Chapter 188: Return (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 188: Return (3)
I pulled the crying Yu Serin into my arms and comforted her.
It was only natural for her to be sad.
A team member who had trusted and followed her had died.
As a leader, the feeling of having to watch them die right beside her must have been hell.
I couldn't know the full weight of it, but I could empathize.
The weight of a leader's responsibility…
I, too, knew just how heavy it could be.
“Hic… Hae-in…”
She buried her face in my chest and cried like a child.
Without a word, I slowly patted her back for a long time.
Until her tears stopped in the autumn wind.
We sat side by side on a cold bench in the memorial park.
Before we knew it, the sun had completely set, and the moon was slowly rising in the sky.
“…Can you… forget about this…?”
After a long silence, Yu Serin was the first to speak.
She was no longer crying, but her swollen eyes and the lingering redness at the tip of her nose were clear evidence of the sobbing from moments before.
It seemed she was embarrassed about showing me her vulnerable side.
“…I’ll try.”
I replied awkwardly, looking at her.
My answer made her face flush slightly.
Growl.
The source of that embarrassing sound was none other than my stomach.
Between comforting her and talking about this and that, we had both skipped lunch and dinner.
At the sound, Yu Serin stared at me blankly for a moment before bursting into a soft laugh.
“I’m sorry.”
She said as she stood up.
“Let’s go. You haven’t eaten because of me.”
“I’ll buy you dinner.”
And with that, Yu Serin and I left the national cemetery and got into her car.
Yu Serin’s car was a black sports car.
We sat in silence, driving through the night streets.
The city lights, turning on one by one, blurred past the window.
“Thank you.”
It was Yu Serin who broke the silence.
“You were pretty surprised earlier, weren’t you?”
She still seemed to be bothered by the fact that I’d seen her cry.
I chuckled and shook my head.
“No, I wasn’t surprised.”
“…You weren’t?”
Of course. I already knew that was her personality.
That she tries to act cold… but is actually a very, very warm-hearted person.
“……Was that my image…?”
She seemed lost in thought, muttering to herself.
Watching her profile, I changed the subject.
“So, where are we going?”
A faint smile returned to her face at my question.
“A great place I know. You can look forward to it.”
I naturally pictured a fancy omakase place or a high-end restaurant, something that fit her image.
But her car left the center of Seoul and headed toward an older, more run-down neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.
And where the car finally stopped…
Was an alley on the city's edge.
A worn, shabby sign and an old alleyway.
It was hardly a place that matched a sports car.
The sign above where we stopped read:
[Pot Lid Pork-Belly]
Yu Serin took my hand and led me inside.
Cling.
The inside of the restaurant was much louder than it seemed from the outside.
A small space with only a few tables.
But it was filled with the smell of grilling meat and cheerful laughter.
And from the kitchen, an old woman with a wrinkled face smiled and waved at us.
“Aigoo, look who it is, my pretty girl! It’s been a while!”
Only then did Yu Serin break into a bright, childlike smile and head toward her.
Her face was lit up with joy.
“Grandmother! Have you been well?”
Her voice was much higher and softer, too.
But the grandmother, as a sign of her delight, gave Yu Serin a resounding smack on the back.
“Didn’t I tell you not to show your face around here until you were getting married!”
The grandmother scolded Yu Serin with a laugh.
Yu Serin just laughed, as if the slap didn’t hurt at all.
She just laughed, delighted.
“Aww, Grandmother, come on~”
The grandmother, who had been playfully complaining, finally turned her gaze to me.
She squinted at me, then the corners of her mouth lifted into a grin.
“So.”
Her gaze shifted back to Yu Serin.
“Is this young man the groom? He looks a bit young, doesn’t he?”
At those words, Yu Serin’s face turned beet red.
“Th-that’s not it…”
While she stammered in embarrassment, the grandmother looked at me again.
“Take good care of her~”
And the grandmother patted my forearm, smiling as if she knew everything. She led us to a corner table in the back of the restaurant, where we wouldn't be disturbed by other customers.
Yu Serin and I sat facing each other across the old, round table.
“You two seem very close.”
When I asked, Yu Serin nodded.
“She helped me out a lot when I was young. I think of her as a mother.”
That’s what she said.
“…Are you… disappointed? I’m sorry. I just think this place has the best food…”
“Not at all. I like it.”
I just thought it didn’t quite match her image, but I like places like this, too.
In fact, if I had to choose, my own tastes are closer to this kind of atmosphere.
A little noisy, but full of life.
I never knew Yu Serin had this side to her.
I find myself surprised like this sometimes.
I may have created this world, but the people in it are more than just characters I made up.
They have their own personalities and histories that I know nothing about.
“I like this kind of atmosphere, too.”
I placed the thick slices of pork belly the grandmother brought onto the sizzling hot pot lid.
Tssssssss….
As the meat cooked, a savory aroma and a delicious sound filled the room.
“……”
Yu Serin watched me without a word.
“Grandmother~”
Just then, Yu Serin shot her hand up.
“Can we get three bottles of soju to start?”
“Three bottles?”
I flinched while grilling the meat and turned to look at her.
She gave me a mischievous smile, as if my reaction was amusing.
“Yes.”
“I’m still a patient, you know.”
“Then I’ll just drink by myself.”
I was just playing hard to get; I can actually drink.
She replied smoothly, as if she’d seen right through my lie.
I could only shrug.
Just then, the grandmother came out of the kitchen carrying four bottles of soju toward our table.
“Four bottles?”
“One’s on the house~”
The grandmother placed two soju glasses in front of me and patted Yu Serin’s back.
“I hear it’s all about getting pregnant first these days.”
“……”
I almost dropped the piece of meat I was flipping.
Yu Serin’s face was now an even deeper shade of red than before.
The grandmother cackled and went back into the kitchen.
In the awkward silence, I poured a drink into her glass first.
She filled my glass without a word.
Clink.
We quietly clinked our glasses.
The clear, cold liquid slid down my throat.
And so, we drank.
Our faces grew flushed from the heat of the grill.
No.
Maybe it was from the alcohol.
The awkward silence turned into comfortable conversation.
We laughed and drank for a long time.
*
I knew this would happen.
“Hae-in-ssiiii, jus’ one more drink…”
Yu Serin, her words completely slurred, whined from her piggyback position on my back.
I called a designated driver, and we headed for the address on her navigation system in her sports car.
The place we arrived at was a top-tier residential complex by the Han River.
We parked in the lavish underground garage, and I searched for her apartment number with her still on my back.
“What’s the number…”
I was looking for the unit number while carrying her.
Maybe because I was drunk too, my head was spinning.
I should’ve asked Kang A-rin how to sober up earlier today.
No, wait.
Wouldn’t Yu Serin know?
Hah…
“Number 1101… 11th floor… since it’s 1101… 11th floor. Hehe…”
She was completely wasted.
“…Ah.”
I ended up carrying her all the way up to the 11th floor.
I barely managed the fingerprint scanner.
And then, I stood before the heavy front door labeled ‘1101’.
The problem started now.
“The password, quickly…”
Huu… huu…
Only the sound of even breathing came from behind me.
I sighed, leaned her against the wall, and started searching her pockets.
It’d be great if there was a key card.
“Hehe, what’re you doin’…”
Yu Serin giggled as if ticklish, dodging my hands.
“If you keep that up, I’m just going to leave you here and…”
It was the exact moment I was making my threat.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.
“?”
Still on my back, Yu Serin reached out without looking and entered the password in the blink of an eye.
Beep-boop~ Clunk.
The door swung open.
“What was that just now?”
“Hehe……”
She just nuzzled her face against my shoulder, pretending to be drunk again.
With Yu Serin on my back, I finally went inside.
*
Cheon Yeo-wool sat on the bed in her room, biting her fingernails.
Jung Hae-in still hadn’t come home.
What on earth is he doing out this late…?
It was so frustrating.
Is this what a wife feels like when her husband is late coming home from a company dinner?
Thinking of it that way suddenly made her feel a little better.
Yes, that’s right. It can happen.
When a husband is out working, he might be late.
A wife should trust her husband and wait.
Cheon Yeo-wool got up, wearing only her pajamas.
She left her room and headed for Jung Hae-in’s.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
She just opened it.
Well, at this point, the password was practically public property in this penthouse.
In fact, it might be harder to find someone who didn’t know the password.
Click.
She quietly stepped into his room.
However.
Aahn!…….
“?!”
A woman’s all-too-familiar moan reached her ears.
Cheon Yeo-wool felt her entire body freeze at the sound.
She was sure she hadn’t heard anything from the hallway.
But the moment she opened the door and stepped inside, the woman’s cries were vivid and clear.
‘Who is it!!!!!’
The color drained from Cheon Yeo-wool’s face.
Filled with rage, she rushed forward and threw open the bedroom door.
And there, she and Jung Hae-in from the previous night were tangled together, naked and having sex.
Or, to be precise, holograms of her and Jung Hae-in.
“Wh… what is this…”
Cheon Yeo-wool was utterly bewildered by the surreal scene before her.
But below the bed, leaning against the wall with vacant, unfocused eyes, was another woman watching the entire illusion.
“Ah… ah…”
The genius girl, Yoon Chae-ha.
She, too, was panting, having done nothing else since morning.
No, to be more precise, she had been imprinting every detail into her eyes, replaying and secretly watching the past that was etched into this space, over and over again.
After all, there was no limit to a genius girl’s review sessions.
“……”
Cheon Yeo-wool was rendered speechless by the abnormal sight.