New Normal - Chapter 7

“There are a lot of restaurants on this street.”

“Yeah, I see. There’s really a ton of places.”

“But doesn’t your neck hurt? Sitting like that, You’ll end up with a neck cramp sitting like that.”

He’s scary accurate sometimes. Jisoo let out a small laugh and slowly turned her head back to face forward. She rubbed her stiff neck and rolled her shoulders, though all it really did was change the angle — now she was just staring straight ahead instead of sideways.

“Sorry about earlier.”

“Huh?”

She’d been desperately trying to shake off the mortifying — and admittedly fascinating — image burned into her brain when that dumb sound slipped out. When she turned, all she saw was Chae Juwon’s serious side profile.

“I said I’m sorry. I mistook you for someone else and acted rude. I wanted to apologize properly, but there wasn’t a good chance.”

For a second, Jisoo couldn’t find any words. How could an apology sound so calm and dry? He didn’t drag it out, didn’t overdo the regret — just said it, neat and clean. It was late, sure, but it still felt oddly sincere. Flustered, she just waved it off.

“No, it’s fine. I mean, it really was a situation that could cause confusion. But thank you for saying that. And thank you for helping today — it all worked out because of you.”

He simply lifted his brow once, like a small nod of agreement. The tension that had been coiled tight finally eased up, and Jisoo let out a quiet sigh. Just then, he spoke up again.

“So, what’s next?”

“What?”

“You. Jisoo. Now that the trip’s over — what are you doing? Taking the train?”

She couldn’t really read his expression while he was driving. It struck her as a weird thing to ask, but then again, there weren’t exactly a lot of small talk topics left between them at this point.

“It’s pretty late, so I’ll probably just head straight back to Seoul.”

Juwon’s eyes flicked to her ankle, still wrapped in a brace. He made a small, thoughtful hum.

“Your leg must be sore — you must be exhausted. And you’re not even eating dinner?”

“There’s not much time left before my train…”

“You’re not hungry?”

The car rolled to a stop at a red light.

“There’s a bunch of good restaurants around here. You worked hard today — it’s kind of a shame if you leave without even eating.”

“Haha, no, it’s really fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“There’s this place that does amazing mushroom hot pot. I feel like you’d really like it…”

Chae Juwon trailed off, resting his elbow on the wheel and propping his chin on his hand. His dark brown eyes turned directly to her — steady, unblinking. That look made her swallow without thinking.

“You should try it sometime.”

He gave her a small, easy smile, then calmly turned back to the road and stepped on the gas.

Left speechless, Jisoo snuck a glance at him from the side. The dark tan of his forearm, the solid muscles, the big hand wrapped around the wheel — all of it clear in the soft glow of the dashboard lights.

…What was that? Did she miss something while she was spacing out? Did she just completely blow past some kind of signal?

Oh, right. This man…

She had a gut feeling. Maybe he was interested — something about the way he looked at her, the questions, that hot pot comment — it all lined up too neatly. Instinct kicked in. She hated being cornered in these vague, “maybe, maybe not” situations. If she was curious, she’d rather just poke at it head-on — which is probably why the words slipped out before she could stop them.

“…So after you drop me off, are you heading back to Mr. Kang Susan’s place?”

“No. I’m going home too.”

“You said you drove down to Gangcheon earlier, so your place is…?”

“Seoul. I’m going straight back up.”

Ah. Jisoo gave a small nod, lips pressing together as she watched him tap something into the navigation.

“Looks like traffic’s clear. Shouldn’t take too long.”

He turned his eyes forward again, calm as ever. Jisoo glanced sideways at him. Should I just ask him? She weighed it for half a second, then decided to let it go.

“Good. You must be tired too — you should hurry back and rest. You did a lot today.”

His big hand on the wheel flexed slightly, but he kept his eyes on the road.

“I didn’t do much. You’re the one who worked hard — sprained your ankle and still came all the way here.”

“It’s really fine. It’s pretty much healed.”

“Still, public transport must be a hassle. Probably takes forever too.”

“Yeah, well… true, but I usually just doze off on the train. I mean, today’s a bit rough, so I’ll probably be wiped out but…”

She trailed off, throwing him a sideways look. He adjusted the A/C again, then turned to her with a faint, easy smile.

“Right. These days public transport’s pretty comfortable — you can just sleep on the way.”

He said it so nonchalantly, eyes drifting back to the road like he was dismissing the whole thing. Jisoo blinked fast. …Wait. That’s it?

She’d half-expected him to offer to drive her all the way, given how the conversation was going. But no — nothing. Not a hint of it. The way he danced that line — like he might be interested but never enough to get pinned down — threw her off balance for a second. Narrowing her eyes, she tilted her head slightly, studying him again.

This guy… definitely not normal. He could flirt in that subtle, slippery way, but never let anyone get too close — that much was clear by now. Maybe it was smarter not to get tangled up any deeper than necessary. She told herself that firmly and switched the topic.

“By the way, you seem to know all the best places to eat around here, and you looked really close with Mr. Kang Susan too. Do you come down to Gangcheon often?”

“Not really. Just once in a while — to check in on him.”

“I see…”

She paused, eyes lingering on him a beat longer than before. Something she’d almost forgotten suddenly popped back into her mind — Kang Susan’s words.

“He’s like a grandson to me. I’ve known him since he was just a baby, back when he couldn’t even open his eyes yet.”

Right. If that was true… then this wasn’t the sort of connection that would just fizzle out here. If anything, it sounded like she’d inevitably run into him again someday — at another meeting with Kang Susan, maybe, or somewhere in the same circle. And if that happened, she didn’t want it to be awkward like this all over again.

More than anything…

“If you let it slip by, the chance is gone. Got it?”

Turning that over in her mind, Jisoo decided right then — whether that big one of a man was actually interested in her or not, it wouldn’t hurt to keep the line open. Playing it safe was her default mode anyway, and there was really no downside here.

Before she knew it, his car was gliding smoothly down the road near the station. Jisoo, halfway through getting her bag together, flashed him a bright smile.

“Hey, Juwon. Could I maybe get your business card?”

He was just about to pull over by the curb when he shot her a quick sidelong glance.

“My card?”

“Yeah. You’ve helped me out a lot today, and I really appreciate it.” She kept her tone light and her smile soft — friendly but not desperate. “If we run into each other again, I’d like to thank you properly. Maybe buy you a meal…”

Her voice trailed off. His stare, steady and unreadable, made her suddenly aware of every twitch of her lips — Was the smile too much? The longer he stayed silent, the more awkward the air got, pressing down on her until her heart squeezed tight.

She was just about to babble something to fill the gap when he cut her off, frowning a little.

“Ah… what a shame. I didn’t bring any cards with me today.”

Jisoo’s teeth clicked together behind her polite smile.

Did I just… get rejected?

She kept her smile up, but honestly — this was a first for Jisoo, and she was thoroughly flustered. Her mind spun for an exit. When in doubt? Retreat.

“Ah… I see. That’s fine, Juwon. Maybe next—”

“Can I see your phone?”

He beat her to it. She froze mid-sentence, blinking at him. He just tilted his head and flashed that deep, boyish dimpled grin.

“I’ll give you my number. Save it.”

Still dazed, Jisoo quickly bit down on her lip to hide the tiny gasp and handed over her phone. Their fingertips brushed — she flinched so hard she nearly dropped it, but he caught it easily, a soft chuckle escaping him.

“Why are you throwing your phone at me?”

“Sorry! My hand just… slipped…”

She clenched her fists on her lap, eyes wide while Juwon calmly typed on her screen. But then his expression changed — something unreadable flickered across his face as he glanced down, wetting his lower lip. He handed the phone back, but his eyes stayed on hers, teasing.

“Looks like you’ve got an urgent message. Better check that first.”

Confused, Jisoo frowned, took her phone back… and her heart plummeted when she saw the screen. She’d forgotten it was on silent — and there they were: a string of notifications blinking on and off at the top. A steady flow of messages, popping up one after another.

Oh no.

———-

Jung Haeyoon: I’m just leaving the studio now. What’s Jishu-shu up to? Did you find your ‘huge thing’ today?

Na Subin: LOLLLLL are you insane 

Kyung Minji: Hey, stop teasing our innocent Jisoo, seriously 😭

Na Subin: Jisoo, just give up on Korea. We’re going overseas, okay? At this rate, you’ll waste your whole youth pulling down guys’ pants one by one.

Jung Haeyoon: Hey, hey, HEY — Sudan is ranked #1 in the world. 17.95.

Kyung Minji: Wait, what?! That’s huge.

Jung Haeyoon: Freaking gigantic…

Na Subin: Is that… “Vivaldi” size or what?

Jung Haeyoon: IDK LOL 😂

Jung Haeyoon: It’s like… double large.

Kyung Minji: You guys… I’m looking up plane tickets as we speak. Hehe.

———-

Before she knew it, they were all live-chatting about flight options with layovers in Qatar or Turkey. Jisoo swallowed hard and calmly turned off her screen. Her hand was trembling ever so slightly.

…She was screwed.

While her expression shifted every second, the man beside her simply watched, then asked with a perfectly straight face,

“Are you planning a trip to Africa?”

It wasn’t so much a question as a declaration: I read all of that.

There wasn’t a hint of teasing or mockery — just plain seriousness.

Jisoo squeezed her eyes shut.