Chapter 174: The Last Date
On the day of the date with Jung Se-yeon.
Contrary to the weather forecast from the Korea Meteorological Administration, it was raining heavily.
Very heavily…
“Damn it…”
Kim Si-woo hurriedly tried to revise the date plans from inside the car, but at that moment, Jung Se-yeon appeared.
“Hello.”
“Ah… yes. Hello.”
After exchanging awkward greetings in the underground parking lot, they stepped outside, and Kim Si-woo headed straight to the reserved restaurant.
“It’s raining a lot.”
“Yeah…”
Kim Si-woo looked out the window from the restaurant, speaking with a hint of regret.
Seeing his expression, Jung Se-yeon asked in a playful tone.
“Did today’s date plans go completely off track?”
“Is it… that obvious?”
“Yes. Very obvious.”
“Sorry. I originally planned to eat and then go watch some busking performances, but…”
When he honestly admitted the plans had fallen apart, Jung Se-yeon smiled as if it didn’t matter at all.
“Then let’s think about what to do after we eat while we’re eating.”
“Okay…”
Kim Si-woo felt a little guilty.
After finishing the meal, they headed to a famous café for now.
Jung Se-yeon sipped her coffee while Kim Si-woo drank his smoothie, and they chatted.
“So, have you decided on the next place?”
“Hmm… there’s not really much we can do…”
“Then how about going to a coin noraebang?”
“Coin noraebang? You mean the abbreviation for coin karaoke, right?”
“Yes. Why? Can’t singers go to karaoke?”
“No… of course we can. Let’s go.”
After arriving at the coin karaoke, Kim Si-woo and Jung Se-yeon entered a room in the corner.
“Do you have any 1,000-won bills?”
“Us ordinary citizens always carry them.”
Coin karaoke was a place Kim Si-woo had frequented relentlessly from middle school, high school, university, and even during his job-hunting days.
He might get tired of games, but never of singing.
Soon, Kim Si-woo inserted three 1,000-won bills into the machine.
“Then our singer Jung Se-yeon-ssi goes first…”
“Should I? Do you have any songs you’d like to request?”
At Jung Se-yeon’s offer to take requests, Kim Si-woo rattled off all the songs he usually wanted to hear.
From the songs that made her famous to ones that would suit her perfectly—he listed them all. Jung Se-yeon smiled and booked them.
“But in return, Writer-nim has to sing whatever song I request from you.”
“Huh?”
Before Kim Si-woo could properly respond, the accompaniment started playing, and Jung Se-yeon began to sing.
“…Is coin karaoke always like this?”
The sound coming from the speakers was completely different from when he used to go with friends.
It was so impressive that even passersby kept glancing through the door window as they walked by.
“Phew… how was it?”
“As expected from a pro.”
“Really? Anyway, now it’s your turn. Please sing this one for me, Writer-nim.”
The song Jung Se-yeon booked by pressing the number was none other than a famous confession song.
Fortunately, it was so well-known that Kim Si-woo actually knew it.
“Whew… I’m nervous…”
His voice, which usually came out fine, somehow felt like it was trembling.
He wasn’t sure if it was because he was singing in front of a beautiful woman or in front of an actual singer, but he had an anxious feeling that he was about to go completely off-key.
A moment later, Kim Si-woo began singing along with the accompaniment.
He poured his all into every single line.
At the very least, so he wouldn’t embarrass himself.
So he wouldn’t become a laughingstock.
Three minutes passed, and when it ended, he saw Jung Se-yeon clapping from the side.
“Writer-nim. You sing really well too.”
“Thank you. I was so nervous because it was in front of you, Se-yeon-ssi. Those three minutes felt like thirty.”
“Come on! For how nervous you were, you sang really well?”
“That’s a relief.”
After singing just one song, Kim Si-woo felt completely drained, as if he’d sung ten. But at the same time, the tension melted away.
Thanks to that, from the next song onward, he started to genuinely enjoy it, and they ended up having a surprisingly fun time.
“In the end, we sang ten more songs.”
“Yeah. So… where should we go next?”
“How about a PC bang?”
“PC bang?”
At Jung Se-yeon’s suggestion to go to a PC bang after the coin karaoke, Kim Si-woo scratched his head. She quickly explained why she wanted to go.
“I’ve actually never been to a PC bang before. I always see guys going a lot… and couples too.”
“Well… yeah, that’s true. But do you even play any games?”
“Ah!”
Realizing she had overlooked something important, Jung Se-yeon scratched her head awkwardly.
“Then let’s start today. Tell me what games you play, Writer-nim.”
“…Sure, why not?”
Upon arriving at a famous PC bang in Gangnam, Kim Si-woo immediately asked for a couple’s seat and went in with Jung Se-yeon.
“Is it always this enclosed?”
“No, usually it’s more open like the ones outside.”
Kim Si-woo pointed toward the row of regular seats visible beyond the door.
“But since you’re so famous, Se-yeon-ssi, we kind of have to do it this way.”
“Sorry…”
“Huh?”
“Because of me, you can’t even have a normal PC bang date…”
“Oh… I don’t really come to PC bangs anyway. The computers here aren’t as good as the one at home… plus the cigarette smell, the noise, and a bunch of other reasons. Anyway, what I’m saying is—you don’t need to apologize. If anything, because it’s you, there are probably more things we can do that other people can’t.”
At Kim Si-woo’s comforting words, Jung Se-yeon smiled. He quickly changed the subject.
“Still, we can order food here, so how about you treat for that?”
“Sure. Order whatever you want. My bank account is loaded.”
Her casual remark suddenly made Kim Si-woo curious about exactly how much money she had in there.
They turned on the computers, created an account for her, and logged into a game together.
“Where should I even start explaining this…”
Kim Si-woo opened up the AOS game he used to play obsessively back in high school and began teaching her while they played together—explaining controls, victory conditions, and everything else.
Of course, she had to handle her own controls.
“But… you’re actually picking this up pretty fast.”
“Really?”
Seeing how quickly she adapted, Kim Si-woo immediately started a real match.
They began with AI opponents, and Jung Se-yeon showed rapid improvement.
When they switched to player-versus-player, she got beaten up quite a bit…
“Should we call it a day here?”
“Yeah.”
After spending about three hours in the PC bang with Jung Se-yeon, they were about to head out for dinner when she suddenly spotted a nearby street food stall and called out to him.
“Writer-nim. Want to go eat some tteokbokki?”
“Sure.”
In the end, instead of the restaurant they had planned, they went into the roadside pojangmacha and ate tteokbokki, sundae, and fried snacks.
Eating tteokbokki while listening to the sound of rain was delicious.
Or maybe it was just because he was eating with Jung Se-yeon.
After parting ways with her and returning home, Kim Si-woo’s mind became even more complicated.
She was a glamorous celebrity, yet she loved the most ordinary, simple things more than anyone. It was impossible not to feel fond of her.
“Haa… I’m going crazy.”
After much agonizing, he finally fell asleep—but there was no rest.
He still had four more dates left…
When he woke up the next morning, Kim Si-woo yawned repeatedly, looking exhausted.
“Yawn… Today’s with Yoo-jin, right?”
Scheduling dates back-to-back for an entire week was clearly taking a toll on him.
“Shower first.”
Today, he had planned to go a bit farther with Lee Yoo-jin.
The date order was similar to before.
It started with lunch.
After a light meal, Kim Si-woo headed to Chungmuro with Lee Yoo-jin.
Not for a movie this time—but for a play.
Lee Yoo-jin loved films, but she also loved theater.
She said theater let you see actors’ performances up close and raw, and every show was different, which made it exciting.
Kim Si-woo had booked tickets based on her words—but things ended up going sideways.
“Haa… What is this now…”
After the play ended, while Lee Yoo-jin was sitting there satisfied, someone approached and spoke to her brusquely.
“Excuse me!”
“Yes?”
At the woman’s curt tone, Lee Yoo-jin responded. The rude woman quickly got to the point.
“Don’t you know anything about theater etiquette? You kept fidgeting and whispering to the guy next to you the whole time. This is exactly why I can’t stand watching plays with amateurs.”
“Hahahaha!”
At the woman’s words, Lee Yoo-jin burst into loud laughter. The woman looked flustered.
The atmosphere turned strange in an instant. People began gathering around Kim Si-woo, Lee Yoo-jin, and the rude woman.
“Wasn’t your seat over there?”
“Yes. And?”
“But you’re saying my voice carried all the way over to you?”
“Yes! I heard it!”
“Could you tell me just one thing you think we said?”
“Uh… um…”
At Lee Yoo-jin’s words, the rude woman stammered, then suddenly raised her voice in anger.
“I don’t know exactly what you said, but I clearly heard you whispering!”
“Ah… fine, let’s say that’s true. But who exactly are you to be lecturing about ‘amateurs’? Do you work in theater or something? If you have a business card, could you give me one?”
“…”
At Lee Yoo-jin’s request for a name card, the rude woman hesitated.
“Haa… well… if it really bothered you, I’m sorry. But was there any need to come at us so aggressively?”
Lee Yoo-jin apologized while firmly driving the point home, putting the woman on the defensive.
With people gathering around to watch the entertaining confrontation instead of leaving, a theater staff member finally approached.
“Excuse me… what’s going on here?”
“Ah… it’s nothing major, really. The thing is…”
Lee Yoo-jin calmly explained the situation to the staff.
“This lady is at it again… She fought with someone last time too. She’s going to drive customers away!”
It turned out the rude woman was infamous at this theater for repeatedly attacking newcomers and beginners in this exact manner.
As the commotion grew louder, actors came out from the waiting room to see what was happening. When they spotted Kim Si-woo and Lee Yoo-jin, they quickly covered their mouths in shock.
‘Wait… isn’t that Writer Kim Si-woo and Director Lee Yoo-jin?’
Even theater actors were well aware of the two hottest names in the film industry right now.
‘Why would they come to a theater like this… Are they here for casting?’
The actors hurriedly pushed through the crowd and stood side by side next to Kim Si-woo and Lee Yoo-jin.
“What exactly is going on here?”
“Ah… Oppa, it’s not like that…”
“Haa… You again? How many times has this been now?”
The moment the male actor appeared, the rude woman immediately backed down, putting on a pitiful act.
“They kept fidgeting and whispering during the play, so I just said something to tell them to stop…”
“Dong-jin-ah!”
Without even listening to the rest, the male actor called out to the staff.
“Put this customer on our theater’s blacklist starting today.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Blacklist her.”
“Ah… yes.”
“A-actor-nim? Blacklist? But I come here to watch plays so often…”
“And you’ve chased away other customers too.”
“I even promote on my blog…”
“That blog that gets maybe two visitors a day? We’ve put up with it until now, thinking you must really love theater. But no more. Please leave.”
“A-actor-nim, wait! Just listen to me for a second! Actor-nim!!!”
The rude woman continued to play the victim even as she was being escorted out, but no one was buying it.
Afterward, the actors apologized to the other audience members, coordinated with the staff to wrap things up, and finally approached Kim Si-woo and Lee Yoo-jin with another apology.
“We’re truly sorry. We’ll refund the movie tickets you—”
“No need. You didn’t do anything wrong. By the way, does this kind of thing happen often?”
“It happens occasionally in small theaters. But in a place of our size… almost never.”
“I see… Anyway, we really enjoyed the play. We’ll be going now…”
As Kim Si-woo and Lee Yoo-jin turned to leave, one of the male actors hurriedly stopped them.
“Um… would it be possible to get your autographs, just once?”
“Huh?”
“You’re… Writer Kim Si-woo and Director Lee Yoo-jin, right? I’m a subscriber to Siwoo Film…”
“Ah, I see. Sure, no problem.”
Lee Yoo-jin and Kim Si-woo took photos with them, signed autographs, and chatted for a bit.
“Let’s meet again soon.”
“Huh?”
“Siwoo Film is currently looking for new actors. People with real talent and genuine passion. Good character is a must.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Lee Yoo-jin left her business card on the table, then exited the theater together with Kim Si-woo.
“Looks like they caught your eye?”
“Their eyes… they sparkled. It felt like they had that same shine as Actor Jung Pil-gyu and the others.”
“I hope you’re right…”
“Yeah… I hope my judgment is right this time… haha…”
Having been burned once before, both Kim Si-woo and Lee Yoo-jin let out quiet sighs as they moved on to the next part of their date.