Secretly, But Unable to Hide It

Minji and Yunjin to the Rescue

Thinking of those female students and looking at the adult women, Hanni is speechless. She takes three of them to that alley.

Yunjin says, "Hanni, how do they look? Don't go in."

Hanni responds, "Three female students."

Yunjin pauses. "Female?"

"Yes. The boss is a head taller than me, her hair is red." Hanni thinks about it. "She's a mix of colors."

Yunjin lets Bae stay behind to take care of her sister, while she and Minji head into the alley. The alley is messy and reeks of garbage. After hearing some noise, three women suddenly emerge.

Minji looks over, she pulls out a cigarette box and takes out a cigarette. The woman in front matches what Hanni described. Those female students are disappointed to see the two of them. They just wave their hands and want to go back inside.

Yunjin plays with her lighter and calls after them. She says coolly, "Student."

The female student with red hair stops walking and turns her head. She asks, puzzled, "You called me?"

Yunjin doesn't speak yet. Minji takes the initiative. "I heard..." She raises an eyebrow and says gently but vaguely, "You asked my little sister to give you money?"

Though it's 5:00 p.m. and the sun isn't as strong, it's still bright.

The alley doesn't smell good. Bae won't let Hanni stand around looking silly. She looks around and leads Hanni to a small store, where they buy two sticks of strawberry crystal sugar.

They find a shady spot and start eating their treats. To keep Hanni from feeling awkward, Bae takes the initiative to chat with her. "It's messy around here. Don't come here again."

Hanni obediently replies, "I know."

"At first, Chaewon was supposed to come here," Bae says. "Remember her? That chubby unnie. But today she had something to do, so she couldn't."

"I remember her. During summer break, my unnie took me to eat with her."

Bae says, "Maybe I had already gone home then, so I didn't join."

Hanni nods. "Minji unnie came with us, too."

"Minji?" Bae suddenly remembers. "Right, during the holiday, she didn't go home either."

Hanni asks, "Why?"

Bae doesn't really know, so she just scratches her head. "Maybe she was too lazy to go home, and she had a short semester, so there wasn't much time off."

"Oh."

"But sometimes she does go home," Bae thinks for a moment. "Usually, during short holidays, like last semester. But during long breaks, I never see her go home."

Hanni asks in a low voice, "She doesn't go home even for New Year?"

"Yeah," Bae replies. "But it's not unusual. A lot of students at our university don't go home for Lunar New Year. They just spend New Year's Eve on campus, and the university gives out red envelopes."

Hanni continues chewing on her strawberry treat but changes the subject. "Unnie, what do you think my unnie and Minji unnie are doing?"

"Huh?"

"Will they fight?"

"If they were men, maybe." Bae strokes her chin. "But since they're women, they're probably just talking."

Meanwhile, back in the alley, since the space is cramped, Yunjin watches Minji closely after hearing her words.

The red-haired woman immediately realizes something's off. She takes a couple of steps back, starting to act dumb. "What? I don't know you guys." She says, looking at the other two female students.