Chapter 223: Imaginary Couple (6)

There was only one person on Earth who was addressed as ‘oppa’ by Kang Ra-Eun, and that was her older brother Kang Ra-Hyuk. That was how much she despised calling older men ‘oppa’. She had thought that Je-Woon of all people would understand her struggles, but...

‘He’s unexpectedly persistent.’

His tenacity was impressive.

‘It’s no surprise. You can’t become a top idol without tenacity of this level.’

Ra-Eun did not falter despite the problematic condition.

‘I’m gonna win anyway.’

She was confident since she had even been in a rock climbing club in her university for two years in her past life. She had also occasionally gone to climbing gyms even after graduating, so she didn’t feel like she would lose this bet at all.

‘If there’s one thing that’s bothering me, it’s that I haven’t seen how good Je-Woon sunbae is yet...’

Ra-Eun had not yet witnessed his skills yet, so she could not gauge the difference in their level of skill. But despite all that, she nodded confidently.

“Okay. You’re on.”

Je-Woon smiled as soon as she agreed. “You’d better not whine about it later, okay?”

“A man... I mean, a woman never goes back on her word.”

This was a battle of pride; considering Ra-Eun’s personality, there was no way that she would take back her words. Meanwhile, Director Joo Seong-Won smiled in his head once the bet had been established.

‘This’ll be fun to edit.’

He was already looking forward to the entertaining scene that would come to fruition.

***

The match was simple; the person who completed the route the quickest would be the winner. They would be doing the advanced route that Ra-Eun had just climbed.

Je-Woon started first. His bulging arm muscles were fully visible from his sleeveless shirt. His toned forearms were able to make any woman swoon. He got into position while swallowing his saliva.

“I’m ready.”

A climbing gym instructor that would be acting as the judge nodded.

“Ready... Get set... Go!”

Leap! Grab!

Ra-Eun was surprised to see Je-Woon effortlessly climbing up by treading over the holds.

‘What the hell? He’s pretty good.’

Je-Woon only had two years’ worth of climbing experience at most, but his performance had exceeded Ra-Eun’s expectations. He was nowhere near pro-level, but he was definitely in the higher echelons of amateurs. He reached the finish hold in an instant.

“23.12 seconds! Wow, that was fast!”

The instructor praised Je-Woon while giving him a thumbs up. It was an impressive feat to finish an advanced route in the twenty-second range. Next up was Ra-Eun.

‘I just have to finish it within 23 seconds, right?’

She was brimming with confidence since she had already climbed the route once.

‘Alright, let’s do this!’

She lightly warmed up her body and got into position.

“Ready... Get set...”

Ra-Eun’s eyes were dead set on the top.

“Go!”

She leaped and grabbed the hold on her right. Her movements were just as fluid as her first attempt. However, unlike her first attempt, this was a time trial.

‘Just a little faster!’

She needed to shorten her time as much as possible. At this rate, she would not be able to beat Je-Woon’s record.

‘Now that it’s come to this, I have no other choice!’

She changed up her movements and decided to take a gamble. She locked eyes on the white hold on her left.

‘If I use that...!’

She would be able to skip two whole movements. Her left arm stretched toward the white hold.

‘Just a bit further!’

Ra-Eun’s hand would definitely have reached the hold at this length in her male body, which she found to be a shame. Having no other choice, she decided to take another gamble. However, gambles always had a chance to fail.

“...!”

Her impatience caused her foot to slip off the hold it was on before she was able to grab the white hold, and she fell straight down. Thankfully, she was not injured since there were mats below her. She was physically fine, but the same couldn’t be said for her psychological state.

“Sigh, f...”

Ra-Eun managed to catch herself from swearing on camera. They were being filmed, so she needed to watch her language. Je-Woon, who had been watching over her performance, extended his hand out to her triumphantly.

“I won, right?”

“...”

Ra-Eun reluctantly took his hand. Her expression couldn’t be any worse as she got up with his help.

Je-Woon chuckled as he saw her face. “The bet was just a joke. You don’t have to call me oppa if you really don’t want to.”

Ra-Eun was happy to hear that, but the scratch on her pride would last a very long time.

***

The two of them headed to the cafe that Ra-Eun had recommended after coming out of the climbing gym. It was Starlight Road, the place that she could call her memorable place. Once she and Je-Woon entered the cafe, Seo Yi-Seo and her father, who had been waiting for them after being notified of their upcoming visit, greeted them with a smile.

“Welcome to Starlight Road!”

Je-Woon became wide-eyed as he looked around the cafe’s interior.

“This place is pretty nice.”

“Right? It’s not very popular, but I consider this place a landmark of sorts.”

Ra-Eun preferred small neighborhood cafes like this over famous cafe chains, because such cafes possessed their own individual traits.

“But it doesn’t seem to get many customers,” Je-Woon remarked.

Ra-Eun nodded. “Yes, since it’s a bit of a distance away from the streets that people frequent.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Talks of closing down the cafe had arisen due to this, but that would now be old news.

‘Just getting TV exposure would cause this place to be booming with people.’

TV exposure aside, the fact that Ra-Eun and Je-Woon had a date here would also play a massive part in the cafe’s upcoming boom in popularity; fans would visit this place as if they were visiting the Holy Land.

Yi-Seo’s father, who had brought them their americano and einsp?nner, cautiously requested, “If it’s okay with you, may I take a photo of you two?”

“Yes, of course.”

Je-Woon decided to leave a photo here with Ra-Eun as a token of their date, as well as a gift for letting them be able to enjoy a cup of coffee in such a nice cafe. Ra-Eun could already hear the rumbling footsteps of Bex fans swarming toward this cafe.

‘With this, I’m sure the cafe’s financial problems will sort themselves out.’

All that was left to do now was to let the broadcast magic do its work.

***

After getting back home, the two of them enjoyed their dinner on the second floor terrace thanks to the staff members’ barbecue setup. They then went back to their rooms to sleep early. They were justifiably very tired, considering they had woken up early in the morning for the shoot and enjoyed a very active date.

They spent a leisurely time at home in the morning of their second day, and then went on a date in the afternoon like the first day. They tried to avoid crowded places as much as possible; not only were they filming, but the two of them were so famous that it would only take a moment for them to be swarmed by people. That would cause problems for the shoot, and they would also become a nuisance to other people that were trying to have a leisurely time.

Ra-Eun and Je-Woon decided to visit a lake park after having eaten dinner at a rooftop restaurant.

Director Joo walked up to them and said, “The sound director is saying there might be trouble with the mic audio. We’ll get back into shooting after we switch the mics. It’ll take about ten minutes, so you guys can take a break until then.”

“Understood.”

They handed the mics that they had installed around their waists to the staff members. Je-Woon then pointed at the wooden bench near the lake.

“Why don’t we take a seat over there?” he asked Ra-Eun.

“Sounds good.”

They wouldn’t be able to take a proper break around the staff members, so they decided to go somewhere with a bit of distance away from them. The park was quiet; there were barely any people walking around the area. Je-Woon took off his coat and put it around Ra-Eun.

Ra-Eun softly nodded. “Thank you very much, sunbae. I mean...”

Her face reddened. Je-Woon did not understand why Ra-Eun was acting this way, but his confusion cleared soon after.

“...Thank you, o-oppa...”

Je-Woon doubted his ears from being called ‘oppa’ by Ra-Eun for the first time ever.

“Did you just call me ‘oppa’?”

“...”

A multitude of emotions like embarrassment, humiliation and shame stormed inside her head. She absolutely hated it more than anything else in the world, but...

“A bet is a bet, after all.”

Ra-Eun felt far more comfortable carrying out the conditions of the bet in private like this, instead of while they were being filmed. Je-Woon was seized by an odd feeling that he had never felt before after being called ‘oppa’ by Ra-Eun.

“Did you know that people tell me on programs that they think I’ve dated a lot of women?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ve seen it on air before.”

The host of that program had tried to push the image of a playboy on Je-Woon, but that was not how he was in the slightest.

“I’ve never dated a woman in my life,” he expressed.

“That’s unexpected. I was sure you’d be popular with the ladies since you’re so handsome.”

“It’s a bit weird to say myself, but I was indeed popular. But I wanted to succeed as a singer, no matter what.”

Je-Woon’s desire for success was greater than that for romance, and there was a reason for it.

“I wanted to let my mom live in comfort, so I worked hard and practiced like crazy.”

Je-Woon’s father had passed away when he was still young, and he and his siblings had to be raised by a single mother. It was something that he could talk about while laughing now, but it had been painstakingly difficult at the time.

“I only strove for success without having the luxury nor thought to enjoy romance. So, I’ve never been able to empathize with the thought of falling in love with someone.”

He had always been like this, but not anymore. He had gradually gotten accustomed to the unfamiliar feeling that was love.

“Ra-Eun.”

“Yes, sunbae?”

Unlike Ra-Eun, who replied to him calmly, Je-Woon’s eyes sparkled. They were the eyes of someone who had come to an important resolution. His eyes had only been on Ra-Eun for a while now. He spoke again after a moment of silence.

“I think I’ve come to like you.”

The leader of Bex, the most successful boy group in the world, had confessed to the girl that he liked for the first time in his life.

‘Why me?’

But Ra-Eun had never expected that girl to be her.