Hakata Date
Hakata Date
We took a taxi to a hotel near Sumiyoshi Junior High School.
Because the rain had suddenly started pouring down,
we changed our plans to check in quickly, then head back out under an umbrella
and go on a date.
'This place looks even more expensive than the ryokan.'
I looked it up quickly—the hotel cost about 50,000 yen per person.
A reasonably priced business hotel in the city would have been fine,
but to reserve a hotel this expensive...
The Director really is generous.
"Right! The CEO unnie told us to buy some myeongran jeot, didn't she?"
As if she'd just remembered,
A-ra acted overly surprised.
To forget a gift for the person who sent us on this trip...
Her occasional scatterbrained side just had to show itself here.
"There are plenty of places that sell myeongran jeot around Hakata Station, so that's a relief."
"Phew... what would have happened if we'd forgotten."
A-ra let out a big sigh and rubbed her chest.
She'd said the CEO noona was more stubborn and ill-tempered than you'd think.
I heard that aside from A-ra, no one even thought about crossing her.
"Well, rather than buying it right now, it's best to get it the day before we head back."
"While we're at it, let's buy a few more. Some for us, too."
At the ryokan yesterday, A-ra had eaten the myeongran jeot and still seemed unsatisfied,
so I'd given her my portion as well.
I'd gotten her pumpkin dumplings, so we were even.
Even so, A-ra still wasn't satisfied and called the okami-san
to ask if she could pay extra for more.
Just how many bowls did she empty there...
And it wasn't even homemade, it looked like a standard retail product.
Maybe when we return to Korea, I'll buy some pollock roe and cure it for her myself.
"Is myeongran jeot something you can make at home?"
"Mm... the chances of it spoiling are a bit high."
Since it's a fermented food, after all,
it would be risky.
Maybe I should just be satisfied with buying it.
***
Midsummer, a rainy day.
A man and a woman, arms linked, began wandering around the shrine.
At first glance, I didn't notice anything particularly special,
but looking closely, these two looked very familiar.
First, the woman was Song A-ra.
A Korean idol and entertainer.
She also appeared occasionally in dramas and movies,
and she had filmed so many commercials that she was called the CF Ghost.
Her popularity was truly tremendous, even in Japan.
In particular, there was an incident where Japanese fans raised funds to rent an outdoor electronic billboard in the center of Shibuya
for an entire week.
Even renting it for about a minute cost a lot of money.
Compared to the American chaebol who rented every billboard in Times Square to display Song A-ra's music videos and photos for three hours,
it was nothing, but since it was the first time they had ever been so passionate about a foreign idol,
the Japanese entertainment industry had been in an uproar for a while.
And the one clinging to her arm and acting spoiled beside her
was her husband, Yoo Seong-hwan—who runs Seong-hwan Tube, I think?
Let's just call him Song A-ra's husband.
Originally an ordinary person,
I heard he recently joined an agency and is working as a Qtuber.
He doesn't upload videos often, but his popularity seems to be world top class.
Probably because he's good-looking.
Those two
had appeared at this shrine on a rainy weekday.
Could they be on a trip?
"Noona, that thing over there is called a torii."
"Tori? Bird?"
"No, torii. To-ri-i."
"Yakitori."
Judging by the Japanese popping up here and there,
they were having a conversation that was close to a skit,
but they were laughing happily and seemed to get along extremely well.
Seeing famous people like that...
should I say it slightly shatters the illusion you have from the media?
Then, Song A-ra's husband approached me,
scratched his head, and spoke.
* "Excuse me. If it's not too much trouble, could you please take a picture for us?"
* "Oh.. of course."
* "Thank you."
It seemed his real personality was similar to how he appeared in the media.
Just asking for a single photo,
yet he bowed his head deeply in greeting.
I took the camera he handed me.
It was a Sony camera that looked incredibly expensive.
It'd be a disaster if I dropped it.
I held up the camera and placed my finger on the shutter,
and the two of them started striking a suitable pose.
* "I'll take it now. 3..2..1."
"Smooch."
The moment I pressed the shutter, Song A-ra kissed her husband on the cheek.
As a result, the startled husband's face turned red
and he was rubbing his own cheek.
"N-Noona! In a place where strangers can see..!"
"Embarrassed? Seong-hwan, you're a man after all, aren't you."
"It has absolutely nothing to do with being a man!"
I wasn't sure exactly what they were saying,
but he was probably protesting to his wife who had suddenly kissed him.
The fact that his expression didn't look angry but embarrassed
was probably because I was a stranger and a woman.
I'd taken the photo, so maybe I should make myself scarce now.
* "Here's your camera."
* "Thank you so much for taking the picture. I'm sorry you had to see something embarrassing."
* "No, it's fine. It was nice to see you getting along so well. I'm rooting for you both."
When I subtly mentioned I was a fan, the husband kept bowing his head in thanks.
Meanwhile, Song A-ra was looking at the camera she had received and smiling brightly.
Did she like her husband that much...
Maybe I should start thinking about marriage too....
No... I heard that marriage for women means defeat.
The sight of those two must be a kind of viral marketing.
I absolutely won't be fooled.
Never....
***
"Seong-hwan-a, have you cooled off now, hm?"
"I wasn't mad."
"Mm... then could you let go of noona's chest soon?"
To drill into her head just how embarrassing kissing in front of people was,
I thought about what method to use,
and since it was truly too embarrassing to do in a place where people were around,
I figured if I did something a little more embarrassing than kissing,
'wouldn't it plus-minus out to zero?'
So I grabbed A-ra's hand, pulled her along,
brought her to a spot with no one around and no chance of being seen,
and touched her chest.
Seeing how her face turned red,
it looked like she was finally starting to feel embarrassed.
"Noona gets embarrassed too, right?"
"Y..yeah, I get it, so... ha-ung♡"
She was letting out a small cry mixed with a moan, so I let go.
It seemed she was very sensitive,
probably because it was an area I had adored quite intensely last night.
Then I reached out my hand to her.
"Hold my hand."
"Huh? S..sure!"
She must have thought I was sulking.
When I asked her to hold my hand, she looked a little surprised at first,
then broke into a bright smile.
A-ra is cutest when she smiles.
So I wish she would always smile in front of me.
And I wish she'd tone down the pranks a little.
Not even an hour had passed, but we'd seen everything there was to see
and already reached the entrance.
"We've looked around the whole shrine. Where should we go now?"
This shrine had the torii staircase and
there was a lot to see, but it was still just a shrine in the end.
"Let's go to Book Off!"
A-ra shouted loudly, as if saying 'Finally, the time has come!'
If it's Book Off, isn't that a secondhand shop that sells all sorts of things?
Secondhand trading is very active in Japan,
so there are franchise stores that buy and sell used goods.
Book Off was a secondhand shop that mainly bought and sold
subculture items like figures, trading cards, games, manga, and light novels.
"Remember I asked before if I'd picked up a new hobby? I'll show you what it is today."
"Right. That was the reason you withdrew so much cash."
"Mm... Seong-hwan is a guy, so you might not be very interested, but you've probably heard of it at least once?"
A-ra said confidently.
She said she played with it, could it be something like a game console or a toy?
If so, the reason for going to Book Off made sense.
So I was finally going to hear what this hobby was
that made her bring a whopping 5 million yen.
I was curious.
*
Once we arrived at Book Off, A-ra had been hovering around the section selling trading cards for a while now.
It wasn't toys or game consoles, but cards.
I knew about these well because I had played with them at the orphanage when I was young.
Not only that.
After studying Japanese, I often watched videos of collectors who professionally collected these.
I knew the detailed value of things like tournament-winning cards or unopened cards.
"Seong-hwan-a, look at this, look."
The card A-ra was pointing at
was the blue dragon card used by the first protagonist's rival in this card game anime.
The price was written as 320,000 yen, and it was thoroughly packaged in double sleeves.
As if that wasn't enough, it was stored in an Ultra Pro magnetic case.
"It's the 2nd Gen Ulti Blue from Spell of Mask."
"Huh... did I mishear? Seong-hwan-a, what did you just say?"
* "Excuse me, staff? Could you take this out and let me check it, please?"
* "Yes, just a moment please."
Ignoring A-ra, who was staring blankly at me after I gave an answer close to what a collector would say,
I called the staff member over and asked to check the card's condition.
He carefully took it out wearing gloves,
removed the magnetic case and sleeves, and showed me the condition.
* "As I thought, there's significant damage. If I send this to PSA, what kind of grading would it get?"
* "I think it would probably get around a 7."
* "Hmm... I see."
As I conversed with the staff member in Japanese,
A-ra tugged on my sleeve, curious about what I was saying.
"Seong-hwan-a? What does that mean?"
"This one came out cheap because the condition isn't very good.
Cards are collectibles, so a single tiny scratch can make the price fluctuate a lot."
"I know that, but how do you know it so well?
Do you like cards, too?"
Delighted that we had the same hobby,
A-ra's eyes were sparkling.
I gently stroked her cheek.
*
In the end, we bought a few cards and came outside.
It was Mangjeong thanks to me being there.
If A-ra had gone alone, she definitely would have almost gotten scammed.
Especially that Blue-Eyes we saw earlier, it was trash tier.
Forget PSA 7, it had a flaw so big it wouldn't even be accepted.
Had someone slashed it with a box cutter?
"Are you satisfied?"
"Ah, it's so great, you know? I've been holding back so long wanting to make this guy my first collection piece!"
What A-ra took out and showed me
was a 1st generation ultra rare card called 'Male Warrior Poverty.'
It had received a PSA Grading 9 and the condition was fine, so I bought it right away.
It was slightly different from the cards I knew,
but its value was similar...
It was definitely a card women would like.
Maybe because she'd bought what she wanted,
A-ra's stomach started to growl.
Having satisfied her material desires, it was now time for her appetite.
"Then shall we head off to eat soon?"
"Let's go to that teppanyaki specialty restaurant we saw earlier."
"That place looked expensive."
"Ahem! I told you not to worry about that kind of thing!"
I chuckled softly while receiving A-ra's scolding.
When it came from the mouth of A-ra, who was smiling as she swung a bag containing roughly 1 million yen's worth of goods,
it sounded strangely plausible for some reason.