## Chapter 249 – Side Story 10 – A Date With Chaeri at the Liquor Expo (1)
***
The day after the aquarium date, filled with Arin’s childhood memories.
“Yeah… sleeping in a fancy hotel and then sleeping here really makes a difference.”
Si-yoon, who had slept soundly and woke up refreshed, stretched languidly, but as he thought about the hotel bed from yesterday, he felt a little disappointed.
The bed in Si-yoon’s room was also custom-made, but it was more focused on durability and body support than on texture and softness.
“Should I get a different mattress… or maybe a blanket?”
He had plenty of money saved up from his stock investments anyway, so he had enough financial leeway.
While searching on his smartphone for what would be best for cushioning, he scratched his slightly tangled hair and walked out of the room.
“Ah… I forgot to do the dishes yesterday.”
He came to the kitchen for a glass of water and saw a mountain of dirty dishes.
As Ji-woo and Aquamarine, who were in charge of housework in the hideout, became pregnant, Si-yoon, with his long experience of living alone, was helping them with their chores.
“It would be nice if clone control was a little easier… but it’s still difficult.”
He was using clones created by sharing Chaeryeong’s ability, so it wasn’t too much of a hassle, but the problem was that he had to control each clone with intense concentration.
He thought it would be better to move on his own based on his good stamina, so he cleaned and did laundry whenever he had time.
“There are so many people, so there are a lot of dishes.
Thinking about how much Ji-woo suffered usually… I feel so sorry.”
He had initially given her the identity of ‘maid’ and made her responsible for housework, but he didn’t expect the number of people in the hideout to increase this much.
Dohwa and Arin, who knew how to do housework to some extent, often helped out, but even if the three of them divided the work, it was difficult to handle the workload for eleven people.
“It would be easier to hire someone to do the housework instead…,
but maybe it would be better to practice clone control properly.”
As he continued to worry about what to do with the housework in the future, the mountain of dirty dishes had been washed clean before he knew it.
“Ah… Master!”
Just as he was about to take off the rubber gloves he was wearing to keep his hands from getting wet, Chaeri, his date for today, woke up and ran to the kitchen.
“I should have helped you…!”
“It’s okay. I said I’d do the dishes and cleaning from now on.
I need to get used to it before everyone gets too big and take the load off their hands as soon as possible.”
Si-yoon handed Chaeri, who wasn’t fully awake yet, a glass of cool water, and wiped the remaining dish soap foam on the sink with a dishcloth.
“I’ve been so busy helping Sua with her work lately…,
isn’t it nice to take a vacation and wake up late?”
“I feel like I’ve slept so well for the first time in a long time… I feel great.”
After Utopia stopped its activities as a villain organization, Chaeri, who was in charge of the manager and secretary roles, also needed to find another job.
Unlike the other females who had accumulated a lot of money while working as heroes or villains, she was just an ordinary office worker until recently.
Of course, if she faced financial difficulties, everyone in the hideout would roll up their sleeves and help, but Chaeri didn’t want to worry people unnecessarily.
“Sua gave me a lot of people to help, so it was easier,
but still, there’s nothing better than taking a vacation and resting.”
At Sua’s suggestion, who needed someone to work for the Union by her side, Chaeri took on the position of director of the Union and was working in the best working environment.
Of course, as she was in a high-ranking position, the amount of work she had to do was considerable, so even if there was a good environment, it couldn’t be helped that the work was tiring.
But Chaeri knew so well what the Union used to be like, so she was now working with a very happy and satisfied mindset.
“Today’s date is… going to the liquor expo, right?”
“Yes! It’s being held at the convention hall in S City from yesterday until today.”
The date location that Chaeri had told Si-yoon in advance the day before the date was the liquor expo.
It was a place where you could taste many kinds of liquor brewed in various ways, and see everything from the ingredients used to make the liquor to the utensils used to drink it.
“I heard from In-yeong that you like alcohol…,
but if you’re going to a place like an expo, you must be really serious?”
“Of course! Office workers can’t live in this harsh modern society without alcohol.”
Alcohol addiction is one of the biggest problems in modern society, but Chaeri has always liked alcohol, so it can be said that it’s half an excuse.
“It starts at 10 o’clock… but a lot of booths open late.
So it’s okay to take your time and go slowly.”
The convention hall in S City, where the liquor expo was being held, was about an hour away from the hideout.
Assuming that they would enter the expo with some time to spare, they would have about an hour and a half to prepare slowly, excluding travel time.
“So! We’re going to fill our stomachs before we go to the expo.”
“If we fill our stomachs now, we won’t be able to eat lunch… is that okay?”
Chaeri patted her stomach and said that they should eat before going to the expo.
If they were to have a late breakfast at 10 o’clock, as she said, it would be more accurate to call it a brunch.
“Well… we’re going to be drinking a lot of alcohol to sample when we get there.
It’ll be much better than pouring it in on an empty stomach.”
If you drink the alcohol from the many companies that have come to the expo one by one, there will definitely be a moment when it will be difficult to endure on an empty stomach.
“Then… let’s get ready and go out.”
Si-yoon agreed with Chaeri and got up from the sofa and turned towards the bathroom.
***
Si-yoon finished showering with cool water to wash away the sleepiness that remained in his body, and dressed neatly and tidily.
“Daytime drinking… I’m doing something now that I didn’t even do when I was twenty.”
He was about to do daytime drinking, which he hadn’t even done when he was a few years younger, and he felt a strange feeling and a slightly excited feeling.
“Master!”
“You’re here.”
Chaeri appeared in front of him, who had been waiting for a while, at a quick pace.
She waved her hand, looking neat in jeans that accentuated her leg line, a thick white sweater, and a brown trench coat.
“Okay! Master, you can get in the passenger seat! I’ll drive you to a place I know well.”
Chaeri took the driver’s seat of the car parked in the hideout’s garage.
She said that she knew a good restaurant and grabbed the steering wheel.
“Chaeri has a driver’s license too?”
“Of course! There are only two things I did as soon as I turned twenty.
One is drinking all night… the other is getting a driver’s license.”
She smiled proudly and tapped the side of her glasses, then quickly looked ahead and concentrated, starting the engine with familiar movements.
Si-yoon felt once again that Chaeri exuded the charm of an older woman as she confidently grabbed the steering wheel and skillfully drove out of the garage.
“Hey… I was a little cool just now, right!”
Of course, the usual pattern was to show off the mature charm of an older woman and then give off this cute feeling.
“I think it would have been really cool if you hadn’t said that.”
Si-yoon chuckled at Chaeri’s words, who wanted to be praised, and raised his thumb.
***
After driving for about 40 minutes with Chaeri’s skillful driving, they arrived at a restaurant in downtown S City.
“Wow… it’s my first time coming to a place like this since I was in college.”
When he entered the restaurant, he saw workers having a hearty meal, and some drinkers who were already drunk from the morning.
Chaeri nodded as if she was familiar with such a sight, and then walked around the restaurant and sat down in a cozy seat in a corner.
“They have good ox blood hangover soup here… but the sundae soup is also pretty good.”
Chaeri pointed to the menu on the wall and picked out the restaurant’s recommended dishes.
“Hmm… I think sundae would be better than ox blood for me.”
Si-yoon scratched his chin and made a decision after thinking for a while.
“Then, Auntie! One ox blood hangover soup and one sundae soup, please make them spicy!”
It wasn’t a system where you called the staff directly to order or used a kiosk, but a traditional system where you could order by sitting in your seat and shouting out the menu.
“One ox blood and one sundae, make them spicy!”
The aunt in front of the kitchen shouted loudly to confirm the customer’s order to the people in the kitchen.
“Ooh… that was a little cool just now.”
“Really? Hehe….”
Chaeri, who seemed shy but also proud of Si-yoon’s compliment, spread out two fingers to make a V shape.
Then, with a proud expression, she took out the radish kimchi and cabbage kimchi on the table, and took out plenty of onions pickled in soy sauce from the side dish container and put them on the table.
“What! You’re the girl who used to come here often! Why haven’t you been here lately!”
The aunt who had taken the order came with two bowls of hot soup in less than 3 minutes, and greeted Chaeri as if she knew her.
“I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t even had time to eat soup.”
“I see… is the person next to you your boyfriend?”
Then she glanced at Si-yoon and asked if he was her boyfriend.
“I’m her boyfriend. I’ve been dating Chaeri for a few months.”
Si-yoon answered the aunt’s question before Chaeri could answer.
“Oh, that’s great! You must get married!”
“Of course. She’s the person I’m going to be with for the rest of my life.”
Si-yoon didn’t stop at saying that he was her boyfriend and hugged Chaeri’s shoulder tightly, so the aunt tapped Chaeri’s shoulder as if she was excited.
‘Boyfriend…♥’
Chaeri’s heart seemed to stop for a moment at Si-yoon’s attitude of confidently saying that he was her boyfriend.
“Shall we eat then? Do we need to add salted shrimp or salt separately?”
“Ah…! You can add a little bit like this and see how it tastes.”
Chaeri brushed her surprised heart and calmly demonstrated how to adjust the seasoning of the food before starting the meal.
But her chopsticks, which were picking up radish kimchi, were trembling because her heart was still racing.
“Kheu… after all, the soup you eat at a place like this is the real thing.”
Si-yoon knew that Chaeri had been momentarily thrilled, but he started eating the soup diligently as if he didn’t have any thoughts so that she wouldn’t be embarrassed.
“Hoo….”
Chaeri also felt relieved and took a spoonful of soup full of ox blood chunks, put the radish kimchi she was picking up with her chopsticks on top, and started eating in earnest.
