New Normal - Chapter 72

“Jisoo.”

Lost in thought, Jisoo swallowed hard against the lump of sorrow rising in her throat when a careful voice pulled her back to reality. She looked up to find Woohyun’s deep, earnest eyes fixed on her.

“Honestly… ever since I came back to Korea, I’ve wanted to see you again. But I just didn’t have the courage to reach out. Even now, sitting here across from you like this, it doesn’t feel real. I’ve missed you so much.”

Her fingertips trembled at his heartfelt confession. Trying to steady herself, she gripped the rim of her cup tightly. It had been so long, but Woohyun was still someone who meant a lot to her. Feeling embarrassed at her own flustered reaction, Jisoo let out an awkward little laugh.

“…This is kind of embarrassing, considering we broke up. Do you not have anyone now?”

“No one before, and no one now. You know that. It’s always been you.”

Startled, Jisoo froze and stared at him. Woohyun gave a faint, lonely smile.

“I know I have no right to say this. But… it’s always been you. Even before we dated, even after we broke up. I never dated anyone else. I never loved anyone else.”

Jisoo was at a loss for words.

Back then, she had loved him, but she believed love was supposed to set each other free. She thought she should support him in chasing his future, so she let him go willingly. Still, deep down, she was filled with anger, sadness, and self-pity for feeling abandoned. She brainwashed herself into thinking love was like any other good experience in life, something she could do again, whenever she decided to.

But she hadn’t been able to meet anyone for a long time. Then, she met Chae Juwon.

Now, with old wounds that hadn’t healed and new confusion on top, her heart was a mess. The fact that she was still afraid of being abandoned left a bitter taste in her mouth. And she hated how she kept being drawn to people like this.

As Jisoo struggled to answer, Woohyun quietly reached out his hand.

“But if you’d let me… I want to be by your side again.”

Her eyes shook violently.

***

It was 4 a.m. in the club. Even though peak hours had passed, the place was still heavy with heat.

A famous DJ’s house mix poured across the floor, the bass pounding like a hammer, raising the energy for one last high. The LEDs above the booth flashed and shattered into light as a massive drop exploded. EDM beats crashed together with the crowd’s roar, sweeping through the club like a tidal wave.

Outside, morning was creeping in, but inside, drunk and frenzied bodies were pulled back into the main hall.

“Oppa, are you really a model?”

In the VIP section tucked deep inside the club, a young man lounged lazily with two girls clinging to his sides, one with a bob cut, the other with her hair in a bun.

His shirt hung loose, hair messy, but it matched his broad, muscular frame. His sharp features and the dimples in his cheeks gave him an oddly boyish charm.

“He was in Alexander McQueen’s SS campaign last year. Not a lie.”

The guy in Chrome Hearts from head to toe, rings to jeans, answered for him. The bob-cut girl gave the man a quick once-over, from head to toe, eyes full of admiration.

“Wow, no wonder…”

The man himself hadn’t said a word, but his friends were spilling his profile for him. He just gave a lazy grin. Even when he reacted with sarcasm, the bob-cut girl clung closer, rubbing her chest against his arm.

“I knew it the moment I saw you. You’ve got that model-slash-celeb vibe.”

What goes around comes around. Smirking, the man set his whiskey glass down and, without blinking, grabbed the bob-cut girl’s ass.

“Guess you’re not wrong.”

“What the—ugh, let go! Why are your hands so dirty?”

“You didn’t know? I’m trash.”

“Stop it, or I’ll get mad!”

“Sh1t, you’re too fucking cute.”

The girl squealed with laughter, smacking his shoulder playfully.

“Not hereee, I said.”

Meanwhile, the bun-haired girl, sipping her drink with a prim look, slid her hand across his thigh. Her eyes, however, were fixed on the Chrome Hearts guy as she asked,

“So Oppa, you studied in London while modeling? What did you major in?”

“Media art. But he also did rowing.”

“Media art? That’s art, right? And rowing? You can do both?”

“Yeah. He was on the school team.”

“I’ve never met a student-athlete abroad before. That’s so cool.”

“He’s not just any student. He even got invited to Ascot. Silver-spoon as hell.”

“Ascot?”

“Yeah. Hard to explain. Just one of those things.”

The bun-haired girl nodded as if she understood. Then she gently placed her hand over the man’s as he lifted his glass, giving him a look that said, That’s enough drinking.

“Oppa, you know… I love British accents. Can you say something in English for me?”

“English?”

He lifted an eyebrow, drunk voice dragging.

“Mm-hm. I want to hear it.”

With a half-smile, he set his glass back on the table.

“Sure. What should I say? Uh… Would you like a cup of tea?”

It wasn’t even an accent, just broken Konglish, but it made everyone burst out laughing.

“Want me to keep going? I wanna eat your pvssy, my love. Wanna sit on my face? Let me taste that sweet thing, darling?”

“God, this bastard. Always with the crap.”

Their laughter didn’t stop, even as his words turned vulgar. When he started groping the girls again, Chrome Hearts tossed a piece of fruit at him.

“Hey, knock it off already. Chae Jungwon, you gonna fvck right here? Stop hogging them, you dumbass. Party together.”

“I can’t fuckin’ hear you!”

The table was full of swearing and shouting, but through it all, Jungwon kept his lazy composure, almost like he was enjoying it without lifting a finger. But by now, fatigue was setting in.

The table was littered with empty champagne bottles and half-melted ice in the baskets. His body was heavy with booze and exhaustion.

“Sh1t… I’m sleepy. Should we call it a night?”

“Already? It’s barely past four. Four-thirty.”

“Too early! Oppa, I’m having fun. Let’s keep going. We said we’d go till the end.”

The bob-cut girl whispered seductively in his ear. With a greasy grin, Jungwon wrapped his arms around both women’s waists and swayed them side to side.

“Then you better be ready. Gonna need stamina to keep up with me till the end.”

Even his old-man jokes sent them into another fit of laughter.

And then—

As the DJ shifted into a progressive sound, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Jungwon glanced at it without thinking, but his expression froze the instant he saw the screen.

Little Old Man.

It was Kim Heegyo, his grandfather’s secretary. The music was still pounding, but in Jungwon’s head, everything went silent.

Then it hit him like lightning, the phone call from last night he had completely forgotten about. His hand trembled around the phone. His heart sank.

—”The flight lands at Incheon at 5:10 a.m.”

Jungwon had come back to Korea in secret. Officially, he was supposed to arrive next month, using an internship for his graduation project as an excuse. Technically, this was just an “early arrival.”

“Grandpa, this project needs actual on-site footage. Context is everything. And internships count as research experience. Please understand.”

He’d already gotten a travel ban from his grandfather after too many screw-ups recently, so convincing him hadn’t been easy. Jungwon had begged and reasoned endlessly, and only then managed to get permission.

And yet, he hadn’t lasted even a month before sneaking back to Korea for fun. And now he’d been caught red-handed.

He thought he was safe. His grandfather’s health kept him bedridden with a heart condition. His brother was away on business in New York. There was no one around to keep tabs on him.

But of course, he got caught at the worst possible time.