Strategy Meeting – 1

Seol-ah barely managed to contain her pounding heart. I’ve naturally set up a date! She felt like screaming. Although she pretended to be composed, saying things like “the cheetah is smiling” and “I prefer giving love,” Seol-ah was beside herself with this late-blooming first love.

The cheetah is smiling? Planning? Her act of being relaxed, which didn’t suit her at all, was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Honestly, she was extremely anxious inside. When she heard that even Cordelia had started clinging to him, she wanted to scream.

Nevertheless, this was the result of her patience. She was extremely proud of herself for having endured so well until now. It was a conclusion reached after meticulous observation and analysis that being too aggressive would have the opposite effect.

What did it matter if he was (practically) a married man? Seol-ah herself was surprised at how morally ambiguous she was when it came to love. Though she dismissed it as lip service, her claim that she was happier giving was not a lie at all. She never knew she was the type of person who found happiness in devotedly and unilaterally showering love.

Seol-ah mocked herself. She used to see male supporting characters in romance novels who devoted themselves only to be discarded like old shoes and think, “How can such fools exist?” but here she was, exactly like them. Perhaps her not being drawn to those supporting male characters was a form of self-loathing.

“Kang Bada! Ughhhh!”

Seol-ah lay on her soft dormitory bed, buried her face in her pillow, and stomped her feet. Her roommate didn’t even show her face, apparently intending not to return tonight.

She stomped her feet a few more times, expressing her excitement and silliness with her whole body, then went limp. Come to think of it, wouldn’t tomorrow be the first time they went out together, just the two of them? Although Mikhail would perceive it not as a date but as some kind of strategy meeting, what did it matter? Two people of the opposite sex going out together is a date.

Seol-ah checked once more the optimal date course for tomorrow. It was a course she had prepared to seize at any opportunity, and the chance had come sooner than expected. The key point was this: it should feel like a date, but Bada should never suspect it’s a date. This aligned with what she mentioned earlier about how being too aggressive would have the opposite effect.

Based on what she had observed of him so far, pushing too hard was not a wise choice. She needed to gradually immerse him, like drizzle soaking clothes. The so-called fox’s tricks.

Those shameless women who kept flirting with men who had girlfriends while saying, “What’s wrong with just being friends?” Seol-ah decided to benchmark them. In reality, how many couples in her social circle had affairs that way? She deliberately ignored whether this was possible for her, a 25-year-old lifelong single like Bada.

First, she needed to reduce the distance between them. She needed the shamelessness to naturally attempt actions that anyone would recognize as couple-like behavior while saying, “What’s wrong with being friends?” Seol-ah imagined herself holding Bada’s hand.

“Kyaaaa! What do I do, what do I do!”

She banged on the bed and made a fuss. Despite her ambitious analysis of her target and planning, she was still a virgin who had never properly held a man’s hand. A novice with extensive theoretical knowledge but zero practical experience.

Seol-ah continued to squeal and stomp her feet until someone from the next room knocked on her door asking if everything was alright.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

Bada’s voice snapped Seol-ah back to reality. Bloodshot eyes, dark circles extending down to her cheekbones. Skin roughened from staying up all night was difficult to conceal even with makeup. That’s right. Seol-ah had ended up staying up all night from excitement.

‘I’m crazy. Staying up all night from excitement before a field trip? I’m not an elementary school student, but a grown adult who couldn’t sleep due to excitement!’

She had repeatedly told herself she needed to sleep now to get up tomorrow, trying counting sheep, controlling her breathing, and even counting stains on the ceiling, but she ultimately spent the night wide awake. And now the consequences were showing. Despite thinking she was being silly, she couldn’t hide her grinning smile.

“No. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Did you stay up all night? You look extremely tired. If it’s too hard, we can meet again later…”

“No way!”

Seol-ah shouted loudly. After I stayed up all night because of you, now you’re suggesting we postpone? She couldn’t allow such a terrible thing to happen. She desperately suppressed a yawn that was about to escape. It’s not like staying up all night was something new to her. Besides, she wasn’t a mentally and physically exhausted 25-year-old job seeker now, but a fresh 18-year-old. She’d be fine after a cup of coffee. Coincidentally, the first step of her plan was a café.

To be honest, for someone who had never even gone out alone with a man, let alone dated, the natural date course she could think of was limited to café, meal, and a walk. With no movie theaters or karaoke rooms in this world, the options were extremely narrow. There were theater stages, but she had heard somewhere that choosing a movie theater for a first date wasn’t good because it cut off conversation. Seol-ah boldly excluded theater.

“Let’s start with a café.”

“A café? Why?”

“Are we going to keep standing and talking? And you said I look tired. I want to have a cup of coffee.”

He really came out with no thought, just expecting to talk briefly as usual. She hadn’t expected much. Still, it’s fortunate he at least washed and dressed properly. In that respect, perhaps staying up all night was a good thing. The buildup to the first step, the café, flowed naturally.

“Or, do you have an appointment after this?”

Seol-ah couldn’t control her racing heart even as she asked. She was just fishing, but what if he actually said he had an appointment?

“No, I don’t have anything like that. But just yesterday, Hestia showed that side of herself…”

Seol-ah inwardly rejoiced. He seems quite shocked by the behavior Hestia displayed yesterday.

“It’s fine! Is Hestia some kind of obsessive wife? What’s strange about friends going to a café together? Yesterday, Cordelia clearly crossed the line, right?”

Although she was drunk, begging to be hugged or asking to be “borrowed” while his fiancée was right there was clearly out of bounds.

Of course, in Seol-ah’s eyes, Hestia was a prospective obsessive wife, and the sight of her boyfriend going to a café with another woman would be extremely irritating. Seol-ah herself was also full of thoughts about crossing the line, but she didn’t voice them. Bada would probably just reply “okay” without thinking.

Based on what she’d observed so far, he was genuinely a lifelong single and struggled with maintaining appropriate distance with women. More specifically, with the category of women commonly referred to as “female friends.”

Having never had a girlfriend, he didn’t understand how narrow-minded, jealous, and easily upset over trivial matters women can be. He genuinely thinks nothing of laughing and joking around with other women.

Judging by how he sharply avoided her kiss attempt in that dramatic atmosphere before, it’s not that he’s garbage or thinks lightly of women. He just doesn’t know yet. This naive thinking: They’re just friends, so what’s the problem as long as they don’t cross the line? And even when the line is crossed, he can’t coldly and firmly push back. His sad romantic experiences created this gap.

Usually, men who have girlfriends but attract other women are already quite popular. In this case, they learn through many trials and errors what they shouldn’t do, or if they do something, they should not let their girlfriend find out.

But Bada? Although she found it a bit strange, despite looking decent, he had lived as a lifelong single for 23 years on Earth and became entangled with three women in less than six months after arriving here. He didn’t have time to learn that appropriate distance.

‘That’s exactly the gap I should target.’

Seol-ah swallowed as she looked at Bada. Just in case, in that one-in-a-million, billion-to-one chance, the rough texture of her pretty underwear felt reassuring. Black lace. Given his attitude shown previously, it would never happen, but opportunities should be seized when prepared, or they’d be missed.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And we didn’t meet to play around; we met because we have something really important to talk about.”

As expected, Bada was easily convinced. It wasn’t particularly strange for friends to simply go to a café, and they did have something to talk about. There was nothing unusual about it.

Now she just needed to head to the café she had pre-selected—one with a good atmosphere, known as a couple’s date spot, and with delicious desserts.

Heading to the café, Seol-ah racked her brains over whether to casually hold his hand or link arms with him. He wouldn’t run away screaming if she subtly attempted physical contact, but his guard would be raised.

This was like a game. A game of gradually swaying his heart without raising his guard, saying “friends can do this much” and playing the long game.

After much deliberation, Seol-ah decided not to attempt physical contact today. There was still plenty of time anyway. It was absolutely not because she felt her head might explode from just walking together, let alone holding hands or linking arms. No, definitely not.

Instead, she decided to highlight her appearance, which she had dressed up for today. Unlike usual, she had applied slightly stronger perfume, put on makeup, and added accessories. A bracelet and ear cuff. She was too scared to try earrings for fear of pain.

“By the way, do I look different from usual?”

“You’ve put on makeup, sprayed some perfume, and you’re wearing a bracelet and earrings—or whatever they’re called—that you don’t usually wear.”

“Huh? That’s right.”

Honestly, she hadn’t expected such a detailed answer, so she was caught off guard. Seol-ah had to consciously control her rising smile. She deliberately put on a stern, solemn expression. Was he secretly observing me well all along while pretending not to? His observation skills are night and day compared to when we discussed the dream last time!

Seol-ah felt herself falling for him anew. Even his not knowing what to call an ear cuff and referring to it as “something like earrings” seemed cute. She knew she was seriously ill, but can one really control their heart?

“Why? Are you angry? Your expression suddenly turned bad.”

“Angry? No way. Let’s go quickly. I want to drink coffee.”

Seol-ah hummed happily.

Bada had his own headaches. Seol-ah’s condition seemed particularly poor today. Her haggard appearance from staying up all night, frequently blushing, and flinching made him wonder if she had caught a cold. He really wanted to send her back to rest today. Of course, Seol-ah would be furious if she knew his thoughts.

Even now. Unless he was a fool, anyone could see that Seol-ah had dressed up differently from usual. She kept rubbing her wrist and sniffing the back of her hand whenever she had a chance. How could he not notice? The bracelet and earring-like thing were also constantly drawing his attention as she repeatedly swept her hair behind her ear. Though she herself seemed unaware of it. She suddenly asked and then hardened her expression when he answered, only to start humming.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, isn’t it nice?”

“It’s worth the extra walk.”

Bada exclaimed in admiration. As he said, the café seemed worth the few extra minutes of walking. It seemed like there was an unusually high proportion of couples among the customers, but that must be his imagination. Bada didn’t think much of it. Instead, he admired the café’s meticulous interior and nice view.

In this respect, he was grateful that the author had roughly established the setting. It was nice not having to go to a rundown coffeehouse full of men wearing weird wigs and stockings in the name of historical accuracy. As long as the café didn’t sell frappuccinos or snow ice desserts, it seemed acceptable.

“How did you find a place like this? Does this appear in the original work too?”

“Ah, well, something like that.”

That was a lie. This place was one Seol-ah had personally searched for, asking around and putting in the legwork. She found it somehow embarrassing to tell him the truth. If she said, “I found this place myself,” wouldn’t it sound like she was saying she found it because she wanted to come here with him?

After a brief wait, a cup of coffee was placed in front of each of them.

“So, shall we now have that serious conversation?”

“Wait!”

Seol-ah covered Bada’s mouth. Bada looked at her with a surprised expression.

“What now?”

“Aren’t you hungry? I heard the desserts here are delicious.”

Delaying that serious conversation as much as possible was Seol-ah’s goal for today. Drink coffee because you’re tired, eat dessert because your mouth is bitter, and then it’s lunchtime so let’s eat lunch together, and then let’s take a walk to aid digestion.

There wasn’t much of a plan really. The core of the plan was just to somehow silence Bada and drag him to the next location. A flimsy plan that even a 5-year-old could come up with. Everything depended on her improvisation and Bada’s response.

As revealed during the Wilhelm incident, Seol-ah was hopelessly untalented at making plans. She herself didn’t admit it. While she was quite talented at analyzing and understanding things, she was terribly weak at making plans to utilize that understanding.

Her incredibly clumsy date plan had finally raised its curtain.