I headed to the meeting location after making thorough preparations. On the way, I even received winning strategies for group blind dates from Lee Yunjae.
Of course, I didn’t learn them because I actually wanted to get a girlfriend, but rather because I thought since I was going anyway, I might as well properly enjoy it. It was also the first time I’d be dealing with girls my age since possessing into this novel, so it felt quite meaningful.
I arrived at a bar with private rooms and looked for Room 7. Slide— As I opened the sliding door, my eyes immediately met with three girls in pretty outfits with pretty hairstyles.
“Hello!”
But far from my heart racing, I only began to feel that I urgently needed to storm out of this place. All the thoughts coming in and out were pointing in the same direction. ‘You’re going on a blind date with these girls? Jang Woohyun, are you even human?’
The girl with half-tied hair who had greeted first looked at me and smiled sheepishly.
Thanks to that, I absolutely couldn’t bring myself to step inside the room. Instead, I whispered to the baseball cap grinning broadly behind me. No, wait. Since he wasn’t wearing a baseball cap anymore, I should call him by his actual name.
“Hey, Park Hyuntae. How old are these girls?”
Park Hyuntae answered as if it was no big deal.
“Twenty. Pretty good catch, right? As expected, young girls have that fresh, youthful energy…”
Without even listening to the rest, I bumped his shoulder hard as I passed by. Park Hyuntae, who had been pushed back by my shoulder, yelled out “What the hell suddenly!”
Unable to calm my surging irritation, I had to answer in a considerably lowered voice.
“What the fuck do you mean twenty when you’re old enough to have eaten your fill of age. Don’t you have any conscience?”
No wonder all the girls looked so young. If they’re twenty, they’re the same age as Haesu, and imagining if Haesu had received such a blind date offer made my anger intensify even more.
I warned Park Hyuntae coldly, who looked baffled as if he couldn’t understand my reaction.
“You tell them you can’t do the blind date and come out too. These girls just graduated high school and became college students. How the fuck do you have the nerve to bring girls like that to drink and hit on them?”
Of course, we hadn’t made them drink or hit on them yet, but that would have happened before long. Realizing how endlessly naive my thinking had been, I had no choice but to leave Park Hyuntae behind and move away. I felt terrible, as if I’d become the world’s most despicable scumbag.
To think I went on a blind date with twenty-year-olds when I’m this old… If Haesu had seen, she might have clicked her tongue saying I’d be the world’s strongest at not acting my age.
“Wait, hyung!”
But I couldn’t completely escape the bar before my wrist was grabbed and twisted. It was Lee Yunjae, who looked like he’d rushed out after me.
“Let go.”
When I answered curtly, Lee Yunjae sighed. He spoke as if trying to soothe me.
“You can’t just leave like this. How bad would those who got rejected feel?”
“Why would they feel bad? I’m showing consideration by not wanting to set them up with smelly old men.”
“Does hyung think you’re included in the category of smelly old men?”
Lee Yunjae seemed to have decided the answer himself and responded on his own.
“Absolutely not. To those girls, hyung is actually a top-tier product. Like premium caviar.”
“What?”
“You’re the youngest son of Intol, publicly your trait is also alpha, your personality is decent, your appearance is neat…”
Lee Yunjae, who had been listing my advantages one after another, started grabbing my arm and dragging me along.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
I shouted in confusion. I naturally thought he’d take me back to the room, but Lee Yunjae was taking me outside the bar. Even while doing so, he kept muttering.
“To me too, hyung is like caviar. No, wait. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call you a goose that lays golden eggs? Because if I cut open hyung’s belly, a golden egg called Baek Sahyun would pop out.”
Unable to guess why Baek Sahyun was being mentioned at this timing, I only felt fear at the tremendous grip strength. I tried struggling to make him let go, but it was futile as expected.
Only after entering a deserted alley did Lee Yunjae finally let go of my arm as if satisfied. Then he stood under a streetlight and checked his phone.
“If we just hang out here for about 10 minutes, it should be fine. Since it’s boring, want to play rock-paper-scissors?”
The guy who spoke casually tilted his head looking at me standing frozen.
“Why are you so scared? I’m someone who won’t even lay a hand on hyung.”
Lee Yunjae’s face, which had seemed gentle and kind compared to Seo Jeongmin, now felt more like a demon than any villain. Looking carefully, his behavior had also become strangely delinquent. Although he used polite speech consistently, his tone somehow wasn’t respectful.
“…What’s your purpose for dragging me here?”
When I asked after collecting myself, Lee Yunjae answered leisurely.
“I already gave you all the hints. If you can’t figure it out even after I told you this much, then hyung’s perception is the problem.”
“Fuck, explain properly.”
“They said you got in a traffic accident and got amnesia, so I guess a lot of brain cells really did die. Seeing as you want me to explain even something like this in detail.”
Lee Yunjae just stood staring at his phone screen without showing any change in expression. That’s why I couldn’t help but feel more anxious. I tried to run away while he was focused on his phone, but was immediately caught by the scruff of my neck.
After hanging from his hand for a few minutes, I began to hear the sound of someone’s footsteps from outside the alley.
“…Let go, let go!”
As soon as I heard that sound, I flailed my arms in all directions. Though the surroundings were too dark to immediately recognize the owner of the footsteps, I too was an animal living with something called intuition.
I couldn’t help but know that the person walking toward the alley right now was none other than Baek Sahyun. Lee Yunjae’s face broke into a bright smile.
“Looks like the golden egg has arrived.”
My heart plummeted to my feet and blood was rushing violently throughout my body. Lee Yunjae freely released my scruff when Baek Sahyun’s shadow began to slowly cover the alley.
I became dizzy seeing Baek Sahyun appear holding a baseball bat in his hand.
Lee Yunjae passed by me, whose legs were frozen and couldn’t even think of running away, and greeted Baek Sahyun.
“What about the money you promised?”
Lee Yunjae held out his palm with an utterly calm face. Then Baek Sahyun took out a white money envelope and threw it to him.
After carefully counting the number of bills inside, Lee Yunjae smiled sluggishly and greeted him.
“Then have a good time, employer-nim.”
…Employer? The title Lee Yunjae used to address Baek Sahyun felt like the puzzle pieces of the ominous feeling I’d had were coming together. Why Lee Yunjae, who had seemed to have no intention of going on a blind date, suddenly accepted the baseball cap’s proposal.
As expected, it wasn’t because of the 100,000 won, but because there was some other hidden reason.
So in other words… Lee Yunjae must have sold me out and extorted more money than 100,000 won from Baek Sahyun. Since the bills in the envelope were all 50,000 won notes and the thickness exceeded imagination, I couldn’t even guess how much he’d pocketed.
As Lee Yunjae left humming a tune, Baek Sahyun smiled under the streetlight.
“S-Sahyun-ah…. Hey, Baek Sahyun!”
“Why are you running away?”
Damn it. In this situation, wouldn’t I be a guy with a broken brain if I didn’t run away and just stayed still? Baek Sahyun approaching while dragging the baseball bat was so scary that my knees tingled and hurt. I was even reflecting on whether I’d ended up in this predicament as payback for hurling all kinds of abuse at Baek Sahyun.
Feeling like my head would surely be smashed by that baseball bat, I spouted whatever came to mind.
“We’re friends. We’re fucking close friends!”
But Baek Sahyun didn’t stop walking. He only asked back as if determined to send someone to their grave today.
“Why are you running away? Did you do something wrong to me?”
From the time I possessed Nam Heejae’s body until now, honestly I hadn’t committed any sins against Baek Sahyun. If I had to pick one, it would be that I provoked him and caused irritation?
What I could say for certain was that I definitely hadn’t committed any wrongdoing worthy of getting thoroughly beaten by his baseball bat. I shouted desperately.
“Calm down, Baek Sahyun!”
“Why?”
Baek Sahyun suddenly stopped and asked.
“Why should I calm down?”
His menacing gaze squeezed my windpipe tight.
“Even after hearing what I said yesterday, you went out to meet an omega with two alphas, Jang Woohyun, so why should I face you in a calm state?”
“……”
“Woohyun-ah.”
“……”
“Do you by any chance find it fun seeing me get jerked around?”
“……”
“Do you enjoy seeing me go crazy because of you? Is that why you toy with me like this?”
