Chapter 24 – Episode 24 – Event (6)
The morning sun of summer, blocked by the curtains, only conveys its warmth. Kang Su-jeong, feeling the energy of such a morning, clenched her fists.
“Okay… I can do it!”
9 AM.
Having decided on her outfit for the day in front of the mirror, Kang Su-jeong smiled brightly.
Today, she plans to confess to Cheon Jin-hyeon.
It’s been nine days since they exchanged contact information. It was a short time, but as time passed, her feelings for him only grew stronger, not weaker.
‘The outfit is fine… Hmm. But how should I confess?’
That was Kang Su-jeong’s main concern. Should she just ask him to date her right away? Should she prepare a gift? And in what situation should she confess?
She had never experienced anything like this before, so she had no idea.
Ah~. At least she should have paid more attention to other people’s love stories back in high school. Kang Su-jeong pouted. Back then, she wasn’t interested, so she’d let her friends’ chatter go in one ear and out the other.
“Hmm. Should I try contacting Ye-hwa?”
The thought suddenly occurred to her. Ye-hwa was one of Kang Su-jeong’s few closest and most trustworthy friends. One of those high school friends who are said to last a lifetime.
‘No, no, let’s think for myself.’
But Kang Su-jeong immediately shook her head.
Come to think of it, when Ye-hwa came over to hang out two weeks ago, she had said all sorts of things about Jin-hyeon, like he was a weirdo or a pervert.
No, it wasn’t just two weeks ago. Ever since Jin-hyeon moved in, Ye-hwa had consistently said those things every time she came over.
But suddenly changing her attitude and asking for advice on confessing to him after just two weeks seemed strange to anyone.
Ugh. Why did I do that? She wanted to go back to the past and smack herself for saying those things.
‘Besides, it’s doubtful if Ye-hwa could even give me helpful advice.’
Kang Su-jeong pictured Ye-hwa’s face. A face that was even prettier than her own, which people around her often called pretty.
However, honestly, she doubted if Ye-hwa could give her helpful advice. Ye-hwa had never once talked about her own love life.
Is she not interested?
No, come to think of it, it might just be because she had always acted like she wasn’t very interested in dating.
So, why would she bother talking about it? Well, Ye-hwa was so pretty and had such a great figure, there was no way she didn’t have a boyfriend.
“Ugh. Well, I’ll just say it.”
Being rejected after confessing was truly scary, but the fact that this relationship could fizzle out if she just stayed still was even scarier for Kang Su-jeong.
And honestly, Cheon Jin-hyeon didn’t seem uninterested in her either.
If he wasn’t interested, there was no way he would meet her every day like this, right?
He had even scanned her body with a lingering gaze when they first met. At the time, she really hated it, but now that she thought about it, it was a positive sign that he was interested in her.
Besides, he was the one who first coaxed her into giving him her contact information.
[From now on, let’s not pretend it’s a coincidence and contact each other.]
Whoosh.
Remembering his face as he said that with a smile made her face flush. Now, with her affection level over 80, she was completely smitten.
‘What should I really do? Should I just invite him over to my place?’
At least confessing at home would be much less nerve-wracking than doing it on the street.
But then, what excuse would she use to invite him? Come to think of it, she had never been to Cheon Jin-hyeon’s place, nor had she invited him to her place. Even though they were neighbors.
“Ah!”
Just as she was thinking that, a sudden thought struck her, and she slapped her palm with her fist. Come to think of it, she had that!
She looked at the kitchen. It was a small kitchen integrated with the living room, but it had its own cooking utensils.
‘I’m pretty confident with this.’
Su-jeong had been slightly worried about the list of items Jin-hyeon bought when they went grocery shopping together.
Having made up her mind, Kang Su-jeong quickly took out her phone and sent a message to Jin-hyeon.
[Me: Don’t forget 11:30! Let’s go grocery shopping today. (^~^)]
Not long after sending the message, she received a reply. Kang Su-jeong smiled at the message.
[Cheon Jin-hyeon: Okay. See you later.]
She was already looking forward to meeting him.
******
– Click
As I opened the front door, a pleasant, fragrant scent of a woman wafted in. Along with the scent, I saw Kang Su-jeong smiling with her eyes.
“Hi~.”
“Oh? Were you waiting?”
“No, I just came down.”
She shook her head at my question. Her face was the same as usual, but her outfit clearly showed that she had put some thought into it.
“Your outfit looks good on you. You’re pretty.”
“Really? Hehe, thanks.”
Su-jeong’s cheeks were slightly flushed.
‘A confession……’
I looked at her, smiling to myself as I thought about the keyword I had seen during the day.
Her soft, dark brown hair, reaching her chest, swayed charmingly. She always made an effort when she met me, but today she looked even more attractive.
Did the confession mentioned in the keyword mean that she would confess to me, or that I should confess to her?
‘I’ll find out when I see it.’
For now, I’d wait and see. If she didn’t confess by the end, I could just confess to her.
Actually, when it came to confessions, Yu-jeong noona was the first person that came to mind.
‘Come to think of it, what is Yu-jeong noona doing right now?’
It had only been two weeks since then, so she was probably still working at the convenience store.
Our last message was the day after she quit the convenience store. I had asked her why she quit, and she replied that she was looking for a different path. After a brief greeting, we hadn’t messaged each other since.
The noona I had targeted first after getting the Heroine App. We had only kissed, but as it was my first kiss, the memory remained vivid.
And back then……
‘I had rejected Yu-jeong noona’s confession.’
It was a temporary confession created by the effects of the candy and the lust potion.
Back then, I didn’t know that it was possible to set a heroine, so I thought it would be difficult to maintain the affection afterward, so I rejected her. But Kang Su-jeong’s case was different.
I could steadily increase Kang Su-jeong’s affection level through coins, and she was my heroine connected by the thread of fate. There was no reason to reject her confession.
‘Well, that doesn’t mean I’m going to date her normally……’
From the moment I realized the true value of the Heroine App, I decided to live my life according to my honest desires. And one of those desires was a harem! I was sorry to her, but I had no intention of being satisfied with just one person.
‘But I’ll never abandon you.’
Just as I was thinking that, Kang Su-jeong waved her hand in front of my eyes.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
“Oh, nothing much. Just various things.”
I smiled slightly, then walked out of the front door and held out my hand to her on the stairs.
She looked at my hand for a moment, then smiled brightly and took it.
Her soft touch felt good.
******
“You’re buying a lot today?”
I asked Kang Su-jeong, who was diligently putting items into the shopping cart after we arrived at V Mart. She flinched and said,
“U-uh, yeah. It’s because I’m running out of ingredients……”
“Hmm. I see.”
I answered, smiling inwardly. The word “invite” from the event keyword of the Heroine App. It was probably because of that. It was obvious who she would invite.
She put a lot of various ingredients, such as vegetables, fruits, and meat, into the cart.
Hmm. Roughly, it seemed like she was buying twice as much as usual… No, she didn’t usually buy much meat, so maybe it was about three times as much.
“Phew. I’ve got everything~!”
“Did you forget anything?”
“Hmm… Nope! I don’t think so.”
She looked at the shopping cart full of items for a moment, then nodded. And then she even subtly took my hand.
Her cheeks flushed red as she placed her hand on mine. She was very shy, but her actions were already those of a couple.
After her affection level exceeded 60 and we exchanged contact information, her actions became bolder. It was probably a sign that she had opened up her heart.
“It looks heavy. Should I help you carry it?”
“It’s okay. It’s nothing.”
I chuckled and walked with her to another corner.
It wasn’t just bravado, it really was okay. It wasn’t like it was as light as a feather, but it wasn’t burdensome at all. After consistently practicing the Thousand Mile Qi Technique, my overall strength had increased. I still couldn’t do anything superhuman, though.
“Hey, you two lovebirds~! Come over here and try this.”
As we were walking through the frozen food section, a plump-looking woman at the frozen food tasting corner called out to us.
Su-jeong’s cheeks flushed red again at the woman’s words, “lovebirds.” She kept blushing red, was she an apple?
“L-lovebirds?”
“Yes~. You two look great together. Your boyfriend is even carrying your things, you’ve found a good one.”
“Haha. Thank you.”
I didn’t bother denying it. I just held Su-jeong’s hand a little tighter, and I could feel her body flinch.
“It’s nicely cooked, so try it. It’ll be savory. You don’t have to buy it.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Without hesitation, I picked up a piece of fried dumpling with a toothpick. The taste was honestly nothing special, just the common taste of a fried dumpling.
“Why don’t you try one too, young lady?”
“Ah, I’m okay.”
When I had asked her a few days ago, Su-jeong had said she was on a diet. I wasn’t going to ask why someone like that was buying so many ingredients.
“How does it taste?”
“It’s delicious. Thank you for the meal.”
“You can have another one.”
“I’m okay.”
Because I said it was delicious, Su-jeong looked like she wanted to buy the fried dumplings, but I quickly took her hand and left.
“Now, which ham should we try~.”
We always moved together when we went grocery shopping, so after she had put everything she wanted in the cart, I had time to put in what I wanted.
I put a few drinks in the cart, then went straight to the processed food section and pretended to choose spam while making a loud noise on purpose.
There was spam in the keyword. This was probably going to be the excuse for her to invite me to her place. From my perspective, I didn’t need an excuse, but she would be shy.
‘Wow, look at her eyes.’
Indeed, she was following where my hand was going with a fiery gaze.
I enjoyed her gaze as I moved my hand around like I was training a dog, then picked up the spam with the label that looked the greasiest.
“W-wait a minute……”
At the same time, Su-jeong grabbed my hand.
