Chapter 97 - A long vacation [1]

Cool breeze blew in her direction as Jiwoo walked through the streets. Her hair was blown by the wind, and using her hand, she tucked her hair behind her air.

"Daerin, wait up! You are walking too fast," a voice spoke out.

Hearing that voice, Jiwoo halted in her steps, and turning back, she flashed a smile at Aera. Aera increased her walking pace in order to match up to Jiwoo's.

"I have already told you to not buy that much. You would not be able to carry those," Jiwoo voiced out, staring at the shopping bags at both of Aera's hand.

Around six months had passed ever since Oh Sookyung had ascended his throne, and now that he was a king, there was not much need for her to be by his side. 

Taking this as an opportunity, Jiwoo asked him for a long vacation for the time she had served him, and Sookyung had no problem agreeing to that. 

Seeing how staying at the surface alone could be awfully lonely for Jiwoo, she decided to bring along Aera with her— someone who had never been to the surface.

Learning about that, Aera was beyond happy, and she decided to follow Jiwoo along to the surface. Both of them got really well despite their short meeting at the arena six months ago, and since Aera was the first female friend she had made in a while, Jiwoo decided to treasure.

"My time is almost up. I want to buy as much things as possible before I go to the Underworld. Ah! There are so much more things that I want to buy," Aera said.

Finally catching up to Jiwoo, Aera stood beside her, and a groan escaped from her mouth. Jiwoo then began to walk again at a slower pace this time around.

"Wow! I can't believe that six months are over. Time went by really quickly!" Jiwoo commented.

"It indeed did," Aera spoke out, "And I will be going back to the Underworld within a week. What about you? Will you be staying here or go to Underworld?"

"Oh! Me? I guess I will go and check the Underworld once before deciding what I will be doing with my life. Sookyung will be finding his fated one soon.

It would not be appropriate for me to stay beside him," Jiwoo said, "There are so many things I want to try, but I can't decide which one would be the best for me— the path that I would not be regretting."

"Just join me, and be a journalist. You are going to get decent amount of gossip by that, and with your skills, I know that it will be helpful to us," Aera stated.

Moon Jiwoo chuckled and spoke out, "If you don't mind going out of business, then sure. Taking in my short temper, I would be the worst person to hire."

"Right, your temper," Aera mumbled.

"Anyway, Aera, you will be fine on your own, right? I have to meet up with someone," Jiwoo spoke out as her eyes fell on the watch in her hand.

"Yeah," Aera answered, "I am pretty much used to everything at here by now, so I will be fine. Go ahead."

"Glad to know that! I will be going ahead then, and just call me if you get lost," Jiwoo said, "Take these along with you."

With that, Jiwoo pushed all the shopping bags in her hand into Aera's, and taken by surprise, Aera caught on to them. After that, before Arts was able to say anything, Jiwoo ran away from the scene.

"Yah! Jiwoo, come back at here!" she exclaimed, "I already can't walk with the ones in my hand. How am I suppose to carry yours?"

But Moon Jiwoo turned a deaf ear to all of that, earning a groan from Aera. A chuckle escaped from Jiwoo's mouth.

°°°

As Moon Jiwoo pushed the door of the cafe, the bell chimed, creating a noise to let the people inside know of her presence. The cafe did not have much people inside it at this time.

Her eyes searched through the people present and tried to find a familiar figure. When her eyes fell on that figure, the corner of her lips curved to form a smile while nervousness bloomed within her.

"Moon Jiwoo!" that person enunciated as Jiwoo halted in her steps.

Seated before her was Lee Soohyun, who currently possessed her body. Meeting someone who had her body through someone else's body felt weird to Jiwoo.

Staring from top to bottom, Jiwoo noticed although that body belonged to her, there were many aspects of it that was changed.

Compared to her, Soohyun pressed much more plainly and modestly, and styled causally without putting any special type of attention towards it.

While Jiwoo's sense of style managed to make her stand out, Soohyun tried to stay mostly inconspicuous. Jiwoo, who was always dressed glamorously, did not believe that she would be seeing herself in such a state one day. 

She did not know how to react to the situation.

"You seem to be quite shocked. Is it the appearance?" Soohyun spoke out as her lips curved to form a smile.

Every little action done by Soohyun was different than what she had usually did, and although Soohyun was in Jiwoo's body, it felt like an entirely different individual.

"Just a little taken aback," Jiwoo honestly answered.

Pulling the chair back, Jiwoo sat down on it as Soohyun answered, "Yeah, I suppose so. Compared to you, I am more of a tomboy, and I don't exactly know how to take care of myself. Trust me. It was worse in the beginning."

"It's kind of disappointing to see how all the care I put into maintaining my body have gone to waste, but I guess I can't do anything against it now," Jiwoo spoke out.

"As an apology, it is my treat today," Soohyun said, "Order as much as you want. I have no problem with that."

Jiwoo nodded and questioned, "Since when did you start to occupy my body? Did you get ȧssigned to Minnie as well?"

"You had to experience Minnie too?" Soohyun raised one of her eyebrows.

Jiwoo nodded.

"That just have been terrible. Yeah, I wake to find myself in the same bed as Han Minhyun, and then, I had Minnie talking in my head about all the missions. It was all too weird," Soohyun said, "During the entire time, she was bȧrėly of any help. 

I wanted to choke her due to her unreasonable requests at times, but at the end, I understood that it was all for the good. She even had the audacity to threaten me with my life!"

"I woke up with a headache, and then, she mentioned to me about missions on protecting someone. I swear I was irritated to the point that I wanted to kill that brat, and once, I was ready to abandon it all. 

But the damned instincts within me did not let that to happen. On top of all that, the prince was a rude jerk in the beginning although he became a better person right now."

Soohyun chuckled and voiced out, "I thought that you will be hard to get along with. But other than your temper, you seem like more or less like a decent person to me. I had to deal with a lot of struggles when I was in your body as well. I had a group of anti fans running after me and throwing things at me."

Raising her hand, Jiwoo rubbed the back of her head and let out a chuckle before saying, "Those rumors tend to exaggerate themselves, and I am reflecting on my past as well. Although it's late, I realized how horrible of a person I was."

"As long as you know it," Soohyun said, "Last time around, your life was quite messed up, but seeing that you are getting a second chance to start over, do things carefully yet enjoy your life. You would not want to regret it again."

Jiwoo nodded and voiced out, "Yeah! You are right! That's how I plan to live on even though I have nothing planned for now. It might take me years before I find a dream to live for. But it's okay. My life span had increased after all."

"I know your passion for the entertainment circle, and since you are beautiful now as well, it is not too late for you to join in. You can easily pass in as a teenager," Soohyun expressed.

Shaking her head, Jiwoo answered, "As much as I would like that, I am well aware of how my personality would not be suitable for that. Moreover, I want to lead a comfortable life this time around and not go fight around with jealous ladies."

"I wish you luck then," Soohyun said.