Osratida - Chapter 7

Hwang Soon-jung, the blind date partner, looked just as dumbfounded as Gyo-jin. Well, of course. How could she not be? She had come to meet Director Ha of Haimvel Hotel, only to discover that this Director Ha had a secret boyfriend, and not only had he failed to handle the situation properly, but he had also dragged it into the matchmaking meeting, forcing everyone to confront it head-on. How absurd and infuriating must this situation be?

Gyo-jin, while fully understanding her perspective, kept his composure and calculated his options with cold logic.

Hwang Soon-jung’s eyes narrowed like those of a viper locking onto plump prey. Her chilling expression was enough to make the madman who had shown up gulp audibly, the sound of his Adam’s apple moving betraying his nervousness.

“Ha…”

Should he recommend a psychiatrist he knew? Summon Secretary Park to handle the situation? Or perhaps grab the lunatic by the collar, drag him out, and punch him in the stomach hard enough to knock him unconscious?

As Gyo-jin let out a long sigh, fiercely debating these three options for dealing with this lunatic, something cold suddenly splashed onto his face.

“How could you pretend not to know me!”

“……”

“……”

Ha Gyo-jin, age thirty-one. His life had been rather eventful and full of stories, but he could say with certainty that he had never encountered a situation like this before. The murmuring around him grew louder, as if confirming that what had just happened wasn’t a figment of his imagination.

“Wow, she poured wine on him.”

“Unbelievable. This is crazy.”

Finding himself not only the protagonist of a messy love triangle but also reduced to a zoo monkey for everyone to gawk at, Gyo-jin clenched his teeth tightly.

“This lunatic…”

Under the gaze of everyone in the restaurant, Gyo-jin pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping his face, dripping with red wine. A vein bulged visibly on his smooth forehead. The flavor of Burgundy wine, usually so refined, felt intolerably unpleasant—revolting, even—today.

The man at the center of this mess, a complete stranger, glanced nervously between Gyo-jin and Soon-jung, unsure of what to do after the chaos he had caused.

Watching it all unfold, Soon-jung rubbed her forehead with one hand and muttered something under her breath. Whether it was a curse or a string of profanities, Gyo-jin didn’t know. But before she could say anything else, he harshly wiped his face one last time, then reached out and grabbed the man by the collar.

The man’s earlier bravado vanished instantly in the face of Gyo-jin’s towering height and broad frame. Shrinking visibly, he stammered an apology, eyes cast downward.

Without adding further commentary, Gyo-jin shot him a cold glare and spat out,
“You’d better prepare yourself for the dry-cleaning bill.”

With that, he strode out of the restaurant in long, purposeful steps.

“Identify the man and send him the cleaning bill,”
Gyo-jin ordered sharply, his hand movements rough as he called Secretary Park to bring him a fresh suit. Spilling wine on a suit worth several million won might not ruin someone’s life, but it would certainly make them suffer for a few months.

After finishing up in the restroom, Gyo-jin walked toward the parking lot, his expression icy as he suppressed his anger. His mother had insisted he meet this match, claiming the stars aligned perfectly with the 27-year-old woman, a year of the Pig, who supposedly had an excellent fortune that complemented his own. She’d gone so far as to call him every fifteen minutes at work to pressure him into attending the blind date.

And yet, here he was, shoved into this mess only to have his streak of bad luck reach its peak.

They hadn’t even exchanged details about their alma maters before the utterly ridiculous and absurd situation had unfolded in an instant. Gyo-jin had no desire to explain himself—it wasn’t the kind of situation anyone would believe, no matter how much he tried.

Recalling Hwang Soon-jung’s thoroughly exasperated expression, Gyo-jin swallowed a curse. He had never intended to pursue anything serious with the youngest daughter of Hwangsae Chemicals anyway, so there was no lingering regret. However, the mere thought of the rumors that would soon spread through the industry already gave him a headache.

“Gay”?
What nonsense.

He could confidently declare that he was one hundred percent heterosexual, and he had lived his entire life as such.

The moment he stepped out of the elevator on the first basement floor, his phone vibrated urgently in his pocket, as if it had been waiting for him. Gyo-jin answered the call with a disinterested expression.

“—Son! What is this I’m hearing? That you’re dating a man? That he even showed up at the matchmaking venue? And what on earth is ‘your Netherlands’ supposed to mean?”

As expected. The moment he answered the call, Mrs. Kim’s frantic and high-pitched voice shot through the receiver like a bullet. Internally, Gyo-jin marveled at her remarkable ability to collect and deliver gossip faster than a state-of-the-art messenger pigeon. Outwardly, however, he replied in an even tone, betraying no emotion.

“It’s a misunderstanding. Some strange guy barged in, and they misinterpreted the situation.”

“Of course, I knew it! There’s no way my son would do something like that.”

“This is exactly why I said I didn’t want to attend these things in the first place.”

“Oh, but it’s such a shame. Her family’s background is great, and your horoscopes matched so perfectly. …But if it’s just a misunderstanding, wouldn’t you consider meeting her again?”

Mrs. Kim’s tone brightened, but she quickly shifted to lamenting the lost opportunity, clearly determined to tie things back together.

“She’s not my type,”
Gyo-jin cut her off firmly.

“Oh, but still, if you meet her one more time—”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now,”
Gyo-jin interrupted, his voice flat and final.

Gyo-jin ended the call after making his position clear. His shirt, soaked in wine, clung to him uncomfortably. He had lost count of how many outfits he had ruined just today. At this rate, he considered whether he should convert his car into a mobile dressing room. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Gyo-jin checked the time and started walking toward where his car was parked.

“Ah, you can’t do that here!”

A somewhat youthful voice echoed through the parking lot. Turning his head out of reflex, Gyo-jin frowned, as if he had just seen something unbelievable.

A seemingly normal man was standing there, muttering to himself at empty air—a sight that was more bizarre than amusing.

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you here. I get that you’re looking for something, but this isn’t the place to find it,”
the man said, gesturing and moving his arms as if engaged in a heated debate with someone invisible.

Gyo-jin thought to himself: What the hell? Why are there so many lunatics today?

“The building here is already finished, so unless you plan to break through the concrete, you’re not going to find that necklace or whatever it is. Oh, and by the way, concrete is…”

Gyo-jin dismissed the muttering man as just another lunatic and pulled out his car key, pressing the button. He had dealt with enough exhausting situations today to bother entertaining the antics of a stranger like this. All he wanted was to take a moment to breathe inside his car, wait for Secretary Park to bring his clothes, and then head back to his studio apartment.

As Gyo-jin was about to open the car door, the muttering man suddenly dashed over and stood in front of him.

“Excuse me, sir.”

“……”

“I’m really sorry to bother you, but could you move your car?”

For a moment, Gyo-jin slammed the car door shut and crossed his arms, leaning against the vehicle as he looked down at the man. Moving the car wasn’t really a big deal, but today, Gyo-jin was in no mood to accommodate anyone’s requests. If someone were to laugh at a rolling leaf, he felt as though he might yell curses and shake the trees lining the street instead.

“Why should I do that?”

“Pardon?”
The man asked, his response as dazed as his expression.

“…Weren’t you leaving anyway?”

“No, actually.”

“Oh… well, then, could you please move it? Something fell under your car.”

“No, I won’t.”

Gyo-jin thought to himself that his behavior was childish, but he couldn’t care less. Until Secretary Park arrived with his clothes, he wasn’t planning to move a single step from his spot. He was so frustrated with everything that even while venting his anger on the wrong person, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.

“Why should I listen to your request?”

“…There are all kinds of people in this world, huh? Throwing wine on others without a second thought.”

The man continued to speak without any care for how childish his tone sounded, even in the face of Gyo-jin’s twisted attitude. Despite the man’s dazed appearance, he spoke casually with a grin, and for a moment, Gyo-jin’s gaze dropped to his shirt. The scent of wine still lingered on the soaked fabric. From how wet it looked, Gyo-jin couldn’t tell if he had spilled it himself or if someone else had poured it on him.

“Ah, sorry about that. Usually, when someone spills something, it stains areas like the knees, right? But your shirt is only wet up top, so I thought maybe someone had done it on purpose.”

The man had a surprising level of observational skill for someone who seemed insane.

“Sorry, but could you… move the car?”

“Mr. Lee!”

From behind, Secretary Park rushed forward, holding a neatly folded shirt like it was some sacred object, clearly worried it might get wrinkled or ruined. His glasses were on the verge of slipping off his nose.

Gyo-jin shot a final glance at the man, snatched the shirt from Secretary Park’s hands, and tossed the car keys to him.

“Move the car,”
he said briefly, before turning to walk toward the other car Secretary Park had brought.