Chapter 163: Daily Life (2)
After arriving at the hotel, Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke quickly unpacked and came back down.
“Alright! Shall we do some sightseeing in Korea?”
Despite her prickly personality, Kirishima Sumire loved going out and having fun.
And she liked Korea enough that she had visited several times just to enjoy sightseeing there.
“Oppa, where are we going first?”
“Hmm… Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“Let’s start with samgyeopsal.”
“Huh?”
“Samgyeopsal and soju.”
“Uh… sure.”
Following Kirishima Sumire’s suggestion, the three of them headed to a nearby upscale samgyeopsal restaurant.
Honda Daisuke’s opinion might as well not have existed.
“Daisuke, don’t you want to eat anything in particular?”
“Ah… I’m fine. I like whatever Sumire wants to eat more.”
“Total love-struck fool.”
“Right?”
Kirishima Sumire ruffled Honda Daisuke’s hair as if he were adorable, and though he looked embarrassed, he didn’t pull away from her touch.
“Anyway, while you’re in Korea, I’ll pay for all the meals. I stayed at your place in Japan, after all.”
“Ooh~ As expected from Korea’s top writer~.”
“I take back what I just said.”
The sudden increase in pressure made him retract his words, and Kirishima Sumire hurriedly corrected herself.
“Aww, I won’t do that. I won’t make it burdensome.”
“Okay. Then shall we order?”
“Yes.”
“Here, please bring five servings of samgyeopsal and two bottles of soju.”
Along with Kim Si-woo’s order, thickly sliced pork belly and two green bottles of soju were placed on the table.
“Ooh… samgyeopsal and soju in Korea.”
Kirishima Sumire quickly took photos and posted them on SNS, while Honda Daisuke hurriedly picked up the tongs.
But this was an expensive restaurant.
The meat was grilled by the staff.
“The staff will grill the meat for us.”
“Ah! Yes.”
At the mention that the staff would handle the grilling, Honda Daisuke flinched in surprise and quickly put down the tongs he was holding.
A short while later, as the staff began grilling the meat, Kirishima Sumire opened a bottle of soju and threw a question at Kim Si-woo.
“Oppa, do you have a girlfriend right now?”
“Out of the blue?”
“Just curious. A successful writer like you usually has one. A super pretty actress girlfriend.”
“No, I don’t.”
Kirishima Sumire poured soju for Kim Si-woo and began digging for information.
“Anyone confess to you?”
“There was.”
“Ooh~ And why didn’t you accept?”
“I haven’t fully sorted out my feelings yet. But why are you so interested in my love life?”
“Ah… no reason. Or should I introduce you to someone? I know a lot of pretty actresses around me.”
“No thanks. I already have more than enough on my plate.”
While Kirishima Sumire kept prying about this and that, the grilled meat was soon piled onto the plates.
“Let’s eat.”
“Itadakimasu.”
As soon as he picked up his chopsticks and put the meat in his mouth, Kirishima Sumire let out an exclamation.
“As expected, the homeland of samgyeopsal.”
“Mmm!”
Even Honda Daisuke’s eyes widened to twice their normal size in surprise.
As they ate samgyeopsal and drank soju, the number of empty green bottles gradually increased, and Kim Si-woo’s guard slowly came down.
“So what exactly don’t you like about Noa-unnie?”
“It’s not that I don’t like her? If anything, she’s too good for me.”
“Huh? There’s no such thing as ‘too good’ in love. If you like someone, you date them.”
“But she’s from a chaebol family and a celebrity? And a pretty one at that?”
“Ooh… so even in Writer-nim’s eyes, Noa-unnie is pretty.”
Seizing the moment, Kirishima Sumire kept pressing.
“Hmm… Besides Noa-unnie, who else confessed to you?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Tch.”
Even though the alcohol had lowered Kim Si-woo’s defenses, he still didn’t spill the details.
After drinking for a while longer, both Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke started swaying unsteadily.
“Sigh… Is it ending up like this again… Hey, walk straight.”
“Hehe~ Daisuke, second round, right?”
“Yeah. If Sumire wants to go.”
“Where should we go?”
“Hmm…”
The two of them ignored Kim Si-woo’s words and chatted between themselves.
“Hey… are you drunk? Let’s go home now.”
“Yeah! Home. Let’s go to Writer-nim’s house.”
“Yeah.”
“No—not my house! Your hotel!”
“Yes! Let’s go.”
After calling a substitute driver, they ended up arriving at Kim Si-woo’s house anyway.
“Damn it…”
Kim Si-woo felt the bitter aftertaste of soju rising in his mouth again.
Once inside, Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke looked around the house and gasped in admiration.
“Wow… the house is amazing. Daisuke, let’s buy a place like this in Japan too, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Next, they spotted the cat and immediately shrieked, rushing toward the cat tower.
“Kyaaa! What is this? So cute! What’s his name?”
“Danbi.”
“Danbi! Come here, I’ll give you a treat.”
“You’re gonna get hit.”
Pow.
Before she could even finish hearing Kim Si-woo’s warning, Kirishima Sumire reached out to pet Danbi—and received a massive cat punch to the hand.
“Ah! It’s… it’s bleeding.”
Her hand scratched by the claws, Kirishima Sumire was bleeding from the back of her hand, yet for some reason she still seemed delighted and kept trying to touch Danbi.
“Daisuke. Let’s wipe Sumire’s blood first.”
“Yes.”
Honda Daisuke took the first-aid kit from Kim Si-woo and led Kirishima Sumire away.
“Sigh… I’m already exhausted. I should feed them something to sober up at home.”
From the very beginning, it had been utter chaos. Kim Si-woo inwardly prayed that Arimura Noa would arrive soon.
For now, he gave them some hangover-relief drinks and tried to continue the conversation.
“What about more drinks?”
“Let’s have some later when the snacks arrive.”
“What snacks did you order?”
“Seolleongtang.”
“Seolleongtang?”
In truth, it wasn’t really a snack—he had ordered it to help them sober up.
Time passed, the food arrived, and Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke drank the white broth of the seolleongtang to settle their stomachs.
While watching them, Kim Si-woo called out to Danbi on the cat tower.
“Danbi. Come here.”
“Nya~.”
At Kim Si-woo’s voice, Danbi climbed down from the tower and hopped onto his lap.
“Uh… why is the cat…?”
“Why? Because I’m his owner.”
“No, but still…”
Kirishima Sumire, who had only ever received hisses from Danbi, was shocked.
The cat that hissed even when offered treats was completely gentle with Kim Si-woo.
“He’s a bit special. It took Noa-ssi quite a while to get close to her too.”
“I’m jealous…”
Her eyes fixed on Danbi, she continued eating her seolleongtang.
“Ugh! This is so unfair. Daisuke, bring the soju.”
“Ah… yeah.”
The fact that the cat was only cold to her made Kirishima Sumire want to drink even more.
At her command, Honda Daisuke fetched a bottle of soju from the fridge.
And so, contrary to Kim Si-woo’s hopes, round two began.
“Damn it… Fine. Let’s drink until we drop today.”
By the time Arimura Noa arrived later, Kirishima Sumire was already drunk and venting her grievances to Danbi, while Honda Daisuke was passed out on the living room floor.
“What… what is all this?”
“You’re here?”
“No—Writer-nim, why… why are they here…?”
“Maybe you should ask the people involved? Haha…”
At Kim Si-woo’s hollow laugh, Arimura Noa approached Kirishima Sumire.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Huh? Unnie!”
“Sigh…”
“No—Writer-nim drinks way too well… scold him for me.”
“Scold him for what! You’re the one who needs scolding.”
Arimura Noa smacked Kirishima Sumire lightly and dragged her toward her room.
“Writer-nim. I’ll put her in my room for now.”
“Okay…”
With Kirishima Sumire gone, Kim Si-woo picked up the sleeping Honda Daisuke from the floor and tossed him onto the sofa.
“Sigh… sleeping like a log. Guess I should bring a blanket and pillow.”
After covering Honda Daisuke with a blanket and pillow, Kim Si-woo heard Arimura Noa coming back down from the second floor.
“I’m sorry.”
As soon as she came down, Arimura Noa apologized first.
“It’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong, Noa-ssi.”
“Still… Ah! Did they say anything weird or nonsense by any chance?”
“Hmm… so much that it’s hard to remember…”
“Ah…”
If Kim Si-woo hadn’t been there, Arimura Noa would have woken Kirishima Sumire up right then and there to interrogate her.
Whatever had happened…
But leaving the drunk Kim Si-woo right in front of her felt like too good an opportunity to pass up.
“Writer-nim.”
“Yeah?”
“Is your stomach still okay?”
“Why?”
“I’m kind of in the mood to drink today too. Work stress has been getting to me…”
“Can’t be helped. You’re buying the snacks, right, Noa-ssi?”
“Yes.”
Arimura Noa quickly turned her head away when she saw Kim Si-woo smiling.
“So… Writer-nim. What snacks would you like?”
“Order whatever you want to eat, Noa-ssi.”
“Okay…”
Arimura Noa ordered various side dishes and sat back down.
“Noa-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“How about we drop the formal speech from now on?”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“No, someone kept nagging me about why I’m still using honorifics.”
“Ah… no way…”
At Kim Si-woo’s words, Arimura Noa’s expression turned icy.
“Sumire mentioned it.”
“…”
Kim Si-woo planned to make her pay for putting him through so much trouble while he was drunk.
Kirishima Sumire would probably get an earful from Arimura Noa tomorrow.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll do whatever Writer-nim wants.”
“Then shall we drop it now? We’re the same age anyway.”
“Shall we?”
Contrary to what Kim Si-woo expected, Arimura Noa’s anger toward Kirishima Sumire surprisingly vanished at the suggestion.
“Yeah.”
Hearing Kim Si-woo speak casually felt strangely new and embarrassing for Arimura Noa.
She could hide her expression, but not the reddening of her ears.
“Noa-ya. Your ears are red.”
“Huh? Uh…”
Arimura Noa’s mind went completely blank, and she started stammering.
After a few more exchanges, she answered everything in short, clipped responses. Kim Si-woo laughed.
“Hey, if you keep doing that, there’s no point in dropping formal speech…”
“Ah… yeah.”
“Osaka’s princess. Are you going to keep acting like this?”
“Aaah! Seriously, Sumire—why did you have to tell him that nickname… Si-woo-ya.”
“Yeah?”
“This won’t do. Let’s drink something expensive tonight.”
“Sure.”
Arimura Noa took out the most expensive bottle of liquor from the visible cabinet and poured it into Kim Si-woo’s glass.
“I feel like I need some liquid courage at least.”
Already tipsy, Kim Si-woo found it a little easier to talk than Arimura Noa did.
“So, who’s been bothering you at the company?”
“No one—who would dare when I’m the boss…?”
“Then?”
“Just… there’s a lot of work.”
After chatting about this and that with Kim Si-woo, the two of them finally went to bed just before sunrise.
The next morning, the four of them gathered awkwardly at the breakfast table.
Just a few hours earlier they had been speaking casually, but once the alcohol wore off, Kim Si-woo and Arimura Noa had reverted to their old formal ways.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes… and you, Writer-nim?”
“My stomach feels a bit off.”
“Ah…”
“Let’s all have suyuk gukbap to cure the hangover.”
“Yes.”
Kim Si-woo casually ordered suyuk gukbap and then glared at Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke.
“Um… Writer-nim?”
“Looks like someone’s feeling guilty. You’re stuttering.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
Kirishima Sumire, with yesterday’s memories slowly coming back, quickly apologized.
“Sumire. You and I are going to have a little talk later, okay? You too, Daisuke.”
“Yes…”
“Unnie?”
At Arimura Noa’s cold tone suggesting a private talk, Kirishima Sumire glanced at Kim Si-woo. He just shrugged with an innocent “I don’t know anything” expression.
After eating, Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke were dragged into Arimura Noa’s room and lectured for quite a while. When they finally came back downstairs, they were extremely polite and subdued.
“Well, I have a schedule today too. So you two can handle sightseeing on your own…”
When Kim Si-woo said he had work, Kirishima Sumire looked surprised.
“Huh? Where are you going? You said you didn’t have any plans.”
“Something came up suddenly. A broadcasting station.”
“We want to come too!”
“Huh?”
In that instant, a great idea flashed through Kim Si-woo’s mind.
“Oh… shall we?”
To get his revenge for yesterday, Kim Si-woo quickly sent a text to someone.
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[1] The Regressor Who Turns Trash Martial Arts into Divine Techniques
[2] I Descended as the Iron-Blooded All-Master
[3] The Female Employees I Couldn't Eat
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