mind, and I looked around.
“Is this hotel, by any chance...”
“It’s mine. A gift from my dad, though.”
“Then you should be driving a Bentley. Why are you driving a Volvo and confusing people?”
“Volvos are incredibly sturdy. My dad insists I only drive Volvos.”
No matter how I think about it, the original Chang-woo definitely hated Jung Hye-na because she was an idol from a small, broke agency.
Choi Ji-soo, Hwang Ah-young, and the faceless Yoon Jae-kyung.
All three were born with silver spoons.
When I tried to pay, the cashier told me the bill had already been taken care of.
Surprised, I turned around to see Choi Ji-soo giggling and nudging my elbow.
“If you feel burdened, we could always do it once.”
“...Thanks for the meal.”
“Call me again.”
I kind of regretted coming.
But since Choi Ji-soo was the only one who knew what Yoon Jae-kyung looked like, it was a necessary visit.
After parting with Choi Ji-soo, I stared at the phone number on the check for a long time before calling with my number blocked.
The person answered before the third ring.
-Hel, lo?
Her voice was slightly tense.
She might have guessed it was me.
Her voice was softer than I expected, painting the image of a surprisingly demure person.
I spoke in the brightest voice I could manage.
“Hello. You gave me a very generous tip the other day. I called because I’d like to return it.”
-The tip... was a gift. There’s no need to return it.
“But it’s such a large amount.”
-If you really feel burdened, let’s just have a meal together sometime.
“...”
-Don’t worry. I have a certain social standing myself.
-It’s just that I’ve never seen someone as handsome as you before, so I wanted to have a meal together. Think of it as a fan’s sentiment.
“I’m sorry, but I’m a little...”
-You’d have to meet me to return it anyway, wouldn’t you?
That’s true. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
-I’ll treat you to a fabulous meal. Just one date. I won’t bother you after that.
“How can I believe that?”
-You’ll believe me when you meet me in person. I’m that kind of person.
“I’ll think about it and call you back.”
-Aren’t you going to give me your number? Are you going to make me wait indefinitely?
“...I’ll send you a text.”
I hung up and sent a text from the original Chang-woo’s number.
Spending ten million won on a single dinner date.
Somehow, I feel like a famous streamer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After hitting the gym, I went to pick up Jung Hye-na.
Even though I had already eaten dinner with Choi Ji-soo, Jung Hye-na hadn’t, so I ate with her again.
Come to think of it, my appetite has increased a lot.
Considering the amount of time I spend having sex and the volume of semen I produce every day, it might be natural.
The moment we got home, we were wrapped in each other’s arms, having sex, when Jung Hye-na shared some happy news.
“I have tomorrow off.”
“Suddenly?”
“The company is closing for a day for internal repairs, so everyone gets the day off.”
“Ah, in that case.”
A smile spread across my face without me realizing it.
If I looked in a mirror, I’d probably see a smile more wicked than the Joker’s.
Even so, Jung Hye-na seemed happy just to see it.
She just kept grinning while looking at my face.
“Then I’m not sleeping a wink tonight. We’ll have sex right up until I have to leave for work.”
“Eek.”
I couldn’t make my words a reality.
We had sex until about 6 in the morning before I accidentally dozed off.
And I had a very strange dream.
“Emergency! Emergency!”
“Monster appearance! Monster appearance! Attack squad, prepare for immediate deployment!”
Uh... am I having this dream because I’ve been using games as an excuse too much lately?
It was a scene of women dressed like characters from an online fantasy game, rushing forward in a group.
And every single one of those many women had Jung Hye-na’s face.