Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: A New Future (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The bubbly Hong Su-jeong vanished by the trickling stream, leaving only a girl brimming with melancholy. She looked somehow down in the dumps, so while Yu-jin napped, I'd coaxed her into going to catch loaches. But Hong Su-jeong just hugged her knees and stared blankly at the clear stream water.
"Su-jeong-ah, let's catch some fish with Oppa."
"Mm-."
Why was she acting like this?
Hong Su-jeong just gazed at the stream with dazed eyes, not stirring an inch.
'Did I do something wrong?'
I'd thought peace would reign if the noisy one quieted down, but only my eardrums found tranquility. So this was what having emotions felt like—emotions were awfully inconvenient. Jin-hyuk felt uneasy about the ordinary human feelings sprouting within him, yet was secretly pleased.
Anyway.
'Seeing the Great Magician like this is too uncomfortable.'
Jin-hyuk, who had waded into the stream up to his shins, sat down beside Hong Su-jeong. Up close, her pupils sparkled iridescently, reflecting the sunlight off the water once more. But those unfocused eyes and blank face screamed that she was sad right now.
'Looking at her like this, she really does seem like that person.'
It was the eyes from the past.
Hong Su-jeong sitting blankly alone in the executive office. Whenever Jin-hyuk entered for a report or meeting, her gaze would snap into focus in a hurry. Why had the Great Magician of the past sat there with such sorrowful eyes?
He couldn't help the past Great Magician anymore, but he could comfort this version of Hong Su-jeong. No—he wanted to.
"Su-jeong-ah. If you don't like playing in the water, should we head home?"
"......"
Hong Su-jeong still rested her chin on her knees, silent.
With the little one curled up like a puppy, he wondered if she was hurt somewhere.
'No way—is she like this because of the kiss?'
Son Jin-hyuk wasn't an idiot, and that was the only thing that came to mind.
"Su-jeong-ah, are you mad because Oppa didn't suggest a kiss?"
At the word "kiss," Hong Su-jeong whipped her head toward Jin-hyuk. Focus flooded back into her eyes. A hint of reproach in her gaze.
Jin-hyuk sighed inwardly with relief. Yeah, that was it.
"You don't say stuff like that around other people. It's our secret."
"Oh, really?"
"Of course. It's our precious, secret... uh, you know..."
Stuck trying to explain something he didn't understand himself, Jin-hyuk trailed off.
This was why experience mattered.
Man, this felt like early education. Was this what it was like being a tamer breaking in the Great Magician?
"So, when we're alone, you'll suggest it?"
Taming, my foot.
She was so bold.
"Uh—well."
"Pfft—see? You hate it."
"That's not it."
"No? Then you like it?"
What kind of awful teacher drilled this extreme logic into her?
Once again, words failed him.
Before Jin-hyuk could muster a reply, Hong Su-jeong's face lit up.
Seeing that expression, Jin-hyuk was certain.
'Anyone looking at this would say I'm the one getting tamed, right?'
While Jin-hyuk lost himself in random musings, Hong Su-jeong's face drew closer.
Ah, no. I'm not Oppa—I'm an uncle! Wait, what am I even saying?
As Jin-hyuk's thoughts knotted up in a mess of stammers, those cat-like eyes squeezed shut right before his nose. Then came the clear smack.
'Gah! I dropped my guard!'
It hit like a gut punch, fit to make him spit blood. The internal damage was that severe.
The stream's rush was loud, but the friction slapping his eardrums rang even louder. No thrill, no joy. It was a sensation he knew well, thanks to Yu-jin always pouncing on her Oppa for kisses.
If he had to compare, well... being a girl made it just a tad more awkward.
'What the hell! Getting owned by a kid!'
Too flustered to know who to yell at, the little Hong Su-jeong's tiny hands seized his cheeks. Confirmation kill. The kid even let out a satisfied hum.
"Mmm-."
Can't run away.
Shove her off, and the Great Magician turns back into the Great Magician. So why did tears prick his eyes? Felt wronged, felt pissed. Seoul girls were terrifying. Let go already!
Jin-hyuk's legs buckled; he plopped down and lost his balance.
Splash!
He toppled spectacularly, diving headfirst into the stream. Must've gone limp without realizing. His overheated face cooled blissfully in the water. Relief flooded him at once. Now the Great Magician wouldn't be sad. He'd done his best.
"Pha-!"
He yanked his head up from the stream with exaggerated flair.
This ought to have her rolling with laughter. A laughing Hong Su-jeong outshone anyone. It foreshadowed the future one.
But no sound came. No presence at all.
"Su-jeong-ah?"
Hong Su-jeong was gone.
No way—was it a dream conjured by past-life regrets? An illusion born of longing?
As Jin-hyuk wavered on the dream-reality border.
"Moooooommm!"
A kid's voice echoed from afar, trailing long as it receded from Jin-hyuk.
He turned toward the sound. There went the Seoul kid, short legs pumping furiously toward home.
"Moooooommm! It's a secret buuuut!"
That little...
How much time passed?
After staring blankly at the stream for ages, Jin-hyuk brushed off his rear and stood.
The four-legged beast that had been watching from the grass slunk away quietly too, head cocked with its long tongue lolling.
Heh heh hek-?
Humans don't lick butts? Hid to watch the show.
Sigh. Jin-hyuk let out a breath. He'd figured punishment was coming.
After all, he'd done something rotten to the precious Seoul guest. How terrifying would her upright parents be in a rage? He didn't want to imagine.
Guilt weighing him down, he climbed the hill. Hong Su-jeong's voice filled the yard, spinning heroic yarns.
"Oppa did this, grabbed my face like this, and went mmm-."
Hong Su-jeong mimed kissing Yu Se-ra's cheek. Her lips, flipped inside out with effort, looked like a smooth chicken gizzard.
Even amid his grievance, Jin-hyuk tilted his head.
Weird. No memory of grabbing her.
"Oh my, really? So our Su-jeong liked it?"
That lady?
He braced for outrage, but Yu Se-ra beamed back at her daughter's playful reenactment—the brightest smile in the world. Kids being kids, no funny business, huh?
"Eh, nothing much, Mom."
Hmm?
Said like it was no big deal, but she clasped her hands, stretched them low, and twisted her body—clearly embarrassed as hell. Momentarily, anyway. Seeing her flushed grin, Jin-hyuk thought:
'Whew. Looks like she didn't hate it.'
Tsk. Never saw my first kiss getting swiped so defenselessly. Not for nothing the Great Magician. Unpredictable ambush, even in retrospect. Convinced she'd crush special forces. Rear disruption and VIP hits would suit her perfect.
Jin-hyuk pleaded wordlessly with his mom via eyes.
'Mom, I'm innocent. Totally wronged.'
No words needed. Moms' eyes crinkled down, lips curled up. Their gazes ended on Jin-hyuk's dejected figure. Better than explaining—he chalked it up to self-inflicted and headed inside.
'My soft heart got me...'
Karma for feeling, for caring.
His body felt strangely drained.
'Nap time.'
In his doze, he sensed someone slipping in and out of his second-floor room. Each time, the Great Magician's breath ghosted his lips, his cheeks.
Smack-, smack-, smooch! Gotta include those vivid frictions.
Deep asleep, Jin-hyuk mused in dreamland.
'Just eat me already...'
Quit drooling.
It was while eating watermelon for dessert on the porch after clearing dinner.
Hong Gi-jun asked,
"Jin-hyuk, what do you wanna be when you grow up?"
He always hit with this on meetings. Like there was a right answer he was fishing for, doggedly.
"Uh..."
Jin-hyuk, slicing watermelon small for Yu-jin, scratched his cheek.
Living peacefully, happily with family like this—that's the dream. Inward answer again. Parents, Hong Gi-jun, Yu Se-ra, Hong Su-jeong all eyed him expectantly, but the words stuck. Precious dreams weren't for sharing lightly.
"They say you're good at sports. Sports middle school? Auntie'll hook you up."
"No thanks."
Firm no to Yu Se-ra's rare offer.
"Jin-hyuk's dream is living forever with Mom and Dad in the same house."
"Ehhh—that your dream?"
Dad's explanation drew an incredulous laugh from Yu Se-ra. Not mean-spirited, though—fair reaction. Not the age for astronaut, prez, tycoon, or athlete dreams.
"Say that, and no girl's marrying you, kid."
"No marriage plans."
Auntie's empty threat. If marriage happens, fine; future's future—for now, family first. Adults had that habit of leaping steps. Adult soul or not, these chats choked Jin-hyuk up.
No discomfort on the grown-ups' faces despite his bluntness. Puberty, they figured.
Hong Su-jeong was another story.
Watermelon juice dribbled from the kid's defeated pout.
"Hey, you jerk!"
Hong Su-jeong chucked a rind at Jin-hyuk and bolted down the dark path.
Waaaah—! Gonna go all crooked!
Short legs vanished into shadows in a flash.
'Ah, not what I meant.'
Mom's tossed stone ricocheted onto daughter.
Jin-hyuk, the ricochet guy, felt guilty anew and set off after the kid.
"Su—Su-jeong-ah. Not like thaaat—."
Past-life memories? He'd vowed to treat kid Hong Su-jeong right.
General dashed after, unwilling to miss out.
Adults' merry laughter painted the summer night.
"Heh heh. Still adores my girl, huh."
Hong Gi-jun's gramps-like mutter drowned in the chuckles.
Hong Su-jeong sniffled at the pitch-black bus stop, threatening to tattle to Grandpa. The fierce Seoul kid only returned piggyback after Jin-hyuk planted a kiss.
"Oppa, that's a promise, right?"
"......"
Thrilled atop Jin-hyuk's back, the kid's short legs swung.
Executive Director Hong Su-jeong's memory had never been sharp.
Jin-hyuk banked on that and rashly engagement-swore. Pinkies locked.
"No answer?"
"Uh......"
One persistent kid.
Maybe she'd hold onto it awhile.
'My peace, mighty as a river.'
"Oh my, the fingerflowers bloomed so pretty. Wanna dye with fingerflower juice, our Su-jeong?"
"Tch—Mom does pricey manicures, tells me fingerflowers?"
Hong Su-jeong jutted her lip.
Kiss followed by bachelor vows—yesterday's heaven-to-hell swings left her moody.
"This lasts till first snow, then first love comes true. Bet you didn't know."
"Really?"
Hong Su-jeong's cheeks flushed red as the dye.
Then.
"Oppaaa!"
She dragged Jin-hyuk outside.
"Hurry, come seeee!"
Jin-hyuk, mid-coloring with Yu-jin, cluelessly hauled out—moms' knowing smirks and the scraggly flower plopped on his pinky explained it.
'Hmm... pretty sure the Great Magician's got me hooked.'
Whatever.
Temporary gig.
'Off to study abroad in middle school?'
Hong Su-jeong'd ship out soon for abroad; puberty'd shift her tastes. Playing along was easy. Plus, vacation visits thrilled Mom and Dad.
"Oppa, no clipping nails till first snow. Got it?"
"Schoolkids'll tease..."
"Can't take teasing for Su-jeong?"
"Uh, sure. Fine."
Felt oddly ripped off.
For the kid hands-on-hips faux-mad, he caved once more. Nobody'd dare razz Jin-hyuk sans insanity.
"Bye, Oppa. Yu-jin-ah, unnie's off!"
Now an elementary kid, vacation's end—Hong Su-jeong departed tear-free.
Instead.
She beamed from the car window, flashing her bright-red fingers.