Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Inside the Bus
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Saturday, early dawn.
In the dim, bluish room where the sunlight hadn't yet pierced through, a lump of blanket squirmed lazily.
Beep beep beep—
And from the phone plugged into the charger far across the room came the default notification sound.
The wriggling blanket lump froze at the alarm, then a hand suddenly shot out from underneath.
The feeble hand groped wildly around the bedding but let out a groan when it couldn't find its target.
Then the blanket monster shuffled along, rustling, all the way to the wall with the outlet.
This strange creature slowly approached the wall, bumped into it with a thud, and finally shed its shell.
What emerged from beneath was Su-hyeon, rubbing her forehead with eyes barely open.
To head back to her family home, she had to get moving early.
The travel time alone took up nearly half the day.
That was one reason she didn't visit home often. Honestly, it was a hassle...
Wanting to go home was one thing, and it being a pain was another.
If someone called her out for bawling her eyes out yesterday, she'd have nothing to say...
Anyway, when heading home, it was best to catch the first bus of the morning and sleep through the ride.
Right after her call with Grandmother, she'd checked the app and barely snagged the last available seat on the intercity bus.
Must've been the weekend crowd of hikers heading to Jirisan.
She'd almost arrived late at night, slept, and turned right back around.
And so, Su-hyeon, up at five in the morning, began her preparations to head out.
Shake shake shake—
She shook her head wildly to fling off the water, then dragged over the living room box that had become her stepping stool and took down the clothes hanging on the balcony clothesline.
She was wearing a large white T-shirt for now.
She didn't want to step out onto the balcony naked out of laziness and have the cops show up again...
She could argue what kind of pervert scopes out someone's balcony first thing in the morning, but the apartment building across from hers was full of folks running shops in the alley diner street nearby.
And self-employed folks start their days early...
Lots of them were already at work by the time she got back from her dawn Coupang runs.
Maybe because it was a spot popular with college kids, the shops in the diner alley opened bright and early.
Some even had special breakfast menus.
The people who'd come to her place last time were all diner aunties and uncles.
Among the laundry she pulled down, she picked out the kids' clothes she'd bought with Ga-eun and rubbed them by hand—thankfully, they were all dry. She'd been ready to blow-dry them if needed.
Good thing she could show up to Grandmother's looking cute.
She'd have to thank Ga-eun later.
Thinking of the department store almost soured her mood again, but the call with Grandmother yesterday chased it away quick.
After folding the laundry, Su-hyeon headed back to the balcony and froze a bit.
"Huh?"
The bonsai that was always there.
The original owner of the soil and nutrients she'd swiped when she was hungry.
The young sapling that had been in it was gone.
She grabbed the bonsai and peered inside in a panic, but the dug-up pile of soil only confirmed that a tree had been there.
"What? Where'd it go?"
The bonsai Grandmother always stressed over.
Su-hyeon had resented it a little since she treated it like her life, but it grew fine on its own without much care, so she'd let it be.
She'd come back to the balcony to grab it for the trip, and now this.
Grandmother's bonsai obsession was downright scary sometimes—she could skip it for local trips, but for far ones like today, she had to bring it, or else.
The second reason Su-hyeon rarely went home.
Honestly, the bonsai wasn't light or small, and lugging it on public transport risked damaging the tree or breaking the pot—it was a hassle just thinking about it.
...And now that bonsai was gone without a trace.
No signs of it drying up, and even checking every corner for if it'd been uprooted and fallen, nothing.
No way a rat dragged it off...?
She even checked under the pot and outside the balcony just in case—no sign of anything like a small tree.
"......This is bad."
A tremor rippled through Su-hyeon's green eyes.
- It's okay
- This time, just bring yourself
"Phew..."
Just in case, she'd sent Grandmother a KakaoTalk, and luckily, she was awake—reply came right away.
A bit puzzled by how nonchalant she seemed, but hey, good news was good news.
As Ga-eun had taught her, she tucked the front of her T-shirt into the waistband of her pants and smoothed out the wrinkles. The coordination looked decent enough.
She put her hands on her hips, twisted side to side—the reflection in the glass she'd been using as a mirror mimicked her perfectly.
Good to go.
With all preparations complete, Su-hyeon headed to the Dongseoul Terminal.
From there, she could catch the express bus popular with Jirisan hikers.
Of course, she wasn't going hiking.
But it was the fastest and most convenient way to get close in one go.
"Hello."
"Hey, kiddo, by yourself?"
"Yes. Here's my ticket."
The driver seemed a little thrown that a young child was boarding the intercity bus alone.
But when she casually pulled up her app ticket and boarded without fuss, he didn't stop her.
Her smooth movements suggested she wasn't a newbie, so he figured maybe she'd arrived before her family.
From her short experiences, acting nonchalant like this drew less attention than claiming to be an adult.
No one believed her anyway, and it just came off as a cute kid playing grown-up.
Ugh.
As more passengers started boarding, she pulled on her white cap.
She'd taken it off earlier for some sun, but with the crowd building, no choice now.
Even without her hair or height, her facial features stood out too much.
As departure time hit, a rowdy group piled on—mostly in hiking gear, clearly Jirisan-bound.
An auntie in hiking clothes plopped down next to Su-hyeon.
"Oh my, what a pretty little miss we have here?"
She still couldn't get used to that line, no matter how many times she heard it.
But it wasn't wrong, so she let it slide.
She was pretty, she was little, and a miss...? Well, girl worked too.
No point correcting strangers she barely knew.
"I'm not—I was a 23-year-old guy until suddenly I turned like this." Yeah, they'd just look at her like a poor sick kid.
"...Hello."
"You hiking too, sweetie? With family?"
"No, just me."
"Took the intercity bus alone?"
"Yes, I've done it a few times, it's fine."
The two men up front—a grandpa and an uncle type—perked up at their chat and turned interested eyes their way.
"Aigoo, what a plucky little one. Wandering around all by herself."
"Still, isn't it too far for a kid alone? World's so dangerous these days."
"Hey now, dangerous how? Don't you know how many Guards there are? Anyone trying nonsense gets squashed flat."
Guards were a uniquely Korean job.
They protected the cities, treated like grade-5 civil servants with iron rice bowls and solid pensions.
Only high-rankers C-grade and up could apply—not just anyone.
Plus, if you married, you got posted near your address.
Best gig around—great image, great perks.
With Guards handling things, police focused on searches, investigations, pursuits, etc.
That put Korea back on top for public safety. Japan was begging for tips, America tried copying, China was sweating...
Or so the grandpa with a Guard son claimed.
Definitely mainlining patriotic NewTube channels.
She let his speech flow in one ear and out the other when something got passed over from the left-side seat opposite theirs.
"Here, sweetie, try some of this. Hm?"
"Aigoo, Mr. Joo! What's with all this packed food?"
"Hush now! These are boiled eggs Auntie made this morning—super nutritious, great for the body."
"Th-thank you..."
"Eh? Don't just eat that dry—here, organic oranges from my relative's farm, the best ones."
"Gulp, th-thank you..."
"Hm? Kiddo didn't have breakfast, right? Look at the time—you must've skipped it. Can't do that in your growth spurt. Here, tuna kimbap—try one."
"Um, no more..."
"Throat clogged? Want water?"
"Water? Kids these days only drink that ping-pong stuff or whatever. My grandkids throw fits without it!"
"Where's that on a bus? Tomato juice at least?"
"No, I'm full... enough..."
"Gotta eat lots to grow big! One more, okay?"
"Urp."
"Kid's gonna get carsick. You folks gonna dump your whole lunch on her?"
Unintentionally stealing all the elders' attention,
she settled into the express bus heading home.