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Chapter 12,
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Four hours after driving from home, we arrived in Yeosu. Everyone got out of the car, and Seungkwan, who had been a hamster, transformed into a human and shook my shoulder, waking me from my sleep. I groggily got up and got out of the car. I picked up my luggage, which Seokmin had helped me get, and brought the kids into my villa.
The kids who came to my villa for the first time, excluding Soonyoung, Seungcheol, and Hansol, kept exclaiming how spacious and pretty it was. Jihoon, who must have forgotten that I was the second generation of a conglomerate, said to me, "You really were rich."
Jisoo, now a curious cat, began wandering around my villa, saying she wanted to explore and discover something new. Jihoon, Mingyu, and Chani followed her, exploring the various places.
Of course, in the form of an animal.
"Ayoung, can I leave my luggage here?"
"Oh, put it there instead of here."
"Ayoung, can I use this?"
"Game console? Yeah, it's a bit old, but you can use it."
"There isn't much food?" Jeonghan
"That's because you haven't been here for a while."
"Later, we'll split into a team that does the shopping, a team that cooks, and a team that cleans up."
"Where's the TV remote?" Jun-hwi
"The remote control is probably in the basket in front of the TV."
"Wow... It's been a really long time since I've seen this photo..." Hansol
"What? Oh, that's right. Ah-young has grown a lot." Seung-cheol
"I guess I just got older?"
"It's exactly the same."
"Hey guys, what are you looking at?? " Seungkwan
"Ah-young, Seung-cheol, Soon-young, and Han-sol?" Myeong-ho
"Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen this photo."
The kids were gathered together and looking at a picture taken four years ago (when Seungchul and I were 22, Soonyoung was 21, and Hansol was 19). In the picture, we looked young, and Seungchul was cheering Soonyoung up when she was upset. And then there was me, standing on Hansol's back, holding my phone on a selfie stick, taking a picture of us all. I think I forgot to leave the picture here four years ago.
Jisoo, Jihoon, Mingyu, and Chani, who were exploring our villa, came trudging to the living room where we were gathered, probably tired.
"Master, I'm hungry..."
" Really? Then should we split into teams now?"
"I'll clean up after myself." Soonyoung
"Me too!!" Chan
"Who wants to go grocery shopping with me?" Seungcheol
"I know where the mart is, so I'll go with you. That's right, Jeonghan and Soonyoung, don't go towards the kitchen."
"Okay, I won't go..." Jeonghan
"I'll clean up with Jeonghan." Jisoo
"I want to go out too!!" Seungkwan
"I'll go too." Wonwoo
"I cook!"
"I'll cook with Min-gyu too." Seok-min
So the shopping team became me, Seungcheol, Wonwoo, Seungkwan, and Hansol, the cooking team became Mingyu, Seokmin, Junhwi, and Myeongho, and the cleanup team became Jeonghan, Jisoo, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Chan. Because Seungkwan kept whining that he was hungry and wanted to go out, we had to go outside without even unpacking.
***
It was midsummer, so I quickly changed into shorts and a sleeveless shirt. I was glad I changed into something short and thin. The other kids kept whining about the heat on the way to the supermarket.
Entering the cool, air-conditioned supermarket, Hansol, feeling like she'd buy something, began actively putting various items in her cart, holding a memo pad. Wonwoo followed her around, keeping an eye out to make sure she didn't put anything unusual in her cart. Seungcheol was left to browse separately.
Seungkwan was in Yeosu for the first time and there were more people than he expected, so he was scared and stuck next to me, linking arms as he walked uncomfortably.
"Ayoung, I'm scared here, let's go..."
"But I have to go to the market."
"Or do you want to go to the corner and turn into a hamster? I'll carry you around."
" yes… "
Eventually, I brought Seungkwan to a corner of the mart where few people came, transformed him into a small hamster, placed him on my shoulder, and used his long hair to hide him from everyone. Only then did Seungkwan seem to feel better, slightly loosening his grip on my clothes.
"Ayoung, I found everything!!" Hansol
"Hansol, you did well." Ahyoung
"I barely managed to stop him from putting something weird in..." Wonwoo
"Oh my, Wonwoo, you worked hard too." Ahyoung
"Please come and go too." Hansol
"Ogu ogoo, are you okay, you little guy?"
At Hansol's request to do the same, I lifted my heel slightly and patted his head. Hansol smiled, his spirits lifted, and he went to the register to pay with my card. Only after paying did Seungchul ask about Seungkwan's whereabouts. Instead of answering, I pulled aside the hair that had been hiding Seungkwan and showed it to him.
"Tick?"
"You've been here the whole time?" Seungcheol
"Yeah. I was scared so I put it on my shoulder and carried it around."
"Coward." Wonwoo
"Crash!"
Seung-kwan was furious after hearing Won-woo's words. He calmed him down and quickly returned home.
***
The house was very cool, perhaps because the air conditioning was on. I put the groceries I'd bought on the table and sprawled out on the living room floor.
"Sister!!" Mingyu
"Yeah, Mingyu, why?"
"What should I do, Jeonghan hyung keeps coming into the kitchen as a cat?" Mingyu
"Oh, that troublemaker"
When I went to the kitchen at Mingyu's instruction, I saw Jeonghan, pacing around in his true cat form. I quickly picked him up with both hands and brought him to the single-seat sofa in the living room, where I sat down. Jeonghan kept struggling to escape my embrace and go to the kitchen, but I held him tightly and stroked his chin. Feeling better, his whole body relaxed and he let out a purring sound.
"Meow, stay here quietly."
"Grrrr."
When will I sleep...