Secretly, But Unable to Hide It

Scam

Hanni looks at Minji for a moment, feeling sullen. Finally, she speaks up, "No wonder your shop has no business."

Minji responds, "Huh?"

Hanni pushes the money forward, clearly unwilling to give more. She turns serious and says, "This is a scam."

Minji finds it hilarious. "You're saying I'm scamming you?"

Hanni straightens her face. "I wasn't looking at you."

"Okay," Minji takes all the money. "It's unnie's nonsense."

Hanni wants to return to her seat, but Minji calls her back. "Wait a moment."

Hanni glances over, curiosity piqued. "What is it?"

"Come here."

Feeling a mix of confusion and intrigue, Hanni approaches. "What's going on?"

With a gentle grip on Hanni's hand, Minji smiles warmly and says, "How could unnie accept your money?" She places all the money back into Hanni's palm. "Keep this to buy candy."

Why does she always act this way? She always wants me to buy candy.

Hanni is startled for a moment, and puts all the money back in her pocket. When she returns to her table, Wonhee shifts closer and whispers, "Hanni, is your unnie's friend treating both of us?"

Hanni nods. "Yes,"

"That's great. I spent a lot of money to buy that present." Wonhee is very happy, then changes the subject. "Oh right, earlier Anton asked me where we were, so I told him our location."

"Hmm."

"He should be here now. He said he'd look for us first. Seunghan is here too."

"Then why don't they get a room first?"

"It's only 12:00 p.m. The karoke opens in the afternoon at 1:00 p.m. They already reserved a room by phone, so they'll come here first, and then we'll go have lunch."

"Who else is coming?"

"It seems a few others from their class," Wonhee says. "But most will come directly to the karoke."

Minji places two bowls of dessert on the table. She overhears their conversation, raises an eyebrow and asks, "You guys are going to sing at the karoke?"

Wonhee immediately falls silent, Hanni just nods.

Minji says nothing but reminds them, "Make sure you follow the rules. Go home before it gets dark, don't stay out too late."

Once Minji is gone, Wonhee moves closer again. "Why does your unnie's friend talk like my Dad? She said the same thing before I left today."

Hanni agrees. "My Dad also said the same thing."

Before they finish, Anton and Seunghan arrive. Hanni rarely meets these two guys, but this time she notices they've both grown taller. They're wearing casual clothes, like little men.

Wonhee puts her spoon down and smiles. "The birthday boy is here."

Anton just rubs his nose.

Seunghan sits down beside Wonhee. "Hurry up, I'm starving."

Wonhee eats quickly and finishes first while the other three wait for her. Hearing Wonhee and Seunghan bickering, Hanni decides to speed up, when she's done, Wonhee hands her a tissue. "Let's go,"

As they pass the cashier, Hanni suddenly remembers something. She stops and pulls her arm away from Wonhee's grip. "You go ahead and wait for me outside."