Chapter 95: Cart Crashes and Coincidence Overload

At the mart, most people were pushing large carts in pairs—clearly couples or married. We were the only two grown men wandering around together with a cart. Wait, why am I suddenly so self-conscious? Two guys can easily go grocery shopping together. Besides, he’s my brother. …For now, at least.

It seemed Do-yun was thinking the same thing. After scanning the aisles, he leaned in and whispered, “Strangely, it’s only couples here.”

“Uh-huh…. Probably families.”

Do-yun gave me a bit of a look. What? Why?

And maybe it was just my imagination, but people were staring at Do-yun a lot. A handsome guy wandering around probably just naturally draws the eye. I took off the hat I was wearing and pressed it firmly onto Do-yun’s head.

“……?”

“Just because.”

“…Are you embarrassed to be seen with me like this?”

“No?! What’s wrong with grocery shopping? I could do this a hundred times. Because you and I are brothers!”

In my fluster, I blurted out words I wasn’t even asked as if I were reciting from a dry textbook. I want to die…. What is wrong with you, Choi Seung-hyeon? The kid next to you probably isn’t even thinking about it. Do-yun didn’t say anything back, apparently unhappy with something, but he didn’t take off the hat I gave him.

We wandered through the vast store, picking out cheese, asparagus, tomatoes, pasta, mushrooms, cream sauce, tomato sauce, and some premium Hanwoo striploin. The menu was easy to guess.

“Making pasta? I like vongole, though.”

“I’m not.”

His tone was insolent. Yet, he dutifully steered the cart toward the seafood section. I followed him, asking, “Why are you pouting?”

“I’m not.”

“Liar.”

“…I’ll tell you if you link arms with me.”

When I visibly flinched at that, Do-yun let out a low chuckle. Then he muttered to himself, “I can’t tell if being this hyper-aware of me is a good thing or a bad thing.”

What does that even mean…?

However, I didn’t get a chance to ask. Suddenly, a man over in the fruit section pointed a finger directly at us.

“Whoa!”

He even started running toward me, grocery basket in hand. Startled, I stepped back, but the man stopped and widened his eyes.

“Wait… Seung-hyeon Hyung-nim?”

Do-yun and I, both caught off guard, stared at the man simultaneously. My eyes doubled in size as I recognized him.

“You…?”

It was, shockingly, Hwang Yeon-seok. Wearing a loud, colorful shirt as if he’d just stepped off a plane from Hawaii, he had the exact same face I’d seen on Ji-an’s phone not long ago. While I stood there with my mouth hanging open, he shouted like a fan meeting a celebrity.

“Wow, this is crazy! Is it really you, Hyung-nim? Do you remember me? Hwang Yeon-seok! Do-yun’s friend!”

“Oh? Oh… Oh… Wow. Hi?”

I was so stunned I started rattling like a broken machine. Why is he popping up here?!

“My god, meeting you here like this! It’s been so long!”

He reached out for a handshake. In an instant, Do-yun stepped between us and grabbed his hand instead.

“Indeed. It has been a while.”

Yeon-seok flinched at the sudden grip of a large stranger, but once he saw Do-yun’s face under the hat, he was even more surprised.

“Choi Do-yun…? When did you get so big? I recognized Hyung-nim immediately, but you….”

Do-yun cut off Yeon-seok’s trailing sentence. “What are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be in France?”

Yeon-seok, unable to hide his bewilderment, kept blinking at Do-yun. “I recently switched to a company here in Korea. Wow, this is so cool. How did we meet like this? I only just arrived. But man, you’re just as cold as you were back then. Hahaha!”

“…….”

Is this what they call “insulting someone with a smile”? I quickly checked Do-yun’s face. As expected, he didn’t look happy.

Hwang Yeon-seok is a handful…. Feeling caught between one guy who was inexplicably hyper and another whose mood had suddenly plummeted, I cautiously asked a question.

“It’s good to see you, Yeon-seok…. By the way, is the company you moved to an entertainment agency?”

Yeon-seok gave a completely unexpected answer.

“No, it’s an IT company.”

It was a surprise, but I felt a wave of relief first.

“…Then do you work as a secretary or something there?”

“Huh? Hahahaha! Are you saying I look that polished and handsome? I’m a developer.”

“Mm?”

He was a business major; how did he become an engineer? Yeon-seok nodded as if understanding my confusion.

“I was really motivated seeing Do-yun find his dream and suddenly head to the U.S. in the middle of school. I finished my undergrad in Korea and then switched to IT. You know France is a bit of a sleeper hit in IT, right? The government supports startups a lot.”

I didn’t know. I thought they were only famous for movies…. Beside me, Do-yun muttered gloomily, “Dream, my foot. You don’t know anything….”

I gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs with my elbow. Do-yun looked at me as if I were being unfair, but I ignored him. Yeon-seok continued in his energetic voice.

“Wow, but it’s so good to see you. Have you been well? How do you look exactly the same as before, Hyung-nim?”

“Thanks…. You’re the same too.”

Just as friendly and outgoing as ever—bordering on a bit overwhelming. I was about to say my goodbyes and get out of there when something even more absurd happened.

“Oh…. Sunbae-nim?”

A familiar voice suddenly stopped me in my tracks. I turned to see Ji-an in casual clothes, pushing a cart, looking quite surprised. Do-yun was the first to react, his brow twitching as he spoke in a sharp tone.

“Bae Ji-an-ssi?”

“Bonbu-jang-nim…?”

The two leads stared at each other with wide, beautiful eyes. My jaw practically hit the floor.

What is this? A weekend drama? Coincidences are fine, but this is too much! Are they going to start running into each other everywhere outside the office now?

However, the one who reacted most dramatically to her appearance wasn’t Do-yun, but Yeon-seok. His eyes went round as he jumped toward Ji-an.

“…Wait, are you the person from back then? Cannes?!”

“Huh?!”

The two of them froze, fingers pointed at each other. Both looked like their eyes might pop out from the shock. Ji-an asked Yeon-seok, “H-how are you here…?”

“I came back to Korea recently. Wow, this spot must have great feng shui! I’ve met everyone I like here today.”

Ji-an looked between me, Do-yun, and Yeon-seok in disbelief. “Do you… three all know each other?”

“Of course. Do-yun is a college friend, and I’ve known Seung-hyeon Hyung-nim for a long time.”

Yeon-seok answered quickly, and Ji-an blinked her large eyes even wider. She whispered, “This is so amazing….” I just stood there with a hollow, gentle smile.

Haha…. Give me a break.

There’s a limit to how much a plot can lack logic. Does it make sense for the male lead, the female lead, and their matchmaker to all meet up overnight like this? And Bae Ji-an doesn’t even live around here! Why is everyone coming to this mart? Is this the only one in the country?

At the same time, my face flushed with heat from a mix of anger and embarrassment. The original story was moving along faithfully regardless of me, while I was off in my own head yesterday. I could kick my blankets a hundred times tonight and it wouldn’t be enough. I scolded myself harshly.

Get a grip. This is a romance novel, and the leads are destined for each other!

Yeon-seok laughed and joked with Ji-an, “I told you I wasn’t a weirdo, now you’ll believe me. Hahaha! Anyway, since it’s so cool we all met, how about we grab a coffee? My treat.”

Yeon-seok kept glancing at Ji-an. Do-yun slowly opened his mouth to speak.

In that split second, I panicked and blurted out an answer before he could.

“No, uh, I… have somewhere to go with Do-yun.”

Even if that ‘somewhere’ was just Do-yun’s house. Regardless, I didn’t want to leave these three in the same spot. Yeon-seok nodded coolly, surprisingly easygoing.

“I see…. Can’t be helped then.”

He probably realized his invitation was a bit sudden. I swallowed hard, feeling like I’d dodged a major bullet. Now we just had to leave. But then Yeon-seok spoke again.

“By the way, Hyung-nim, do you still live in the same house?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Wow, then you came a long way to shop. I got a place nearby when I came back. But my parents still live over there. Can I drop by sometime?”

“Oh? Sure. Of course.”

I was ready to agree to anything within a second just to end this encounter. Yeon-seok gave me a bright farewell.

“As expected, you’re cool, Hyung-nim. See you later! See you next time too, Do-yun!”

“…Yeah.”

Do-yun barely gave a nod in response, then immediately grabbed my wrist and the cart in one go, marching away. Behind us, I heard Yeon-seok asking Ji-an, “Would you like some coffee then, Ji-an-ssi?” but Do-yun was pulling me so forcefully that I couldn’t look back.

I’m pretty sure we were supposed to buy clams at the seafood section, but Do-yun went straight to the checkout without a word. He paid quickly and headed for the parking lot. As soon as he loaded the bags and got into the driver’s seat, he looked at me.

“You’re too much.”