Chapter 452: The Commotion Of Lilac's Confession (4)
Let me clarify something: as Cheon Mu-jin carried out this project, he didn't treat the locals poorly and paid sufficient initial funding.
However, a project manager can't personally oversee every site, and human greed knows no bounds.
The man causing trouble was a local who became the restaurant manager. Originally running a restaurant in Jeju, he grew greedy seeing the suddenly expanded business and funds at his disposal.
He wasn't stupid enough to advertise all-you-can-eat and then not provide it. He simply lowered the meat quality "just a little" from what was in the original plan.
Thinking students couldn't tell the difference between premium black pork and regular pork, he played a little trick with the funds. He served real premium black pork to the professors while giving ordinary pork to the students.
The price difference between Jeju mana green tea-fed black pork and regular pork was substantial, creating a huge profit margin.
Giving in to temptation, he instructed the staff to strictly separate professor and student tables from day one, even slipping them some money to enforce this...
"Hey, say that again. What?"
"W-well, according to restaurant policy..."
"Who exactly made this policy? I don't remember seeing anything like that in the travel guide. Why would it look bad for us to eat with the students?"
He never expected professors to get angry about eating separately from cadets.
Rushing out at the commotion, he found two people who appeared to be Academy professors looking extremely displeased.
If there was trouble from the start, his position could be in danger...
Getting caught cheating meant contract violation and losing his head...
"Haha, please calm down first..."
"Calm down? When we tried to have a calm conversation, your employee refused to give any reason and just said it wasn't allowed, treating us like troublesome customers. Now that we're raising our voices, suddenly you want us to calm down? Are you guys for real?"
This won't work.
That crazy bastard told him not to run the business like he used to...!
And he's causing trouble with superhumans...!
"...This seems suspicious."
"What?!"
"Unnie, don't you think it's strange they're trying so hard to separate the cadets and professors?"
"T-that's...!"
"...It is strange. Step aside."
"N-no, you can't!"
"...Can't? Oh, this is really starting to stink."
The restaurant owner trembled and shook his head, but unfortunately, the two heroes had already caught the scent of something fishy.
"Should we go in then? Or should we call Cheon Mu-jin directly?"
In the end, the restaurant owner had to choose the less frightening of the two dooms coming his way.
*
Surprisingly, the restaurant was operating normally.
I checked just to be sure—they were serving real black pork and actually providing all-you-can-eat as advertised.
...Was I being too suspicious?
"Wow, it really is all-you-can-eat black pork!"
"The package must be quite expensive?"
"Not really. The meat comes directly from within Jeju, so there's no middleman distribution, and even though it's all-you-can-eat, there's a natural limit to how much people can consume."
"Well, it's a Cheonhwa Group operation, so they must be making a profit somehow."
"Right, and they sell things like alcohol at pretty high prices."
"Haha, why worry about that? We're here to have fun, so let's just enjoy the delicious food."
The two professors who naturally joined our table were looking at Lilac with subtly expectant gazes.
Lilac very naturally wore sunglasses and kitchen gloves.
...Lilac is really skilled at grilling meat.
After seasoning with coarse salt and pepper, Lilac's Holy Sword—no, scissors—began cutting the meat evenly as he flipped it at what he called the perfect timing.
"...Looks delicious."
When Lilac signaled that the meat was done, numerous chopsticks rushed toward the grill, and the women simultaneously began wrapping ssam.
Most of them were extended toward me.
Wow, I'm really popular...
Since I could see what they were thinking, I knew this would happen, but there wasn't really a proper way to stop it.
"...This is why I said we shouldn't do this at first. Cathy."
"B-but still."
Since they're blowing on the wraps to cool them for me, I don't want to refuse them all...
As I was wondering what to do, I made eye contact with Woo Jae-hee, who was looking at me with an extremely envious face.
"...Won't someone wrap ssam for me too?"
No, from what I can see, Hero Woo Jae-hee isn't being helpful at all right now.
"Um..."
"Just eat them in the order they're given."
"That's right."
"...Okay."
I reluctantly accepted the wraps one by one in the order they were offered.
The interesting thing was that despite using the same meat, each wrap tasted different due to the various ingredients inside.
"So-hyun, say ah~"
"This is a bit embarrassing...?"
Noona Cathy used to avoid doing things like this when others were watching, but lately she's become quite bold.
"That guy would have no excuse if he suddenly died from being stabbed."
"I know. The other guys are glaring at you, So-hyun."
I know...!
By the way, it wasn't just me—there was also Cheon Yu-hak having drinks poured for him by Ju Ri-ra, and Lee Yu-na trying to feed Lilac with her chopsticks. Thanks to them, the male cadets' anger was equally distributed among the three of us.
As a side note, when I ate the wrap Ha-ni made for me, the guys started looking at me with expressions that went beyond envy to something almost fearful...
Well, that's not really my problem, is it?
*
After lunch, we were given free time.
At first, there was talk about using the underwater tunnel, but since it was already on tomorrow's official schedule and our free time wasn't that long, we decided to just rest...
The truth is, as student council members, we weren't in a position to relax comfortably.
Some guys were making a fuss about going to internet cafés.
Some were caught trying to sneak out to charm Jeju girls.
And some were caught bringing alcohol to the sacred school trip...
"Oh, wait. Cadets are allowed to drink, right? Okay, you guys pass."
"You scared me by suddenly grabbing us...!"
A poor cadet ran away with a tearful face.
Was getting caught by me that scary?
Anyway, there were a lot of people to keep in check.
Well, I'd let them off as long as they didn't cross the line, and we could rest once we reached the lodging, but it's kind of annoying that we can't even relax and have fun with the others.
"You're working hard."
"...Oh, you too."
While I was thinking about this, Lee Yu-na suddenly spoke to me, and I answered casually, but strangely there was no response.
...Come to think of it, wasn't she supposed to be with Lilac?
...Wait a minute.
The voice's pitch seemed a bit different from usual?
When I turned my head, Lee Yu-na was definitely standing there.
"I'm surprised. To think the day would come when I'd hear such a friendly response from you."
However, she wasn't the girl from our student council who was supposed to receive Lilac's confession today.
In some ways, she was an even longer connection, and still a trauma for me—the woman I had burned to death with my own hands.
"Are you close friends with this world's me?"
The 1st Turn's Lee Yu-na was standing there.
...Wearing a white one-piece dress and a straw hat, holding a giant octopus skewer and grilled corn.
This is a bit awkward to respond to...?
I still feel guilty and scared, but her casual vacation appearance makes the fear somewhat diluted.
Lee Yu-na seemed to notice my gaze assessing her state, and stopped her sarcastic remarks, hiding her food behind her back.
No, this isn't the time for such thoughts.
Since I can't make Lee Yu-na cry tears of blood, I should try to dissuade her from whatever she's planning.
"Hey, today is really important. It might not matter to you, but just this once..."
"Why should I? That's what I want to say, but I didn't come to fight today. I didn't even plan to meet you, but when I happened to see you smiling with that human-like face, I couldn't help but speak up."
...She didn't come to fight?
"Yeah, I guess this world's Lilac is confessing to this world's me today. Your precious friend told me to watch and recharge my hostility."
It was a strange feeling.
Although she spoke passionately last time, I thought she would try to kill me again when we met.
It's not exactly peaceful content, but I never expected we could have a conversation like this.
"Your friend either knows nothing about me, or knows very well and wants to mock me."
Well, regardless of how I felt, she was just saying what she wanted to say.
"I'm not going to cause a scene out of jealousy toward this era's me. How could I interfere with a scene I've longed for my entire life? And I certainly have no intention of disposing of this era's me to take her place."
"...That—"
"Oh, I'm not expecting a response, so I'd prefer if you didn't speak. I'm trying hard to control myself."
"Then don't talk to me in the first place..."
"...You really have become more human-like. In the past, you would have sneered or cursed at me to get lost."
She looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and displeasure, but unfortunately, her gaze was still full of malice.
"Anyway, don't worry. I don't plan to do anything until the confession is over. As I said last time, I want this era's me to be a little happier."
"...So you're only after me? That's a relief."
"You've become quite glib."
...I seemed to have a lot to say, but now that she's in front of me, I don't know what to say.
"L-Lilac is...!"
Perhaps due to the pressure that I had to say something, my tongue, which usually moves well even when told not to, malfunctioned, and killing intent flashed across Lee Yu-na's face.
"...It's amusing that Lilac's name comes out of your mouth. You should choose your next words very carefully."
"...Lilac is a good guy, you know."
"...Is that so? I'm glad you've come to realize that. In the 1st Turn, you treated him like a smooth-talking idiot."
"So you too..."
"...Me too? Me too what? If you're thinking of suggesting I get between them, I'd really prefer you not say it. I'm barely holding myself back, and if I can't control myself and end up ripping out your tongue, it would be troublesome for both of us."
"...Sorry."
"...I really can't get used to this. You're actually apologizing. Are you really Kang So-hyun?"
Honestly, even from my perspective, I must seem crazy from Lee Yu-na's point of view.
Lee Yu-na, who briefly showed a nostalgic expression, shook her head.
"For the sake of this world's me, and my past self, I can't meet Lilac."
I wanted to ask why, but the words wouldn't come out.
"Since that day, my head has been filled with thoughts of another man besides Lilac."
Lee Yu-na's gaze turned toward me.
Hmm, definitely not in a positive way.
"How can I get revenge on you? How should I kill you to ease this bursting feeling inside me? How should I torment you, how should I break you to hear a satisfying scream from your mouth? Would Lilac like a woman who only thinks about such things?"
Free time was passing, and it was time to rejoin the others.
"I shouldn't have spoken to you after all."
"Hey, Lee Yu-na..."
I called out, but there was no answer.
Even when we had a sort of cooperative relationship before Lilac's true identity was revealed, she would ignore me when she was angry.
Back then, I couldn't say anything because I didn't know what the right thing to say was.
Well, I'm still not sure if this is right or not...
"You probably don't want to hear this, but I meant it when I said I want to make you happy too."
For a moment, Lee Yu-na disappeared as if she had teleported, but before she vanished, I clearly saw it.
Lee Yu-na glaring at me with an extremely angry expression, about to say something.
"...Should I not have said that?"
What if she suddenly attacks because of this...?
It was a moment of deepening concern.