Geumgang Festival [Illustration]
Midterms arrived not long after we had subjugated Lee Gahyeon.
We spent what time we had left cramming, devoting ourselves to the exams.
And the very next week after we finished them without incident, the Geumgang Festival finally opened its curtains.
From the first day of the festival, Geumgang Academy welcomed a great many visitors.
Naturally, plenty of them also came looking for the traditional tavern run by our class.
“Table Three, one assorted jeon! I’ll bring out the makgeolli!”
“Gyeonwoo! One more here too! Table Five!”
“Table Six wants soupy tteokbokki and seafood pajeon! They asked for the tteokbokki not to be spicy!”
“Gyeonwoo, sorry, but when do you think Table Two will be ready? They’re asking us to hurry….”
“Gyeonwoo! Table One says it’s delicious and wants more assorted jeon. This time, include beef jeon too!”
“Gyeonwoo! I was bored, so I called you!”
“Gyeonwoo!”
“Gyeonwoo!”
“Gyeonwoo!”
“Gyeonwoo….”
“....”
Gyeonwoo, Gyeonwoo, Gyeonwoo….
The students in charge of serving outside the kitchen kept calling my name.
As I stood in the kitchen frying jeon, I was nearly at the point of neurosis.
Seriously.
“No, who drinks in the middle of the day? They came to see a festival, and from the very first day, in broad daylight, the moment they arrive, they’re looking for jeon and alcohol? I really don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re at Silver Lake? Everyone probably came to look at the lake, and while they’re here, they want to enjoy the scenery with jeon and alcohol. Looks like we picked a great spot!”
“Great, my ass. There are even people waiting outside the booth. If it’s like this, when are we supposed to rest?”
I shouldn’t have volunteered to work during the day.
I never imagined we’d be this busy.
Donggeurangttaeng, perilla-leaf jeon, kimchi jeon, tofu jeon, chili pepper jeon, zucchini jeon, pollock jeon, mushroom jeon, and more….
There was a mountain of jeon to fry.
On top of that, we had to make other foods like tteokbokki and dakdoritang too.
Ever since my kitchen shift started, I hadn’t been able to put down the spatula, and I grumbled nonstop.
“Who said we should put assorted jeon on the menu? We should’ve just standardized everything as kimchi jeon….”
“Gyeonwoo, that was you. You said people would get sick of it too quickly if we only had one kind.”
A student taking away a plate of assorted jeon kindly reminded me.
I responded by clicking my tongue and ladled batter onto the griddle.
Sizzle!
Oil boiled noisily, and batter crackled and spat.
Probably already reeking of oil from head to toe, I lamented my situation as I fried the jeon.
‘Arin must have it nice….’
Min Arin was occasionally helping with customers, but mostly she sat off to one side with a robe pulled over herself as if staging some mystic act, reading people’s saju.
She seemed fairly busy in her own way, but compared to me, unable to sit down for even a moment as I wrestled in the kitchen, she had it relatively easy.
I could only envy her.
Still, it wasn’t as if I had to spend the entire day buried under orders in the kitchen.
My shift change was close.
‘I’m supposed to look around the festival with Haneul later. Let’s just hold out a little longer until then….’
The moment my role ended, I was going to leave without looking back and go have fun.
I was also remembering to get rid of the oil smell beforehand so it wouldn’t bother Yeon Haneul.
Then, just then.
“Gyeonwoo.”
“Huh? Aren’t you supposed to be working right now? How did you get here?”
Yeon Haneul peeked her face in from outside the kitchen where I was frying jeon.
Seeing her in a black suit that made her look like a casino dealer, I could only blink in confusion.
She explained the situation.
“Eunbi said she’d take care of the rest for me, so I should go have as much fun as I could when I had the chance. So I got my break thirty minutes early.”
“Eunbi did something huge.”
“Right? I’m thinking I’ll buy her something tasty when I go back to switch shifts. When do you think you’ll be done? It looks like there are a lot of people. Want me to help?”
“No, it’s fine. You came to rest, so why would you work? If you stay here, you’ll get oil on you, so go sit somewhere and relax. A seat… I’ll ask the others to make one for you.”
“Huh? You don’t have to! You don’t need to go that far, I’d feel bad….”
“Ah. Arin’s seat is empty just in time. Then go ask Arin to read your fortune or something and kill some time. I don’t have much left either, so wait just a bit.”
I couldn’t make Yeon Haneul work.
Unlike us, who were wearing hanbok to match the concept of a traditional tavern, she was in a suit, so she didn’t fit the theme either.
‘More importantly, I can’t make someone wearing heels suffer.’
When we went around looking at the festival later, I’d have to make sure we didn’t walk too much.
Entering that note into my head, I pointed with my spatula toward the table where Min Arin was.
“Go on. You must be hungry since it’s lunchtime, right? You came to our booth, so I’ll fry you some delicious jeon.”
“I said you don’t have to….”
“Nope, I’m doing what I want. You liked pajeon and kimchi jeon, right? Wait at the table. I’ll make them quickly and bring them to you.”
“Chee…. Fine, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Making Yeon Haneul’s food while preparing the dishes that came in as orders wasn’t particularly difficult.
I decided to fry the best jeon possible.
* * *
While Do Gyeonwoo was frying jeon, the chestnut makgeolli came out first.
Yeon Haneul tilted the makgeolli this way and that so the contents inside the plastic bottle would mix well.
Then she poured it in a thin stream into an aluminum cup, careful not to let it overflow.
“Here, Arin. This is yours.”
“Hmph! Normally, I’m not supposed to drink while working, but I’ll make a special exception and drink it for you! Be grateful.”
“Mm. Sure, sure. Now, cheers.”
“Cheers.”
Yeon Haneul seemed to be listening half-heartedly, which was irritating, but Min Arin decided to be mature and let it pass.
After all, she was Min Arin, the little griffin of the magical Min family.
Rather, there was something more important.
After clinking cups with Yeon Haneul and drinking her makgeolli, Min Arin ate the shrimp chips served as a basic snack and began.
“Now, I’m going to read your saju. Tell me your name and date of birth.”
“Don’t you already know my name? And the year I was born too….”
“Uh-uh, listen to this clueless girl. The basics are important in this kind of thing, you know?”
She had never really liked her from the start.
Some people were working hard, while others were coming here to relax comfortably. It grated on her nerves.
Most of all, the thought that Yeon Haneul would soon go look around the festival alone with Do Gyeonwoo after he got his break annoyed her to death.
‘And she even took first place in the whole school on the midterms this time.’
For Min Arin, who had tried desperately and still ended up second by a narrow margin, it was nothing but displeasing.
Truly, Yeon Haneul was like an obstacle in her life.
“My name is Yeon Haneul.”
“What are the characters?”
“You know, Yeon as in ‘to connect’ (連), and my given name Haneul is a pure Korean word.”
“Yeon as in ‘to connect,’ and Haneul in pure Korean…. Good. Then your date of birth?”
“My date of birth is….”
But right now, as a fortune-teller, she was in a position where she could peer into the saju of Yeon Haneul, whom she usually bickered with, and though it wasn’t right, interpret and manipulate that saju however she pleased.
‘Originally, for the sake of promoting the booth, we decided to say only good things whenever possible, but sorry, you’re an exception. I’m going to mix truth and lies together and say whatever harsh things I want.’
Min Arin snickered inwardly.
She planned to mix in just enough ulterior motive to torment Yeon Haneul.
“Let’s see…. Born in the year of Sinmyo, and your birthday is August 12…. Do you know what time you were born? If I want to read it in detail, it’s better to include the birth time too.”
“I don’t know when I was born. I’m from an orphanage, remember?”
“Ah… right, you were. Sorry….”
Yeon Haneul answered calmly.
She didn’t look bothered, but Min Arin felt as if she had done something wrong for no reason and apologized readily.
It was just like her personality to lose control of her emotions, say something hurtful in the heat of the moment, and then suffer inwardly from guilt afterward.
But just because she felt sorry didn’t mean she intended to give her a good reading.
…She’d give her just a slightly better one.
After emptying the rest of her cup, Min Arin soon extended both hands over the crystal ball.
“I see it, I see it…. First, your academic fortune.”
“Weren’t you reading my saju? Then what’s with the crystal ball?”
“Everyone has their own method, you know? And this is fusion saju, fusion saju. Don’t you see that it says ‘fusion’ in small letters on the sign here? Anyway, I need to concentrate, so don’t interrupt me halfway.”
“Ah, okay….”
“I see it, I see it…. First, your academic fortune. Hmm… you were born with a saju that makes you good at studying. You did well on this exam, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess? But Arin, you already know my score….”
“Ssseup. I said I’m losing concentration.”
“Fine. Go on….”
“You shouldn’t be swinging a hammer. You should be holding a staff. If you want to hold a hammer, then choose a career path that makes you a judge. That’s how good you are at studying….”
“I am?”
“…But you’ll soon face a wall. You might be able to take first place for a little while, but your fate is to remain second forever. So don’t try to chase after something too high, and settle into a suitable position. If you try to fly too high for no reason, you might come crashing down.”
“....”
Min Arin acted as though she was speaking without mixing in any personal feelings.
Even so, she couldn’t do anything about the corners of her mouth slowly rising.
Her shoulders were trembling slightly too.
Meanwhile, Yeon Haneul, who had long since seen through her act, clicked her tongue as if it were childish.
“Now, next is your love fortune. Let’s see….”
Min Arin barely held back the laughter that was about to burst out and decided to continue.
She waved her hands over the crystal ball.
“I see it, I see it….”
She intended to tell Yeon Haneul that her romantic fortune was terrible, so she shouldn’t even dream of meeting a man.
On top of that, she planned to tell her that if there was someone she was seeing now, or if she was moving into a good relationship with someone, or anyway, if there was a man who had been by her side for a long time, she should distance herself from him.
That was when it happened.
“Arin, hold on.”
“Hm?”
Tak!
“....”
Yeon Haneul, who had suddenly stopped Min Arin, took a device out of her pocket.
Making a deliberate sound, she placed it somewhere clearly visible to Min Arin.
“Now, continue.”
“Ah, uh….”
It was an implicit threat.
However, the little griffin of the magical Min family could not yield to threats.
Min Arin said,
“…It’s ordinary, nothing unusual. But I see one friend who’s suffering because of you, you know? Be good to that friend. Don’t hit them…. If you treat them well, you’ll be rewarded somehow.”
She had absolutely not surrendered.
Min Arin repeated this to herself inwardly.
* * *
Because Min Arin and I were class representatives, our break times did not overlap.
One of us absolutely had to remain at the booth and handle matters big and small.
Because of that, once I finished my shift, I had no choice but to leave the rest to her and go.
‘Arin looked like she wanted to have fun too. I feel bad I couldn’t bring her with us.’
I should buy her something to eat when I went back to work.
Silently cheering on Min Arin, who would be working hard managing the traditional tavern, I enjoyed the Geumgang Festival with Yeon Haneul.
Everywhere on the festival grounds was crowded with visitors from outside.
“Hold on tight. Your feet don’t hurt, right?”
“I told you, I’m fine. I’m an aspiring hunter. Do you think this much would be hard for me?”
Since we were also being jostled by the crowd, we naturally linked arms.
Like that, we went around looking at booths centered around Silver Lake.
There was also the Gyohak Hall nearby, but the inside seemed like it would be even more packed with people, so we didn’t go out of our way to enter.
The weather was nice, and I wanted to get some air; besides, the outdoor booths alone were enough.
“Wow, the cotton candy is really clumped together like grapes.”
“Do the different colors have different flavors? Let me have a bite too.”
“Here.”
Yeon Haneul held out the colorful cotton candy.
I tore off a lump shaped like a grape and put it in my mouth.
‘It tastes like orange.’
It seemed each color of the grape-like cotton candy had a different flavor.
According to Yeon Haneul, the black one tasted like chocolate.
“That’s novel.”
“Right? I bought it because they said it was made with magic, and it was a good choice. Here, eat more. There’s plenty.”
Since it didn’t leave any stickiness on our hands, it was much easier to eat.
It wasn’t too sweet either, so it suited my taste.
We tore off pieces of cotton candy for each other and experienced the activities at various booths.
Shooting live ammunition to win a doll with bullet holes as a prize, controlling dolls with artifacts to make them battle, making liquid monsters using slime secretions, playing whack-a-mole against students hiding underground….
As an aside, Yeon Haneul also recorded the highest score at whack-a-mole.
Even wearing high heels, she showed no sign of strain as she ran around gripping the toy hammer.
“Ah, that was such a shame. If I’d had just one more second, I could’ve caught one more.”
“You still got first place, so what does it matter? Even the booth kids said they didn’t think anyone would beat your record.”
“But I wanted to do even better.”
Yeon Haneul looked as if she was seriously considering challenging the student whack-a-mole one more time.
I gave a wry smile as I looked at her face, which was full of regret.
“Want to do it again?”
“…Yeah. But I’ll hold back.”
“Why?”
“Time is gold, you know. If I want to do that, I’ll have to line up again, and then we won’t have time to look around and see what else is at the other booths. You said you had an appointment too. I’ll come by there later with the others.”
Yeon Haneul nodded with a determined expression.
With her white and blue hair swaying in contrast to her black suit, I couldn’t help but think she looked pretty.
‘I want to.’
If there had been no one around, I would have kissed her cheek or her hair, but it was a shame.
I suppressed the emotion that suddenly surged up and licked my lips without Yeon Haneul noticing.
But it seemed she felt similarly.
“I want to.”
A kiss.
Yeon Haneul touched her own lips and murmured in a small voice.
When our eyes met, she smiled bashfully.
Meeting her gaze, I shrugged along with her.
‘If I had my way, I’d like to spend some time alone with her somewhere quiet….’
But before I knew it, the time I’d promised Gang Hanbyeol was drawing near.
Today, through his introduction, I was supposed to meet Sin Seora, known as the up-and-coming maestro.
Since I couldn’t be late for our first meeting, I couldn’t afford to stray off somewhere along the way.
I said to Yeon Haneul,
“Let’s start heading over to meet Hanbyeol.”
“Yeah, if we go now, we’ll be right on time.”
The meeting place was Yeonmu Hall, where Gang Hanbyeol’s class was performing their play.
We arrived on time and waited for Gang Hanbyeol and Sin Seora.
A moment later, a van taxi appeared on the road leading to Yeonmu Hall.
“Sorry! We’re a little late, right? The road got a bit jammed on the way.”
As the people who had come to watch the play got out of the taxi that stopped in front of us one by one,
Gang Hanbyeol stuck his head out of the driver’s side window and spoke in a bright tone.
Then the woman in the passenger seat, her long hair tied back, gave a light wave.
“Hi? I’ve heard about you two. Personally, I’ve also heard the rumors about Blue… Rabbit and Bunny. I look forward to getting to know you! I’m Hanbyeol’s childhood friend, Sin Seora!”
The up-and-coming maestro, Sin Seora.
If it was her, she should be able to make a fine weapon out of the Doll-Eared Woman’s soul stone.
I became the mid-boss’s childhood friend.