Chapter 350

Chapter 350

Eat The World Tree.

Episode 350: Commoner Experience (2).

-Me: Yah, yah, yah, yah – (unread)

-Me: What’s wrong? – (unread)

As expected.

They either deliberately weren’t responding or they couldn’t.

The traces of the Cornus Family had been completely erased from El Academy.

“Why’s that?”

Maronnie noticed my concern, lowering her head to meet my eyes.

This wasn’t polite either. I put my phone away in my pocket and made a nice face.

“It’s nothing. Are you done eating?”

“Yeah.”

More than half of the tteokbokki was left in the bowl.

Just a couple of rice cakes, and one piece of fish cake; she seemed full and didn’t touch it anymore.

Eating like that, no wonder she didn’t gain weight.

I took out a tissue to wipe her mouth, and all her makeup came off. With such a beautiful face but clumsy hands, it made me laugh for no reason.

“Hey, all your makeup is gone.”

“Huh?”

“If you wipe it off that harshly, oh my…”

An innocent face asking what the problem was.

She clearly hadn’t been used to wearing makeup. Even after eating something spicy, sweating, and crying, she didn’t even think about fixing her makeup.

‘Is it because her natural beauty is so extraordinary?’

Even with messed-up makeup, her skin looked magical.

That was why she had so many fans in her fan cafe.

If I were a woman, I’d be crying about the unfairness of the world.

“Shall we go since you’re done eating?”

“Oh, yeah!”

Maronnie stood up hurriedly. After paying, she seemed to move a bit awkwardly.

“Money… sorry. I’ll definitely pay you back later.”

“Hey, can’t I even treat my friend to some street food? If a foreigner comes to Korea, a Korean should treat them.”

Blinking her eyes a few times, she chuckled after listening to me.

Even though she covered half her face, her skin was so pale that passersby stared in awe.

“Then… come to France next time.”

“We’ll have to eat something expensive there.”

“…Expensive? Puhuhu. I know many places. But you’ll have to work harder on your makeup.”

“Now that you mention it, you have a lot of fans.”

While moving to the next place, the topic naturally shifted to fans.

Fans naturally followed those with outstanding looks.

Singers, entertainers, MCs, comedians… even ordinary people were praised if they had good looks.

Even the stars of the Hunter Association and Seyeong from the Oak Family had numerous cafes dedicated to their photos. How much more for Maronnie, who was a National Tree?

‘There are many in Korea too.’

In any well-known community, it was common to see pictures of National Trees.

Given that the beauty standards here were much higher than in my world… I still couldn’t fathom how popular Blanche was.

And in her home country, France?

“Well… I don’t really know either. It just happened.”

“People like you?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why though.”

If anyone heard this, they’d be clutching their necks in disbelief.

Most pretty girls knew they were pretty. It’s not like it was a concept; the only one I knew who couldn’t recognize her own beauty was the nerdy Byeol.

“…There were even people at the press conference who asked for your autograph before the photos.”

With popularity came high public support.

I once read somewhere that in some country, a man was released from prison just because he was handsome.

The more I looked, the more I could see how much France adored Maronnie. To me, she’s just a shy girl full of curiosity.

“Do you often look at stuff on the internet? There are a lot of stories about you.”

“Uh-huh.”

She shook her head.

Then she pressed her hat down and stuck close to me to avoid the gazes around her.

“Actually, it’s a bit overwhelming.”

Gently, not too strong, she pulled at the sleeve of my shirt while checking my reaction.

I couldn’t see Maronnie’s expression because of the hat.

“And… National Trees aren’t supposed to be that idle to care about such things.”

“Since you’re not just pretty but extraordinarily pretty, it must be overwhelming. It’s kind of annoying.”

“…You’ve never had that experience?”

I propped my chin, looking up at the sky, searching through my memories.

“Fan cafes… I have one too.”

After fighting with Jungs Si-woo and having my mask removed, my name and face appeared in the media several times.

I ignored the praise written about me, but there was quite a number.

For a moment, I felt like a celebrity.

“But I was too busy to care.”

A spontaneous moment of empathy.

Maronnie lifted her hat so only I could see her face and smiled brightly.

“Right?”

Her genuine smile, one I hadn’t seen often, almost left me dazed.

Now I understand why she has fans.

“Shall I look up your fan cafe from today?”

“…Huh?”

Unable to resist the impulse, I patted her head, hat and all.

Maronnie, flustered, stopped in her tracks and placed her hands over her hat.

-Pat, pat.

“Stop…! Ugh.”

Her reaction was cute and lively. Although she told me to stop, her hands on her head didn’t push mine away.

“We’re here.”

“…Huh?”

I slightly lifted her hat for her to see around.

Maronnie’s face was now visible, cheeks slightly flushed, eyes wide with wonder.

Her large eyes took in the surroundings.

Students just out of school were spilling out of the school gate, heading to stationery stores or snack bars.

Some were playfully fighting, swinging their school bags, or huddled together giggling over their phones.

Turning her head to the left, she saw high school students who had finished class early, watching the younger kids.

A corner where students from nearby schools gathered.

A scene from everyday life Maronnie might have always longed for.

“…”

Her fists clenched. Her mouth, open in an ‘ah’, showed no sign of closing.

As Maronnie’s gaze, which had been focused only on me, spread, she reached out and asked.

“What’s that…?”

“It’s a taekwondo academy. In Korea, many parents work, so kids often go to academies in the afternoon. It coincides with the parents’ commute home.”

“Then, then what’s that?”

“A game machine. Snow Bros. Wow, I’ve never seen this one before.”

Curiously pointing here and there, Maronnie grabbed my wrist and led me to the center of this scene.

“Ah, what’s this?”

“It’s kind of like a playground… but it’s shabby.”

She asked a lot of questions.

“Shiheon, this!”

“I don’t know that one either.”

Her actions became more unrestrained.

Maronnie’s skirt fluttered as she ran in her shoes. Her skin, looking purer than the white fabric, drew many eyes under the sunlight.

Tying her hair back to hide its color, she pressed her hat down again, lifting it just for me to see as she pointed in another direction.

“That!”

Where Maronnie pointed was a coin karaoke.

Laughter didn’t cease. The more excited Maronnie got, the more my shoulders shook with joy at my plan coming to fruition.

“Want to go in?”

At my suggestion, Maronnie couldn’t control the corners of her mouth.

Running, running, running.

It was like watching a lynx dashing at dawn.

-Hooh, hooh.

The sound of blowing into the microphone.

While I was looking for a song to sing, Maronnie, sitting next to me, tapped my shoulder.

“Look at this!”

Her blue hair, down to her waist after taking off her hat, fluttered.

Wondering what she was looking at with such a reaction, I turned to look at Maronnie.

“Jaehyun, heart, Juho. Shall we go together forever?”

“Oh, that?”

It seemed she was curious about the graffiti on the wall.

Although it’s morally wrong, over time, these things accumulated and created an atmosphere.

Some places even used this as a business strategy.

It seemed this coin karaoke we entered today was one of those places.

When I pointed this out, Maronnie, filled with curiosity, started looking at other graffiti too.

I handed her a marker pen that was on the desk.

“Want to write one too?”

“Huh?”

She hesitated for a moment at my suggestion, then shook her head.

“Later.”

Refusing, she put the pen back on the desk.

I looked around. I skimmed over the graffiti that Blanche had read.

[“Looking for a guy. 010-xxxx-xxxx.”]

I’ll skip that one.

[“The soundproofing here is terrible lol”] [“Stop banging in the next room, you bastards”]

It seemed many victims had stayed here.

‘Amen.’

After a brief prayer, I focused on the main function of the karaoke with the remote.

Even Maronnie, who had been looking at the graffiti, sat next to me, watching the remote with a curious face.

“Is this your first time?”

She nodded, visibly excited. This was the most animated face I had seen from Maronnie recently.

“Then I’ll just show you the basics of how to use it.”

I briefly explained how to use the remote, focusing on the function to search for foreign songs rather than skipping intros or anything like that.

I didn’t know how many French songs there were, but they wouldn’t be completely absent. Nowadays, there are many imported songs, unlike in the past.

To give her an example, I selected a song first.

-♪

The melody that started playing.

“Ah!”

Maronnie, reacting to the song, gently closed her eyes to focus on the music.

“If you have a song to sing, put it on reserve.”

Unlike before when I knew no songs, now I memorized one or two from the internet.

Since there were quite a few occasions to go to karaoke in daily life,

I had practiced enough so that I wouldn’t get booed anywhere if I paid attention to pitch and rhythm.

“Cough.”

Clearing my throat, I started with the first verse.

I chose a suitable ballad since we weren’t here just to fool around.

My voice, not particularly good at singing, came out with a somewhat unstable rhythm.

I turned my head to look at Maronnie during the song.

-Sway, sway.

Her head was swaying left and right. With each sway, her hair moved like a cat’s tail.

Maronnie’s long eyelashes, gently closed, seemed especially striking today.

Smiling, she melted into the melody.

Even with a song she heard for the first time, you could tell she loved singing.

“Ah♪ Ahh”

She sang along to the melody, even if she didn’t know the lyrics.

It felt like the song became richer just because of her.

Even with my mediocre singing, Maronnie enjoyed it thoroughly, and when she slightly opened her eyes, our gazes met.

“Aren’t you reserving one?”

I asked out of curiosity since she hadn’t picked the next song yet.

“…When someone else is singing, you shouldn’t do anything else. It’s nice to listen. Keep singing.”

Despite my singing not being objectively good, Maronnie enjoyed it, bobbing her shoulders.

Since she was listening with such sincerity, I felt I shouldn’t stop singing, so I raised my voice.

──♬

My voice blended into Maronnie’s harmony.

After the song, it felt like I had just finished a phenomenal performance.

Lost in the afterglow, she clapped softly and grinned.

“Wow~. Puhuhu.”

After three claps, she lifted the remote and hit the start button for a song she found.

-Drrrr~

A gentle melody accompanied by the sound of an acoustic guitar.

Maronnie, holding the microphone tightly with both hands, measured the distance between it and her mouth, then looked straight at me.

“Hmm.”

A cute little snort. As if to say, listen to this.

Then, a melodious, almost divine tone emerged.

“Les rêves des amoureux sont comme le bon vin (The dreams of lovers are like good wine.)”

Her voice, gentle and melting into the ears.

A song that could be called a gift from the heavens, echoing through the karaoke room.

Just with the first verse, goosebumps rose on my skin. I unconsciously rubbed my arms.

With just one softly murmured phrase in French, it was completely different from the voice of Blanche I knew.

“L’espoir est un plat bien trop vite consommé (Hope is a dish consumed too quickly.)”

Her voice bounced playfully.

Elegant, cute, beautifully distinctive, like a small fairy tapping on my shoulder and whispering in my ear.

The microphone clutched in her hands and the happy smile on Blanche’s face were enough to make anyone lose their mind.

‘Ah.’

I finally understood.

The OST of an animated movie.

That beautiful music at the end. Even though the singer was different, it could give off such a feeling.

Maronnie’s eyes slightly squinted as she made eye contact with me.

“Laissez-moi vous émerveiller et prendre mon envol (Let me amaze you and take off.)”

I didn’t understand the lyrics, but somehow it felt comforting.

It felt like a blessing, making me oddly happy.

I found myself nodding my head.

Holding the microphone tightly, Maronnie tilted her head, resting it on my shoulder.

With no trace of shyness, just focusing on the song, body relaxed.

Whispering gently with emotion.

“Nous allons enfin nous régaler (We will finally feast.)”

Setting the table for a new life.

“Je suis heureux à l’idée de ce nouveau destin (I’m happy at the thought of this new fate.)”

Her voice, one I’d want to record and keep forever, made my heart feel strangely heavy, and my hands clapped automatically.

It had been said Maronnie’s singing was pleasant to hear.

I wasn’t unaware, but hearing it through the microphone, the emotions were different.

“Le festin est sur mon chemin… .”

There was a feast on my path.

As the melody flowed with lingering emotion, Maronnie lowered the microphone and looked up at me.

Perhaps only now realizing the proximity, she opened her eyes wide in surprise but, judging it an opportunity, she whispered to me with an inscrutable expression.

“Ça va? (How is it?)”

That one foreign word murmured in her beautiful voice.

I almost lost my soul, having been focused on the translator up until now.

Now I understand why someone would fall for a song.

Her slightly flushed cheeks seemed so soft. I stretched one side of her cheek with my hand.

“Hey, hey! What are you doing!”

That’s the real Blanche.

When I let go, Maronnie grabbed her cheeks with both hands, glaring at me with a pout.

“You sang well. I want to listen to it forever, ya.”

I gave her my sincere impression.

At that, Maronnie’s face went blank for a moment, then she hung her head low in embarrassment.

Her hair, which had been pressed down by her hat, stuck up like cat ears.

Her ears were bright red.