Building a Friendly Family 77

77

,Wow~ She must have been aiming for that, right? How bold!!”

Before entering the building,

Cheol-jin quietly muttered to himself, looking up at the sign attached to the outer wall of the top floor of the building.

“What is it?”

Shi-woo asked, looking at Cheol-jin.

“Isn’t that ‘Ju’ in the parentheses the ‘Ju’ for corporation~?”

Cheol-jin’s words came out of nowhere.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Shi-woo looked up at the sign on the outer wall of the building that Cheol-jin was looking at again and asked Cheol-jin.

“People who know, definitely know things like that!!”

Cheol-jin started muttering to himself again…

Cheol-jin took out his smartphone and took a picture of the sign on the outer wall at the top of the building.

-Click!

-Click!

-Click!

Shi-woo watched Cheol-jin for a while with an expression that he couldn’t understand.

“I’m going to give this to you as a problem, so try to guess it!!”

Cheol-jin laughed as if he was excited, as if he was so happy about something, and went into the building first.

Shi-woo thought to himself, ‘What a weirdo!’ and followed Cheol-jin into the building with his younger siblings.

**

“Oppa~ Look over there~!!”

As soon as they entered the lobby on the first floor of the building through the entrance,

Se-young pointed to a signboard standing right in front of the stairs leading to the basement of the building.

“Huh?”

There seemed to be an event cafe called ‘The Witch and the Cat’.

-It seems like they sell drinks and snacks and tell tarot fortunes-

“The academy runs that~! Seon-ju Imo bought me an ice cream cake there last week~! Hehe.”

Se-young smiled brightly and told Shi-woo about her visit to the cafe with Seon-ju Imo as if she was showing off.

The signboard contained several photos of the interior of the cafe.

The inside of the cafe seemed to be decorated in a plausible medieval European style.

“Ah~ Really? Then shall we go eat together with Oppa next time? Oppa will buy Se-young anything she wants~!!”

“Yes!! Soo-ah, let’s go together too~! I heard they do tarot readings at the cafe. Like love compatibility or future spouse~”

Se-young, taking care of Soo-ah next to her, answered innocently…

“Okay~!! Good~!! Soo-ah too!!”

-I also have the card Mom gave me…-

Shi-woo, finding Se-young, who was clinging to him endearingly, so cute and lovely, made a promise without hesitation or calculation.

In the spacious first-floor space, there were a bank, a convenience store, and a pharmacy.

Shi-woo and his younger siblings briefly scanned the inside of the building with their eyes and passed through the lobby, heading deep inside the building.

**

Cheol-jin, who had gone ahead first, caught the elevator and was waiting for Shi-woo and his younger siblings.

He got on the elevator and pressed the button.

3rd floor~

‘Experiential Sensory Training Research Center’

That was the name of the academy written on the sign.

A bizarre and complex name that seemed to be severely lacking in social skills for a magic academy targeting children and parents.

“It wasn’t extrasensory perception~?”

Cheol-jin kept uttering words like exclamations, as if he was constantly surprised by something.

-Click!

-Click!

-Click!

Cheol-jin was meticulously taking pictures of the inside of the elevator, as if he was a detective collecting evidence of some mysterious incident.

On one wall of the elevator, there was a brief introduction to the magic academy.

Manipulation

General

Illusion

Stage

Street

Psychokinesis

Psychometry

Astrology

Tarot Reading

Hypnosis Counseling Therapy

Cognitive Learning Counseling

Etc…

The types of magic or programs learned at the academy were shown with photos of classes and performances.

The magic program that Se-young was learning seemed to be in the fields of astrology and hypnosis counseling therapy.

Se-young wanted it, and it was also for therapeutic purposes, so it seemed that more weight was being placed on that area.

The elevator arrived on the 3rd floor, and a loud arrival notification sounded inside the elevator.

Soon, the elevator doors opened with a jwak~ sound.

As soon as they got off, a semi-transparent double glass door with the name of the academy written on it was visible a few meters ahead…

As Shi-woo approached and pushed open the glass door, the chime rang with a cheerful ‘chiring~’ sound.

**

“Welcome~!!”

A familiar female voice was heard.

A young and pretty girl of Shi-woo’s age, sitting at the academy’s information desk, greeted Shi-woo and his younger siblings.

-She was wearing a tight-fitting orange long hoodie, like a stage costume, as if it were a dress…-

Shi-woo stared intently at the girl for a while, as if observing her, feeling an alien yet familiar feeling, wondering who she was.

And Shi-woo slowly began to recognize the girl’s face.

One familiar girl, whom he saw almost every day, was slowly being recognized by Shi-woo, like a video with morphing techniques applied.

“Huh? Shin Seul-gi, isn’t it!? What are you doing here?”

Shi-woo asked, slightly surprised, as if confirming, as he stepped forward.

“What are you!? Were you also someone related to this place??”

Cheol-jin, who was next to him, was also surprised and shouted as he jumped forward.

The one who greeted Shi-woo and his group while sitting at the academy’s information desk was Shin Seul-gi from the same school.

-150 years old, a friend of Shi-woo’s who attends the same intermediate academy, Shin-bi Noona’s younger sister-

“Lower your voice!! I’m in class~!! And why are you so surprised? It’s a part-time job, a part-time job!! Have you never seen me working before?”

Seul-gi scolded Shi-woo and Cheol-jin, who were surprised, raising her voice unnecessarily.

“You never told me you worked here?!”

Cheol-jin was talking to Seul-gi as if he felt somewhat disappointed.

-Cheol-jin and Seul-gi always bickered, but they were still good friends who were well-matched on certain topics-

“Why would I bother telling you that? Anyway, I’m keeping it a secret at school~! I’m doing work-study at the academy to help my Imo~!!”

Seul-gi was roughly explaining her situation to Shi-woo and Cheol-jin.

At the word ‘Imo’, Shi-woo was about to ask a question as if reacting to something, when suddenly Se-young and Soo-ah, who were next to Shi-woo, ran forward.

“Seul-gi Unnie~ We’re here too~!”

Se-young and Soo-ah hugged Seul-gi as if they were diving into her arms, greeting her happily.

Seul-gi hugged Se-young and Soo-ah, who were hugging her, with both arms, and patted their butts.

“Our kittens are here~?”

The scene of Seul-gi and the younger siblings looking so friendly.

“Huh?! Were you guys originally that close?”

Shi-woo was a little surprised by the seemingly close relationship between his younger siblings and Seul-gi.

“Hehe~ I like Seul-gi Unnie so much~!!”

Se-young, hugged by Seul-gi, turned to Shi-woo and said with a bright smile.

Shi-woo and Cheol-jin ended up talking in a structure facing Seul-gi and their younger sisters.

Shi-woo felt a slight sense of disappointment.

“What’s with your outfit?”

Cheol-jin asked Seul-gi, as if complaining, as if he was dissatisfied with something.

The orange one-piece hoodie that Seul-gi was wearing.

Perhaps because it was a stage costume, it was loose and wrinkled, but it was quite tight on the body, subtly revealing the curves of her body.

“I told you it’s work!! You came as a tagalong, what are you so dissatisfied with as soon as you arrive?”

Seul-gi retorted without giving in.

Shi-woo thought that the two’s banter, which he often saw at school, was about to begin again.

“Ta… Tagalong~ Who!! I… I also came to the academy for a formal consultation~!!”

Cheol-jin stuttered and made excuses, perhaps embarrassed that he had been caught sneaking around.

Seul-gi seemed to know the circumstances of Cheol-jin’s visit to the academy in detail for some reason.

Seul-gi looked at Cheol-jin silently, laughing as if he was pathetic for a moment.

“Well~ Anyway, since you came, make sure to check everything you’re curious about and go~!!”

Seul-gi got up from her seat and changed her expression brightly.

“The headmaster is waiting, you know? Would you like to follow me this way?”

Seul-gi said that and guided Shi-woo and Cheol-jin inside.

**

The place where Seul-gi led Shi-woo, Cheol-jin, and their younger siblings was an office with a sign that said ‘Headmaster’s Office’.

Seul-gi knocked on the door and went inside.

Soon, guided by Seul-gi, Shi-woo and Cheol-jin entered the headmaster’s office with their younger siblings.

There stood a beautiful woman, who appeared to be in her late 200s, wearing a magenta blouse and a tight black knee-length skirt suit.

She had wavy brown permed hair that came down to her waist, and there was nothing wrong with her figure, face, or clothes.

An outstanding beauty that was comparable to Mom or Imo.

She looked familiar somehow, but she was definitely not someone Shi-woo knew.

“I’ve been waiting~ My name is Headmaster Yoo Ye-na.”

Teacher Yoo Ye-na greeted Shi-woo and Cheol-jin with a welcoming smile.

A clear, beautiful, and voluminous voice.

“Ah… Yes~ Hello. I’m Yoo Shi-woo, Se-young’s older brother.”

Shi-woo greeted her with a slightly bewildered feeling.

Cheol-jin and the younger siblings also greeted her and sat on the sofa.

A little later, Seul-gi put cool drinks with ice in mugs and placed them in front of Shi-woo and Cheol-jin, then left the headmaster’s office.

Thus, the interview with Teacher Yoo Ye-na began at the magic academy.