Living Dangerously with a 999-Year-Old Gumiho – Chapter 4

Seojin. She was not only cheerful and sociable, but also vibrant and positive.

Her mouth might be a bit rough, but there were few who disliked Seojin.

Seojin had a keen interest in monsters and ghosts.

Hyun was the only one who understood such a quirky Seojin.

So, Hyun’s closest friend was also Seojin.

“Have you seen any monsters or something?”

Hyun was taken aback.

‘…What? How did she know?’

Seojin chuckled and said.

“I’m just kidding~ Why are you so surprised? It’s not like I really saw a monster, haha…”

Hyun hurriedly asked Seojin.

“Ah! Right, Seojin, I’m a bit busy right now…?!”

“By the way, have you seen someone with pink hair who’s…”

“About 3 cm taller than me…?!”

Seojin looked at Hyun with curious eyes.

“Huh? No… Is there someone with pink hair in our village??”

“Hyun, you seem really tired…?”

Hyun chuckled in disbelief and shouted.

“Ugh… I’m telling you, there really is one~!!”

“Well, if you haven’t seen them, I’m going alone to look for them!”

Seojin said, grabbing Hyun’s arm.

“A person with pink hair… I’m really curious! Let’s go together!!”

Hyun spoke urgently.

“Then follow me! I need to find Yoonhwa quickly…!”

Seojin followed Hyun and asked.

“Yoonhwa? Is that person with the pink hair?”

Hyun replied as he ran towards the market.

“Yup! Yeah, I’m struggling right now…! Go and…! Just don’t ask too many questions!”

Seojin said, seeming frustrated.

“Alright…!! Where are you going??!”

Hyun stopped running.

That place was Kangtae’s fruit store, their friend.

Seojin caught her breath and said.

“Whoa… Is Yoonhwa really here…?”

Hyun, also out of breath, replied.

“She should be here… huff…”

Seojin and Hyun quickly entered Kangtae’s fruit store.

“Hey, didn’t you say you couldn’t come today?”

Kangtae said, looking bewildered at Seojin.

Ignoring Kangtae’s words, Seojin shouted at Hyun.

“Didn’t you say she’s here!”

Hyun anxiously explained.

“Huh? I really thought she’d be here…?”

‘I saw Yoonhwa looking curiously at Kangtae’s fruit store last night…’

“Kangtae! Have you seen someone with pink hair…”

“Who’s a little taller than me??!”

Kangtae replied.

“The pink-haired person hasn’t come into my store yet.”

“But I saw someone with pink hair passing by. It was fascinating.”

Hyun asked urgently.

“Just now?? They just passed by?!”

Kangtae replied.

“Yeah, they just passed by.”

Hyun rushed out of the store and ran.

“Hey!!! Aren’t you coming with me?!”

Seojin followed him outside.

Kangtae ran the only fruit store in this village with his parents, earning money.

Kangtae was serious about everything, but surprisingly liked jokes… and had some dumb moments.

“A pink-haired friend… I didn’t know Hyun had someone like that.”

Hyun and Seojin started running again to follow Yoonhwa.

After a bit of running, they spotted Yoonhwa’s unique pink hair in a store selling snacks around the fruit store.

Yoonhwa was happily devouring crispy yellow fried foods.

Hyun burst into the store in amazement.

Seojin also entered the store, hoping to see the pink hair.

“Whoa… Gotcha…!!”

Yoonhwa was startled to see Hyun and a girl she had never met enter the store.

“Whoa- Who are you?! How did you find me here?”

Yoonhwa welcomed them, flustered yet glad.

Seojin, blushing, whispered to Hyun.

“W- Wait, is that woman really your friend?!!”

Hyun was surprised and laughed.

“Why is this happening all of a sudden? Yes, she’s my friend!”

Seojin shouted to Yoonhwa.

“Hello!! Sister~! I’m the closest friend of Hyun!!~”

Yoonhwa was caught off guard by Seojin’s sudden loudness.

Hyun was also surprised and exclaimed.

“What?! Yoonhwa, she’s two years younger than you! She’s not your sister!”

Seojin laughed with a rosy face.

“If she’s prettier than me, she’s my sister~”

Yoonhwa, looking flustered, replied.

“O… Oh? Thank you…!”

Hyun spoke to Yoonhwa.

“You can’t have any money, so how are you eating all this?!”

Yoonhwa laughed and said.

“Fried…? That’s what they call it!”

“And… what’s this… money?”

Yoonhwa looked at Hyun with a confused expression and innocent eyes.

Her voice was filled with curiosity and bewilderment.

Hyun stared at Yoonhwa, bewildered, thinking.

‘Oh no…! Does the nine-tailed fox not know what money is…?!!’

Seojin looked at Yoonhwa with an astonished voice and shocked eyes.

“Huh? W- Wait, Yoonhwa, do you seriously not know what money is?? Is that even possible?”

Yoonhwa began to sense that she made a mistake based on Seojin’s reaction.

‘Not knowing what money is must be strange for humans…!!’

Hyun, with a shocked expression, told Seojin.

“Y… Yeah… Yoonhwa actually doesn’t know much about money…!”

Seojin, surprised at Hyun’s words, asked.

“How is that possible?”

Yoonhwa, avoiding her racing heart, tried to smile and fell silent.

Hyun was making excuses for Yoonhwa.

“Yoonhwa has been living alone since she was little.”

“Instead of using money, she made the things she needed from nature.”

Hyun explained.

Seojin seemed unsatisfied with Hyun’s explanation but didn’t ask any more questions.

Instead, she pointed to the fried food that Yoonhwa was eating.

“Then doesn’t that mean you don’t have any money?”

“But what about all these fried foods?”

Before Yoonhwa could answer, the snack shop owner, wiping the table next to them, chimed in.

“It’s post-pay~”

Hyun looked at the snack shop owner with a frantic expression.

“I’m sorry, I’ll pay right away…! My friend doesn’t know much about money. How much is it?”

The owner chuckled, appearing in a surprisingly good mood.

“Well, this young lady ate 100,000 won worth of fried foods all by herself. –Truly amazing.”

When the owner announced the total price of the fried foods, Hyun’s face turned pale rapidly.

His voice trembled as he stammered.

“1… 100,000 won?!”

Seojin quickly assessed the situation just by looking at Hyun’s expression.

She naturally pulled out money from her wallet.

With a playful smile at the corner of Hyun’s mouth, she said.

“Oh dear… Hyun, your wallet is empty again?”

“I tell you to manage money a bit better since you keep doing this~.”

Seojin patted Hyun’s shoulder and handed the money to the snack shop owner.

“Here, I’ll pay instead of our foolish friend!”

“I’m doing it just to see Yoonhwa’s face!”

“Make sure to pay me back later, Hyun~!”

Seojin laughed loudly at Hyun.

Despite Seojin’s rough tone, Hyun felt grateful for her help.

“Wow… Seojin, thank you!..”

“Really, what would I have done without you…”

Yoonhwa felt grateful too, even if she didn’t know what money was; it was clear Seojin was helping her.

“Seojin… Uh! I don’t know what it is, but thank you-!”

Seeing Seojin’s happy expression made Seojin feel joyful.

“Yoonhwa, you’re really fascinating…”

“I have so many questions about you!”

“I’ll treat you to a cup of tea, so follow me!”

Hyun and Yoonhwa followed Seojin out of the store.

Yoonhwa, without a thought, felt happy thinking she was going to get more food.

“Really, really?! Can I come along?”

“First time meeting a p- person… I’m not sure if it’s okay to get something to eat~!!”

Hyun felt a strange sense of dread.

‘…What if they find out I’m a nine-tailed fox…?’

Seojin, Hyun, and Yoonhwa arrived at a tea house around the snack shop.

Yoonhwa, similarly excited to when she first arrived in the market, was really happy.

“Yoonhwa, Hyun! They have lots of types of tea here. What do you want to drink?”

Hyun browsed the prices on the menu and calculated in his mind.

In the end, he chose the cheapest tea and carefully told the owner.

“Excuse me, I’d like… from the barista’s recommended teas-…”

“The cheapest one, please.”

The owner nodded as though understanding and suggested a cup of jasmine tea.

Hyun nodded.

Yoonhwa, uncertain about what to pick from the many menus, asked Seojin to choose for her.

Hyun quietly listened to Seojin and Yoonhwa’s conversation, pondering what exactly Seojin might ask Yoonhwa.

He hoped Yoonhwa could hide the fact that she was a nine-tailed fox well.

Once the friends arrived at the tea house, they sat down in a quiet corner.

Seojin opened the menu.

“Alright, let’s pick the tea for our sister?!”

Hyun casually said to Seojin, who was looking at the menu.

“I already ordered. Thanks!”

Seojin smiled at Yoonhwa and said.

“Yoonhwa, today I’m treating you!”

“I’ll pick the most delicious tea for you~.”

Seojin chose the most popular tea from the menu.

“Then… I’ll buy Yoonhwa the famous golden flower tea here!”

Yoonhwa accepted Seojin’s choice with eager eyes.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back to the bathroom-! Please get the tea when it arrives!”

While Seojin went to order the tea and took a moment to step out, Hyun approached Yoonhwa with a worried voice.

Hyun cautiously scanned the surroundings and spoke to Yoonhwa in a low voice.

“Yoonhwa, can I talk to you seriously for a moment?”

“There are a lot of people here…”

“You’ll keep the fact that you’re a nine-tailed fox a secret, right?”

Yoonhwa nodded upon seeing the worried look in Hyun’s eyes.

“Don’t worry, Hyun! I’ll be careful too.”

“I can’t let my true self be revealed among these people…”

“And I never want to go through something like last night again…”

“I don’t want you to either..!”

Hyun sighed in relief and started speaking again.

“And you… you need to be cautious with magic when using it.”

“If anything strange happens here, people will gossip about it…!”

Yoonhwa smiled as if to say not to worry.

“There’s no way I’d use magic here~!”

“Anyhow, thanks for worrying about me!”

Hyun finally added.

“Seojin is really interested in monsters…!”

“She must know about nine-tailed foxes too.”

Yoonhwa replied nervously.

“Then I definitely need to not get caught…”

At that moment, Seojin returned from the bathroom, and Hyun quickly changed the subject.

“Uh… Ah! Did you wash your hands, Yoonhwa?”

“Why should I wash my hands? They’re clean, right??”

Yoonhwa replied, puzzled.

Seojin laughed and said.

“You didn’t wash your hands, yet you’re worrying about Yoonhwa?”

The tea shop owner came with three cups of fragrant tea and placed them on the table.

“Thank you!”

“Seojin, really, thank you~!”

Yoonhwa thanked Seojin and took a sip of the golden flower tea.

Once Yoonhwa took the golden flower tea to her lips and tasted it, she was momentarily captivated by a flavor and aroma she had never experienced before.

‘I… think I’ve fallen in love with this tea…’

The initial impression from the tea was refreshing and vibrant, reminiscent of strolling through a flower garden in the morning, dew droplets glistening.

Meanwhile, Seojin seemed to inquire in admiration towards Yoonhwa.

“Is it delicious? Wow…”

“Uh? Yes! It’s so tasty! Thank you so much!!~”

Seojin smiled and asked.

“I… have a lot to ask you…”

“Can you answer while sipping the tea?”

Hyun quietly thought beside them.

“Please… just answer well-”

“Seojin’s surprisingly quick-witted… She’s so interested in monsters…”

Seojin gazed at Yoonhwa with curious eyes amid the colorful fragrances of the tea and posed her initial question.

“By the way, Yoonhwa, why do you wear a hanbok?”

“…It’s not even the Joseon era right now, you know.”

Yoonhwa was momentarily flustered and stuttered.

“Oh, um, this… it’s just… my style, I guess?”

“It’s comfy and… pretty, so I wear it..!”

Hyun quietly listened to Seojin’s question and pondered inwardly.

“I didn’t expect Seojin to ask about the hanbok…”

“I’ve never asked about the hanbok either.”

“Maybe a nine-tailed fox doesn’t have clothes to wear..?”

“I should take them both shopping for clothes someday…”

Seojin wore a skeptical smile and moved on to the next question.

With a suspicious glint in her eyes, she asked.

“-You lived in the forest? Is that true?”

“To the villagers, that sounds like a story fit for a fairy tale…”

Hyun, tense, watched Seojin’s reactions and felt worry wash over him.

“Is Seojin digging too deep into Yoonhwa’s story?”

“How is Yoonhwa planning to answer this question…?”