Chapter 221 – Converging Fates (10)
I groaned inwardly.
Can’t you remember?
‘No.’
Honestly, I don’t know.
I haven’t really been close to any girls this pretty other than the heroines…
‘Is this it?’
A situation where a stranger on the street is talking to me.
I slightly furrowed my brow and glanced at the short-haired woman in front of me.
‘Hmm?’
But, looking closely, her face was also strangely familiar.
I definitely feel like I’ve seen her somewhere.
Those cat-like eyes, that haughty expression, that unique aura… for some reason, it was familiar to my memory.
It was something like this…
“Ah!”
That’s right!
I clapped my hands together.
At my reaction, as if I had remembered something, the woman’s face brightened slightly.
“Oh? Did you perhaps remember?”
“That’s right, that! Weren’t you the person sitting at the table next to us at the barbecue restaurant last time?”
This was certain.
I had gone to a barbecue restaurant for lunch with Yujeong noona before, and there were two very pretty women sitting at the next table, so I had looked at them.
One was a short-haired woman, and the other was a cute-looking woman right next to her.
The short-haired woman’s expression, which had brightened at my words, darkened again.
“Aish…”
She clicked her tongue slightly, as if my answer wasn’t what she wanted, and even sighed.
Hmm, what is it?
“Oh? Is that not it…?”
“Haa, it is, but… tsk. You really don’t remember, do you.”
She clicked her tongue again, then stared at my face again.
“Well… I didn’t recognize you right away at first either.”
One step forward.
As the short-haired woman approached, a fragrant scent tickled my nose.
She leaned slightly towards me and said,
“Joo Harin.”
“Huh?”
“My name. My name is Joo Harin. You… you didn’t forget my name too, did you?”
Her voice was slightly anxious.
However, contrary to her worries, as soon as I heard the three words ‘Joo Harin’, my eyes widened in an instant.
“Huh? Joo Harin…?”
I repeated her name.
Joo Harin?
Could it be, Harin?
The one I used to play with when I was young?
“By any chance… Geumbyeol Elementary School?”
“That’s right.”
“We were in the youth orchestra together?”
“Yeah.”
“The one who played with Eunju?”
“Yeah.”
The woman nodded. I was so surprised that my mouth fell open.
“Wow, you’re really…”
Joo Harin.
Only after hearing her name was I able to completely recall her.
I think I know why her aura and eyes were familiar.
To be honest, she had changed a lot in appearance overall compared to the old days, but her aura remained the same.
So, when I looked at her knowing that she was the Harin I knew, I quickly realized it was her.
My reaction seemed to please her, and the woman smiled softly.
Her smile was very pretty.
“Do you recognize me now?”
“Yeah. Harin, you… wow. It’s been so long.”
Harin’s expression brightened at my words.
“It’s been a long time, Jinhyun.”
******
The first floor of the cafe.
Sitting in an empty seat, I looked at Harin and Eunju.
“Wow. I can’t believe you two came to my cafe. I was really surprised.”
After recognizing Harin.
When I recognized her, Eunju even stepped forward and asked if I remembered her.
I had already gotten the hint that it was Harin, and I had seen Eunju once in Boston, so I was able to immediately deduce that she was my cousin, Jung Eunju.
“I never dreamed that you would be the owner of this cafe.”
I laughed at Harin’s words.
Of course, she wouldn’t know.
Even I never dreamed that I would be like this until I got the heroine app.
If I hadn’t had the heroine app, I probably would have continued working the night shift at the convenience store.
“By the way, what did you eat to become so pretty? Wow. Honestly, there’s no way I could have recognized you. You’re like a completely different person?”
I said, admiring Harin’s appearance.
They say a woman’s transformation is innocent.
No, this isn’t a transformation, it’s an evolution.
I thought about Harin’s appearance when she was young.
When I think about it, both Harin and Eunju seemed to have the potential to become beauties in the future among their peers.
But that’s only when I think about it now. When we were young, there was no way to know that.
I just had the impression that Harin was a bit aloof and Eunju was a bright child.
Of course, they were quite pretty among their peers, but honestly, they had baby fat, so they didn’t feel this overwhelmingly beautiful.
Now, when I look at them, I can only be amazed.
Harin made a slightly awkward expression at my compliment.
“R-really…?”
“Yeah, you really didn’t have any sexiness back then.”
“What did you say?”
“Pfft. I mean you’re that pretty now.”
“Ah, okay…”
I looked at Eunju.
“Eunju, you’re the same. You’ve become so pretty. But, why didn’t you tell me your name when we met in Boston? We even greeted each other. Come to think of it, I didn’t even hear your name.”
Looking back, I think I was the only one who introduced myself to her.
“Ah… well, at that time, I wasn’t sure if it was you…”
“Hey. What wasn’t sure? I gave you my name and phone number. Didn’t you come to this cafe after seeing my business card?”
“Uh-huh, that’s right. But I thought maybe it was a different person with the same name, so I checked with my mom…”
I burst out laughing at Eunju’s words.
“Pfft. A different person with the same name.”
“No, hey! You never know…!”
“Okay, okay.”
I looked at them both again in turn.
“By the way, you two are moving near here?”
When I asked Eunju and Harin how they ended up at this cafe, they said they came to check out houses to move into.
Joo Harin nodded at my question.
“Yeah. So we were going around looking at houses together today.”
“Ah, when are you planning to move in?”
“Next year? Probably right on January 1st. As soon as the clock strikes.”
“Oh? What? That’s in a month?”
“That’s right.”
I turned my head towards Eunju.
“Then Eunju, are you living with them from January 1st too? What about college?”
“Ah, I’m graduating from college. I’ll join around mid-February.”
“Really? Wow, that’s great. Let’s meet often in the future.”
Eunju smiled and nodded. Harin crossed her arms.
“Hmph, who was the one who cut off contact first?”
“Ah, hey. That’s…”
And so, we sat in the cafe and talked for a long time.
We exchanged contact information.
What we had been doing.
What we were going to do in the future, etc.
There was a lot to talk about.
We were really close when we were young, so I thought it would be a little awkward since so much time had passed.
But, it was only like that at the beginning, and once we got the ball rolling, it wasn’t that bad.
Still, I couldn’t take up too much of their time.
It wasn’t just the two of them, there were four women in total.
Harin and Eunju were fine, but Minjia seemed a little out of place.
I decided to get up after about 30 minutes of talking.
I said to Minjia, who was munching on a financier next to me,
“Jia, please eat as much as you want. I’ve told the part-timers, so if there’s anything you want to eat, just say so and they’ll give it to you for free.”
“Ah! Yes. Thank you…!”
She bowed politely.
Harin and Eunju said that the cute-looking woman next to Jina was Harin’s friend, Minjia.
She seemed to have a good appetite, and had been devouring the desserts since earlier.
“I’ll also tell them to pack up anything you like when you leave.”
“Oh, oh? Really? Uh… then just a few financiers…”
Minjia readily accepted my offer.
Harin poked her in the side and scolded her for accepting everything they offered, but I chuckled.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s nothing. I’ll pack some for all of you.”
“Really, it’s okay?”
“Yeah, of course. This place is doing really well. And think of it as payment for going MIA before.”
“? That’s not nearly enough…”
“Ah, sorry. Please let it slide.”
“Hmph…”
Harin smiled slightly as I spoke as if begging.
That smile was so attractive.
She’s usually a bit aloof, but if she just smiled brightly, she would probably have the same level of beauty as Delia or Yehwa.
“Anyway, I’m going to get up now. If you need anything, just say so. Take your time eating and decide which house is best.”
“Ah, okay. Thanks, Jinhyun. I’ll contact you again…!”
“Yeah.”
With that, I turned around to go back to my office.
But, as I went up to the second floor, Jina, who had suddenly followed me, grabbed my arm.
“Jinhyun, let’s do it together.”
I could feel the sensation of Jina’s ample breasts on my arm.
To be honest, I was a little embarrassed because Jina had been clinging to me since earlier. I sighed and said,
“I have a girlfriend.”
“Even if you do, we did it last time.”
“That was an accident.”
Honestly, it feels good to be with Jina. She’s so skilled.
But I already have a lot of heroines.
I don’t plan on not increasing the number of heroines in the future, but at least I didn’t want to waste my energy on a non-heroine and reduce the love I give to my heroines.
And to make Jina a heroine?
‘Oh no…’
The unicorn heart inside me shook its head.
Jina was too promiscuous.
She can’t be a regular heroine, and if she were a sub-heroine… that was also a very difficult problem considering Jina’s tendencies.
It would be fine if she had only been promiscuous until now, but it would be very difficult if she were to remain promiscuous after becoming my heroine.
Well, maybe it could be solved if I made her affection 100 and gave her the ‘iron wall’ trait like the heroines so far…
‘It’s difficult, it’s difficult.’
I was pondering how to solve this difficult problem.
‘Should I just do it one more time…?’
I decided to just do it one more time today.
She said she had taken a plane all the way to Korea just to see me.
If I satisfied her, she wouldn’t cling to me anymore.
I took her to my private lounge next to my office.
