Extra 41: My Cheating Friend's Girlfriend Is Mine!
This asshole... hasn't shown his face in days.
A man was staked out near Kim Minjun's apartment complex. His name was Lee Hyunwoo. Age: twenty-two.
Yeah... they must've broken up.
Not long ago, while stalking his friend's girlfriend, he had watched her walk into a motel with some guy friend with his own two eyes. He'd snapped the scene on the spot and fired it off to his friend. The last message he'd gotten was that Minjun was going to go check it out himself — and then, radio silence.
Idiot. I told you it was real.
Watching the two of them go at it had clearly shattered his friend's psyche beyond repair.
Guess he's holed up inside and not coming out.
Except for the dead hours of night, when he actually had to go home and sleep, Hyunwoo had been camped in front of his friend's place nearly all day, every day. The fact that Minjun still hadn't appeared meant he'd almost certainly locked himself in his room and degenerated into a wreck of a shut-in. That was the textbook arc for every netorare victim, after all.
Pathetic. You're a man and you fold over something like that?
Anyway — a friend's sorrow was his happiness.
A grin wouldn't leave Lee Hyunwoo's lips.
Looks like it's finally my turn.
Even after watching her walk into a motel with a built alpha male like Master...
That look in her eyes back then... Eunyul definitely has a thing for me too!
He was convinced he still had a shot.
Whatever. I'll just steal her myself!
A completely baseless confidence that he could win a woman over began to swell toward the heavens.
I can cherish her and treat her better. Obviously she'd pick me, right?
He was in the middle of believing that devotion and sincerity toward a woman would be a massive selling point when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
"Huh...?"
A text had come in.
E-Eunyul...?!
It was from the girl he was infatuated with.
Stay cool. Act like it's nothing. Be chill...
Ah.
The "chill" persona he'd tried to pull over himself shattered into dust in five seconds flat.
S-s-she wants to see me?
She'd had a boyfriend and still ran off to cheat with some other guy — a little shameless, if he was being honest — but the brain pickled in hormones had long since abandoned its original job.
I knew it...! She broke up with Kim Minjun! And it didn't work out with that other asshole either...!
This is my chance...!
His head spun, already drafting the buildup to take things further. O-okay... she said she wanted to see me, so start light, just meet up...
Before Hyunwoo could seize the lead, the other side booked the date for him.
"...!"
Ohhh...! Here it is...! Finally, a rose-colored future for me too...!
Hyunwoo's reply was short. It looked plenty cynical on the screen. Inside, he was kicking his feet on the bed like a giddy schoolgirl.
W-w-what do I wear? Does Eunyul have a favorite look? I should bring a present, she'd like that...!
The restaurant she'd picked was a reasonably popular spot in the area.
He was already waiting for a magnificent tomorrow.
O-okay, I'll read the room tomorrow and if we keep meeting a few times... no. You've gotta go for it while the mood's good. I heard if you let it drag on all vague you just end up as friends...!
The second a chance appeared, he got impatient enough to decide he'd make his move tomorrow. And somehow, he had the vague feeling it was going to work.
Wait for me, Eunyul...! I'm going to make you happy...!
Inside Lee Hyunwoo's head, he had already married his future fiancée and was boarding the plane for their honeymoon.
Ugh... it's not even the first time I've seen her. Why am I shaking?
Lee Hyunwoo had dressed himself to the absolute limit of what he could manage. He'd borrowed his father's suit and dress shoes for a clean, dandy look, tamed his usual bedhead into something neat, shaved with obsessive care so no stubble would show, and even spritzed on a moderate amount of cologne, broadcasting the scent of a smart, reliable male.
Yeah. The outside should be more than enough...
Of course, none of it matched the baby face unique to young men. A shirt rumpled here and there, an outfit that wouldn't sit right — add up the details and, frankly, the styling scored a solid zero.
Mmm... Eunyul's going to be so surprised. What if she confesses to me first...?
The guy's supposed to be the one who confesses, though... th-that's a problem, haha.
Strange looks poured in from every direction. Hyunwoo didn't register a single one of them. He had faith in the outfit he'd boldly committed to — and besides, he had a secret weapon.
It was a little expensive, but I'm glad I splurged.
In his heart he'd wanted to show up with a bouquet, but his social radar wasn't quite that fucked. Instead, remembering that Eunyul liked games, he'd thoughtfully bought her a gift card.
The internet would beg you on its knees never to do flowers or a public proposal — but nobody had ever taught him you also shouldn't bring this as a present on a first date, and that was a grave failure of education.
Ha... Eunyul, I'm sorry. This is all I can give you right now... Once I'm making money I'll buy you way nicer things...
He'd already treated dating her as a settled fact, and the guilt over not being able to spoil her properly only kept swelling.
H-hmm... She's pretty late, though.
Hyunwoo was currently standing at the meeting spot, forty minutes into waiting. He'd arrived twenty minutes early, which meant it had already been twenty minutes past the appointed time.
He pulled up the text that had come in a little while ago.
At least he hadn't been left on read. Judging by the reply, she was obviously running her heart out to keep the promise.
Nice... the composure not to get mad even when she's late. The thoughtfulness of worrying about her instead.
He didn't spare himself any praise for staying calm and unhurried, either. A guy would be within his rights to get angry when a girl ran late, but thinking of it as points scored only made him feel better.
I wonder what Eunyul's going to wear. That dress I saw last time was so pretty... hehe.
No matter how pretty she was, no matter that she was his type — how you were supposed to build a future with a girl who'd gone and tumbled into a motel with a guy friend less than two weeks into dating your friend was a fair question. To Hyunwoo, though, she was a cheater and, at the same time, a pitiful girl who'd been taken in by a bad man.
Poor Eunyul... getting mixed up with some bastard like that...
They must've broken up, though. Otherwise why would she be texting me?
From where he stood, he couldn't just write her off as a bad person.
I'll take care of her properly. I'm going to treat her like she's really, really precious.
If he could pull that off, it would be the perfect savior story, start to finish.
Hehe... I think one son and one daughter would be nice...
The film in his head had already advanced all the way to their kids' first day of elementary school.
That was when it came.
"Hyunwoo~!"
A lovely woman's voice, calling from far off.
"...!"
At the end of his gaze, the silhouette of the woman he'd fallen hopelessly for was pounding toward him.
W-whoa...
Simple but cute sneakers.
C-cute...!
Short dolphin shorts, and the inner layer peeking from under her outerwear was a white tank top...
And...
The jacket on the outside was a zip-up hoodie, loosely hiding her slender lines.
Sexy...!
The glimpses of skin flashing through the baggy cover were the whole kick.
"Hah...! Hah...!"
Sweat beading, face flushed red, breathing rough —
H-her breath... it's so hot... her hair's soaked in sweat too...
She must have sprinted the whole way out of guilt.
"E-Eunyul, hey...!"
"Sorry~ I was way too late! T_T"
"S'fine... I-I just got here too...!"
Just like he'd simulated: as unhurried as possible, greeting the late girl without a word of blame.
"Hyunwoo, what is this~ Why'd you come out all dressed up? Now I look like I just threw something on... T_T"
It wasn't just a feeling. Her outfit really was far too casual. The clothes told you exactly how little weight this meeting carried for her. Even so—
"N-not at all...! You look so, so pretty right now...! Casual? No way...!"
Clothes were only as good as the hanger. Her looks were so naturally outstanding that they punched the air out of anyone watching — a kind of pretty that left your mouth hanging open.
"Ah, really? Then I'm glad~ T_T"
The compliment had landed. Confirmed.
"S-shall we go in, then?"
He rode the current, used the momentum, and took the lead.
After a satisfying meal, Lee Hyunwoo and Eunyul stepped back out of the restaurant.
"Ah...! I'll get this!"
"Really? Then thanks for the meal~"
"Y-yeah..."
He'd offered to pay with confidence, but—
She's not going Dutch... Hmm.
It wasn't the sensible girl he'd been dreaming of, and Hyunwoo felt a small prick of disappointment. On top of that—
Is she... not feeling well today?
The conversation over the meal hadn't sat right either. They'd kept talking, sure, but Eunyul had barely reacted — just smiling with her eyes and nodding, over and over.
What is this... it didn't feel like this before...
He finished paying and they were about to step outside when she lurched.
"...?"
There was a strange limp in Eunyul's walk, and Hyunwoo felt a flicker of confusion.
"A-are you hurting somewhere...?"
"Hm? No~ It's nothing... hehe..."
Her posture was oddly crouched, too, like the space between her thighs was a little uncomfortable.
Ah...! Wait. Is it... "that day"?
A plausible reason surfaced at once. That magical time of the month for women.
No wonder...! That's why the conversation was so off...!
The source of his unease had been neatly identified, and color returned to Hyunwoo's face.
Hrmm... What do I do in this situation? Asking her to go for a walk like this feels impossible...
He'd planned out the rest of the schedule, but it was obvious the mood would turn just as awkward as it had over the meal.
I haven't even confessed yet. I haven't even given her the present...
Given the circumstances, he started revising the tangled plan — when she spoke.
"Hyunwoo..."
He flinched. Eunyul had leaned in close, all of a sudden, and started talking.
"Y-yeah...?"
That pretty face filling his vision locked his brain in place.
W-w-why so sudden...?!
Those big eyes, that sharp nose, the slender line of her throat, the slim face, the soft pink of her lips—
He swallowed hard.
Beauty slamming into his optic nerve, her scent rolling over him — his pituitary went haywire, shoving him toward a more aggressive courtship. And to make sure Hyunwoo would turn even more aggressive still, she laid the board out for him completely.
"I'm a little tired today, so..."
Th-this line...!