Chapter 77 - After an year [1]

About a year and half had passed ever since Oh Sookyung had departed with Han Minhyun. It would be a lie if Jiwoo said that she did not miss him. Initially, without his presence beside her, things felt quite empty and out of routine. But eventually, she had gotten used to living a life without him.  Over this period of time, Moon Jiwoo's life was a repetitive cycle, and she trained for most of the time. There was nothing other than that she was able to do. Walking through the streets of Seoul, Moon Jiwoo raised her head to stare at the sky before her, and judging by the condition of the clouds, it seemed that it would be raining today. An irritated sigh left her mouth at that. Both of her hands held on to bags of groceries, and there were much more she had to buy still. If it rained, things might turn out terrible for her. "Aish! That old man, this is the last time I am running an errand for her." An exasperated expression came upon her face when she felt a droplet of water hit the surface of her head, and her eyes widened at that. Raising her hand, Moon Jiwoo touched the top of her head, and more droplets of water fell upon her head.  Realization that it was raining now, a squeal escaped from her mouth, and looking around, Moon Jiwoo searched for a cover. Jiwoo was capable of teleporting out of here, but Hyungwon's words were her concern. He clearly mentioned on how Jiwoo was not allowed to enter into the house without buying anything. Even though Moon Jiwoo was not the one to be that obedient, living with Hyungwon, she learned to compromise some of the things. Knowing how stubborn that man could be, she decided to follow along with. All of a sudden, Jiwoo were not hit by the rain any longer, and looking before her, she noticed that the water was still fell on the ground. Learning that she had a cover above her, she turned back and noticed that someone had held an umbrella upon her head. Seeing that person's face caused a small smile to form on her face. "Min Shihyuk," Jiwoo enunciated. Min Shihyuk was the man who had protected her and Eunwoo couple of times before, and over this period of time, she had gotten quite closer to him. Since she was all alone in that house and had no friends to communicate with, both of them spent a quite an amount of time together.  Although Shihyuk did not have the habit to talk much and most of the times maintained a stoic expression, she still was fond of the man. He was one of those person who never managed to irritate her. "You haven't seen the weather forecast again," he spoke out. "Ah! With how much that Min Hyungwon was nagging me, do you think I would remember to do that? I don't even know why he needs all of this so urgently," she stated, "During this entire time, he bȧrėly cooked me a decent meal, and now, he asks of me to buy all this ingredients I never knew of." A chuckle escaped from Shihyuk's mouth before he stated, "I will carry the bags for you. You can shop after the rain stops. Let's go into some cafe now. You must be starving." "As expected, you are the only one who is considerate of me, Min Shihyuk. You are the best!" she voiced out while her face was adorned with a wide smile. Min Shihyuk took the bags from her hand. and both of them began to walk forward towards the cafe. Although Moon Jiwoo would be reluctant to admit it, she had to say that over this period of time, her personality had considerably changed.  Her patience grew more, and she learned how to be mindful of others. She knew how to control her anger better. Although those qualities of hers were not to the best level yet, she had made an incredible progress. If it was previously, Moon Jiwoo would not have put such effort into buying the groceries and maybe would have shouted at Hyungwon in anger. However, knowing that he is one providing her with meals and cooking them, she knew she had to contribute in some way. Moreover, he provided her a place to stay with and taught her about everything. This was her way of showing gratitude to him. Pursing her lips to form a thin line, Jiwoo wondered about something before asking, "Shihyuk, do you know why Hyungwon asked for me to bring all of this all of a sudden? Could it be that he is cooking all of this for me? No, that sounds impossible." Shihyuk vocalised, "No idea." "As if. Stop lying to me. You know about everything that happens," she stated, "Speaking about that, are you not an ordinary person? How do you always know about everything? You feel like some kind of surreal being to me. You are just too perfect." "Perfect? I am far from that word," he mumbled. "You are good at everything and appear whenever I need you. You even know everything. How are you not perfect?" she vocalised. Maybe Min Shihyuk was the only one she was comfortable chatting with in such a way. When talking to him, she naturally threw down her arrogance. Probably because of how she considered him to be a genuine friend of his. Thinking about the memories of her first genuine friend brought her to the memories she had with Ahn Eunwoo, and knowing how those made her feel pathetic, she refrained from thinking about them. "This cafe is fine, right?" Shihyuk asked. Raising her head, Moon Jiwoo glanced at his face for a sudden, and her eyes did not miss the glint that had passed through his eyes for a second. She wondered what had happened for the sudden change of emotion within him. Nonetheless, she quickly drove that thought away from her mind— knowing that whatever it was, it was none of her business. "Yeah, it seems alright." °°° Moon Jiwoo's eyes fell on Min Hyungwon's back, and she noticed how he was hurriedly trying to cook all the food. By now, she was sure that someone was coming over. However, she had no clue on who it was. Over this one and half year, they rarely had visitors at this place. Even for those visitors, Hyungwon did not put such effort into cooking. Her eyes fell on the various ȧssortments of food cooked, and instantly, her mouth watered. She would be lying if she said that she was not tempted to try out the food present at here. Taking a step forward towards Hyungwon, she stared at the plate of cookies before speaking out, "Oh! What type of cookies are these? I have never seen them before." "These are a specialty of the Underworld, and didn't I say you to stay away from Kitchen? You will be creating a mess at here if you stay," Hyungwon vocalised. Impulse came over Moon Jiwoo at that moment, and a smirk formed on her face as she stared at the plate of cookies. Deciding to act upon that emotion, Jiwoo extended her hand towards the plate of cookies and sneakily was about to snatch a cookie from the plate. "Don't even think about it," Hyungwon warned. But not paying much attention to those words of his, she took the piece of cookie from the plate and jumped back, so that Hyungwon would not be able to touch her. Then, taking a bite out of the cookie in her hand, she vocalised, "Too bad that you are too late. You should have said about this to me earlier. This cookie tastes amazing! You should make more of this." "Now that you are done with tasting it, go back to your room," Hyungwon vocalised. "Geez! No, I don't want to do that. I want to see what all you are cooking. It's too boring for me to go back there," she spoke out, "Seeing how made me do all of those groceries, I think I deserve to steal some of the food here and there. It was really difficult for me to do that under the rain." "Shin Daerin, we have some important people coming at here, so behave," he vocalised. "Important people? If such people are coming, shouldn't you change the meeting spot? This house is too shabby. Aren't you embarrassed to bring them over at here?" Moon Jiwoo pointed out, raising one of her eyebrows. Before she was able to hear Min Hyungwon's reply, she was caught by surprise. A figure leaned down on her, and looking down by placing his head upon her shoulder, he bit on to the cookie at her hand. Moon Jiwoo's eyes widened at his presence, and it shocked her how she was not able to sense him entering. Could that be because she was too engrossed into chatting with Hyungwon? "This cookie is truly delicious."