Chapter 157: White Christmas (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 157: White Christmas (9)
After I caught the operative who tried to steal the charity pot, the police arrived and rounded up all the civilians who had been hiding in the crowd, stirring up support.
Their fate was obvious.
Depending on the severity of their crime, they’d get off with a warning or a fine of a few hundred thousand won.
The real problem was the thief who tried to steal the charity pot.
Strictly speaking, that was theft.
And since he used an ability, he would be tried for special theft under the Awakened Beings Special Act…
“He’s definitely going to jail.”
The guy, sensing his own future, glared at me as the police led him away.
“Just you wait. My comrades will never forgive you.”
Just like a third-rate villain…
To his cliché line, which was utterly devoid of creativity, I responded in an equally classic fashion by raising my middle finger.
The police car carrying the thief drove off, and the chaotic atmosphere slowly began to settle.
“Honey, I was so scaaared.”
“Was my baby scared? Come here, I’ll give you a hug.”
“……”
I wonder if those guys knew.
That their crime had, in fact, become kindling for the couples around them.
I hope they never find out.
If they did, they might feel the urge to vomit blood and kill themselves.
“Thank you so much for your help. Thanks to you, we were able to protect the charity pot.”
“I only did what needed to be done.”
“I’m sorry to ask, but would you be able to accompany us for a moment for questioning….”
There it was, the familiar pattern.
A trip to the police station for questioning.
Normally, I would have cooperated out of respect for their hard work, but…
“I’m sorry, but that will be difficult right now. Please contact me here tomorrow instead.”
Yoon Ji-an flatly refused and handed her business card to the police officer.
“Ah… you’re from the Hunter Association.”
“Yes. I would like to assist with your official duties, but as you can see, given the occasion, could you give us just one day?”
Her face was red as she spoke so assertively.
A direct interpretation of her words would be, ‘We’re on a date, so don’t bother us. Call tomorrow.’
For a woman who used to blush at the mere word ‘date’ to say something like that so unhesitatingly…
It seemed she really didn’t want this time to be interrupted.
“My apologies. I momentarily forgot what day it was. Please enjoy your date. I’ll contact you tomorrow afternoon, and I’d appreciate your cooperation then.”
“…Yes. We’ll be going.”
Finding it difficult to continue facing the officer, who was smiling sheepishly as if he’d been inconsiderate, she hugged my arm tightly and led me away.
“L-let’s go get dinner now.”
Was it already that late?
I took out my smartphone to check the time and saw it was already seven in the evening.
Thanks to getting caught up in a crime scene, our free time had been filled quite productively.
“Shall we?”
“Is there anything in particular you’d like to eat?”
I shook my head.
“We don’t have to worry about the dinner menu today.”
“Yes…?”
As she stood there looking bewildered, I pointed to a towering building.
The Grand Royal Hotel, known as one of the most famous hotels in Gangnam, right alongside the Goryeo Hotel.
There’s no such thing as a perfect day from start to finish.
Just look at the two of us—hadn’t we just had our time stolen by some pathetic loser?
However, you can make it seem perfect.
Usually, if the end of the day is perfect, everything that happened tends to be remembered as just a pleasant memory.
“Th-that’s a hotel… isn’t it.”
Her pupils trembled violently as she stared at the hotel building.
“Since it’s a special day, I picked a place with a nice atmosphere… Do you not like Western food?”
At my question, she hastily shook her head.
“N-no! I eat anything. Th-then, shall we go?”
I headed to the hotel with her, who walked as if some part of her had broken down.
*
The Grand Royal Hotel, 33rd floor, Sky Lounge.
The fantastic night view overlooking the landscape of the reborn Gangnam, the steak and pasta highly praised among the upper class, the expensive wine the staff had gone on and on about…
None of it made a deep impression on her.
While seeing, chewing, and drinking, the only thing on her mind was what would follow this excessively fancy dinner.
‘A-are we going straight to a room?’
The stories she’d heard from friends celebrating anniversaries with their boyfriends were mostly the same.
Dinner at a fancy hotel restaurant, warming up the mood with room-service wine in a luxurious room, and then spending a night as hot as it could get.
She, too, was now following that exact course.
‘My mind feels like it’s gone completely blank…’
Yoon Ji-an may have had no experience with men, but she wasn’t completely ignorant about the relations between men and women.
That’s why, from the moment Kim Do-jin suggested a date on Christmas, she had anticipated that a moment like this might come.
Her first time, later than others at the age of twenty-six.
She had diligently crammed knowledge for the past two days to avoid panicking, but now she couldn’t remember a thing.
As she struggled to recall anything…
“Does the food not suit your taste?”
Kim Do-jin asked in a worried tone.
“Ah…”
Only then did she realize.
The meat on her plate was almost untouched.
She felt needlessly sorry. He must have gone to great lengths to book this place for their date.
“N-no. I was just lost in thought for a moment…”
She replied and resumed cutting her steak.
The taste of the meat still wasn’t strong, but his feelings came through clearly.
On impulse, she also downed her glass of wine.
With each gulp of the sour, rough taste, her body began to heat up slightly.
Kim Do-jin, who was gazing at her as she continued her meal in obvious embarrassment, asked.
“Can I ask what you were thinking about earlier?”
“Ah, well…”
She swallowed the meat she was chewing, moistened her throat with wine, and then parted her lips.
“I was thinking about where we would go after we finish dinner…”
“So, what was the first place you thought of?”
At the blunt question, delivered with a grin as if he already knew everything, she blushed and lowered her head.
“I-I can’t say.”
Kim Do-jin rested his chin on his arm on the table and gazed at her.
“Seeing you so embarrassed, I’m guessing you were thinking about going to a hotel room.”
“……”
Sometimes, silence is an affirmation.
On top of that, her shrinking posture gave away the answer.
Her guess was right.
“To be honest, the plan you were thinking of is correct.”
The biggest reason I specifically booked a hotel restaurant, among all the places overflowing with food in Gangnam, was because this is a hotel.
It makes for a nice picture, doesn’t it? To naturally transition to a hotel room without the hassle of going outside again.
“But that doesn’t mean we absolutely have to.”
But it wasn’t something that could happen just because I wanted it to.
Just like how it takes two hands to clap, if she didn’t want it, the plan would be completely useless.
“If you’re not mentally prepared, Ms. Ji-an, or if you don’t feel like doing that with me, we can just leave.”
The most important thing to show someone before their first time is consideration.
…Of course, there were cases where the first time was forced due to strange sexual preferences.
Unlike men, who derive pleasure in most cases whether it’s the first time or the hundredth, a woman’s first time has a high probability of being stained with pain.
And that memory of pain could become a trauma that makes her fear future intimacy, or so his only friend, the internet, said.
Giving her options in a gentle tone.
That itself was a technique to guide her open choices in a single direction.
“It’s not that I don’t want to do it with you, Do-jin. It’s just that I’m not mentally prepared yet…”
Her words trailing off, Yoon Ji-an drained the wine glass in front of her and, with a slightly redder face, made a suggestion.
“…I’d like to drink a little more.”
“Then shall we finish our meal here and move to the bar?”
Yoon Ji-an shyly nodded.
This was a good sign.
It meant that, at the very least, even if she got drunk, she had no intention of avoiding what came next.
Kim Do-jin carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulder and headed for the bar.
*
Cocktails.
A truly charming drink.
The fancy taste and aroma completely mask the rather high alcohol content.
If there was one side effect…
“Sluuurp… this is so delicious.”
“Still, you should probably drink in moderation…”
“No? I’m going to have another one of these.”
…it would be that if you weren’t careful and drank beyond your limit, you could end up blacking out.
“Haha.”
Ordering cocktails had been a purely strategic move.
I had intended to get her moderately drunk with a tasty drink to ease her tension, but…
“Her tongue has completely loosened up.”
“What did you jusht shay…?”
“I said let’s have a toast. A toast.”
“Shounds good!”
I’m pretty sure everything went wrong on our first date because of this too. Is this déjà vu?
The reins I held in my hand had been let go long ago.
Now, I could only leave it to fate and try to match her pace.
If she gets drunk, well… I’ll just have to take her home.
As I was calmly dealing with her, having resigned myself to the situation, she, who had been enjoying endless cocktails, suddenly put down her glass. She forced strength into her unfocused eyes and shook her head vigorously.
“This won’t do, no.”
She was even talking to herself now.
“What won’t do?”
When I asked, she pushed her flushed face close to mine and answered.
“I can’t fall twice.”
“……?”
Saying something I couldn’t quite understand, she shot up from her seat and grabbed my hand.
“Come on, let’s go.”
What on earth did she want to do?
Curious, I decided to let her lead me quietly by the hand.
She headed for the first-floor lobby.
“I’d like to check in.”
She suddenly got a room, took the elevator to the corresponding floor, opened the door, and went inside.
We arrived at the hotel room in a daze.
She entered powerfully, stood in front of the bed, and declared confidently to me.
“Now, tell me.”
“…What?”
“What I have to do to please you, Do-jin.”
…I had a feeling a completely different kind of sexual atmosphere was about to unfold.