Arena

Chapter 158 – Team Yoo Ji-soo’s Situation

We went around Europe, vacationing, and then returned to Korea . Marie tagged along all the way to Korea and stuck next to me .

“Is there somewhere you want to go?”

At my question, Marie smiled big and gave an energetic answer .

“I want to see Hyun-ho’s family . ”

“……”

“I’m going to say h.e.l.lo again! I even practiced Korean . ”

“Korean?”

“h.e.l.lo, I am Marie Johanna . Mother-in-law, give me your* son . ”

(TN: She used the informal ‘your’ rather than the respectful way when talking to someone older than you . )

Her Korean had a really good accent . Up till now, I’ve only heard her speak in Arena’s language so I was completely surprised .

But it’s mixed with some informal speech .

“We are already in a deep relationship . ”

“Stop it . ”

“I am pregnant . ”

“Ahhh, stop!”

We were in Incheon Airport which was bustling with people . I felt a deep embarra.s.sment when hearing the surrounding people mumbling about us .

In this midst of all of this, Cha Ji-hye’s expression didn’t change and I respected her for it .

First of all, we went back to the house in Bucheon and gave my mom a call after .

I’ve returned from abroad, I should call once in a while .

-Son! You’re back in Korea?

“Yep . ”

-Heartless son . Come visit home every now and then .

“Okay, but I’ve got Ji-hye and Johanna too . ”

-Johanna, you mean that crazy……?

“Yea, that gal that may have lost some of her marbles . ”

-Hoho, good . Why don’t you all come by?

“But that woman has learned some regrettable Korean . I don’t know what she’s going to say . ”

-Really? It’ll be fun, hurry and bring them by .

…… . That’s mom for you .

-But are you still dating that woman?

“Yeah . ”

Now its not a lie, I can confidently tell her the truth .

-That…… does she still not want to get married?

Mom asked cautiously . I could sense her desperation for a daughter in law and grandchild .

“The situation has changed a bit . She won’t cut off the idea like she did before . ”

-And you?

“Aww, of course I want to get married . ”

-What, really? Son! So, you aren’t a lone wolf?

“I said that because I was in front of Ji-hye, of course not . I’m going to win her over and get married, just you wait . ”

-Hoho, my son! Fighting! Actually, if it doesn’t work out, just make a mistake……

“I’m hanging up now . ”

-Alright, alright, I just got excited and went too far .

“At least you know . ”

Like that I ended the call .

And when I looked behind me……

“Huk!”

I almost fainted .

Cha Ji-hye was looking right at me .

“Um, how long have you been standing there?”

“Since 10 minutes ago . ”

“You’ve already unpacked?”

“Yes . ”

Because of Marie we couldn’t use the same room so she was unpacking in the guest room, but she must be all done already . She definitely used to be a soldier .

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence fell upon us .

“Food, let’s eat food . Aren’t you hungry?”

I quickly ran away to the kitchen .

The next day, we all went together to Cheonan . It was to meet up with the rest of my family and eat together .

I heard nowadays that Hyun-ji was in Cheonan and was getting ready for the internet shopping mall business .

It had been a long time since the whole family had gotten together .

Cha Ji-hye and Marie tagged along too . It’s going to be a loud day .

We headed to the buffet where we already made our reservations .

It was a big restaurant that took up all 3 floors of the building, we got to the bas.e.m.e.nt parking and the valet looked shocked .

It was because the car we rode in was Cha Ji-hye’s white Lamborghini .

The cars ahead of us followed the valet’s signs and went into the bas.e.m.e.nt parking lot or down to the second (B2) floor .

But the valet looked at us and quickly led us to an empty spot on the first floor .

‘They must have left s.p.a.ces open on the 1st floor for VIP . ’

Such special treatment!

This is why people want to drive nice cars .

We had reserved a VIP room as well .

“Son!”

Sitting in the middle, mom greeted us warmly .

“Oh my, if someone saw they’d think we’re celebrating your 70th!”*

(TN: it’s a big celebration in Korean culture . )

“70 is still far away!”

Mom reacted sensitively .

Noona and Hyun-ji were there too, and Hyun-ji was nibbling on an appetizer bun that an employee fetched her .

“h.e.l.lo, nice to see you again, mother . ”

“h.e.l.lo, nice to see you again, mother . ”

“h.e.l.lo!”

Cha Ji-hye and Marie said their greetings .

Mom shook hands with Cha Ji-hye and shook Marie’s hands too and smiled .

“Miss Johanna, you speak Korean now?”

“Yes! I can speak it well now!”

“Hohoho, you really do . You must be very smart . ”

“Hehe, I am smart!”

Mom had an expression like ‘oh it’d be nice to have a granddaughter like this’ as she looked at the cute Marie .

“Our Miss Johanna, I want to see how well you can speak it . Go on . How have you been dear?”

Asked mom, courteously .

Marie smiled wide and with a loud voice yelled out .

“I’m pregnant!”

Hyun-ji choked on her little bread bun . Noona lost all color in her face . Mom too lost strength in her legs and almost fell .

“It is not true . She just says what she feels like, so don’t take anything to heart . ”

Cha Ji-hye tried to control the situation .

“I’m going to be a mom!”

“Would you stop it!”

After scolding her for a long time, Marie finally quit yapping like a parrot .

Finally finding her composure, mom asked me .

“So you aren’t a thing with Miss Johanna at all, right?”

“Yup . ”

“Whew, thank goodness . ”

No matter how urgently she wanted a grandchild, it seemed she found the daughter in law’s mental state to still be of importance .

From the buffet line, we brought back plates full of all kinds of food and began our meal .

We talked about how we are all getting along, but noona’s situation was something else .

“No, unni, what is the matter with you? Going on a set up date with someone who fell in love with you at first glance, how do you get dumped by someone like that?”

Hyun-ji must’ve set up a date for noona .

Well, noona looks normal on the outside so some man took a liking to her .

“If I knew that then I’d already be married . What is the matter with men?”

Grumbled noona while grinding her teeth . She might bleed from how tightly she clenched her fist .

I could picture how noona’s blind date must have gone . I didn’t need to see it to know .

She would’ve emasculated him at once with what she always rides, in her Benz C cla.s.s coupe .

After that, despite her tall height of 171 cm, she enjoys her heels and made the man feel small .

After that, with a gaze as if belittling the other person and her cold manner of speech that doesn’t say anything unnecessary, it was a sure kill!

With a feeling of inapproachability, the man whimpered and tucked tail .

In the end . Noona was still a spinster .

“Whew, our Hyun-joo might have to go buy a husband from somewhere like Thailand . ”

Hyun-ji gripped her belly as she laughed at mom’s complaints .

Noona boiled over with humiliation .

“Noona . ”

“What?”

“What?”

“What was that man’s job?”

“A company man . ”

“And his workplace?”

“Somewhere I know, a decently hardworking and honest place . ”

“And how did he look?”

“Nothing to complain about . ”

“And did you say those things to the man?”

“……?”

With a strange expression on her face, I said to noona .

“I know the company well, you work at a good place, you look handsome, did you compliment him like that?”

“There wasn’t anything worthy of compliments though . ”

“Tsk tsk . ”

I clicked my tongue and Hyun-ji too shook her head back and forth .

Getting compliments from a well to do woman like noona, the man would’ve been moved and showed tried harder to get her .

The G.o.ds really gave noona everything but a personality .

I looked to Hyun-ji .

“Now, Hyun-ji . Show me an example . ”

Maybe because we’re siblings, we fit right in . Hyun-ji instantly turned her aegyo mode on .

“Oppa~! You make good money, you’re handsome, you’re soooo skilled! Could poor little me have some spending money!”

“Alright . ”

I took a couple bills out of my wallet and gave it to her .

“Kyaak! Oppa you’re so awesome!”

Hyun-ji took the money and showed all kind of aegyo .

Noona’s skin was crawling just from seeing this, her clenched fists were shaking .

“You want me to act like that?”

Well, Hyun-ji did go a little too far .

Anyway, Hyun-ji began to try appeasing noona by saying she’ll introduce more men to her .

Noona was feeling crummy but was eased by Hyun-ji’s words and started asking who that man was .

Hyun-ji was determined to win noona’s favor . In order to successfully run the internet shopping mall, she instinctively knew she would need noona’s help .

Then again, even the internet shopping mall that dogs and cows and everyone was trying to get into was still a business that had more than a few legal problems .

Eventually, whenever something happens she’ll run to noona and ask how this and that is done . It’ll be a frequent occurrence .

Obviously knowing that but still pa.s.sively telling her to do the internet shopping mall showed that noona is actually a tolerant and generous person .

Like that, an enjoyable time pa.s.sed and we were on our way back to Bucheon .

When my smartphone suddenly vibrated .

‘Who is calling?’

I took my smartphone out my pocket and checked .

It was an unexpected person .

[Yoo Ji-soo]

I hadn’t seen that name in a really long time .

When I was just a 2nd turn examinee, Yoo ji-soo was already a 19th turn veteran examinee . I quickly remembered her blonde dyed hair .

Her two teammates were men, one of them was Cha Jin-hyuk? The other I can’t really remember well .

When I was just a 2nd turn examinee, Yoo ji-soo was already a 19th turn veteran examinee . I quickly remembered her blonde dyed hair .

Her two teammates were men, one of them was Cha Jin-hyuk? The other I can’t really remember well .

Now that I think of it, Yoo ji-soo’s team would now be a 25th turn or so .

“h.e.l.lo . ”

-It has been a long time, hasn’t it?

“Yes . ”

We are the same age but her speaking to me informally and me speaking formally, this strange relationship was the same .

-Its really been a long time, huh?

“Yes, from my end its been about 4 years I think . ”

-Its about the same for me too . As we progressed, the examinees of the world were all converging into one timeline .

“Have you been well?”

-You think it would be for an examinee?

“That’s true . ”

-Speaking of, you’ve been busy all this time . Ranked 7th in the world? Are you crazy?

“All thanks to me being a genius . ”

-That’s funny! You were a rookie just a bit ago!

At my witty banter, Yoo ji-soo laughed hysterically .

-Anyway, I’m glad you seem to be doing well .

“Yes, thanks to you . ”

When I had come back from the 3rd exam having lost all my teammates, Yoo ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk gave me lots of helpful advice .

Before I was thrown away by the Korean Arena Research Agency, they told me to get all the information I could on Arena .

It was a small bit of advice, but I made good use of the files I got at that time, and a savior is a savior .

“I’ll help you . ”

-Uh, what?

“You’ve called because you’re in a bad situation . ”

-Right on the money . How did you know?

“When I asked if you had been well, you changed the subject . ”

-Wow, you catch on quick .

Yoo Jin-soon acknowledged it coolly .

-You’re right . Actually, I called to get your help on an awkward situation . I’m sorry I’m calling you out of the blue for a favor .

“Don’t apologize . I’m sorry I haven’t reached out to you sooner . ”

-It’s a bit much to discuss over the phone, want to meet?

“Sure . Where?”

-Gangnam .

“We are on our way to Bucheon . ”

-We? You and who else?

“Yes, two others . You’ll be happy to see one of them . ”

-Really? Okay . Then we’ll head to Bucheon .

“Really? If not, we can go to Gangnam too . ”

-No, no . We’re asking the favor, we should go .

Anyway, we set the appointment and she hung up .