New Normal - Chapter 9

Watching her friend crack open a can of beer, Jisoo just shook her head.

“I don’t really know. But I guess things did get awkward for her somehow.”

The day after she got back from the trip, Jisoo had gone to work as usual — only to have Choi Seyeon come trotting over to her desk right away. Seyeon, who only ever showed her face when she needed something, had looked completely flustered and at a loss for words.

“Sunbae, um… did you see any young guy there?”

“A young guy?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of… personal, and a bit complicated to explain but… was there a young man, or not?”

“I’m not really sure who you mean. Are you talking about the artist’s assistant?”

“…Ah, never mind. It’s nothing.”

When Jisoo tilted her head innocently, pretending not to get it, Seyeon’s face immediately soured like she’d bitten into something rotten and she spun on her heel. She must’ve messed something up and gotten an earful from someone. Just picturing Seyeon squirming like that gave Jisoo a tiny sense of satisfaction.

But Haeyoon was already way too excited about the whole thing.

“You hate Choi Se-yeon anyway — this is perfect. All the more reason you should see that guy again!”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Didn’t he say it himself? He doesn’t want family messes or weird drama. Doesn’t that mean he was Seyeon’s matchmaking prospect? Just steal him from her.”

Full lips, that deep dimple, sun-kissed muscles — the image of him flickered across Jisoo’s mind out of nowhere, and she frowned slightly.

“Forget it. It’s over anyway. Besides, that kind of guy? Totally not my type. He’s too slick and shameless.”

Jisoo smacked her lips together in frustration. Haeyoon frowned and smacked her on the back.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Get a grip and think for once. So what if he’s light and casual? Doesn’t that just mean there’s less drama later?”

“What are you even talking about?”

“I’m saying — it’s not like he’s gonna go around bragging or make a big deal about it. And you hate Choi Seyeon’s guts anyway. This is your golden chance to screw her over!”

As Haeyoon laid out every petty detail of how perfectly Seyeon could get served, Jisoo found herself listening a little too intently.

This whole scene, the art world, was notorious for who-knows-who connections and hidden strings. But Seyeon? She’d flaunted her silver-spoon parachute from the start like it was a badge of honor — and now she’d even snatched up someone else’s project right in front of everyone. So shameless.

“Didn’t she used to look down on you too? Always acting all high and mighty, pretending she’s some precious princess, ‘Professor~ Professor~’ in that nasally voice. So annoying, right?”

Watching Haeyoon mimic Se-yeon’s whiny tone made Jisoo pause for a moment. Maybe… maybe she should steal him just once, out of spite?

It was a risky fantasy, but still — she’d put up with all that nonsense, and in the end, she’d gotten the work done, secured a meeting with Professor Kim Sooyeon… All’s well that ends well. It had been worth it, in its own twisted way.

Besides, if what her boss had said wasn’t just empty talk — if there really was going to be a fair reward for all her work — then this new opportunity should rightfully be hers.

Honestly, it wasn’t like Jisoo had hated Seyeon from the beginning. She only started resenting her after being forced to babysit her through every mess she made — Seyeon was incompetent and brazen about it, and Jisoo, as her reluctant mentor, had been stuck cleaning up after her.

Yeah. If she was being honest, Jisoo didn’t really hate Choi Seyeon. She just found her annoying… no, not even that. 

She was jealous. 

She envied the way Seyeon had everything Jisoo didn’t — all that ease, all that clueless brightness that only came from never really struggling for anything.

Messing with someone like Seyeon just to feel better? That would just drain her energy for nothing. Not worth it.

Jisoo shook off the temptation and made up her mind firmly. She wasn’t getting dragged into pointless drama.

But Haeyoon, of course, wouldn’t let it go.

“Shin Jisoo. I’m telling you — crush that girl’s pride while you can! Just eat him up first. Got it?”

“Jung Haeyoon. Eat him? What am I, some predator?”

Minji, unimpressed, shot Haeyoon a look while nibbling on her nacho chips. 

“Can you not? You’re gonna get her blacklisted at this rate.”

But Minji turned back to Jisoo, tilting her chin. 

“Seriously though, Jisoo. Even if it’s not about Seyeon — why not just meet him casually? It’s not like you’re seeing anyone, that weird fortune still bugs you, and maybe you’ll just have a bit of fun. Who knows?”

The question was so casual that Jisoo hesitated, can in hand. She shook her head and cracked open her soda.

“No, that’s really not my thing…” she tried to brush it off — but Haeyoon let out a loud, wicked laugh.

“Shin Jisoo. Stop pretending. Just admit what’s really on your mind.”

“Jung Haeyoon. Shut it.”

Jisoo shot her a warning glare, but it was useless. Four cans of beer in, Haeyoon was already tipsy and smirking like a mischievous cat.

“What? What’s going on? Are you two hiding something from me? What is it? Spill!”

Minji frowned, glancing between them with clear suspicion. Jisoo closed her eyes, massaging her forehead. 

God, I could actually kill Jung Haeyoon right now…

It wasn’t like she’d meant to keep it some big secret — but here it was, the moment she’d hoped to avoid crashing down right in front of her. With a resigned sigh, Jisoo slowly opened her eyes.

“…Actually, I’ve never… slept with a guy before.”

For a second, the living room fell completely silent — like someone had poured ice water over all of them. It felt like thirty whole minutes passed, though it was only a few seconds, before Minji finally broke the stillness.

“Wait. What? You’re a virgin?”

She tried to say it lightly, pretending she wasn’t surprised, but the way her face twitched said it all. Jisoo just gave her a small, wordless nod. A single nacho chip slipped from Minji’s fingers and fell onto the floor.

“Seriously? No way. Then all those guys you dated — what was that about? Wait… so even when you were with Song Woohyun you guys didn’t…? Oh, so that’s…”

Minji started rambling, words pouring out in a flustered tumble — until she realized what she’d said and clamped her mouth shut. She looked more embarrassed than Jisoo did. But Jisoo just waved it off like it was nothing.

Minji, still trying to make sense of it, asked hesitantly, “But… why…?”

Jisoo just shrugged. “I just… never really wanted to.”

Her calm answer settled over the room like a blanket. For a moment, nobody said a word.

Yeah — that was the truth. Jisoo was in her thirties, but she’d never had s3x. That was exactly why she’d been so flustered when that strange fortune had told her she needed a “big thing” to block her bad luck.

It wasn’t that she’d never dated. She’d dated plenty, kissed, and even fooled around right up to the brink — but when it came time to actually do it, something would always push back. Some vague discomfort. A sudden wave of resistance she couldn’t explain.

At the root of it was this deep, indescribable feeling that the image of herself, fully naked with a man, bodies tangled and giving in to each other, was somehow wrong. It felt alien — sometimes even repulsive. Almost like two raw chickens, clammy and breathless, sticking together in a way that made her skin crawl.

Because of that, her body never really… responded. Even when things got heated, there’d come this abrupt chill, a cold block in her mind — and her body would follow. She didn’t get wet. And so, naturally, they never got to the next step.

She’d even gone to see a gynecologist, wondering if something was wrong with her physically, but they never found anything that explained it.

It wasn’t that she was ashamed, either. Not these days. It wasn’t something to be embarrassed about, and she’d never really felt the need to explain it to anyone. She hadn’t lied, either — whenever s3x came up in conversation, she’d just shared exactly what she had done, and that was enough. No one ever questioned it more than that.

“…Well. I mean, sure. That’s fair, I guess…”

Minji was nodding like she was trying very hard to wrap her head around it, then suddenly turned to glare at Haeyoon.

“But how come I didn’t know any of this? Jung Haeyoon, how did you find out?”

Haeyoon, caught sneaking a look at Jisoo, fumbled her words.

“Huh? Oh, I didn’t know either. It just… kinda slipped out when we were talking with that shaman guy, Seok Doryeong.”

“Ahh. Makes sense now… So what about now?” Minji tilted her head, curious. 

“You still don’t feel like doing it?”

Jisoo took a calm sip of her soda, rolling the can in her hand as she sank into thought. Instinctively, Cha Juwon’s dark brown eyes popped into her mind — that steady gaze she’d met on the business trip. She pictured his solid forearms, those big hands, that broad, sun-kissed frame, and the low, smooth voice that had brushed her ear.

“You really do have a pretty nape.”

The memory made her shoulders hunch a little as a ticklish shiver crept up her neck. She cleared her throat awkwardly, ran her fingers along her nape, then lowered her gaze to the floor.

“…It’s not that I don’t think about it…”

“Oh?”

The way her words trailed off made both friends lean in, eyes shining with curiosity. Jisoo looked up at a spot on the ceiling, idly fidgeting with the rim of her can.

“…Maybe it’s just that I haven’t met the right person yet. Maybe if I did, it’d be different.”

She let her sentence drift off and shrugged as if to say who knows, then took another sip of her drink. Her friends exchanged a look and nodded in perfect sync.

“You should see him again. I’m telling you, I have a sixth sense for this stuff — my gut’s never wrong. He’s different.”

“Yeah! And you know those guys who just look like they’d be amazing in bed? I heard he’s exactly that type.”

Their relentless nudging made Jisoo’s head fill with all sorts of images, which only made her feel even more exhausted. She mumbled a half-hearted reply as she stared down at her can.

“Why do you two keep saying the same thing…”

“Ugh, I’m telling you — I just have this feeling. My gut keeps pointing that way—”

“I don’t know. I don’t even want to think about it anymore.”

When Jisoo cut her off, Haeyoon clicked her tongue in obvious annoyance. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned in again.

“Don’t brush it off — just hear me out. You know how temperamental Master Kang can be. The fact that your presentation went well, and that guy just popped up out of nowhere… I’m telling you, it’s all connected to that ‘great misfortune’ thing.”

“Seriously, I didn’t believe that shaman at first either,” Minji chimed in, backing Haeyoon up with an earnest nod. 

“I mean, it sounds ridiculous. But everything keeps lining up weirdly. You didn’t expect anything, and yet everything’s falling into place.”

“Right? There’s nothing to doubt. It’s one hundred percent legit.”

Encouraged by Minji’s support, Haeyoon nodded like she’d just solved the universe. Jisoo stared at them, gnawing at her bottom lip. Something about the back of her neck felt cold and clammy. She hated that feeling.

“…No. I’m not buying it. I don’t care about that big misfortune thing. Look at how things are going — I feel like my life’s finally turning a corner. I have a meeting next week with Professor Kim Sooyeon and the dean, too.”

She drew a firm line under it, her face set with determination. Minji gave her a quick pat on the arm, and Haeyoon gave in, dropping the subject for now.

“…Yeah. Fine. Forget it. Just let it go.”

“Guys, if I make a good impression this time, they said I might even get a class next semester. And A University’s a national uni, not just some private school — it’s huge. This could open doors for me. Please, I just want it to go well.”

“…It will. Don’t worry, it’s going to work out.”

“See? And look — my housing scam thing? I got through that, didn’t I? Now this big meeting’s lined up, too. Lately, everything’s just falling into place. Life’s got its ups and downs, but in the end, it’s working out for me. Right?”

Watching her friends nod along so easily, Jisoo kept telling herself — over and over — that meeting Professor Kim Sooyeon was the only thing that really mattered right now.

“Wait. Hold on. What’s that?”

Haeyoon’s eyes went wide. She tossed aside her nail polish and fumbled for the remote, turning up the volume.

On the TV, the news report made Jisoo’s ears ring with disbelief as a familiar name spilled out.

“A painting titled Chaos in Order by Kang Susan, known as a master of avant-garde art, has become embroiled in a forgery scandal. The controversy began when the piece was sold at auction for a high price — but experts raised suspicions after analyzing the materials and reviewing the artist’s style…”

Jisoo froze where she sat, her whole body going still as her eyes locked onto the TV screen in silence.