Mother-in-Law, Call Me Noona?
“Sorry~! Today’s the last busy day, so let’s have fun starting tomorrow, okay?”
Han Yugyeong apologized to me one more time before leaving the grilled eel restaurant. Hmm… It felt like something I should remember, but the memory refused to surface. Because acquiring Vanguard in the game had been so difficult, I’d only managed to use it once or twice, so the events tied to it never stuck in my mind.
Still, the fact that it hovered just out of reach told me it was an event I had experienced. If it had been completely unfamiliar, it would have been one I’d never encountered. Of course, the real frustration was how it stayed maddeningly close without revealing itself….
“Yongtae, is it all right if I have a drink?”
“Of course. Drink as much as you like.”
Since we were in a private room with no prying eyes, Ha Juyun ordered drinks without restraint. The soju arrived the moment we asked, and the two of us began sharing glasses.
“Mmm… ♪”
“Do you enjoy drinking?”
At my question, Ha Juyun shook her head, then gave me a seductive smile.
“No, it’s just… With you sitting right in front of me, I suddenly crave it. Strange, isn’t it?”
“Am I some kind of drinking snack?”
“Hohoho! You absolutely are~! Just looking at you makes the alcohol slide down so smoothly….”
I wasn’t sure about her usual drinking habits, but she clearly didn’t have much tolerance. I wasn’t in the mood, so I stopped after the first glass, yet after only three Ha Juyun’s face was already flushed bright red. If she started staggering and I had to escort her home only to get caught by paparazzi, it would cause real trouble.
“If you feel like you’re getting drunk, you should stop.”
“Nooo… I’m not drunk at all.”
Hmm. She was definitely drunk. In moments like this it was smarter to offer an alternative instead of forcing her to quit. Drunk people usually dug their heels in and insisted they were fine if you tried to cut them off.
“Then how about we buy some drinks and continue at home, just the two of us? It’s crowded and uncomfortable here.”
“Mm, shall we?”
Three glasses and she was already like this… This lady really shouldn’t drink in public. I finished the remaining eel, stood up, paid the bill, and we stepped outside. Ha Juyun pulled a mask from her bag and put it on. A mask alone would probably keep most people from recognizing her.
I followed her lead to the residence where she was staying. But wasn’t Han Yugyeong’s father, Han Sungjae, living there? Hmm… What would I even say if we ran into each other? It would be incredibly awkward.
“By the way… Isn’t your husband home?”
“Husband? Who knows. I live alone… That man started a separate family a long time ago.”
Ah, I see. Their relationship had been bad in the game too. If she lived by herself there would be no uncomfortable encounters. That was a relief.
“Let’s buy the alcohol here before we head back. I’ll pick it out, so wait at the table, okay?”
Ha Juyun sat me down at the plastic table outside the convenience store and disappeared inside. Was it because I had paid at the eel restaurant? She seemed determined to buy this round herself. While I waited, I sent Han Yugyeong a message.
After finishing my chat with Han Yugyeong, the convenience store bell jingled and Ha Juyun stepped out. She must have bought quite a lot; she emerged carrying two large bags stuffed full. Four cans of ten-thousand-won beer, soju, beef jerky, plenty of squid-leg snacks, several pints of Haagen-Dazs… As expected of a chaebol daughter-in-law, even the price of convenience-store ice cream hadn’t sobered her up. Any normal person would have snapped out of their drunken haze at those prices.
All sorts of other random items filled the bags as well. They looked far too heavy for Ha Juyun’s slender arms, so I took both from her.
“Aww~! Those are mine.”
“They look heavy, so I’ll carry them for you.”
“Oh, really? Hehe… Then let’s hurry home.”
She had pouted when I took the bags, but the moment I said I was carrying them for her she calmed down. Since I didn’t know the way, I walked half a step behind her. Despite being drunk, she moved at a brisk pace into the luxury apartment complex. Maybe she wasn’t as intoxicated as she seemed?
Ha Juyun’s home was a penthouse on the top floor. She lived alone yet used such an enormous space? It seemed terribly lonely.
“Excuse me.”
“Feel free to make yourself at home. Come in, quickly.”
Her playful “feel free” made me burst out laughing without meaning to. Once inside, I headed straight for the kitchen and placed the Haagen-Dazs, beer, soju, and drinks into the refrigerator. The weather had grown warmer, and the beer felt slightly lukewarm, so it needed to be chilled.
The fridge was massive, yet it held almost no food—just packaged chicken breast and pre-portioned salads. Being an actress who constantly had to watch her figure explained the ready-made salads. In a way, it looked rather pitiful.
She didn’t get along with her husband, wasn’t close to her daughter, lived alone in this huge house, and couldn’t even enjoy the simple pleasure of eating properly. It stirred a bit of sympathy in me. Before my possession I might have sneered at such complaints from someone so wealthy, but my perspective had changed along with my circumstances.
“Oh? The agency just posted a photo on their promotional channel. Want to see it together?”
The moment we arrived, Ha Juyun, already seated on the sofa, beckoned me over while staring at her phone. I sat beside her and looked. It was the currently trending social network service called On Mars, a platform recently popularized by the American tycoon Cantal Musk. It even boasted connectivity on Mars, where development was in full swing.
The photos from today’s shoot were up. Not only Ha Juyun’s images but mine as well, and the comments were flooded with people asking who I was. Most were variations of “He’s so handsome—who is that guy?” but the hate comments were just as plentiful. Fans had expected JBS’s Jun in the music video; seeing an unknown man instead naturally made them furious.
My head understood the anger, but my chest still burned at the malicious replies. Who told that guy to do drugs? If I ever ran into this Jun or Joon in a back alley, I’d have to teach him a lesson. The sheer irritation confirmed once again that I was not cut out to be a celebrity.
“Don’t pay them too much attention. Every one of those posts will be worth money later. Our legal team collects every single comment even without me asking.”
“Really? Then I’ll give you whatever money I earn from the people who insulted me, Noona. There was nothing but salad in the fridge—use it to buy yourself something delicious.”
“Hohoho! Are you worried I can’t afford good food? This is all part of maintaining my figure, you know? Take a good look at this body.”
Ha Juyun laughed, stood up, placed one hand on her hip and the other behind her head, striking a pose. She truly had an incredible figure. Tall, full-breasted, with a narrow waist and proportionally wide hips. Easily within the top zero-point-zero-one percent in Korea. Even if I had been a woman, I would have worked relentlessly to keep a body like that.
“Hehe, what do you think?”
“It’s sexy, Noona.”
“♥”
At my answer she gave a sensual smile and stepped closer. She came so near that her breath tickled my nose. It was sweet, carrying a faint soju scent mixed with an indescribably arousing fragrance.
Hoo… Mama…!