Aftermath (2)
The title of Lexy’s post and the photo content were completely at odds. She had taken a selfie right in the middle of downtown, sipping coffee like a career woman and striking every possible pose. Of course Ken, wearing rose-colored glasses, just thought she looked cute and chuckled as he scrolled down. …Maybe I should ask her to meet today.
Juni? Who’s Juni? Super hottie? …No way.
Ken couldn’t help picturing that annoying bastard. Of all the words to use—“super hottie”—and that guy’s face floated unfairly before his eyes.
Is Lexy meeting that guy today? …That can’t happen!
Ken quickly messaged Lexy, asking if they could meet today.
If it was a fountain plaza nearby, there was only one in Zone 43. Ken ground his thumb between his teeth. Damn it, she absolutely could not meet that bastard. He couldn’t send her to a guy who called women cum dumps. No matter what it took, he had to interfere.
Six o’clock, Fountain Plaza.
Fucking bastard, caught red-handed. Ken ground his teeth. Other girls were one thing, but Lexy was absolutely off-limits. He couldn’t let a pure soul like hers be sent to that demon of a man and corrupted.
Ken checked the time—4:22 p.m. He quickly washed up and changed into outdoor clothes. His roommate, who had been scratching his crotch, asked where he was going.
“Got plans.”
“With who? …Lexy?”
“Something like that.”
What the hell does “something like that” mean? Come to think of it, Lexy had posted a whole bunch of photos earlier saying she had plans today. This bastard was finally going on a date with that empty-headed bitch.
“You little shit. Make it count today, yeah?”
“Got it, so shut up already.”
Ken hurried out of the dorm and headed for the subway. A few glances flicked his way—he was decent-looking enough. Yeah, he wasn’t exactly lacking either. Lee Kang-jun might be ridiculously handsome, but that didn’t mean Ken had any particularly weak spots. They’d started from roughly the same line…
But after this whole incident, Lee Kang-jun’s stock had shot straight up. Wherever you went, people were casually talking about him. He’d even gotten a special promotion to C-rank this time. Capable, humble genius! That was roughly the reputation.
None of them know that bastard is a demon wearing human skin! …Enemy of all men! Filthy pervert!
Ken ground his teeth. It was a lonely fight. But for Lexy’s sake…!
He got off at the Zone 43 subway station around 5:30. Fortunately Lexy had a bit of an attention-seeking streak and posted photos wherever she went. Thanks to that, Ken could track her route and tail her. Before long he spotted a woman in a sky-blue dress wandering around humming to herself from a distance. It was Lexy.
She photographed anything she thought was pretty. Including her own face shoved into the frame.
Ken trailed after her. Then he put his plan into action, arranging to “run into” her by chance.
“Huh? Wha—? Ken!”
“Lexy!”
The moment Lexy actually saw Ken she beamed and bounced on her feet, asking what a coincidence this was. Running into a friend on the street and being happy about it was only natural.
“Wow, what a real coincidence!”
“Right? Perfect timing, Lexy. It’s been a while—want to grab dinner together?”
“Dinner?”
The smile faded a little into an awkward expression.
“Uh, I, I have plans…. Didn’t I message you about that earlier?”
“Ah, that. …Then can I just come along?”
“That’s a bit…”
Lexy looked uncomfortable. Ken didn’t want to tank his favorability here for no reason, so he waved it off.
“Hey, just kidding, just kidding. Don’t freak out.”
“Geez! You really startled me.”
Lexy laughed brightly again. Then she checked the time and let out a little shriek.
“I should get going…. See you next time, Ken.”
“Yeah, take care.”
Lexy hurried past him with quick little steps. He slipped out of her line of sight and secretly followed. The time was 5:52. Almost the appointed hour.
She waited for Kang-jun in front of the fountain with excited little movements. Ken watched her intently from a distance while constantly checking his phone screen. Another of her photos went up—this one with the fountain as the backdrop.
Six o’clock.
The appointed time arrived exactly. Lexy fidgeted, wondering when Kang-jun would show.
6:10.
He’s a little late… She craned her neck left and right, waiting for him. …She’d sent a message, but there was no reply.
6:20.
She perched on the edge of the fountain and scraped the ground with her toes. Even so she still waited, refusing to abandon that tiny hope…. Traffic could be bad, after all.
6:30.
Lexy’s face had darkened considerably. Thirty minutes, and still no word from Kang-jun. It would have been better if he’d at least said why he was late…. Bad thoughts kept creeping in.
6:40.
In the end she admitted she’d been stood up and turned away. Ken watched her drooping shoulders and felt relief.
Thank god. That bastard didn’t show!
Ken actually felt this was his chance—a chance to score big points with her. If he appeared now and soothed her disappointment, it could become the opportunity to deepen their relationship. He believed that.
He positioned himself ahead on the path she would take and waited. Lexy seemed so shaken she didn’t even recognize him and trudged right past.
“Lexy!”
“Uh…, huh?”
The smile that started to rise when she turned around quickly vanished. She averted her eyes from his and fidgeted with her fingers. Ken pretended not to notice and smiled for her.
“Ah, plans get canceled?”
“Huh? …Ah, yeah yeah. Said something urgent came up. I waited a bit…, shame. Ha, ha.”
Ken spoke carefully so she wouldn’t feel embarrassed. She quickly agreed and forced a smile. Of course it was a little pitiful compared to usual. …She really must have been looking forward to it a lot.
Fucking bastard. Lee Kang-jun, you really are a piece of shit.
Still, thanks to him this great opportunity had appeared.
“Then want to grab dinner together? I was headed that way anyway.”
“Ah…, should we?”
The two of them walked the sunset-lit street chatting and laughing. It really felt like a date. Ken was in an excellent mood.
He stepped into a nearby restaurant. Being dinner hour, the place was fairly crowded. They ordered and laughed over old stories.
They were talking just fine when suddenly a message arrived for Lexy. She checked it out of habit and her eyes went round. Uh, uhh…. She looked back and forth between Ken and her phone with an awkward expression.
“Um, Ken, th-that, uh, sorry but…, I, right now, that…, I think I need to go. What do I do! I’m really so-orry.”
“…What?”
Hearing that, Ken’s chest dropped with a thud. It was a bit of a shock.
“It’s just, right now, uh…, he just got here! So, I think I need to hurry over…. Sorry. Really sorry! Next dinner’s on me for sure! Ah, and I’ll pay for this too before I go! You just eat and leave. Okay?”
While saying that she grabbed the bag she’d set down and slung it on. Ken briefly lost his words. It was suddenly too crushing.
“Ken I’m really sorry! I’m going. Make sure you eat dinner. I’m off! See you next time! Sorry!”
With that she hurried to the counter, finished paying, and dashed off somewhere. Soon the food came out. What she would have eaten, and what he would eat. Two plates.
Ken felt utterly pathetic. At the same time his teeth ground together. That fucking bastard…, you, I really won’t let this go. Playing with people like this.
Ken scraped his chair back, stood, and left the restaurant. Then he quickly chased after her.
Kang-jun checked the time. 7:05. He was considering just leaving when he heard a voice shouting “Kang-juuun!” from far away. Lexy was running toward him. She must have rushed, because she arrived panting.
“Haa, haa. Sorry. Haa, did you wait?”
“About five minutes. Something came up so I was a bit late.”
It was more than a bit late, but Lexy shook her head with a face that said she didn’t mind at all.
“No, that can happen! It’s fine. Juni, you’ve been busy lately.”
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah!”
The way she grinned so freely just because he’d shown up was enough to make it okay, apparently.
Her whole attitude toward him was completely different from how she treated Ken. Just looking at him made smiles leak out. And the eyes that gazed at his profile dripped honey.
He’s really too handsome. I’ve always wished I could date a guy like this…!
She thought maybe she could finally fulfill that wish. Maybe that first meeting that day had been fate for the two of them. It was exactly the picture she’d dreamed of back when she lived with romance comics in her hands as a girl. The sweet love story of a truly handsome male lead and a pretty female lead…!
…And Lexy had no idea in her wildest dreams that there was a storyline where an extra who secretly loved that female lead was tailing them from behind.
What bastard keeps following us?
Even with advanced stealth techniques it would be a coin toss whether you’d escape Kang-jun’s notice, so trailing them this openly with nothing fancy at all was basically advertising “please notice me.” Given how wary he already was, Ken’s tailing was exposed almost immediately.
Kang-jun’s lips curled into a smirk. He calculated step by step in his head how he could use this to squeeze out more coupons. Truly the textbook specimen of a coupon-farming man.
Kang-jun tossed out a little bait.
Good. The fire was lit for now….
“Do you like cocktails?”
“Cocktails? Yeah! I love them!”
In truth Lexy liked anything, as long as she could do it with Kang-jun.
The two of them entered a cocktail bar with a nice view. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass that filled one entire wall, the sunset sky looked beautiful. How lovely. Lexy habitually snapped a photo right away.
They picked a decent seat and sat down. Lexy ordered a Kahlúa Milk, Kang-jun a Piña Colada. She took another photo so both cocktails were visible, with Kang-jun’s crossed legs peeking in a little. Of course she cropped out the face.
Kang-jun found the constant click-click photo-taking a bit irritating.
“Stop taking pictures already. Or I’m just leaving.”
“Uh, okay. Got it….”
Lexy quietly set her phone on the table, took a sip of her cocktail, and watched Kang-jun.
But he was really handsome. Perfect for her male-lead theory.
So this was what a man who looked like he’d stepped out of a comic was like. There was a different kind of cool about him compared to when she saw him at work. Dressed in that carefully-careless way, he had the kind of charm that reeled women in. Naturally Lexy, with zero immunity, was reeled in instantly.
“I heard you got a special promotion. Congrats!”
She pulled a small box out of her bag. A gift she’d bought by scraping together her emergency fund. A gold bracelet. Mixed in was the cute intention of “you’re bound to me now.”
“It’s pretty. Thanks.”
“Try it on once.”
“Later.”
“Then later when you put it on, make sure you take a picture and send it to me. Okay?”
Kang-jun just nodded a couple of times vaguely. He would really send it, right? For now she chose to believe that.
Hehe. Lexy smiled shyly and clasped both hands tight. Her heart was racing.
How far will things go today…. He’ll at least kiss me when we part, right? In the comics, first dates usually ended that way. The male lead would suddenly spin the female lead around, pin her to the wall…. And then, and then…!
Kyaa. I don’t knowww.
After talking a bit more, the sky had turned completely black.
“Shall we head out?”
“Sure?”
They cleared the table and stood. The street was bright as day thanks to the sparkling neon signs on every storefront. She walked beside him, trying to calm her fluttering chest. The atmosphere hanging in the air made her that excited.
Kiss. I think we’re going to kiss….
“Do you live alone?”
“Huh? Yeah….”
“That so?”
Then we can head there later.
Kang-jun asked if she wanted dinner. Lexy of course said yes. They went into a nice restaurant, cut their food with casual knife work, and filled their stomachs appropriately.
9:47 p.m.
One more drink wouldn’t have been impossible, but Kang-jun didn’t bother dragging things out further. It was also annoying.
“I’ll walk you home.”
“Okay.”
Finally…!
She thought kiss time had arrived. Of course she’d already gargled in the restaurant bathroom and sprayed breath freshener thoroughly. Surely she didn’t smell, right?
They took the subway across one zone. When they walked side by side down a sparsely populated street, smiles kept leaking out of her.
Back when she’d dated a guy just once, she’d at least gotten as far as kissing. Things hadn’t progressed further than that, but the memory of that racing heart still remained.
If I do it with Kang-jun it’ll definitely feel better than back then, right?
Soon they arrived in front of her dorm. She said it was a building managed by the management company. Originally five of them had lived there, but two had left and only three remained….
“Well then, I, I’ll head in.”
She said that and looked up at Kang-jun with eyes full of expectation.
“Yeah, go on in.”
“O-okay.”
And she slowly, very slowly turned her body. This was where the scene of Kang-jun grabbing her wrist was supposed to happen…, but strangely it didn’t lead into that scene.
Lexy got a little flustered, hesitated a bit, then slowly opened the front gate. And just in case she looked back, but Kang-jun was just standing there watching. No intention of grabbing her.
“I’m, going in.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“I’m really going in.”
“Go in.”
“…I’m leaving?”
Kang-jun just nodded once. Was he really just leaving like this? Really? …Then what about the kiss?
Lexy, feeling a little dejected, slowly closed the gate. No, there was also the scene where the male lead stops the door from closing and calls out “wait”!
Hoping for that, she closed the gate very slowly. Wishing he would catch the closing door in time with a firm grab.
Creeeak…, clunk.
…But until the door closed, nothing of the sort happened. The gate shut coldly.
Lexy stood there blankly for a moment, feeling empty. …Was this really how it ended? For real?
Disappointed, she bit her lip hard and slowly turned her feet that felt heavy as stones.
Just then, a sudden bang-bang of knocking on the gate. Lexy whipped her head around.
“Lexy, wait a second.”
She dashed to the gate and flung it wide open again. Kang-jun had come closer. …Yes, this was it! Lexy smiled radiantly, scolding her own insufficient imagination for not thinking of this scene in time.
“Yeah, what is it?”
Kang-jun spoke. Without doing the kiss he was supposed to.
“Can I take a look at your room?”
“…Huh?”
Suddenly the story had jumped several steps ahead.