I’m Not a Regressor - Chapter 259

Chapter 259: Date (1)

The next day, Ohjin waited for Isabella near Jamsil Station. It would’ve been simpler to leave the house together since they lived in the same place, but Isabella had wanted a more date-like atmosphere, which was why they’d decided to leave separately and meet at the station.

“Haa.” A deep sigh left Ohjin’s mouth as he sipped the canned coffee he’d bought from a convenience store. Taking the time to enjoy a date when the Heavenly Demon could act at any time was a problem in itself. Waiting in front of the station to go on a date with another woman when he already had a lover also caused him guilt.

‘She said it was okay, though.’ Complicated thoughts intertwined in his head.

“Oh, Ohjin. Have you been waiting long?” His conflicting thoughts vanished as soon as he saw Isabella emerge from her limousine. She was wearing a chestnut-brown turtleneck and a tulip skirt. Her two, slim legs were wrapped in black stockings.

A Hermes-brand bag hung from her left arm. Though her earrings and necklace weren’t too flashy, they were very expensive and added a subtle presence. More than anything else, her fluffy sweater hugged her body and clearly showed off her curves and the mounds of her chest.

No, ‘mountains’ seemed more apt…

“Ohjin?” she asked.

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry.” He returned to his senses and awkwardly smiled.

“I’m sorry. It took a while to get ready. Did you wait long?”

“No, I also just arrived,” he said. He wasn’t just saying that—he’d arrived at the station less than ten minutes before her. Since they lived in the same house, even if they left separately, their arrival time wasn’t much different.

“Hehe. That’s a relief.” Isabella smiled and naturally embraced Ohjin’s arm.

As soon as she got close, the fragrance of lilac stimulated his nose. “Did you buy a new perfume?” he asked.

“Fufu. Yes, since it’s spring.” As she said, it was a good scent for spring, when the cherry blossoms had just begun to bloom.

“It smells really good.” He didn’t know what brand it was, but it perfectly suited Isabella and her bright, platinum hair.

“Is… is that so?” she asked before suddenly pulling her smartphone out of her Hermes bag and sending a message somewhere. At a glance, it seemed she was telling someone to buy more perfume. It was probably a message to Roberto.

‘I’m sorry, old Roberto,’ Ohjin thought. He had a strange feeling that he had increased Roberto’s workload. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, Ohjin!” Isabella finished her text and vigorously nodded.

Ohjin and Isabella chose Lotte World for their date. It was a pretty common date location that most people in Seoul would have been to at least once.

“Are you sure this place is okay? An amusement park overseas would have better facilities,” Ohjin said. Lotte World was a pretty well-made amusement park, but it couldn’t be compared to famous amusement parks abroad. Of course, they’d have to travel for that, but it wasn’t a problem for Isabella, who even had a private jet.

“It’s okay. If I’m going to keep living in Korea, I have to get used to the culture.”

His thoughts intertwined again when he heard how naturally she spoke of moving to Korea. Once they entered, though, he cast those thoughts aside.

“Wow.” A short exclamation left Isabella’s mouth when she entered Lotte World. The inside was cutely created to look like something from a fairy tale, while noises and joyful screams echoed from every side.

“You said it’s your first time at an amusement park, right?” Ohjin asked.

“Yes, it’s my first time.” Isabella kept looking around in awe.

Ohjin smiled when he saw how she looked as excited as a child on a picnic.

“Have you ever been here?” she asked.

“Once.” When he was in the orphanage, he had gone under a state aid program. Since it was a program that required a public appearance, the children had been forced by the director to smile despite being tired, but it was still one of the few pleasant memories from his days in the hellish orphanage.

“Which one do you want to ride first?” he asked.

“Hmm. Wait a minute.” Isabella pulled out her smartphone again and quickly searched for something that looked like a squirrel peeling an acorn. Had she researched the rides in advance? The screen showed all of the rides in Lotte World and their characteristics in detail.

“Atlantis! I heard this is the most popular!” she exclaimed.

“Shall we go then?” Ohjin smiled and headed out to where the Atlantis ride was. The fresh spring breeze tickled his sun-warmed cheeks.

She pointed and said, “I guess it’s there, Ohjin!”

He saw a line of people waiting to get on. In the past, one to two hours of waiting for a ride was basic, and sometimes, you would have to wait more than three hours, but far fewer people visited amusement parks after the gate breaks began.

Well, even if it was barren, Korea was a good country to live in, so an amusement park was still in operation.

“If you wait for about 30 minutes, you’ll be able to ride,” he said. “Wait here for a moment. I’ll go get something to eat.”

“Something to eat?” she asked.

“There’s something you have to eat when you go to an amusement park.” Ohjin smiled and bought two churros at a nearby stall. The sugar-sprayed churros had a distinctive cinnamon scent.

Isabella looked at the food. “This is what you were talking about?”

“Yes. Try it.”

She took a careful bite. “Oh, it’s delicious.”

“Right?”

“Yes. It’s a dessert that would go well with coffee.” She broadly smiled, perhaps quite pleased with the churros. “Why is it a must-eat food at amusement parks?”

“Uh… I’m not sure.” Was there a particular reason…?

“Well, then this is like a part of Korean culture!” Isabella exclaimed.

Isabella’s eyes glistened with excitement as she ate her churros, and the line quickly shortened.

Rumble—!

Finally, they reached the front of the line, and the coaster sped past once at such high speed that it sounded like thunder, the cheers and screams of the people aboard following shortly after.

When it came to a stop, Isabella approached the front and asked, “Should I ride here?”

“Yes,” Ohjin replied as he took a seat at her side at the very front of the coaster.

“Okay, we’ll be going soon! Hold on to the safety bar, everyone!” the amusement park staff member shouted a few moments before the coaster suddenly accelerated to 72 kilometers per hour in 1.5 seconds.

“Huh…” While everyone else on the ride was letting out thrilled screams, a sour look crept onto Isabella’s face, and she let go of the safety bar. She was a superhuman who could go faster than the speed of sound, let alone 72km/hr. Of course, such a ride wasn’t thrilling to her.

“It’s not fun, is it?” Ohjin asked.

“N-no. It’s so much fun!”

Had it sounded like he was asking her if the date wasn’t fun? She seemed like she was about to cry as she firmly shook her head. “Let’s go ride something else.” It turned out that the most popular thrill rides weren’t very interesting to people with superhuman abilities.

“All the rides I looked into were similar to that…” she mumbled.

“How about a haunted house?” Ohjin asked. “Is that too childish?”

“A haunted house?” Isabella laughed. Wasn’t a haunted house one of those places that deliberately created a scary atmosphere and had part-timers dressed as ghosts scaring people? She had never been to one, but she had a rough understanding of them. “Yes, that sounds good.” Even still, she headed to the haunted house.

Shortly after they entered, she let out a piercing scream. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” She clutched Ohjin’s arms as tears welled up in her eyes. “O-Ohjin! Gh-ghosts!” Her face paled, and she pointed to a maiden ghost in white wobbling toward them.

“…Isabella?” Ohjin asked.

“H-hurry, let’s go!” she pleaded.

He laughed at her desperation. It didn’t seem like she was acting.

“Wh-why are you laughing?” Isabella screamed and slapped Ohjin on the back to make him move forward.

Squish—

The two mounds on her chest, which were showing their strong presence through her chestnut brown sweater, pressed against Ohjin.

“Ahem,” Ohjin coughed for no reason and slowly moved forward.

“Wow! O-Ohjin! A v-vampire! A vampire!”

“Really?” ‘You’re a vampire, too…’

“Ohjiiiinn!! Kyaaaaaaaa!”

Ohjin hurriedly exited the haunted house as her grip tightened on his arm to the point that it felt like his bones were about to break.

“Heuk, heuk!” Isabella panted after they just barely escaped. Perhaps it was out of a sense of relief, but Isabella wiped her tears away and spoke as she fixed her messed-up hair with a brush. “It… it wasn’t even that scary.”

“What…?” Ohjin asked. Would someone act like she had if they weren’t scared?

“I… I pretended to be a little scared so that I could touch you. Did you fall for it?” Isabella looked away and avoided meeting his gaze.

Ohjin playfully smiled and grabbed her hand. “Then, do you want to go in one more time?”

“N-no!” She cried out as her face paled.

“Pfft, hahaha!” He burst into laughter when he saw the clear fear on her face. He didn’t know there was such a side to the noble queen.

“Don’t tease me, Ohjin!” she shouted.

“Hahaha! I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He managed to hold back his laughter and looked at her as she puffed up her cheeks. “Shall we go eat?”

“Oh, it’s already time?” It was so late that lunchtime had passed before they knew it.

“What do you want to eat?” he asked.

“Um… do you call it street food? I want to eat that!”

“Street food?”

“Yes!” she insisted. There was nothing like street food for someone who wanted to learn about Korean culture.

“Is there a tteokbokki place here?” Ohjin visited the restaurant street and found a snack bar nearby. Though it was a fantasy-style setup, it was still in Korea, so they found a tteokbokki restaurant without much issue.

“Yeopgi Tteokbokki?” Isabella asked. “That’s a unique name.”

“It’s a pretty famous place,” Ohjin explained as they entered the restaurant. The menu had the options of mild, normal, and spicy flavors.

“I’ll have the spicy one!” Isabella looked at the menu and chose the spicy option without hesitation.

“Are you going to be okay? Even the mild one is pretty spicy.”

“Phew. Spicy food is part of Korean culture, right? Don’t worry,” Isabella continued, puffing out her chest, “I eat spicy food like kimchi stew and stir-fried spicy pork with no problem!”

“Uh… yeah.” Were those even… spicy? Ohjin tilted his head and ordered the same spicy option Isabella had. Before long, the steaming tteokbokki was served to them on a plate.

“Wow! This is tteokbokki!” Isabella’s eyes shone as she forked the food and took a bite of tteokbokki. “Huh? It’s not as spicy as I th…” Then… “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!” Her face turned red, and she began slapping her legs. When she urgently reached for the cup of water on the table…

“Uh, if you drink water…” Ohjin started to say, trying to tell her that water would only intensify the spiciness of food.

“Ugh!” Isabella inhaled the water and tensed her whole body, tears streaming from her eyes.

In the end, Ohjin offered her Coolpis, a traditional, juice-like Korean drink that dealt with spicy flavors like magic.

“Haa, haa!” Isabella, somewhat better after drinking Coolpis, shuddered and angrily cried out, “Ha… don’t you Koreans know what moderation is?!”

It was an inarguable point.

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