The more he spoke, the more the pale pumpkin sweet potato seemed to retreat into his own little world, and the tension in his expression gradually melted away.
By the end, he was smiling like a flower in full bloom as he spoke to me.

It seemed this sweet-potato airhead had assumed I would naturally listen to everything he said.

Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t the lunatic who had been obsessed with him.

Still, for the sake of a beautiful farewell until the very end, I smiled and gently patted the protagonist’s head.

“Ha-min, take care of yourself.”

At my firm rejection, as hard and blunt as a kabocha squash, tears trickled down from the protagonist’s eyes as he looked up at me.

The tears running down his pale cheeks looked just like the tears of a mermaid described in the novel.

Even at the very end, this sweet-potato airhead was beautiful.

Since it was our last time seeing each other, I gave his beautiful protagonist’s head one final pat.

I should wash this hand as soon as I get home today.

I lowered my hand and turned around.

I could hear the protagonist sniffling and crying behind me, but I didn’t look back.

‘Our ill-fated relationship ends here, Ha-min.’

I strode out of the school with my long legs and climbed into the car Secretary Kim had opened for me.

Once I sat down and looked out the window, I could see the protagonist in the distance through the heavily tinted glass, his head hanging low.

Even though he was obscured by the tinted windows, he looked pitiful with his head bowed.

I really had to admit that the protagonist’s looks were always working overtime.

But then the protagonist suddenly raised his head and started running toward the car.

I was startled out of my wits.

At the same time, I instinctively shouted,

“Start the car!
Right now!”

“Ah, yes.
Yes, yes.”

At my yell, the driver hurriedly started the car.

The car shot forward and quickly picked up speed.

Even though the windows were tinted enough that no one outside could see in, I lowered myself as far as I could toward the seat and secretly turned my head to look through the rear window, just in case.

And sure enough!

That sweet-potato airhead was running after the car.

What was he, the protagonist of some pure romance manga?!

The sight of the protagonist sent chills all over my body.

Some primal instinct was screaming at me that I absolutely could not let myself get caught by that protagonist.

If that sweet potato caught me, I felt like I’d be forced to eat nothing but sweet potatoes for the rest of my life.

No, an even greater sense of unease washed over me.

I shouted even louder.

“Faster!
Go faster!”

“Yes, yes!”

The driver sped up even more.

Only then did the figure of the sweet-potato airhead gradually grow smaller.

I finally let out a sigh of relief and caught my breath.

Then my arm started itching, so I looked down.

I had goosebumps all over my arm.

As soon as the protagonist disappeared completely from view, the goosebumps subsided.

Phew.

This lunatic had been beastly even in bed, and apparently my danger-detection instincts were on a beast’s level, too.

Well, thanks to that, it looked like I’d successfully shaken off the protagonist.

“We’ll head straight to the airport.”

At Secretary Kim’s words, all the tension drained from my body.

I was leaving Korea soon anyway, and there was no reason for me to ever see the protagonist again.

And after seeing the protagonist just now, I made a firm decision never to come back.

That’s right.

From now on, I’m French!

I’ll make full use of this handsome body and my wealth!

I’M FREE!
A HIGH-RICH UNEMPLOYED MAN!

Mwahahaha!

4. Wait, Was I a Genius?

A second-floor terrace just big enough for a small tea table and a single chair.

A sky-blue lake stretching out beyond the terrace.

Golden fields of grain painting the land above the lake.

White curtains swaying gently in the autumn breeze on either side of the terrace.

Large windows allowing the warm sunlight to stream inside.

White canopy curtains fluttering in the refreshing breeze coming through the windows.

A soft-looking king-sized white bed directly opposite the windows.

And me lying on top of it.

‘Heh, perfect!’

The harsh afternoon sunlight stopped at the edge of the bed, never reaching me as I sat propped up against a large cushion.

The bed was so soft that I wanted to sleep even longer.

I checked the clock on the table.

It was already past one in the afternoon.

This was the time when students were eating lunch and struggling to fight off their drowsiness while enduring boring classes.

For working people, it was the hellish hour when they finished lunch and had to sit back down and return to work.

Even preschoolers would probably avoid playing under the blazing midday sun around one o’clock.

And during this very hellish hour, I, a very ‘rich and free’ unemployed man, had leisurely slept in, woken up, and was now lying in bed enjoying the view outside.

The exhilarating feeling of waking up late and lying in bed while everyone else was busy working!

‘Ah, the world is beautiful today, too.’

I’d been living in this small, cozy two-story house for a year and a half.

It was my second year of unemployed life.

By now, I was a professional solo-living expert.

When I first arrived in France, Secretary Kim and I traveled around as tourists, staying exclusively in five-star hotels.

Our goal was simple:

‘Eat, drink, and sleep!’

Secretary Kim researched famous tourist attractions, restaurants, and cafés, and we’d visit one or two places each day to enjoy delicious food and sightseeing.

But if I felt too lazy, or if the weather wasn’t good, I sometimes didn’t even leave the hotel.

I’d arrived in France toward the end of summer, but by the time autumn was approaching, we’d only made our way around France and Germany.

I’d boldly set out with the intention of traveling all across Europe, but in the end, I’d lost to my own ‘laziness.’

I had plenty of money, after all.
I figured I’d travel around the world someday.

Even so, every single day was blissful.

Spas and half-body baths in the finest rooms of five-star hotels.

Room service whenever I wanted it.

Delicious European breakfasts.

Elegant dinners following the Michelin Guide in the evenings.

And on days when I woke up particularly late in the afternoon, I’d go to a café in a nearby plaza, drink coffee, and watch people working.

There was something especially satisfying about leisurely drinking coffee while someone else hurried past.

I think that was when I was happiest.

Whenever I craved Korean food, I could ask Secretary Kim to have it brought over.

Otherwise, I’d go to a Korean fusion restaurant or buy cup noodles and laze around in the hotel.

Eventually, Secretary Kim and I became extremely close, and I started calling him hyung.

Of course, he still spoke politely to me and called me Young Master.

It seemed Secretary Kim still regarded me as the youngest Young Master who had to be treasured like gold and jade, as though I were someone who couldn’t be left unattended even near water.

Still, I was happy that he’d become somewhat accustomed to me calling him hyung.

Whenever I wanted to tease him while we were eating, I’d say,

‘Ah~ Say “ah,” hyung.’

His face would turn bright red, and he’d have no idea what to do.

He really was fun to tease.

Anyway, my life wasn’t exactly the solitary unemployed life I’d dreamed of, but since Secretary Kim took care of everything from my meals to my accommodations, it was an extremely convenient unemployed lifestyle.

Satisfaction.
Complete satisfaction.

Secretary Kim was the best!

Another major benefit of my unemployed sightseeing life was that I developed an interest in art.

I’d always preferred places without people, so I’d naturally liked quiet forests and places near water.

I’d thought that once I became a rich unemployed man, I’d never leave the hotel bed because I didn’t want to deal with people.

But once I had more money than I could possibly spend and didn’t have to do anything, my mind became peaceful, and the whole world seemed beautiful.

As a result, even on days when I wasn’t sightseeing, I’d take leisurely walks through nearby parks or around the Eiffel Tower and sit down to admire the scenery.

That was how I began seeing so many artists painting outdoors.

As far as I knew, art was a field consisting of one thing, over and over again.

Money, money, money, money.

I thought art was something rich people did, or maybe just a hobby for celebrities.

Especially when I was in college, art schools seemed to demand the most tuition, and all the way until graduation it was always ‘money, money, money.’

I’d never even considered art as a field that had anything to do with me.

But after becoming a ‘rich’ unemployed man and living in such a peaceful world, I watched operas and movies, too.

Still, nothing drew me in as much as art.

My favorite tourist destination was the Louvre Museum.

I stayed at a hotel nearby for more than two weeks just so I could keep going back to see the exhibits, and I was incredibly happy.

Whenever I looked at works of art, I felt so at peace that even when there were countless people around me, it felt as though I were alone in that space.

It was like looking at the natural scenery I loved, where there wasn’t another person in sight.

And so, with every day of my rich unemployed life being so wonderfully ‘unproductive,’ I began wanting to try painting myself.

But even after asking Secretary Kim to prepare all the necessary supplies, I didn’t actually start.

I was embarrassed to paint beside the artists in the parks or in front of Secretary Kim when I’d never even learned how to paint.

The reason I suddenly started painting was nothing special.

Winter was approaching anyway, so we’d stopped sightseeing for the time being.

Then Secretary Kim suddenly had some business to take care of in Korea and returned home.

That left me alone, with nothing to do but lounge around in the hotel.

I absolutely hated the cold.

Occasionally, it was nice to bundle myself up completely and go to a café to watch the streets, but even that got boring.

Secretary Kim worried about me and gave me recommendations for restaurants, but I was too lazy to go most of the time.

And so, I finally started painting with the supplies I’d prepared just for show in my hotel room.

But there was one problem……

I was absolutely terrible at drawing living things.

As expected, someone who didn’t know the first thing about painting was on another level.

Whenever I drew a person or an animal, it looked worse than a child’s drawing.

Put nicely, it was Cubism.

Put bluntly, it was a scribble.

I almost felt bad about the expensive art supplies Secretary Kim had bought for me.

Do you know how much all of this stuff cost……?

And when Secretary Kim heard that I’d taken up a hobby, he was so happy that he nearly cried and bought me ridiculously expensive supplies, telling me to give it my best.

Still, landscapes were somewhat manageable.

With living things, unless you were Picasso, there was this pressure to draw them accurately.

Nature didn’t have that problem.

I just painted randomly.

If there was a pretty color of paint, I’d squeeze some out and swish it across the canvas.

Who cared?

I wasn’t going to become a professional artist anyway!

Especially when I went walking, I liked places with water or lots of trees, so I sometimes went to lakeside parks or riversides.

The riverside was far from the hotel, so Secretary Kim worried and made a huge fuss about it.

But I had money.

I simply asked the hotel to call me a taxi, and off I went.

An unemployed shut-in actually leaving his room on his own because he wanted to paint……

It really was tremendous progress.

Money was the best!

To be continued in the next chapter –

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