Chapter 36
They're women with their faces hidden by hats and masks, but there's no way I could fail to recognize them.
For one thing, their hair colors stand out too much,
and their proportions make no sense.
Both of them.
“Who is it?”
“…Unnie.”
“Unnie? Your real older sister?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, I see.”
One tall woman with purple hair and utterly insane hips.
One short woman with silver hair and a face smaller than my hand.
Her face is so small that a mask covers her entire lower face, yet her eyes are astonishingly huge.
So this is what a celebrity looks like.
I knew what to expect from Seo Jia, having seen her once before,
but I found myself oddly drawn to the tiny woman behind her, even with Hae-eun tucked under her arm.
…What exactly was her name again.
I definitely knew her face.
She's that wildly successful Japanese idol.
She's in the same group as Seo Jia over there.
Naka-whatever Hinami, I think.
“Ah, hello! Jia unnie?”
“…Yes, yes?”
“Jia unnie… Ah, should I ask if you're Jia's older sister? Unnie, do you know who I am?”
“Ah, th-that is, Hina….”
“You do know me! Wow, but unnie, that choker is really pretty! Where did you buy it? I like chokers too!”
Anyway, Nakadashi Hinami seemed quite outgoing, unlike her innocent-looking appearance.
Although she never touched Hae-eun, she came close enough that even bending her elbow would make contact, and spoke to Hae-eun familiarly.
If she'd approached a man that way and asked him to co-sign for her, he'd probably sign nine times out of ten.
Of course, with that huge difference in physique, I wouldn't co-sign.
If I shoved my dick into that body, I'd break her, so I can't.
No matter how small she is, Hae-eun is about my limit.
“Hinami. Be quiet. This isn't somewhere you can make a racket, you know?”
“Why! It's my first time meeting Jia-chan's older sister! But she's really pretty. How many years apart did you say you were? And your name is….”
“I'll tell you, so come out first.”
Seeing her openly chatting away in a Brazilian waxing salon, this woman seemed to be missing a few screws.
“Isn't she an idol?”
Yet even Seo Jia, forcefully gripping her colleague's wrist and trying to drag her out, looked a little dangerous now that I saw her like this.
Her appearance, and her voice.
She's tall too, so she gives off that sort of vibe.
Not my personal preference,
but that's the impression I get.
“Ah, Jia-chan! Let go, let go, I was talking to Jia-chan's older sister….”
“…Shut up.”
“You bitch—how dare you talk to a senior like that….”
“Shut up! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?”
After staring blankly at the two women suddenly doing a comedy skit, I turn my gaze to Hae-eun, left standing there alone.
…She looks extremely displeased.
Is she upset about running into her younger sister,
or uncomfortable because a woman she'd never met was fiddling with her choker?
Well, those trivial reasons weren't particularly important.
What mattered was….
“Hae-eun, let's go. We already paid when we came in.”
“…Huh, what?”
We had people to show off our adorable pet to now.
Unfortunately, I couldn't grab her by the choker and lead her out, so I grabbed Hae-eun's wrist, just as Seo Jia had earlier, and left the shop.
The clerks looked extremely flustered as they watched us, but I had nothing to be embarrassed about, so it didn't bother me much.
Hae-eun, on the other hand, looked back before leaving and was mortified beyond belief.
“Ah! Jia, you dragged her out, so Hae-eun unnie came out after you!”
“Unnie, why did you have to….”
“I didn't follow her. We were finished and were about to go home anyway.”
Hinami, who had been struggling while Seo Jia held her, must have picked up Hae-eun's name by then, because she greeted us cheerfully, pointing at us as we came down to the first floor.
Compared with her, Seo Jia had treated us incredibly rudely despite the inconvenient time and place; she only let out a deep sigh and greeted us after confirming there were hardly any people around.
“Haa…. Hello. …Unnie, and Mr. Kang Ju-hyeok.”
“Yes, hello. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Hello, Hae-eun unnie and… Hae-eun unnie's boyfriend? Is that right?”
“I-I'm not her boyfriend….”
“He is my boyfriend. Why say he isn't, Hae-eun?”
“….”
….
Hmm.
So there isn't just one ill-mannered person here.
“Um…, what do you call your friend's older sister's boyfriend in Korean again, Jia-chan?”
“I don't know.”
“It's hyeongbu, hyeongbu. You're Korean and you don't even know that? You acted like you were so smart.”
“Shut up. And he's not hyeongbu. That… …man.”
“….”
Perhaps already exhausted by the emotional whiplash between the two women, Hae-eun, who had become smooth in more ways than one, lowered her head and slipped right behind my back.
…Even I think I look far more dangerous than those women, so why hide behind me?
It's irritating to be used only as a human shield.
In more ways than one.
“Then what should I call you? Hmm…, can I call you oppa? Mr. Ju-hyeok? Ah, wait, are you under nineteen…?”
“I'm not. I'm twenty-six.”
“Hey, you….”
“Oh, right. Thank you, Ju-hyeok oppa!”
As a result, I ended up taking all the attention Hae-eun should have gotten, and Hinami began looking my body up and down with eyes full of curiosity.
She scrutinized me from every angle, which was a little uncomfortable, but her eyes were so beautiful that I didn't find it unpleasant.
Is this the power of looks?
If I stared at that woman the way she was looking at me, I feel like I'd be arrested on the spot.
“Wow…, but you're really fit. So is Hae-eun unnie hiding behind you.”
“Ah, well. We work out together and all….”
“Work out? Hmm, …what kind of exercise do you do‥?”
“Hey, Hinami. …Stop asking pointless questions and come with me.”
“Why! I want to get close to your brother-in-law too!”
“He's not my brother-in-law. I'm not close to him either.”
Seeing her even ask questions like that while giggling, she seemed almost as rude as Seo Jia, just in a different way.
Of course, I wasn't offended in the least.
Only Hae-eun, grinding her teeth behind me, was offended.
“Haa…. Anyway, now that we've exchanged names, you can be on your way. Sorry for causing you trouble because of her.”
“No, no, it wasn't any trouble.”
“Wait, Jia. I'm older than you—what kind of way is that to speak to me?”
“Stop spouting nonsense and come on. We have a reservation, and you'll make things difficult for them if you suddenly leave.”
“Oh, right, right. Okay, okay. I'm going up. Then, Hae-eun unnie and… Ju-hyeok oppa? Nice to meet you!”
Startled by Hinami's craziness, Seo Jia addressed us politely for the first time, then dragged her upstairs to the second floor.
Even while being dragged away, Hinami kept looking at us until the end, tapped the black choker around her neck, pointed at Hae-eun, then disappeared with a sly smile while flashing a peace sign.
Even I, who rarely get flustered, was startled by that final gesture, and quickly shifted my gaze to Hae-eun, who had been watching it all.
“What the fuck was that bitch doing….”
…Whoa, that's harsh.
Look at her start cursing the second Hinami disappeared.
She must be really worked up.
“Why? What happened?”
“Hey, you, th-that, th-that thing—you didn't see it? Huh?”
“See what?”
“She completely fucking ignored me, that crazy bitch…!”
She'd gone back to being the Seo Ha-eun of three years ago, stamping her feet and throwing a fit.
There were only two possibilities.
Seo Jia or Hinami.
“What, are you feeling down because you ran into your little sister?”
“That's not it! That crazy bitch did this to me at the end—this! She did this!”
“I didn't see anything.”
“You're tall, so you couldn't see it! I saw it! That crazy bitch did this to me…!”
Like Hinami earlier, Hae-eun tapped her choker, then put her thumb between her middle and index fingers, clenched her fist, and made an obscene gesture at me.
…Ugh, that's a little unpleasant.
I don't know exactly what country's insult that was supposed to be…,
but at least in modern Korea, it generally counts as a curse.
Once she also wiggles the protruding thumb, the meaning becomes clear.
“Even if I did see it, that wasn't an insult.”
“Hey, Kang Ju-hyeok! You call this not an insult…?”
“Isn't this telling me to have good sex?”
“You, you….”
Since she had tapped her choker and smiled at me too, it was clearly a blessing for some good, sticky sex now that the waxing was done.
Common sense says she wouldn't curse out her colleague's actual older sister the first time they met.
She was a foreigner, so her way of expressing it must have been a little different.
“Why get so worked up over that? Did losing your hair stress you out?”
“Hey, you fucking crazy bastard! Let go! Get lost….”
I wrap my arms tightly around the furious Hae-eun from behind and gently stroke her head whether she struggles or not.
But that's not the important part.
If you get worked up over things like that,
you'll wear yourself out.
“You hid behind me just fine earlier, so why are you suddenly acting like this?”
“Th-that's because that crazy bitch was looking at me with that weird look…!”
Behind the growling Hae-eun, I rummage through the inner pocket of my suit and quietly pull out something that gives a metallic clink.
A metal chain—not thick, but impossible for an ordinary person to break with their bare hands.
“You put on a dog collar, and now you want to hide behind your owner when a stranger shows up?”
“What does that mean…?”
I fasten it around her bright-red choker with a sharp click.
“There’s no one around, so let's go for a walk. Like this.”
Then I tug the thing around her neck from side to side,
turning her choker into a dog leash.
“…Huh? …Hey, hey! Hey, take this off right now! You, you're crazy!”
“…Let's go for a walk. I even shaved you, so don't throw a fit.”
…Actually, I'd planned not to do this today if I could help it.
I'd even forgotten we'd agreed to act like a couple in front of her little sister,
and after getting cursed at out of nowhere, I figured I should rein you in a little.
Well…,
I like going for walks,
so I don't mind.