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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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It was past 9 p.m. when we left the company.
The night air which still had a bit of a chill greeted me and Mina.
She ignored my suggestion that she should go home since it was late, saying that she would treat me to a meal, and dragged me by the wrist.
We arrived at a gukbap restaurant.
Since heavy food like soondae gukbap was a bit much, we ordered bean sprout gukbap to share.
Spicy broth with rice mixed in and a soft-boiled egg on top.
It seemed like a good food to eat regardless of the season.
While I was crunching on the napa cabbage kimchi, she burst the soft-boiled egg with her spoon and mixed it into the gukbap.
Oh, she knows how to eat.
As we pushed the warm gukbap into our bodies, we continued the conversation we had at the cafe in the afternoon.
Throughout the conversation, her eyes were crescent-shaped, and I didn’t think about useless things like dimensional travel.
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After finishing their meal, they slowly walked home.
Since they lived in a similar direction, the man had tried to walk her home, but she instead saw him off to his house and was on her way back. [T/N: this is how it was in the raws]
The long day had now completely set, and it had become a dark night.
Like spring flowers that had forgotten when to fall, the orange light of the streetlamps bloomed along her path.
With a feeling of indescribable fullness in her heart, she headed home with light steps.
*Vrrr*
The vibration from her handbag stopped her bouncy steps.
Her excited face turned cold when she checked the caller ID.
“Yes.”
A short answer.
[Oh, it’s me.]
A voice mixed with a metallic rasp. She closed her eyes tightly.
“What is it?”
[What, do I need a reason to call? We’re family.]
Family, what family?
She bit her lip to stop the words that were about to burst out of her throat.
“Are you doing well? I’m doing well too. Then, I’ll hang up now.”
She heard a voice calling her from the phone as she tried to end the call.
[Send me some living expenses.]
“Didn’t I already give you some? It was only three weeks ago.”
Her voice was laced with annoyance.
Whether or not that was the case, the voice on the other end of the phone didn’t care.
[It’s almost been a month. Send some. Your younger sibling said that the price of that civil servant academy thing went up, so send some extra.]
“If he has all his limbs intact, he should work part-time. How long is he going to keep asking for money?”
[How can he work part-time while studying to be a civil servant? You’re the older sister, so you should take care of him. We’re family.]
“Then, when I was working three part-time jobs and going to school, who helped me?”
[……Anyway, just send it.]
*Click.*
The call ended unilaterally, and she stood in the middle of the road, blankly.
Just a moment ago, she had been in a good mood, but now she felt like she had been thrown into a mud pit.
“Sigh… really.”
She doesn’t cry over things like this.
Her emotions had been worn down too much to cry over things like this.
It was something that always happened. A family that demanded money as if it were a given, and herself who had no choice but to send it.
Lee Mina was already used to this cycle.
She lowered her head for a while and suppressed her emotions, and when she started walking again, her phone rang again.
*Vrrr*
Seeing the caller ID, she quickly answered the call.
“In-ho-ssi?”
[Ah, Mina-nim. I was just checking to see if you got home safely.]
“I haven’t gotten home yet. I’m taking a walk at night.”
[Ah, I see. But go home early. It’s already very late.]
Even though it was a distance where warmth couldn’t be conveyed, she felt warmth in his voice.
“Okay. Thank you for worrying about me.”
[Yes. And, um…]
“???”
[Have a good night.]
“…Thank you. You too have a good night, In-ho-ssi.”
She felt her face heating up as she ended the call.
She stared at the blank screen of her phone for a while, then started walking.
“I don’t feel bad.”
Normally, if she had received a call from home, she would have felt bad for a week, but she didn’t feel that way now.
She thought of In-ho and headed home.
Her steps, which were following the road, seemed a little lighter.
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[T/N: best mommy…Oops best girl]
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Chapter was way too short 😔