Only Extroverts Think Parties Are Fun #6
The atmosphere grew increasingly hostile. Just then, Changsik whispered to me in the tiniest voice imaginable.
“She’s an alumna. Jeon Somi, an active explorer who graduated from Youngsa High last year. She’s also active as a celebrity. Never thought I’d run into her here.”
I didn’t know much about her, but the woman pressuring Ppang-daeng-i to apologize seemed to be some kind of famous beauty. If she was an alumna, that meant she was an adult, right? So adults could attend this party too.
“…I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What?”
The beauty’s face crumpled dramatically at Ppang-daeng-i’s quiet voice. Maybe it was because her features were so sharp and clear, but her expressions changed with shocking intensity.
“…I… I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“What is this girl even saying? Wow, did you guys hear that?”
The model girl looked around at everyone and laughed as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Ppang-daeng-i’s face turned so red it looked like it might explode, and the murmurs from the people around us grew louder. The situation was clearly going south.
On a fun day like today, Ppang-daeng-i was hogging all the attention! This was the worst! I was supposed to be the star of this party!
I really didn’t want to use this method, but…
“Yoojung, why don’t you sit down first. We didn’t gather here today to watch Baek Yeoul apologize. We’re here so I can give everyone my and Seo Gaeul’s wedding invitation. I made this myself.”
I handed the model, Kim Yoojung, the wedding invitation I had personally drawn on A4 paper while waiting for Baek Yeoul in front of the school. The model girl who took it looked utterly bewildered.
“Ha? Married to who? A wedding invitation? And I’m not Yoojung, I’m Jeon Somi… Wait, is this for real? This invitation─”
Why does she keep asking if it’s real? Is there something about my invitation she doesn’t like? Oh! Right, it was missing something. How careless of me. My sense really was lacking.
I pulled out a pen and quickly drew my autograph and the Chanel luxury logo on the invitation.
“Ta-da. Finished. Now it’s a luxury item you guys love. Right? You can’t buy something like this even if you wanted to.”
“Whoa…”
The model girl’s mouth fell open in a perfect circle. Even Baek Yeoul, who had been tensed up like an angry raccoon ready to pounce on everyone, blinked rapidly with her eyes wide open.
It was the exact moment I had successfully drawn everyone’s attention to myself.
Grind.
Someone audibly ground their teeth, then slammed the table and shot to their feet.
“Ah, fuck. I really can’t listen to this anymore.”
It was the male student who had been sitting next to Wang Ja-hyun during the special class earlier. What was his name again? His sharp features made him look exactly like a praying mantis. He gave off a similar delinquent vibe to Geum Taeseong, but while Taeseong looked dangerously handsome, this guy just looked sly and petty. I’ve always had a talent for reading faces.
Anyway, the sneaky mantis-like bastard walked right up to me and shoved his face so close to mine it looked like he was about to kiss me.
“Hey, who the hell are you?”
“We’ve been in the same class together, and you still don’t know my name? I’m Ha Namjin.”
“Wow… this bastard is something else.”
“Hey, Ma Jun, stop it. Just stop.”
“Hold it in, man. Hold it in.”
A few of the male students grabbed Ma Jun’s hands and shoulders. But Ma Jun, overwhelmed by the humiliation of not remembering my name, shook off their restraining hands and exploded in anger.
“Hey, let go. I said let go! Hey, who do you think you are? Please stop acting like a hotshot. If you’re gonna wear fake luxury, at least know your place like the trash you are. Don’t you know you’re being a nuisance to everyone?”
“Why is me marrying Seo Gaeul a nuisance to everyone? The real nuisance is you, suddenly cursing and ruining the party atmosphere. Hey, do you really think throwing a tantrum and swearing is gonna scare me?”
Grab.
I reached out and seized the male student’s crotch right in front of my face. It was thinner than I expected and fit neatly in my palm. The expression on Ma Jun’s face instantly filled with cold tension.
GROIN SEIZED
Name: Sa Ma-jun
Status: 《Shock》 — He is in shock after having his weakness seized in a completely unexpected situation.
“Threatening someone isn’t a scared dog barking. It’s the final mercy given by someone who can completely crush their opponent. So say goodbye to your marbles.”
“Heyheyhey, heyheyhey! Aaaagh! Uaaaah!”
When I tightened my grip, Sa Ma-jun broke out in a cold sweat and thrashed around. The momentum he had when he was cursing and threatening me was gone; his voice had turned into pure soprano.
“Y-you bastard, do you even know who I am?! If you touch me, the J-Wang Group won’t sit still! My dad is an executive director at J-Wang Group!”
“Why the hell should I care? Hey, I’ll give you five seconds. Apologize to me and apologize to the invitation I made. If you don’t, you’ll be a girl starting today. Got it?”
“Uaaaa…!”
“Three. Two─”
“You crazy bastard! You said five seconds! Okay! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I was wrong! I was just pretending to be tough! I was wrong! Ha Namjin! I’ll apologize!”
The apology didn’t really satisfy me. I seriously considered just crushing them right then and there, but I decided to specially forgive him this time. Because I could see Seo Gaeul walking toward us from afar, holding a drink in a glass bottle.
I couldn’t let my beloved Seo Gaeul see me grabbing a guy’s junk. She’d think I was gay.
Release.
The moment I let go, Sa Ma-jun lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor with a thud. He looked utterly exhausted as he checked his own groin. The sight was hilarious.
“Hm? What’s going on?”
Seo Gaeul had returned to the VIP room. When she smiled and looked around, Wang Ja-hyun, who had kept his mouth shut until now, smiled brightly.
“Nothing happened.”
As if Wang Ja-hyun’s words were a signal flare, both Sa Ma-jun—who had been making a ruckus—and the model girl—who had been yelling at Baek Yeoul to apologize—clamped their mouths shut. What spineless bastards.
“Oh? What’s this?”
Seo Gaeul must have spotted the invitation that had fallen to the floor. She bent down, picked up the paper, and examined it. This was the invitation I had poured my heart into making. The moment I had been waiting for—how would my love, my goddess Seo Gaeul, react?
Was this how Sa Ma-jun felt when I had him by the balls?
“Pfft, this is funny. Namjin, did you really make this yourself?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve received plenty of gifts before, but this is the first time I’ve ever gotten anything like this. I’m definitely keeping it. It’s seriously hilarious.”
Seo Gaeul burst into laughter. Thanks to her laugh, the gloomy atmosphere in the VIP room—which had felt like a dog that had eaten rat poison—brightened up a little. As expected, a beauty’s smile was truly powerful.
Even though all that chaos had just happened, the party continued as if nothing had occurred. Everyone sat in small groups, chatting away, but I started feeling strangely restless. It was because my friend, my blue-chip stock Choi Changsik, was getting along surprisingly well with the luxury-clad rookies.
“You can make candy?”
“Can you change the flavor too?”
“Y-yes, that is correct.”
“What about those shoes? They’re the same brand as that guy’s earlier, right?”
“You seem like a really unique person too. Just like that Ha Namjin guy.”
Thanks to the luxury shoes I had personally drawn logos on, it looked like Changsik was also earning points with the people around him. Though Changsik seemed a bit embarrassed and kept fidgeting, several female students held something out to him.
“I have these extra slippers. Want to wear them? I’ll give them to you.”
“Whoa, a-aren’t these Hermes slippers?!”
Changsik glanced around nervously before taking off his original shoes and slipping on the expensive-looking pair. The sight filled me with a sense of betrayal. Everyone had realized how amazing Changsik was and started bribing him. An ability that could create infinite candy? That was seriously the best. Some of these guys actually had good eyes.
Clink!
At that moment, someone dropped a cup and shattered it. It was the model girl who had been running around like a chihuahua earlier.
“Ah, the cup broke again. How many times has this been? I knew it—things get unlucky whenever she’s around.”
“Right. Earlier my stockings suddenly got a run and I freaked out. Total bad luck.”
“Honestly, if she had any sense, wouldn’t she avoid places with this many people? She can’t even control her own ability properly. She’s a complete nuisance.”
The words were sharp. Those thorny remarks were aimed directly at someone sitting quietly in the corner. The target, Ppang-daeng-i Baek Yeoul, couldn’t utter a single word in defense and just trembled.
I was quick on the uptake. I knew that Ppang-daeng-i and everyone in this VIP room had some history together, and that something had gone wrong between them. But I really didn’t like the way they were circling around their complaints like cowards.
Time for me to show them how it’s done.
“That’s enough. If you have something to say, just say it straight to her face. I had her on my list of potential girlfriends because she has a pretty face, but I guess that won’t work. Your heart is ugly.”
“Ha? What?”
The model girl shot up from her seat, clearly triggered by my words. Her face was flushed red—maybe from drinking alone—and when she frowned on top of that, it created a truly colorful kind of ugliness.
“Who the hell are you to call me ugly?! Take that back right now!”
“Take it back.”
“…What?”
The model girl was so stunned she couldn’t even continue speaking, as if she had stepped in dog shit. Then, unable to control her anger, she reached out and slapped me across the cheek.
Slap!
At the loud sound, everyone’s eyes turned toward me. For a moment my vision flashed white. It felt like I had been spiked in the face by a volleyball player. It was more shocking than painful. But my response was lightning fast.
Slap! Slap!
I slapped the model girl’s cheeks, left and right, in quick succession.
“Kyaaak!”
“You know the saying, ‘Kind words travel a thousand miles’? I always return whatever I receive, doubled. I don’t go easy on women just because they’re women.”
The model girl clearly hadn’t expected to get hit. She staggered violently and slipped on the spilled drinks on the floor, flailing around in panic.
“Whoa, whoaaa!”
Wearing those tall high heels, she kept slipping back and forth on the liquid. It looked like some bizarre dance. It was honestly hilarious. She looked like a newborn fawn stumbling around.
“Kyaaak!”
In the end, the model girl fell over with a crash. Her legs spread wide, her posture completely ruined to the point her underwear was visible. It was black. With lace.
Name: Jeon Somi
Status: 《Rage and Shame》 — She is losing her mind after being humiliated in front of her crush, Wang Ja-hyun.
“Ah, fuck! So unlucky! This is seriously so unlucky!”
The model girl finally threw a full tantrum. But there was one thing I wanted to make crystal clear.
“Stop throwing around the word ‘unlucky’ so casually. Do you even know what real bad luck is? Real bad luck is not even being able to scream inside a burning house.”
I was the only one who knew this world had only one year left to live. It was heartbreaking that I couldn’t tell any of them.
“It’s sad that you’re so obsessed with and proud of shells that will eventually burn away. Luxury? Money? None of that matters. What’s truly important is this. This right here.”
Grab.
I picked up a bottle cap from one of the drinks. Everyone’s eyes focused on it.
“This is the real treasure.”
I wasn’t lying. In the future, bottle caps would become more valuable than gold. The reason was ridiculously funny—but I’d explain that later. Since the topic had come up, I decided to stock up on some bottle caps in advance. With that in mind, I went around the entire party venue and managed to collect over a hundred bottle caps!
Party champion! Now that I had collected everything I needed, it was about time to leave.
“I had high expectations for a party, but it was seriously boring. I’d rather go home and rewatch Game of Thrones. Hey kids, I’m heading out. You guys can keep playing if you want.”
“Y-you’re leaving already?”
Choi Changsik, who had been trembling like an anxious person, looked greatly flustered. It seemed he wanted to stay longer.
“Changsik, you’re leaving too? Why don’t you stay a little longer?”
“Yeah, let’s talk more about the candy-making.”
Changsik looked back and forth between me and the female students. After thinking for a long time, he took off the luxury slippers he was wearing and put back on the sneakers I had personally drawn logos on.
“I… I should probably get going too. It’s getting late…”
“I’ll go too.”
Baek Yeoul stood up as well. We left the VIP room and headed for the elevator. Just as we were about to exit the building, Seo Gaeul spoke to us in a gentle voice.
“You’re leaving already? Why? It was just starting to get fun. Why don’t you stay a little longer?”
It was an angelic question. Any man whose heart had frozen like a glacier for ten thousand years would fall passionately in love after hearing such words. But what wasn’t right wasn’t right.
“Seo Gaeul, do I look like an idiot to you?”