Chapter 581: Next Day
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 581: Next Day
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The sound of someone sprinting outside echoed through the air.
Normally, the sound alone would have been enough to make me freeze in terror, but we were currently pumped full of dopamine and adrenaline from our earlier insane declarations. To us, it was nothing more than the desperate struggle of a fleeing enemy.
"Go get him!"
"That son of a bitch! He really was there!"
"Catch him and we’re all going to be rich!"
Each of us chased after the figure, harboring our own individual dreams.
We didn't know if it was a physical entity or what its identity was. But we felt a fluttering excitement, a conviction that the moment we caught it, something grand would be achieved.
Someone even started shouting about their dreams.
If so, wasn't this basically the One Piece?
Yes, right now, we were pirates.
However, we weren't the adventurous, romanticized pirates you see in anime; we were more like Somali pirates.
Our footsteps as we swarmed out could only be described as ecstatic.
You might call us immature, but in the real world, there are very few opportunities to get legally angry like this. We were simply seizing that opportunity.
"Get him!"
"You little shit!"
"Thief!"
We poured out into the yard.
What we saw in the pitch-black darkness wasn't a ghost light... it was a smartphone screen.
"Aaaaah?!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
A man and a woman screamed.
One was a familiar face—our benefactor, Bong-geun.
The other was a woman who, if I had to describe her, looked like a Chinese actress. She had the look of a daughter-in-law from a chaebol family. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not, but that was the vibe.
The moment we saw them, we realized what a massive misunderstanding we’d been under, and we finally discovered what the One Piece we’d been searching for actually was.
"Oh, right. I forgot he said he was coming."
I was the one who invited him, and I’d completely forgotten.
Bong-geun, looking like he was on the verge of tears as he stared at us, shouted in a voice full of grievance.
"Are you guys insane?! What the hell were you talking about earlier?! I was seriously terrified!"
"Ah..."
"What the hell was all that?! Why! Why did you all suddenly lose your minds and start spouting that crazy bullshit?!"
Seeing Bong-geun so worked up had the opposite effect on us; it was like having a bucket of cold water dumped over our heads. We instantly calmed down.
‘Ah, that was a total buzzkill.’
‘Tsk, what a letdown.’
‘Dammit, Bong-geun, you piece of shit. You totally ruined the mood.’
‘If it was going to end like this, you shouldn't have gotten us so hyped up.’
Our specific thoughts differed, but one look at each other's eyes confirmed we were all sharing the same sentiment.
"And what is this?!"
Bong-geun didn't stop there; he pointed at our mountain villa and yelled.
"Isn't this just a warehouse?! Why are you staying in a place like this?! Where did the money I gave you go?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The eyes of the idiots instantly shifted to me.
Wait, why are you looking at me? Sure, I was the one who received the money, but Pyo Jin-ho was the one who booked this place.
"We're just staying here for a day. We're moving to a nice place tomorrow."
"Then what did you do with my money?!"
"...I bought a dream."
When I dodged his gaze and gave a vague answer, Bong-geun snapped in annoyance.
"Fuck?! What kind of bullshit is that?!"
Stop asking, you bastard.
* * *
The lights were back on inside.
I spoke to the pension owner, and he fixed it immediately. It turned out the timing of Bong-geun’s arrival and the power outage had just been a stroke of terrible luck.
"Sigh, if I’d known it was a place like this, I wouldn't have brought you. I'm sorry, honey."
"No, it's okay. I wanted to experience a place like this at least once. It's like a courage test, right?"
Bong-geun sighed as he looked around. He kept apologizing to his fiancée beside him, looking genuinely sorry.
Surprisingly, his fiancée was quite graceful about it.
I knew they were an arranged match set up by their parents, similar to how Choi Jin-ah and I had been. But they seemed to get along quite well, acting all lovey-dovey.
"Wow, this feels like crap."
"Tsk, so this is what it feels like."
"When is my girlfriend coming?"
Watching a couple flirt right in front of us made our lonely sides ache.
But come to think of it, we only had to endure this for one day.
Among us, there was someone who wouldn't have a partner even by tomorrow.
"..."
In fact, since everyone else would have their partners tomorrow, everywhere he looked would be filled with couples.
"I've really fallen this far?"
Jeong Chan-woo muttered in disbelief and frustration. Having had a girlfriend almost every single day since entering university, his current situation seemed to be quite a shock to his system.
Well, I suppose he needs to learn how the other half lives.
I looked away from Jeong Chan-woo and pointed toward one of the rooms.
"You and your girlfriend can sleep in there."
"...Wait, aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"
"Oh, right."
Things had been so chaotic I’d forgotten.
At Bong-geun's words, I gave an awkward, stiff bow.
"Hello, I'm Kim Woo-jin, Bong-geun's elementary school classmate."
"...Bong-geun?"
Bong-geun's girlfriend looked confused. Seeing Bong-geun glaring at me and giving me a frantic look, I thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Ah, sorry. I meant James. His nickname in elementary school was Bong-geun. He played a character named Bong-geun in a school play."
"Ah! I see!"
Bong-geun looked slightly impressed by my quick thinking.
Hey, he’s the one funding this trip; the least I could do was cover for him.
"I am Wang Mei."
As the woman introduced herself politely, I was momentarily taken aback.
Her Korean was so fluent I hadn't realized.
"Are you Chinese?"
"Yes, that's right."
My initial impression had been spot on.
I’d thought she had the vibe of a wealthy Chinese socialite, and it turned out to be true.
Anyway, after our brief introductions, we gave the best room to the two of them.
After all, we were feasting today thanks to Bong-geun. Even we had a shred of human conscience left.
* * *
The next day.
I was standing outside the pension, anxiously tapping my foot.
The idiots had all woken up around noon because of the drinking last night and had already finished lunch.
I wasn't sure what Bong-geun and his fiancée were up to, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves and were nowhere to be seen. Unlike us, they hadn't drunk last night, so they’d apparently gone to the valley in the morning.
I heard Kang Han-gang and Pyo Jin-ho even lent them the underwater scooters they had flatly refused to let us use.
‘Those bastards.’
I wanted to try those, too.
Anyway, I was currently standing at the entrance of the pension.
The girls were supposed to arrive soon, so I came out to meet them. The nice annex I’d booked yesterday was still being cleaned, so we couldn't check in yet.
That meant we’d all have to stay in that shack for a few hours.
Hoping the girls would arrive as late as possible, I planned to keep them outside as much as I could.
‘That place is definitely not it.’
It wasn't that it was incredibly filthy or anything, but for some reason, I just didn't want to leave the girls there.
Just then, a ridiculously expensive Porsche pulled in.
‘Ah, they took that.’
It was the car I’d won as a prize at the reunion Bong-geun hosted a while back.
Thinking about it now, it felt a bit surreal. I’d made the guy who gives away Porsches as prizes sleep in a haunted shack last night.
He probably held back his complaints because his girlfriend was there, but it was still surprising that he’d accepted it.
As soon as the car parked, Yoo Ah-rin hopped out of the passenger seat.
"Hey! Husband! Come hold the kids! They’ve been wailing and carrying on because their daddy isn't here!"
"What?! The kids were crying because of me?!"
I rushed to open the back door, only to find the children fast asleep.
I was wondering what she meant when Seo Ye-rin, who was in the back seat, suddenly lunged into my arms and wailed.
"Waaaaah!"
"..."
"Pwahahaha!"
Yoo Ah-rin burst out laughing. Meanwhile, Seo Ye-rin was clinging to me, rubbing her face against my chest while pretending to cry.
"You guys are really getting a taste for this, aren't you? You pulled a similar prank last time."
"Waaaaah!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
Immediately, Yoo Ah-rin jumped onto my back and joined in the fake crying.
It didn't feel bad, so I decided to just roll with it.
"Good grief, the kids are sleeping, so keep it down."
Choi I-seo climbed out of the driver's seat.
She opened the trunk and began unloading the extra supplies they’d brought.
"Waaaaah!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
"...You guys are just doing this because you don't want to carry the luggage, aren't you?"
"Busted!"
"Run away!"
With that, Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin bolted.
"Sigh."
I suppose this was another moment where the husband had to step up. I went to the trunk, but there wasn't actually much luggage.
However, one rather large box caught my eye.
"I-seo, what's this—"
Soft.
As I went to move the luggage, Choi I-seo quietly leaned into my arms.
Then, as if trying to hide her reddening face, she lowered her head slightly and whimpered.
"H-huuu."
"...Were you just pretending to cry, too?"
"The, the others were doing it."
Just because they do it doesn't mean you have to.
Well, it felt nice, so I wasn't going to ruin the mood by pointing that out.
"Woo-jin! You have to chase us!"
"Wow, look at Choi I-seo. She looked at us like we were pathetic even though she wanted to do it herself?"
Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin, who had circled back, immediately called I-seo out.
The two of them then began tending to the children. It seemed the reason there was so little luggage was that they had to prioritize looking after the kids.
"Hey, Husband."
"What."
As I carried the bags and the mothers took the kids toward the villa, Yoo Ah-rin gestured with her chin toward two men sitting at a table in front of the shack, chugging straight soju.
"What's up with them?"
"Who is it? Senior Han-gang and Jin-ho?"
Seo Ye-rin also tilted her head and looked at me. To their question of why anyone would be chugging straight soju on a couples' trip, I answered flatly.
"They both got dumped. Two hours ago."
"..."
"..."
"..."
I knew something was up the moment they suggested a couples' trip when they hadn't even been dating for a week.