Ch.7676. Women’s Fight

“…What did you just say?”

Im Hansol spat out water in a direction where no one was present and wiped his mouth. Then he asked me with a face that doubted his own ears. However, what I had to say remained unchanged. I repeated what I had just said.

“My fiancée, the one I’m going to marry.”

After saying it, a thought suddenly occurred to me that I had been asked a similar question before. The specific situation was a bit different, but I had given an answer not much different from now.

But now is different from then. Unlike that time when there were somewhat awkward feelings between us, there’s something that has changed. And that’s Hwa Nabi’s reaction.

“…”

Unlike in the past when she would first deny it and get angry, Hwa Nabi, unable to say anything, just hid behind my back with her face turning bright red.

Her clearly embarrassed attitude, seemingly accepting our relationship without resistance, is quite lovable. With a slight smile, I gently touched her reddened cheek with my index finger.

“S-Siwoo. Don’t touch me right now.”

“Why, are you embarrassed about being engaged to me?”

“…You know that’s not it.”

While I was teasing her like that, the reactions of the two people in front of us diverged dramatically. Im Hansol looked back and forth between me and Hwa Nabi with a seemingly bewildered expression, and his childhood friend gave us a look that said, ‘I envy that you can say such things.’

“Wait, you weren’t joking but being serious?”

“Wow, how romantic… Hansol, should we get engaged too?”

“Hey, Ayeon. Stop joking around.”

“…”

From a third-party perspective… her eyes don’t seem to be joking.

While I was having such idle thoughts, Im Hansol gestured to me slightly. Sensing his intention, it seemed like he wanted to borrow my ear for a moment, so I took a step forward.

“What?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much. I’m just personally curious, have you decided not to hide it anymore?”

Hide what? When I asked with just my eyes, Im Hansol added one more thing.

“Why, you said it yourself last time. You told us not to misunderstand because you two weren’t dating? But from what you’re saying now, it seems that’s not the case.”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, that’s true. At that time, I had said that to avoid causing any trouble for Hwa Nabi, but at this point, it probably doesn’t matter to be so specific. I nodded.

“Well… that’s right.”

“Oh, what change of heart led to this?”

“Well, there wasn’t any major change.”

In fact, my attitude toward Hwa Nabi hasn’t changed much from before, but my mindset has changed a little.

Until a few months ago, I was somewhat cautious and acted carefully, but now I’m treating her more honestly according to my feelings.

More precisely, it’s like some kind of restraint has been loosened. But I’m not sure when exactly that happened. Perhaps it was after we returned from the school trip.

“Really? Well, that’s not what’s important anyway. Congratulations. So when’s the wedding? Tomorrow? Or the day after? Ah, you’ll send out invitations in advance, right?”

“If you two are having a wedding, send me an invitation too. I’ll make sure to come!”

As Im Hansol and his childhood friend said with mischievous smiles, I felt my neck being tightly squeezed. Hwa Nabi, unable to bear the embarrassment, was putting pressure on me. I reached back and gently patted her to signal her to calm down.

“Don’t tease her too much, she’s embarrassed.”

“Wow, already taking care of your girlfriend?”

“No, not girlfriend but fiancée… Ack! Okay, I’ll stop.”

For a moment, my carotid artery was tightly squeezed, and my words abruptly stopped. Im Hansol laughed at me and extended his hand.

“Ah, this is fun. Anyway, Han Siwoo? I don’t know what the remaining events are, but let’s play fair.”

—Well, has everyone had enough rest? I’ll now reveal the second event. Participating couples, please come up to the small stage!

Coincidentally, the host shouted that, but I let it go in one ear and out the other as I shook hands with Im Hansol.

“Sure. I look forward to…”

This was my first time shaking hands with him, and I didn’t realize until now, but this guy’s grip strength was no joke. And as they say, you can tell a lot from one thing, judging by this grip strength, I could roughly estimate his physical capabilities.

Even at a conservative estimate, he’s well above average.

No… maybe even more than that?

“…working with you.”

At that moment, I had an intuition.

If all the remaining games required physical prowess like the one just now… my only real competitor would clearly be Im Hansol.

“Yeah.”

And it seemed the other party had the same intuition, as Im Hansol smiled while adding more strength to our handshake. Not to be outdone, I firmly gripped his hand and smiled back at him.

“…What’s up with these guys all of a sudden?”

“I wonder…?”

*

Let me tell you something about male psychology.

This might seem a bit out of the blue, but most men have an inherent desire to show off their masculinity.

Actually, it’s not just a desire but a primal instinct, but let’s skip over the minor details.

Anyway, what I want to say is that there are times when this desire manifests strongly in men. To put it more bluntly, it’s ‘the moment when they have to compete with other males.’

And for me, that moment was… right now.

—Well, the fifth couple has just been eliminated from the game! Now only two couples remain!

On the small stage, Han Siwoo and Im Hansol sat facing each other across a square table.

“Han Siwoo, we really met in the finals, huh?”

“You seemed to be struggling a bit earlier. How did you manage to hang on?”

After exchanging light jokes, we simultaneously reached out and shook hands.

If the earlier handshake was meant to wish each other well, this handshake was a declaration of war, saying ‘I will definitely defeat you.’

Even though we had only exchanged a few brief words, the atmosphere in the audience had already heated up.

“Go handsome guy! Win this!”

“They’re both handsome, who are you cheering for?”

“Ah, I don’t know! They’re both handsome! Either one can win!”

I couldn’t help but smile at the jokes coming from right beside us. As the cheers, whistles, and applause that had been continuing for a while began to die down, the host opened his mouth again.

—The stage has become much hotter with your enthusiasm. Now that everyone seems to have calmed down, shall I introduce the game? Now, the final event of today’s couple game, the grand finale will be decorated with…!

With a dramatic gesture, the host pointed to the table where Im Hansol and I were sitting.

At both ends of the table, there were handle-like protrusions, and the intention was quite obvious.

Grab, hold, and “flip” the opponent.

As if responding to my thoughts, the host continued.

—It’s couple arm wrestling!

“Couple arm wrestling?”

“What’s that?”

—The procedure for couple arm wrestling is simple. First, the male participants receive affectionate encouragement from their female partners. And then, drawing strength from that encouragement, you win by defeating your opponent in arm wrestling!

“So in the end, it’s just arm wrestling?”

“Seems like it.”

After all the struggles to reach the finals, the game was just arm wrestling, which made both Im Hansol and me feel a bit deflated, but the spectators didn’t seem to feel the same way.

“What, is this a cheering contest?”

“Show us a dance!”

The slightly cooled atmosphere of the venue heated up again with the spark of a cheering contest.

Some even started making crazy suggestions like asking for sexy dances or telling us to kiss each other.

No, if they were asking partners to do it with each other, that would be one thing. But why are they asking guys to do it with each other? There are so many people that I don’t know who said it, but if I catch them, I won’t let them off easily.

“Don’t pay too much attention to what the audience is saying, just give a simple cheer for your partner. We’ll give you a separate prize.”

This was off the record, the host temporarily turned off the microphone and spoke just loud enough for only those of us on stage to hear. After pondering for a moment, Im Hansol’s childhood friend asked the host.

“So any kind of encouragement is fine?”

“Yes, that’s right, but… what are you planning to do?”

Im Hansol’s childhood friend didn’t answer the host’s question. Instead, she showed a strangely sly smile and confidently stepped forward to the front of the small stage.

Standing in the center of the small stage, she looked around at the audience. And then slowly began to speak.

“Everyone, do you want a sexy dance?”

-Yes!

-Please! We want it!

-Noona! I love you!

The audience’s reaction was beyond cheers, it was at the level of noise pollution. Im Hansol’s childhood friend smiled with satisfaction, and Im Hansol looked at her with a worried face and said.

“Ayeon, are you sure about this?”

“Huh? About what?”

“The dancing. You’ve never danced before, right?”

“Don’t worry. Do you think I would jump into something without being prepared?”

“…Really?”

Im Hansol looked quite uneasy even as he made way for her. As I moved aside with Im Hansol, I quietly asked.

“Hey, is she really going to be okay?”

“…Ayeon must have her own thoughts.”

“Her name is Ayeon?”

“Yeah, her full name is Seol Ayeon. Didn’t I tell you before?”

“No, you didn’t.”

Im Hansol, still unable to take his eyes off his childhood friend, answered glumly. How bad could her dancing be to make him react like this? Curious, I stood beside Im Hansol and quietly watched the stage.

“Do you have any music prepared?”

“We can do most songs. Which one would you like?”

“Then, please play ‘Crazy’.”

“Crazy? Ah, the chair dance song?”

“Yes, that one.”

—Broadcasting team, the lady wants ‘Crazy’ to be played.

The original song was more than ten years old, but it’s still so famous that people think of this song when they hear “sexy dance.” It’s almost synonymous with sexy dancing.

After waiting for a moment, the AR of “Crazy” flowed from behind the stage.

Im Hansol’s childhood friend, Seol Ayeon, turned the chair backrest around and sat on it.

“Oh, she’s starting.”

“Ah… I’m worried.”

After a brief intro ended, Seol Ayeon’s performance of “Crazy” began.

-I’m crazy, really crazy.

…And after some time had passed.

She “flipped” the audience in a slightly different sense.

I don’t feel like describing this performance… But to summarize briefly, it was not something you could watch with both eyes open.

Yes, Im Hansol’s childhood friend was really bad at dancing. And I mean indescribably bad.

“…What was that just now?”

“Ah… this is a bit…”

The reactions flowing from the audience seemed to reflect my feelings.

“Everyone, how was it?”

Seol Ayeon’s face wore the happiest smile as she asked. It seemed like she wanted praise since she had danced her heart out, but the audience’s reaction was truly peculiar.

“Um… well, it was good!”

“Y-you were too sexy!”

Since they couldn’t outright criticize her, they gave roundabout compliments. Still, she seemed genuinely happy, smiling brightly… it was heartbreaking to watch any longer. I turned my head away.

“Really? Then should I do an encore performance?”

“…!”

At the word “encore,” everyone flinched and looked at the host.

The host, who had been wearing a face like someone forced to eat inedible food, immediately shook his head. She knew too. She knew what kind of disaster might recur if she allowed an encore performance.

—Ah, unfortunately, due to time constraints, we won’t be able to show you an encore performance. Let’s move on to the next one. The next performance is from the lady with the lovely pink hair dye!

And so the order moved on like a snake slithering over a wall. As the host said, the next in line was Hwa Nabi’s turn.

“I-is it my turn?”

She, who had been oddly fidgeting, looked back at me. Since she was going to stand in front of people, she was naturally nervous. But since I couldn’t help her, I just mouthed the words ‘I’m looking forward to it’ as a sign of encouragement.

That alone seemed to comfort her, as a smile appeared on Hwa Nabi’s lips. Nodding her head, she moved forward to the front of the small stage with a determined expression.

As if trading places with Hwa Nabi, Seol Ayeon stepped back. Her gaze, which had been directed at me, suddenly shifted to Hwa Nabi’s back.

“…”

—Well, what kind of encouragement have you prepared?

At the host’s question, Hwa Nabi’s pink lips slowly opened.

“Umm, the encouragement I’ve prepared is…”