Chapter 198: Is This the Land of Bunsik? (6) Slurp.
Slurp, slurp.
At the dining table where Lee Jinseo and Fedora sat facing each other, only the sound of noodles being sucked in could be heard.
The two of them kept their eyes on the jjamppong they were eating, trying not to meet each other's gaze, and an awkward silence filled Lee Jinseo's home.
Normally, Fedora would have marveled at the boldly spicy jjamppong broth and praised the smoky "fire taste" soaked into the noodles, but today she was unusually quiet.
It wasn't that Fedora was so purely captivated by the taste of the jjamppong that she had no time to talk and could only eat.
While riding back in the food truck, she had thought it over, and now she was belatedly embarrassed by her impulsive act of linking arms with Lee Jinseo. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the face.
So to forget her embarrassment, she focused only on eating the jjamppong.
Lee Jinseo, in his own way, was also at a loss over how he should treat Fedora going forward, so the silent dinner continued.
Watching Fedora's reactions, Lee Jinseo finished the noodles and then deliberately picked through the remaining toppings one by one with his chopsticks. Fedora, who drank every last drop of broth without leaving any behind, turned her eyes to the additional menu they had ordered—tangsuyuk.
"Your Eminence."
"Yes?"
"Don't tell me you're about to pour it on like that."
Lee Jinseo pointed at the sauce bowl Fedora was holding, then pointed at the tangsuyuk right below it.
"I-I'm sorry. I must have lost my mind."
Fedora, who had been about to attempt pour-it-on, snapped back to her senses at Lee Jinseo's remark.
"It was probably the year before last. When the three of them came to Korea, remember how Hayward-nim suddenly poured sauce all over the tangsuyuk everyone was sharing, and the atmosphere turned ice-cold? I'm not denying pour-it-on itself, but please show consideration by taking out only the portion you plan to pour on, and then pour it."
"To think I nearly acted like Brother Hayward… I will reflect, and reflect again."
Fedora closed her eyes gently and made the sign of the cross.
"But you're still going to pour it on, right?"
"…Yes."
"Hahaha… just a moment."
Lee Jinseo chuckled lightly and brought a small plate from the kitchen.
Now that they could do both extremes—dip-it and pour-it-on—the awkward feeling between them seemed to fade, as if things were returning to normal.
"Since I have taken a vacation here for over a month… I should decide when to return soon. I believe I must contact the Order and adjust the schedule."
"Uh… hmm."
When Fedora suddenly brought up returning to the Francia Continent, Lee Jinseo couldn't hide his fluster.
"Of course, I do not mean that I will return today. It is July, so I want to enjoy Korea's summer and then return. Korea's beaches must be as beautiful as Orthe Harbor, yes?"
"Korea's sea isn't that clean, so it'll probably fall short of your expectations. If you want to see a sea as clean and unpolluted as Orthe Harbor, you have to go overseas. It would be better to visit a valley deep in the mountains instead."
"So it's different from what I saw in dramas. Still, since I came all the way to Korea… huh?"
Just as Fedora was about to put a tangsuyuk piece—soaked deep in sauce—into her mouth, she dropped it back into the sauce.
"Your Eminence?"
Even when Lee Jinseo called, Fedora didn't answer. She set down her fork, spread both hands, and began counting on her fingers, folding them one by one.
"Jinseo-nim, Korea divides the year into twelve months, like the Francia Continent, correct?"
"Yes, it's the same."
"When I came to Korea, in my memory it was around November. A month has passed, yet why is it already July in Korea?"
"Ah, that is..."
Lee Jinseo tried to scramble for an excuse, but nothing came to mind, and he only floundered.
Fedora kept calculating the time that had passed with both hands, wondering if she had misunderstood, but the same conclusion repeated: more than half a year was simply blank.
"What in the world is going on—ngh!"
Fedora suddenly grabbed her head with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Your Eminence!"
"I… I did not need to go to the Holy Land… I had already been there...."
Fedora bowed her head and began trembling.
At first, scenes that hovered faintly in her mind gradually sharpened, then flashed through her thoughts.
Her reunion with Veronica, whom she had grown distant from after leaving the Holy Land.
The Pope, who recovered his health after the spicy endurance contest with that Veronica.
The pajama party that became the turning point for growing close again with Veronica, even though their relationship had still been awkward.
And even the designation of the special tteokbokki as a holy meal.
As her forgotten memories slowly returned, countless emotions tangled together in Fedora's chest.
"I served as officiant at the two of their wedding… and then..."
Recalling the memory of secretly taking Lee Jinseo's photo, Fedora smiled faintly.
But it lasted only a moment.
The instant she remembered what led to her coming to Korea, she began trembling again.
"Dark Dragon Evelyn… the food truck I was riding in..."
Thinking back to the fear of death that had engulfed her, Fedora broke into a cold sweat.
Lee Jinseo hurriedly offered her a towel, but she couldn't even think to take it and kept clutching her head with both hands. Sweat ran down her face, pooled at the tip of her chin, and dripped onto the table in plops.
"I… I was not supposed to be resting comfortably in Korea like this!"
"So you regained your memories..."
Lee Jinseo looked at her writhing in fear with pity, and Fedora grabbed Lee Jinseo's arm with an urgent expression.
"We have to go back right now! Jinseo-nim! This is not the time for this!"
"Well… about that..."
Lee Jinseo told Fedora the truth he had been hiding once she regained her memories.
She nodded, accepting his explanation that he had no choice but to make her consume the Essence of Beer to save her from severe injuries, and that the side effect had temporarily erased her memories from the past few months.
But it was hard to accept the fact that Korea was a completely different world from the continent where the other races lived—including the Francia Continent—and that she could not return without the food truck's spatial transfer ability.
Fedora tried to refute Lee Jinseo, insisting she couldn't believe it, but when she saw Lee Jinseo treating her seriously with a face devoid of humor, she lowered her head.
In the end, after learning that there was currently no way to return to the Francia Continent, Fedora went into the room Lee Jinseo had given her, shoulders drooping.
And she didn't come out.
Lee Jinseo left food in front of her door at every mealtime, and to prevent any possible mishap, he sent Nero and Owl into her room.
He judged it would be better to wait until she regained control of her emotions on her own, rather than offering clumsy comfort.
On the first day, perhaps because of the mental shock, she didn't even touch the food Lee Jinseo brought, as if she had no appetite.
But the next evening, while Lee Jinseo was in the bathroom, she secretly opened the door and brought the plate of food into her room.
After that, she still didn't come out, but she never skipped a meal and ate three times a day without fail, which eased Lee Jinseo's worry a little.
A week passed like that, and when her door still showed no sign of opening, Lee Jinseo grew anxious.
If it stays like this, that's a problem… what should I do?
Sitting on the sofa and staring at the tightly shut door, Lee Jinseo was debating whether he should force himself to open it and go in.
Just then, with the sound of the doorknob turning, the door that had been tightly shut opened slightly.
"Jinseo-nim."
"Ah—yes!"
Hearing Fedora's voice after a week, Lee Jinseo sprang up from the sofa.
"Can I… come out?"
"Of course!"
Lee Jinseo patted the sofa and urged her to sit.
"Whew..."
Coming out and sitting on the sofa, Fedora let out a long sigh and looked up at Lee Jinseo standing across from her with a haggard face.
"I am truly sorry for causing you worry."
"No. It wasn't a small thing you went through. If I were in the same situation, I would've been like that too."
"How long has it been since I came here?"
"About a month and a half."
"A month and a half… And you said you still don't know when the food truck's spatial transfer ability will be restored?"
"Yes."
It was an answer she had already expected, but hearing it directly from Lee Jinseo's mouth made Fedora clutch the sofa, growing restless.
"Do I… have to keep living in Korea?"
After learning the truth, she no longer felt like she was here on a trip.
If Craid's group's stay in Korea could be called a short one-week trip, Fedora was now in a situation where she was being forced to remain in a foreign country.
"This is my first time experiencing something like this, so it is very difficult. When I think of the brothers and sisters who must have kept worrying about me while I spent time so comfortably in Korea without thinking, I even feel guilty."
Fedora despaired at the fact that she couldn't return to the Francia Continent, but she didn't remain sunk in worry alone.
Hoping that everyone she knew would be safe from Dark Dragon Evelyn, she repeated prayers every day.
And only today, after a week had passed, did she realize that the person most worried about her was right outside her door. Gathering her courage, she opened it.
"All we can do about the Francia Continent is trust Charlotte-nim and hope things work out."
"Come to think of it, you said you had once been unable to return to the place you originally lived as well, Jinseo-nim?"
"Ah, back then it was very awkward. But it wasn't as bad as your situation. I believed it wouldn't take that long for the food truck's spatial transfer ability to be restored, and even if things went wrong, I planned to accept it as it was."
"Even though you might never have been able to meet your family or relatives again?"
At Fedora's question, Lee Jinseo fell silent for a moment, then sat down beside her.
"I'm an only child, and I don't have any relatives."
"Ah..."
"I used to date, but as I ran the bunsik shop alone, we naturally drifted apart. I do have one younger guy I met in the military—he's the one you saw last time, Jungkook. Other than him, I barely have anyone I keep in contact with."
"I… I see."
Fedora already knew that both of Lee Jinseo's parents had passed away, because she had heard it before.
But only now did she learn that he was alone without even a single sibling or relative, and she felt embarrassed, realizing she had been whining in front of him.
Because she still had her grandfather, even if their relationship wasn't like it used to be.
"Don't make that expression. Everyone's circumstances are different. If even one member of my family were still alive, I wouldn't have answered like that."
"...."
"Still, when you're alone, you do feel lonely sometimes. So I thought about starting a new family too..."
Lee Jinseo trailed off and placed his interlaced hands on his knees.
A painful memory from years ago surfaced in Lee Jinseo's mind, then vanished.
"But it didn't work out. Here, I mean. That's why I broke up with my ex too."
Lee Jinseo answered calmly, but Fedora wore a conflicted expression as she looked at his profile.
"For now, what's urgent is sending you back to the Francia Continent. Even if Korea feels comfortable to live in, it's still a different world, so it'll be hard in many ways."
"Is there a method?"
"I don't know. But if it's the person who made the food truck, I think it might be different. Even before you regained your memories, I was already thinking about how I could find that person."
Having decided to search for the person who made the food truck directly, Lee Jinseo picked up his smartphone.
Ding-ding-di-ding-ding.
"Jungkook, can you talk right now?"
"Of course!"
"You know that junk shop you said you went to before. Where did you say it was?"
"Hyung, are you going to go yourself?"
"Yeah. That's what it's come to."
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