47 – 47.
What are the chances of encountering the person who took my picture twice in a row while passing by?
There were over ten restaurants near the beach, and I passed by a café every ten meters or so on my way here.
It was too dramatic to be considered a simple coincidence.
Especially…
Her nonchalant familiarity with me made me doubt my own eyes.
“Join me!”
It was as if she knew I would come.
“…Could it be another one of Mayeonseo’s agents?”
For a moment, I thought she might be a spy sent by Mayeonseo.
But upon careful consideration, it seemed unlikely.
If we were to judge solely based on appearances, it didn’t seem like she was the one following me, but rather, it looked like I was the one following her.
Rather, I seemed to be suspicious.
“…You’re here again?”
I approached her cautiously, holding a tray and hiding my wariness, and greeted her.
In response, she smiled brightly and pointed to the seat opposite her.
“Sit here. This is a good spot.”
“Is it alright, though?”
“Yes, of course. I noticed you seemed a bit hesitant to sit alone.”
As I discreetly watched her cheerful demeanor, I casually glanced at her tray, accepting her kindness.
“It seems like you’ve been sitting here for quite a while.”
Judging by the remaining half of her drink and the empty dessert shell, she had been sitting for at least 10 minutes.
Did she come here right after eating?
“What exactly is her identity?”
I continued to observe her intently, then cautiously brought up the matter of her paying for my order without permission.
“Why did you pay for mine earlier?”
She blinked her large eyes and casually replied, as if there was no problem.
“Just because.”
“Excuse me…?”
“Just because, I felt like it.”
Caught off guard by her gaze that seemed to ask what the problem was, I was at a loss for words and quickly regained my composure, taking out my phone.
“Never mind. Give me your account number. I’ll send you the money.”
“Ah, it’s okay.”
“No, I’m not okay.”
“I’m fine.”
She refused to accept the money, rejecting it firmly.
If only she had carried some cash with her as usual, this wouldn’t have happened.
After engaging in a staring contest with her for a while, I couldn’t help but let out a short sigh and cautiously brought up a new speculation.
“…Do you happen to know me?”
Considering that my face is somewhat famous nationwide, it wouldn’t be strange if she recognized me.
“Well… a little?”
Just as I thought. She readily admitted that she knows about me.
She was also one of the occasional glimpses of my “fan.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
I sighed quietly, wondering if I should give her an autograph instead of the money.
“You appeared in my ‘reading.'”
“?”
She shattered my expectations and started saying something completely different.
“Like I said before, you have a significant presence.”
With a shameless face, she claimed that she read her own fortune recently and pulled out a divination that came across the existence of “me.”
“Even when you first took my picture, I was a bit confused, but I recognized you at the Kalguksu restaurant.”
In other words, it was inevitable for her and me to meet today.
Regardless of what they thought, the story was about how they inevitably met without any intention.
“Are you kidding?”
There is a limit to being dumbfounded.
I couldn’t hide my incredulous reaction.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s normal not to believe. It’s because of that ‘fortune-telling’.”
She shrugged as if suspicion was familiar to her and sucked on her drink, placing her large bosom on the table.
“…!”
Somehow, I felt like I knew where her adventurous energy was coming from.
“Oh, as promised, should I read your fortune?”
“That amazing fortune you just mentioned?”
“It requires a bit of preparation. I’ll just give you a light reading. What’s your name?”
Casually picking up her phone, she subtly asked for my name as if she was taking a memo.
“Kang Yoochan.”
“Kang Yoochan. And your date of birth?”
Taking note of my personal information, she began to examine her phone intently.
Was she really a fortune-teller? With a serious expression, she seemed a bit different.
“Hmm…”
“How are you?”
“It’s absolutely the worst.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just a joke.”
She put her phone down on the table and showed it to me.
There was an app called ‘Fortune Telling Secrets’ open on it, with the words ‘Fortune Telling by Birth Time Secrets’ written.
If you enter your name and birthdate, it interprets it automatically.
“…Can we rely on experts like this?”
“It’s not about relying, it’s about using.”
She said that it’s not the results provided by the app that matter, but the ‘Four Pillars of Destiny’ that is presented as the basis for the results.
“This is about the major life changes that come every ten years, right? Yoochan’s fortunes have been different every ten years since he was five.”
“……”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Especially at the age of five and fifteen, there were big changes, and after that, it’s been pretty good.”
I remember being quite sick at the age of five, and at fifteen, I started dating Mayeonseo.
In that sense, it wasn’t totally wrong to say that fortunes change.
“From fifteen onwards, money overflowed around me. According to my fortune, I’m just full of money.”
It was true that there was a lot of money around me.
Mayeonseo and Hanyeo-won, and only children from wealthy families were around me.
Even now, thanks to Mayeonseo, I have acquired wealth that I couldn’t have dreamed of in my lifetime.
…It’s not really my money though.
Anyway. As the fortune-telling was going smoothly, I found myself becoming more and more interested without realizing it.
I felt like I finally understood why women go to get their fortunes read.
“Do you have any specific questions? About your love life, money, things like that.”
“Love life.”
Without any hesitation, I asked about my love fortune.
“Hmm. Love fortune.”
She picked up her phone again and stared at the screen intently.
“You have a lot of luck with women.”
And then she went on to praise my future spouse.
“You’ll get married soon. You’ll benefit greatly from your spouse. In terms of marriage fortune, this is the best.”
“What kind of person is this future spouse of mine?”
“Well, it’s hard to say for sure…. But one thing is certain, they won’t be older than you.”
Neither Mayeon nor Hanyeo are older than me.
“The performance is vague.”
I held a brief moment of hope, but it didn’t help much in the important parts….
“Hmm.”
Suddenly, as she continued to look at her phone, she asked about my girlfriend.
“Do you have a girlfriend right now?”
“…Yes.”
“This month or next month, there’s a strong chance of pregnancy on the woman’s side. Very high.”
“This, is it pregnancy?”
Her expression was suspicious.
“If it’s to this extent, it’s definitely a pregnancy. If you don’t have any plans, please avoid it on your own.”
She added that it could change if she becomes fully aware that her birth chart is not 100% accurate.
Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing.
“My girlfriend is pregnant…?”
To be frank, the risk of pregnancy has always been there since we started dating.
It’s safe to say that it’s an obvious story.
However.
Given the current situation, it sounded a little unusual.
There’s a little over a month until the wedding with Mayeonseo.
Considering that there hasn’t been any mention of it so far, it seems like a plan to convince me unilaterally to get married just before the wedding.
If, in that persuasion, pregnancy is involved…?
“!!!”
A chill ran down my spine.
“Do you have any more questions?”
“…No. I’m fine.”
Having glimpsed a foreboding future, I pondered while twirling the straw.
She, who was sitting across from me, quietly played with her phone, seemingly indifferent.
And as we sat there silently, each lost in our own thoughts.
“Ah, I should go now.”
She, who had finished her drink in no time, started packing her things.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes. I have to leave now to catch the right time.”
She had already bought a bus ticket as if she had planned to make it a day trip from the beginning.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t even asked for her name yet.”
It was only then that I realized I knew nothing about her.
“…I’m sorry for asking this late, but what’s your name?”
I didn’t particularly want to get close to her or know her contact information.
I just wanted to know her name, at the very least.
“I wondered when you would ask.”
Smirking as if she had been waiting, she picked up her bag and spoke while holding her tray.
“It’s Yuna. I use the Chinese character for ‘spicy,’ so it’s Shin Yuna.”
Shin Yuna.
“Well then, see you next time?”
Finally, after revealing her name, she disappeared suddenly, promising another meeting.
…She was a mysterious woman in many ways.
*
After parting ways with Shin Yuna, I sat in the cafe a little longer and booked a motel room nearby.
“Can I stay overnight?”
“Did you make a reservation?”
“No.”
I didn’t purposely look for it, but it was a perfect place to change my mood, with good soundproofing and clean facilities.
“…Should I go see the ocean?”
Feeling a bit disappointed about being stuck in the room like this, I bought some beer from a convenience store nearby and found a spot on the beach near my accommodation.
Before I knew it, the blue sea was gradually being dyed by the colors of the sunset.
“…If you realize it enough, you can avoid it…”
The conversation with Shin Yuna came to mind.
She said that fortune telling is not absolute and that she can change it with her own will.
In the end, it was a statement that anyone could make, that their own life is made by their own choices.
So it resonated with me even more.
“Yeah. That’s right. My life is not lived by someone else.”
My life is mine.
Not Ma Yeon-seo’s, not Han Ryu-won’s, not anyone else’s, but solely mine, Kang Yoo-chan’s.
With that thought in mind, I felt a little more at ease.
On the other hand, the time I spent agonizing alone and worrying about it seemed ridiculous.
“Let’s give it a try.”
I am responsible for my own life.
With that firm determination, I chugged down the beer and exhaled a refreshing breath, gazing at the sea.
The beautiful sea, as the sunset, was gradually being covered in darkness.
“It’s beautiful.”
Somehow, it looked much more beautiful than before.
“I’m on my way home.”
Having enjoyed some alone time for the first time in a while, I boarded the bus the next morning as planned and headed straight to Seoul.
It was different from yesterday when I got on the bus as if I was running away.
“I carve my own destiny.”
Realizing that I shouldn’t surrender to the current situation by chance, I decided to settle the matter with Mayeonseo.
Even if it means marrying her in the end.
I’d rather walk into the wedding hall myself.
“When will you be home?”
So, without hesitation, I declared war on Mayeonseo.
“I heard you’re secretly preparing for the wedding.”
“Let’s talk.”
It’s time for me to live for myself now.