In Search of Our Destiny - Chapter 237

While Ji-Won was thus being attacked by Seo-Jun, Su-Jin was facing her own ‘friendly fire’.

When she got home, Su-Jin found Mi-Suk lurking in front of the house. Based on her tense expression and how she kept wringing her fingers in agitation there was definitely something wrong with the young woman.

The moment she heard footsteps behind, Mi-Suk whirled around and let out a gasp. But when she saw who it was, she instantly relaxed. As relief spread on her face, Mi-Suk let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding. Next, she schooled her expression, trying to appear less startled.

“Omo1, Su-Jin ah, you’re home already? I thought you’ll be back later.” Mi-Suk greeted from where she was standing.

Su-Jin raised an eyebrow at this rather poor attempt to act calm. Yet, despite noticing her best friend was in a strange mood, she decided to play along for now.

As such, Su-Jin curved her lips into an accommodating smile and gestured with her chin towards her friend.

“You too, I thought you were out on a date and was expecting you to come back later. How come you’re standing here like a stalker? Did you forget your keys?”

“Oh, my date ended sooner than it was planned. Do-Yeong had an emergency and had to leave earlier.”

Mi-Suk laughed and casually waved a hand in dismissal. Then, she showed Su-Jin an indignant look.

“And I’m not stalking, mind you. I just got here a few moments before you arrived and startled me.”

Su-Jin inwardly scoffed.

‘Just got here my ass. Mi-Suk, you’re lying through your teeth right now. But no matter, since I’m in such a good mood today I’ll play along with you.’

In the meantime, Mi-Suk had already approached and was now standing face to face with Su-Jin.

“What about you?” She asked curiously. “I heard you went on a date with the director.”

“IT WAS NOT A DATE, DAMMIT!” Su-Jin yelped in irritation. “You and Min-Jun both… I swear, how many times do I have to tell you two that we never went on a date?!”

“Alright, alright, not a date, I get it! No need to bite my head off.” Mi-Suk quickly raised both arms in defense.

Su-Jin’s shouts stopped abruptly and she took a long, deep breath to calm down.

“The bad weather ruined our field trip.” She sighed dejectedly.

“Well, since both of us ended up in pretty much the same situation, how about going out for a drink.”

One of Mi-Suk’s hands went to her mouth and she mimicked downing a shot.

In truth, Su-Jin didn’t really want to go home just yet. Since she was still caught up in a tempest of emotions, landing inside her room, alone with just yet thoughts felt like a sentence at that moment.

If she added to that the chance of finding out what was troubling her best friend as well, the latter’s idea became quite tempting.

Thus, she quickly nodded in assent.

“The usual place?” She asked.

“Absolutely.” Mi-Suk grinned.

“Should we call Min-Jun out as well?”

With that, she threw an arm around Su-Jin’s shoulders, guiding her out of the neighborhood.

Their destination was located just a few minutes’ walk from their house, and a place they called ‘the drinking tent’.

The two women soon reached a small crossroad and, after just a few more meters, they finally saw it.

A tavern-like pub under a bright red tarp. Inside the tent walls there were several plastic tables and chairs, probably enough to only accommodate around 15-20 customers at once.

A middle-aged woman was cooking in a far corner of the tent. There was only her around so, when she wasn’t tending to the food, the woman would go around serving the customers.

Looking simple and crude, the place may not have appeared like much. However, the food there smelled extremely appetizing and it was always very delicious. There were noodles, either hot or cold, depending on the season, as well as spicy chicken legs. But the thing this location was famous for was making the best spicy rice cakes in the area.

This dish was both Su-Jin and Mi-Suk’s favorite. For Min-Jun, though, it was always the spicy chicken legs.

Despite going to their best-loved place, this time the reason why Su-Jin and Mi-Suk were there wasn’t to have their favorite food, but the soju.

This outdoor ‘drinking tent’ offered only one variety of soju, but in the two friends’ opinion it was the best. Sometimes, the middle-aged woman would even bring several bottles of makgeolli 1from her hometown. This beverage made by the woman’s family was Su-Jin’s favorite.

The sweet, milky white rice wine had just enough alcohol to make her feel good, but not enough to get her drunk. It represented a perfect choice whenever she wanted to drink something fragrant during summer evenings, or simply have something lighter than soju or beer during any other day after work.

But, that evening had been decreed as being a soju occasion. Therefore, the moment the two women sat down at a table, they ordered in one voice.

“One bottle of soju, aunty1!”

“Coming right up!” the woman answered with a wide smile.

By now, the woman was so used to these two young friends that she almost considered them her real nieces.

“What’s the occasion today?” the woman asked as soon as she brought the two bottles of soju. She glanced between the other two, then asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve both been stood up by your boyfriends?”

“How can that be, aunty?!” Mi-Suk replied, wearing a wide grin on her face. “Who would dare do something like that to us?”

“Aiya, it must be nice to be so young and beautiful.” the woman shook her with a sigh.

“What are you saying? You are also young and beautiful. With your pretty face, aunty, it’s really no wonder this place is doing so well.”

As she finished these words, Mi-Suk gave the woman a mischievous wink. This caused the latter to lean down and pinch the young woman’s cheek.

“Oh you, little rascal.” the woman said with a hearty laugh. “Such a blatant attempt to sweeten me up… It’s obvious you want something. Come, come, tell your aunty what to bring you.”

“We want your best spicy rice cakes! Make them extra best for us.” Mi-Suk readily answered with a grin.

“Aren’t they always the best?”

The woman smiled and patted Mi-Suk’s cheek in the same way a parent would do to their children.

“Alright, alright, I’ll bring them right away.” she said, directing a motherly gaze towards them. “You two be good and wait for aunty to bring the food.”