Chapter 3
How could a simple, decent woman like me understand what he meant?
I didn’t answer. I got straight to work on the car.
This was my first repair on my own. I soon became so absorbed that I almost forgot the handsome man beside me.
When I crawled out from under the car, I held a wrench in my hand and had engine oil smeared across my face.
I hadn’t been particularly graceful, but I’d really finished the job by myself.
Feeling pleased, I took off my gloves, tucked them at my waist, shook out my sweaty hair, and couldn’t resist twirling the wrench once.
It was a perfectly ordinary moment in my life. The rich young man beside me, however, was utterly bewitched.
“So wild.”
“So womanly!”
When he noticed me reaching for my unfinished steamed bun, he got carried away.
“What’s so good about that?”
“Let me take you out to eat.”
His sudden approach reminded me of the playboys in my old world. My face went pale, and I knocked his hand away.
“No!”
The young man was stunned.
He had never met a woman so impervious to male beauty, even a little cold and hard.
She could bring herself to push away a handsome man like him.
While he stood dazed,
I kept my expression cold, though inside I was uneasy.
The manager had called him an important client. Had I been too rude?
I shot him a guilty glance and hurriedly reached out to pull his clothes closed over his chest.
“Dress properly at night.”
“Boys need to protect themselves when they go out.”
Afterward,
my fingers curled awkwardly.
That little show of consideration should keep him from getting angry, right?
His expression did change. He looked even more dazed.
What a gentle woman.
Other women wanted to see more of his pecs. I not only refused to look; I even pulled his clothes closed.
He could no longer keep up his pretend flirtatiousness with me.
For some reason, he grew shy.
“You’re pretty interesting.”
“Let’s exchange numbers.”
I stepped back.
“I’m twenty-eight, you know.”
He blushed harder.
“I know, I know! I’ll call you big sister from now on, okay?”
“God, I love that nurturing vibe older women have!”
Starting the next day,
the young man appeared outside the repair shop on time as though he were clocking in for work.
He switched to a college-boy look and wore far fewer accessories. Without the extravagant outfit he’d worn when we met, he looked rather innocent.
He came close to explain.
“Never mind what I was wearing when you first met me.”
“I’m actually a good boy.”
“I’m nineteen, and you’re twenty-eight. I hear older women know how to look after someone. When we’re together, you’ll have to spoil me.”
I was shocked.
Could life really be this good?
Even in the better books I’d entered, I’d only heard of domineering male leads and gentle second male leads.
When had I ever met a sweet, simple young man over 180 centimeters tall, with a softer temper, a tighter body, bigger pecs, and a slightly silly, obedient streak?
I thought I’d run into a scammer.
I couldn’t let some bad man swindle me out of the wages I’d earned fixing cars. I refused tactfully.
“We belong to different worlds.”
He wouldn’t accept that.
“I don’t care that you’re poor. My family can’t control me either.”
“Do you want me?”
“Once I’ve given myself to you, my family will have to agree to us being together.”
As he spoke, he pressed his chest toward me.
I quickly dodged.
“Don’t do that.”
“I have work to do.”
His eyes reddened.
“Su Mi! Do you think I’m like this with everyone?”
“It’s because I like you.”
“I’m not that kind of man.”
With that, he ran off in a huff.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
But at lunchtime he returned, bringing food packed up from a private-dining restaurant.
His eyes were still red. Yet he was worried I would make do with another steamed bun, so he swallowed his pride and brought me lunch.
He asked the manager for a table, set out five dishes and a soup, then sat beside it with his back to me, sulking.
He said nothing, and I didn’t dare eat.
What if he demanded payment afterward?
Unable to hold back, he turned and shot me an embarrassed, angry look.
“Idiot!”
“Do I have to feed you too?”
I finally sat down.
He was still feeling aggrieved, muttering who knew what with his back turned.
Meanwhile, I was happily alternating mouthfuls of rice and meat.
Why was the food in this world so delicious? It was much better than what I’d eaten in my last world.
Chew, chew, chew.
A girl needed plenty of meat to have the strength to work.
By the time he turned around,
there was no meat left in any of the five dishes.
I gave him a guilty glance and pushed the plates toward him.
“Have you eaten? Want some too?”
He was delighted.
“You act tough, but you’re soft inside.”
“You say we’re from different worlds, but you actually care about me. You even noticed I haven’t eaten.”
“Well, I suppose I’ll have a little!”
He glanced at the dishes and saw nothing wrong with what I’d left him.
He even took a tiny baby’s bowl out of the food container and put just a little food in it.
“I don’t eat much. A little is enough.”
He had to eat less around women to look elegant.
Once he left the repair shop, he would get a proper meal and replenish the energy it took to maintain his pecs.
A man without those divine pecs—what woman would want him?
Women were such silly little things. They thought men were born with pecs. Born with them? As if! Men trained in secret.
There were no ugly men, only lazy ones.
I had no idea what he was thinking. I just kept smiling honestly.
“As long as you like it.”
He smiled sweetly too.
“Older women really do know how to spoil a man.”