Chapter 42 – Volunteering (3)
“Mr. Suhyun.”
Yoo-jeong, who parked her car on the edge of the nursery school, waved at me and said, I was relieved when I saw the senior’s brightly smiling face. As soon as Yoo-jeong arrived, he asked me in a friendly and kind tone.
“Wasn’t the volunteer work hard today?”
“Yes. It was fine. It’s a Hunter. It’s easy enough.”
I raised my hand to make biceps. Heavy muscles of plausible size were nestled in his arms. Senior Yoojung naturally touched my arm and nodded her head. Ichie was waving to senior Yoojung from behind me. The two made eye contact and smiled at each other.
Senior Yoojung said.
“Miss Ichie. He said he wouldn’t come because it bothered me. How did you come,”
Ichie poked my back with his finger and said.
“It’s a team.”
“I’m on the same team, but it’s a bit sad that it’s a secret from me. Ichie Yang. Aren’t we on the same team?”
“It is a team. Still, I think this should be done with the same apprentice hunters. It’s meaningless when an older sister is with her.”
“…I’m not that old. There are actually more of Suhyun.”
“Is it so? Suhyeon-sang is trendy, so I didn’t know.”
It was true. Senior Yoojung was only senior in terms of career, but I was 3 years older than her. It was because I was the type to enter the academy very late. Awakeners usually entered the academy after determining their abilities in their early twenties. It was very grateful that she looked at me young.
Ichie added.
“I was speechless. I don’t know Korean well. Not the elders. Experienced.”
“Yes? But well, even if I don’t do volunteer work together, ‘our’ Suhyeon and Ichie-san could buy me a snack.”
“It’s not that hard, then I’m sorry. We know that Yoojung unnie is busy, so we are proud of each other.”
The expression “Sigh” Was quite cute. Senior Yu-jeong smiled and nodded her head. In her ichi, she was shaking her head, making eye contact with senior Yoo Jung. The two exchanged friendly gazes for a while, making eye contact without speaking, then suddenly looked away. Senior Yujeong held my arm tightly and said to her reasoning.
“Then shall we go eat? I will live.”
“Great.”
Ichie replied in a warm voice. We moved her steps to the restaurant Ichie had mentioned about, her Budae Jjigae. As a restaurant with a title of 30 years of tradition, the inside of the restaurant was full of customers. We were facing each other in front of bubbling budaejjigae. Senior Yoojeong was sitting next to me, and Ichie was facing me.
Ichie raised a ladle and started scooping her budae stew on the plate in front of her. She gave one to senior Yoojung first, and then she gave it in front of me. She said in ichi.
“She was taught that the adults should scoop it up first.”
“Ichie, you studied Korean hard.”
“That’s right. Soo Hyun Sang. Since he is older than me, he floats first.”
“I have to show a more mature side of myself, but I’m sorry.”
“I’ll make the point.”
Senior Yujeong took a ladle and scooped up plenty of ramen noodles and ham to Ichie. Senior Yoo Jung said.
“Because I am still young, I have to eat a lot. That’s how it grows.”
“Thank you. You are a good person.”
“I’m really happy to meet a good junior like Ichi.”
The friendly atmosphere continued. I took an appropriate amount of soup and ate it with rice, and in Ichie, I left the soup and ate mainly sari and ham. Senior Yoojeong tried to take care of me by asking questions like ‘would you like to have a drink’ or ‘would you like some water?’.
The boring meal time is over. After scraping the budae stew all the way to the bottom, we reached the end of our satiety and faced each other with satisfied expressions. Just as senior Yoo-jeong was about to say something, Ichie picked up the phone and his expression hardened. She left her seat for a moment with her phone, and she returned within minutes.
Ichie said as soon as she arrived, she packed her bag and belongings.
“My uncle is calling. I want to stay longer. You can’t be late. They said it was dangerous to go around late at night.”
“Is it so. That’s too bad. It would be nice to stay longer.”
Ichie nodded and agreed when Yu-jeong senior said that.
“That’s right. It’s fun being with Yoojung unnie. I’m sorry.”
Senior Yoo-jeong suddenly wrapped her arm around mine and said.
“Then we’ll hang out at the cafe a little longer.”
Ichie silently nodded, packed her things, and left the restaurant. As soon as senior Yu-jeong came to her senses, she grabbed my hand tightly. The tension between her fingers made her feel a little sore. Senior Yoo Jung said.
“Shall we wake up too?”
“Yes.”
After paying the bill, we got into the car. As soon as Senior Yu got behind the wheel, she gave her a wry smile, then took a deep breath and looked at me. And so she said.
“Flirt.”
“Yes?”
I expressed resentment at the sudden suspicion. A playboy, I’ve never seen a woman other than senior Yoo-jung, and I’ve never had sex with another woman except for being a daughter of her Almighty. Considering that sexual intercourse with Almighty Emperor happened in my imagination, so it was a no-count, I was like a sunflower who literally only looked at senior Yoo Jung.
When I looked at her as if I was unfair, senior Yoo-jeong slightly narrowed her eyes. She said.
“Look at Ichie. I fell in love with Mr. Suhyeon and now he’s just wagging his tail. Just like a fox.”
“Ah, since there is no one to rely on in Korea, it must be more friendly. Relatives come and go for a while. The more that happens, the more I think we should do better. “
I couldn’t believe Ichie liked me. Could something like that happen? Senior Yoo-jeong laughed at my words and leaned her head against her.
“Our Mr. Suhyun. How are you going to live in this harsh world being so naive?”
“Yoo-jung sunbaenim will be with you, right?”
“Oh, that’s gross.”
Senior Yoo-jeong said that, but she didn’t seem displeased. The car hasn’t started yet. People passing by the quiet vehicle were busy stretching their feet toward their respective destinations. Senior Yoojeong was leaning on my shoulder without saying a word. I leaned my head against her and closed her eyes. She was tired from doing volunteer work, so it seemed like she would fall asleep even if she closed her eyes.
*****
The front door of the luxurious villa opened. A middle-aged man in a floral suit standing in the middle of the living room with an impatient face raised his head down and frowned at her. She greeted her in a very calm tone, while Ichie was unable to check the complexion of her man as he took off her shoes.
“I’m back.”
“It makes sense. What about dinner?”
“Yes. I ate it.”
“I need to contact you. In a sense. Otherwise, sister-in-law. Because i’m worried The world is dangerous these days, so you shouldn’t go around late at night.”
“Hunters are not dangerous.”
Ichie said as she hung the sword she was wearing around her waist against the wall. And as she stretched, she threw herself on the sofa. She looked so tired as she picked up her pillow and leaned her neck against her armrest, sighing deeply. Ichie’s uncle still spoke in broken Korean. She said that in order for Ichie to become more familiar with her Korean, she had to speak Korean at home as well.
“Soo Hyun-sang. I get along well? Do a background investigation. A woman named Kim Yoo-jung started going out with that man. Maybe the two of you are dating, or… Maybe you have romantic feelings.”
“You two are dating.”
Ichie said she calmly. She was looking through the text messages sent by Kim Yoo-jung on her cell phone. She wasn’t stupid No matter how hard Kim Yoo-jung and Jeong Su-hyeon tried to hide it, it naturally showed through their words and actions. Kim Yoo-jung just had a lot of contact between her seniors and juniors, and Jung Soo-hyun naturally accepted such skinship.
In response to Ichie’s calm words, Ichie’s uncle said with an expression on her face.
“Flirt… Bird… Young… !”
Ichie said, getting up again when her uncle reacted with a vengeance.
“Does not matter. I approach you knowing that you are dating.”
“It makes sense. Joe has a lot of men. Why are you dating a guy who has a girlfriend?”
Her uncle told Ichie. Ichie shook her head and said.
“I like that person. Soo Hyun Sang. Because he is a good man I have it.”
“Korea. Not bigamy. How are you dating?”
“All we have to do is come to an agreement. If Yoojung unnie and Suhyeon-san say they like it, the three of them date. Yoojung unnie is a good person. Soo-hyun-sang is a good person. I don’t like breaking up with good people. So, the three of us are dating.”
The uncle looked at Ichie with a puzzled face. It was because it seemed that it would be difficult to do that even thinking about cancer. Jung Su-hyeon thought she would like it if two women asked her to date, but would Kim Yoo-jung willingly share his man? Ichie said, letting her eyes smile.
“It will be all right if we talk.”
******
It was the next day. Ichie sent a text message saying he was sorry that he couldn’t go to volunteer work today. It seemed like he was busy having an important talk with someone he knew. Senior Yu-jeong also looked at her cell phone with a very nervous face from the time we met this afternoon, and showed an uneasy look by flicking her fingers.
Thanks to that, I was now alone in front of the nursery school. Inside the nursery school, a large man was frantically carrying a load. He was wearing a hat, so I couldn’t see who it was. I greeted the staff member looking through the door and started moving the luggage piled up in the truck together.
“I will help you.”
“Thank you young man.”
Huh? Somehow, I felt a sense of incongruity in the old-fashioned way of speaking. I thought I had seen those thick forearms somewhere. Her hair was very long, tucked under her hat. He was a head taller than me, and his wrinkled face was full of life.
Pacheonwang Choi Soon-hong. He smiled at me and asked for a handshake.
“I saw you once before. Have you been to volunteer work? This is a very courageous young man.”
“Ah yes.”
I was confused.
