Chapter 102 – 102 – A Journey Of Extraction (5)
“Ugh… I’m so dizzy.”
Eunju staggered, her hand pressed against the hotel hallway wall.
It was her first trip in a while, and she’d drunk way too much alcohol, something she rarely did.
Well, she did have a few drinks with Jina sometimes when they hung out…
‘Ugh, she’s such a lush.’
Honestly, she wasn’t exactly a lightweight herself, but when she drank with Jina, she always ended up completely wasted. Jina just had a way of setting the mood.
Was it just that naturally outgoing people were good at drinking?
Anyway.
‘Graduation is really just around the corner now…’
She felt a strange sense of emotion.
She had been running forward, looking only at music, without looking back at anything else.
She could honestly say, hand on heart, that she had worked incredibly hard.
She had played the violin until her fingers were calloused, and she had played the piano like she was sticking needles into her fingertips until every note was alive.
She had dabbled in other instruments too.
But she was able to keep going because she simply enjoyed playing instruments.
‘I never thought that little youth orchestra I was in back in elementary school would grow into this.’
Eunju smiled softly.
Back in her upper elementary school years.
She had briefly joined a youth orchestra with her childhood friends, Harin and Jinhyun.
It was a pretty large orchestra.
It was a large group with a first and second orchestra, and even a third orchestra for people who were just starting out.
To show the fun of ensemble playing, people who joined the third orchestra for the first time would all play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in an orchestral version. It was then that Eunju felt a thrill and discovered her dream.
She was meant for music.
‘I wonder how those two are doing…?’
When she went back to Korea, she wouldn’t really have many friends to hang out with.
Yesle, who she had become friends with here, still had another year left overseas before graduating from university, and Jina, being American, would naturally pursue her dreams in the US.
She was the only one going back to Korea.
Should she stay overseas and join an orchestra, become a composer, or maybe a producer?
She had thought about various options, but she never imagined that the M-tube channel she started as a hobby would become so successful.
She suddenly thought that she could just focus on her M-tube channel and do solo performances.
That was why Eunju had decided to return to Korea.
‘Well, there are still a few months left.’
Besides, to be honest, the only people she could call true friends here were Jina and Yesle.
‘I decided to meet Harin first when I go back to Korea.’
She hadn’t been in contact with Jinhyun, but she had been in touch with Harin quite often. Last year, she had even flown overseas to see her.
They used to hang out so much when they were kids…
It had been over a year since she had seen Harin in person. They had chatted on Kakao Talk a few days ago, though.
‘I kind of want to see Jinhyun too.’
Honestly, she hadn’t seen her cousin Jinhyun since elementary school.
She still had a deep sense of longing for the times when they were very close as kids.
But it was elementary school, and they might feel awkward if they saw each other now.
Still, he was one of her few friends.
She was looking forward to meeting him.
‘I should ask Mom for his number.’
She had naturally lost contact with Jinhyun after going overseas to study. Neither she nor Jinhyun had contacted each other since then.
It would be a bit awkward if they met too suddenly.
Now that there were only a few months left, it would be good to let him know that she was graduating and going back to Korea soon.
Honestly, she had thought about contacting him a few times in the past, but she had just given up.
Because of the rumors about Jinhyun.
Since Jinhyun was her cousin, she would occasionally hear news about him through her parents. But the news about Jinhyun had been very bad since high school.
Something about him just playing around and not thinking about the future?
And then they would say things like, “It’s a good thing you’re working hard,” or “You’re the same age, but you’re so different,” and her parents would often praise her while putting Jinhyun down.
He was her cousin, the same age as her.
It was natural that they would be compared… That was why she didn’t feel like contacting him. She thought that Jinhyun might not want that.
When she was ashamed of herself, she didn’t want to show herself to others.
Eunju knew that feeling well. When she practiced hard but her skills didn’t improve, or when she was falling behind.
At times like that, she just wanted to hide somewhere.
Jinhyun would probably feel burdened if she contacted him, so she had just been living her life without contacting him, even when she thought about him sometimes.
But now they were both adults.
She heard that Jinhyun had finished his military service.
“Well, for now…”
She would contact him after the trip, and just enjoy this trip.
With that thought, Eunju headed toward the elevators.
There was a staff member standing in the area with several elevators. She would ask him where the champagne vending machine was.
“Which floor are you going to?”
“Excuse me, where is the champagne vending machine…?”
“Ah. The champagne vending machine is on the 10th floor, the entertainment floor. If you go straight to the left after getting off on the 10th floor, you’ll find the vending machine corner. Shall I hold the elevator for you?”
“Ah, yes. Please.”
The staff member held the elevator for her, and Eunju headed to the 10th floor.
Even though it was almost midnight, the entertainment floor, which had a flashy atmosphere, was quite crowded.
Most people were in groups, enjoying games or indoor sports.
Since it was connected to the 11th floor, the entertainment floor was quite large and filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
‘I just need to buy some drinks, right?’
There was no need to call Jina or Yesle here.
Eunju thought she would just buy some champagne and snacks, and headed straight to the vending machine corner.
That’s when it happened.
“Wow, look here. They have a lot of board games too?”
“Yeah. It looks like we can borrow them all. And it doesn’t cost any money. Should we take some to our room and play them today?”
“Yeah. That sounds fun. Hehe.”
“But we’ll have to wake up early to eat breakfast. We have to wake up at 6:30 to eat at 7 and go out.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. And I slept for a few hours on the plane, so I’m not that sleepy.”
It was the voices of a man and a woman.
If it was just a man and a woman talking, there would be nothing special about it, but Eunju couldn’t help but prick up her ears at their conversation.
‘Korean?’
It was a familiar language.
When she lived in the US, there were often times when Koreans would come to visit, and she would always feel very happy.
Eunju slowly walked toward the direction of the voices.
The voices were coming from the vending machine corner, which was where she was going.
Eunju looked at the source of the voices.
‘Wow…’
Next to the vending machine corner was a corner where you could borrow board games.
There, a man and two women were standing, looking at the board games.
Eunju felt like she was holding her breath.
‘They’re so pretty…?’
They were incredibly beautiful. Really.
To be honest, she was confident that she was quite good-looking herself, but her confidence plummeted, and she couldn’t help but lower her head at their beauty.
Especially the blonde woman.
Her beauty was simply overwhelming. The brunette woman was pretty too, but the blonde woman was like a goddess who had descended from the heavens.
‘Amazing.’
She had thought that after seeing Harin last year, she would never see a woman more beautiful than her, but she was greatly mistaken.
The brunette woman was acting cute, clinging to the man’s arm, and the blonde woman was standing a step away from the two of them, looking at the man with soft eyes, as if she was in love.
‘Are they rich…?’
Eunju looked at the man’s face.
He was quite handsome.
‘Hmm… I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere…?’
But even if he was handsome, how could he be with two women at the same time like that?
Honestly, she had seen people who were two-timing, but she had never seen someone exchanging loving glances with two people at the same time like that.
“?”
But then, as if she had noticed her gaze, the blonde woman suddenly looked at Eunju.
Their eyes met.
“……!”
A gaze that left her unable to do anything.
It was basically just a kind gaze, but Eunju felt a primal sense of fear in her body when she met that gaze.
Eunju quickly moved away from the corner, took the elevator, and returned to her hotel room.
