New Normal - Chapter 15

Juwon, who’d been half-lost imagining the old Shin Jisoo, slowly lifted his head. Absentmindedly, he compared the woman in his mind with the woman sitting right in front of him. He hid his mouth behind his hand, amused.

The Shin Jisoo he’d met back in Gangcheon was still beautiful. Those clear, delicate features, deep dark eyes, and that fair, flawless skin had felt striking even through a screen — in person, it stood out even more.

To put it simply… damn, she’d been gorgeous.

And this woman in front of him now? Well. Completely different vibe. Totally different person.

Wait a second. Why was he even comparing them? Who did Shin Jisoo think she was, anyway?

…Oh, right. She ghosted him.

The second that thought hit him, an unexpected wave of annoyance bubbled up. Everything about this was suddenly so irritating that Juwon tilted his head slightly.

“Hmm…”

As he let out a low hum, he noticed the woman flinch. Folding his arms, Juwon leaned back leisurely. Then he let out a soft laugh, as if it was nothing at all, and shook his head.

“No, actually. You’re right on time.”

The woman, who’d been sizing him up too, raised an eyebrow. She looked a bit intrigued.

“What do you mean?”

Juwon furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment. Then something seemed to pop into his head — he snapped his fingers and pointed at the wine glass she’d been holding just moments ago.

“Aren’t you thirsty?”

“Huh?”

She blinked, confused, and he gestured lightly, telling her to drink.

“Thought you might be.”

Such an out-of-the-blue suggestion made her brows draw together. Juwon just scrunched his nose playfully, like ‘What are you waiting for?’

She stared at him, wide-eyed for a second, then let out a short laugh.

“Do I have to be tipsy to sit with you?”

“Maybe. Could be.”

“You have pretty specific tastes, huh?”

With a sly smile, the woman lifted the glass again without much hesitation. She took a sip — then another, glancing at him like, Happy now? When he didn’t stop her, she finally tipped the whole thing back and emptied it.

She set the glass down and lightly wiped her lips with her fingertip.

“How’s that?”

“Wow. You drink well.”

His praise was as flat as it could be. She widened her eyes at him.

“Huh?”

She tilted her head a bit, puzzled, and glanced back and forth between him and her now-empty glass. Was he being rude? Flirty? Her eyes flickered with confusion, then she let out another small laugh — which disappeared right away when he spoke again.

“I can’t drink much myself. Anyway, thanks for giving me your time.”

He stood up with a scoff and a muttered curse. The hotel staff, who’d been waiting nearby, hurried over, and the woman — who’d been stunned for a moment — finally seemed to catch on and jumped to her feet.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing right now?”

“And actually, I was supposed to meet someone here tonight — thanks to you, I got that done. So, thanks for that. Have a lovely evening.”

When he finished, Juwon gave her a small, careless bow. The woman let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“What kind of assh0le does that?”

She gave him a head-to-toe once-over like he was something stuck to her shoe, then shoved him in the chest before stomping back to her table. Even then, she couldn’t let it go — she glared back at him over her shoulder and started whispering furiously to her friends, her mouth obviously spitting out curses.

Assh0le.

He was pretty sure he’d been called that more than usual lately. Scratching his right ear like it tickled, Juwon glanced back at her. Her cheeks were flushed red as she continued to shoot daggers at him.

He paused, suddenly realizing — Ah. Right. He’d just pulled the same jerk move on yet another person tonight.

…Oh well. Way too late for an apology now, wasn’t it?

Tsk. This was exactly why he hated blind dates. He felt a twinge of guilt for taking it out on the wrong person — but not enough to stop him from turning on his heel and walking away. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her lips mouthing something as he left.

Assh0le. So typical.

With a bored look, Juwon turned away and left the lounge. He swept his bangs back out of habit and leaned against the wall near the elevator, hands shoved into his pockets. The women who probed, himself for acting like this on purpose — and the regret that always came after. Same old story. All just a big waste of time.

He let out a yawn while staring at the floors tick by. Then — buzz. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked the caller ID with dead eyes and let out a sigh that could sink the floor.

When he answered, a familiar voice barked in his ear.

— Where are you?

***

Clunk.

The old aluminum door of the brick building squeaked horribly every time it opened. Tucked away in a narrow alley, the place had a wooden signboard with big Chinese characters: Floating Jade Pavilion. It was one of his grandfather’s favorite old haunts.

It was late, close to closing time, but the restaurant still had a decent number of people inside. Juwon passed through the familiar hallway and headed for one of the private rooms. When he slid the door open, Chairman Chae Heejung glanced up from his meal.

“You’re here?”

Juwon sat down across from his grandfather, eyeing the cane and fedora next to him. Predictable as ever — cold noodles or ox bone soup. His grandfather stuck to his all-year-round favorites without fail, and tonight was no different. From the looks of it, he’d just picked up his chopsticks; the toppings — cucumber, boiled pork, pickled radish, pear, egg — were all untouched.

“You’re earlier than I thought.”

“You track my movements in advance, don’t you?”

“Kid, you’re always in the palm of my hand.”

“Is that so? Perfect. Then let’s have a little chat.”

“Did you meet the young lady?”

Juwon, who’d been about to roll up his sleeves and start arguing, froze at the words ‘young lady’ and immediately scowled. The reaction made Heejung’s eyes gleam with mischief.

“Judging by that face, didn’t go well, huh?”

The old man sounded so annoyingly smug it was almost impressive. Just like when he’d suddenly called Juwon out of the blue with instructions to stop by Kang Susan’s studio — so casual and pushy at the same time.

— 10:30 AM. Kang Susan will be at his Gangcheon studio. You know the Um Art Museum curator, right? This time, don’t you dare bail on me.

Got him again.

“…Are you kidding me? I was practically there already. And you drop this on me last minute?”

— Exactly. If I’d told you earlier, you’d have run off again, wouldn’t you?

A bored old man’s favorite hobby was meddling in his grown grandson’s love life. Meticulous by nature and with too much time on his hands, Chairman Chae Heejung monitored everyone’s every move like it was his personal soap opera. There was no escaping the stage when Grandpa was the director. And it wasn’t just him. Kang Susan, his grandfather’s old friend, was just as bad.

He’d called Juwon out, saying it was for something urgent about work — only to set him up like this. The two old men teaming up always left him no chance to dodge.

Just remembering how that whole mess went down made Juwon’s head pound. He let out a low groan and pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“You heard about it already, didn’t you? Back then, the person got switched at the last second, and tonight, she didn’t even bother to show up. No heads-up, no excuse, nothing. So what’s there to talk about? Grandpa, please — enough with these damn blind dates.”

He shot his grandfather a sharp glare, but Chae Heejung didn’t even flinch. He just calmly stirred his cold noodles like nothing was happening.

“Really? She didn’t show up at all? Man, she’s relentless. How rotten must your reputation be for someone to dodge you like that, huh?”

“Grandpa.”

“And that whole Gangcheon thing — how was I supposed to know? You keep brushing off these girls so coldly, they’re probably scared stiff now.”

“Grandpa.”

“So what if they switch people out? Big deal. Let’s just say tonight was a bust — what about that girl who filled in back at Gangcheon? Did you like her or not? I heard from Kang Susan that there might be something there.”

At that, Juwon pressed his fingers harder to his temples.

“Grandpa. That’s not the point.”

“Look at this kid, dodging my question. I asked if you liked her.”

“The woman was someone completely different! And you — do you even know who she was? You think any random woman will do?”

“She didn’t seem that random, though. Kang Susan told me all about it. Said you basically dropped your pants for her. What the hell is that? I tell you to show a girl you’re confident and you take that as ‘drop your underwear’?”

“Grandpa!”

Juwon practically yelled, his voice cracking with pure exasperation. The old man just burst into a hearty laugh.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Juwon snapped.

“What did I do? I wasn’t the one dropping my pants — you did that yourself! You idiot. And that’s exactly why you’re still single at your age. I’m just trying to get you married off before your reputation gets any worse. When I was your age, I already had four kids. Four! Got that?”

“I told you my so-called ‘bad reputation’ is all rumors! And whose fault is it that people even talk like that? You’re the one always pulling strings behind my back. You think I want to get played like this?”

The more Juwon complained, the more wronged he felt. But Chae Heejung just clicked his tongue at his sulking grandson. He put his chopsticks down mid-bite, pointed them straight at Juwon’s nose, and shot right back at him.