Episode 24: A face genius is good at soccer

Episode 24: Two Cakes in Hand by Doing Nothing (3)

Where is this? Who am I?

I only planned to have a quick dinner and head home, but even choosing a restaurant became a challenge.

"Min-jun, what would you like to eat?"

"Min-jun, there’s a good place nearby. Let’s go there."

"I was asking Min-jun."

"But Min-jun likes it too."

"Excuse me, but why are you speaking so casually when we just met?"

"We just met, so what? If you don’t like it, you can speak casually too."

"Hah! Unbelievable."

"It’s totally believable to me."

"Ugh! What kind of woman is this!!"

"I’m right here~"

"……."

Can’t we just go anywhere?

Why do I have to be stuck between these women, listening to such childish bickering?

If I had just kept my mouth shut, I might have felt like the king of a harem.

But this… this is just a petty argument. They’re only using me as an excuse to fight!

If they were fighting over me because they liked me, I would gladly play along, but this is just a fight that Hee-yeon noona started out of nowhere. Now that I think about it, Hee-yeon noona doesn’t usually act like this. Why is she behaving like this?

While I was philosophizing over why these two were fighting, the women, realizing that bickering wasn’t getting them anywhere, turned their gazes towards me.

"Min-jun, since you mentioned you like Western food earlier, how about a restaurant? I know a great one."

As the suited journalist noona leaned in close, her blouse barely grazing me… All my attention was drawn to that, but then, from the other side, I felt a very distinct softness.

"Min-jun, let’s go to Steis in front of the school~"

Hee-yeon noona is surprisingly well-endowed~

"If you want to go so badly, you can go by yourself."

"I’ll go with Min-jun, so why don’t you go alone to that restaurant you like so much?"

"……."

The feeling of being pressed from both sides is nice, but why does this have to be so exhausting?

I just want to eat quickly and go home, but they keep bickering endlessly on both sides.

Since it felt like this would go on all night, I made the decision for them.

"Let’s just go to Steis."

Though she pouted her lips, the journalist noona nodded, and we headed to Steis.

Steis.

A bar and restaurant near the school with private rooms.

Following the staff’s guidance, we were led to a room with seating for four, meaning one of us would have to sit alone.

As I was contemplating sitting by myself, Hee-yeon noona suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me to sit next to her.

The last to enter, the journalist noona made a face like she’d been slapped, biting her lip as she sat down alone across from us.

"Min-jun, is it okay if I order soju?"

"Yes, that’s fine. But I don’t drink alcohol…"

"It’s okay if I drink, right?"

"Of course."

"What about you…"

The journalist noona glanced at Hee-yeon noona sitting next to me and let out a snicker,

"I’ll drink too. Excuse me, could we have two bottles of soju?"

"Make it three bottles, boss. Who drinks just one bottle?"

"Sis! Four bottles of soju, please~"

"Bring five bottles."

"Six bottles."

"……."

I wish they would both just disappear.

Whoever said alcohol pride is the most useless thing was absolutely right. This is so stupid.

* * *

Checking my phone, I realized it was already 10 p.m.

When can I finally go home?

"Aren’t you going home? We ate, so why don’t you head out now, okay?"

"I don’t wanna~ Why? What are you gonna do if I leave~?"

"Nothing! It’s not what you’re thinking, so please just go!!"

"What do you think I’m thinking~? Hm? What is it, what is it?"

Just as the journalist noona was biting her lips in frustration, she suddenly screamed.

"I’m not trying to sleep with you! I’m not, so please just go!!"

Please, just stop, you drunks!!

I’m going to lose my mind!!

"Nope, not leaving~ I’m staying~"

"Why! Why won’t you just leave!!"

"What if our small, cute, precious Min-jun gets eaten up? No way, no way. I can’t leave."

"I told you! It’s not like that!!"

"Lies. I don't believe you. I know you're just trying to seduce our Min-jun."

The two women seemed to have forgotten my existence, or rather, forgotten their sense of shame. How disgraceful women can be when they've lost their sense of embarrassment.

Hee-yeon, who had been smirking, suddenly turned serious.

"Should I leave?"

"Yes! Please! Go!"

"If you answer this, I'll leave."

"What is it? I'll answer anything. Please, just go."

The reporter, almost in tears, desperately pleaded, and Hee-yeon coldly asked,

"Why did you target me?"

"……??"

In the midst of all this, the reporter tilted her head with a half-dazed expression, which made her look oddly cute.

"Don't know? Hah! They say victims can't forget, but the perpetrators do."

Hee-yeon pulled out her phone and brought up a photo, placing it on the table with a thud.

Displayed on the screen was the magazine from earlier, 'Woman Power Magazine', where the reporter worked.

"What about it?"

"Swipe through."

The reporter's fingers scrolled through the photos.

"Women's Tennis! Is this okay?"

"Courts turned into breeding grounds for indecency!"

"More exposure than skill! The deterioration of women's tennis!"

"Is it a lewd video or a tennis match?"

What is this?

The headlines were bad enough, but the content was all about how women's tennis outfits were too revealing, objectifying, and that success depended more on exposure than skill.

And, most importantly…

"The objectification of female tennis players. Is this okay?"

— Editor: Kang Su-yeon

Here and there, the reporter's name popped up in the articles.

"See this? You specifically used my picture for it. What did you write? More exposure than skill, the shameless symbol of objectification, Hojin University’s A-player. Why bother with anonymity when you’re just attacking me like that?"

"Oh… That, um…"

The reporter flailed her hands in panic, while Hee-yeon sneered cynically.

"I was so pissed off that I captured everything and kept it. It pushed me to train harder and improve my performance. But you know what? I remember all this, but you can’t even recall it?"

"I-I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional…"

"Not intentional? You guys are a hardcore feminist magazine, aren’t you?"

Hee-yeon leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, and shot me a glance.

"Min-jun, tell them not to publish the interview. They're extreme feminists. Who knows how they'll twist it? Just cancel the whole thing."

With a sinking feeling, I pulled out my phone and searched for 'Woman Power Magazine'. Wow, this is bad.

"Please, no! Not that! Anything but that!"

"Too late. Thanks for the meal~ Let’s go, Min-jun."

I did feel a bit sorry for the pleading reporter, but I followed Hee-yeon, who had firmly taken hold of my wrist and was pulling me along.

"Oh, and boss, thanks for the meal! The lady coming out behind us will cover the bill."

She even passed off the bill. Scary.

As Hee-yeon dragged me out, the reporter quickly paid and chased after us, pleading,

"Hee-yeon! I’m really sorry! Please, forgive me just this once."

"Not interested~"

"Uh… we’re drawing too much attention. Let’s go somewhere less crowded."

A sophisticated beauty of a career woman was clinging to a glamorous blonde beauty. Naturally, everyone’s attention was on us. And in the middle of it all, I got some looks as if people were wondering, ‘Who’s that guy?’

Once we found a quieter spot, the reporter, still apologizing, turned to me.

"Min-jun, please! Don’t cancel the interview!"

"Honestly, feminism is a bit…"

"No, no! That’s not it! Really, it’s because you’re so handsome! And skilled, too! That’s why I interviewed you!"

As I began to waver at her plea, Hee-yeon tightened her grip on my wrist.

"Don’t be fooled. She’s a sneaky one. If I hadn’t come along, she probably would’ve gotten you drunk and taken advantage of you."

…But that would’ve been fine.

I was almost moved to tears by Hee-yeon’s unnecessary but heartfelt concern.

"No, that’s not it at all! I swear!"

"Then what?"

"I just… I needed a photo…"

"You took plenty during the interview… Oh, I see~ You’re a real piece of work."

"Huh?"

"You were going to seduce our precious Min-jun, snap a photo, and ruin him!"

"No! I just needed a picture of his hand—ah!"

"…A picture of his hand?"

After thinking for a moment, Hee-yeon suddenly gasped and quickly searched something on her phone before showing it to me.

Holy crap! What the hell is that?

That kind of hand photo would socially bury someone.

I'm not a male feminist!!

"Wow~ You’re really despicable, huh?"

"No, it's not like that… I didn’t want to do it either. Really, I hated it too, but the editor-in-chief insisted… Waaaah."

The reporter, who had been stammering, eventually burst into tears.

Feeling a bit sorry for her as she cried so pitifully, I gently patted her back while keeping an eye on Hee-yeon. But she was watching the crying reporter with a gleam in her eyes.

"Wow~ she's crying, she's really crying!"

Is this person naturally an S?

Hee-yeon noona, who was laughing delightedly, spoke as if she were doing a favor.

"Well then~ should I let it slide just this once?"

"Yes! Please! I don't do any of that feminist stuff anymore, see? I've grown my hair out again, I’m wearing makeup, and I even put on perfume!"

The sight of the reporter noona clinging to Hee-yeon noona, almost in tears, was truly pitiful.

How sad. So this is the misery of a working person.

"Hmm~ what should I dooo~"

"Please, I might even get fired. Pleaaase?"

"So, you're going to do everything I tell you to?"

"Yes! I'll do anything!"

At that response, Hee-yeon noona's eyes lit up in the dark like a lightbulb.

Gosh, that's scary. So this is how terrifying a woman's grudge can be.

"Hmm~ hmm~ now what should weee~"

Humming a strange tune, Hee-yeon noona’s eyes suddenly stopped at a particular spot...

"Let's go in there!"

"Yes! Anywhere is fine— Eek! W-Why there?"

It was a motel.

"Why do you think? You're my slave from now on! Heehee!"

Hee-yeon noona and the reporter noona getting together... That's rare.

Just thinking about it turns me on.

I need to hurry home and call Ji-kyung noona or something.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Me? I'm heading home now..."

"Where do you think you're going? You're not going anywhere. You're coming with us! Heehee."

The reporter noona looked at me with a desperate expression.

Hmm... It would be embarrassing if I stayed too—

"P-Please come with me. I don't want to be alone with her!"

Ahem.

In that case, I have no choice. I'll have to go with them.

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