Chapter 92: Unexpected Faces and Unwelcome Invites

A-young tapped a spot on the screen with her index finger. At that, even the people who hadn’t been looking at the photos crowded around, letting out “Oohs” and “Aahs.” I tried to steal a glance this time, too, but there were so many heads in the way that I couldn’t see a thing. Ji-an looked flustered.

“No, it’s not like that. He was just… a very talkative person.”

The crowd’s “Oohs” grew louder as they listened with piqued interest. Office workers generally love talking about other people’s love lives, but a story about getting hit on during an overseas business trip was top-tier gossip. Another female team member chimed in.

“He looks decent enough. Since he’s back in Korea, you should ask to meet up again.”

“Ah, no. He lives in France anyway.”

The group let out a collective “Ah…” of disappointment, losing interest instantly. Honestly, they were like a studio audience.

Just then, someone jokingly addressed me as I was silently twirling spaghetti on my fork.

“Seung-hyeon, are you really uninterested in this stuff? Is it because you’re the best-looking one here?”

Suddenly, the arrow was pointed at me. Startled, I reached out and snatched Ji-an’s phone.

“What… I’ve been waiting to see it this whole time. I couldn’t because of all of you.”

But the moment I looked at Ji-an’s screen, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. There was a familiar face there.

“Hwang Yeon-seok…?”

To be honest, I hadn’t been interested at all in the man who shared a table with Ji-an. My reasons were as follows:

First, Ji-an is beautiful, so it’s natural for men to approach her. It was the same in the original. Second, no matter how incredible a man might be, it won’t lead to anything with Ji-an. She is the female lead of this world. Her only match is Do-yun.

But why is Hwang Yeon-seok appearing here? While I stood frozen in shock, Ji-an noticed my unusual reaction and asked.

“Do you know him by any chance?”

“No, no… just, he looks remarkably like someone I know. I thought it was him, but I guess not.”

I naturally told a lie as I handed the phone back. It was the first time my mouth had blurted out a lie before my brain could even process it. Instantly, like a criminal, cold sweat broke out on my palms and my heart hammered. Come to think of it, Do-yun did mention that Hwang Yeon-seok was in France….

I don’t know how things keep connecting like this. Even on a business trip, the female lead managed to find the very person who was supposed to help her with her romance; her initiative was practically legendary.

A-young laughed and said, “It would’ve been funny if he were someone you knew.”

I laughed awkwardly and asked Ji-an, “So, did you… exchange contact info with him or anything?”

“No, I didn’t.”

A sigh of relief escaped me involuntarily at those words. For the rest of lunch, I barely tasted my food and couldn’t focus on the conversation. Even after returning to the office, I kept fidgeting with my phone, but I had no idea who to ask or what to say.

Reaching out to Hwang Yeon-seok out of the blue to ask how he was doing was impossible since I only had his very old contact information, and asking Do-yun felt somewhat uncomfortable. After a long, unproductive internal debate, I ended up doing nothing. But as the workday drew to a close, Do-yun sent me a text.

[The meeting won’t end ㅠ Have dinner without me today and let’s definitely eat together tomorrow ㅠㅠ I miss you, Hyung.]

The workday had long since passed. I had been staying late and purposely hadn’t eaten dinner yet, but looking at Do-yun’s text, it seemed eating together was out of the question. I chuckled.

‘Pretending not to know, are we?’

I had only suggested eating together for the ten days Ji-an was away, yet here it was, the eleventh day, and Do-yun was shamelessly acting as if there had never been a deadline. But since I didn’t particularly want to point it out either, I just let him have his way.

I stared intensely at Do-yun’s text, took a deep breath, and replied.

[Okay. By the way, are you in touch with Hwang Yeon-seok? Is he still in France?]

Do-yun read it immediately, but there was no reply. He seemed busy with the meeting. I sighed, turned off my computer, packed my bags, and left the office. But as I was exiting the lobby on the first floor, Do-yun suddenly called.

“Is the meeting over already?”

<No, I just stepped out for a moment during break. But why Hwang Yeon-seok?>

“Oh, just…. Wondering how he’s doing. He was… good at the band stuff when we were younger. The project I’m working on now is a band movie, so I had a few things I wanted to ask.”

I caught myself making up a ridiculous excuse. No such movie existed among my projects. In fact, I couldn’t even remember if Hwang Yeon-seok played bass or guitar. Do-yun paused for a moment before replying.

<I’m not sure, it’s been a while since we’ve in touch. Besides, he wasn’t even that good at the band stuff. It was just brief hobby college, probably can’t play all now.>

“I see….”

That didn’t really matter. I got to the point as naturally as I could.

“But does he have any plans to come to Korea? Or… is he already here?”

<…No, he’ll be in France for good. Hyung, I have to go back into the meeting now. I’ll call you later.>

Do-yun’s voice was a bit cold. He seemed sensitive, likely because he had so much work at this hour. I hung up and breathed a sigh of relief.

‘At least he doesn’t have plans to come to Korea for the time being.’

However, now that he’d run into Ji-an, that probably wouldn’t last long. Actually, the reason Hwang Yeon-seok was Do-yun’s secretary in the original was to provide romantic advice at the perfect timing. But if he was just going to give advice, he didn’t necessarily have to be a secretary. I felt a bit annoyed with myself for overthinking this.

‘If he comes, he comes. Why be so gloomy?’

I walked out of the building with forced energy. The May night breeze was warm.

I had changed quite a lot since being reincarnated. Yoo Hyeong-ju isn’t a loan shark, Choi Seung-hee regards me as a pretty decent brother, and Hwang Yeon-seok isn’t Do-yun’s secretary.

And most importantly, me—Choi Seung-hyeon—I’m not a scoundrel.

I won’t kidnap Ji-an in the future, nor will I harass Do-yun out of jealousy.

…But even so, we were all just supporting characters. No matter what, it was impossible to change the major plot arc of a romance novel where the male and female leads end up together. I trudged along the darkened night path, feeling dejected. I felt pathetic for not being happy right now.

‘Get it together. Everyone is becoming happy. Things are going exactly as you wanted. Your “Kangwon Land ending” has fled far away.’

I should have felt good, but I just couldn’t. With a cluttered mind, I naturally headed toward the park near my house. It was a little past 9:00 PM, and the walking trail, lit only by sparse streetlamps, was quite dark. I was on my third lap when my phone suddenly rang. I sighed when I saw the caller ID.

“Yes, Grandfather.”

<Seung-hyeon, keep your schedule open this Saturday.>

“What’s going on?”

Another talk about switching companies? Or another blind date? Whatever it was, I was going to say no firmly. I wasn’t in a great mood. However, Grandfather brought up something entirely different.

<The second son of the Y Group is getting married, and they sent an invitation. Go as our representative.>

“…Who? I don’t know anyone there.”

Having received a strange mission, I stopped walking. I truly hadn’t even heard of them.

<Their eldest son studied in the U.S. with you, didn’t he?>

A U.S. connection. I brushed it off vaguely.

“Ah…. We weren’t close. …But isn’t Father going?”

There was no reason for me to go. But Grandfather had mobility issues, Mother was in Italy, and Seung-hee was on a business trip. That only left Father.

<I haven’t asked him yet, but I should. It would be nice if the two of you went together.>

“No, no. I’ll just go by myself.”

Grandfather chuckled as if he’d expected me to say that.

<Just give a proper greeting, deliver the wedding gift money, and leave. It’s gesture of sincerity.>

“…Understood.”

Something tedious had cropped up. I really was just going to drop off the money and leave.

But right after I hung up with Grandfather, Do-yun called again.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

<The meeting just ended, so I called right away. saw you were on the phone; did something happen?>

“It’s nothing. Just a tedious errand on Saturday.”

<A business trip?>

“No…. A wedding.”

<Whose?>

“The second son of Y Group, do you know them?”

<Ah…. No. Isn’t the second son Seong Ji-woo? Hyung, didn’t you go to school with eldest brother? I think his name was Ji-hun or something like that.>

I was startled. This guy even knows who I went to school with? It was a plus since I learned my classmate’s name quickly, but it struck me again how impressive he was.

“Anyway, Grandfather told me to go and at least deliver the gift money. I don’t want to go.”

<…Then, shall we go together?>

“Huh?”

<I was going to ask you out on a date this Saturday anyway, so let’s go together, say quick hello, and then head somewhere else.>

At the words ‘ask you out on a date,’ my heart stupidly started racing, even though I knew he didn’t mean it that way. Kids these days really have a problematic way of phrasing things.