Oppa, That Must Be A Mistake - Chapter 11

“Who said I’ll reject you?”

“Did I ever tell you I wasn’t interested in you?”

Hye-Joo froze and blinked at Joo-Won’s words, which could have been very serious if the boss hadn’t just brought out the service food.

“The food are out! Did the others go first? The portions are too big for two.”

It was a godsend that the conversation was interrupted with the boss’s habitual ‘I’m sorry.’

Seizing the moment, Hye-Joo quickly grabbed her purse and shopping bag and stood up.

“Mr. Kang Joo-Won, I’ll see you tomorrow on my way to work.”

With that, Hye-Joo ran out of the skewer shop and headed straight for the bus.

As she sat on the bus, leaning against the window during rush hour, Joo-Won words from earlier replayed in her head.

“What’s really wrong with you?”

The way he’d said it, with the subtle hint that if Hye-Joo confessed, he’d accept her, bothered her.

She wondered why the girl he’d called a stalker just a few weeks ago was then suddenly acting this way, and it wasn’t as if anything had happened in the interim to change his mind.

‘Did I get his sympathy or something?’

She could understand if he felt sorry for her after all these years, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get rid of the idea that Kang Joo-won wasn’t such a good person. Hye-Joo couldn’t understand his mind.

“Is he playing a joke on me?”

If that’s the case, how do I punish him?

There’s a world of difference in rank between representative and deputy naborang, and the superiority of being your best friend’s older brother. Even age is a barrier.

‘Even Kang Joo-won looks better at swearing…….’

In other words, it was an unfavorable fight no matter what.

“Whoa.”

A deep sigh escaped her lips. Hye-Joo leaned her head against the bus window, lost in thought.

The image of Seung-won running out of the shop after Da-hee had been wiped from her mind

*

When I got home, Su-cheol was there.

“Dad, what are you doing here without calling me?”

“I just came to see you while I’m visiting Seoul.”

“Dad, why would you come to Seoul?”

“That’s because you don’t know. I have many friends in Seoul.”

Su-cheol was Hye-joo’s dad, and she was known to the world as a daughter fool. Since his wife died before Hye-joo turned five, he’s been running a noodle restaurant by day and taking care of her by night.

He never once got annoyed with his young daughter, who often complained of being bored when he took her to the store because he had no one else to watch her.

“I see you’ve been drinking again today. Did you go out to dinner?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m tired.”

Su-cheol’s hair was turning grey, but in his eyes, Hye-joo was still his five-year-old daughter. Hye-joo stretched out on the bed, her clothes laid out in a neat pile.

“Leave it. I will going to clean it up later.”

Su-cheol, who was about to nag her to wash her hands and feet and lie down, continued mopping, pretending not to notice his daughter’s newly thinner appearance.

“Is working hard?”

“All work is.”

The daughter, who used to talk nonstop as a child, had grown up and become a pretty young lady. Su-cheol didn’t feel sorry for her at all, as he knew she was feeling sorry for herself.

“Dad, why did you come without calling me? I told you not to come to the boarding house and fuss over me. Dad your job is hard, so why do you come up to Seoul every time?”

“Of course it’s hard. I don’t care, it’s just the usual.”

“Did you have dinner?”

“I ate. I put some braised short ribs and beef soup in the freezer, so you can take it out tomorrow morning.”

“I eat well on my own, so take care of yourself, Dad.”

Meanwhile, Su-cheol was busy organizing the dishes. Hye-joo glanced at her busy father, rough hands and asked.

“How’s Aunt Miok?”

Mi-ok was a woman in her mid-fifties whom Su-cheol had been seeing. She used to work as a waitress at his restaurant, and she was his latest love interest after he lost his wife and raised her alone until she was twenty.

Mi-ok was good enough to live with her father, but Hye-joo didn’t want her to be a stepmother. It was her son, to be precise.

He’d been getting into trouble since he was in middle school, and when he got to college, he decided he wanted to be a rapper. At best, he was optimistic, at worst, he was lazy.

Even though he knew Mi-ok’s situation wasn’t good, he was still trying to get money from her every time instead of making pocket money.

“Same old, same old Mi-Ok. I get along with her without any problems.”

Knowing that, Su-cheol rarely spoke of Mi-ok in front of Hye-joo. Even though they lived one apartment above and below each other, almost like a couple, he didn’t want Hye-Joo to treat her like a mother, because he knew how she felt.

“I’ll say hi to her later when I go down to Cheonan.”

“Will you?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, and I’d like to see her too.”

“She’ll be happy to hear from you.”

A bittersweet smile tugged at the corners of Hye-Joo’s mouth when she saw Su-Cheol beaming.

“I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

Hye-joo pulled the quilt up to her neck, snuggled into the warmth, and drifted off to sleep. She wanted to talk more with Su-cheol, but her eyes drifted closed.

“It’s almost time for the bus, so I’m going to head down later. Aren’t you going to run the washing machine? Can I just run this?”

“Yes…….”

Hye-Joo nodded with a vague sense of ceremony.

She could smell the fabric softener from the quilt Su-cheol had been washing all morning. The same quilt always felt cozier today.

*

Ahhh!

Just as the griddle ignited, a firm hand wrapped around her shoulder.

The familiar scent of a body and a bicep as strong as a mountain.

Even if the flames were to come at me like lava, I would be happy to protect them.

‘Ah…….’

Even though I knew it was a dream, I was happy. It was also sweet because it came from a person I couldn’t even look at anymore.

In reality, I had to push him away before I could say thank you for saving me. At that moment, I felt guilty because I felt sorry for Da-hee before I felt anything good.

‘This is why I love dreams…….’

A world of your own, where you don’t have to be judged, and you don’t have to feel sorry for yourself. Hye-joo closed her eyes in Seung-won’s cozy embrace.

‘What the fuck is this.’

Ever since she realized the relationship between Da-hee and Seung-won, she had been working hard to disconnect herself from it. It hadn’t been as easy as she’d hoped, but she’d gotten better at it out of habit.

But a dream like this?

Apparently, my mind has inertia. Since I had thick hair, I spent most of my time thinking about him, so I didn’t feel completely organized.

‘By the way, were Kang Seung-won’s forearms this thick……?’

Hye-Joo glanced down at the arm that was wrapped around my body.

Normally, Seungwon was not an athletic person. He barely made it to the gym once or twice a week, just to keep from dying.

‘So these are gaming muscles?’

‘Maybe,’ I said, he have been hammering away at the keyboard all day, it’s no wonder my forearms are so bulging.

‘Now that I look closer, I can see the tendons in the back of my hand, and why do I have such pretty long fingers?’

I can’t take my eyes off the line that runs from the back of his hand to his wrist. It was a masculine yet delicate hand.

‘I didn’t know Kang Seung-won’s hands were so beautiful. Even in my dreams, I’ll make them beautiful.’

Hye-joo lifted Seung-won’s hand and rubbed it at her cheek like a puppy.

It was then. An eerie voice came from above her head.

“Are you crazy?”

“Whack!”

Whoosh, bang!

Lightning struck in her head.

Hye-Joo looked up with trembling eyes. The murderous breath on her forehead, the glare that could kill anyone.

A chill ran down her spine, even though she knew she was dreaming.

“Representative……?”

“This is bullshit.”

Ta-da!

Joo-won placed a bee balm on her forehead. At that moment, Hye-joo woke up from her dream.

“Ouch…….”

Hye-Joo rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes. She rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes, feeling a sharp pain in her forehead even though she had been hit in her dream.

“What the hell, it’s just a dream!”

Eing, that’s good.

I guess I’m being punished for dreaming with him even though I knew he was Da-hee’s boyfriend.

“What’s the point of turning into Kang Joo-won at that moment?”

Hye-joo grumbles and gets up from her seat.

Su-cheol had already left, and no one was home. Seeing the house neatly organized, unlike the morning, made her feel unnecessarily sad. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of my dad traveling back and forth like this every day because he was afraid that his grown daughter wouldn’t be able to live on her own.

Ding ding ding ding ding!

Just then, a notification sounded that the laundry was done drying.

Hye-Joo dragged her stiff body to the laundry room. As she took the clothes out of the dryer and lined them up on the floor, she started to organize them one by one, but there was one item she hadn’t seen.

“Whose clothes are these?”

Hye-joo scratched her head and held it up to her fingertips.

Judging by the size, it didn’t seem to be Su-cheol’s, and it was a little too small for her.

“It’s blue.”

Hye-joo’s complexion immediately turned blue as she muttered.

Blue…… blue……?

Knitted by Kang Joo-won!!!!!

“Oh my God, why is this here?”

Hye-joo’s hands trembled as she held the knit. Su-cheol, who didn’t know how to use the dryer, had inadvertently thrown the knit in with the other laundry.

Looking at the shrunken knit, Hye-joo screamed.

“Daddy!”

*

“You can’t…… wear it, can you?”

The next day, Hye-joo went to the CEO’s office with the knit that had been declared dead. Joo-won, who was deep in work, raised an eyebrow.

“What is that?”

“The knit you lent me yesterday…….”

“Bring it.”

She held the knit, which had shrunk by a couple of sizes, to his chest.

Hye-joo despaired. Behind the blue knit, Joo-won’s muscular body was visible in all directions. The sleeves that had been up to his wrists had shrunk to below his elbows, and the belt that covered his belt had shrunk to his navel.

“I wouldn’t wear it if I were you.”

Joo-won handed the knit to Hye-joo. Hye-Joo took the knit with both hands and cried.

“I’m sorry. I’ll buy you a new one.”

“Whatever.”

Normally, in a situation like this, it’s customary to say no at least once.

Hye-joo gritted her teeth as Joo-won nodded without thinking twice.

‘What a merciless man!’

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think Kang Joo-won will be wearing a 20,000 won knit from Dongdaemun. Hye-joo despaired, her wallet already feeling lighter.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Did you go home well yesterday?”

Nod. Joo-won’s words flew past Hye-joo’s ears as she turned to leave. Hye-Joo turned around and replied.

“Yes.”

“Are you sick?”

“No.”

“Your face is red.”

That’s because I’m pissed, and it will cost me a thousand dollars to ask for your clothes.

Hye-Joo giggled and said, It’s natural.

“It’s always been red, it runs in the family.”

“You’re talking nonsense, aren’t you running a fever?”

“I don’t have a fever……!”

I said …….

The last words were muffled by a large hand that came out of nowhere. Hye-Joo looked up at Joo-Won, who had placed his hand on my forehead to take my temperature.

“That’s right. You don’t have a fever.”

I gulped, my saliva slid down my throat.

His hand was warm. Like she’d felt in her dreams.

‘Ah…….’

He smelled of fabric softener as he drew closer. Mixed with the scent of half-worn cologne, it was a body odor that seemed even more seductive than in the dream.

Her gaze drifted down to his hand. The sight of his strong sinewy muscles reminded her of being in his arms in her dream. His strong, hard chest, his gentle hand on her shoulder.

“You’re fine. Get out of here.”

The voice echoed from above her head, and the sight of her throat clearing came in slow motion.

Hye-joo stared up at Joo-won, dazed.

The scent she’d smelled in her dream and the firm grip she’d felt in her dream were right there in front of her. It was a very unfamiliar experience. The sensation of being both real and unreal continued to confuse her.

She couldn’t wait to be in his arms again.

“I’m sure you don’t have a fever, so don’t try to play games.”

“I’m not playing games, I’m going, I’m going!”

Hye-joo, sobered up by her characteristic way of speaking, rushed out of Joo-Won’s office.

Then she blamed herself.

‘You’re crazy, Oh Hye-joo! You’re going to get all fluttery there!’

She muttered, struggling with the overwhelming feeling of self-doubt.

“…… why am I like this.”