Chapter 64
When we returned from enjoying the water, Elder Gu had returned as well.
As we were getting ready to barbecue for dinner, an elderly man approached carrying something.
"I heard there's someone here who saved my grandson today..."
"Huh? It's Elder Gu?"
Did they know each other?
When Elder Kim Seok-chun approached, Elder Gu's face twisted into a deep scowl.
"Did something happen to your grandson today?"
"Well, my grandson almost drowned while playing in the stream. I heard this young man here saved him."
It seemed the children who had been playing in the stream had told him that I had come here.
Since I saw no reason to hide the good deed my left hand had done, I stepped forward.
"Was it you?"
"Yes."
"Thank you very much."
"It was nothing."
"I brought a few things to thank you..."
He had brought a whole bundle of things, from vegetables to meat.
That alone was quite a lot, but Elder Gu was at a loss, embarrassed by how little it seemed.
"I'm sorry I can only repay you with something like this."
"No, this is more than enough."
If Elder Gu had been the chairman of some enormous group or something, it would have been only natural for him to receive a reward befitting his position.
But he was merely an ordinary farmer one could see around here, a man who raised cattle.
I couldn't expect anything extraordinary from someone like that.
Besides, it looked like he had brought only the finest meat and vegetables.
"Thank you. I heard Elder Kim over there is some important person from Japan. I'm sorry I can't repay you to the same extent..."
"It's fine. You brought some really good meat and vegetables. I'll enjoy them."
"Ahem. Really? Thank you for accepting them."
He grinned and backed away.
Watching this, Elder Kim Seok-chun asked in amazement,
"What happened?"
"Well..."
When I told him what had happened earlier, Elder Kim Seok-chun was amazed.
"Did you see the future?"
"I simply preferred the deeper part to the shallow water. And saving a child who fell into the water is what any adult should do, isn't it?"
Of course, if someone who had fallen into the water demanded that I hand over my bundle, I would have turned the whole situation upside down.
I wouldn't save someone like that in the first place.
Elder Kim Seok-chun gazed at me intently, but he did not say anything else.
"Well, if you say so, then I suppose that's how it is. Anyway, we got some good meat, so let's grill this too."
"Yes, sir."
And so the barbecue began.
One of Elder Kim's bodyguards was grilling meat on the grill set up in the yard.
The large, middle-aged man deftly grilled the meat and placed it on plates.
But this meat was insanely delicious.
"This is the meat Elder Gu brought earlier, right?"
"Yes."
"Huh. This is really delicious."
"It's not the kind of meat I get to eat very often, either..."
If even the chaebol heiress Han Yuna was saying that, Elder Gu must really have gone out of his way to bring us the finest meat.
"Wouldn't this make delicious jeyuk-bokkeum?"
"Is it really right to make jeyuk-bokkeum with meat like this...?"
It didn't matter how we ate it, as long as we enjoyed it.
"Wow!"
"Good grief!! You've already started?"
We had been grilling and eating meat for quite a while when Grandma Kim Hui-gyeong and Kim Sucheon approached.
Seeing them carrying various things in both hands, it seemed they had brought food of their own.
"I heard our young man and young lady had come, so I made this and that. Try wrapping it around the meat."
There were perilla leaves, lettuce for wrapping the meat, and things like that.
She had prepared quite a lot.
"Come eat at our house tomorrow before you leave. I'll make baeksuk for you."
"Haha. We'll enjoy it."
"Hehehe. It must be tiring playing along with this old woman, huh? It's not easy humoring my brother, is it?"
"There does seem to be some truth to that."
"What did you say, you punk?"
We snickered as Elder Kim Seok-chun grew indignant.
We had been grilling meat for quite some time when people from another house came to visit as well.
She was a girl with striking dark eyes and slightly tanned skin.
As soon as Sucheon saw her, his expression stiffened.
"Mr. Noah. Don't tell me that's...?"
"Yes. That's her."
The girl Sucheon had a crush on.
Im Mina.
As soon as she saw Sucheon, she smiled brightly and waved at him, while Sucheon fidgeted with a flushed face.
What a kid. It's a good age to be in.
Anyway, they joined us as well.
The plum wine Mina's grandmother had made was really delicious.
Could they not sell something like this separately?
Anyway, we'd eaten until we were full, but the children looked a little bored.
Of course, Sucheon looked happy enough just to be with Mina.
"Hey, kids over there. Want to play Switch in a little while?"
"Huh?! Really?! Mister! You have a Switch?!"
"It's not mine. It's this older sister's."
"Wow!! Big sis! Big sis! Can I try it too?!"
"Sure. Let's play together. We have Mario Party and Mario Kart too. Sucheon, you're playing too, right?"
"...Yeees."
"Good. What about you, Mr. Noah?"
"Of course I'm joining."
The four of us had gathered.
In that case, shouldn't we play a game?
After finishing the barbecue and cleaning everything up, we went into the vacation home and immediately started playing games.
The elders also seemed to feel awkward just sitting around, so they dealt the cards.
It was a wonderful summer vacation.
.
.
.
The next day.
As always, I woke up when six o'clock came around.
"Hmm."
Han Yuna was lying there, sleeping peacefully.
They say a beautiful woman looks beautiful no matter what, and even the way she slept with her mouth hanging open and snored was fairly pretty.
But why was she sleeping beside me...? Ah. We had played games together yesterday, then drunk together and fallen asleep.
I was sure I had fallen asleep first….
Hmm. Should I go for a walk?
I slowly pulled my arm free from Han Yuna's grasp and got up.
When I went outside the room, things were much the same here.
Sucheon and Im Mina were sleeping soundly together in the living room.
Grandma Kim Hui-gyeong and Elder Kim Seok-chun were also sleeping on laid-out blankets, snoring away.
Mina's grandmother was sleeping nearby as well.
Looking outside, I could see the bodyguards either resting or getting up and stretching.
"Good morning."
"Yes. Good morning."
I drank a canned coffee from the refrigerator and lightly loosened up my body.
As I was about to head out for a walk, the bodyguard who had grilled the meat yesterday approached me.
"I'll accompany you."
"I'm just going to look around nearby. Do you really need to come with me?"
"This is our job."
"Well, if you insist."
I walked calmly alongside him.
Perhaps because it was a quiet rural area to begin with, there was nothing special about the early morning.
It was almost time for the sun to rise, so I could only see a few people heading out to their fields.
That was when it happened.
"...Hm?"
A jeep was heading toward the mountainous area.
The bodyguard who saw it also looked puzzled.
"That road is a dead end... Why would they go that way?"
"Who knows..."
I flipped over the hwatu card I had taken from my pocket.
The bodyguard beside me moved his lips as if he were about to say something.
But it wasn't particularly important, so I decided to let it go.
"I wonder who that person is..."
"Who knows."
I smiled and shrugged.
"Maybe they came to go hiking."
.
.
.
When I returned from my morning walk, most of the people who had come yesterday had already gone home.
When I opened the door, I saw only Han Yuna sitting there in a daze.
"Ugh."
"Why are you so embarrassed?"
"Th-that. It's morning..."
It was cute how she desperately tried to hide her face with her hair.
"You look as beautiful as usual, so don't worry about it."
"......."
While Han Yuna kept her mouth shut, I looked around.
A delicious smell was coming from the kitchen.
"Oh... Is Grandma preparing breakfast for us?"
"That's right, young man. We're having doenjang jjigae and grilled gulbi for breakfast today. Sounds good, right?"
"Oh, definitely."
"There's also stir-fried Vienna sausages, which my grandson likes. I made miyeok-guk too, so you can look forward to it."
These were side dishes that could probably get even a senior soldier dragging himself out of bed for breakfast.
Of course, I had never been in the military, so I wouldn't know.
The rice and side dishes were placed on the table.
We were feasting from the morning onward.
"If you don't have anything to do later, how about going to the back mountain?"
"The mountain?"
"That's right. The scenery is beautiful, and there's plenty to see."
"I see..."
"Outsiders have been wandering around a bit lately, but you don't need to worry too much about it."
Grandma Kim Hui-gyeong said this matter-of-factly, as though they were simply hikers.
"Or we could go to the stream again today."
"Playing in the stream is fun, but going to the mountain would be nice too. Ms. Yuna, how about a hike?"
"I'm fine with anything."
Great. Then let's go hiking.
.
.
.
The mansion's storage room also had all kinds of hiking equipment.
There were hiking shoes for safety and even hiking clothes.
Elder Kim Seok-chun had apparently prepared them in advance because he didn't know when I might come.
"How did he know my size...?"
"The young lady over there knew, apparently."
"....."
"D-don't misunderstand. I had a suit made for you last time, remember?"
I wasn't particularly misunderstanding anything.
Her flustered reaction was amusing, so I grinned, and Han Yuna widened her eyes as she looked at me before silently patting my shoulder.
"Then we're ready, so let's go right away."
And so the hike began.
I considered bringing Sucheon along, but the moment I suggested hiking, that kid looked horrified and ran away.
The five of us—me, three bodyguards, and Han Yuna—headed toward the hiking trail.
Since it was Sunday, quite a few people had come to hike near the trail.
There were couples, and quite a few people had come with friends or romantic partners.
"Huh."
Among some of the women, there were even those who started hiking wearing nothing but leggings.
I couldn't tell whether I should be grateful or embarrassed about this...
"Mr. Noah?"
"Yes?"
"You must like leggings?"
"Leggings? They're nice, aren't they?"
"....I should have worn those, too."
Han Yuna was wearing ordinary hiking pants.
They suited her perfectly too, so why?
"I suppose you thought I was looking at the women over there wearing leggings."
Technically, she was right.
But I was looking at something more important than that.
"What were you looking at?"
"The man who was heading down earlier."
"...Pardon?"
I called over the bodyguard who had gone walking with me that morning.
When he approached, I asked him about what had happened earlier, and he nodded as well.
"But why?"
"I took a quick fortune reading earlier. I was wondering what on earth he was doing."
"And?"
"Would you like to go with me and find out?"
"What on earth is it...?"
Together with her puzzled self, we immediately climbed the mountain.
It wasn't the established hiking trail but a path that required following the mountain road a little farther, though moving itself posed no problem.
That was where we arrived.
Inside a small cave hidden by the undergrowth.
It was there.
Large bags filled with bundles of fifty-thousand-won bills and hundred-dollar bills.
"What is this...?"
Recalling the man's past and future that I had seen, I said,
"These are the proceeds from the Hojaengi faction's fraud crimes."
It was money mixed with the blood and tears of countless people.
"Why is something like this here...?"
"Illegal gambling proceeds were hidden in a garlic field once, too. Why should this be strange?"