Date Me! - Chapter 24
Saturday had arrived.
Ina, who was tired due to the department dinner that lasted until midnight the previous night, slept like a log and only opened her eyes when it was almost 10 AM.
After hastily preparing and eating breakfast, she opened the windows wide and thoroughly cleaned every nook and cranny of the house.
After an hour of deep cleaning, an exhausted Ina brewed a cup of cold coffee and sat on the sofa.
As she sipped her coffee and blankly watched TV, Ina checked the time and then got up to go to the bathroom.
After taking a quick shower and coming out, it was already 1 PM.
After drying her hair, Ina sat at the dressing table to do her makeup. When she opened her earring case, she noticed the two pairs of earrings Juwon had bought for her in Samcheong-dong.
As she touched those earrings, the image of herself that day vaguely surfaced in her mind.
Her heart had pounded uncontrollably from the moment she had almost fallen into Juwon’s embrace, and her face had turned red as if it was on fire.
Ina’s face reddened again at the memories of that day that came to mind.
Ina quickly shook her head, put down the earrings she was holding, and picked up a pair of pearl earrings.
For some reason, she felt like she should wear the earrings Juwon bought for her when she met him.
After putting on the pearl earrings and when she was almost done getting ready to go out, Ina’s cell phone rang.
She quickly looked at the phone screen and saw it was Siwoo.
“I thought it was…”
Ina muttered to herself and was startled by her own reaction.
“What? Was I waiting for a call from Juwon? Really… This is ridiculous, Seo Ina.”
Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Ina pursed her lips and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
−Hey, Ina. It’s me, Siwoo.
“Yeah, Siwoo.”
−I’m about to leave now. Have you left yet?
“No, I’m about to leave too.”
−Really? Since it’s close by, it would be nice if I could pick you up.
On Wednesday night, when Siwoo informed Ina of the movie reservation time, he said he would pick her up in front of her house, but Ina had suggested meeting at the theater because she felt burdened for some reason.
“No, it’s okay. It’ll be quick if I take the bus. Let’s meet in front of the theater.”
−Okay, got it. See you later then.
After hanging up, Ina looked in the mirror one more time, put on a light pink jacket, and picked up her bag.
* * *
A little while later, Ina got off the bus and slowly walked towards the theater.
Upon entering the theater, Ina took the elevator to the 4th floor ticket office where she had agreed to meet Siwoo.
When she got off on the 4th floor, she saw a bustling crowd of people, as expected on a weekend.
And among the many people, Siwoo’s figure, which stood out at a glance, was visible.
As she walked towards Siwoo, who was looking at a movie pamphlet, he turned his head and looked in her direction.
Spotting Ina, Siwoo smiled brightly and approached her.
“You’re here?”
Siwoo, who was smiling and looking down at Ina, looked just like a refreshing vitamin.
Once again, his nickname “Smile Angel” was reaffirmed.
“Yeah. When did you get here?”
“I arrived not too long ago either.”
“I see.”
“I already got the tickets, but do you want to get something like popcorn?”
If it were the usual Ina, she would have loudly exclaimed, “Of course!” but today, for some reason, she had no desire to eat popcorn at all.
“No, I’m fine. You can eat if you want.”
“Really? Actually, I usually don’t eat anything when watching movies either. Then should we at least buy something to drink?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
The two bought two cups of ade and took the escalator to Theater 5, which was two floors up.
As Ina got on the escalator next to Siwoo, she suddenly thought of going to the movies with Juwon.
At that time, the escalator was narrow, so they had to go up one at a time…
Ina remembered turning around and handing the popcorn to Juwon, and how he ate it, which was intensely memorable, and how her heart had fluttered because of it.
Maybe that’s when it started…
Every time she saw Lee Juwon, her heart would start pounding incessantly…
Ina let out a deep sigh inwardly at the thought of Juwon that suddenly rushed in.
Unlike Ina, Siwoo had been smiling quite joyfully since earlier.
The two entered Theater 5 and walked up to Row K together.
As Ina was about to go in first, Siwoo looked inside and lightly grabbed Ina’s arm.
“Ina, is it okay if I go in first?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
After Siwoo went in first, Ina also entered and saw two men sitting next to Siwoo’s seat. Seeing that, she suddenly remembered when she went to the movies with Juwon, and how he had also gone in and sat down first.
‘Ah, so the reason Juwon said he would go in first at that time was…’
Ina sat down and fiddled with her lips with her fingers.
‘Could it be… because he was bothered by another man sitting next to me?’
As she narrowed her eyes and made that assumption, she unconsciously swallowed her saliva.
However, the refutation of ‘What nonsense? Juwon wouldn’t care about such a thing even if he’s gone crazy’ did not immediately pop out.
Recalling the way Juwon had gazed at Ina with a smile at the earring shop in Samcheong-dong, and how he had immediately come to pick up a drunk Ina on Tuesday, she couldn’t easily refute it.
‘Could it be, then… does Juwon really…’
Ina’s face suddenly flushed at the thought of such a huge assumption that she couldn’t even finish the sentence.
Her heart started pounding as if Juwon was right in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
Ina was suddenly brought back to her senses by Siwoo’s voice.
“Huh?”
As Ina turned her head, Siwoo was looking at her with a puzzled expression.
“Your face suddenly turned red. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
“Oh, no. It’s just a bit hot in here, I guess.”
“Really? That’s a relief then.”
Siwoo nodded, looking relieved.
Feeling embarrassed, Ina quickly turned her head forward and brought the ade to her mouth.
As the cool ade went down her throat, her trembling heart calmed down a little.
Looking straight ahead, people were still entering the theater as the movie had not started yet.
Since it was a romance movie, there were many people who were presumed to be couples entering here and there.
Watching the couples entering while holding hands, linking arms, or embracing each other’s waists, thoughts of Juwon slowly crept into Ina’s mind again, and she shook her head.
‘Even if I keep thinking about it alone now, I won’t find an answer… Let’s just watch the movie for now. The movie.’
Ina scolded herself to focus on the movie for now, as thoughts of Juwon kept coming to her mind.
A little while later, the lights went out, and after a few trailers, the movie officially began.
Ina tried hard to concentrate on the screen while bringing the ade to her mouth.
The movie started with the unique first meeting of the male and female leads and flowed gently until the process of them developing feelings for each other.
Then, after the two experienced various events, they happen to meet again at an acquaintance’s party, where they finally confirm their passionate feelings for each other.
A little later, the two leave the party and walk side by side in an embrace when suddenly a heavy downpour starts. Despite being drenched by the sudden rain, the two giggle like children and head to the man’s house.
As soon as they open the door and enter, without hesitation, they explore each other’s lips and roughly undress each other. Ina’s motion of drinking ade stopped at this scene.
Ina only knew that it was the No. 1 romance movie in America, but she didn’t know how erotic the movie was.
Ina stared at the screen, unable to even breathe at the stimulating and intense flesh-colored feast unfolding right before her eyes.
As if the straw had been originally attached to her mouth, she couldn’t even spit it out and just stared at the screen, her pupils shaking as if there was an earthquake.
As the scenes became more and more passionate, Ina’s face became like a burning sweet potato, and she couldn’t even muster the courage to look towards Siwoo sitting next to her.
‘Was this movie… this erotic?’
As the breath she had been holding without even being able to breathe rose to the end of her throat, Ina finally managed to spit out the straw and swallowed hard.
However, when the raw scene of the two leads reaching a climax appeared, Ina hurriedly put the straw back in her mouth and started chewing on it nervously.
Siwoo, who had been watching Ina’s ever-changing appearance for a while, was trying hard to hold back his laughter.
From the moment the leads opened the front door and engaged in a deep kiss, Ina had stiffened and kept putting the straw in and out of her mouth, and now she was chewing on it nervously. It looked so adorable to him.
It felt as if he was watching a movie with high school Ina, not 29-year-old Ina.
Of course, Siwoo himself was also startled by the bold and explicit bed scene, but he kept wanting to laugh at Ina’s appearance of intensely expressing her emotions with just a straw.
The movie ended with the final scene of the leads sitting on a park bench overlooking a clear lake, sharing a warm kiss.
While some people didn’t get up right away as if the lingering impression remained and talked to each other, Ina sprang up as soon as the ending credits started rolling.
When Siwoo looked up at Ina, she spoke without even looking at him.
“Sh-shall we go?”
Ina’s face, which had turned bright red due to the bright lighting, was very noticeable.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Siwoo barely suppressed his laughter and stood up from his seat.
Ina swallowed once and quickly went down the stairs with short, quick steps.
Even her footsteps looked as cute as a chick, so Siwoo shook his head, thinking, ‘I’m really in deep,’ and quickly followed after Ina.
The two walked towards the elevator after leaving the theater.
Looking at the clock, it was just past 5:20 PM.
Siwoo spoke to Ina, who was still touching her reddened cheeks.
“Ina, shall we go eat dinner now?”
“Huh? Already?”
“It’s almost 6 o’clock. Actually, I made a reservation at a restaurant.”
“What?”
Ina looked at Siwoo with rounded eyes at the word “restaurant.”
“It’s a place I’ve wanted to go to for a long time, but I couldn’t go because the timing never worked out. But I thought it would be nice to go with you today, so I made a reservation.”
“Oh, r-really?”
Although the word “restaurant” made her feel burdened, Ina tried to smile and replied.
“Yeah, I heard the steak here is quite good. You don’t happen to dislike steak, do you?”
“Huh? Steak? Steak is, well… of course I like it.”
“Really? That’s a relief then. The reservation is at 6, so I think we can leave now.”
“Yeah, o-okay.”
A little while later, the two took the elevator and went down to the 2nd basement level.
As Ina followed Siwoo and walked inside, Siwoo’s white SUV parked in Row G came into view.
Siwoo smiled and opened the passenger door, and Ina responded with an awkward smile and got into the car.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
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