Leftover Streets
Mina groaned as she woke up that early morning, clutching her throbbing head. The pain felt like something was poking and prodding at her brain from the inside, leaving her completely numb to any coherent thought. She buried herself deeper into the soft comforter and rolled around in bed for what felt like ages.
Eventually, the unbearable thirst that made her throat feel like it was cracking open forced her to get up.
"C-cold!"
The moment she kicked off the thick, fluffy comforter, the warmth that had built up from her body heat overnight escaped, and the chilly morning air swept over her skin, urging her to move.
"Water..."
She briefly considered crawling back under the covers to lazily enjoy her rare holiday, but the thirst tightening around her throat was too much to ignore. Shivering in the increasingly cold air, she wrapped her arms around herself and shuffled to the water dispenser. As soon as she placed a cup underneath, the light turned on and it dispensed about a cup's worth of water with a steady stream.
"Gulp, gulp... Haa."
The sensation of cold water sliding down her parched throat finally eased some of the pain, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"I must have drunk way too much yesterday."
The moment she remembered downing soju without much thought, Mina froze. Because what came rushing back alongside that memory was the recollection of throwing her arms around Seok-jun.
"Uwaaaaah!? What the hell did I do?!"
She trembled violently in front of the water dispenser before bolting back to her bed and throwing herself onto it.
"What do you mean, 'it's a shame we can't meet'? What charm?! Lee Mina! You pervert! He's busy, that's all! You idiot! Idiot! Idiot!!"
Even if she'd been drunk, the memory of acting like a spoiled child made her burn with shame. She rolled around on the bed, unable to contain it. The fluffy comforter got crushed flat under her flailing body, but she couldn't care less.
"What am I going to do? How can I ever face Mr. Seok-jun again?!"
She'd been completely wasted, her self-control gone, and had clung to him without hesitation. Mina seriously wondered if she'd ever be able to look him in the eye again.
She buried her face mercilessly into her pillow, wallowing in misery, when she suddenly flinched and stopped thrashing. The memory of the man who had gently held her while she whined and complained came flooding back, his voice whispering in her ear.
Ehehe. Forgetting all about the shame that had made her writhe just moments ago, Mina recalled the man's firm, solid embrace that had accepted her without pushing her away, and a silly, lovesick smile spread across her face.
It was embarrassing that she'd acted so spoiled while drunk, but at least she could tell that he was genuinely interested in her. The slight anxiety she'd felt began to fade as she kicked her feet happily against the mattress.
"Wait a second! What time is it right now?!"
A new memory suddenly hit her, and Mina shot upright in bed with a start.
'If it's alright with you, Miss Mina, shall we meet again for lunch tomorrow?'
'Yes~! I'd love to!'
She'd been so overjoyed by Seok-jun's words that she'd agreed without thinking. Checking the clock in a panic, she saw it was already pointing to eleven. With no time to waste, she dashed to her vanity to inspect her appearance.
"It's a total mess, just as I thought!"
Her hair was a tangled disaster, her clothes were wrinkled, but what really bothered her was her face.
"Ugh, at least I didn't wear makeup. That's something."
She'd only applied essence and lotion yesterday since she'd gone out for exercise at first. That was a relief. While the second hand on her alarm clock ticked away, Mina hopped anxiously from foot to foot. She wiped her face with a cotton pad soaked in toner, then hurried into the bathroom to wash up in a rush.
"I can't be late..."
Knowing full well that drying her long hair would take forever, Mina still had no choice but to wash it. There was no way she could show up with bedhead.
"Ppomi! Did you eat?"
"Sniff."
After confirming her hair was at least somewhat dry, Mina checked to make sure the food bowl wasn't empty. Ppomi was lazily sprawled out on her cushion. Seeing that both water and kibble were still in the automatic feeder, she quickly changed clothes and left the house.
"Ugh, what if I'm late?"
She pulled out her smartphone to check the time. It was already half past twelve. At this rate, she'd only make it by one. She was about to hurry her steps when—
"Miss Mina."
At the sound of that low voice calling her name, she turned around in surprise.
"Ah, Mr. Seok-jun?"
Sure enough, Seok-jun was standing nearby, looking in her direction. Surprised to see him, Mina walked over with quick, light steps.
"I didn't expect you to come all the way here..."
Worried that something might look off, she subtly smoothed her hair and checked her sleeves as she spoke. Come to think of it, he'd walked her home yesterday too.
"I realized after we made plans that we hadn't decided where to meet."
Now that he mentioned it, she didn't remember him specifying a location either. Most of her memories of meeting Seok-jun involved his unmanned café, so she'd naturally been heading there.
"Hehe, still, I didn't think you'd come pick me up yourself."
"Couldn't be helped in this situation, right?"
"Hmm, that's not really it though."
Enjoying the ticklish feeling in her chest, Mina walked closer and linked her arm with his. When Seok-jun glanced down at the contact, she let out a soft giggle.
"So you're properly making up for yesterday, right?"
"I'm not sure how many interesting places there are around here, but I'll do my best to show you around."
"Hmm, I guess that'll be enough. A little disappointing, though."
Even though she'd lived here for a while, she'd been so focused on work that she barely remembered wandering around the neighborhood. As they walked together, what caught her eye were the tents pitched between buildings, stretching out to cover the sky or propped up like umbrellas along the street.
"That's a market, isn't it? I've seen people setting up on my way to work sometimes, but I didn't know they opened during holidays too."
They naturally wandered into the tent-lined street, looking around. There were potted saplings with their roots wrapped in cloth or plastic, and boxes or red baskets filled with fruits like persimmons, pears, and apples that looked perfect for ancestral rites.
"They usually open every five days—on the second and seventh—so it's called a five-day market. But during holidays, they open specially because of ancestral ceremonies."
"Ancestral rites..."
Listening to him, Mina glanced at the other side and spotted stalls selling fried foods and pancakes.
"Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I last had any."
When she was little, in their old tiled-roof house, they'd fill a fryer much bigger than a regular pan with cooking oil and fry all sorts of things. She could still picture them laying out newspaper in layered trays and arranging the fried items on top.
"Then let's take a quick look around."
"Ah, wait a moment!"
Before she could stop him, he was already pulling her along. Mina followed in a fluster, hurrying to keep up so she wouldn't lose him. The first place they went was, of course, the fried food stall that had caught her eye immediately. Seeing the fully cooked large batches of fried items sorted by type in plastic boxes lined with newspaper gave off a strong ancestral rite vibe.
"There are some foods here I've never seen before."
For example, there were fritters that looked like dongguran-ttaeng but had different vegetables attached—nothing like what she remembered.
"Food changes depending on taste and circumstances, doesn't it?"
"Still, most of them look pretty similar."
Even so, the majority of the dishes weren't that different from what she remembered.
"But there aren't many people here."
Even though it was called a market, there wasn't much to see. Not many people were walking around, and even fewer vendors seemed to be running stalls.
"It's only open for people who need ancestral offering food in a hurry."
As he'd said, the occasional customers who stopped by would spot what they needed, buy it quickly, and hurry off in their cars. There weren't many people strolling around leisurely like them. Instead, they felt the stares of people watching them with curious eyes and whispering among themselves. It made them feel like outsiders here.
In the usual downtown area it might not have mattered, but markets tended to have a lot of elderly people, so the looks weren't exactly kind.
Well, I guess awakened people do stand out.
From a historical perspective, the appearance of awakened individuals had been an incredibly short period of time. Just a few years ago, people with suddenly changed hair color or eye color were whispered about as being cursed, having rare diseases, or afflicted by all sorts of strange superstitions that were treated as common knowledge. Even now, many people still found unusual hair or eye colors strange. It couldn't be helped.
"There's not much to see here. Let's go somewhere else."
Seok-jun didn't seem to notice the wary glances directed at them at all. He simply looked straight ahead as he led her along. Watching him, Mina spoke up.
"Doesn't it bother you, Mr. Seok-jun?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"You know... the way people look at hunters isn't exactly positive, is it?"
Not to mention the issue of awakened people in general. Their distinct features set them apart from ordinary people. Even though there were quite a few of them now, to most eyes they were still objects of envy, strange beings, or even dangerous individuals.
"Is there any need to pay attention to that?"
Even when Mina asked, his expression remained indifferent. He looked more interested in an ant crawling by.
"...Pfft. I guess you're right."
There was no point in worrying about the people around them anyway. She adjusted her grip on his arm and let the surrounding stares slide off her. After all, they had no reason to interfere with the two of them.
Following him, they soon left the market behind and entered an alley barely wide enough for a single car to pass through.
"Have you had lunch yet?"
"Ah, not yet."
To be honest, she'd slept right up until just before lunch, so she hadn't even eaten breakfast properly.
"How about pasta?"
"That sounds good, but is there anywhere around here that serves it on a day like this?"
Mina tilted her head at his suggestion. This neighborhood was ordinary at best and completely unremarkable at worst. For food like that, wouldn't it be faster to head to a department store restaurant or somewhere farther into the city?
"I don't come here often because the places tend to be needlessly expensive, but there are a few decent spots."
He didn't seem particularly fond of the area, judging by his displeased expression. Fortunately, there weren't many people passing by as she looked around.
"Just how bad was it to make you react like that?"
When Mina asked cautiously, he let out a sigh.
"The worst was the place that served fried decorative garnishes on top of what they called a rice bowl."
"D-decorative garnishes..."
At that point she was actually curious, but seeing Seok-jun shudder, Mina quietly followed his lead.