Chapter 222 – Gathering Connections (11)
“Haaah, I’m so full… My stomach’s gonna burst… Pfft.”
Inside the Royal Hans Hotel.
Min Jia, perched on the bed, gently rubbed her belly, which was bulging out like a pregnant woman’s.
She had eaten a lot.
Way too much.
But honestly, what could she do?
They were giving out free bread and drinks at the best cafe, where you’d have to pay a lot to eat that much. There was no way she could avoid overeating.
Joo Ha-rin stared at her for a moment, then shook her head and said,
“You ate way too much just because it was free.”
“Hehe. When else would I get to binge at a cafe? Ah~ Joo Ha-rin, you’re the best. I never imagined you’d be childhood friends with the cafe owner.”
Min Jia rarely praised Joo Ha-rin’s connections, and she looked at the 20 packs of financiers the owner had packed for them with a happy face.
With this, she wouldn’t have to worry about dessert for at least three days! A satisfied smile spread across her face.
She immediately unwrapped a financier and munched on it.
“Mmm, chomp chomp. Ah, and I can’t believe the owner even gave us a ride to the hotel. It’s so convenient to come by car.”
“Yeah, when did Jin-hyun even get a car?”
Joo Ha-rin nodded.
Jin-hyun driving them to the hotel.
Even though the hotel was about 30 minutes away, Jin-hyun had readily driven them himself.
It was surprising enough that he had become the owner of such a large cafe, but she hadn’t expected him to have his own car.
When did he grow up so much?
‘He’s definitely the Jin-hyun I knew, but…’
Joo Ha-rin rested her chin on her hand.
He seemed to have matured a bit, and his body and height were noticeably bigger than before… but that unique feeling, or whatever you’d call it?
That was definitely still there.
It was even clearer when she talked to him. The slight playfulness was exactly the same as before.
‘He was definitely shorter than me back then.’
Joo Ha-rin placed her hand above her head.
Back then, if they stood together, she could look down at Jin-hyun. Well, that was back in elementary school, so it was a long time ago.
But now, he was so much taller that there was no comparison.
Jin-hyun was probably about 20cm taller. His face had changed so much that it felt a little awkward.
‘Still, Jin-hyun and Eun-joo… everyone but me has succeeded.’
Joo Ha-rin sighed inwardly.
Eun-joo had become a huge hit on Mytube, and Jin-hyun had his own cafe and even a car.
In contrast, all she had was her parents’ reputation.
She didn’t really have anything.
‘Ugh, it’s okay.’
Joo Ha-rin cheered herself up internally.
She could work hard from now on…!
She would succeed on her own, as much as them, or even more than them.
As she was making up her mind about the future, Min Jia suddenly said, “Oh, right.”
“Come to think of it, Ha-rin, your expressions were really good when you were talking to that owner?”
“Huh, what?”
What was she talking about now?
As she tilted her head, Min Jia laughed like an old man and said,
“Hehehe, you were even laughing at light jokes, wow. I was wondering if it was really you. Seriously.”
“I did? When?”
“Earlier~. You did. Well, even if your expressions are good, it’s just a little more varied than usual. You might not even notice it yourself. To others, you might still look cold.”
Min Jia puffed up her chest, saying, “Yeah, that’s right, only I can tell~,” as if she was proud of her ability to read expressions. Then, she changed the topic to Jin-hyun.
Min Jia said casually,
“Ah. But, that owner, you know. Isn’t he a bit of a playboy?”
“…A playboy?”
What was this sudden nonsense?
Joo Ha-rin frowned at Min Jia’s sudden words.
“You know, Ji-na. It’s obvious what they were doing upstairs. When she came down, she looked like she’d been to heaven.”
“Ah…”
Joo Ha-rin sighed slightly.
Come to think of it, that was true.
When Jin-hyun got up to leave, Ji-na had gotten up with him and followed him.
After that, they had sat in the cafe for about an hour and a half, talking with Eun-joo and Jia, but Ji-na hadn’t come down once.
She had only come down when it was time to leave, and Ji-na had a look on her face that was… indescribable.
It was a bit suspicious, but…
“Hey. Don’t jump to conclusions. We don’t know yet.”
“Nooo, I know, but… the way they hugged when they first met, it’s suspicious. Ah! Come to think of it, when we first saw him at the barbecue place, he seemed to have a really good vibe with the girl who looked like a part-timer.”
“Well, that’s true.”
That was true.
Back when she was unsure if it was Jin-hyun or not, when she saw him at the barbecue place, she thought he was a couple with that part-timer.
But that was just Jin-hyun’s personal business.
“Anyway, it’s none of our business. Hey, you can’t go around making up weird stories on your broadcast, okay? Only talk about the facts.”
“Hey, when did I ever do that? It’s not that bad… Hee. But it’s okay to tell the story about getting free drinks and bread at the cafe, right? That’s 300,000 views. Awesome.”
“Huh? Oh, well, that’s fine…”
Joo Ha-rin nodded, and Min Jia stretched with a “Heuung.” She said lightly,
“Haaah~. Anyway, Ha-rin, you’re moving… Pfft. Should I move near you when you move?”
“? Move near me?”
“Yup.”
Moving.
After becoming independent from her parents, Joo Ha-rin was able to decide where to live with Eun-joo.
In the end, they decided to sign a contract for room 403 of the villa they had seen last.
From the start, the inside of the house was nice, the transportation was good… and also.
‘Jin-hyun’s cafe is nearby.’
There was no reason not to sign the contract.
“Why? You built a PC room and even made a streaming room. Aren’t you going to miss that?”
“Eesh… That’s true, but you’re the only friend I have nearby. If you leave, I’ll be all alone. Waaah.”
Ha-rin chuckled at Min Jia’s words.
“Really? Funny. You used to make fun of me for not having friends. You don’t have any either?”
“Hey, what’s that…! I have a lot online!? It’s just hard to meet them…!”
Min Jia said that and began to boast about how many friends she had, listing her broadcasting connections.
Joo Ha-rin listened to her words with one ear and let them out the other.
As she was brushing off her words, Min Jia suddenly threw out another comment.
“Anyway, be careful.”
“? About what?”
“That owner… You can’t let your guard down just because he’s a childhood friend. I’m telling you, that owner is a playboy with a 95% probability. He’s giving off a strong playboy aura. Seriously.”
She was being so serious about something so silly. Ha-rin sighed.
“There you go again.”
“Ah, hey. I’m serious. My intuition, my feeling~. It’s always right. There are so many guys out there trying to get to you. Huh?”
Jin-hyun, trying to get to me?
Joo Ha-rin thought of Jin-hyun’s appearance today.
He was always relaxed, and they joked around comfortably. But there wasn’t a single line that could be considered a pickup line?
Just a close and comfortable childhood friend she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Nah, no way.
“That won’t happen.”
Joo Ha-rin shook her head firmly, dismissing Min Jia’s words.
******
Meanwhile, at the same time.
Room 1 of the Black Hallway.
I, who had made Ji-na go crazy and had driven Ha-rin’s group to the hotel, lay on the bed and looked at the Heroine App.
“Ah, this is nice.”
It was so good to see Ha-rin and Eun-joo’s faces after so long.
It was nice to hear that my childhood friends, whom I had spent almost every hour of every day with, were doing well, and I was happy that I had more friends.
But, more than anything.
“They’re both so pretty…!”
Seriously, I couldn’t help but admire their looks the whole time.
In my heart, a devil was screaming at me to make them heroines right away. No, it wasn’t the voice of a devil, but the voice of an angel.
To not make two such pretty childhood friends into heroines and let them go to other men?
“Oh, crap.”
Absolutely, never.
That was impossible.
I had the Heroine App, so not making them heroines would be unmanly.
In the first place, weren’t childhood friends the kind of heroines I had already claimed?
So, I tried to connect the thread of fate to Ha-rin first, but…
[The target’s rank is too high, and it is currently impossible to set her as a heroine with Chun Jin-hyun’s rank.]
[Please raise the protagonist’s rank and try again.]
“Ugh, well. I kind of expected that…”
I sighed at the following message.
I was only rank 8 right now. Honestly, just by looking at Ha-rin, she seemed to have a really high rank.
She was probably similar to Jang Ye-hwa.
So, I tried to connect the thread of fate to Jung Eun-joo and Min Jia, but they were also too high-ranked, just like Ha-rin, and it was impossible to connect the thread of fate.
In Jang Ye-hwa’s case, I was able to target a heroine with a higher rank than me for the first time to clear the challenge quest, but that was no longer the case.
“If that’s the case, I really need rank 7.”
I clicked my tongue.
According to Delia, if I reached rank 7, the shop would start selling items that would allow me to connect the thread of fate to a woman with a higher rank than me and make her a heroine.
An item to make a heroine one rank higher was 50,000 coins.
Two ranks were 200,000 coins, which was quite expensive, but with my interest of 40,000 coins per week, it wasn’t something I couldn’t afford.
‘Well, still.’
I could reach rank 7 next month anyway.
If I cleared the scenario quest, I would be promoted right away.
Ha-rin wasn’t moving until next year anyway.
Eun-joo was the same. Timing-wise, it would perfectly coincide with the moment I was promoted to rank 7.
“Perfect.”
Then, what should I do in the meantime?
Chat with Ha-rin and Eun-joo often to get rid of any awkwardness…!
And…
‘Mommy…’
Target Mommy.
I felt my chest swell as I imagined the future where Delia and Yoon Na-eun would have a mommy power battle.
