Friend (2)
Friend (Part 2)
"My smile is, is beautiful...?"
Selena Kim, utterly flustered by his sudden, unexpected compliment, fumbled to touch her own face, unaware she had been smiling.
To her, being told she had a beautiful smile was just one of countless compliments she had received over the years.
Well aware of her own stunning beauty, she had often participated as the main model in Paprika TV's advertisements, becoming the face of the brand. Her smile, honed by expert care and innate acting skills, was a natural, polished result.
But this man's compliment felt uniquely different.
Hearing it made her chest tingle and her face grow hot, a feeling that was both embarrassing and something she wanted more of.
This sensation, which made even her breathing ragged, was probably lo...
'I must be having a myocardial infarction...'
Selena Kim seriously assessed her own condition, her heart pounding like a broken machine and her face flushed red.
That's right.
Having lived a hollow life for 35 years where even love seemed trivial, she had no capacity to understand such a high-level emotion!
And Kang Cheol, completely unaware that she was harboring these feelings for him...
"Yes. It's a beautiful smile~! A sincere smile directed at me, without any pretense. That is the real smile, the real beauty~!"
He was, without realizing it, putting on a full-fledged act...
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Ms. Selena, flustered by my sincere compliment as we smiled at each other, fidgeted with her lips.
Yes, that genuine smile was exactly what I had wanted to see from her.
Filling the void?
It was really nothing much.
The food I just made for Ms. Selena was merely a catalyst for change.
What I truly wanted from her was the true self hidden behind that emotionless void and the misconception that she was a different existence from others. Even if it was just a small smile now, as these moments accumulated one by one, the emptiness would disappear and her perspective on the world would change.
'That friend of mine was like that too.'
A "pure fool" who couldn't even fight properly, yet thought money could solve everything and built walls around himself, believing he was different from his classmates who had no money.
One page of my limited fighting history included beating some sense into that spoiled brat. That friend, who was coddled and grew up soft, was an orphan—living a life completely opposite to mine. That fight became a turning point; his emptiness vanished and he started to truly enjoy life.
Not that he became a delinquent after discovering the thrill of fighting, but it led to us becoming friends. He came with me to construction sites and experienced back-breaking labor, volunteered at the orphanage I was from, and had all sorts of novel experiences he'd never had before, learning how to live like a proper human being. It was a heartwarming ending.
'But I can't just beat some sense into Ms. Selena like I did with that friend, can I?'
Of course, if I tried that method, I'd probably be the one getting my ass kicked...
"Now that I think about it. Ms. Selena, you're a CEO and all, but you're so good at fighting? Aren't CEOs supposed to push pens around and let their bodyguards do the fighting for them?"
When I saw her take down those thugs... it was like she was starring in a different genre of novel.
She, who had been momentarily dazed by my smile compliment, seemed to regain her composure. She lowered the hand that was touching her lips, let out a light chuckle, and answered.
"A man, and you call it 'fighting'—such a lowbrow expression, not even 'combat'..."
"Why? Do you dislike men who talk like this?"
What's wrong with my macho talk?
She shook her head as if exasperated, but an even brighter smile was forming on her face.
"No~ That's part of Kang Cheol the streamer's charm. And I am a woman who is capable of far more than you think, Kang Cheol-nim. Hehe~"
See?
Once she gets into the mood, a natural smile comes as a bonus and her way of speaking improves, doesn't it~?
"Oh! In that case, since I've had the fortune to meet someone so capable, shall we be friends? I saw online you're 35, so we're only 2 years apart. Let's just be friends. No, let's be friends!"
Now that I've started meddling, I have to do it properly.
Just like a cold or various illnesses don't get cured after one dose of medicine and require continuous care, her change needed a sustained stimulus to fill the void, and nothing was better for that than a friend.
And at my comment, which sounded like it was straight out of an anime—'You should become my comrade!'—Ms. Selena...
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Just how far will this man go in surprising me?
Starting with brushing off a tremendous incident that would have been a lifelong, deep trauma for any other man with hearty laughter, and then feeding me strange food as if it were some kind of reward.
No matter how many layers an onion has, you'd expect to see the core eventually, but this man with his angelic appearance seems to have no end to his charm.
'And on top of that, he now suggests we become, of all things, friends?'
Does that innocent man even know what it means for a man and a woman to be friends?
The gender ratio in this world is 30 to 1.
For every 30 women, there is 1 man. Centuries ago, when the ratio was 2:1 or 3:1, monogamy might have been possible, but...
Now, in this era, polygyny is the basic common sense.
That means it's standard for one man to have relationships with multiple women, and simultaneously, in today's age, 'friends' between a man and a woman carries the meaning of 'we enjoy having sex together,' essentially synonymous with sex partners.
'And he wants to be that kind of 'friend' with me...?'
To be honest, it felt good.
But...
"Why? Are you saying no because of a 2-year age difference? Huh~?!"
No matter how you look at it, that reaction is from someone completely ignorant of the meaning of 'friend,' isn't it? A pure, simple soul.
Part of me wanted to grab his hand right now and physically show him what being 'friends' really means.
"Hehe~ Alright, let's be friends."
But I didn't want to do that right now.
A man who is manly yet feminine, feminine yet manly.
A man who, when it comes to matters of sex, is so pure and childlike it makes you wonder, 'Is this for real?' I didn't want to corrupt him just yet.
"What's with the formal speech between friends? Say it again! Say 'Alright, let's be friends!'!"
"A-Alright, let's be friends, Kang Cheol-ah..."
For some reason, I had a feeling this desire not to corrupt him wouldn't last very long...
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"Well, let's see each other next time, Selena~"
"Huh? Oh, alright, get home sa... Kang Cheol-ah~"
Kang Cheol, having emptied two 500ml cans of beer each to commemorate their new friendship while engaging in silly chatter, headed home. Selena Kim waved goodbye, still awkwardly using informal speech.
Originally, since it had gotten dark outside and she felt responsible for the incident, she had intended to escort him home in her expensive sports car. But he refused, saying, 'We're not friends going out to play, and having someone drive you home is something only punks do,' and instead got into a taxi operated by the Male Safety Care Service with a male driver, setting off on his journey home alone.
"...That was a truly interesting conversation."
The words escaped her lips, surprising even herself.
For her, the only fun she experienced was luring male streamers with money and toying with them. To think she found enjoyment in mere trivial chatter, devoid of any substantial content...
But it was an undeniable fact.
The simple stories about each other's lives, shared without any physical contact, and the informal speech she was semi-forced to use under the premise that friends shouldn't stand on ceremony—all of it allowed her to converse with him with an astonishing lack of reservation. In the process, she could feel her deep-seated emptiness melting away.
"Chief of Security."
"Yes. Selena-nim!"
Unbeknownst to Kang Cheol, the Chief of Security, Park Ah-reum, who had been hiding and providing covert protection, hurriedly ran to Selena Kim's side and stood at attention upon her call.
"The night sky is quite beautiful, isn't it?"
"Y-Yes? Ah. Y-Yes, it is!"
This was a first.
Not holding her accountable for her mistake was shocking enough, but Selena-nim looking up at the night sky—which she usually never even glanced at—with a bright smile?!
"I won't hold you responsible for this incident. That's not what a friend would want."
"A-A friend, you say...?"
It was one surprise after another.
What is a friend?
Isn't it a relationship where you interact without regard for status?
Some people might have countless friends, while others might have only a handful.
But a friend for her superior and master, Selena Kim?
Heaven and earth, I alone am honored.
It was the perfect expression for the Selena Kim she had imagined and observed, and simultaneously, that's why the word 'friend' did not suit her.
Moreover, for that friend to be a man who was an orphan, not even a daughter from a chaebol family like hers?!
"So... should I understand that you becoming friends with Kang Cheol-nim means in that sense (?)...?"
The Chief of Security had anticipated that, given Selena Kim's recent interest in the man named Kang Cheol and her past patterns, he would eventually end up in her bedroom. She had been expecting to need to intervene.
But if they had already become 'friends' without her needing to step in, did that mean she just needed to replace the bedding in the bedroom with new ones?
"Kekekeke~ That might be fun in its own way, a bigger thrill, but that would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Besides, I don't think the 'friend' Kang Cheol has in mind is that kind of relationship~ Instead, I'd like to strengthen our friendship through another method."
"What method would that be...?"
"Because of this incident, Kang Cheol is going to become the talk of the town. And I will be too, right?... Release articles that will define this 'Modern Cinderella' incident, articles that will simultaneously strengthen the bond between me and Kang Cheol~"
"U-Understood."
Kang Cheol didn't know.
Unlike the friend from his previous world who helped resolve his emptiness, Selena Kim's emptiness was specifically tied to Kang Cheol himself...