Chapter 111: An Unexpected Guest
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 111: An Unexpected Guest
I couldn't just leave someone standing outside in the middle of the night, so I let her into my house for the time being.
"Um… didn't you say you were going to a hotel?"
Sitting at the living room table, Li Meiling was silent for a moment before she spoke.
"…I lost my wallet."
"How?"
"I think I must have dropped it when I got out of the taxi."
"Geez, you should have been more careful."
Does that mean she walked all the way here?
"Thankfully, my passport and phone are safe, but I don't have a single penny on me…"
As she said this, Li Meiling hesitantly rubbed her shoulders, then looked at me.
"Could you possibly let me stay for a few days?"
"Goodbye."
I immediately grabbed the handle of her suitcase, which was sitting next to me.
Startled, Li Meiling reached out her hands.
"Wait! Just a moment! If you let me stay for just a few days, I'll be sure to repay you!"
The word "repay" made me pause.
"In what way?"
"Well… I just applied for a replacement from my credit card company, so I should be able to receive it in a few days. I recently won some prize money, so I have plenty of cash. I'll pay you generously for the lodging."
"It's tempting, but I still don't think it'll work."
Even though her situation was pitiful, I couldn't just let her stay for the money.
For one, my house simply didn't have enough rooms.
Even I had to sleep on a futon in the living room because most of my room was taken up by workout equipment. How could I possibly house someone else?
But she seemed desperate in her own way, clinging to me as she pleaded.
"Please, I'm begging you! I don't know anyone in Japan, so if you turn me away, I'll be sleeping on the streets!"
"Wait a minute! My pants are falling off!"
I struggled against her forceful grip, trying to hold up my sweatpants that kept threatening to slide down.
It was at that moment.
Click!
"Son~ Mom and Dad are home~"
"Ah."
With impeccable timing, my parents opened the front door and walked in.
And what they saw was the Chinese girl who had come over for lunch earlier, now clinging to their only son's legs and begging for something.
After a long silence, as if she had finally grasped the situation, Lee Mi-ja barely managed to break the silence.
"Um… son? I know you might be in a hurry, but doing it at home is…"
"It's a misunderstanding!"
I was genuinely, truly wronged.
*
"So, you're saying this Chinese girl lost her wallet on her way to the hotel?"
"Yep."
In the end, my parents, Li Meiling, and I found ourselves huddled around the living room table for a three-way meeting.
Truthfully, since my parents were the homeowners, not me, they were the ones she really needed permission from.
After hearing the whole story, Lee Mi-ja thought it over before reaching a conclusion.
"Well, it can't be helped. There's a saying that even a chance encounter is a form of fate. You can stay for just a few days."
At that, Li Meiling's face lit up, and she bowed deeply to my parents.
"谢谢! 谢谢!" [Xièxiè! Xièxiè! - Thank you! Thank you!]
Her words were a line I'd heard many times in Chinese movies when I was young.
The mainland pronunciation really was different.
Li Meiling finally lifted her head, her expression filled with emotion.
"Thank, you."
Her pronunciation was clumsy, typical of a foreigner, but the meaning came through clearly. My normally stoic father spoke in a gentle voice.
"I've drawn a hot bath, so go ahead and wash up first. Have you had dinner?"
Li Meiling blushed and shyly shook her head.
"No."
"Then I'll prepare a simple meal for you."
"Thank you! Sir! I will never forget this kindness!"
Li Meiling said, striking a cupped-fist salute.
She looked ready to slam her head on the floor if left to her own devices, and I, standing beside her, couldn't help but be startled by her sudden action.
Regardless, Lee Mi-ja calmly made a request.
"Yoo-Sung, could you show her to the bathroom?"
"…Yes."
Having no say in the matter, I obediently followed my parents' command.
*
I personally guided her to the bathroom.
"Do you have a change of clothes?"
Li Meiling, her earlier confidence gone, hunched her shoulders and answered in a small voice.
"…I only have what's underneath."
"Sorry? What did you just say?"
When I asked again, she blushed and repeated herself.
"I only have my underwear."
Ah, I see. Right.
"I can bring you some of my old clothes. They might be a bit big, is that okay?"
"…If you would lend them to me, I would wear them gratefully."
I said I would and opened the bathroom door.
The bathtub, already filled with water, came into view.
Unlike in Korea, where people generally shower at home, it's common in Japan to fill the tub for a bath.
Perhaps because they had lived in Japan for so long, my parents also enjoyed taking baths at home. When they did, the whole family would take turns using the same bathwater.
As the lowest-ranking member of the family, I was usually last, but since she was a guest, my father had given up his turn for her.
I crouched down and explained everything to her one by one.
"This is shampoo, this is conditioner, and this is body wash. The bath bomb has already been dissolved, so you can just get in the tub. I'll leave a change of clothes for you outside the door."
"Thank you for explaining."
"It's no big deal. Well, take your time and come out when you're done."
I shrugged, said my piece, and then closed the bathroom door behind me.
*
Only after Kim Yoo-Sung, the man she had fought today, closed the bathroom door did Li Meiling let out a belated sigh of relief.
"Haaah…"
It was terrifying to even imagine what would have happened if he and his parents hadn't been so kind.
'Of all the things to lose, it had to be my wallet.'
Unlike China, with its advanced electronic payment culture, Japan was a cash-only society.
It wasn't that they didn't accept credit cards at all, but that was mostly limited to large hotels or franchise stores. Most places only took cash.
When she realized she had suddenly lost her wallet in a country like this, it wasn't an exaggeration to say her vision had gone dark.
There was no way for her to get money right away.
She untied the band holding back her long hair and took off her clothes, placing them in the basket.
In an instant, she was wearing nothing but her underwear.
She stood before the mirror and looked at her toned body.
It was a body of rugged muscle, covered in scars big and small.
They were traces of the harsh training she had endured since childhood, and to her, they were like medals. But there were times when she had longed for the body of an ordinary girl.
Not that it mattered now.
She removed her plain sports bra and panties, placing them in the basket, and entered the bathroom in her natural state.
Hot steam rose from the bathtub.
She wanted nothing more than to sink her tired body into the water right away, but then she remembered she had been walking all day and was probably covered in dust. She decided to crouch down and take a quick shower first.
Swoooosh!
A cool stream of water poured down over her head.
Feeling the fatigue wash away, she lathered up some body wash and applied it to her skin.
She didn't know what the scent was, but she washed herself clean with the pleasantly fragrant foam before carefully stepping into the tub.
"Hooo—"
A satisfied sigh escaped her lips naturally.
She closed her eyes as if meditating and, out of a childhood habit, began to count.
*
About thirty minutes later, Li Meiling emerged from the bath.
"That was a good bath."
Wearing the black t-shirt and shorts I had left for her, with a towel around her neck, she saw me sitting in the living room and spoke.
"That was fast."
"…I have a constitution that can't handle hot water for long."
Fair enough. Can't argue with that.
I called out to my father, who was busy preparing food in the kitchen.
"Dad! The bathroom's free!"
My father replied with an "Okay" and went into the master bedroom, probably to get a change of clothes.
She looked at the bedding laid out in the living room and asked.
"Am I sleeping here?"
"No, that's where I'll be sleeping. You can sleep in that room."
I pointed to my room, which I had hastily cleared out.
It would still be a tight fit for someone my size, but for her, with her smaller frame, I had secured enough space to sleep comfortably.
She nodded and sat down in front of me.
In the process, her oversized t-shirt gaped open, almost revealing a flash of pale skin before it vanished from sight.
Perhaps because she wasn't in her usual clothes, she seemed relatively defenseless. She looked at me with a serious expression and spoke.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, I am greatly indebted to you and your parents. So, tell me, is there anything you would ask of me?"
"Huh? Ask of you?"
"In China, there's a saying that you should repay any kindness threefold. I've already agreed to pay for my stay, but no matter how I think about it, the scales don't balance. Therefore, I will grant you one request."
It was a rather sudden proposal from my perspective.
I couldn't think of anything to ask for, either.
As I was wondering how to decline her offer, something suddenly came to mind.
"The technique you showed me in our match earlier, Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear. Can you teach me that?"
Hearing my request, Li Meiling looked surprised for a moment, but then she let out a small chuckle and nodded.
"Of course."