TMWCL Ch 7 part 1

She had deliberately planned out her class schedule to fit around her part-time job, but once registration day came, it all came crumbling down.

Since she couldn’t skip school for a part-time job, Yeoreum had to quit. She felt bad about quitting only after a month of working, but since she had no choice, Yeoreum told the truth. The boss seemed used to this kind of situation, so he let Yeoreum go without a word of complaint. Haegun had a role in this as well. As Yeoreum got used to living with him and working part-time, he would often visit the cafe where she worked and drink coffee in casual clothes. Women who took a liking to him would often approach him and ask for his number, which made Yeoreum’s heart sink. However, Haegun would politely decline.

“I’m married. And I have a kid your age back at home.”

She had never heard anyone use that as an excuse to reject someone, but for some reason, it didn’t feel too bad. There were people who asked for Yeoreum’s number in a similar manner. At those times, she would make excuses and reject them, claiming she had a boyfriend. If a customer who was ordering takeout was being extra clingy with her, someone would follow the customer out, even when Haegun wasn’t present, and that customer would never return to the cafe again. It seemed that Haegun had someone tailing Yeoreum.

The situation inside the cafe was immediately resolved thanks to the store manager and the other employees. This was why part-time jobs in bright places were good. That’s what Yeoreum thought whenever something like that happened.

And so, the semester started, and as for a part-time job… She decided not to look for one. The money she received from Kiju went straight into her bank account, and she received a new debit card that was linked to it. Maybe it was because she was getting used to Haegun, but now, the money did not feel like such a burden.

“Whenever you changed your profile picture to one of your face, he would look at it for three months and giggle. He’d say you looked pretty because you took after him.”

“…But I don’t look like my dad.”

“That’s what I think too.”

“I don’t know why he’s doing all this now. He never looked for me before.”

“He couldn’t turn up in front of you because he was a gangster. That life was all he knew, but he decided to at least turn up in front of you pretending to be an office worker. That’s why he ended up working for me.”

“……”

“Even after sending your family all his money, he didn’t live comfortably. How could he live comfortably with the amount he had left? It wasn’t much.”

Even if it was a lie, Yeoreum decided to believe it. Because Haegun had said so.

Yeoreum left the classroom and headed to the lounge. She planned on doing some homework during her free time. As her semester began, Haegun also became quite busy. According to Taehyuk, August was like summer vacation for Haegun. No wonder. She was starting to think that he treated work like it was a hobby. But even if he took some time off, he still went into the office most days.

“Don’t you think it’s time for you to start dating?”

“Dating?”

Someone’s voice broke through her thoughts. When she turned her head to the voice, she realized that it belonged to one of her classmates who had a lot of friends. Behind her, Soojin, who knew the gist of Yeoreum’s current relationship situation, nodded with a meaningful expression.

“Come to think of it, you’ve been getting a lot of requests to set up some inter-departmental group dates, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s have Yeoreum go.”

“Sounds good.”

“Excuse me, do I have any say in this?”

Yeoreum asked with a bewildered expression. Soojin replied in a firm voice.

“I’ve planned everything out for you, so just go to one.”

“I’m going to put you on the list, okay?”

Her classmate grinned. And before Yeoreum could say anything, she wrote down her name and left. Now that Soojin was left alone with Yeoreum, she began to speak more truthfully.

“Are you going to get married anytime soon? Are you having a kid?”

”Of course not.”

“Then you should be dating.”

“But I have Ahjussi.”

“Like you said, he’s an ahjussi. You said he was your sex partner.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Although they were sex partners, not all sex partners were as close as they were. The more time she spent with Haegun, the more difficult it was to deny this.

“You told me that your ahjussi told you to go on blind dates and group dates.”

“He did.”

Yeoreum couldn’t refute it. Whenever someone tried to get her number in front of Haegun, he merely watched her. He never moved to get up from his seat. At times like that, she could never read his expression, so she didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Just see what comes around. You need to interact with different kinds of guys to know what you want. But that doesn’t mean you should start dating just anybody.”

Yeoreum felt conflicted. She let out a sigh.

“Alright. I’ll try it out, I guess.”

And so, the inter-departmental group date was set. She told Haegun exactly what was happening, and he only answered back with, ‘Another student at your school would be good. Alright. Do your best.’

It felt like she was the only one falling deeper. Just the thought of him going on a blind date or a marriage meeting, anything that required him to meet a woman, really, made her insides squirm. So what difference would this group date make? Would her feelings for him go away just a little bit? Was there a reason why she shouldn’t like him? All these thoughts swirled through her head.

Funnily enough, many reasons why she shouldn’t like him popped into her head.

* * *

The inter-departmental group date occurred on Friday of that same week.

She was told it would be three guys and three girls. When she went out to the meeting place, she saw some familiar faces. That’s when Yeoreum found out that the guys were all from the computer science department.

“Lee Seungwoo?”

“Hi, Yeoreum.”

Seungwoo grinned at her. Yeoreum went up to him and whispered.

“You’re leaving for your military training soon. Why are you here?”

“Just ‘cus. I came out because they needed one more person to balance it out. I heard that’s how it usually is at group dates.”

“What are you talking about? You asked me to call you out here if Han Yeoreum was ever going to come…”

Seungwoo’s classmate slowly stopped talking. This was because his eyes met Seungwoo’s.

“I haven’t been able to get in touch with you last month. And you didn’t even throw a housewarming party.”

“Sorry. I was a bit busy.”

“I told you the kids in my department weren’t that good, but you still came out here. What did I tell you? I’m the best one here, right?”

Was he? Yeoreum looked at the other two guys. Their faces seemed fine. Actually, she didn’t really care if they were fine or not. After seeing Jung Haegun’s face every day, they all seemed like average pedestrians to her. She was sorry to say this, but Seungwoo was not an exception. She didn’t even know that the guys at this group date were even from the computer science department before coming out here.

“I guess so.”

She gave him a half-hearted answer. The group began playing a drinking game. Yeoreum was good at drinking games, so the guys ended up being the ones who drank more. Drinking liquor with Ahjussi was a lot more fun and tasty. Before her semester had begun, he had brought home some hard liquor. He told her she should try drinking some good liquor instead of the cheap stuff all the time. Seeing him drink the liquor on the rocks with ice in his glass, she couldn’t help but feel that he was so handsome. She ended up taking a picture of him. ‘Hey, did you take my photo without my consent?’ His laughing face made her heart race inside her chest. No matter how often she saw it, she couldn’t get enough. She wondered if it was possible for her to like him more than she did now, but she could feel herself liking him more and more.

The group date began in a bar situated behind the school campus in Hawon-dong, and they even went to a karaoke room for the second round. Even though her curfew was 9 PM, Haegun did not call her even when they were still out past nine. Did he not care? She was thinking about him all day. Maybe he was telling the truth when he said he was busy. The amount of times he’d come to see her were growing less and less, and even when he did come, it would be very late at night. She hoped it was because he was busy.

11:30 PM. The group date came to an end. Even though it was a group date, Seungwoo would not leave her alone, so it became a day where she only hung out with him. They all came out of the karaoke building and bid each other farewell. When Yeoreum turned around to start heading home, Lee Seungwoo approached her.

“Yeoreum, I’ll take you home. It’s too late to go on your own.”

“I’ll be fine. My place is really close, so I can walk back.”

“It’s too dangerous walking back alone this late at night. This neighborhood is shady and dangerous.”

Yeoreum knew this. She had lived in this dangerous neighborhood and her part-time job used to be here as well. Because this neighborhood was rather cheap, it was perfect for university students to come and play, but if you went further in, the crime rates skyrocketed, so they had to make sure to stay only in this area. They had drunk some liquor, so they came to a karaoke bar further inside the neighborhood, but this was the limit. There was not a single pedestrian in sight.

“I barely drank anything. You lost every single game, so you’re the one who drank the most. You are in no state to be taking me home right now. So just go home. Your mother must be worried. And why did a kid who’s taking a leave of absence come out to a group date in the first place?”

“I came out here to see you. It has been difficult to see your face these days, and I didn’t want the other guys to hit on you.”

Lee Seungwoo seemed to have a sickness that made him more honest when he was drunk. And it was currently autumn, a season when even the most indifferent of people began to feel sentimental. Or maybe he wasn’t really holding back because it was just the two of them.

“Because I like you.”

In the end, Yeoreum received his confession. Her expression became perplexed.

“Uh, Seungwoo. You see…”

“I know. I know you don’t like me. You just see me as a friend, right?”

“…Yeah. Sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? I’m the one who liked you on my own. Don’t regret it when I stop liking you later. I’m not going to put much of an effort into liking you more than I do. And if it so happens that you start liking me a little, then we can start dating.”

“……”

Yeoreum laughed awkwardly. Seungwoo must have felt awkward too because he scratched the back of his head and acted very nonchalant. His eyes were randomly looking around when he suddenly opened his mouth.

“Ah, that person. Didn’t you say he was your dad’s friend? He must have come to pick you up because it was so late. But how did he know you were here? Did you call him?”

When she heard his words, Yeoreum’s head immediately turned around. She did not call him. But he still came. This didn’t come as a huge surprise. Because he had done this on the night she drank with Seungwoo. Yeoreum had caught on that he had someone following her. And now she was even getting used to this kind of life.

“Yeah. I called him. It’s dangerous at night.”

“But you just said you were walking home.”

“That’s because I was embarrassed to tell you that my dad’s friend was coming to pick me up.”

The lies naturally flowed out as her eyes remained fixed on Haegun. How long had he been waiting? Had he come here because he was worried? He didn’t approach them and merely leaned against his car as he smoked a cigarette. A couple of his buttons were undone, and he was wearing a vest. A red light glowed from the tip of the cigarette that was hanging between his fingers. She was even glad to see the smoke scattering into the air. When their eyes met, Haegun tapped the roof of the passenger-side. He was telling her to get in.

“I’ll be going then.”

“Alright.”

Seungwoo waved his hand. When she looked around, she realized that their fellow classmates had noticed the two of them standing alone and had left without saying a word to give them privacy. Yeoreum quickly walked over to the car and stood in front of Haegun. Haegun tapped his cigarette with his finger before throwing the butt at his feet and extinguishing it under his foot. Was this a smoking area? There were a large number of cigarette butts around them. The smell of cigarettes coming from him was stronger than usual.

“Get in.”

He personally opened the passenger door for her. He even brought his hand up to the top to prevent Yeoreum from banging her head against the roof as she got inside. This was something he had started doing lately whenever she got in his car. And once she was seated, he would even fasten her seatbelt for her, saying, ‘Filter out any bastard who doesn’t do this much for you.’ Even though she knew this wasn’t normal behavior, Yeoreum merely nodded.

But this time, Haegun walked over to the driver’s side and got in.

“Aren’t you going to fasten my seatbelt?”

“I smell like cigarettes.”

“I don’t mind.”

Whenever their eyes met, he would often laugh, but today, his face did not hold a single trace of laughter. Yeoreum felt like she had made a big mistake, and her heart sank. He leaned over to fasten her seatbelt. Their eyes met when his face drew near.

“Did you have fun?”

“I just came out on a whim. It wasn’t any fun.”

“Why was Lee Seungwoo there?”

“It was a group date with his department. I only found out after I got here. It was late, and since we’re friends, he offered to take me home, but I refused his offer.”

“From what I could see, it looked like he was dumped.”

“…Do you have me wiretapped too, Ahjussi?”

“I don’t do things like that. You have a right to your own privacy.”

“You’re right. I dumped him. So can’t you give me a kiss?”

Her request came out of the blue. But Yeoreum now knew that Haegun liked it when she acted like this. But today, it didn’t seem like it was getting through to him.

“I told you I smell like cigarettes.”

“And I told you I don’t care.”

“I care.”

Click.

He fastened her seatbelt.

“Wait a minute.”

As his body pulled away, Yeoreum frantically grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. She had been trying to grab his shoulders, but she had missed. Yeoreum let go in shock. Either way, Haegun stopped moving.

“What?”

“Do you want to kiss?”

“I said I wasn’t going to.”

“Then do you want me to do it to you?”

“No.”

“Then what if I kiss you somewhere else? Somewhere that doesn’t smell like cigarettes.”

“Where?”

“Right here.”

Yeoreum’s hand naturally went down to his left thigh. Haegun’s brows furrowed.

“I’ll suck this for you. So can you stop being upset?”

For the past month, whenever Yeoreum asked him to let her put her mouth there, Haegun would say that it was bad behavior and stopped her. Funnily enough, he would ejaculate all over her mouth and face, but he would never tell her to give him a blow job. But Yeoreum was observant enough to know that he was always tempted to do it.

“No. If you start doing that, you’ll turn your partner into a bad guy.”

Haegun was already bad enough, so why not become a little worse? But strangely enough, he was quite stubborn when it came to this. How unusual. He spoke up in a strained voice.

“Seriously. I did a terrible job teaching you about sex. I told you not to use sex as a bargaining chip.”

“Don’t you think this much is okay?”

Didn’t all women joke around like this? Haegun was worried over nothing. Even though they weren’t dating, didn’t they share their emotions with each other through sex?

“It’s not okay. At this rate, the bastard is going to treat you like a whore. That’ll make me feel better, won’t it?”

“I’d obviously only do it to you, Ahjussi. And would you like for me to have sex with someone else?”

Ah, wait. She accidentally said something she shouldn’t have. Haegun’s eyes grew fierce. His jaw clenched.

“…Didn’t I tell you giving a guy a blow job would turn him into a bad guy?”

He decided to let it go. He was ignoring her question altogether.

“You did.”

“Then what are you doing right now?”

“Can’t I just do it to you, Ahjussi? Please?”

“Ha…”

Haegun leaned back in his seat. In the end, it was her loss. But she didn’t want to go back home like this.

“It’s because I want to see you enjoying it.”

“You’ve been seeing enough of that these days.”

“But I felt that this would be a little different.”

Yeoreum unfastened the seatbelt he had fastened for her and leaned over, stretching out her hand until she found his penis lying on his left thigh. Then she began to stroke it. It was already hard and erect, so she didn’t have any trouble finding it. His eyes grew darker as he gazed at Yeoreum. He glanced at her face before looking behind her. Seungwoo was still staring at the car from far away.

“Do whatever you want.”

Haegun unbuckled his belt.