Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Arrival at the Villa! Let's Go! To the Sea!
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Unlike our expectations that the train would be packed during peak season,
the interior turned out to be surprisingly quiet.
We could count the occupied seats just by eyeballing them.
We found our assigned seats and sat down in pairs.
The pairs were me and the President.
Ji-ah sis and Ra-hee sis.
Yuna and Chae-yoon sis.
And So-eun sis ended up sitting alone.
I worried that So-eun sis might get bored sitting by herself,
but surprisingly, it didn't seem to bother her much.
In fact, she just stared at her laptop the whole way to our destination.
The President even told her, "You're on vacation—stop working already!"
But So-eun sis stubbornly kept at it, brushing it off with, "Just this one thing left."
"Sis! Do you have to beat your little sis like that?!"
"Hey now, you need to be quiet on the train."
"Ugh, that's so mean…!"
On the way, we occasionally heard Chae-yoon sis and Yuna bickering during their one-on-one matches.
"Oh, so the villa's pretty high up, huh?"
"Yeah, it is. The view's great because of that, but it's a bit of a hike to the convenience store down the hill."
"Ugh, a hill…."
We also overheard Ji-ah sis and Ra-hee sis chatting about the villa we were heading to.
"President, are we taking the train back too?"
"No, we'll drive back. I just thought trying the train once wouldn't be bad."
"I see…."
I chatted with the President about this and that too.
Like what we'd do first when we got to the villa,
or how we'd get back.
We even looked up local restaurants together.
Before we knew it, time flew by.
I'd been fascinated by my first train ride, but soon I started nodding off.
"Whoa?! Da-jeong! Look! I can see the sea!"
"Huh? R-Really…?!"
Yuna's sudden shout snapped me awake, and I turned my head.
Sure enough, beyond the window stretched the vast sea.
It wasn't super close since the station was a ways off,
but seeing the ocean spread out to the horizon made my eyes sparkle.
"Wow, it's so pretty…! President, it's the sea! And those are seagulls, right?!"
"Pfft, that excited?"
"Of course! It's my first time seeing the ocean in my life!"
The President looked at my super hyped self like I was a kid,
but I was too thrilled to care, nodding vigorously and raising my voice.
Sure, I'd been to the Han River before,
but the sea? This was my first time ever.
Even after debuting, we'd gone to plenty of places as a group, but never to the beach.
Wow, it really feels different from the Han River.
What is it? Like it has no end.
- Next stop….
"Girls, get ready to get off."
"Yes ma'am!"
Soon, the speaker announced our station.
The President looked around and gave the word to the members.
Everyone stood up one after another and grabbed their bags from the overhead racks.
Hiss-
"Argh, it's hot!"
"Save me!"
When we finally stepped onto the platform, a wave of muggy air hit us.
The members—especially Chae-yoon sis and Yuna—shrieked,
but far from grimacing, I broke into a smile.
Now it finally felt like the trip had begun.
"Hello. I'm Choi Kyung-ok, the villa manager."
"Oh, hi…."
"Hello!"
"Nice to meet you!"
As we exited the station, a woman was waiting for us by the van.
I'd figured the manager would be a guy since it probably involved heavy lifting,
so I was a bit surprised to see a woman.
But one look at her build, and I got it.
This might be rude to say about a lady, but…
she looked like a mountain standing there.
Her frame was just massive—way bigger than average.
Taller than Ra-hee sis, even.
And she looked to be in her early-to-mid fifties.
"Director Choi's been handling our family's security for over twenty years. Now she's retired and manages the villa."
"Wow…."
Once we were in the car and heard a quick intro about her,
it made sense why she was built like that.
She used to lead the security team? Who knew.
"Sorry to impose on you like this."
"Not at all. I'm just glad for the chance to see you after so long, miss. Lately, everyone's been heading to the overseas villas, so this one's been neglected."
I eavesdropped on the President chatting with her from the passenger seat.
Despite her stern-looking face, she seemed really kind.
"By the way, miss, you didn't request meals… is that okay?"
"Yeah, we're good. We figured we'd cook for ourselves this time."
"Must be someone who knows their way around the kitchen."
"You bet. Right, Da-jeong?"
"Huh? M-Me…?"
I hadn't expected her to toss it to me.
Absentmindedly taking in the car interior, I pointed at myself questioningly.
That's when our eyes met in the rearview mirror.
"Y-Yeah… that's me. I'm not amazing or anything, but I can follow a recipe okay."
"Oh ho, impressive. Our miss here is notoriously hopeless in the kitchen…."
"W-Why bring that up in front of the members? It's embarrassing."
Whoa, I've never seen unnie get flustered like this.
Come to think of it, Ra-hee sis doesn't have many weaknesses,
but cooking? Yeah, "catastrophically bad" fits perfectly.
Is it her complex or something?
"Aw, sis, why act like it's news now?"
"Yeah, who doesn't know about your poison cooking?"
"You two wanna get out and walk?"
"Sorry!"
"We'll bow our heads…!"
Yup, looks like it.
Normally she'd just brush it off,
but that icy reaction says it all.
Better not mention Ra-hee sis's cooking skills carelessly from now on.
Not that I ever have, of course.
"I hope you all have a wonderful trip."
The manager kept chatting warmly with our noisy bunch.
Finally, we passed a distant sloped hill and arrived at Ra-hee sis's villa.
I clearly remembered what Ra-hee sis had said before we came to the villa.
It was during our first vacation planning meeting.
She'd said something like, "There is a villa, but it's a bit small, so bear with that."
So why….
"Ji-ah sis, are all villas normally this huge?"
"Don't ask me…."
"It's seriously big…."
"Looks like four stories at least?"
"Yeah. Feels less like a villa and more like they just plopped a condo here."
Was this mansion even bigger than Ra-hee sis's main house we'd seen before?
No, not even a mansion.
This was a straight-up castle.
That big.
"Director Choi, head back and rest. I'll show them around."
"Yes, miss. Call anytime if you need anything."
"Will do."
Meanwhile, whether we were stunned or not,
Ra-hee sis calmly sent the manager off and opened the villa door.
"What are you all standing around for?"
She led the way inside, guiding us dazed folks along.
We huddled close, scurrying after her while gawking around.
The villa, designed mostly in white tones, was impeccably clean and gorgeous inside and out.
"Wow…!"
"Th-The ceiling's so high!"
"Sis! Look at this! There's an elevator inside!"
"President, did Ra-hee tell you about the villa beforehand?"
"No, I had no idea it was this big…."
The high ceilings and open layout made it feel even more expansive.
We all couldn't stop exclaiming in awe.
If we'd booked a place like this as lodging, how much would it have cost?
"So, what do you think? Nice, right? President?"
"It's amazing, sis…! Love you!"
"To think I'd get to stay somewhere like this…."
"What more is there to say? It's perfect."
We nodded like meerkats at Ra-hee sis's question,
then started properly exploring the villa.
There were so many rooms we could've each had our own.
"How should we do the rooms? Personal ones, probably?"
"It'd be fun to all bunk together…."
"How about separate tonight since we're tired, and all together on the last night before we leave?"
"Ooh, good idea!"
But we couldn't pass up the nostalgia of piling in together,
so we decided to sleep solo tonight for a good rest,
then group up for the final night, and scattered to claim rooms.
Hehe, this'll be my room.
The others get too much sun.
Those are for sun-lovers like Yuna or Chae-yoon sis.
For a total shut-in like me, this is perfect.
"Girls, what about food? Eat before we head out? Or play a bit and eat later?"
"I'm good to go now!"
"Me too!"
"Since we're at the beach, shouldn't we check it out first?"
We regrouped in the living room to plan,
and unanimously decided to play first, eat later.
Probably because we'd snacked on train snacks and stuff on the way—not super hungry yet.
Y-Yeah, same here, honestly.
I polished off four bags of snacks on the ride.
The President even looked baffled and asked, "Where does it all go in you?"
"Then, how about we all change into swimsuits and meet at the beach?"
"Yes!"
"Sounds good!"
So-eun sis summed up the consensus,
and we all nodded eagerly before heading back to our rooms.
Huh, come to think of it, I didn't really see what swimsuits the members picked.
Wonder what they'll look like?
Kinda curious.