Chapter 582: Even dog poop is hard to find when you need it for medicine
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 582: Even dog poop is hard to find when you need it for medicine
Watching Kang Han-gang and Pyo Jin-ho moping around and knocking back straight soju since early morning brought many thoughts to my mind.
"I’m telling you, you can't force these things. Relationships aren't a one-way street; they're about a mutual exchange of feelings."
As I walked into the villa, acting all smug in front of the guys, Choi I-seo and Yoo Ah-rin looked at me and threw a comment my way.
"Woo-jin, you're really not one to talk, considering you're dating six women at the same time."
"Ugh, I can't even swear because the kids are here."
"..."
How do I manage to get roasted like this almost every single day?
But at this point, I started to wonder if it wasn't just my fault, but all of our responsibilities.
Isn't everyone being a bit too harsh on me?
Actually, no.
To be honest, they weren't.
It really was just my fault.
I decided to accept everything the girls said as the 'burden of being the head of the household' and moved on.
"Woo-jin, did you really sleep here?"
Seo Ye-rin, who had rushed inside excitedly, came back out with a look of utter bewilderment. She seemed shocked by the state of the mountain lodge and worried that I had actually spent the night in such a place.
"Yeah, this place is a dump."
When I agreed with such refreshing honesty, the three women actually looked taken aback.
But there was nothing else to say.
This place was truly terrible.
The bed was so hard I didn't even know why it was there, and no matter how much air freshener I sprayed, the smell refused to budge.
"That's why I booked a much better place separately. They're cleaning it right now, so we can move there today."
"Ooh?!"
"Really? Well, you did good then."
"Look at you, having some sense."
Bwaaaa!
Kyaaaa!
Seeing their moms praising me, the kids joined in on the excitement without even knowing why.
"Ahem."
I puffed out my chest, feeling unnecessarily good about myself.
Since I had no intention of staying here long anyway, I suggested we just drop off our bags and head outside. I didn't want to keep our kids in a place that felt like it was crawling with mold.
"The air is great over by the valley. We should let the kids heal their souls with some natural scenery."
I remembered learning somewhere that seeing beautiful scenery as a child is good for emotional development. It was something I picked up back when they were pregnant, so the memory was a bit fuzzy, though.
"Uuugh!"
"Dammit!"
Outside, the two were still sitting at the table, chugging straight soju.
They saw us, but they didn't even say hello, just kept grumbling to themselves and drinking. Looking closely, Jeong Chan-woo had joined them, completing the trio of guys who had come on a couples' trip without girlfriends.
"Don't let the kids see anything bad, let's get them out of here quickly."
I didn't want the kids to hear those guys drunkenly spouting nonsense or swearing.
The three women quickly led the children toward the valley.
The two guys—who were on a couples' trip but weren't part of a couple—watched them go and immediately began to vent.
"Fuuuuck! If it was that burdensome, she should've told me in advance!"
"Why bring it up so suddenly on the day of! It's not like I wouldn't have understood!"
Seeing how they only opened their mouths once the kids were gone, it seemed they were at least trying to watch their language in front of the little ones.
"Ah, this is so satisfying."
Jeong Chan-woo, who I thought had joined their misery, was actually smiling brightly as he drank. Seeing him enjoy the alcohol so much... I realized that even a handsome guy is just a human being in the end.
"Hey, why don't you guys go talk to some of the women staying at the other pensions, like the ones you met yesterday? You guys are good at that."
At my suggestion of 'on-site procurement,' the three of them showed a spark of interest. It was better to do something rather than just sitting here like this.
"Right, they say fortune favors the bold."
"Then Kim Woo-jin must have insane balls."
"Let's go! Move out! Fight! Win!"
For some reason, the three of them got fired up and headed toward the other pensions. Since it was lunchtime, it was actually a pretty good time to strike up a conversation.
As the idiots left with renewed determination, I quickly followed the girls toward the valley.
The three women were perched on rocks by the stream.
The babies were tucked in their mothers' arms, squealing with delight. Looking at them like that, it felt like a scene from a painting.
"I thought you were the fairies from 'The Fairy and the Woodcutter.'"
When I threw out that line with a smile, Yoo Ah-rin immediately glared at me.
"Wow, why does he always say things like that in front of the kids so I can't swear at him?"
"..."
That's seriously too much. I thought that was a pretty solid line.
"Woo-jin does peek at us showering quite often."
"Ah, I've experienced that too."
Seo Ye-rin and Choi I-seo interpreted my metaphor in a completely different direction.
"That's a misunderstanding."
I wasn't peeking at them showering.
"I was just timing it so I could go in with you."
I was just looking for an opportunity to jump in naked myself. I had no intention of just watching from the outside.
"Oh my?!"
"...That's even worse."
The reactions were split.
Seo Ye-rin looked delighted, while Choi I-seo let out a sigh.
Because of the kids, we couldn't actually play in the water. We just spent time chatting with our feet dipped in the stream.
The pension owner called us much earlier than expected, saying the cleaning was finished, so we headed back to move our luggage.
The private villa I newly booked was night and day compared to the first place.
First of all, it didn't smell.
And as soon as we took off our shoes and stepped inside, the cool blast of the air conditioner welcomed us.
The exterior was pleasant and the interior facilities were top-notch—it clearly wasn't expensive for nothing. To think I almost stayed in that mountain lodge when a place like this existed.
"Wow... this place is really nice."
"You booked that place when this was available? Ugh, Pyo Jin-ho."
Choi I-seo and Yoo Ah-rin burst into exclamations as soon as they entered. Seo Ye-rin's eyes went wide as she looked around the interior while holding Yu-na.
"The sofa is so soft!"
Seo Ye-rin plopped down onto the living room sofa. Once we put the kids down on it, they started rolling around and playing.
"Wait, the backrest of this sofa can be pushed back."
As a father, I couldn't miss a feature like that. Once I pushed the backrest back, the area for the kids to play became much wider.
"Bwaaaa!"
"Kyaaaa!"
Watching the kids tumble around on the expanded sofa made me smile involuntarily. Seo Ye-rin had already pulled out her phone and was recording a video of them playing.
"Who do they take after to be this pretty?!"
"Me, obviously."
After all, all three children were of my bloodline.
"Hehe, how about a second one today?"
Seo Ye-rin made a greasy suggestion, wiggling her eyebrows up and down. I was about to agree, of course, but...
"Ye-rin, you said you're returning to acting next year. Didn't you already get a role?"
"Ah..."
Thanks to Choi I-seo's 'check' from behind, our plan for a second child was thwarted.
Wait, did they bring condoms?
Suddenly, I wondered if the girls had brought any, but I didn't ask. If I heard they hadn't bought any, I'd probably be told to go out and buy some right now.
...This is the wisdom of a head of household.
The wisdom of a patriarch to keep the peace. It was a pro-tip I wanted to pass on to someone.
"Hey, but are we the only ones staying here?"
Yoo Ah-rin asked while looking around the interior with her arms crossed. It was so spacious that she seemed to be asking just in case.
"Of course. Who else would come in here? It's just us."
Bong-geun paid for it, but I was the one who made the reservation. I couldn't let those idiots stay in the same place as the kids.
"Oh, by the way, Bong-geun is here too. He came with his fiancée, and she's Chinese."
"Ooh? That sounds like an interesting story."
Starting with Seo Ye-rin, the other two also showed interest. Come to think of it, I didn't know where Bong-geun was or what he was doing with his Chinese fiancée.
Did those two leave already?
Nah, no matter how bad the facilities were, he wasn't the type to leave without saying goodbye. Even if his alias was James, that would be a bit too 'American' of a mindset.
"I told you to speak up properly!"
While we were talking about Bong-geun and his fiancée, a loud man's voice suddenly erupted from outside.
Wondering what was going on, I left the kids and stepped outside alone.
It was in front of the barbecue area of the private villa right next door. A massive build, skin-tight clothes, and tattoos covering his arms.
Having gone through various experiences, I could now tell a person's 'level' just by looking at their face.
He's a thug.
From the side, from the back, from above, from the front, or even while rolling—he was a gangster.
And right in front of that gangster...
"N-no, that's not what we meant."
"H-hyung-nim. It's a misunderstanding. We were just asking."
"We didn't do anything."
There stood our idiot friends who had left earlier, claiming fortune favors the bold.
Jeong Chan-woo, Kang Han-gang, and Pyo Jin-ho.
Now that I thought about it, I wondered where Ahn Hyun-ho went. Did he go to pick up Gyu-a?
Anyway.
Seeing a few women giggling behind the gangster, it seemed they had messed up while trying to hit on them.
"!"
Jeong Chan-woo's eyes widened when he saw me standing in front of the neighboring building.
Then, he started sending me some kind of signal.
"Ball? Bald? Egg?"
I tilted my head, wondering what the signal meant, as a sudden quiz show began. Kang Han-gang and Pyo Jin-ho beside him also gave me desperate looks, pleading for me to understand.
"Ah, damn it. What are you saying? Hey! Just say it with words!"
When I finally shouted in annoyance, the gangster's gaze shifted toward me.
But what did I care? I was dying of frustration here.
"The bald guy! When is he coming?!"
"Ugh! Why is he so slow on the uptake?!"
"Tell him to get here fast!"
"Ah..."
They were looking for the bald man.
"...I didn't call him."
When I answered while scratching my cheek, all three of them slapped their foreheads in despair.
"Ah, why is this guy so useless?!"