The Serpent's Gaze
I lifted my heavy eyelids and opened my eyes. "...Ugh, what time is it?"
Sleeping like a log had kept me out until six in the morning. I turned on my phone to check the time. 12:00. "......!"
The moment I saw the time, my mind snapped awake. I had less than thirty minutes until my lunch appointment with Rona. I definitely set an alarm, didn't I? 'No time to think!' I shot out of bed, washed up, and threw on clothes.
Once I was ready, I vented my frustration at Mrs. Kim, who was watching a drama on the sofa.
"Why didn't you wake me?!"
Mrs. Kim put on an angry face and marched over. "Have you lost your mind, you girl? I woke you five times and you still wouldn't get up!"
"Eek! Stop hitting me!"
Our Mrs. Kim showed my back no mercy. But I felt wronged. It wasn't like I was refusing to wake up on purpose!
Before long, her sharp gaze that had been smacking my back shifted to my skirt.
"And what is this? Why are you wearing such a short skirt? Change it right now!"
"Change it? The appointment is in a few minutes!"
"Goodness, and this is the same girl who showered in only ten minutes?"
She even nagged me to wash more thoroughly. I never thought I'd be getting lectures like this at twenty-four years old.
"Oh my, you showered in ten minutes but how is your hair so soft?"
Mrs. Kim paused her scolding and ran her fingers through my waist-length hair.
"Are you using special shampoo or conditioner?"
"No, I just use whatever's in the bathroom. I don't even use conditioner."
The fact that I skipped conditioner restarted the nagging.
"If you keep living like that, your hair will be ruined!"
'Weird. Even without conditioner, a ten-minute wash used to be enough to keep it manageable.'
Ding!
An alarm rang from my pocket. It was a text from Rona.
'Ah, right. I'm late.'
This was all Mrs. Kim's fault. I quickly sent a reply to reassure her, then dashed to the front door and pulled on my shoes.
"I'm heading out now. Take care!"
Rona had been waiting for Seong-a at a nearby soup restaurant for quite a while.
'Why isn't she here yet?'
She checked her watch again. Thirty minutes had passed. Hadn't she said she was almost there? At this point, Rona started worrying that something might have happened.
'Did she dislike something from our last collab stream?'
It wasn't impossible. Rona thought hard, digging through her memories.
'Was it the chat?'
They had filmed an explanation video together, but some people still typed "hacker" in chat. Of course she'd banned them without hesitation, but you could never tell what was going on in someone's head.
Ding-ding!
The door opened and a sweet chime echoed through the entire restaurant.
The person who stepped inside was a beautiful woman with striking black hair. The other customers looked stunned. It was hard to believe someone so elegant would walk into an ordinary soup place instead of a high-end restaurant.
"Sis!"
When Rona saw me, she waved. I hurried over to her table and sat down.
"You said you were almost here, sis."
"Haha, sorry. Traffic was bad…."
The roads hadn't been congested at all. I'd taken a comfortable taxi. But I couldn't exactly admit I'd overslept after eating rice in my sleep, so I told a small lie.
We sat at the table and chatted.
"I'm sorry. I should have been the one to arrange the meeting, but I made you do it, sis."
"Hey, it's no big deal. You said it was your friend's little sister, so I wanted to meet her."
Ha-im would have been shocked if she heard, but I was the one who set this meeting up first. No point worrying about the host being late.
'I have something I need to find out….'
Just then, the dishes we'd ordered ahead of time arrived. We both picked up our spoons and started eating. It was nice to watch her eat so heartily.
Now it was time to ask what I was curious about.
"…Did you lie to me?"
"…Pardon?"
Rona blinked and stared at me, as if trying to read my thoughts.
'Is she talking about me being a returnee?'
That seemed like something she'd hide, so I'd pretended not to know. I'd already coordinated the story with Ha-im. How could she have found out? Since it had come to this, I'd keep pretending until the end.
"A lie? What lie?"
"Hmm, never mind. Guess you don't know."
"What is it? You can't just say that and stop."
Rona let out a silent sigh of relief. Since she hadn't been caught, she went back to eating. Munch, munch.
"Wow, you lied."
"……!"
Her body flinched mid-chew at my words, but she played it off with a sly laugh so I wouldn't notice.
"Haha, what are you talking about, sis? A lie…?"
"You blinked thirteen times in fifteen seconds and chewed forty times. That's more than double what you were doing earlier. Care to explain?"
"……."
When our eyes met, Rona trembled without realizing it. The beautiful eyes that seemed to embroider the night sky had turned in an instant into the gaze of a snake eyeing its prey.
"Tell me quickly. Why did you lie?"
With her body shaking, she lowered her head to avoid my eyes.
"T-that's… it looked like you were h-hiding something, sis, so I-I just pretended not to know…."
"Hmm, you're not planning to sell my information somewhere, are you? I'd be really disappointed in you, Rona."
"N-no, absolutely not! I really was just pretending not to know…."
She explained desperately, but my continued blank stare only seemed to make her more anxious.
Sniff! "Hic… hu…."
Even getting scolded by her parents had never been this scary. Her eyes grew wet in an instant.
"What? You're crying? Don't cry."
"……!"
When I wiped her tears, Rona looked startled. She hadn't expected this gentle side from me.
"Why is a grown girl crying? Stop it! Don't cry."
"I-I'm sorry…. I-I really was just pretending not to know!"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Never thought the day would come when I'd wipe a younger woman's tears. It feels strangely like I've gained another little sister. 'Reminds me of the old days….'
When I was young, my parents often came home late, so Ha-im would cry a lot. I was always busy wiping her tears. The problem was that my little sister eventually grew into a gorilla, and now I live in the same house as that gorilla.
"I get it. I'll stop suspecting you, so stop crying, okay?"
"R-really? I r-really didn't say anything. Even to my parents…."
"Yeah, yeah, my bad. Don't drag your parents into this…."
What kind of kid threatens to tell her parents? She really isn't scared of anything.
"Sigh, am I that scary?"
"…It's not exactly that. Normally you're fine, but when you make that expressionless face you look angry. It feels like a huge snake is wrapping around my body, so it's really scary."
It was as if she knew everything, making lies pointless. Like wandering lost in a maze with no exit. Above all, that unique look in her eyes felt even more terrifying than getting scolded by her parents when she was little.
Meanwhile, I focused on the word "snake."
'…Snake, huh.'
First time hearing that one. It was pretty fresh. Not that I agreed with it.
"Snake? Come on, give me something cooler."
"So like you, sis, to nitpick even that."
We kept eating, but Rona kept sneaking glances at me the whole time. It was getting frustrating.
"Got something you want to say?"
"How did you know?!"
"If I didn't, I'd be the dumbass."
Every time our eyes met she'd immediately look down and focus on her food, then look back at me. How could I not notice?
"…Um, would you like to do a job with me?"
"A job? A collab stream?"
"No, not a collab. It's guild work. After looking into it, I think I need your help, sis."
'My help….'
Unlike the association guys, Rona was also Ha-im's friend and had helped with the explanation broadcast, so I could lend a hand. But there was a condition.
"Then can I turn on the broadcast?"
"The broadcast?"
"Yeah."
If I streamed myself fighting, the viewers would love it.
"I'm not sure. Let me think about it for a bit."
Rona pondered. The guild master she knew wasn't exactly fond of broadcasting. In that case…
"It should be fine, right?"
The saying that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission existed for a reason. Let's do it first and apologize later.
"Alright, I'll help."
"Really? Thank you!"
Rona was genuinely delighted. Honestly, she'd expected rejection.
"I'll buy you a meal next time. What do you like?"
'Favorite food, huh….'
I wasn't picky and ate pretty much anything, but if I had to pick my absolute favorite, it would be the soul food of men…
"Spicy pork, pork cutlet, soup rice."
"Oh, you like really hearty, energetic food."
Looking at her appearance, people would assume she liked expensive omakase or beef, but that wasn't the case at all. Surprisingly, she seemed to prefer simple, everyday Korean dishes.
"Yeah, it's really good."
That's why I'd chosen this soup restaurant for our meeting. Their soup rice was excellent.
"Then how about doing a cooking stream next time? We can make it a collab too."
"Cooking stream? You're the one cooking, right?"
"Well… yeah."
Good. If I'd had to cook myself I would've refused.
"Okay. Set a date and call me. I'll head over right awa—"
Ding-ding!
Once again the bell chimed throughout the restaurant, and a handsome man waved at Rona.
"Noona, you were here?"
He was wearing a mask, but I could tell exactly who it was just from his eyes and voice.
'Why the hell is the druggie here?'