Chapter 325
Chapter 325
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 325
Chapter Title: Treasure Hunt (4)
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“Haaah. This feels so good, seriously~!”
Ha-eun stretched, extending her long, slender legs.
Trapped in the hot spring by her sharp jab about him being a towel rack, Oh-jin could only bite his lip at the sight of her smooth skin above the water.
“Oh, right! I almost forgot!”
Ha-eun, who had been stretching her legs, clapped her hands.
“…What.”
Oh-jin looked back at her, his eyes weary.
“I put this in the spring earlier while we were setting up the tent!”
Ha-eun splashed and swam to a corner of the spring.
From under a heavy rock, she pulled out a round basket.
“What’s that?”
“You can’t have a hot spring without this!”
She grinned, pulling an egg from the basket she'd prepared.
Steam rose from the egg, which had been sitting in the hot water.
[Why did you bring eggs?]
“Eating boiled eggs in a hot spring is a classic combo.”
[...Humans have such customs?]
Vega tilted her head, looking back at Oh-jin.
Oh-jin let out a dry laugh and shook his head.
“Isn’t that for jjimjilbangs, not hot springs?”
“Same difference.”
Ha-eun peeled the egg she had taken from the basket.
The firm, boiled egg white was revealed.
“Let’s see… Kaha! It’s perfectly soft-boiled!”
Ha-eun gave a thumbs-up after splitting the boiled egg in half.
“A little salt on this and…”
As Ha-eun popped the perfectly soft-boiled egg into her mouth, the corners of her lips curled up in satisfaction.
“Damn, this is good!”
Oh-jin chuckled, taking an egg from the basket and peeling it.
He sprinkled some of the salt Ha-eun had prepared on the steaming boiled egg and took a large bite. The rich flavor of the yolk filled his mouth.
“Wow, damn. If only we had some sikhye, it would’ve been perfect.”
She had brought plenty of eggs, a near-essential cooking ingredient, but hadn't managed to pack any sikhye.
[...Is it that delicious?]
“Does boiling them in the hot spring water change something?”
Seemingly intrigued by the two who were eating with constant exclamations of delight, Vega and Isabella approached.
Oh-jin took two eggs from the basket, peeled them neatly, sprinkled them with salt, and handed them to the two women.
[Well then…]
*Nom, nom, nom.*
Vega, who had returned to her small size after the massage, nibbled on the boiled egg like a squirrel storing food for winter.
Beside her, Isabella also took a bite of the salted egg.
[Hmmmm. The taste is… subtle.]
“…It’s just an egg boiled in hot water, isn’t it?”
The two women looked on as if questioning the need to eat this specifically in a hot spring.
“Aish, you two know nothing about Korean culture!”
Ha-eun clicked her tongue and shook her head.
For some reason, it was as if an invisible traditional hat had been placed upon her head.
“You don’t eat hot spring eggs with your mouth, you eat them with your chest! Your chest!”
“…Our chests?”
[How does one eat with their chest?]
The two women instinctively glanced down at their own chests.
Vega, who had been staring at her chest, subtly shifted her gaze to Isabella’s.
[Just how much did you eat with it…]
“W-what are you saying?!”
Isabella covered her chest with her arms, her face turning red.
“No, by chest, I didn't mean *that* chest…”
Oh-jin pressed a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache.
The cultural difference was far too complex to explain in a sentence or two.
“Hmm. Then how about we try eating it like this?”
Ha-eun, who was skillfully spinning a boiled egg on her fingertip like a basketball, glanced at Isabella.
A mischievous smile formed on her lips.
Like a cat, Ha-eun stealthily swam over to Isabella.
“Hah!”
“Kyaa!”
*Crack!*
Ha-eun cracked the egg in her hand against Isabella’s head.
“W-what are you doing, Ha-eun?!”
Isabella, who had been elegantly enjoying the hot spring, turned to Ha-eun with a flustered expression.
Ha-eun giggled and began to peel the boiled egg.
“This is how we crack them in Korea.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
Cracking boiled eggs on someone else’s head to eat them.
There’s no way such a ridiculous custom exists.
“No, it’s true, I’m telling you.”
“Hmph! I’ve been in Korea for quite a while, you know. You think I’d fall for such a ridiculous lie?”
Isabella turned to Oh-jin, demanding the truth.
“Uh… well.”
Oh-jin gave an awkward smile.
“There was a custom of doing that in jjimjilbangs, not hot springs.”
It was something you’d only see on variety shows or old dramas; the custom had all but died out these days.
“…Just what kind of country is Korea?”
Isabella watched Ha-eun, who was happily peeling and eating her egg, with a look of utter confusion.
“Come on, don’t be like that. You try it too, Bella.”
Ha-eun said, tapping the top of her own head.
“Hmmm. Alright, I’ll try it too.”
She held a boiled egg in her hand with a look of grim determination.
Learning Korean culture was an indispensable part of living with Oh-jin from now on.
No matter how baffling their customs were, she had to accept them for the sake of their future.
“Hey. Why the serious face…”
“Haaap!”
Her arm swung through the air.
The egg in Isabella’s hand smashed against Ha-eun’s head, shattering completely.
Aack!
A scream erupted from Ha-eun’s mouth.
“Hey, you brat! I told you to crack the shell, not smash the whole egg!”
“Oh, my? Was that not how you do it?”
Isabella tilted her head, looking down at the miserably crushed egg in her palm.
[I too! I wish to try as well!]
Her interest piqued by the custom(?) of cracking boiled eggs on another’s head, Vega’s eyes sparkled as she raised an egg.
“…Stop. That’s enough.”
Oh-jin muttered in the voice of a soulless specter, drained by the women’s endless energy.
‘Dammit.’
I should have gone on patrol.
For a moment, he found himself envying the absent Riak.
* * *
“Haaah.”
After the storm-like egg incident(?) had ended.
Only then was Oh-jin able to relax and enjoy the hot spring.
No, to be precise, he *thought* he would be able to relax and enjoy the hot spring.
However.
“Oh, right, Oh-jin.”
Ha-eun whispered, her lips close to his ear.
“You asked earlier if I was wearing underwear, right?”
“…You said you cut up some sportswear.”
“That was Bella.”
Ha-eun gave a playful smile as she slightly lowered the towel wrapped around her body.
“Want me to show you… what’s underneath?”
The towel descended precariously.
Just as it reached the point where a little lower would reveal her pale skin.
Ha-eun stopped lowering the towel, took a step closer to Oh-jin, and looked at him with a deep gaze.
“What was his name, Heimerdinger? That famous philosopher said it, right? You can’t know its true state until you observe it.”
“That’s Schrödinger, Ha-eun.”
And he was a physicist, not a philosopher.
“W-whatever! The point is, you have to check for yourself if I’m wearing any!”
Ha-eun let out a deliberate cough and placed the end of the towel she was wearing into Oh-jin’s hand.
“Come on! Rip it off like you’re unwrapping a Christmas present!”
What’s this about a Christmas present?
Oh-jin let out a dry laugh and shook his head.
He took the towel she’d given him and wrapped it back around her body.
“What, you’re not going to check?”
“Seeing how confident you are, I can pretty much guess the answer.”
“Aww, what?”
Ha-eun pouted as if to say he was no fun.
She had been planning to tease him to her heart’s content, but it ended more tamely than expected.
‘In that case.’
She couldn’t give up after just one failure.
Thinking of her next move, Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled like stars.
“Oh-jin, Oh-jin. Come here.”
Ha-eun beckoned to him.
“Why?”
“Hurry.”
As Oh-jin approached, Ha-eun swiftly hugged his arm, smiled softly, and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Ahh~ this is nice.”
Her damp skin touched his shoulder.
Her wet, reddish-brown hair clung to Oh-jin’s body.
“I can hear your heartbeat, Oh-jin.”
Resting her head on his shoulder, Ha-eun smiled gently and pressed herself even closer.
She loved listening to Oh-jin’s racing heart like this.
It made her feel that he was truly here.
“Oh-jin.”
“…Yeah?”
“I love you.”
A feeling as if his breath had caught in his throat.
Her straightforward words struck him directly, making his already fluttering heart pound.
Honestly.
His heart was racing several times faster than when she had tempted him by offering to show her bare skin.
“Ah, no fair! You can’t be the only one to do that!”
Isabella, who had been secretly watching the lovey-dovey pair, hugged Oh-jin’s other arm.
“I love you too, Oh-jin.”
“……”
Oh-jin remained tight-lipped at the blush-inducing affection from his two lovers.
[Ugh.]
Only Vega, who had yet to properly confess her feelings to him, was left alone, watching Ha-eun and Isabella with envy.
“Ahem.”
Oh-jin cleared his throat, feeling the soft sensation on both his arms.
With Ha-eun and Isabella clinging to him on either side while he was wearing only a thin towel, he was in no state to enjoy the hot spring.
[E-everyone seems to be a bit too close!]
“Aw, what’s the big deal? It’s not like we’re strangers.”
[S-still, a lady must maintain her dignity!]
Vega puffed out her cheeks and glared at the two women clinging to Oh-jin.
Ha-eun grinned, her eyes fixed on Vega.
“Well now~? Unlike someone I know, I’ve never asked to be spanked, so I wouldn’t know about that~”
[Y-you!]
On the verge of tears, Vega lunged at Ha-eun.
Once again, a noisy commotion echoed through the hot spring.
“Haaah.”
Oh-jin leaned his back against the stone wall, looking up with an exhausted sigh.
Soaking in the warm water, he gazed up at the starlit night sky.
It was a bit chaotic, but he could feel a warm emotion spreading through his chest.
‘This is nice.’
To think I could feel this happy in the middle of the Demon Realm.
Honestly, it was something I couldn’t have even imagined when I first arrived here.
‘It’s not about where you are, but who you’re with.’
Even though this place was the Demon Realm and not Earth.
Ha-eun, Vega, and Isabella were by his side.
But.
I wonder, who remains by ‘his’ side now?
Just as Oh-jin’s expression subtly hardened.
*BOOOOOM!*
A deafening roar shook the ground as a cloud of dust rose in the distance.
“That’s…”
“That’s where Riak is on patrol.”
Oh-jin hurriedly stood up and turned in the direction of the roar.
Ha-eun and Vega, who had been bickering playfully, instantly adopted serious expressions and stared sharply in the direction of the sound.
*Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!*
Riak’s cry echoed from the distance.
“Tsk.”
Oh-jin clicked his tongue and leaped out of the hot spring.
The sweet break time was over.
As if on cue, Oh-jin’s party simultaneously started running toward the sound.