Planned First Meeting (3)
Planned First Meeting (Part 3)
Is this the legendary 5 million won Michelin three-star restaurant I've only heard about?!
Just like you'd expect from a restaurant located in an incredibly high-class hotel that exudes dignity from its exterior, the interior is so extravagantly decorated with high-end furniture and decor that I wonder if someone like me, a beggar, is even allowed inside.
On top of that, since coming to this Gender-Reversed World, it's been rare to encounter men, but here they're bustling about just like in the previous normal world with balanced gender ratios - about one man accompanying each female guest.
"Um, excuse me, Miss Selena Kim?"
"Hehe~ You can just call me Selena~"
"Then, Miss Selena. My outfit doesn't seem to match this restaurant... Shouldn't I change clothes even now...?"
It's not that it doesn't - without exception, the guests seated in the restaurant are all dressed in either extravagantly decorated attire or well-tailored formal suits like evening wear.
Meanwhile, my fashion consists solely of a white shirt and a puffy down jacket.
At least it's not a no-name brand but rather a mid-tier maker product that even ordinary civilians would recognize, but ever since I arrived, the stares directed at me have been pouring down with unpleasant looks that seem to say, 'What is that beggar doing here trying to scrounge for food?'
"Oh my... It seems you're feeling a bit uncomfortable?"
Not just a bit - I'm extremely uncomfortable, hehe;;
At this rate, I won't even be able to properly drink water, let alone eat...
"Then instead of bothering you to change clothes, should I ask the manager to kick out all the guests here so we can have an intimate meal just between us? Since this hotel happens to be my property, it shouldn't be difficult?"
Gasp!
This luxury hotel is her property?
'The limited edition sports car she brought to pick me up was worth billions of won too - just how far does her capability extend at such a young age?'
Did an oil well spring up in her family's backyard or something.
She looks about the same age as me in her early 30s, but I can't see the limits of her capabilities.
For a moment, I almost committed the typical Kimchi-man behavior of dumping my first-ever girlfriend Ye-rim and saying 'I'm switching rides~!'
'Something feels off. This Selena Kim woman.'
Even right now, it's the same.
Beyond her consistently gentle and genteel demeanor that puts people at ease, I can sense something unknowable lurking deep beneath that pleasant exterior - from the way she looked at me when I was stunned seeing the billion-won sports car for the first time, to now, watching me as she makes the outrageous offer to kick out other guests for my sake.
On the surface, it seems like she's showing me tremendous favor, but deep within that gentle exterior, I sense something indescribable that ordinary people wouldn't catch.
'It's like she's showing off her capabilities while testing my reactions.'
Having lived 33 years as an orphan, I've encountered all kinds of people, and thanks to that, my ability to read situations is on a completely different level from ordinary people.
'To my eyes, Selena Kim. That woman is clearly someone twisted.'
As a similar case from my high school days.
I had a friend whose parents were presidents of a mid-sized company - this guy who'd been a rich family's young master since birth seemed to get along well with classmates, but inside he was filled with emptiness.
At first, I could become close with him since he approached me without prejudice despite me being an orphan, but the more time we spent together, his emptiness became visible, and eventually I even visited his house and charmed his parents, finally unraveling his emptiness until we became best friends but...
'She's a bit more extreme, but this woman shows similar emotions to that guy.'
I don't know what she wants from me when we've just met, but I won't let my guard down.
"Hehe, it's okay. You've already invited me to such a fancy restaurant, Miss Selena, and I don't want to cause any more trouble~"
Truthfully, as a commoner, there's no way I could properly appreciate the taste of food at such a high-end restaurant, and if I accept her favor, who knows what price she might demand later, so I stick my tongue out slightly and naturally decline her offer.
Selena Kim.
If you're hiding your true self, then I'll hide mine too!
At my response, her eyes momentarily widen in surprise before curving into crescent shapes as she smiles.
Wow~ Her visual is seriously insane, like she jumped straight out of a Hollywood movie screen.
Even when I first saw her, I was amazed by her brilliant blonde hair, exotic blue eyes, and her height being about half a head taller than the already tall Ye-rim, but Selena Kim is truly an extraordinarily beautiful woman.
If it weren't for Ye-rim, regardless of her inner self, I might have completely fallen for that beautiful appearance, right?
"If that's what Kang Cheol-ssi wants, then I understand~ Fortunately, the seat I reserved is a privacy room, so we'll be dining just between us, so don't worry."
You could have told me that from the beginning?!
As I thought, this woman was testing me!
"Haha~ You should have told me that from the start, you're quite the tease, Miss Selena~?"
What I actually meant was 'Where does this bitch think she's pulling this bottom-of-the-deck trick from the very start? Do you think I'm a pushover?' and she, who also hides her true intentions well, seems to properly understand the meaning as her crescent-shaped smiling eyes curve even deeper like a new moon as she responds.
"Kang Cheol-ssi's reactions were so cute that I played a little joke, but it seems you didn't find it amusing~ I'll be careful not to do that 'next time,' hehe~"
'Next time'...
'So this meeting was planned from the beginning after all.'
If it were a confirmed View Bot usage case, that would be one thing.
But it's merely a Viewbot Suspicion - I wondered why someone who's literally the CEO would personally show up.
It seems this entire meeting was planned by her from the beginning.
Because even though this meeting is somewhat forced, if it were a somewhat understandable meeting, her use of the word 'next time' means she wants to meet me again after this, but would that really be a normal meeting?
'Either she created the pretext of Viewbot Suspicion from the beginning to meet me, or she fell in love at first sight during this brief meeting and wants to meet again... Of course, from my perspective, the former is the correct answer.'
If it were the latter from the start, she would have chosen a more courtship approach rather than this probing, testing method.
Something smells fishy and feels off, but...
"First, can we please eat the 5 million won meal? I haven't eaten anything since morning, hehe..."
Again, I was too hungry. Sniff...
------------
What on earth is this man's true nature?
Men as animals are arrogant creatures with no manners, but they ultimately become busy wagging their tails and acting cute the moment my social status is revealed.
But look at the man before me.
Munch munch chomp chomp~
"Hmm... If the green soup that just came out felt like drinking frog eggs from a swamp, then this lamb steak that came out as the main dish is like a steak grilled from a hell-bent sheep that finished bulking up after injecting tons of steroids! The muscle is insanely tough - I've been chewing hard for 10 minutes now but it shows no sign of breaking apart!?"
"Ah, ah? I, I see..."
Selena Kim genuinely stammers, unsure how to react for the first time in a long while to Kang Cheol's behavior of openly mocking the meal she's treating him to.
If he had been a man who didn't show manners from the beginning like other men, that would be one thing.
When she brought the expensive sports car to pick him up, he sat in the passenger seat instead of the back, chattering away with his inhumanly beautiful face saying 'It's manners to keep talking so the driver doesn't fall asleep' - he had better manners than a new female employee. And when they arrived at the parking lot and she tried to open the door for him, he said 'I'm already getting a free ride - I can't let you do that!' and struggled to figure out how to open the sports car door, finally getting out with his own hands - it was even refreshing.
'Since when did that man start hiding his inner self and become aggressive...?'
Even now, as he says 'Actually, isn't this steak just steak-flavored gum? Calling this food service... Oops, my true thoughts?!' while trying to gloss over it with his angelic appearance, he looks like a hedgehog bristling with spines and openly on guard.
Apparently he started acting like this since she playfully tested him with difficult questions using her wealth.
'This is fun~'
Truthfully, it's the first time a man has reacted to her like this, and while she's perplexed, the audacity makes her want to immediately pluck out all those prickly spines and lay him flat on the ground, but.
'It's refreshing...'
The first fresh emotion she's experienced in her world that's utterly empty.
Simultaneously, her assessment of the man named Kang Cheol upgrades from 'a man to play with as a one-night toy before discarding' to 'a man to observe a bit more and play with for about a week before discarding.'
Ptui!
Apparently finding it too difficult to chew and swallow, Kang Cheol spits out the half-chewed piece of meat onto his plate.
The sight is so lacking in class and manners that despite her efforts to be patient, her crescent-shaped gentle eyes tremble slightly as anger surges within her...
"Sigh... Actually, I thought if I acted like this, your true self would come out to some extent, but Miss Selena's defenses are thicker than I expected. I'm sorry for being rude until now!"
Selena Kim's smile cracks as Kang Cheol, who had been rude until now, stands up and bows at a 90-degree angle to apologize - it's hard to believe it's the same man.
"Wh, why are you suddenly doing this, Kang Cheol-ssi? I was fi..."
"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I think it's rude to hide your true self and test me like this, no matter how high your social position is, Miss Selena."
"..."
Although she had somewhat expected it, Kang Cheol's blunt words calling her rude after seeing through her hypocritical mask create a huge wave in her heart that had been empty for decades.
"Actually, I thought if I showed arrogant behavior, you would quickly reveal your true self, but it seems the emptiness in Miss Selena's heart runs deeper than I thought."
"Ha...?"
It was the first time.
His actions were clearly first-time experiences, but a man who could see through her emptiness this clearly and openly bring it up to mention was truly the first.
"I don't know if we'll meet again, but hiding our true selves while talking seems like a waste of time for both of us, so I'll take my leave now. Thank you very much for the meal."
Saying this, Kang Cheol straightens from his bow and exits the restaurant with confident steps.
And as she sits dazed before the food that has grown cold, a sharp-eyed woman approaches her.
"Selena-nim. Shall I bring that arrogant man back immediately and confine him to a bedroom? How dare that poor orphan boy speak to Selena-nim like...!"
Selena Kim suddenly bursts into loud laughter at her bodyguard's angry expression - someone who has assisted Selena's dirty hobbies while supporting her throughout her life.
"Kyahaahahahat~!!! This is fun! And refreshing! Has any man ever treated me like that before? Telling me not to hide my true self - how arrogant!"
The bodyguard's expression hardens severely at the broken appearance of her superior who always maintained a cool and gentle demeanor in any situation.
"Then I'll bring that man right now..."
"No, just leave him be. And immediately instruct them to lift Kang Cheol-ssi's Account Suspension, and tell the surveillance team to stop monitoring and stand by. I'll observe him personally..."
And so, without Kang Cheol knowing, the dark hands reaching for him disappeared, and Kang Cheol, unaware of this fact...
"What do I do, what do I do~! What if they don't lift the account suspension because I acted arrogantly? How will I even get home?!"
He didn't even have taxi fare to get home...