abcnovels
Chapter 189
Chapter 189
Chapter 189
“Picnic, picnic, picnic, picnic!”
It had been a long time since we had been out together, and Jiyun’s excitement was much higher than usual.
“Jiyun, be still. Alessia can’t tie your hair up.”
“Yeah!”
Alessia was also smiling because she hadn’t seen Jiyun this excited in a long time.
“Okay, I’ve got it all tied up, miss. What do you think?”
“I always look pretty when Alessia ties me up!”
“Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Now you two are the main attraction…….
After getting everything ready to go, we were about to leave the mansion when they were greeted with a rush.
“Miss, you must be careful!”
“Master. Take care of your lunch.”
“Have fun!”
It was a great reminder of how friendly our staff is.
“Yes, I’ll be back!”
And Jiyun, who gave them a belly button greeting, grabbed my hand.
“Let’s go, big brother!”
“Okay.”
We walked out of the mansion, got into the waiting car, and drove off.
The only good thing is that we don’t have a bodyguard following us on this outing.
‘Even so, since you two are going out together, shouldn’t you have a bodyguard team?’
The head of the bodyguard said so in an appealing voice and insisted that there was no harm in it but since my father said it was safe…….
‘This time, Mr. Kwak Chun-sik and his granddaughter will join us.’
‘Then it will be okay.’
My father’s permission was granted at the mention of Mr. Kwak’s presence.
Of course, the chief of security was furious, but…… what can you do when you have one of the most powerful men in Korea joining you on a picnic?
The car soon passes Corleone’s grounds, enters the highway, and enters the city of Seoul.
“But, brother, where are we going?”
Jiyun asks, looking in my direction as if she’s wondering where we’re going.
“A place where no one else in Korea can go.”
“Where no one can go?”
“Yeah. It’s my first time there too.”
Of course, I never thought he’d choose a place like this for a picnic.
Gradually, there are fewer and fewer cars outside the window.
Gyeongbokgung Palace is now in sight but this too passes, and I finally see a checkpoint.
The man at the checkpoint waves his hand, and Han Seo-joon stops the car.
“How may I help you?”
The man peers in through the driver’s side window that Han Seo-joon has opened.
“I’m here at the invitation of Mr. Kwak Chun-sik.”
“Ah. It’s confirmed. Have a good time.”
The checkpoint was quickly cleared by selling Mr. Kwak’s name.
After passing through the checkpoint, the building in front of us was??
“Aaah! Big brother! Big brother! I saw this place on TV! It’s very famous!”
“Right? I didn’t think I’d actually come here either.”
The place where the pinnacle of Korean power is located.
It was Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House).
The car drove to the parking lot.
When they finally parked the car, Han Seo-joon looked back and said,
“I’ll be waiting for you here. I hope you’ll have a good time, master, miss.”
“Thank you!”
“You get some rest too, I’ll call you before we get here.”
I gracefully got out of the car, held onto Jiyun’s hand, and walked away.
The meeting place Kwak Chun-sik had texted me was the Garden of the Blue House.
It was awkward for me, too, as I rarely enter the building like this.
How long has it been since I entered the main gate?
-Have you arrived?
“I just got out of the parking lot, where am I supposed to go?”
-You’ve never been to the Blue House?
I’ve been in another life, though I was there to steal something.
“Do you want me to come here for something?”
-Wait. I’ll send one of my men.
Is there someone else besides the old man and his granddaughter?
While I was waiting I could see a man in a suit running towards me in the distance.
……Huh?
“Haa…… You’re Eugene Han and Han Jiyun, right?”
“Yes, that’s right, but you’re…….”
“Ah, hahaha, yes. I’m Kang Sang-rok.”
The man lets out a boisterous laugh and offers his hand.
That’s right.
It was Kang Sang-rok, the president of South Korea in this CS world.
* * *
“You came?”
In the distance, Kwak Chun-sik, sitting on a mat and smiling broadly, waves at us.
“Old man.”
“Ah, the old man I saw last time!”
“Hahahaha, yes, I see you remember.”
“Hello.”
I sigh as I look at Jiyun nodding in greeting to Kwak Chun-sik.
“No, what the hell are you doing telling the president to greet me, you’re freaking me out.”
“He’s my friend before he’s president. Isn’t that right?”
They were best friends.
It was a setup I knew, but it wasn’t that important, so I tossed it to the back of my mind.
“If you weren’t an……awakener, I’d punch you in the face.”
“Try me, asshole. I can take a tank and still hold my own!”
The president of South Korea and the strongest Awakener fighting.
It’s hilarious in a way.
“Grandpa, where’s my friend?”
Jiyun, who has quietly placed her pink bag on the mat, asks, looking around and the old man points toward the fountain in the distance.
“There are flowers over there. Why don’t you take a look?”
“Flowers? Yes!”
Jiyun runs off in a flurry of excitement, and Kwak Chun-sik sits down next to me.
“A picnic at the Blue House? No one can do that unless they’re a real senior citizen.”
I don’t know how many great people in Korea can do this but I’m sure I could count them on one hand.
“It’s all thanks to my friend, Sang-rok.”
Indeed, Kwak Chun-sik was one of the heroes who owed a lot to the president.
The fact that he had gone to Gangwon Province instead of prison after killing so many villains in the past, and the fact that he was able to operate freely there, were all due to the president’s favor.
“Yeah, it’s more annoying that I can’t refute him. By the way, didn’t you say one more person was coming?”
“Huh? I thought he said he’d be here soon, but I haven’t heard from him.”
Huh?
“Hey, old man, is there anyone else coming?”
“Yeah, you know him, so he won’t be too happy. Well, he said he was bringing a friend of yours.”
Someone I know?
I’m puzzled.
“Ah, there he is.”
His words made me look back the way we came, and I saw two familiar faces.
“Did you call for……?”
“It’s a picnic in such a nice place. The more people, the merrier.”
Sighing in the distance, the old man walked over, and a woman stood next to him.
……This is what he meant when he said one of my friends was coming.
Choi Yeon is waving gently in this direction as she spotted me too.
What is this…….?
“A gathering of the most influential elders in Korea. Is that what it is?”
“Oh, now that I think about it, it is. What should we call it? Kwak Chun-sik and the rest of them, huh?”
Kwak Chun-sik and the president, I never thought I’d see them get together.
I couldn’t believe that a scene I thought I would never see unless the Korean government was in danger of being overthrown was unfolding in the garden of the Blue House on a sunny day.
“Greetings, Mr. Sword Saint.”
I stand up and bow, and Sword Saint gives me a quick nod.
“Yes, it’s been a long time, Mr. President. Are you all right?”
“Haha! I’m fine, thanks to you. I didn’t realize we’d be meeting like this.”
“That’s right.”
The atmosphere between the president and Sword Saint was quite stiff because they were only meeting for official business. It was like meeting an acquaintance of a friend.
“Eugene. Hi.”
“Yeah. Hi.”
I greeted Choi Yeon casually in that ethereal atmosphere.
“I got to see the Blue House but today seems to be full of surprises.”
Choi Yeon took a fan out of her bosom and cooled her face as she spoke.
Kwak Chun-sik chuckles and replies.
“This is great! Good weather, good people, good seats! What a place to sit! Come on, Choi, sit down too! Hey, Sang-rok, that. Get that.”
“……Really. Wait.”
As Kang Sang-rok glares at the Blue House staff behind him, a giant cart that looks like a mobile buffet begins to roll toward us.
Soon, buffets begin to be set up in the garden.
The first thing that caught my eye was the high-end authentic soju on a mat.
“Choi, didn’t you say you wanted to try this last time, I prepared it.”
“……! I like this. The president must have had a hard time with it.”
“It’s nothing compared to what you’re doing. Haha! I’m not the president today, I’m your brother.”
“Is that right, little brother Kang?”
“Yes, brother Choi.”
Something makes me uncomfortable.
……I can already smell the alcohol.
I quietly get up from my seat and head toward the kids, but Choi Yeon grabs me by the collar of my arm.
“……Where are you going?”
“To see my sister.”
“Your sister?”
“She ran out to get flowers earlier. Do you want to come with me?”
“Sure.”
Yeah, I can’t leave her alone in this atmosphere.
“Let’s go.”
I walked with her in the direction Jiyun ran, leaving behind the elderly people who were already sharing drinks.
It’s definitely a different place from where the president lives, and the old trees and neatly trimmed bushes are soothing to look at.
“Where did they go…….?”
“There?”
As I searched for them, Choi Yeon pointed off into the distance.
Two little kids were squatting in front of a flower garden in the distance.
Judging by the headband, it was definitely Jiyun.
Could it be Mr. Kwak Chun-sik’s granddaughter next to her?
As I slowly walked toward them, I could hear their giggling laughter.
“Jiyun.”
I called out her name and she turned around.
“Huh? Big brother! Next to you is…… pretty sister! Hello.”
“Hello.”
The two children looked in our direction and said hello. For some reason, Choi Yeon, the oldest, did the same, bending his waist at 90 degrees.
“Hello.”
I wondered if the children had been taught manners from a young age.
Swept up in the atmosphere, I also bowed.
“Jiyun, what were you doing?”
“Nothing! We were just talking about what to do!”
I wondered why she was sitting in a flower garden.
“Well, does your friend next to you want to do anything?”
I asked the child next to her.
The girl looked too cute to be Mr. Kwak’s granddaughter.
She furrowed her brow, hmmm……and thought about it, then looked at us as if she had an idea.
“Peek-a-boo! Let’s play tag!”
“Peek-a-boo? What about Jiyun?”
“I’m in!”
The game was decided by consensus.
First, we all played rock, paper, scissors to decide the roles.
“Ah.”
Choi Yeon was the only one to take the scissors, and everyone else had rock, so Choi Yeon became the ringleader.
“Eugene.”
“Huh?”
“Can I use aura?”
“Sure.”