Chapter 116: A Night at the Inn
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 116: A Night at the Inn
We had no choice but to stay the night at an inn near the station.
Before we knew it, it was already almost eight, and I was dying to wash up.
But just when we thought we were set after finding an inn, something unexpected happened.
"What? There's only one room left?!"
As I asked pressingly, the employee flinched, a frightened look on her face.
"Yes. And we only have this one because of a last-minute cancellation…."
"What should we do?"
I asked Li Meiling, who was standing next to me, in English.
She, however, acted as if it were no big deal and held her hand out to the employee at the counter.
"That one. Give it to me."
Her pronunciation was a bit clumsy, but her meaning was clear enough that the employee handed over the key she was holding.
I looked at her, stunned.
"Are you sure about this?"
Li Meiling just shook the key in her hand as if it were nothing.
"You heard her, there's only one. The other inns are full, and we barely managed to get this one. If this is how it is, we don't have a choice."
She wasn't wrong.
"Alright."
I gave the employee a quick bow and followed Li Meiling as she walked ahead.
*
Click!
Opening the firmly double-locked door and stepping inside, a room of about 350 square feet came into view.
It was more spacious than I'd expected.
The bedroom was separate, and there was a small living room, a bathroom, and a terrace with a view of the outside.
It was a high-end inn with an open-air hot spring in a tourist area, so one night for the two of us cost nearly 50,000 yen, but it seemed to be worth the price.
The money was already spent, and since we were in such a nice place, I decided to just enjoy it.
I asked as I set down my backpack.
"We're eating after we wash up, right?"
"Yeah."
She nodded, setting down her own bag of luggage.
"They said they only serve dinner until nine, so a long soak in the hot spring will have to wait until later."
"Got it. I'll just wash up quickly and be back."
I picked up one of the yukatas lying on the living room table and handed it to Li Meiling.
"Here."
"What's this?"
"It's a yukata. You wear them at traditional Japanese inns. You can change into it after you wash up at the baths."
Li Meiling stared at the yukata with a blank expression before asking a beat later.
"How do you put it on?"
“…”
I was momentarily speechless.
I don't know either.
Just then.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door from the hallway.
Wondering who it could be, I opened the door to find a neatly dressed female employee bowing as she asked,
"Sir, what time would you like to have your dinner?"
"Ah, just a moment."
I said, then checked the time on my phone.
It was 8:10. Even a quick wash would take at least thirty minutes, considering the time to get there and back, so we were on a tight schedule.
"Could you have it ready by 8:50?"
"Yes, of course."
The employee replied with a bow and was about to close the door and leave, but I quickly stopped her.
"Ah, wait a second!"
"Yes?"
"My companion is a foreigner and doesn't know how to wear a yukata. Could you possibly show her?"
The employee's gaze shifted to Li Meiling, who was standing behind me, and she nodded with a gentle smile.
"Of course. I'd be happy to."
Saved.
I breathed an inward sigh of relief and said to Li Meiling,
"I'll go wash up first, then. Just be back in the room by 8:50 after you're done."
"Alright."
After asking the employee to take good care of her as she entered the room, I grabbed a change of underwear and a yukata and headed for the baths.
*
Splash!
"Ahhh, this is nice~"
That was the first thing that came out of my mouth after washing off a full day's worth of sweat and dirt with cold water and sinking into the hot spring.
Perhaps because it was an odd time for a bath, I was the only one there.
Thanks to that, I could enjoy the feeling of having the place all to myself as I leaned back against a rock.
Shwaaaaaa!
If I closed my eyes and held my breath, I could hear the quiet rustle of leaves from the coniferous forest behind the hot spring, swaying in the night breeze.
I savored the contradictory sensation—cold above my navel, yet warm below it—and scooped up some of the hot spring water with my hands.
It was a sulfur spring, so the water was a bit murkier than a typical hot spring.
Well, it's good for the body, so it doesn't matter.
Splash! Splash!
After lightly washing my face, I submerged myself deeper.
My entire body was underwater, save for my neck.
I finally felt the stiffness in my body begin to fade.
If I hadn't soaked in the hot spring, I would have been hit with full-body muscle soreness tomorrow, 100 percent.
I had literally overworked every muscle in my body today, voluntary and involuntary alike, squeezing them dry.
Looking up, I could see the clear autumn sky.
Countless stars, invisible in the city because of the smog, floated above my head.
"Beautiful…"
After muttering that thought, I lost track of time, absorbed in finding constellations.
*
The thirty minutes I spent in the sulfur spring passed in a flash.
Suppressing my disappointment, I returned to the room with a towel over my wet hair to find that dinner had already been prepared in the living room.
Typically, the dinner served at a traditional inn like this is a high-class meal called 'kaiseki'.
The table was laden with exquisite dishes made from local specialties from Mount Fuji and fish caught in Lake Kawaguchiko.
Perhaps because it was a meal I couldn't have just anywhere, even I, who never usually takes food pictures, found myself pulling out my phone and snapping photos from various angles.
I had just stood up from my seat and was taking an overhead shot when...
Click!
The door opened and Li Meiling walked in.
"Ah, you're back first. Have you been waiting long?"
"No, I just got here too."
As I said that and was about to sit back down, I noticed her in her yukata.
"It looks good on you."
"Really? I'm not so sure."
Wearing a blue, checkered-pattern yukata and waving its sleeves around, she came inside holding something in a black plastic bag.
"What's that?"
"Oh, it's beer. They were selling it at the little shop out front."
She said, showing me the contents of the bag.
It was full of white and yellow beer cans from a familiar brand.
"...Are you going to drink that?"
"With all this great food, it'd be a waste not to."
She had a point.
She asked as she sat down across from me.
"Want one?"
"Are you offering alcohol to a minor?"
"Oh, right. You said you were still seventeen."
Meiling tapped her forehead as if she'd completely forgotten, then grinned and popped the top of a beer can.
Pssssht!
"Well, more for me, then."
Gulp-
Watching her, I swallowed without realizing it.
I hadn't touched a single drop of alcohol since possessing Kim Yoo-Sung's body.
My family owned a restaurant, so I could have had it whenever I wanted, but I abstained because I didn't want to lose muscle mass.
But this situation was a little different.
A cold beer to go with amazing food you don't get to eat every day, right after washing up from a long day of sweating and working out.
Wasn't that literally the perfect combination?
They say the taste you know is the most tempting, and having a beer dangled right in front of me was hard to resist.
Besides, it was kind of ridiculous to be hung up on my age at this point.
My real age, before the possession, was twenty-seven.
In the end, I gave in to the devil's temptation.
"I'll join you for just one can."
As I reached out my hand, Li Meiling grinned, amused, and offered me the bag.
"So you're not a total model student, huh?"
"I think this is pretty normal."
"Ahahaha! You know how to tell a joke!"
She roared with laughter and slapped my shoulder.
...But I'm not joking.
I muttered inwardly and popped the top of the yellow beer can in my hand.
Pssssht!
White foam immediately fizzed up.
It felt like I was meeting an old friend.
When I poured it for my parents at home, I never felt the urge to drink, but for some reason, it looked so lovely today.
Just as I hurriedly brought the can to my lips to drink the foam, Li Meiling reached out and stopped me.
"?"
"We have to toast. Cheers."
Ah. Right.
It had been so long since I'd had a drink that I'd momentarily forgotten common courtesy.
I held out the beer can in my right hand with an awkward expression, and she held out hers as well.
Clink!
After lightly tapping our cans together, I opened my throat and poured the beer down.
"Khaah!"
This is the stuff.
It had been a long time, but the taste of beer hadn't changed.
'Alright, now for this.'
I set down the half-finished beer and popped a piece of the strongly flavored braised fish into my mouth. It literally melted on my tongue.
I glanced at Meiling across from me and saw her with a blissful expression, chopsticks in her mouth.
Thankfully, it seemed the inn's cuisine suited her palate.
I had been worried it might not, but my concerns turned out to be unfounded.
Relieved, I decided to happily enjoy the lavish spread before me.