Chapter 13: The Dinner That Wasn’t Meant to Happen
Min-jae stood in his luxurious apartment, nervously pacing back and forth. The apartment was immaculate, every corner radiating wealth and sophistication. The soft lighting cast a warm glow, and everything smelled like expensive cologne—he had even made sure to spritz himself. "I have to make this perfect. Everything has to be perfect," he mumbled to himself, but his mind was anything but calm.
The place was a masterpiece, with a stunning view of the city, modern kitchen appliances, and sleek furniture that could have come straight out of a design magazine. "What if this is too much? Too flashy? What if she doesn't like it?" Thoughts raced through his mind. "It's just dinner, right? Just dinner. Why am I so nervous?"
He glanced around, at the city lights gleaming through the windows, the pristine furniture. "Yeah, this might be over the top…" He took another deep breath. "Just dinner, Min-jae. Just dinner."
The doorbell rang, and he practically jumped out of his skin. "Okay, here we go. Now or never." He straightened his shirt, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
There she was—Claire—of course, dressed to kill. "I swear, she has a sixth sense for these things." She stood in front of him wearing a black leather dress that left very little to the imagination. The straps barely held the fabric up, and the dress was so short it might as well have been a belt. "Seriously? Couldn't she have picked something a little more... modest?"
Min-jae stood there, his eyes glued to her, trying to maintain composure. "I should probably ask if she's aware of what she's doing to my sanity... and my focus."
"Claire," he said quietly, his heart racing. "You look... well, I don't even know how to put it... gorgeous?"
"Yeah, of course," Claire said with a smile as she walked into the apartment, and Min-jae couldn't help but notice how each step she took felt like a new challenge. "That's why I wore this—so you wouldn't get bored."
Min-jae tried to compose himself, but he was completely distracted. "So, here I am... in my luxurious apartment, with her wearing that dress. It could only be from a bad movie. How am I supposed to focus on anything?"
"What do you think of my place?" Claire started wandering around the apartment, clearly impressed. "I've never seen anything like this! I mean, this is like... a dream!"
Min-jae sighed. "Yeah, just regular rich people stuff... nothing special." But his focus wasn't on the apartment—it was on how Claire moved around, the dress clinging to her every move. "No, Min-jae, don't look. Don't let your eyes wander. This isn't good for your health."
As Claire continued to explore, Min-jae went to prepare dinner. "And of course, this has to be perfect. No way I can mess this up."
But Claire had other plans. "Why should I just sit while you cook?" she asked, deciding to help him in the kitchen. Her dress was so short that every move she made seemed to be a new challenge for Min-jae.
While she crouched down to clean up something that had fallen, she didn't even bother to hide what she was revealing. "Seriously, she knows exactly how to mess with my mind... She has no idea what she's doing, does she?" Min-jae tried to hold himself together, but he was losing the battle.
Claire, while wiping the floor, bent even lower, and Min-jae could practically feel every ounce of stress in his body. "Okay, this is the moment where I need to stop thinking with the lower half of my body and start using my brain. But of course, that's not as easy as it sounds. Because this moment is destroying me!"
His eyes, of course, were locked on her, and as she continued as though nothing unusual was happening, Min-jae realized that this would be a night he would definitely never forget.