Chapter 34: Curiosities and Confessions

It took about five seconds for Jinhyang to subdue me.

She threatened to tear my house apart.

It might have even been just four seconds.

“Get in.”

Jinhyang pointed at my box.

I complied with her command and stepped inside.

As I sat there with just my face peeking out, Jinhyang picked me up along with the box.

‘Huh?’

Step, step—

She carried me somewhere.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m throwing you out.”

“……?”

Surely, she must be joking.

As I thought that, I turned to look behind me, but she was genuinely heading toward the front door.

“Why would you throw me away………….?”

“You never listen.”

When have I not listened?

If I truly hadn’t listened, I wouldn’t feel this unjustified anger.

“Is there anyone who listens as well as I do? You can’t find an employee like me anywhere.”

“What employee? An employee who charges at me to steal treats?”

“I just wanted to get back what was taken from me.”

“Really?”

Jinhyang replied while not stopping her steps.

‘What do I do?’

I had money from broadcasting, but I hadn’t signed a contract for a place to live yet.

It was too harsh to just kick someone out like this.

“If you throw me out like this, I’ll have nowhere to go.”

“Why would you have nowhere to go? You have your home.”

Jinhyang glanced at my box as she said this.

‘Ah.’

While it was true that this was my home, and indeed a safe one, it still mattered where I was.

One of those places was Yoon Bora’s house.

“……Do you know what the weather is like outside?”

“It’s nice; it’s spring.”

“Yes, today’s weather was pleasantly warm.”

“Good for you.”

Jinhyang smiled at me and clicked—she opened the front door.

‘Is she really going to throw me out…………?’

I felt all the blood drain from my face.

Is it really okay to sever ties with someone so easily?

“Th-this…!”

At this point, I was resigned.

I should say something before leaving.

“Wow. It seems you don’t even feel sorry for me.”

“What?”

Though Jinhyang glared at me, so what.

She wasn’t my boss anymore.

“Did you know? Once I leave here, I’m going to eat twenty treats a day.”

“Do you want to get in trouble for real?”

Zap—

Jinhyang’s glare was a bit scary.

Okay, maybe twenty treats was too much.

“Well, uh, I’ll just have ten then……”

“……”

Jinhyang stopped walking and let out a deep sigh.

“Were you seriously worried I was going to throw you out?”

“Huh?”

If not, then why did we come outside?

As I stared at her in confusion, Jinhyang pointed behind me with her chin.

I turned around to see what she was pointing at.

It was the campsite set up in the yard.

“Remember, we were supposed to have dinner outside with the others tonight? Don’t you recall?”

“W-when was that?”

“We talked about it in the car. Since Bora and Raxy had other things to do, we decided the two of us would get here early.”

Oh, did we?

I had no memory of that conversation since I’d been half-asleep in the car. Maybe I mumbled something in my sleep.

“Hmmm.”

So that’s what this was about.

Jinhyang wasn’t planning to throw me out after all.

Feeling relieved, I smiled at her, but her gaze suddenly turned cold.

“So, how many treats did you say you were going to have earlier?”

“……Six.”

“No, you said twenty… Actually, not even six. It’s five, remember?”

“Oops.”

Her memory was sharp.

Disappointed, I clicked my tongue.

“Haa…… Fine, let’s make it six. I’ve been grateful to you lately anyway.”

“……?”

Jinhyang? Grateful to me?

That was even more shocking than the fact that I got an extra treat.

‘Is this for real?’

I grabbed her cheek and tugged at it.

Since she was still holding my box, she couldn’t resist.

“Who are you? Stop pretending to be the boss.”

“……I’m only letting that slide because I just said I was grateful, got it?”

Jinhyang gritted her teeth with a smile.

‘O-oh, I guess it’s really her.’

I quickly let go of her cheek and looked up at her.

‘What is this about?’

There was no reason for her to be grateful to me.

While I was pondering this by myself, Jinhyang set her laptop on the table and plopped me onto her lap.

Since I wasn’t wearing shoes, I placed my feet on her knees.

“Look.”

Tap, tap—

Jinhyang started typing on her keyboard.

About one keystroke every three seconds.

She typed slowly, but her accuracy was impressive.

“0124……”

Jinhyang had logged onto an article from an online news site.

The Transformation of Jinhyang.

The article covered Jinhyang’s recent image change. The comments were quite positive too.

[Honestly, isn’t Jinhyang super likeable these days?]

[Didn’t think her personality would show up since she hasn’t been exposed in the media, but the way she treats Harang just shows she’s a tsundere.]

[No one can compete with her; she’s an angel, an angel.]

Jinhyang an angel?

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“….What are you laughing at?”

“Uh, the ads at the bottom are funny.”

“Ads?”

She moved the mouse and clicked on an advertisement.

What appeared was a trailer for a children’s animated film.

After seeing the childishness of it, Jinhyang looked down at me and asked,

“Do you find this stuff fun?”

“Y-yes.”

In truth, I didn’t like such childish things at all.

I just said that to justify myself.

“Hmmm……”

Jinhyang lightly nodded and pressed play on the ad video, and we silently watched the three-minute trailer.

“Wow. There are explosions and everything.”

The trailer was surprisingly exciting.

It had its own tension and scenes that hinted at plot twists, which felt fresh.

“……There’s a theater in the tower, so you can go watch that when you come to work later.”

I told her I was grateful, after all. I realized I had benefited from her more than I expected.

“Really?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Jinhyang seemed like she didn’t care about her image, but apparently, I was wrong.

It was oddly intriguing, so I stared at her for a while.

“What’s with the look?”

“Uh, um! I! I want to go to the bathroom!”

“Just go, then.”

“I can’t go by myself because I’m not wearing shoes.”

Jinhyang glanced down at my feet.

Seeing my bare feet made me a bit shy, so I wiggled my toes.

She then picked me up.

“Are you trying to take advantage of me just because I said I was grateful?”

“Um, the reason I can’t wear shoes is……”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

She held me in her arms.

It felt like today was a day I could get away with treating Jinhyang however I wanted.

After we finished dinner, we had some downtime.

Yoon Bora and Raxy were lying on the mat set up in the yard, while Jinhyang sat at the back table typing on her laptop.

I sat in my box, watching them.

‘She’s really a monster.’

Suddenly,

“Wow.”

Jinhyang exclaimed loudly as she got up.

“What’s wrong?”

“I hear a sound I really don’t like.”

“What sound?”

“The teacher’s voice.”

“Teacher?”

“Everyone here is calling each other ‘honey,’ but when I hear that, it really puts me in a bad mood.”

“Oh, then I won’t say anything and will just fart over here by myself.”

“Haha.”

Jinhyang burst into laughter.

I quietly closed my mouth.

Still, just by listening to her, it felt like I was talking to someone different from everyone else.

I hesitated for a moment before asking Jinhyang again.

“So, what color is a fart?”

“Um, I don’t know? I’ve never thought about it.”

“Is it white? Is it blue?”

“White?”

Jinhyang looked at me, slightly baffled.

“Why?”

“I’m just curious.”

“I’ve never met anyone who asks such strange questions.”

“Then is no one curious about it?”

“I’m not sure.”

She made a somewhat bored expression.

“Oh, then how about asking that girl?”

“Which girl?”

“Uh, Bora?”

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“She’ll say something I don’t want to hear.”

“Haha, I guess so.”

“Yeah, if I hear that, it’ll put me in a bad mood.”

“True, that could happen.”

Jinhyang laughed lightly again.

When she laughs like this, I feel like I can’t help but laugh too.

In the quiet mood, a thought suddenly popped into my head.

‘Then if Jinhyang farts, what sound would it make?’

“Jinhyang.”

“Yeah?”

“If you fart, what kind of sound would it make?”

“Another strange question?”

“I’m curious.”

“No one cares about that stuff.”

“I care.”

“Then, um.”

Jinhyang paused to think and then burst into laughter.

“My fart will be loud enough for everyone to notice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, my fart sound is definitely loud and clear.”

“Oh, so it’s loud but the color is white?”

“Yep.”

“Haha, you’re so cute.”

Jinhyang patted my head.

Her touch felt warm.

“You’re really cute and funny.”

The conversation with Jinhyang continued like this.

Little by little, I felt more at ease.

I wished that moment would last a long time.