Chapter 5 - [Part 1]

Chapter 5 – [Part 1]

‘…….I would’ve been in trouble if I hadn’t asked for directions.’

Min-ha, who was walking alongside Annie, sincerely thought so. Until a little while ago, I thought that a mansion was a rather large house with one or two separate buildings, but the scale was beyond my imagination.

Min-ha admired Annie for she was familiar with the way to the east annex building in a mansion that was as big as a medieval European palace. Min-ha, who walked alongside her with a feeling of admiration, said to Annie.

“…..Well, isn’t Annie knowledgeable with the palace? I rarely know anything here, but I’m pleased because you’re here to guide me.”

“What? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m flattered.”

“I’d be lost by now if I was alone. Thank you very much!”

“…..What? No, it’s my pleasure. I’m simply attending to my duties.”

Annie’s face turned red as if she had never heard someone say such a thing towards her before.

Seeing her reaction, Min-ha continued as she thought it was cute.

“Next time, I’ll give you a reward. Annie, what would you like to receive?”

“Oh, I……”

At Min-ha’s words, Annie hesitated for a moment as her face turned even redder. It’s as though she was debating whether or not she was allowed to say something.

Min-ha looked at her with a smile as she waited for her response, as if she noticed she was being wary. Then, Annie gently opened her mouth.

“Oh my! Annie!”

However, a middle-aged woman’s scream came from the opposite direction of where the two were headed. As Min-ha turned around to face her, the woman, who was running quickly towards them, bowed to Min-ha.

“……M-M-Madam! What brought you to this place!”

“Yes? I was on my way to the East Annex building.”

“W-W-Were you? But, why is Annie….?”

“Oh, I don’t know the way. I asked her to come with me for guidance.”

Min-ha answered the question of the middle-aged woman with a smile.

However, the answer made the middle-aged woman’s face turn even paler. Then, she hurriedly approached Annie and grabbed her arm. Thereafter, she led Annie away from Min-ha and muttered something in her ear.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Min-ha, who heard what she said, frowned at the current situation.

“……Are you crazy? Why would you do that?”

“That’s because she didn’t know the way……”

“Idiot! Of course, that’s an excuse! ……She’s trying to….cause you trouble!”

‘Hey, I can hear you.’

They talked in a low voice, however, their surroundings were also quiet, which let Min-ha clearly hear what they were saying.

Then, Min-ha pouted at their words unknowingly, which made them face her with a frightened pale face. Afterwards, the middle-aged woman, who held Annie’s hand tightly with one hand, wet her lips with her tongue and said,

“…..Oh, no. I’m sorry. Madam, if you don’t mind, can I take Annie with me? Annie’s very busy right now.”

“…….Oh. Yes, you can.”

“…..Thank you. To reach the East Annex building, you can walk straight down that road. Please excuse us then.”

The middle-aged woman pointed her finger at one direction, grabbed Annie’s hand, and started walking in the direction where she came from.

Soon after, Min-ha sighed loudly as she looked at the back of the two, who rapidly disappeared from her sight with puzzled looks on their faces. Just a little while ago, the middle-aged woman looked as though she didn’t want to be associated with her.

‘I can’t believe I’ve been pushed this far by the people around me.’

I’ve never been surrounded by outright hostility in my life. At the thought that I had to live like this for a while, I sighed again.

“But what else can I do about it? For now, I can only do my best to adapt to it.”

Kim Min-ha, you can’t simply be discouraged. If there are conditions or circumstances that cannot be changed anyway, shouldn’t you just try to adapt to it and use it to your advantage as much as possible rather than giving up?

Min-ha struggled to appear calm and started walking straight in the direction where the middle-aged woman pointed a little while ago.

***

Not long after, upon seeing the number of buildings surrounding her, Min-ha muttered with a troubled look.

“Where the hell is the East Annex? There are more than one or two buildings here!”

Is it that building surrounded by blue ivy flowers, or that stone building built of silver white marble? Or is it that building that looks very old at first glance?

Min-ha started panicking when she saw three buildings surrounding her. What should I do in times like these? If anyone was passing by, I’d ask, but there was no one around.

‘I can’t help it.’

Min-ha put down the bucket she was holding and said as she swung her right hand’s forefinger.

“Eeny, meeny, miney, moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers, let him go-!”

TL/N: That’s not the actual translation, but it’s a song that has the same purpose as that.

My mom said, “You need not be worried when you can’t figure out something.” Min-ha, who was singing whilst alternately pointing her forefinger at the three buildings, looked at the building that looked old at first glance as it was where it had stopped.