Chapter 7 — Friday (3)
Put more energy into it!
The song blasted into my ears.
Self-loathing slammed into my heart.
Why was I, after finally becoming handsome and cool, standing in Hongdae Playground doing an adorable cutesy dance?
Ah… I suddenly want to die.
Unlike me, though, the crowd seemed to be having the time of their lives.
The wall of people standing around cheered enthusiastically at my clown performance.
—WOOOOOOAH!!!
—You’re amazing!!!!
—You’re so good!!!!
Their cheering didn’t excite me.
It only made me more embarrassed.
The song ended.
I was breathing heavily, and before I noticed, the female dancers behind me had surrounded me.
“You’re seriously good!”
“You’re not actually just a normal person, are you?”
All of them bounced up and down excitedly while talking.
But please stop jumping around in clothes that almost reveal your chest.
I had nowhere safe to look amidst all the shaking movement, so I turned my gaze away.
And ended up making eye contact with the host.
He suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Be honest. You’re not really an amateur, right?”
Huh? What kind of nonsense is this now?
With a playful grin, the host pressed me further.
“What dance crew are you from? You’re messing with us on purpose, aren’t you? No normal person dances that well!!!”
Ah. So that’s what this was about. Just over-the-top reactions.
I waved my hands dismissively.
“No, really. I just briefly attended a dance academy a long time ago.”
“If that’s true, then prove it by dancing one more song!”
This bastard wants another song?
Yeah. I was right after all. Smashing this guy’s head in for YouTube views really would be the better choice.
I started looking around for something hammer-like—
But someone else moved faster.
The giant soju-bottle mascot grabbed the host by the collar and shook him.
“Stop that and help with the promotion.”
Kim Ain casually spoke informally to a complete stranger.
Apparently the word “first meeting” didn’t exist in her vocabulary.
The host looked shocked.
Not because of the casual speech, apparently.
“There’s a woman inside there?”
Kim Ain responded to his surprise.
Ziiiip.
She removed the mascot head.
Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, she stepped out.
Is this what they call an alpha girl?
The atmosphere changed instantly the moment she appeared.
It was as if everyone had already forgotten my dance.
Men stared openly at Kim Ain while getting stabbed by the sharp glares of their girlfriends standing beside them.
And why are some of you looking at me like that?
The moment Kim Ain stood next to me, waves of jealousy and envy crashed in from every direction.
…We’re not together, you know.
And Han Jia, why are your eyes practically on fire?
This feeling was unfamiliar.
Most of the looks I’d received throughout my life had been indifference.
People treated me like background scenery.
Like I existed and didn’t exist at the same time.
But today was different.
Maybe because of the dance.
Maybe because of my changed appearance.
Maybe because Kim Ain stood beside me.
But now the eyes directed at me were filled with:
Envy.
Jealousy.
Admiration.
Sparkling fascination.
Greed.
And countless other emotions.
Experiencing this for the first time felt overwhelming.
Apparently I was the only one bothered by it.
Kim Ain looked completely accustomed to attention and boldly spoke up.
“Hello everyone! I’m Kim Ain, a new employee at Sekyung Foods!”
Then she suddenly punched me in the side with a liver shot.
My response came out reflexively.
“I’m Min Juchan!”
“Today we’re holding an event! If you follow Sekyung Foods’ Instagram account and comment our team color, Violet, you can participate!”
No wonder she studied abroad.
She handled the crowd skillfully like someone used to situations like this.
This was amazing.
I just sat back and enjoyed the free ride—
And then another engine got added to the bus.
The busking host stepped beside me.
“Everyone, this brave young man just performed on stage for you all! You’ll participate in the event, right?!”
The host raised both arms dramatically.
Like a conductor.
And the crowd responded in sync.
—YES~~~!!!
—YEAHHHH~~~!!!!
Kim Ain stepped forward again.
“Everyone, please follow after me.”
Skillfully, she guided the people in front of us into following the Instagram account.
I decided to help too.
After dancing on stage already, what else was there left to be embarrassed about?
I stepped forward, overtaking Kim Ain.
“If you followed the account, please raise your hands! We’ll hand out prizes on a first-come, first-served basis!”
—Over here!!!
Three girls who looked like university students shot their hands into the air.
I walked over to them.
Someone must’ve set them on fire.
Their faces were as red as Guan Yu’s.
So this is what “red like a chili pepper” means? I almost asked if they had liver problems.
Instead of asking questions, I handed them their prizes.
The moment they received the gifts, the girls reacted like excited children.
“Thank you so much!!!”
“Could we take a picture with you?”
“I’m just a normal person though?”
“Just one picture!”
Well, one photo wasn’t a big deal.
I stood beside them.
The three girls lined up next to me and raised their phones.
Click!
Alright, we gave out the prizes and took the photo. So this should be over now, right?
I was about to turn toward the next person—
When someone lightly grabbed my wrist.
“Please tell us your Instagram ID!”
“Sekyung Foods’ account?”
“No, yours, oppa!”
My Instagram?
I tilted my head in confusion, but they clung to me.
“Please tell us!”
Very aggressively.
In the end, they only released me after I gave them my Instagram.
***
After finishing the promotion event, everyone gathered back at the office where we’d started.
The HR representative checked attendance and then looked at me.
“The winning team is Violet.”
Our first-place victory officially declared by HR.
Everyone cheered.
And amid those cheers, we received the 500,000 won gift certificates.
Receiving them was nice.
The problem came afterward.
“Juchan! Let’s go drink to celebrate the victory!”
“Buy us dinner!!!”
“Treat us!!!”
These people are trying to eat a flea’s liver alive.
If I bought alcohol for everyone here, even 500,000 won wouldn’t be enough.
I already didn’t want to go drinking, and now they’d graciously given me even more reasons not to.
I was about to use the cost as an excuse to escape—
When the marketing team leader cluelessly interrupted.
“Today we received far more followers and comments than expected! Your results were several times better than those of your seniors. This event was a huge success! Because of that, an executive gave us the corporate card!!! This is the first time in nearly ten years!”
There’s really no need for that.
Now I can’t even go home.
“This is all thanks to Team Violet. Everyone, let’s give them a round of applause!!!”
The recruits surrounded me, Kim Ain, and Park Sanghoon.
—CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!!!!!
The thunderous applause exploded around us.
The recruits cheering seemed even more excited than the people receiving the praise.
A tiny success.
For the first time, I’d been praised at a company.
We’d received a corporate card after ten years.
Objectively, it wasn’t a huge deal.
But for new employees, even small things like this make your heart race.
Like you’ve accomplished something extraordinary.
The recruits in front of me were overflowing with excitement.
“MIN JUCHAN!! MIN JUCHAN!!”
“KIM AIN!! KIM AIN!!”
“PARK SANGHOON!! PARK SANGHOON!!”
They shouted our names like cheering sports athletes.
…If I say I’m going home, it feels like they’ll hang me.
So in the end, I got dragged into the drinking gathering.
***
Everyone had eaten poorly earlier, so we ended up at a Korean barbecue restaurant.
I had no idea how they managed to reserve a place on such a busy Friday night, but somehow they did, and everyone took their seats one by one.
I quietly looked around at them.
It looked like Oslo made of alternating black and white.
Some people still wore the company uniforms.
Others had changed clothes because the uniforms were uncomfortable.
Among them, the men’s wandering eyes were all focused on the person sitting across from me who had changed out of the uniform.
Kim Ain.
She’d changed into her own clothes, and—are you some kind of AfreecaTV streamer?
[TL Note: AfreecaTV is a prominent South Korean live-streaming platform that officially rebranded its entire domestic and global service as SOOP.]
Her neckline was wide open, exposing the upper part of her chest.
An outfit that revealed the top of her massive breasts.
There was nowhere safe to look.
Not just for me—for everyone.
Looking directly at her felt like staring at Medusa and risking turning to stone, so I turned my gaze sideways instead.
…Why are you here?
A four-person table.
Han Jia sat pressed tightly against my side, smiling sweetly like a nine-tailed fox.
Medusa in front of me, a fox spirit beside me.
At that moment, I became convinced a gate had opened in the middle of Seoul.
Then the meat arrived.
Right. Let’s just focus on grilling meat.
Since I’d been the designated meat griller in my previous life, I confidently reached for the tongs—
But a pale hand suddenly grabbed them first.
Han Jia.
“Oppa, I’ll grill it.”
Huh?
In my previous life, you only devoured the meat I grilled, so why now?
Maybe she’d truly turned over a new leaf in this life, because she skillfully placed the pork belly onto the grill.
And her technique was no joke.
Even I, someone proud of his meat-grilling skills, was impressed.
“It’s done.”
She didn’t stop at grilling.
Every time a piece finished cooking, she carefully placed it onto my plate.
If I hadn’t known her true nature, I might’ve started imagining wedding halls right then and there.
No—even knowing her true nature, I was still getting shaken.
Her bright smiling eyes.
The way her arm pressed lightly against mine.
The way she placed cooked meat onto my plate every time it finished cooking.
And her enthusiastic thumbs-up while saying: “Oppa, how are you so good at dancing? You were seriously amazing today!!!”
Honestly, it almost made me wonder if the reason I became her slave in my previous life was simply because I’d been an absolute pathetic loser.
Yeah. Everything happened because I was an idiot!
It was enough to make me want to repent for my past life.
That’s how lovable she looked.
At least until the yellow Sex Traffic Light appeared.
“Whoa!”
Why is that showing up?
I reacted so suddenly that Han Jia beside me became startled too.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing. I just thought I saw something really terrifying for a second.”
Thunk.
Something hit my head.
I reached up and touched my hair. Something was caught there.
When I pulled it down, it was a soju bottle cap.
I didn’t need to bet my grandfather’s honor to know who the culprit was.
I looked forward.
Kim Ain was practically advertising through body language that she’d thrown it.
“So the terrifying thing was me?”
…….
Honestly, you are kind of terrifying right now.
Please stop leaning forward in such revealing clothes.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
I could hear the male recruits at the tables around us swallowing their saliva.
They envied me.
Meanwhile, I was in trouble.
A Sex Traffic Light floating beside me.
And in front of me, a chest pressed onto the table.
Wait a second?
Come to think of it, there wasn’t a Sex Traffic Light above Kim Ain’s head.
Does that mean her current behavior isn’t seduction… but just her normal behavior?
For a brief moment, my imagination started wandering toward thoughts about what America must be like.
I hurriedly shut that down.
First, I needed to deal with Han Jia.
The Sex Traffic Light.
It appears above women who feel sexual attraction toward me.
The fact that it appeared above Han Jia meant she did have interest in me.
But it was yellow.
I had no idea how serious that level was.
—Yellow means she’s strongly attracted to you as a man.
‘That still doesn’t explain anything.’
—It’s basically the early “something going on” stage before dating. Depending on how you handle things from here, then ang-ang—
‘Please stop adding those stupid sound effects.’
So basically, we were in flirting territory.
I fell into thought for a moment.
Han Jia was treating me with utmost care and attention.
Was she doing this because she genuinely liked me?
Probably not.
After today’s stage performance, I’d simply become the most useful person in the room, and she wanted to keep me beside her.
The moment I got swept up in this and held her hand, I’d end up becoming her personal shopping porter.
And if we kissed, I’d become a slave not even Abraham Lincoln could free.
The sweeter the temptation, the stronger the poison.
The Han Jia I knew from my previous life was exactly that kind of person.
Thinking that way calmed my emotions.
I no longer wanted to let things progress further with her.
As for the sex fantasy… well… something would probably work out somehow.
The memories of my previous life had become instinct, rejecting her automatically.
So I subtly tried to move away—
Only to realize I was completely outclassed.
Han Jia stretched out her arm to grab the napkins on my side of the table.
Her arm brushed across my chest.
As she leaned closer, the natural ergonomics of the human body caused my arm to lower toward her armpit—
Soft.
My arm touched her chest.
“Why won’t this napkin come out?”
Rub. Rub. Rub.
Soft. Soft. Soft.
…My mind started going blank.
Maybe living as Han Jia’s servant wouldn’t be so bad after all?
This level of flirting was impossible for an ordinary mortal like me to withstand.
Apparently she sensed my wavering.
Han Jia looked at me with a bright smile.
“Juchan oppa, when was the last time you had a girlfriend?”
Suddenly, my mind cleared completely.
Right.
I was someone exhausted by human relationships.
The memories of being a pushover in my previous life surged back, instantly reflecting Han Jia’s flirting away.
The pounding in my heart cooled down.
Instead of taking control of the conversation, I completely let go of it.
So I answered bluntly.
“I’ve never dated anyone before.”
Han Jia, Kim Ain, and even the nearly invisible Park Sanghoon all looked shocked.
“Seriously?”
“Why? Does that make me a loser?”
“With your looks, you’ve never dated, you really are a loser?”
“Yep. Never. Hey, Kim Ain. Did you just call me a loser? Want to die?”
“Go outside and everyone there would call you a loser too.”
“Wouldn’t they say I’m pure instead?”
“What are you, bottled spring water? Why are you searching for purity?”
This woman…!
Attacking with arguments I couldn’t refute.
While I searched for a comeback, Han Jia spoke again.
“Why didn’t you date anyone?”
“Just because. If you date someone, you have to treat them well and constantly pay attention to them, right? That sounded exhausting.”
“Ah…”
A small sigh escaped her lips.
The Sex Traffic Light above her head began to fade.
So I drove the final nail in.
“I have absolutely no desire to date anyone. And I don’t plan to date in the future either.”
I said it firmly.
Swoosh.
The Sex Traffic Light disappeared completely.
Han Jia’s expression changed too.
She still smiled brightly, but faint disappointment showed through.
Even the hips that had been pressed tightly against mine shifted slightly away.
But…
But…
But…?
“You really are a loser.”
Kim Ain stared at me while speaking harshly.
And above her head, the Sex Traffic Light appeared.
Green.
The color that appears when a sexual fantasy has been fulfilled.
Why is that appearing?
I had no idea why, but it suddenly showed up.