Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 255

1.

She wasn’t concerned with relationships, only that she wanted a cigarette.
But when Min Woo-seong asked about her connections, it seemed that her ties with him were deeper than expected.

‘The Guild Master chose a man over a woman?’

Perhaps it was because she found women easier to be around, or maybe it was because she hesitated with men.
Either way, it was a surprisingly uncharacteristic answer from the Guild Master, who was usually known for her preference for women.

‘They must be really close.’

Min Woo-seong, holding the steering wheel, glanced at the mirror while waiting for the traffic light.
Ha Eung Eung was fiddling with her pipe tobacco.
The Guild Master was indeed an avid smoker.
She spent at least two hours a day with a pipe in her mouth, so it wasn’t surprising she was getting restless in the car.
He casually spoke up.

“It’s fine if you smoke. I don’t mind.”
[I’ll go smoke a cigarette.]

She’s not even going to smoke it, just pulling it out?
Does this mean she plans to smoke it with that Park Ji-o guy?
Min Woo-seong’s expression stiffened.
The way she was handling the cigarette seemed oddly off.
He had thought that the only person who would be after the Guild Master’s attention was someone like Woo Ji-woo, a fool. But now, he felt caught off guard.

‘Park Ji-o. Who are you?’

Pretending to focus on driving, Min Woo-seong turned his head.
A quiet rage brewed in his eyes.

The playboy Park Ji-o.
He had been called that until last year, but his reputation had drastically changed recently.

“Park, are you a little softer these days? You don’t even go out to look for women anymore?”
“We’re always hanging around the same places, so when I have free time, I go out. Doesn’t matter about the women, but at least I need a drink.”

He had always pursued relationships where he exchanged only physical pleasure, sometimes indulging in even more convenient pleasures.
But after setting his eyes on Ha Eung Eung’s beauty, he cut off all his usual distractions and ended his partner relationships.

“Oppa, we were so good together, weren’t we?”
“Yeah, we were.”
“So why do you want to stop seeing me? Did you find someone else?”
“It’s not that I found someone new. There’s someone my heart is drawn to.”
“Really? I thought someone like you would never settle down. Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. You know I’m open-minded. But, it’ll be too late if you wait too long, okay?”

Even though he enjoyed his indulgences, he found himself growing cold when he realized he couldn’t have the woman he desired.
He was shocked by how he had considered other women as replacements for her.

“Park Ji-o is living the life of a gentleman these days?”
“He’s totally crazy. He used to enjoy all sorts of chaotic living, but now he’s suddenly acting like a changed man?”
“They say he’s fallen for some woman? I’m really curious about what kind of woman she is. I mean, for someone like him, stopping his partying habits and quitting gambling is unbelievable.”

His relationships with other composer colleagues, with whom he used to indulge in a hedonistic lifestyle, naturally drifted apart.
Though it wasn’t like they gossiped behind his back, more and more people were avoiding him, and he had little to no business dealings with them.
As a composer, all you really need is a client who buys your songs.

“Ugh. This is so frustrating.”

Frustrated, Park Ji-o messed with his hair and threw on his coat before entering the elevator.
When a woman entered at the next stop, her surprised exclamation caught his attention.
It felt like she was watching him from a diagonal angle, her gaze practically burning his skin.

‘She’s rather plain. Maybe she hasn’t been to any clubs or parties, just an ordinary girl. Though, her hips seem a bit bigger than I expected. Not because she works out, but maybe because she gained some weight? It’ll be nice from behind.’

Park Ji-o slipped into his old playboy habits, casually assessing the woman in front of him.
If he wanted to, he could kiss her within a minute, but his instincts told him not to act rashly.

“Uhm… Excuse me…”
“Oh.”

Had he stared too long?
Without realizing it, he had been staring at the woman for too long through the mirror.
She twisted her body, embarrassed, which sparked a playful feeling in him.

“Please don’t fall for me too much.”
“Oh… You have a girlfriend, don’t you?”

The man, who had been there before him, looked completely betrayed, his shock evident as he stared at the woman.
Hadn’t she always been aloof and sharp-eyed? And now, whenever someone spoke to her, she made up excuses to avoid commitments?

‘This guy likes her.’

In the past, he would have proudly held her hand, flaunting his dominance as a man, but after experiencing the pain of unrequited love, his attitude had changed.
He could easily toy with her like prey, but for some reason, he just turned his head without touching her.

Crunch.

The girl, embarrassed from her awkwardness, glanced nervously at him, but he chose to ignore it.
‘This is still a lot more than I would’ve given her last year.’

An attractive person has absolute dominance in unfamiliar surroundings.
Good looks are like having the first move in a game.
As he took the elevator and stepped outside, he could feel the attention from everyone around him.
The men in the gym, the women at the cafe’s outdoor terrace, and even the office workers during lunch—each of them noticed his presence.

In those moments, he felt as if the world existed for him.

‘I’m such a fool. Just a little attention, and I get so proud and start enjoying it.’

He reached into his coat and grabbed his cigarette pack.
And then he froze.
His hand holding the cigarette, his steps toward the smoking booth, and even his gaze toward the woman before him—all of it stopped.
It was as if time had frozen when he realized she was Ha Eung Eung.

A soft, alluring fragrance wafted by, not the artificial scent of perfume, but something gentler, like a breeze carrying it.
The same excitement he had seen others feel filled his chest.

Everything was different now.
Her long hair, pulled up with a pin, her exposed neck, and even the plastic umbrella she carried, none of it was the same as before.
The man in a suit standing next to her, seemingly invisible, only added to her changed aura.
This wasn’t the same as when they used to meet in the music practice room downstairs.

Swish.

Ha Eung Eung raised her hand, showing the pipe tobacco in her grasp.
Her fingers, almost too mesmerizing to touch, lightly tapped the tobacco pipe with her nails.
It was a signal, one they had shared countless times, silently exchanging messages late at night without disturbing the other practice room users.

• Do you want to have one?

The signal had always come from Ha Eung Eung, and Park Ji-o’s answer was always the same.

Click.

Holding a cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other, Park Ji-o followed her.
His steps were lighter than ever.

The Guild Master’s smoking sessions were long.
Not just ordinary cigarettes, but pipe tobacco, which took time to smoke, much like savoring a cigar.
She was such an avid smoker that she cleared her schedule just to enjoy the smoking time, not merely to gain energy from it.

‘I should’ve smoked as well.’

He had been annoyed when the Guild Master gave him that glare earlier, as if he were a nuisance for not smoking.
He had felt too insignificant standing outside the smoking booth, while she had been inside enjoying her pipe.

“If you need info support, go ahead.”

He knew that using the National Security Agency’s information line like this could be dangerous.
If they suspected he had been infiltrating them, they might cut off all his support in an instant.

“Name: Park Ji-o. Current active composer. Address: Haenam 1-dong, Geumseon Office 603. Please provide all relevant personal details and any notable characteristics.”

Jealousy in men is ugly.
And jealousy that’s acted on is even worse.
Whether as an information agent, a guesthouse manager, or just a man, he felt his pride cracking in real-time.
But from the moment he first saw Park Ji-o, he had felt that unease.

‘He’s annoyingly handsome.’

And Park Ji-o knew this.
He was a man who knew how to use his looks.
But that wasn’t all—he didn’t rely on his looks alone.

Agency Report: Investigations show Park Ji-o is currently a top A-class composer, signing 7 hit song contracts last year with several top-tier entertainment agencies. The highest single contract fee was 3.5 billion.
Agency Report: Currently earning an average of 30 million per track, though he is on a long break this year.

He was talented. Exceptionally so.
He wasn’t an awakened one, but according to the awakening-grade system, he was considered at the level of senior members in Teen Guild or guild leaders in major guilds.

Agency Report: His history with women has been notorious, but it’s assumed he has recently ended all his relationships and cut ties with the entertainment industry.
Agency Report: No health issues noted from credit checks and phone data review.

Even his only flaw, his notorious relationships, had been cleaned up.

‘He’s not someone to be taken lightly.’

A player who had turned the game around.
He was a dangerous man, especially when it came to a woman who wasn’t even his.

• The cigarette smell. Yes, this was what I missed. The scent of this woman was exactly what I remember.
• I miss it. The days when we smoked together early in the morning. It’d be nice if we could go back to those times.

If the person standing before him was thinking anything meaningful, and he had to stand by and silently observe outside the smoking booth, it became even harder to hold back his desire.