Chapter 167: An Unexpected Combination (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167: An Unexpected Combination (2)
As the sun began to set.
“Mom, I’m heading out.”
“Have fun, but not too much! And don't drink too much!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I could hear Shin Yu-jeong’s voice as she left, half-listening to her mother’s words.
She’d said she had a New Year’s get-together with friends, and it seemed she was finally on her way.
“Friends…”
Aside from her university friends, her only other friends were probably the three girls she’d spent all of high school with.
Her relationship with them could be summed up as ‘moderately uncomfortable.’
She wasn’t overtly bullied, but she was occasionally called a pig, her name was sometimes added to Kim Jeong-hun’s list of errands to make her carry more things, and she was subjected to mockery.
How should I put it… It was like never getting hit with a strong hook or a straight, just constantly taking jabs.
“……”
Thanks to that, she probably had certain fantasies from time to time.
Fantasies of suddenly becoming an Awakened Being, beating up all the bullies who tormented her, and having her pick of all the pretty girls at school.
“Crazy bastard.”
…Though calling him that feels a bit ambiguous.
After all, our Fake Si-woo actually succeeded in becoming an Awakened Being, didn't he?
And with a trait of the ridiculous SSS-rank, something never heard of before.
If this body had awakened a little sooner, and if he had deeply contemplated his trait just once instead of making stupid decisions, maybe it would have become a reality?
“But it’s a pointless thought now.”
Even if everyone else curses him, I’m not in a position to do so.
Why?
Because thanks to that idiot’s stupid decisions, I’m the one enjoying this luxurious life, right?
The shabbiness of the room I’m staying in doesn’t matter in the slightest.
What matters are the people who come and go.
From that perspective, right now is…
Vzzzzt-
《Jeong-hee: I'm coming up now, so wait for me.》
You could call this paradise.
There was only one reason for her to come up while Yu-jeong was out.
It had to be to show me something she couldn’t at the ski resort.
I wonder what it could be.
As I waited with a pounding heart, her silhouette appeared through the frosted glass.
“Do-jin…?”
A cautious question.
I slowly walked over and opened the front door. Jeong-hee stood there, blushing, her entire body wrapped in a long trench coat that came down to just above her ankles.
I had a feeling.
A powerful feeling shot down my spine—the feeling that there was something incredible underneath.
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside first…”
“Wait a moment.”
I blocked her with my arm as she tried to step inside.
There are certain things that must be done in moments like these.
“Show me here. What you’re wearing underneath.”
If it didn’t meet my standards, I’d turn her away at the door without a second thought.
“D-Do-jin. Out here, it’s a little…”
“You’re not going to do it?”
When I spoke in a disappointed tone, she bit her lower lip with an anxious expression.
“Do-jin, you really… haaah.”
Reading the firm resolve written on my face, she let out a sigh of resignation and slowly began to untie the belt cinched tightly around the coat’s waist.
What the widening gap revealed was a red dress with a destructive power beyond my imagination.
And it wasn’t just any dress… it was the kind you could only wear on a very special day.
“Is this… a Santa Girl outfit?”
“Y-Yes.”
That’s right.
It was a Santa Girl outfit.
The legendary heroine who occasionally appears around Christmas.
The red dress, clinging tightly to her body, revealed every one of her explosive curves.
What’s more, the dress was made of a fine mesh material, making it slightly see-through.
The transparency would surely become more intense under a bright light.
“I originally bought it to show you on Christmas…”
The reason for this out-of-season Santa Girl’s appearance came from her own lips.
It seemed her plan was to completely melt me with a Santa Girl costume on Christmas.
But that was likely postponed due to the unexpected three-person party, followed by me making an excuse and bailing on Christmas Day.
She must have tried to show it to me on December 31st, failed then too, and finally made it here today.
“C-Can I come in now?”
I grabbed her hand as she asked shyly and pulled her straight inside, positioning her under the bright lights.
As the light shone down, the view through the fine mesh became even more distinct.
Soft skin and a nude-toned bra.
Whenever I see mesh, I’m seized by a powerful impulse.
I want to shove my thick fingers into those tiny gaps and rip it violently apart.
If I had my way, I’d pounce on her right this instant, but I couldn’t just tear up the clothes she prepared for me.
As I suppressed my intense desire and tried to appreciate the view with a calm face…
Jeong-hee reached out and cupped my cheeks.
“Judging by your expression, you really like it, don’t you…?”
She spoke as if she already knew everything, even though I hadn’t shown it.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yes, very.”
“In what way?”
I asked out of pure curiosity, and she answered by breathing hotly into my ear.
“Your breathing is incredibly hot.”
“Like how you just breathed into my ear?”
“…Yes.”
Just as I was aroused by her body, she seemed to be aroused by seeing me so turned on by her.
Ah, that’s it. I’m at my limit.
My feverish brain could now only think of one thing.
To hold her and hold her again, until all my stamina was gone.
“……♥”
That was all.
* * *
It was a get-together with friends she hadn’t seen in a while.
Shin Yu-jeong was struggling to keep her wits about her under the sudden barrage of questions.
“Yu-jeong, is the Kim Do-jin you follow really that pig?”
“No way, right? It can’t be. How could that pig change so much?”
“Exactly. There’s a limit to how much someone can glow up!”
Kim Do-jin.
Short, fat, known more by the nickname ‘pig’ than his actual name—a loser who was always sneaking lecherous glances at girls.
That was the Kim Do-jin they knew.
That’s why they couldn’t believe it.
The fact that the promising Hunter, Kim Do-jin, who was gaining popularity on social media, was the same Kim Do-jin they knew.
But their disbelief was rendered useless.
“He’s the same person.”
Shin Yu-jeong’s smug voice forcibly erased their doubts.
“Holy shit…”
Kang Mi-na roughly ran a hand through her slightly faded, vermilion-colored hair.
“This can’t be real… My perfect ideal type is Kim Do-jin…?”
Choi Da-hee, with a look of utter devastation, downed one glass of alcohol after another.
“Hehe… you really never know what will happen in this world. To think that Kim Do-jin would change like this.”
And then there was Jo Yun-kyung, who let out a cryptic laugh as she stared blankly at his picture on her smartphone screen.
Seeing the different expressions on the three of them made Yu-jeong’s shoulders puff up with pride for some reason.
I knew I was good at picking men.
She could see it in their eyes.
All three of them were showing considerable interest in him.
The devastated expression, the face of disbelief.
It was all surely because they were blaming themselves for not forming a connection with him back in their school days.
Not a chance, you bitches.
She looked at her friends with a smile full of superiority and said.
“I’m telling you now, don’t even think about making a move on Kim Do-jin.”
While Choi Da-hee and Kang Mi-na looked puzzled, as if asking what she meant…
“Hehe…”
Only Jo Yun-kyung smiled as if she already knew everything.
Shin Yu-jeong took back her smartphone, which was sitting in front of Jo Yun-kyung, showed them Kim Do-jin’s picture, and declared proudly.
“He’s mine.”
“What…?”
“Really?”
Choi Da-hee and Kang Mi-na asked again in disbelief.
“Kim Do-jin is your boyfriend?”
At that, Shin Yu-jeong’s answer became vague.
“I… think so?”
Her brow furrowed slightly.
It was because it was a little ambiguous whether he was actually her boyfriend.
We’ve done everything, for the most part…
They had done pretty much everything.
They’d gone on dates, kissed, engaged in foreplay, and had sex.
…Of course, the order was a bit jumbled, but anyway.
In that whole series of events, one essential thing was missing.
A confession.
Neither she nor Kim Do-jin had stepped up and asked to be in a relationship.
In her heart, she definitely thought of him as her boyfriend… but a corner of her chest felt uneasy.
It even made her wonder if she was just a sex friend disguised as a girlfriend.
“What do you mean, ‘I think so’? Either he’s your boyfriend or he’s not.”
“…Well, the thing is, um.”
Her mind in a state of confusion, Shin Yu-jeong confided in her friends.
Of course, she didn’t reveal everything… just that they had progressed quite a bit, but neither of them had said the words “let’s date.”
“What, so you’re in the ‘something’ phase?”
“No, that’s not it. From what she said, it sounds like they’ve pretty much done everything.”
“But do you have to say the words to be officially dating?”
“I’ve heard of couples who don’t, but… don’t most people usually ask each other out and then start dating?”
A heated debate erupted among them.
One side argued that you have to say the words to be dating, while the other argued that a natural progression was also possible without them.
Then, Kang Mi-na, the most hot-headed of the three friends, swept her hair back and settled the matter.
“Ah, what’s the point of us arguing and coming to a conclusion? In the end, it’s up to you and that guy.”
Choi Da-hee chimed in, agreeing.
“Now that I think about it, that’s true. Just go ask him. ‘What are we?’”
“…Maybe I should.”
She suddenly became curious.
What would Kim Do-jin say if she asked him what they were?
At the same time, she was worried.
What if he gave an answer she wasn’t expecting at all?
Jo Yun-kyung, who had been quietly watching their discussion, stepped in to wrap things up.
“Then let’s just say you’re somewhere in that subtle space between ‘something’ and a couple for now. Right?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Half-listening to her, Shin Yu-jeong soothed her frustrated feelings with alcohol.
As the atmosphere became boisterous again, Jo Yun-kyung quietly got up from her seat and headed outside.
She stepped into a small alley next to the bar and put a cigarette to her lips.
“Hooo—”
After taking a long drag and exhaling, she took out her smartphone and made a call.
“How about we join hands?”
A thick, inscrutable smile spread across her lips.