The Chicken Legend's Game Becomes Reality - Chapter 61

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 61
A brief silence fell over the table.
I had just picked up my knife to slice the meat, and I suppressed my irritation as I offered a greeting.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
I nodded in acknowledgment and glanced ahead, wondering if she had called for me on purpose, but her expression suggested this was as unexpected for her as it was for me.
Jeong Si-do rose from his seat, his face flustered as he asked.
“When did you get here?”
“Just now. I came with some friends, and the counter staff asked if we could share a table with you.”
Jeong Hee-ji looked at me.
“Is it okay if I eat here with you? I’ll let my friends know and come back. Hello, Hyun-su. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever apologized last time. I inadvertently caused you trouble because of Hwang Beom-young.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I wasn’t sure why, but if it involved Hwang Beom-young, it all made sense.
“Is it really okay if I join?”
“Of course.”
Considering that Baek Hee-an would be arriving soon, this was an interesting combination.
Following the dramatic scene from before—Baek Hee-an and his ex-girlfriend Lee Yu-na—was I about to witness a live broadcast of Baek Hee-an and his ex-ex-girlfriend Jeong Hee-ji having a conversation?
This was going to be entertaining.
Meanwhile, Jeong Si-do seemed to have different thoughts, his bewildered gaze alternating between me and Jeong Hee-ji.
“H-Hee-ji, wait a moment….”
Watching Jeong Si-do—who usually wore a composed expression and spoke with polite charm—fluster and lose his composure was quite amusing.
‘Just a moment ago, he said it’s fun when there are more people.’
I’d heard rumors about him being a sister complex, and now I was beginning to understand what that meant.
“Could you bring another chair?”
“Of course.”
Jeong Hee-ji ignored her brother’s words and called over a staff member.
The reservation had been for two, so there were only two chairs, but the table was a spacious four-person seating arrangement, making it easy to add another chair.
The staff member looked at Jeong Si-do.
Jeong Si-do, fidgeting and holding the staff member’s attention with his eyes, gave up as soon as Jeong Hee-ji left the private room and spoke.
“Ah. One more person will be arriving. Could you bring another chair?”
“Yes, understood.”
Slice, slice, slice.
The meat cut smoothly.
While Jeong Hee-ji went to inform her friends and the staff member brought the chair, I finished slicing all the meat and began savoring it in earnest.
‘Mmm. This is incredible.’
Premium beef with a rich, savory depth in the juices themselves.
With high-quality meat seasoned with a fragrant, salty touch, each bite of the thickly sliced meat released savory juices that filled my mouth completely.
Emotion washed over me.
This was the finest steak I’d tasted since my meal at the Hotel.
As a hint of blood seeped from the meat, the primal carnivorous instinct buried deep within humanity surged to the surface.
Mmmmm.
Exquisite.
I swallowed the delighted exclamation threatening to spill from my lips and surrendered myself to the meat’s flavor.
The savory, umami-rich taste bloomed across my tongue and reverberated through my entire being.
Meat of such extraordinary quality delivers profound satisfaction and emotion in itself, which is why one rarely reaches for side dishes when experiencing something so sublime.
The true courtesy toward premium meat is to savor its pure flavor at length, then cleanse the palate with a modest portion of salad just as familiarity sets in, before returning focus to finish the meat entirely.
Because meat this delicious always comes in portions no larger than the palm of your hand.
“….”
After just a few bites, the plate lay empty, and Jeong Hee-ji, who said she’d relay the message to her friends and return, still hadn’t come back.
As I gazed down at the plate with sorrowful eyes, a voice suddenly broke through.
“…You certainly do eat well.”
Right, Jeong Si-do.
The meat was so delicious I’d momentarily forgotten his very existence.
Jeong Si-do’s expression seemed both somewhat displeased and genuinely, sincerely impressed.
“Shall we order another?”
“Thank you.”
I’d ordered moderately, trying to watch my diet, but clearly that wasn’t going to work.
Might as well get my money’s worth on someone else’s tab.
Creak—
Just then the door opened and Jeong Hee-ji returned.
Her expression was somewhat stiffened.
As Jeong Hee-ji stepped inside, another figure became visible standing behind her.
Oh.
So she’d run into Baek Hee-an outside—that explained why someone who supposedly just needed to relay a message took so long.
Baek Hee-an was dressed quite sharply for someone who’d just arrived.
Looking at Baek Hee-an’s expression as he walked toward me, I noticed Jeong Hee-ji’s face was equally stiff and uncomfortable.
This one’s the real deal.
Unlike Lee Yu-na, whom Baek Hee-an claimed he’d never actually dated, the air between Baek Hee-an and Jeong Hee-ji reeked unmistakably of ex-lovers.
Within an atmosphere that grew subtly solemn and cold, Jeong Hee-ji took the seat beside Jeong Si-do, while Baek Hee-an sat beside me.
“….”
An awkward tension settled over the Dining Table.
I wound pasta around my fork, popped it in my mouth, and observed the situation with quiet amusement.
Jeong Si-do was bothered by Jeong Hee-ji, Jeong Hee-ji was bothered by Baek Hee-an, and Baek Hee-an kept his expression rigid as if simultaneously wary of both Jeong Si-do and Jeong Hee-ji.
It was Jeong Si-do, the closest thing to a neutral party, who spoke first.
“Let’s order, shall we.”
As orders were placed smoothly, the atmosphere eased slightly.
I added another steak to the order.
I dipped the shrimp from my pasta along with some salad and offered Baek Hee-an a comment.
“You really did get here fast.”
“It’s close to my place.”
“Is that so? Is your place close by? I came straight from the Convenience Store.”
“Your place? It’s our place.”
“…?”
It was a fair point, but an oddly sudden correction.
Had she noticed that I had no intention of leaving anytime soon because the Training Ground on my floor was so good?
Just then, Jeong Hee-ji across from me asked in an alarmed voice.
“What are you talking about? Our place? Don’t tell me you two are living together?”
“It just happened that way.”
“Since when have you been living together?”
“Why does it matter to you?”
At his curt response, Jeong Hee-ji’s expression visibly twisted.
‘What the—?’
I widened my eyes and slurped my salad, while Jeong Si-do filled his glass with water as if he’d expected this all along.
Why was Baek Hee-an’s relationship with all his exes so utterly terrible?
‘I thought he might’ve changed after becoming famous, but it looks like he still cuts down clingy women the same way. But if he acts like that, how did the relationship even start?’
Baek Hee-an spoke in an irritated voice for some reason.
“I’m living with Joo Hyun-soo, and as you can see, she’s definitely female. You said yourself that you only care about men.”
Definitely female?
I almost bristled at that, but the conversation that followed was absolutely fascinating.
“Let me ask you straight up here. Was that really all we were? The beginning was like that, but I was sincere from the start.”
“Really? I was naive then. I only believed what you said about pretending to date me to keep the gay rumors away.”
Holy crap. Chills.
Jeong Si-do also widened his eyes in shock beside Jeong Hee-ji, clearly hearing this for the first time.
“That’s….”
Looks like he was shocked too.
The situation was so fascinating that my fork moved faster as I devoured my pasta.
This is gold. Pure gold.
Baek Hee-an spoke in a cold voice.
“I heard all about the photos you posted, the places you went together, what you said directly to close friends. I never asked for it, never discussed it with you, but rumors started spreading anyway. That’s when I figured it out.”
“….”
“That you didn’t want to pretend to date me—you wanted to actually date me.”
From what I gathered, the love story of the stunningly handsome and beautiful couple that had been a hot topic in the Hunter Community was roughly like this.
Jeong Hee-ji had suggested pretending to date Baek Hee-an, claiming her superior beauty would keep the gay rumors away, but Baek Hee-an had naively believed her and gone through with the fake relationship until he realized Jeong Hee-ji was sincere about him, at which point he dumped her.
‘If he figured it out, he should’ve just dated her normally. Why act so difficult?’
Though he really is an expensive guy.
What surprised me most was that despite Jeong Hee-ji being so beautiful and clever with her schemes, Baek Hee-an didn’t develop any feelings for her at all—which meant he definitely wasn’t gay.
‘Then what is he? Aromantic? Or does he have someone else he likes? It doesn’t seem to be Lee Yu-na though.’
As I continued eating my pasta with interest, Jeong Hee-ji suddenly looked at me.
I flinched.
“…Cough?”
I nearly choked for a moment.
Jeong Hee-ji bit her lip hard and stared at me like a tragic heroine who’d lost her man to a villainess.
Her eyes glistened with tears.
‘What, what is this? This terrifying pressure as if I’d done everything wrong.’
Soon after, Jeong Hee-ji dropped the dramatic gaze and glared downward before rising from her seat.
She stood up abruptly.
“Hee-ji!”
Jeong Si-do, who had frozen like a paused video upon hearing the shocking news, jumped up and chased after her.
The staff members who’d brought the trays looked at us with bewildered expressions.
They exchanged glances nervously as they moved the dishes.
Once they left, a heavy silence settled over the private room where only Baek Hee-an and I remained.
‘…Did she pay before leaving?’
If she didn’t, I’d make Baek Hee-an pay, then later send Jeong Si-do my account number to get reimbursed.
Still, being glared at by Jeong Hee-ji made my heart race with fear.
“Jeong Hee-ji is terrifying.”
“I agree.”
“…?”
I stared at Baek Hee-an in disbelief at his sudden agreement.
“After all that crude talk you just spouted?”
“If I hadn’t, Jeong Hee-ji would obsess over me even more going forward, and I’d get criticized for leaving her with false hope.”
“….”
I understood the logic.
The problem was that I, a shrimp, got caught up in the territorial disputes of whales.
The image of Jeong Hee-ji glaring at me overlapped with the sight of her throwing a punch at Hwang Beom-young, sending a chill down my spine.
“At this rate, I’m going to get hit by Jeong Hee-ji.”
“Surely not.”
“As you well know, I’m an extremely fragile and ordinary civilian. If Jeong Hee-ji tries to hit me, you’d better rush over and take the blow for me.”
Baek Hee-an looked at me with an expression full of things he wanted to say.
For some reason, he didn’t respond right away.
“…Okay.”
His answer came two full beats too late, and indignation surged within me.
“Did you just hesitate?”
“Usually when Jeong Si-do approaches, there’s always a reason for it. That evasive bastard doesn’t buy meals without a purpose.”
That damn word-twisting of his.
“Everyone knows. Obviously, you bought me dinner to approach me because of him. All these strange people keep flocking around. I need to escape from your place soon.”
“That’s not happening. I’ll handle everything, so don’t worry and just keep living here.”
“Shut up.”
I didn’t trust him at all.
The way he oddly disliked me leaving his place, combined with my observations, made Baek Hee-an seem far more suspicious than Jeong Si-do.
By the way, the four servings I’d inhaled that day all turned into fat.
Damn.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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