Chapter 102: Feels Good 1
Everyone's faces filled with bewilderment at the sudden suggestion to go to a karaoke room.
Unaware of their reactions, Min-gu continued smiling brightly as she spoke.
"Hehe. Now that I'm drinking, I feel like singing."
Seo Juhwan looked at Min-gu with astonished eyes as she chattered away beside him.
'I have no idea what she's thinking.'
Anyone could see that now wasn't the time for karaoke—it was the timing to either get more drunk or head to a motel. Especially Lee Junghoon and Seulgi seemed to be in a certain mood.
And it wasn't just the two of them. Min-gu herself had said in her first question that she wanted to kiss Seo Juhwan, and had pointed to him as someone she was interested in afterward. So why was she suddenly, out of nowhere, suggesting they go to karaoke?
As expected, Seulgi looked very flustered too. She seemed worried about missing her chance with Lee Junghoon. Her voice had become somewhat cold.
"You want to go to karaoke now?"
"Yeah. I saw there was a Junco nearby earlier. I think it would be fun to drink and sing there."
"While drinking? Min-gu, seriously… aren't you taking care of your throat? Don't you know your voice gets ruined if you drink and sing?"
"…what's wrong with one day? Don't be so uptight."
"You...."
The conversation was sharper than expected.
What was the problem? It didn't seem to be just about mindlessly ruining the mood.
Seulgi, whose words trailed off, was now glaring at Min-gu. Yet Min-gu was still smiling, but it was distinctly different from moments before.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Then a sound reached Seo Juhwan's ears that only he could hear.
[Strong luck regarding sexuality is intervening.]
At that moment, an irresistible force was applied to the glass he was holding. With the sensation of friction disappearing, the glass slipped from his hand.
Clang!
The sound of breaking glass startled the two people who had been in a tense standoff the most.
"Mom!"
"Hyaak?!"
The frozen atmosphere was shattered by the unexpected commotion. Seulgi called for her mother, while Min-gu made an indescribable sound and shrugged her shoulders.
Not missing the opportunity, Lee Junghoon smoothly intervened.
"Wow, you scared me. Hey, Juhwan. Are you drunk already?"
"Sorry. My hand slipped. Are you both okay? Min-gu, are you fine?"
He immediately responded and patted the startled Min-gu on the back. At that, Min-gu blinked and looked at him with an odd gaze before smiling softly.
"Oppa, are you that drunk? Should we stop then?"
"Ha ha. I'm not drunk, I just slipped for a moment."
"Ugh. Because of you, Juhwan, the mood is all ruined. Let's just get up. Oh, Seulgi, you dropped your phone."
"Ah. Thanks, oppa."
The four of them gathered their belongings and stood up.
*
Once outside, Lee Junghoon smiled awkwardly and said.
"Sorry, but could I just smoke one cigarette?"
"Yes, that's fine."
"Go ahead."
The two women nodded without seeming to care much.
Lee Junghoon gestured to where the women couldn't see and said.
"Juhwan, you coming too?"
"Sure…"
"Can I come too?"
Seulgi cut in with her words.
Looking at her in surprise, she said.
"I want to smoke one too."
"What? You smoke?"
"Yes, sometimes."
Seo Juhwan looked at Seulgi, who was saying this, and Min-gu, who was standing silently.
Seulgi seemed to be hiding it, but her expression was downcast, while Min-gu was smiling softly about something.
He spoke to Lee Junghoon, who was looking troubled.
"Hyung, the two of you go. I'll stay with Min-gu."
It seemed like there was something they wanted to talk about, but he couldn't just leave Min-gu alone. Besides, if Seulgi was there, he wouldn't be able to talk anyway.
Seulgi was perceptive enough to understand why he was stepping back. For a moment she frowned at the bridge of her nose, then gave a small nod.
"I'm sorry, oppa."
"Huh? For what?"
Pretending not to understand, Seulgi laughed softly.
"Ha. Anyway, we'll be back soon. Please stay with Min-gu."
"Okay. Take your time."
"Juhwan, we'll be back."
"Sure."
The two of them walked toward a nearby alley.
After the two disappeared from view, Seo Juhwan, glancing down at Min-gu, was greatly startled.
The expression that had been smiling the whole time was broken.
Without her smile, Min-gu seemed like a completely different person.
'Is she upset?'
Thanks to his eye-reading skills developed from his past life of reading air, he was generally good at reading people's expressions. But he couldn't figure out Min-gu's thoughts at all.
She seemed somewhat angry, and at the same time, she also seemed sorry, and she even appeared to be a little sad.
'Huh. I have… comforted women before?'
And quite a few times at that.
He had held and comforted Choi Mi-hwa in his arms, and when he was younger, he had comforted his sister and Han Soo-ah.
Seo Juhwan looked at her for a moment, then gently took her hand. Startled by the sudden hand-holding, Min-gu looked up at him. It was an expression he was seeing for the first time today.
"Are you okay?"
"Huh? What is it?"
Despite her bewilderment, Min-gu tilted her head with a confused expression.
But that made it even more awkward. Even so, he had lived for 32 years reading other people's reactions since growing up.
…Seo Juhwan suddenly felt like crying, but instead gripped Min-gu's hand tighter.
She wiggled her held hand and smiled that familiar smile as she spoke.
"Oppa, you have really big hands."
"Right? Girls like big hands, they say. What about you, Min-gu?"
"Um. I didn't really know, but now that I'm holding oppa's hand, I think I like it too."
Pleased with the big hand, Min-gu didn't let go.
The two of them stood silently holding hands.
After a moment, Min-gu spoke first.
"Oppa, I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I ruined the mood because of me."
"Oh. You know that?"
Rather than denying it, Seo Juhwan responded playfully.
At his casual response, Min-gu laughed and replied.
"Of course. I'm pretty perceptive."
"Huh?"
"Oh. Don't you think 'what nonsense is she talking about'? I knew everything from the start. I even knew from the beginning that Seulgi was interested in oppa Lee Junghoon."
"...."
The accuracy of the guess made it seem like she really might be perceptive. He thought she was clueless, but maybe not.
Min-gu squeezed the hand she was holding and continued.
"I'm just pretending not to know. It's also part of my personality."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Sometimes it's actually more comfortable to act clueless. And… earlier, I was just trying to tease Seulgi a bit, but I misspoke."
"Drinking and karaoke?"
"Wow. Oppa has good senses too."
He could guess roughly since he heard it right in front of him.
But Seo Juhwan was truly perceptive, so something other than a simple mistake bothered him.
He spoke carefully.
"If it's just a simple mistake, why were you upset?"
"…Me?"
"Yeah. You were upset with Seulgi, weren't you?"
"Isn't it because I was sorry?"
"You're upset and sorry. I don't know the whole story, but it seems like you have complicated feelings?"
"...."
As if caught off guard, she closed her mouth, then murmured like a sigh.
"This oppa really has good senses…."
"Tsk tsk. That's what experience is. When you get older, you become sensitive to people's emotions."
"Wow. You're like an old man…."
With those words, she let go of his hand and stepped back.
Seo Juhwan genuinely felt hurt and became a bit gloomy. It was just a joke.
When Min-gu saw that expression, she burst out laughing.
"Oppa, your face is so funny. Just kidding, kidding."
It seemed she had no intention of explaining why she was upset.
Min-gu took his hand again. Her slender fingers interlocked.
The sensation felt through his hand was unexpected.
'Surprising.'
Min-gu's fingers, which seemed to have been raised delicately, had calluses in places. She wasn't just a woman who laughed carelessly.
After standing together for a few minutes, the two who returned later than expected widened their eyes in surprise at the sight of Seo Juhwan and Min-gu standing together.
Lee Junghoon, coming closer, said.
"Seulgi is tired and wants to go home now. I'm planning to take her… what about you two?"
"We're…"
"We're going to drink a bit more. Please go ahead first."
Min-gu spoke, applying force to the hand she was holding.
Seo Juhwan simply nodded in agreement, feeling the intent from the hand they were holding.
Seulgi held out her phone to him and said.
"…Oppa Juhwan. Can I have your number?"
"Huh?"
"Min-gu definitely won't contact you… sorry, but could oppa send me a KakaoTalk message?"
She could have just asked Min-gu standing right next to her, but she's asking for his number instead. She still seems upset, not even making eye contact, but she's worried.
"Pff. Okay."
Seo Juhwan couldn't help but let out a deflating laugh. He thought they were fighting adorably.
Knowing she was embarrassed, Seulgi's ears turned red.