Seo Jung-woo asked Lee Seon-hwa,

“A coincidence?”

“I came to eat pork belly too.”

“Here?”

Baek Sung-min, who was sitting next to them, looked around the restaurant.

It was a typical neighborhood pork belly restaurant. An old place, its interior was more worn-out compared to modern restaurants.

And yet, Lee Seon-hwa had appeared there.

Still, Baek Sung-min did not doubt her. Looking at her, he felt as if he was blinded by her radiance.

‘Such a beautiful person being so down-to-earth. She’s a goddess!’

Lee Seon-hwa smiled and said,

“I had plans to eat pork belly with a friend, but they bailed on me. Now I have to eat dinner alone. Ah! By the way, if there’s an empty seat here, could I…?”

There were no empty seats.

Baek Sung-min immediately stood up.

“Please, sit here!”

“Oh my. Thank you. Detective, your name is…?”

“Baek Sung-min! I’m a fan!”

Lee Seon-hwa sat down next to Seo Jung-woo.

Baek Sung-min brought a chair from an empty table and sat at the corner of the table.

Looking at the grilled meat, Lee Seon-hwa said,

“It looks delicious.”

Baek Sung-min carefully asked,

“Y-you… do you eat pork belly, Ms. Lee Seon-hwa?”

It was Baek Sung-min who asked, but Lee Seon-hwa looked at Seo Jung-woo as she answered.

“Of course. I love it.”

Seo Jung-woo thought so too. That version of Lee Seon-hwa from the other world had eaten a whole pound of beef by herself just the other day.

‘Of course, she’d love meat. She doesn’t gain weight easily, so she probably doesn’t even diet.’

Baek Sung-min asked,

“Should we order beer? Or maybe plum wine? No, I’ll go out and buy some wine!”

Seo Jung-woo stopped him.

“Hyung, there’s no need. She’s fine with soju.”

Lee Seon-hwa asked,

“Oh my. How do you know that?”

“Just had a feeling.”

‘Because in that world, she’s a soju fiend.’

That world’s Lee Seon-hwa loved soju, a drink made by mixing ethanol and synthetic flavors in water.

Of course, she liked real soju even more. She once said at a movie-related event that soju suited her taste better than the wine she had there.

Just the other day, in that world, while eating meat, she had mentioned it again.

— I really want to drink real soju.

Most soju factories had shut down due to difficulties in sourcing ingredients. However, since there were still many enthusiasts, a small quantity was still being produced. Naturally, real soju was expensive.

Seo Jung-woo found himself thinking about the other world’s Lee Seon-hwa rather than the one in front of him.

‘I should buy a few bottles of soju tomorrow. That way, when Seon-hwa visits next, we can drink together.’

The Lee Seon-hwa from this world looked at Seo Jung-woo and thought,

‘He knows so much about me. That makes me think he really is my fan, but why is he reacting like this? Is he playing hard to get?’

She subconsciously licked her red lips slightly.

‘Yeah. A man who’s too easy isn’t fun.’

The men at the other tables who saw her did a double take.

‘Wow. As expected of Lee Seon-hwa.’

‘She’s unbelievably sexy.’

At that moment, 4cats were sitting in the waiting room at the broadcast station. Today was their first time appearing on a TV music show.

Even after completing rehearsals, Seo Sora and Yoon Nana couldn’t shake off their nerves.

“Nana, d-don’t be nervous.”

“I-I’m not nervous.”

“Your voice is shaking.”

“R-really?”

The twins, Park Ha-yeon and Park Da-yeon, weren’t nervous at all. They were so relaxed that they were chatting while looking at their smartphones.

Suddenly, Park Da-yeon, looking at her phone, shouted,

“Lee Seon-hwa just posted a picture of herself eating pork belly on SNS! Whoa!”

The three others quickly gathered around to look at her phone.

Seo Sora asked,

“Why? Is an actress not allowed to eat pork belly? Ah. Because it’s not a fancy restaurant?”

“No, no. Look at the caption!”

The caption read, ‘Having a pork belly dinner with the detectives who advised for The Princess’s Redemption. They’re treating me.’

“These detectives are the ones we saw when we visited the police station. I guess they went there today.”

Yoon Nana glanced at the photo and smirked.

“D oppa isn’t there?”

Seo Sora said,

“No, he is.”

“I don’t see him?”

She pointed to the edge of the photo. Only a portion of someone’s outfit was visible.

“That’s oppa. He was wearing this when he left this morning. That means… he’s sitting right next to Lee Seon-hwa?”

The twins clapped their hands.

“As expected of Detective D!”

“He must be dating a celebrity!”

Yoon Nana’s voice got louder.

“Hey! We’re celebrities too!”

“Nana unnie is mad!”

“But Nana unnie isn’t shaking anymore!”

The PD watched 4cats perform their song and was impressed.

“The more I listen, the better this song sounds. But…”

He tilted his head slightly.

“They’re total rookies, it’s their first time on TV, and this is a live broadcast. So why don’t they look nervous at all? They seemed a little unsure during rehearsals. Are they the type to thrive in actual performances?”

The assistant director beside him commented,

“Yoon Nana looks like she’s venting some deep-seated emotions.”

“She’s overflowing with energy. With a personality like that, it’s no wonder she bounced back so quickly from the kidnapping incident. Seo Sora sings really well, and the twins are adorable.”

“But their dance is simpler compared to current trends.”

“It’s simple, but it fits the song well. Fans will have an easy time following along. Whoever choreographed it did a great job making it match the song perfectly.”

After the TV broadcast aired, the internet forums were flooded with positive reactions.

— Seeing 4cats perform live on TV! Amazing!

— The twins are adorable!

— Yoon Nana is beautiful!

— Seo Sora sings the best.

— Seo Sora better be good at singing at least.

— Who are you? You!

— I will find you.

— I want to see them perform ‘Smash It’ on TV too.

— Seo Sora might end up smashing her guitar.

On the way back from the broadcast, Seo Sora was eagerly typing comments.

“I will find you. I will track you down…”

Yoon Nana sat in the backseat with the twins.

She stretched out both arms forward. The car was too cramped for her to extend them fully.

“Ah. It felt so good to just go all out.”

Manager Kim Hyeong-jin, who was driving, spoke up.

Yoon Nana sang with more emotion than usual today. Manager Kim Hyeong-jin commented,

“Nana, your singing had more emotion than usual today. You must be the type who gets stronger in real situations.”

Yoon Nana shook her head.

“I’m not that type.”

“Huh? Then what type are you?”

“The type whose combat power rises when faced with competition.”

“What does that even mean…?”

“It’s a real thing.”

Lee Seon-hwa was a well-known big eater in the acting world.

She had a natural body type that didn’t gain weight easily. So even if she ate a lot, as long as she managed herself before starting a new movie or drama, she could quickly get back to her filming shape.

But today, she didn’t eat a lot of pork belly or drink too much soju.

Instead, she ate it deliciously. The other people in the restaurant were so busy sneaking glances at her that they didn’t even notice their own meat burning on the grill.

She put down her chopsticks and said,

“Ah, that was really good.”

Baek Sung-min hurriedly offered,

“You can eat more!”

“No, I’m full.”

She turned to Seo Jung-woo and said,

“Next time, I’d like to treat you.”

“Public servants aren’t looked upon kindly when they accept free meals.”

She smiled brightly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll buy something cheap.”

As soon as she stepped out of the restaurant, a collective sigh came from the crowd.

“Wow, what a lucky day.”

“I didn’t know pork belly could be eaten so elegantly.”

Baek Sung-min asked Seo Jung-woo,

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did Lee Seon-hwa come here?”

“She came to eat pork belly.”

“Does that even make sense? Lee Seon-hwa eating pork belly?”

“Why wouldn’t she? She’s human too.”

“But she’ll gain weight! Pork belly makes you fat! She should be eating grass and dew to maintain that divine body of hers!”

“Cows eat grass, but they still get fat, don’t they?”

“T-That’s true?”

“Besides, Lee Seon-hwa has a body type that doesn’t gain weight easily, so she can eat pork belly without worrying.”

That wasn’t due to any special skill; it was just her natural physique. That’s why even in the other world, Lee Seon-hwa didn’t need to diet.

Seo Jung-woo suddenly had a thought.

‘Shooting skills enhance physical abilities. Perception skills improve observational awareness. Parallel dimension teleportation should also have some kind of secondary effect. What could it be?’

Most skills enhance the body to support their functions.

To shoot well, one needs quick reflexes, keen eyesight, and precision. So, the shooting skill boosts strength, agility, and dynamic vision.

‘There are no known secondary effects for teleportation, though.’

Teleportation was such a rare skill that its secondary effects weren’t well-documented.

‘Even those who have it might not know.’

Common skills had well-known effects.

But rare skills like teleportation had unknown side effects. Even the awakened individuals themselves often didn’t know what they were.

Skills varied slightly for each person who awakened them. Naturally, their secondary effects differed too.

One had to personally use a skill to understand it, and discovering its secondary effects also required self-experimentation. For a rare skill like teleportation, with little reference data, figuring out the secondary effects wasn’t easy.

‘I must be the only one who has awakened the parallel dimension teleportation skill. That means I have to discover its secondary effects myself.’

He was living in both worlds alternately—one day here, one day there. To others, a day passed, but for him, it was two days.

‘Could it be that I live twice as long?’

He still wasn’t sure.

‘If that’s the case, that would be amazing.’

Baek Sung-min asked,

“What are you smiling about all of a sudden?”

“Ah, I was just thinking… Is Lee Seon-hwa drinking and driving? She just drank soju and left.”

“What? Hey, don’t say such scary things… She’s a top star, of course her manager came to pick her up.”

Lee Seon-hwa walked to a parked sedan near the pork belly restaurant. She opened the door and got into the passenger seat. Her friend Kim Gyeong-mi was in the driver’s seat.

Kim Gyeong-mi grumbled,

“Did it taste good, ditching me and eating alone?”

Lee Seon-hwa grinned.

“I didn’t eat alone.”

“I knew it was suspicious when you offered to buy pork belly.”

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“I stopped eating midway to look elegant, so I’m still hungry. Let’s go eat more meat.”

The next afternoon, Seo Jung-woo bought several bottles of soju and crossed over to the other world.

He opened the food storage room attached to the underground shelter. There were plenty of canned goods left, but no snacks.

“I bought a bunch. When did they all disappear?”

He placed the soju and a few bags of snacks inside before heading back up.

These home shelters were designed to block small monster intrusions, so their doors and locks were built tough. It was difficult for thieves or outsiders to break in.

Since he never knew when a thief might enter, he always stored the food and supplies from the other world in the underground shelter.

After organizing his belongings, his phone rang—it was Lee Seon-hwa from this world.

“Yeah.”

– Since you treated me to beef, I’ll bring some drinks tonight.

“What are we going to eat this time?”

– Why are you like this? Sora said there’s still plenty of delicious food left!

“There’s a lot left. Aren’t you busy?”

– Not at all. No new projects yet. I’m super bored.

“Just come empty-handed. Let’s drink soju.”

– Huh? Soju? Real soju?

“Yeah.”

– Did you buy it just because I said I wanted real soju? That stuff’s expensive!

“I just picked it up on the way.”

– You’re unbelievable! Didn’t I tell you to save money?

“I got it for almost nothing.”

– Really? Good job! Wait for me, I’m coming right now!

“Not today. Come tomorrow. Sora’s out working today.”

– Don’t stop me! I’m coming! It won’t take long!

“I’m heading to an aptitude gate now, so take your time.”

– Huh? Why are you going there? That place is dangerous. Don’t go!

“I need to meet someone.”

– Promise me you won’t cross the gate defense line!