Although the hof (pub) wasn’t very close, it wasn’t too far either, so they managed to arrive before the heavy rain started.
Even here, people glanced at the two of them.
It wasn’t because of their hair color or because they were on TV.
The man had a tall stature and a handsome face, while the woman had a well-proportioned body and elegant appearance.
Unaware of this, the man, Lee Hyun-woo, spoke up.
“Oh… Do we have to keep going around like this?”
“People will forget over time. Don’t worry too much.”
“I hope so, but if it keeps going like this, it’ll be uncomfortable to go out.”
Of course, people didn’t stare at them intensely.
But even the occasional glance was bothersome.
Noticing this, Kim Ah-young pointed outside and caught Lee Hyun-woo’s attention.
“Oh? It’s raining a lot.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“……”
“……”
Was it a moment of sentimentality?
A few seconds of silence passed between them.
The one who broke it was not either of them, but the hof employee.
“Would you like to order?”
Then, as if they had forgotten what bothered them a moment ago, Lee Hyun-woo asked Kim Ah-young with a bright face.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Hmm….”
She looked at the menu and pointed to one item.
“French fries?”
“But shouldn’t we order something for that person too?”
The person he referred to was their bodyguard, Jung Jin-sung.
As he pointed, Kim Ah-young replied nonchalantly.
“Well… we should. Let’s order a pork cutlet for him.”
“See, kids from rich families are different. Look at them ordering such common things.”
“It’s not that… I just don’t know what to order.”
“I’m kidding. But order whatever you want. I’ll treat you today. It’s not every day you get to treat a rich girl.”
“Then, let’s order the sausage and vegetable stir-fry too.”
“Sounds good. By the way, you seem ready to eat a lot today.”
“Well, I want to eat without any burden today.”
“Great. Then shall we go for some soju mixed with beer?”
“Soju mixed with beer?”
“Yeah, you mix soju and beer together. I’ll show you in a bit.”
After ordering their drinks and snacks, Lee Hyun-woo made a soju-beer mix.
Honestly, he wasn’t very confident.
In his previous life, he hadn’t drunk often.
But since this wasn’t widely known in this era, there was no one to blame.
Especially since Kim Ah-young, who had grown up in the most precious greenhouse in our country, wouldn’t know about it.
So after making a “tung!” sound with a fork by tapping the bottom of the glass and handing it over, Kim Ah-young received it, looking at the bubbles with curiosity.
“You should be careful; it can get you drunk quickly. So drink slowly.”
“Oh, got it.”
She already looked eager.
She was thirsty.
So she brought the beer glass to her lips and drank.
‘Huh?’
At first, it was fizzy, then sweet, and finally ended with a bitter note.
“Wow, this is good.”
“Right? Want another?”
“Sure, give me.”
She handed her beer glass to Lee Hyun-woo and watched him make the mix again.
She memorized the ratio of soju to beer to use it later.
After watching and drinking soju-beer mix several times, she naturally started to feel tipsy.
Lee Hyun-woo seemed the same, with a more relaxed expression and posture than before.
Suddenly, she became more curious about Lee Hyun-woo as a person.
And when drinking, questions often come out without much thought, which was the case now.
“What is your dream?”
“Huh?”
“Not the business-related dream, but what you really want to do in your life. What is it?”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled and said,
“Dream… I have it written down at home…”
“You wrote down what you want to do?”
“Yeah, there are many things I haven’t done. The first thing that comes to mind… Oh, going to a nightclub. But I’ve already done that.”
“I haven’t been to a nightclub.”
“Then let’s go together next time. And there’s more. Meeting a celebrity. I’ve done that too. What else… Ah! Making the people around me work less and enjoy life more. This is an ongoing long-term project… And what else… Ah! That really important one.”
“What is it?”
“Having a passionate romance.”
“……!”
Exclamation marks appeared in Kim Ah-young’s eyes.
She felt as if the alcohol she had drunk sobered up instantly.
On the other hand, Lee Hyun-woo, having brought up the topic, thought he was saying too much.
‘Sometimes alcohol does that.’
It’s like a lubricant, isn’t it?
Due to the mental disarmament, revealing oneself makes the relationship between people smoother.
Kim Ah-young seemed to be similarly relaxed.
“Me too…”
“Huh?”
“I also want to have a romance someday.”
Was it the difference between men and women?
She spoke in a slightly quieter voice than Lee Hyun-woo.
Her cheeks, flushed with the rise of alcohol, looked somewhat cute.
Indeed, among the conglomerate second-generation daughters of the 【Guseong】 family, her beauty was top-tier.
However, she had something unapproachable, so he had never thought of her as a woman.
Even after dying and returning to the past, that remained the same.
Though he said they met and became friends by chance, Lee Hyun-woo was always aware of the wall between them.
‘Today, that wall seems a bit lower and thinner.’
This too might be the role of alcohol.
It even gave him the courage to talk freely about romantic matters.
“We’re twenty-seven years old, yet we’re having such pathetic conversations, aren’t we? Like people who have never been in a relationship.”
“……”
Seeing her silent, Lee Hyun-woo opened his eyes wide.
“What? Have you never been in a relationship?”
“I never had the chance.”
“Oh… really?”
But it felt like he had said something he shouldn’t have.
‘With someone so out of reach, she probably couldn’t date just anyone, right?’
Maybe that’s why she and the bodyguard, who occasionally sipped water after finishing his pork cutlet, might have developed feelings.
He wondered how things would turn out for them in this life.
Breaking his thoughts, another question from her came.
“What about you?”
“Me? Hmm…”
“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”
“No, it’s not that it’s hard, but it’s a bit ambiguous.”
He studied diligently during his school days.
Of course, occasionally he had a crush on someone, but from middle school to high school to university, his top priority was success.
After achieving the first step of getting a job, he had a few immature relationships before meeting his wife.
But that was in his previous life, and now that he had returned to the past, shouldn’t he follow the rules of this life?
“I guess I’ll have to say it never happened.”
“What?”
“I’ve never been in a relationship either. I’m a solo since birth. In this life, I’ve never had one.”
“Really? Then we have quite a few things in common.”
Quite a few? In what way? But Lee Hyun-woo just nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Since neither of us has relationship experience, we can meet like this from time to time and ask each other.”
“Ask? About what?”
“Well… I can tell you about women, and you can tell me about men. That would be helpful later. Isn’t that right?”
It seemed a bit forced, but since she said so, he decided to go along.
With this thought, he smiled and answered.
“Sure, let’s talk about that topic when we get another chance. Now that I think about it, I don’t really understand women.”
That was true.
Despite having dated, married, and divorced, women were always a difficult existence.
It might be an eternal puzzle he could never solve.
So maybe he should welcome having a female friend to explain women’s psychology to him.
Ring ring.
Their relaxed conversation was interrupted by a phone call.
It was for Lee Hyun-woo.
“I wish caller ID would come out sooner.”
He muttered unconsciously and answered the call.
Hoping it wasn’t work-related.
“Hello?”
(Hello?)
A familiar voice.
The daughter of the Aejeong Group’s head.
“Director Choi Sun-hwa?”
(Ah, yes, you remember.)
“Yes, I remember. But what is it about?”
(The low-cost cosmetics you mentioned last time? We decided to proceed with it.)
“Really?”
(Yes, we plan to launch it within the year, but I called to discuss the banner ads beforehand.)
“Ah, yes. But what should I do? I’m having drinks with a friend right now. I’ll contact you tomorrow.”
(Oh… sure…)
“Okay, then. Goodbye.”
Lee Hyun-woo, thinking it wasn’t urgent, wondered why she called, and ended the call.
But strangely, Kim Ah-young looked at him with an even brighter face.
‘What is it?’
Did something happen while he was on the phone?
He didn’t know, but her voice was bright as she spoke.
“The French fries and sausage vegetable stir-fry here are really delicious. Oh, and this soju-beer mix too.”
Then she tilted her soju-beer glass and drank down the mix.
Not to be outdone, Lee Hyun-woo drank his drink.
It felt like it was going down really well today.
‘Will I get drunk like this?’
Indeed, Lee Hyun-woo drank until he blacked out that day.
He went home thoroughly drunk for the first time in a while.
This was also something he hadn’t done in his previous life.
The next morning, when he woke up, Lee Hyun-woo felt something rising from his stomach and rushed to the bathroom.
When he came out, he ran into Lee Jung-woo, who was about to go to school.
“Hyung, it’s the first time I’ve seen you drink so much. Who did you meet yesterday?”
“Kim Ah-young.”
“Kim Ah-young? A girl? Who is she?”
“Just someone.”
“Are you dating her?”
“That’s my goal, but I don’t know when it’ll happen.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind, just go to school. And graduate soon. I want to hand over the work to you and just relax.”
Half-serious, half-joking.
Especially since he had drunk too much, he really didn’t want to go to work.
‘By the way, if I’m like this, Kim Ah-young must be extremely drunk too, right?’
Honestly, he couldn’t clearly remember how drunk Kim Ah-young was.
He roughly remembered their conversation in outline, but…
At least, it was fun.
Listening to someone who had lived a different life from his was refreshing.
Maybe Kim Ah-young felt the same way?
Later on, they even talked about their school days, recounting the unremarkable growth of an ordinary boy…
‘It must have been fascinating for her, as it was different from her life.’
Are all the daughters of conglomerates like this?
He was also curious about Choi Sun-hwa, who contacted him in the middle of yesterday.
‘No, meeting conglomerate daughters frequently will only raise my standards.’
He thought they would be self-centered from being treated well all the time, but yesterday showed that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Given their beautiful faces, commanding backgrounds in all fields in Korea, and charismatic personalities, how could anyone else compare when dating?
Even if Choi Sun-hwa was a step below Kim Ah-young in terms of conglomerate status, their upbringing would be similar, so he resolved not to form any personal connections.
‘I shouldn’t meet Choi Sun-hwa either, using work as an excuse.’
With that, Lee Hyun-woo summoned Han Se-jin after arriving at work and instructed him to visit 【Aejeong Cosmetics】.
“But there’s no need to rush. I think the low-cost cosmetics aren’t ready yet but are in preparation.”
“Yes, understood, CEO.”
Suddenly, Han Se-jin and Kang Dong-ho, as well as the sales department, had a lot more work.
It wasn’t planned, but starting with 【Guseong】, there seemed to be a flood of advertisements.
Naturally, this led to issues with internet speed.
‘Originally, I was going to address that using Nostradamus’s blog card.’
He wouldn’t rush.
Take it easy, and eventually, improvements would come.
