020 – New Wine in New Wineskins # 4
Gyeryusan Bacchus Winery is located halfway up the mountain.
It seems Gyeryusan's cool climate was suitable for creating a wine cellar.
Since they say the ideal humidity and temperature for storing wine are 60% and 12 to 16 degrees.
「Gyeryusan Bacchus Winery Summer Brewing Experience Hosted!」
「Women's gatherings, couples, and married pairs welcome!」
Looking around, there were a lot of women.
There were also plenty of people who looked like older couples or young couples.
'Am I the only guy who came here alone?'
Of course, I came with Boribori.
But Boribori is invisible to other people's eyes.
"Urrrr...."
For the record, ever since Boribori detached from my back, he's been in Alert Mode: ON.
The moment I reach out my hand even a little—
Fwoosh—
He immediately backs away like that.
'What was that earlier?'
I recalled what happened when I climbed the mountain piggybacking Boribori.
People couldn't see me, and couldn't hear whatever I said.
It felt like I was being ostracized by the entire world.
Thinking back on it, it gave me a slight chill.
To refresh my mood, I looked around at the surrounding scenery.
Even though it was halfway up the mountain, the view was distinctly different from that of the city center.
Having lived in a studio-flat neighborhood where telephone poles stretched out endlessly like spiderwebs, looking down at such an open city view felt really nice.
'The time right now is 1:50 PM....'
The appointment time was 2:00.
Thump, thump, thump—my heart rang out like someone knocking on a door.
So, who is the person I'm supposed to meet?
Where are they?
As I mentioned earlier, there were many women.
Did a women's wine enthusiast club make a group reservation or something?
There were also many young couples, and quite a few middle-aged married couples.
Standing around blankly as a lone man, it was just me.
Perhaps because of that, I felt the glances of passersby occasionally lingering on me.
'I feel like an uninvited guest or something.'
Feeling self-conscious, as I idly scanned the surroundings, my eyes landed on a person standing under a parasol set up for guests.
Long, pitch-black hair.
Her skin was so pale it almost looked translucent, and her long eyelashes along with reddish eyes completely grabbed my attention.
I saw a black women's suit, a handbag held in her hand, knee-high socks, and leather shoes.
Even with my lack of an eye for fashion, I could tell at a glance that they were luxury designer items.
Suddenly, I remembered the VIPs who rented out the whole venue when I worked at the restaurant.
The people that even the haughty Head Sommelier Team Leader Jeong served in person.
Perhaps that woman belonged to that category as well.
She was also standing there alone.
Out of nowhere, an absurd thought crossed my mind.
Could it be that person—
The person I'm supposed to meet?
The thumping of my heart reached its absolute peak for the day.
With a nervous heart, I picked up my phone and made a call.
Connecting call
「010-9XXX-7XXX」
.......
The phone rang—
The woman in the shade took out her phone from her bag.
And she parted her lips.
—Have you arrived?
"Have you arrived?"
It was a calm voice.
It was heard both through the phone and from beneath that parasol.
At this point, I had no choice but to be certain.
That woman right there was the answer to the 'Monkey's Paw Site'.
However, my feet wouldn't readily move toward her, so I froze for a moment.
But she, by the parasol, seemed to have spotted me first instead.
She hung up the phone and slowly stepped outside the shade.
Saaaaa—
At that moment, the back of my head chilled as if touching cold ice.
Because her ebony-black hair looked as red as wine for a split second.
Was it my imagination? Right after thinking that, the woman approached me and asked:
"Are you from Marina Entertainment? For the fake dating service?"
Huh? What on earth is a fake dating service?
'Marina Entertainment'... I had heard that somewhere recently.
Inside my inner coat pocket, deep within my wallet, was the business card Cho Sena noona gave me.
「Marina Entertainment Executive Director - Cho Sena」.
Is it a coincidence?
While I was plunged into deep thought, the woman in front of me scanned me up and down.
Just like Chef Seong inspecting freshly delivered tuna in the morning.
It was an openly evaluative glare, sizing up my worth.
"What I requested was a Cheongdam-dong model type. Your height is fine, but your clothes look shabby. It's too late to ask for a replacement now, though."
Slitherrr—
Her red eyes narrowed slightly.
"Still, barely a passing grade. Let's head inside. The application for the event will close soon. If we miss this chance, we'll have to wait until next year."
What is she talking about right now?
Why is everything moving along so swiftly?
"Um, excuse me, but what are you talking about?"
Crumple—
A crease formed between the woman's brows.
Perhaps because her face was so striking, just that single crease added an intense presence.
"There is a couples-only program at the winery event this evening. That's why I requested a fake partner. Didn't the company tell you?"
"Ah."
"Are you perhaps not from Marina Entertainment?"
At this moment, various thoughts flashed through my mind.
Depending on how I answer here, my future events will turn out wildly different.
After a brief moment of deliberation, I pulled out my wallet.
And I pulled out the 'Marina Entertainment' business card I received from Cho Sena noona.
"I am indeed from Marina Entertainment. My name is Ha Yuseong."
"I am Saya."
Saya. Man, what a unique name.
I thought it was a pretty name that suited her face well.
Crunch, crunch—
I walked along the gravel path with her like that.
Meanwhile, Boribori was circling around Saya-ssi, tilting his head.
"...Malka...?"
Muttering incomprehensible sounds to himself as an extra.
As I marveled at Boribori's tail curling like a question mark—a tail pattern I'd never seen before—
Saya-ssi asked me.
"If you keep fidgeting like that, it'll be obvious you're a fake partner, so let's hold hands while walking."
"Pardon?"
"Don't lovers usually hold hands? That would seem ordinary."
Looking up at me, Saya-ssi's eyes felt somewhat like those of a sharp bird of prey.
Come to think of it, this woman has very little facial expression.
It felt like you couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Yet, perhaps because of that, she possessed a strange, commanding aura.
"Ah."
Flustered, I reached out my hand.
Then, without a moment's hesitation, Saya-ssi grabbed that hand.
It was a hand much smaller than mine.
I wondered if anything in this world could be this soft.
It felt as if a silk handkerchief had been gently placed on my palm.
"They say the couples experience program takes place after dinner at 7:00 PM. I really wanted to participate. Because it seems one can become prettier."
I was worried an awkward silence would continue.
Fortunately, Saya-ssi seemed to be the type to talk more than she looked.
Before an uncomfortable quiet could envelop us, I quickly chimed in.
"Become prettier?"
"Yes. Become prettier. As a woman, isn't pursuing beauty quite ordinary?"
"Well, that's..."
My younger sister also used to smear Yoplait yogurt on her face with Omma, saying she wanted to become pretty.
She fell asleep like that and ants swarmed her face, causing total chaos.
Remembering that made me feel like laughing.
However, that chuckle vanished instantly at Saya-ssi's next words.
"So, what shall we do until 7 o'clock?"
Right.
What should we do?
I became extremely flustered.
"...Shall we drink some wine or something?"
# # #
"Ah, oppa, hurry up!"
Kim Seonyeong rushed her boyfriend Bang Suhyeok.
She said as she kept going down the stairs into the cellar, where the wine was stored.
"Come quickly!"
"Seonyeong-ah, wait a second... haa. We're not late yet, so let's just go out. Let's just wait until 7 o'clock and come back then! What if we get caught!"
"Oppa, do you hate me getting prettier? If I become pretty, it's good for you, not just me!"
"I like you just the way you are right now though..."
"What? Anyway, it looks like we're almost there, so hurry up!"
Seonyeong continued going down into the cellar.
She remembered what happened to her friend.
Her friend Kim Yeeun, who was chubby and had bad skin.
When she showed up saying she was handing out wedding invitations, Seonyeong was shocked.
Because she had become unrecognizable and beautiful.
When asked what the secret was, Yeeun said:
'There's a couples experience program at Gyeryusan Winery...'
Seonyeong couldn't stand the fact that Yeeun, who used to be uglier than her, became prettier and was marrying a better man because of it.
So she visited Gyeryusan today, intending to dive right in, believe it or not.
When there were finally no more stairs to descend—
Seonyeong discovered a bubbling wine hot spring in a very chilly and damp place.
It was just as Yeeun said.
"Oppa, hurry up!"
"Haa, haa."
"Hurry up, take off your clothes and get in there."
"Eh? Me? No way. You're the one who wants to get pretty, so why me..."
"I don't care! She said the man has to go in!"
Suhyeok had never won an argument against his girlfriend, Seonyeong.
If he won once, she would nag and annoy him for a month, so losing was the right choice.
So Suhyeok had no choice but to take off his clothes and immerse his body into the place called a wine hot spring.
The moment he thought the lukewarm temperature and slippery texture felt disgusting—
"W-What is this, it's weird, Se-Seonyeong-ah! Seonyeong-ah! Ugh, uaargh!"
Suhyeok's chubby body instantly began to shrink and shrivel up.
His cheeks became hollow, and his skin dried up like a rough old tree.
Seonyeong was also horrified by that sight, turning pale white.
"O...Oppa!"
She approached to save her lover.
Then, she suddenly looked at her own face reflected in the wine hot spring, freezing in place.
Fair skin, a sharp nose bridge, even red lips.
Her face had bloomed to an extent that she could hardly believe it was herself.
"Ah..."
"Haa, I-I survived, haa..."
At that moment, Suhyeok barely managed to pull his upper body out of the hot spring and was catching his breath.
That hot spring is dangerous.
I need to get out of here quickly! With that thought, he reached his hand out toward his lover, Seonyeong.
Seonyeong pretended to take Suhyeok's hand—
Splash—
She pushed Suhyeok straight back into the hot spring.
And she grabbed his head with all her strength so he couldn't get out.
"Mbbb, bbbb, Se...Seonyeo-mbbb, ugh, heu..."
As he struggled, and as the splashing drops of wine touched Seonyeong, her skin seemed to become even firmer, and she felt indescribably good.
Splash, splash—
Splash—
Before she knew it, when she snapped back to her senses, Seonyeong was alone, soaked in the bath.
Suhyeok was gone.
Instead, women draped in red cloth-like garments stood in a circle around the wine bath.
Beneath their red cloth, they spoke:
"Maina-des."
"Ba-kai."
"Bachan-tes."
They were incomprehensible words.
However, Seonyeong felt extremely good.
In an elation she was feeling for the first time in her life, it felt like she could do anything.
Seonyeong took the red cloth handed to her by them and draped it over her face.
She had become a bride in the truest sense.
Just like them.
Then who was their husband?
Who was her husband?
The answer was given immediately.
Because a giant wooden statue was carved between them.
Profane, ominous, and for that reason, sacred.
Looking at that sight, the bride trembled in ecstasy, and a certain woman made a phone call.
"Tell Team Leader Jeong to prepare as scheduled. The requested order volume will be resolved soon."
She was the magician Ju Doyeon.
The successor of blood-line magic who coiled up on Mount Gyeryusan.
Even that Witch of Isan didn't dare to recklessly invade Ju Doyeon's Gyeryusan.
Because she was Ju Doyeon, she could feel it.
That something tremendously absurd had entered her domain right now.
For some reason, it seemed to be hiding its true identity while pretending to be an ordinary person.
But it could never escape Ju Doyeon's intuition.
Ju Doyeon lifted the 「Magic Cup Cantharos」 high without hesitation.
As the wine in that cup boiled up like carbonation—
Bubble, bubble—
All the wine at Gyeryusan Winery boiled up.
Rumbleeee—
Clouds gathered over Gyeryusan, which had been blessed with clear weather.
However, what was falling was not rain, but something extraordinarily red.
"Huh? Oppa, look at this. Something red from the sky..."
"Huh? What's this, wine?"
Those who.
Were struck.
By it.
...
..
.
.
.
.
"H-Honey! Arrrgh!"
"Uwaaaaa, fuck! What is this! What the hell is it!"
"Close the door! The door!"