Building a Friendly Family 80 (Seulgi, Yu Ye-na)

“W-What the hell are you talking about?”

Shi-woo says to Seul-gi with a flustered voice.

“What’s with the surprise? You wanted to know why Se-hee Noona became like that in just one day, right?”

Seul-gi continues to speak calmly, as if it’s nothing.

“Well…”

“Give me your hands~!!”

Seul-gi says, placing both hands on the table, palms up.

Shi-woo hesitates for a moment, then places his hands on top of Seul-gi’s palms.

“I think something happened to Se-hee Noona after she fell asleep yesterday~! We’re going to check it out together from now on~! You have to concentrate! Nothing will be revealed if you’re not honest with yourself!”

Seul-gi says, urging Shi-woo, who was casually looking at the fortune-telling.

“U-Uh…”

Shi-woo answers, feeling the soft touch of Seul-gi’s hands holding his.

**

Is there anyone who has never given or received a gift?

Is it even possible for someone to exist in this world who has never watched a video?

Perhaps Shi-woo himself is fitting freely associated memories into randomly spewed words.

Maybe Seul-gi actually possesses a special, high-level skill to read the other person’s non-verbal expressions or clues through the words she scatters like bait…

Like magic… or superpowers…

Such convenient tools of fantasy can’t possibly exist in the real world.

Shi-woo thought there was no way Seul-gi could know about the sexual relationship he had with Se-hee Noona yesterday.

Yet, deep inside his heart, anxiety and doubt were constantly swirling and repeating…

Shi-woo feels like he’s lost.

“Something’s appearing~”

Seul-gi says to Shi-woo in an excited, exaggerated tone, her eyes fixed on the crystal ball.

“W-What is it?”

Shi-woo asks Seul-gi with a nervous voice.

“It looks like a square machine? Or maybe a lock…”

Seul-gi mutters quietly to herself, almost inaudibly.

Seul-gi looks up at Shi-woo for a moment.

“Shi-woo, you look closely too~!”

Shi-woo looks at the crystal ball that Seul-gi is looking into.

Light like stardust filled the abyss-like space inside the crystal ball, moving chaotically.

Suddenly,

An image of numbers faintly appeared and disappeared in Shi-woo’s eyes.

Shi-woo’s face stiffened as if he was startled.

What the small fragments of light had drawn inside the crystal ball

Was a familiar sequence of numbers that Shi-woo knew.

Corresponding to Se-young’s birthday…

The password for Shi-woo’s smartphone that he had recently set…

“How is it? Does it seem like an answer?”

Seul-gi asks, already wearing a gentle smile, making eye contact with Shi-woo.

**

Did Se-hee Noona check his smartphone while he was sleeping last night?

How did Se-hee Noona know that Se-young’s birthday was the password?

No, more than that, how does Seul-gi know that?

Could it be that Seul-gi really saw what happened yesterday with her superpowers?

Shi-woo was trying to process the questions that wouldn’t settle in his head with a surprised expression.

Seul-gi, seeing Shi-woo confused, pulled the hands they were holding as if understanding, making Shi-woo lean forward.

Lifting her butt slightly and leaning her body forward, Seul-gi brings her lips to Shi-woo’s ear.

Seul-gi whispered in Shi-woo’s ear.

‘It’ll definitely be okay~ Mom, Se-jin Noona, Se-hee Noona, Se-young… and us too…’

A familiar whisper that he felt like he had experienced somewhere…

Shi-woo’s head went blank, and he couldn’t think of anything anymore.

“That’s all I can tell you for now~! I’ll charge extra if I do more~! Good work~”

Seul-gi shows Shi-woo a kind smile, looking him in the face.

**

Opening the curtains and glass door and coming outside, Cheol-jin was standing there, guided by Teacher Yu-yena, as if waiting for his turn.

“How was it? Was it fun?”

Cheol-jin’s voice is still full of energy…

“Huh?… Uh…”

Shi-woo answers absentmindedly.

“Why? Did the person you’re going to marry in the future cheat on you or something?”

Cheol-jin throws a silly joke at Shi-woo.

After trying a few more mischievous jokes as if teasing the dazed Shi-woo, Cheol-jin disappears into the room with the blackout curtains.

Shi-woo felt like he had a dream.

It was too accurate for Seul-gi to have just made up some excuse and said anything; Seul-gi knew Shi-woo’s situation too well.

Especially the numbers that were shown in the crystal ball at the end were something that couldn’t be hidden even if he tried to hide them.

He tried to calm his confused mind, but the agitation in his heart didn’t subside easily.

“How was the crystal reading? Seul-gi is famous among the teachers for her accurate fortune-telling~!!”

Teacher Yu-yena says, as if boasting about her niece’s skills.

“Ah… uh… yes… It was g-good.”

Shi-woo didn’t know what to say first, so he opened and closed his mouth, barely managing to spit out the words.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good?”

Teacher Yu-yena asks Shi-woo, looking worried.

“Um… i-is it real?”

Shi-woo asks Teacher Yu-yena out of the blue.

“What do you mean~?”

Teacher Yu-yena playfully asks back, teasing Shi-woo.

“I mean… inside… Seul-gi…”

Shi-woo was trying to string together words that weren’t organized in his head.

Suddenly, Teacher Yu-yena raises her index finger to Shi-woo’s lips.

And stops Shi-woo from saying the words that would follow.

“We agreed to keep everything we talked about inside a secret~ did you hear?”

Teacher Yu-yena said in a detached tone, as if she understood what Shi-woo wanted to say.

“B-But still!!”

Shi-woo was looking at Teacher Yu-yena as if appealing for something.

“Now~ calm down~ calm down~”

Teacher Yu-yena comes forward and hugs Shi-woo’s body tightly with both arms, stroking his back as if soothing a child.

Teacher Yu-yena’s ample breasts touch Shi-woo’s chest.

Amidst the confusion, Shi-woo felt comforted by the unfamiliar warmth that enveloped him, and he seemed to calm down a little.

**

Shi-woo returns to the director’s office and sits awkwardly on the sofa, waiting for Cheol-jin.

Teacher Yu-yena brings Shi-woo a glass of water and then takes a seat at her desk, organizing documents.

Time passes in silence for a while.

After the deep hug where their bodies were in close contact, the air between the two people feels very different than before.

It seemed like he couldn’t mention what happened with Seul-gi in the room with the blackout curtains anymore.

Instead, Shi-woo tries to start a conversation on a different topic.

“Is Se-young doing well with her psychotherapy? Was it hypnotherapy?”

Shi-woo said cautiously, gauging her reaction.

Teacher Yu-yena looked at Shi-woo and smiled slightly.

“Yeah~ she’s getting psychotherapy along with her magic lessons~”

Teacher Yu-yena answers kindly.

“Does Se-young also learn how to hypnotize people?”

“She’ll learn the basics in the future~ it’s like a stage performance combined with psychology.”

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

Shi-woo talks about the part that he’s usually worried about.

“Dangerous? Hehe~ What kind of dangerous~?”

Teacher Yu-yena asks Shi-woo back in a playful tone, like before.

“I mean, making her do strange things while she’s hypnotized…”

“Hmm~? What could that be~?”

Teacher Yu-yena tilts her head, as if she doesn’t know about such things.

Shi-woo’s face turns slightly red at the teacher’s coquettish head tilt.

Shi-woo begins to worry that his vague concerns or suspicions might hurt Teacher Yu-yena’s feelings.

Shi-woo had been thinking that the sudden whispers that Se-young sometimes tried on him might be related to her hypnosis lessons.

-Especially after hearing the strange rumors about the academy from Cheol-jin in the morning, and after seeing Seul-gi’s suspicious crystal reading just now-

Teacher Yu-yena, as if realizing Shi-woo’s thoughts, straightens her posture and says.

“You don’t have to worry about that~ you can’t make someone do anything they don’t want to do with hypnosis.”

“You can’t make someone do anything they don’t want to do??”

Shi-woo asks, repeating Teacher Yu-yena’s words exactly.

“Hypnosis is like making someone open the refrigerator door without giving them a command or request~ Even if they open the refrigerator door like that, they wouldn’t think they were hypnotized, right? They would think they opened the refrigerator door for some external reason.”

“I guess so?”

“Shi-woo, can you make someone open the refrigerator door without giving them a command or request?”

“Hmm? Is there a way?”

“If it were me, I would subtly let them know that there’s food they like inside the refrigerator. Especially if they’re hungry…”

“Ah~!”

“What we do during hypnotherapy is find hidden desires in the subconscious and help them achieve them. It’s like subtly letting them know that there’s food they like inside. In the first place, if there’s no food they want inside, you won’t be able to make them open the refrigerator door. So you can never make them do something they don’t want to do.”

Teacher Yu-yena’s explanations continue, reassuring Shi-woo…

Shi-woo seemed to fall into a dreamy mood as he listened to Teacher Yu-yena’s soft voice.

Shi-woo imagines Teacher Yu-yena’s ample breasts inside the refrigerator.

In a slightly drowsy sensation, Shi-woo wondered if Teacher Yu-yena might be hypnotizing him.