CH 329

“Why isn't he coming out already?!”

Choi Yeon-Ha anxiously chewed on her nails. Only after arriving at Kang Jin-Ho's pizzeria did she realize that there was a fundamental flaw in her hopelessly-rushed course of action.

'What if he goes home with his friends instead?'

Choi Yeon-Ha wouldn't be able to do anything if Kang Jin-Ho closed the store for the night and got in a car with his friends. If it was before, she could nonchalantly stop Kang Jin-Ho from getting in the car with his friends and get down to business, so to speak, but now...

'Now, I don't think I can.'

It was so bizarre, but embarrassment had begun permeating into every little thoughtless thing she had done up until now. If she was seen calling out to Kang Jin-Ho by his friends, then... Then Choi Yeon-Ha might become the first-ever actor in human history to die of humiliation!

'No, hang on. Maybe that fate might be better...?'

Choi Yeon-Ha came here without any plan whatsoever. And now that she was about to stand before Kang Jin-Ho... It felt like she was making a huge mistake.

'Why did I even come here, anyway?'

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like something was going off the rails. That it wasn't supposed to happen this way. By the time she sobered up, though, she had already reached her destination.

While she wondered if she should go back before it's too late, the pizzeria's light went out, and four people stepped outside.

'Oh no!'

There being four people made Choi Yeon-Ha extremely anxious. Since Kang Jin-Ho and Ju Yeong-Gi owned cars, the odds of them dividing into two groups of two people and riding their cars home were uncomfortably high.

Crunch!

Choi Yeon-Ha bit her fingernails hard and continued to observe the unfolding situation in tension. Excluding Kang Jin-Ho, three people climbed into the car parked next to the pizzeria.

'Yes!'

Not knowing that Choi Yeon-Ha was silently clenching her fists inside her car, Kang Jin-Ho waved his hand at his friend's car. Once that car had traveled far away enough, Choi Yeon-Ha hurriedly stepped out of her own vehicle.

“Fuu-huup!”

Her heart seemed to be beating weirdly fast for some reason, so Choi Yeon-Ha sucked in a deep breath to calm herself.

'Don't get too excited!'

They were hanging out only two days ago. Nothing of note happened since then, so why was Choi Yeon-Ha's heart fluttering like this? Was this what they called the power of suggestion? It had to be that, didn't it!

“Keuh-huhuhum!” Choi Yeon-Ha coughed to clear her throat.

“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho heard that and turned around to look. His eyes opened slightly wider after discovering Choi Yeon-Ha standing behind her. “Miss Choi Yeon-Ha?”

“Hhhmmm!” Choi Yeon-Ha fake-coughed again. She acted without a plan again while hoping to seize this chance but couldn't think of anything to say.

Kang Jin-Ho asked her while tilting his head. “We've already closed for the day.”

“N-no, I didn't come for your pizza.”

“...Good thing because we don't have any leftovers.”

“I'm telling you, I didn't come for the pizza!” Choi Yeon-Ha's face reddened. This situation was getting sidetracked already!

“Then, what brings you here?”

Choi Yeon-Ha desperately racked her brain to craft a suitable excuse. The real reason was that she simply wanted to see Kang Jin-Ho regardless of the hour, but the situation didn't permit her to reveal the truth.

'Even if I die, I can't tell him that I came here to see his face hoping to sort out my emotions that had gone haywire because of him! Definitely not!'

Cold sweat began to trickle down her forehead now. This... This involved her pride as a woman!

“Ah, uh... I was in the neighborhood and thought I might as well stop by and say hello.”

“Oh, really?”

A probing gaze that said 'In that case, why didn't you keep going your way instead of standing here and stopping me?' landed on Choi Yeon-Ha next. Although she had no way of knowing if Kang Jin-Ho was thinking that, she still couldn't help but interpret his gaze that way.

“My, uh, my car... Yes, my car! It broke down.”

“I'm sorry?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

“My car broke down nearby, you see? And that's why I couldn't go home yet. Do you mind giving me a ride home?” Choi Yeon-Ha clenched her fist while asking that question.

'That's sooo perfect!'

For a story she cooked up in an instant in the middle of the night, it sounded pretty good. With this excuse, they should naturally...

Kang Jin-Ho replied earnestly. “In that case, do you want me to call your insurance company?”

“...I'm sorry?”

“If your car is broken, it needs to be fixed, right? I heard that calling your insurance company will sort it out in no time.”

“N-no, wait! We can't do that at this hour! I, uh, I'll just leave the car here and go home, then come back tomorrow to fetch it.”

“Oh, I see. In that case, should I grab you a taxi?”

“A... taxi?”

“Yes.”

Choi Yeon-Ha freaked out and hurriedly waved her hands. “N-no, you mustn't!”

“How come?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head again.

“A celebrity riding a taxi will create all sorts of problems, you know! If the taxi driver recognizes me, my whereabouts might get exposed to the public, you know! If the general public learns about how I've been wandering outside until late at night, it's gonna be a big scandal!”

Choi Yeon-Ha was lying. Such a thing wouldn't happen since this was modern Korea, not the ancient kingdom of Joseon. However, she was desperately trying to come up with a sound excuse right now.

“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin in contemplation.

Unable to stand this anymore, Choi Yeon-Ha yelled at him in irritation. “Can't you just give me a ride! Don't you have any gentlemanly manners to give a struggling woman a ride to her home at night!”

“Actually, giving you a ride won't be difficult, but the situation kinda makes it hard to do so.”

“Huh? Why? Are you going on a date or something?”

“No, it's not that, but...” Kang Jin-Ho sighed as if something troubled him, then suddenly turned around. “Please wait here.”

“...Sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't bother to explain further and headed to the nearby underground parking lot. And then...

Whoosh...!

Accompanied by a subtle sonic boom, Kang Jin-Ho shot up from the mouth of the underground parking lot. He came to a smart stop in front of her.

“Ehng?” Choi Yeon-Ha's head tilted while looking at Kang Jin-Ho's ride. “What is that?”

“It's a bicycle, of course. It's called the Golden Elephant.”

“Why... a bicycle?”

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders. “I used to ride my bicycle a lot in the past but neglected it lately after getting too used to driving cars. So I figured I'd commute on my bicycle for the foreseeable future. I'd have given you a ride home if I was driving a car, but... As you can see, this is a bit…”

Kang Jin-Ho looked rueful, but something about his expression said he wasn't rueful at all about this turn of events. No, he even looked happy about finding a way to dodge this situation altogether!

'This is kinda pissing me off?!'

She deigned to come see him so late in the day, yet how dare he act as if this whole thing was too much of a bother!

Choi Yeon-Ha was wise enough not to expect ordinary responses from Kang Jin-Ho at this point in their interactions. She already knew all too well that this dull and unfriendly man would never respond that way.

But... Shouldn't he, at the very least, look mildly happy to see her?!

Anger rushed up to her head, and Choi Yeon-Ha's cheeks puffed up.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his bicycle. “I know it's unfortunate, but...”

“Give me a ride.”

“...Sorry?”

"You can take me home on your bicycle, can't you?"

“...Well, it's possible, but wouldn't it be uncomfortable for you?”

“It can't be helped, I guess.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. “How about calling your manager to come pick you up?”

“I can't certainly wake someone up so late at night! I'm not as shameless and rude as you think.”

Kang Jin-Ho was left speechless at her reply. Couldn't Choi Yeon-Ha tell which one was more shameless and a greater inconvenience between calling her manager to come fetch her and demanding someone to take her home on a bicycle at this late hour?

He oh-so desperately wanted to make a biting retort right now.

Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't finished, however. “Besides, you haven't bought me dinner yet.”

“Well, you just left that day, so...”

"Whatever happened, you still owe me a dinner date!"

“...Of course.” Kang Jin-Ho cleanly gave up on persuading her. Even he could see that words would not get through to her. The determination to go home on Kang Jin-Ho's bicycle no matter what was burning fiercely in Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes.

“In that case, please get on,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“...Where, though?”

Kang Jin-Ho pointed to the saddle behind his. “Right here.”

“Mm…” Choi Yeon-Ha's expression stiffened as she had never ridden on a bicycle's passenger saddle before. Still, she managed to perch herself on it.

Kang Jin-Ho also settled down, then glanced behind him. “Where is your home?”

“H-here.” Choi Yeon-Ha hurriedly took out her phone.

Kang Jin-Ho confirmed her address through the map app, then nodded at her. “Okay, then. Let's go.”

The bicycle with Choi Yeon-Ha began to glide forward. With two passengers on board, it rushed through the streets covered in the night's darkness.

When viewed with a warmth-filled gaze, this scene might have come across as deeply romantic. Unfortunately for both people, though... Life seemed like a comedy when viewed from afar, while it'd resemble a tragedy from up close.

“Kkyaaahk! It's shaking?! Are we gonna fall over? Kyaaaahk!”

“Ouch! My hair! Don't yank at my hair, please! My hair!”

On this fateful day, Kang Jin-Ho had an opportunity to learn that his body possessed a fatal weakness he wasn't aware of. No matter how much of an amazing high-level expert he was... Training and strengthening his hair turned out to be impossible.

At least his hair follicles were sturdy enough to prevent the absolute worst situation of his hair being yanked out by a frightened woman. However, even Kang Jin-Ho couldn't do much about his hair being torn off in the middle.

“Kkyaaaahk! We're gonna fall! We'll faaaaaall!”

“My hair! Ouch! My hair!”

For the first time since his return to the modern era, Kang Jin-Ho... started screaming in pain.

***

Next to the Han River...

“...I'm really sorry,” said Choi Yeon-Ha.

“...”

“I-I was... Well, I was really scared, you see…”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't say anything. However, the veins popping up in his forehead were all the visual proof one needed to understand how furious he was right now.

Choi Yeon-Ha cautiously piped up again. “Are you angry?”

“No.”

“But, you look angry?”

“No, I'm not.”

“...You're definitely angry, aren't you?”

“I said, I'm not!” Kang Jin-Ho yelled loudly.

Choi Yeon-Ha clamped her mouth shut.

'Yup, he's definitely angry.'

If he was angry, he should've just been honest about it. Why did menfolk have this tendency to become the most small-minded boomers in the world whenever they lost their temper?

“Uhm, h-here...” Choi Yeon-Ha cautiously pushed forward a cup of coffee toward Kang Jin-Ho.

“Hah...” Kang Jin-Ho groaned and accepted the coffee, his expression hollow.

'I never once screamed while stuck in the dens of the demon cult's monsters, so this...!'

Not to forget, didn't Kang Jin-Ho remain calm just as blades of experts stabbed him? He didn't even let a pained moan escape his mouth back then, but to think he'd scream just because his hair was being yanked!

If Azure Demon witnessed that scene... He would have fallen off his chair laughing while holding onto his gut.

Kang Jin-Ho took a large gulp of the coffee Choi Yeon-Ha bought from a nearby cafe.

She blinked her eyes in surprise. “Isn't that hot, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“No, it's not hot.”

The coffee did feel a little hot, but such a trifling temperature couldn't damage Kang Jin-Ho's body. Even if he one-shotted a pot of boiling water, he'd still walk away unscathed, anyway.

Since Choi Yeon-Ha made someone like him scream in pain, maybe it was time to acknowledge that she was one 'amazing' woman, indeed...

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath while glancing at the distant river.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

Choi Yeon-Ha muttered helplessly. “Again, I'm really sorry.”

“No, wait. It's not that, but…” Kang Jin-Ho was about to say something, only for a chuckle to overtake his words first.

'Really now. Live long enough, and I get to experience some weird things.'

And he sure got the opportunity to feel the truth behind that musing today.

Choi Yeon-Ha still looked flustered. “D-don't worry, I'll grab a taxi this time.”

“Mm? Didn't you say you can't do that?”

“...I'll somehow deal with it. I don't think I can keep riding on the back of your bicycle.”

“I'm not going to fall, Miss Choi.”

“I know. I know that, but it's still too scary...” Choi Yeon-Ha's nervous eyes fixed on the Golden Elephant. From the perspective of the bicycle that had not once gotten into an accident in the past five years or so, her words would've been quite displeasing to hear. Thankfully, though, the Golden Elephant didn't have ears.

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “I didn't know you could get so easily scared.”

“No, it's not true! I'm infamous for being fearless, you know. This is a first for me, too.”

“Mm? Does that mean you've never ridden a bicycle before?”

“No, uh... I was told that I used to ride around in a tricycle when I was really young, but...”

“...?”

“This must be the effect of my trauma. Apparently, I fell and got really badly injured while learning to ride a bicycle. Ever since then, I kind of get nervous whenever I see a bicycle…”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression hardened just then.

Choi Yeon-Ha noticed that. “...Please don't make that face. I know it sounds pathetic, too.”

“No, it's not that, but…” Kang Jin-Ho was about to explain something, only to shake his head. “You said you're scared of bicycles, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Then, don't grab my hair. Hold onto my waist.”

“Sorry?”

“Hold onto my waist with everything you've got and don't look up. I'll take care of everything.”

“What... are you talking about?”

“This way, please.” Kang Jin-Ho quickly mounted his bicycle and pulled Choi Yeon-Ha close.

“Eh?” She blinked her eyes in puzzlement.

“Get on.” Kang Jin-Ho half-forced Choi Yeon-Ha on the saddle behind him, then scanned the surroundings with his withdrawn eyes. He sensed the increasing number of presences around him. And the dense killing intent overflowing from them caused his displeasure level to shoot up.

Before long, martial artists of unknown origin had completely surrounded Kang Jin-Ho with no room to escape.