Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Main Event (4)
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Drip.
The wine running down Choi Si-hyeok's head fell to the floor.
Drip. Drip.
A heavy silence settled around him.
Cynthia and Kim So-yeon couldn't hide their shock at the sudden situation.
"Uh, th-that..."
Kim So-yeon, in particular, covered her mouth with both hands, not knowing what to do.
"My hand slipped."
I said it with a flustered expression too.
"Oh no, what do we do now."
Pretending it was a mistake, I made a fuss like a puppy desperate to pee, stamping my feet dramatically.
But was my acting too awkward?
"You little..."
Choi Si-hyeok, drenched in wine, glared at me and ground his teeth.
"Are you okay, sir?"
"Does this look okay to..."
Before he could say more, I wiped his handsome face thoroughly with the rag I used for cleaning the tray.
"Pfft! Ptui! Ptui! What the hell is this?!"
Having made another "mistake," I muttered with a genuinely sorry look.
"Oopsie."
Of course, in reality, I wasn't sorry in the slightest.
"You damn...!"
Choi Si-hyeok, with curses rising to the tip of his tongue, barely held onto politeness and tried to maintain his dignity.
"Hey, excuse me! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
He was holding back the swears too.
He seemed conscious of his image.
Because Cynthia and Kim So-yeon were watching.
"No way."
Everything was going exactly as I'd planned.
"It's my first day on the job, so I'm a bit nervous. Keeps happening..."
While inwardly mocking Choi Si-hyeok, I drooped my eyebrows into an eight shape.
'Come to think of it, this is the first time seeing the real deal.'
My impression of Choi Si-hyeok, whom I'd never seen in person before, was... well.
In one word, meh.
I was a bit excited thinking about slowly tightening the noose around his mind and body for revenge, but his looks and our first meeting didn't stir much in me.
"Um, excuse me..."
Right then, Cynthia cautiously tugged at the hem of my clothes.
Did she figure out who I was? But her expression showed she was still half-doubting.
And rightly so—I had a different hairstyle from usual and my face covered with a mask.
Plus, as a temp worker, even the name tag wasn't mine.
I was confident no one, not even Sia, would recognize me.
"Ahem."
Just in case, I pressed my throat and modulated my voice again.
"Please wait a moment. I'll get a handkerchief right away."
But there was a pig—no, a person—blocking my way.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Jeong Dong-woo, who at just over twenty held the position of vice manager at JS Murim Hotel.
"I told you to act like you weren't even there. And you pull this stunt?!"
Having quickly grasped the situation, he scolded me instead of the guest and bowed politely toward him.
"I'll retrain the staff properly. We're truly sor..."
But before he could finish, he looked at Choi Si-hyeok with a fresh expression.
"..."
In that fleeting moment, a complex mix of emotions flashed in Jeong Dong-woo's eyes.
Yoo Harin, the girl he was interested in.
And Choi Si-hyeok, the one Yoo Harin liked.
Facing his so-called love rival, Jeong Dong-woo openly frowned, forgetting his position.
"Looks like one of our staff made a mistake. Please forgive him, sir. It's his first day, so he's still learning a lot, but he's a hardworking guy."
Flipping his attitude like a pancake, Jeong Dong-woo suddenly defended me and continued.
"You can't stay like this, so why don't you head to a room and shower first? We'll provide a spare party outfit."
Choi Si-hyeok let out a hollow laugh.
"Excuse me."
"Yes, sir?"
"Shouldn't an apology come first in a situation like this? That staff over there, and the people at this hotel—you all don't know how to apologize."
"..."
"And what? You want me to understand?"
Finally venting his frustration, Choi Si-hyeok complained about the hotel's service.
"Is that something the vice manager should say?!"
His eyes, now starting to blaze with anger, no longer saw Cynthia.
But Jeong Dong-woo, having already drawn his sword, didn't back down easily either.
"I'll admit there was a 'mistake' in our service. But you should've been more careful too, sir."
"What?!"
"You're a great Awakener, aren't you? You could've dodged it easily."
"What nonsense is that?"
Choi Si-hyeok bit his lip hard and spat it out.
"Did you intentionally make him slip? To find fault with our hotel?"
"Who's finding fault here?!"
This was what they called fighting poison with poison.
Chewing on the idea of countering poison with poison, I watched the childish men's argument up close.
It'd be even more fun if they started throwing punches...
Unfortunately, neither was the type to let it go that far.
"You just don't get it! Get the general manager, not you!"
"Who do you think you are, ordering people around? Don't you know what the world is like these days? Stop with the power trip!"
Having spectated from afar like watching a fire across the river, I quietly turned and headed to the balcony.
Rustle.
I pulled a cigarette from my uniform pocket and lit it.
'Now that I think about it, I haven't smoked in a while.'
With my hectic days, I'd bought them but forgotten to smoke.
"Maybe I should quit while I'm at it."
Maybe because this body of Kang Woojin's had no nicotine buildup.
Whoosh.
I gripped the cigarette in my mouth and took a deep breath.
Creeak.
At that moment, the door opened, and a woman strode onto the balcony.
"Hey! Woo-chin, are you insane?!"
Starting with a curse, it was none other than Yoo Harin.
Others might not know, but she—who put me here—had figured out my identity early on.
"Calling a perfectly fine person insane? Isn't that too harsh?"
"I saw everything, you crazy bastard!"
"Saw what?"
"You dumping wine on Si-hyeok's face!"
"It was an accident. Accident."
"You... really...!"
"Or do you have proof I did it on purpose?"
I smirked under my mask and suddenly grabbed Yoo Harin's ass.
"And lower your voice, Harin-ah. Someone might misunderstand."
Her firm ass rippled under the tight dress, molding to my hand.
"Eek! Wh-what are you doing?!"
Startled, Yoo Harin pushed my chest, but as always, her strength was negligible.
"Quiet down. Before I back out of here."
Feeling the texture of her ass, I warned her in a playful tone.
"Hngh!"
The effect was tremendous.
"O-okay. I'll be quiet..."
Yoo Harin, quickly tamed, bowed her head with a flushed face.
But I kept kneading her ass like some dirty old pervert.
"Y-you said you wouldn't..."
"I'm not. Just touching."
"No, don't touch... what if someone sees..."
Yoo Harin anxiously glanced around.
But as always, her words and actions didn't match—she pressed closer to me, as if begging for more.
I obliged, kneading her ass harder, and at the same time fondled her breasts.
"D-don't..."
Was it the alcohol?
She heated up faster than usual, writhing wildly in my arms.
"Pretty dress."
"...Didn't wear it for you."
"Then who for?"
"..."
Yoo Harin clamped her mouth shut, unable to say Choi Si-hyeok's name.
Since the party started, he'd been glued to Cynthia.
Saying she wore it for him would hurt her pride.
But I, uncaring of her feelings, poked the wound anyway.
"To look good for Choi Si-hyeok?"
Yoo Harin bit her lower lip with a miserable, twisted expression.
"Just... because it's a party. The occasion called for it..."
"Yeah?"
I stroked her head gently, as if comforting her.
Giving the poison, then the antidote.
Taming her, as usual.
"Hngh."
Yoo Harin flinched briefly but surrendered to my touch without resistance.
And when I slowed my hand, she even rubbed her head against my palm on her own.
'Kinda like a cat.'
Her familiarity and dependence on me were steadily growing.
"By the way, Harin-ah, why'd you come out here?"
I turned the conversation back.
"To smoke? Or to chew me out for earlier?"
"...Yeah. Don't do stupid stuff. I introduced you, so I have to warn you."
"Hmm."
"And no smoking. Not here, at least. The smell would ruin my image."
I slipped my hand into the deep cleavage of Yoo Harin's dress and flicked her nipple with my index finger.
"You care about your image, but what about these standing at attention?"
"Th-that's because you're touching them..."
"Can you go back to the party like this?"
"...It's fine. Doesn't show outside the dress."
Continuing the handplay, I whispered in her ear.
"Hey, how'd it feel seeing Choi Si-hyeok earlier? Be honest. Felt good, right?"
After hesitating, Yoo Harin nodded faintly and confessed her true feelings.
"...Yeah."
Every time she saw him fawning over Cynthia, it must've burned inside.
She was human; it'd be a lie to say it wasn't satisfying at all.
"But that was too much. No need to humiliate him that bad."
Still harboring strong feelings for Choi Si-hyeok, she looked regretful.
The real humiliation starts now.
"You didn't come to the party just to do this from the start, did you?"
"No, the wine was an accident, I told you."
"Wh..."
To shut her upper mouth that might cause trouble, I slipped my finger into her lower one.
Squelch.
Through the side slit of the dress.
"Hnggh!"
I gently scraped her pussy, parting her already slightly wet panties.
And.
"Hnnngh♡!"
Yoo Harin, clamping her mouth with both hands, climaxed quickly.
Turning the outdoor anxiety into arousal, she definitely had talent.
"...You're insane."
Still basking in the afterglow, she weakly slapped my shoulder.
"Insane. Insane. Insane."
What am I supposed to do if you do this here?
"Woo-chin, you're really..."
She grumbled uselessly and spouted nonsense.
"Dress is fine, but you'll need to change your panties."
Chuckling, I patted her ass and continued.
"You go first. Jeong Dong-woo'll be looking for me soon, so I'll hole up here a bit longer."
With the nuisance gone, I quietly stirred my mana unnoticed.
Whoosh.
Toward Choi Si-hyeok, who had just finished showering and returned to Cynthia's table.
