CH 320

Next day...

“I must've lost my mind...” Choi Yeon-Ha muttered in anguish while grabbing at her own hair.

However, how could she not? While amateurishly trying to get a rise out of Kang Jin-Ho, she ended up getting the proverbial eggs on her face, after all!

After parking her car and confirming the name of the destination before her eyes, Choi Yeon-Ha couldn't stop herself from groaning over and over again.

“An orphanage? Why orphanage, of all places?”

Her first shock for the day was that, despite not behaving that way, Kang Jin-Ho turned out to be an honest and hard-working young man. Who knew? And the second shock to her system was that she... also had to become an honest and hard-working person today!

"Why isn't he here already?!"

Although there was still around half an hour left before their promised time, Choi Yeon-Ha currently didn't enjoy the mental leeway to think about that. She shuddered in barely-contained anger before a lengthy groan of resignation leaked out of her mouth.

'Yes, I must be getting punished...'

If this was the punishment for venting her anger on Kang Jin-Ho for no good reason, then well... Choi Yeon-Ha usually didn't act like this, though. However, her temper would just rise up for some reason whenever she was staring at Kang Jin-Ho's face.

It wasn't as if she hoped for him to treat her like a princess or something! Even so, he shouldn't treat her like a passing stray, at least!

Choi Yeon-Ha fanned her face with her hand in a futile effort to cool her temper. Soon, though, she noticed a distinctive red supercar in the distance heading toward her.

'Would you look at that?'

Despite his stated extreme hatred of standing out, there was Kang Jin-Ho, driving around in a fancy, eye-catching car!

“Hmm. He did say he was loaded, so...”

Seeing how he could drive around in that red supercar, Kang Jin-Ho must really be wealthy, then. That made sense, really. Only someone with a shed load of money would scoff so derisively at Choi Yeon-Ha's assertion that working as an actor would make them rich.

Based on what Kang Se-Ah said, Kang Jin-Ho should have amassed more money in his bank account than Choi Yeon-Ha could ever earn in her entire life.

“Just what is his real identity, I wonder?”

Kang Jin-Ho was just so full of mysteries. Judging from how Kang Se-Ah or Kang Jin-Ho acted, they were definitely not some scions of a wealthy business dynasty. People born into money possessed a certain something about them. But Kang Jin-Ho did not.

The red car stopped next to Choi Yeon-Ha's ride. Kang Jin-Ho sleekly emerged from the driver's side. “You're here early, Miss Choi.”

“You should hurry up more instead, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

Choi Yeon-Ha was just being cantankerous despite knowing he was early, but with Kang Jin-Ho apologizing briefly back at her like that, she had nothing more clever to say.

'Yup, I'm a terrible person, aren't I?'

Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't some middle schooler going through puberty, so why was she acting so cranky like this since yesterday? Obviously, she was self-aware of her actions. She knew she shouldn't be behaving this way.

However, things she didn't want to say were still jumping out of her mouth all on their own, and that was her current problem!

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the orphanage's entrance. “Let's go inside.”

“...Okay.” Choi Yeon-Ha nodded, her voice sounding a little more subdued. She pressed her palm on her chest to calm her pounding heart down.

'Although I don't know what we're doing here...'

Choi Yeon-Ha tightly clenched her fist.

'You made a big mistake if you thought I was a flower raised in a glasshouse!'

Not many people knew this, but Choi Yeon-Ha was originally from a rural village in Gangwon Province. Unfortunately for her, though...

There was no way the world would go easy on her.

***

“...You mean, all this?!”

"Yep," said the auntie.

Choi Yeon-Ha blinked several times in disbelief while pointing at the mountain of laundry. “We're supposed to hand wash all this?!”

“Yep.” The auntie made an apologetic face, knowing this laundry pile had to be a huge shock to Choi Yeon-Ha's system. “We were supposed to have volunteers coming in today to help us, but their schedule got messy and...”

“Hang on, do volunteers actually do all this washing?”

“Yes, they normally do.”

Choi Yeon-Ha's face grew pale. "B-but... don't you have washing machines?"

“Well, we do have one, but it's not enough for all the laundry, you see.”

“Oh my g...” Choi Yeon-Ha stumbled back. In fact, her hands were trembling all on their own, too!

Seriously, though! Was that mountain actually made out of clothes? A pile of laundry?! In that case, should that be called a... fabric hill? If Choi Yeon-Ha was to exaggerate a little bit here, that pile was slightly taller than her. She wasn't exactly a short person, so the towering aura unleashed by that pile of laundry could only be described as intimidating.

“How is anyone supposed to hand-wash all this, auntie?!”

"Well, the washing machine is in full operation even now, but with over thirty kids to look after, the amount of laundry per day is no joke, you know? And we also have to deal with duvets and sheets today, so it ended up looking like this, unfortunately..."

“...Huh.”

“Today happens to be one of our spring cleaning days, you see? And that's why we have more laundry than usual.”

"W-wait, you can't be saying I must do all this laundry by myself?"

“Eiii, of course not. No one can finish that alone. Please, do as much as you can.”

Choi Yeon-Ha dazedly nodded at the auntie's affably-smiling face. This was the moment when a crazy assignment had been downgraded to a slightly less-crazy assignment, but that fact didn't console her one bit.

“But, Miss Choi, I think you should get a change of clothes first. You won't be able to do anything in your current dress, you know?”

“...But, uh, I didn't bring any extra clothes with me.”

“That's fine. I'll lend you some, so please put those on. We have lots of leftover clothes and not much else, you see?”

"O-oh, I see..." Choi Yeon replied while doing her best to hold onto her soul trying to escape her body. "T-thank you... I guess?"

***

“Oppa, why aren’t you coming more often to visit us?”

“Sorry about that,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Currently, he was unloading sacks of rice and other ingredients from a delivery truck and moving them to the storage while chatting with the kids following him around. These kids acted like a brood of ducklings waddling behind their mother duck and chasing after Kang Jin-Ho.

Although they could be a hindrance during work, Kang Jin-Ho could easily overlook that much. Well, he wasn't like other people, after all. People getting hurt when he was carrying cargo around would never happen under his watch.

“Whew...”

Kang Jin-Ho wiped the sweat off his brow. After cleaning out all the dust accumulated inside the storage and storing the newly-arrived ingredients, Kang Jin-Ho finally found some downtime for himself.

'This work is not easy as it looks.'

Kang Jin-Ho wasn't exhausted by this work, but such a thing was only possible because it was Kang Jin-Ho. A regular man would have long collapsed to the floor, dead-tired from the unforgiving labor.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“It's chow time, oppa!”

"Mm? Already?" Kang Jin-Ho muttered to no one while glancing at the orphanage's main building.

'Wait. Now that I think about it... What is Miss Choi doing right now?'

It had already been three hours since they arrived at the orphanage, but he hadn't seen Choi Yeon-Ha once since then.

Kang Jin-Ho called out to the girl that came to let him know about lunch. “Hey, you know what happened to the lady that came with me?”

"Her? She was doing the laundry the last time I checked."

“Laundry?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head, then headed toward the orphanage's main building. He figured he'd have some food first—since it was lunchtime—then get back to the rest of work.

'Well, things look tidied up with this much, so...'

Kang Jin-Ho mulled inwardly while stepping inside the main building, only for his eyebrows to shoot up high. "Huh..."

Kang Jin-Ho had experienced all kinds of hardships, dog fights, and close calls during his life, so nothing fazed him much these days. Even so, the sight waiting for him when he entered was still shocking enough to upset his composure.

That was because Choi Yeon-Ha was standing there. While wearing colorful reddish baggy pants and a T-shirt with floral patterns, no one knew where she fished out from, no less! And to complete this scene, she was soaked from head to toe, with water still dripping from her hair!

“...Huh. Were you taking a bath?” Kang Jin-Ho asked while tilting his head.

“You, you...!” Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs. “You insensitive priiiick!”

***

Vroooom!

“If you have functioning eyes, you should've seen what's going on and acted accordingly! What's the matter with you? How can you be doing nothing until now after seeing that situation? What are you trying to do by leaving all that money in your bank account? Taking them with you to the netherworld when you die?!” Choi Yeon-Ha continued to yell as she rode shotgun in Kang Jin-Ho's car.

“...My apologies.” Kang Jin-Ho muttered while making a cramped face.

“Holy cow! Assistance from the volunteers isn't enough, so the kids also have to help out and do the laundry and stuff, but here you are, just watching and sucking on your thumbs! Stop showing off with weird things and use your money better, will you!”

“Yes, Ma'am...” Kang Jin-Ho muttered helplessly. However, he knew he had no excuses to offer here.

'But, uh, I didn't know piles of laundry could get that huge...?'

A family's washing machine would be in constant operation if said family happened to have a young kid as its member. However, the Seongsim Orphanage was looking after over thirty kids. No wonder one washing machine couldn't cut it.

“Besides that! Didn't you see the state of their clothes?!”

“Huh? Their clothes? What's wrong with them?”

“Ah? You... Urgh...” Choi Yeon-Ha was about to throw another fit before groaning loudly.

'Nope, let's just save me the energy...'

Judging from how Kang Jin-Ho dressed most of the time, it'd be a waste of Choi Yeon-Ha's energy trying to explain the situation to him. Kang Jin-Ho's dress sense was verging on what an African tribesman might think at this point, after all! Just look at his clothes... Wasn't this style focused completely on the functionality of clothes above all else?

Kang Jin-Ho wore hoodies until they resembled wool hoodies from all the crazy level of fluff on the surface. And even his T-shirts were baggy from age and wear, so what would change even if Choi Yeon-Ha raised her voice right now?

'What exactly is Kang Se-Ah doing? Why hasn't she... Mm?'

That girl should see her oppa walking around looking so dreadful like this every day, so why wasn't she helping him out with his dress sense? What was Kang Se-Ah aiming for here?

Whatever the reason was, something about this stank. Something about it was definitely black-bellied!

“Anyway, hurry up! We gotta finish everything before the kids are done with their lunch!”

“Yes, Ma'am.” Kang Jin-Ho gripped the steering wheel as more cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

'What's gotten into this woman?'

Kang Jin-Ho heard Choi Yeon-Ha wanted to come along, so he figured having an extra pair of hands would be nice and agreed to her offer. But now that she was getting intensely worked up about something, Kang Jin-Ho had no idea how to respond. Why was she behaving this way anyway?

However, the current atmosphere forbade him from amateurishly opening his piehole. Doing so might lead to a bombardment of insults and criticism, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

'It's weird, isn't it?'

All the people who were polite and mild-mannered when Kang Jin-Ho first met them began raising their voices a lot more frequently after getting to know him a bit more.

'Am I the culprit for that, I wonder?'

It was a mystery he could probably never resolve.

***

Choi Yeon-Ha stepped into the store first, then scanned the area with eagle-like eyes. "First thing, washing machines!"

“...”

“Follow me!”

“...Yes, Ma'am.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded and followed Choi Yeon-Ha, his shoulders drooping like a cow being dragged into the abattoir.

'You should've at least changed your clothes first...'

Choi Yeon-Ha was still wearing that colorful baggy pants and floral T-shirt and, to prevent people from recognizing her, she also wore a surgical mask and a pair of sunglasses. This bizarre get-up only made her more noticeable, though!

However, she still walked brazenly ahead as if all that mattered was hiding her face. Kang Jin-Ho could only sigh under his breath at this sight.

“Welcome to our store, dear customer. Is there a particular product you are looking for?” asked one of the store's salespeople.

“Yes. Washing machines.”

“Aha, washing machines. You are... not newly-weds, nor his... uh, mother, so...” The salesman grew increasingly confused by the pair standing before his eyes. Kang Jin-Ho could only stare at the poor salesman in sympathy. The salesman's reaction was fully understandable, after all.

Choi Yeon-Ha looked around. "Where are your washing machines?"

"I-it's this way, dear customer." The salesman hurriedly guided Choi Yeon-Ha toward the interior of the store. Who cared whether the pair was newlyweds or a mother-and-son duo? The salesman's role was to sell, after all.

Once the trio arrived at the washing machine aisle, Choi Yeon-Ha scanned the machines on display before shouting loudly. “The one with the largest capacity in your store, please!”

"The largest capacity, dear customer? But rather than such a machine, how about this one over here? Being the biggest doesn't necessarily mean the best, you see. This product is split into top and bottom half, allowing you to wash white laundry separately from the colored ones at the same..."

“The. Largest. In. Your. Store.”

"...Yes, dear customer. Allow me to guide you." The salesman guided Choi Yeon-Ha, then pointed at the beautifully-massive washing machine displayed in the corner of the store. "There it is, Ma'am! The washing machine with the biggest capacity in our store!"

Choi Yeon-Ha nodded as if she liked the majestic scale of the imposing washing machine. "You deliver, yes?"

"Of course, dear customer."

“Right away?”

"Oh... That will be a little difficult, dear customer. The soonest will be tomorrow..."

“Five.”

“...I'm sorry?”

“Five washing machines. Surely, you can deliver them right now?”

“Of course we can, Ma'am!” The salesman animatedly nodded.

Kang Jin-Ho made an unreadable face while observing this exchange from behind.

'...Deja vu?'

Why did it feel like he had witnessed this spectacle before...? No, rather than 'witnessed', it was more like he had lived through it...

“Next, microwave ovens!”

"Dear customer, are you also looking for the largest capacity with the ovens?"

“Of course not. Where would such huge microwaves be useful for? No, just show us good quality products, please. We'll also need five of those.”

"Allow me to show you the most cost-effective solutions possible, dear customer!"

Kang Jin-Ho observed the baggy-pants-wearing Choi Yeon-Ha strutting around the aisles between the household goods like a model on a catwalk and fell into a bout of serious philosophical dilemma.

'Hang on. Is there even enough space for five microwave ovens in the kitchen?'

“Next, the super-large vacuum cleaner! With the most powerful suction in the market!” Choi Yeon-Ha triumphantly cried out.

"Yes, dear customer! We do have a vacuum cleaner strong enough to suck out a person's soul!"

'...Nope, there is no such a thing.'

Kang Jin-Ho desperately suppressed his desire to retort and act like a wet blanket here.

“Ah, that's right!” Choi Yeon-Ha smacked her palm as if she just remembered something.

“Yes, ma'am?” The salesman looked at her expectantly.

“As soon as we're done shopping, we need to depart right away, so please load the cargo immediately when I choose them!”

"D-dear customer. Although our store is large, we, unfortunately, don't stock five of the same products. Which means we must call the other branches and get their stock first..."

Choi Yeon-Ha cocked an eyebrow as if she couldn't see the problem here. “Then, tell the other branches to deliver them right now.”

"Those are indeed sensible words, dear customer!"

“Fut~!” Choi Yeon-Ha stood tall and proud with her nose jutting out.

Kang Jin-Ho watched her strut around and could only shake his head.

'Something... is wrong with that woman.'

For sure, she wasn't ‘normal,’ either.