Hideout (1)
. This is insane. I never dreamed in a million years they'd agree so easily. Even now, thinking back on it, I still feel dizzy. That day, I was so pumped I called Maru right away, and she actually said she'd help me look. How is she so amazing?!
After that, I told Pyeong-nim too, and I could practically hear the shock in her voice. I was surprised myself, so she must've been completely floored. Hehe.
For the first time ever, I put on a bright white outfit and skirt. Maru bought it for me. I should give her a shout-out. But wearing it for the first time felt weird. I wasn't even sure it counted as real clothes. And every time I moved… I kept worrying my panties would show. It was so uncomfortable I seriously considered taking it off. But…!! I had to give Maru that shout-out. When else would I get the chance?
I used GPT and YouTube to figure out how to make it feel less awkward. If I hadn't looked it up, I never would've known. My closet was hiding all kinds of clothes. Pretty much anything you could think of was in there. I dug through it like crazy. There were shorts…!! Huh? What's this? A pair of baggy jeans sat there. They looked comfy. I actually hate jeans. There's a reason—when you cinch the belt tight, the waistband digs into your skin and hurts like crazy. The fabric bunches up and presses right against your waist. It was so painful that I usually stuck to tracksuits because of the bad memories.
“Ooh…?!” But these were different. The waist was soft, like a tracksuit. “When did I even buy these?” I pulled the jeans out and checked. Hmm… I really had no idea. Zero memory. I was planning to wear the skirt, but these might work too? Yeah… skirts could wait. First, I had to conquer jeans… Alright.
I got dressed and stepped outside. “Hmm…” Then I went right back in. It wasn't spring yet. It was still winter. Freezing cold, so I started over with a new outfit.
***
Seon-a debuted her suede Mustang jacket for the first time—leather on the outside, fleece on the inside. For someone who only ever wore black padding, it was a huge leap forward. Next came the white knit sweater. That alone was impressive growth; she hated anything that felt scratchy against her neck. But she endured it just to give Maru a proper shout-out. And as if that wasn't enough, she even wore an A-line long skirt. These were outfits she'd worked up serious courage to wear.
The moment Seon-a spotted Maru, she rushed over. “Maru-nim!! Maru-nim!! I gave you a shout-out! It was a winter clothes shout-out!! Isn't that awesome?”
“Good job. You look really pretty.”
“Ehehe. I totally shouted you out, Maru-nim!! Right?”
“You did great. Though I remember you saying before that you'd rather have a gift card than clothes?”
“Huh… Really?” Seon-a had no recollection. She was terrible at remembering things that worked in her favor, and even worse at remembering the inconvenient ones—except for a few rare exceptions.
“If I really said that… I'm sorry!! I didn't know!!”
“Haha, it's fine. These things happen. Still, I'm glad you wore it~”
“Really? I've still got plenty left. I'll work up the courage!”
“Pfft… You need courage just to wear clothes?”
“Yes!! I really had to psych myself up. I'm the kind of person who doesn't wear jeans either.” Seon-a smiled brightly, looking proud of herself.
“That's great~ Well done. Now… shall we go?”
“Ah!! Not yet. Pyeong-nim hasn't arrived. Once she gets here, we'll all go together. But what am I supposed to do until then?”
“What do you mean? The office? You said you were coming up to Seoul.”
“That's right!! Should I explain the situation? Want me to tell you everything that's happened so far… the full story?”
“Uh… here?” Maru glanced around. Seon-a was so excited she'd completely forgotten they were standing in the middle of the street.
“Ah!! You're right. Where should I tell you?”
“Want to head to a café nearby?”
“Sounds good!! Pyeong-nim might take a while… I don't know. Let's go to the café!! I'll tell you the whole story on the way.”
Seon-a couldn't hold it in anymore. She wanted to spill everything right away. Her mouth was itching so badly she started talking before they even reached the café.
“It's a long story. Really long.”
“Take your time. I'm listening.”
“Yep!! Thank you. So, to explain… I had lunch with Pyeong-nim. The office came up then. Um… I'd actually been thinking about getting an office before, so I mentioned it to her. Oh, wait—how I explained it to my parents was… I told them I was moving to Seoul!! Then… no, hold on. Let me think for a second. Um… so, talking to Pyeong-nim came first, right?”
Even knowing Seon-a's unique way of speaking, Yu-jin found it nearly impossible to follow everything. Half the time there was no context, and she mostly muttered to herself. Still, Yu-jin kept a bright smile and nodded along.
“You can speak slowly. We've got plenty of time~”
“Yep!!” Seon-a liked that Yu-jin was willing to listen. Fresh waves of respect welled up inside her.
“So, you know… I just chatted about this and that with Pyeong-nim. That's it. No need to go into more detail there. Too much backstory. Let's skip to how I convinced my parents. Nailed the key point, right? Right?”
“Ooh!! Good job.”
“Ehehe. I've really grown a lot!!”
“I can tell. Feels like you've leveled up a hundred times.”
“A hundred levels?! Really?!” Seon-a's eyes widened to their absolute limit. A hundred levels was growth she couldn't even imagine.
“Really. Compared to when we first met, you've grown a hundred levels… no, two hundred levels. You've come so far. It's impressive.”
“Hihihihit. Really? Really really? Truly?” Seon-a kept asking. Being acknowledged by someone felt wonderful. She couldn't hide her joy.
“Really. You've done amazingly well.”
“Wow!! Seriously. I'm so touched… I'm not crying. Ehehe. Okay, let me explain properly. So, what I told my parents was… I'm moving to Seoul now. That's what I said.”
“Oh… question.”
“Yep!! I'm ready for questions.”
“Why did your parents agree to let you live alone? How did you manage to get permission?”
“Uh… that was… I won. I went on a hunger strike. I stopped talking to them, stayed in bed the whole time, and protested until they gave in. I was really hungry, but I held out. Honestly.” Seon-a let out a breath and continued.
“Even then, they still said no, so I ran away from home!! I took all the money I'd saved, didn't go back, and went to stay with my aunt in Incheon. That's when they called and said they were sorry and that they'd let me do it.”
“I knew something was off…” Yu-jin nodded, finally understanding the part that had confused her the most. It still didn't fully add up. With Seon-a's parents' personalities, they should've kept her on a tight leash. Why had they lost to their own daughter? The answer was simple, almost miraculous—she was their long-awaited, miracle child. Nothing else could explain it. Even running away to her aunt's house had been a massive shock to them. Yu-jin didn't know that detail, so she could never fully grasp the whole story. Not in her lifetime.
“So that's how you got permission?”
“Yes!! Living alone was hard. My parents… they kept saying they'd move nearby if I moved out, so I told them I'd just move again. There were so many ups and downs before I started streaming. They came over every three days at one point, and sometimes even showed up for lunch and dinner!! But those days were actually good. Want to know why?”
“Why?”
“I didn't spend my allowance back then. Living alone, I realized… if you don't manage your money, it disappears in an instant. I was eating ramen every day. I needed to top up in games and eat too… so I was constantly hungry.”
“How much allowance did you get?”
“Me? At first it was three… three million won? Then it kept getting cut until it was down to a million, then five hundred thousand… Dad would secretly give me another five hundred thousand sometimes… Yeah. He said if I was going to move out, I had to work!! So he kept reducing the money unless I got a job. If I didn't like it, I could come home. If I didn't want that, I had to get a part-time job. Oh!! Or get married. To me. I hated that idea so much. So I held out!!”
Listening to Seon-a's story, Yu-jin nodded and muttered, “Good thing you came to Seoul. You did well. Choosing Seoul was the right call. Really well done.”
Yu-jin reached out and gently patted Seon-a's head. “You did so well. You made the right choice. You needed to come to Seoul.”
“Huh? Thank you!! Ehehe.”
“Good job. Really good.”
“Ehehe. Was it awesome?”
“Yeah. Really awesome. Well done.” Yu-jin couldn't think of anything else to say besides praise. Before they knew it, they'd arrived at the café.
“I'll have a cocoa!!”
“Sure~ Anything else?”
“Nope!! I already ordered, so I'll keep talking? We're on page two now!!”
“Sounds good. I'll keep my ears wide open~”
“Khehehe. Yep!!” Seon-a grinned from ear to ear before continuing. “So, where should we set up the office?”
“Hmm… near your place?”
“My place… where? My house?”
“Yeah.”
Seon-a ran a quick mental simulation of having an office near her house. The result came back: very bad idea.
“No way. Absolutely not. If I'm near home, it'll be too hard. I want it next to Maru-nim's place!!”
“That'd be a bit inconvenient for me~”
“We can share it.”
“It's okay. I've got everything set up at home already… hehe.”
“I'll make it super comfortable for you. I'll do everything. You can use it whenever you want!! Come over when you don't feel like working at home!!”
“Uh… I'll just take the thought.”
“Then you won't come?” Seon-a pouted, lips sticking out. She'd wanted to use it like a hangout spot with friends, and hearing Maru say she wouldn't come made her a little sad.
“It's not that. I'll just drop by personally sometimes.”
“Ooh!! Then that's fine. Just no streaming? You'll come and go?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I'll stock up on drinks!! Should I put some manhwa in there too?”
“Just Netflix?”
“Got it!! Super fast Wi-Fi. Coffee machine too!! And… um… I'll throw in a blanket. It'll be just like a real hideout, right?”
“Sounds perfect.” Yu-jin smiled with her eyes, nodding along. The more she agreed, the more excited Seon-a became. They kept discussing the hideout until Pyeong-nim arrived. In Seon-a's imagination, the place was on par with a five-star hotel. Of course, it was pure fantasy, so she kept blurting out whatever came to mind.