Kim Ji-hye (9)

,Hey, oppa-ssi, wake up.”

I hear Se-ah’s voice in my ear while I’m having a good sleep.

,Hey, orabeoni, if you don’t get up right now, I’m taking your pants off.”

Following Se-ah’s voice, I heard Jua’s voice.

,That’s it. Jua-ya, grab the pants leg, you on the left, me on the right.”

,Okay! Unni.”

What are these two trying to do?

Not only are they trying to wake me up when I’m already sleepy as hell, but they’re trying to take my pants off.

I felt the end of my pajama pants being grabbed, so I had no choice but to rub my eyes and get up.

,What the hell are you doing…”

,He’s up.”

,He’s up! Finally, aigo orabi-ya, you told us to wake you up because you were going to buy something today, right?”

What could I have asked them to wake me up for on a normal, uneventful Saturday to buy something?

Even as my sleepy brain churned, I couldn’t think of anything I needed to buy, so I scratched the back of my head.

,Looking at that expression, you forgot, didn’t you? We don’t know anything? We woke you up before we ate chicken for brunch.”

,Ah, we were about to order chicken, but we woke you up. We’re going to order now.”

The two left me, still unable to open my eyes properly.

,What was I trying to buy…”

Since there was a reason they woke me up, I mumbled to myself and tried to shake off the sleep.

What the hell was I trying to buy? I’ve already bought everything and finished the dress contract, so there’s nothing left.

Was I trying to buy clothes in preparation for the baby’s birth? Or was I trying to buy Ji-hye’s clothes in advance?

Excluding the wedding expenses, I don’t have much left in my account, so what was I trying to buy? I racked my brain dozens of times to revive my memory.

,Today is Saturday, brunch means it’s before lunch…”

Food or items sold only in the morning? Or was it a time I agreed to trade items with someone?

Or a game event time? I couldn’t remember what I asked them to wake me up for.

What the hell is it? What could it be? I must have asked them to wake me up because it was important, but what important thing was it that I asked them to wake me up for?

,Ah, I don’t know. Let’s wash up and think about it.”

I turned on my phone screen to check the time, and there was a memo I had registered in advance.

Since I’m not the type to leave memos, I thought it was someone’s prank and opened it without much thought, but…

,Euaaaah!!!”

I was a moron.

The memo said ,Ring’, but I could clearly remember what I had to buy.

Wedding rings, I wrote it down to buy them a week before the wedding, and I forgot because I was playing games the day before?

What else could this be if not being a moron? A goddamn moron? Or just a useless bastard?

,I’m going to be late!!!”

As soon as I came to my senses, I ran straight to the bathroom to wash up, changed roughly, and ran outside.

Since there wasn’t much time left for the reservation, I left the taxis that wouldn’t stop behind and headed to the place faster than anyone else.

–

,Welcome…”

,Hueok…hueok…I’m, Kim Seon-ho who made a reservation for today…”

I entered the store, unable to catch my breath from running, and the employee looked at me with a surprised expression.

I barely took a breath and said my name, and instead of answering, he bowed his head and went inside the counter.

In the meantime, I sat on a chair in the store to catch my breath and took a short break.

The store was quieter than I thought.

Because I couldn’t hear any other sounds except for the sound of the heater coming out.

Even though it’s the weekend, there aren’t any customers in the store, and if you look around, you can see dust, so I wondered if it’s a place where people don’t come often.

In fact, the population is the population, but there are even places where weddings are held only between couples, so there’s no reason for people to come to this place, right?

In a world where you can buy online, there are cheaper and better quality products, and it’s an era where you can buy without having to come to the store.

At first, I was going to order online, matching the finger size I measured while Ji-hye was sleeping, but I called my mom just in case.

And what my mom said to me was a scolding, ,Are you out of your mind?’

There was no other reason, but the difference in emotion between ,I ordered online’ and ,I looked around the store to find a design that suits you’ is considerable.

It’s natural not to expect such attention to detail from a son who is getting married now.

If I know this in detail, I can’t avoid being questioned about who I asked, right?

But I’m also the type of person who has to see important things in person before buying them, so I understand what my mom said.

Even if you ask why you’re going to buy it online, there are few people who wouldn’t be touched by the words, ,I went around the store myself for you’.

Everyone may call it foolish, but who would hate the effort of someone running around and finding something for me?

I didn’t want to be praised for doing a good job, but I wanted to give at least some emotion.

I’m glad I listened to my mom’s advice, or I would have been in big trouble. Thank you, Mom.

I’ll buy some beef and bring it home after the wedding.

,I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Are you Kim Seon-ho who made a reservation?”

Just as I was breathing normally, the employee who went inside came out, greeted me politely, and looked for me.

,Yes, that’s me.”

,Yes, please go inside and talk. It’s in the final stages, and they said there’s something to talk about.”

,Talk? What talk?”

,Please talk inside… I don’t know much because I just received the message…”

,Ah, okay, I understand. I can go in where you came out, right?”

,Yes.”

The iron door behind the innermost counter?

I carefully opened the door and went inside, and someone was sitting at the table with a slightly chilly air and greeted me.

,Hello, Kim Seon-ho-ssi. I’m the store manager, Choi Min-ho.”

,Ah, yes, hello.”

After a brief greeting and sitting down in a chair, the manager took out a ring case made of emerald-colored cloth from the drawer behind the table.

It was a plain and neat ring case, but before handing it to me, the manager opened his mouth first.

,Here’s the ring… The ring you ordered is steel, right?”

,Yes, if it’s the one I reserved, it’s steel, right? The one made of iron with an emerald embedded in it.”

A plain silver iron ring with an emerald embedded in it.

The price is reasonable, it lasts a long time, and it’s easy to cut and reattach without making it obvious when it’s hard to take off, so many places recommended it.

But there’s no reason to ask, so why are you asking?

,Is there a problem? Did it accidentally break or get scratched?”

,That’s not it…”

,…Why are you making me anxious like this? Can’t you just tell me straight?”

,Well…um…would you like to open it?”

What the hell is it? He’s pushing the case to me without saying anything, so I’m honestly scared.

Aren’t rings usually precious items that are carefully and preciously stored?

Seeing him tell me to open it, I opened the case with a worried face.

,Uh.”

There was nothing wrong with the ring at all.

Rather, it was an emerald ring on a plain white ring. There was nothing wrong with it, it was so neat that I wondered if the problem was that it came out too neat.

I couldn’t help but worry more about what the hell the problem was.

,What the hell is the problem? It looks fine to me.”

,Sir, if you look closely, the ring part is a little different from the order…”

,The ring part?”

Only then did I see the ring, and it wasn’t a white iron ring, but a slightly whiter metal.

,…Is this silver instead of iron?”

,…I’m sorry. Our employee thought it was a wedding ring and made it with silver instead of steel without permission…”

I couldn’t get angry at the manager who was looking at me as if he was going to bang his head on the floor because he was so sorry.

But if I buy it as it is, I’ll be called a sucker, and there’s no time to order it again.

,How long will it take to reorder and get it here quickly?”

,It’ll take about 10 days at the earliest.”

,Keung, this is driving me crazy. Do you have any products similar to what I ordered?”

,I’m sorry. I checked that in advance, but it’ll take a week to bring it back…”

Am I going to have to do it with silver after all?

It’s much prettier than what I ordered, but I don’t want to pay extra for something that doesn’t match my order.

,If you buy this…we can offer you the existing amount and a service to engrave your name on the ring…would that be okay…?”

He suggested it to me very carefully.

It’s not just that my expression has hardened, but the important thing is that it’s not the item I ordered.

I have the right to refuse, and the moment I refuse, this will have to be sold cheaply as a bad stock.

Rather than having a bad stock that may not be sold and the store’s reputation going down, it seems more profitable to sell it at a loss.

It would be right to say that we made a mistake, but we tried harder to make up for it!

,How many days does it take to engrave the name?”

,It’s enough to do this in about 2 days. We can send it by 택배 (Taekbae).”

I was tempted by the word 택배 (Taekbae) for a moment, but no.

This has to be kept strictly secret and shown at the wedding.

,Um…택배 (Taekbae) is okay, please just do the name as quickly as possible.”

After hearing the answer, the manager smiled brightly and handed me a small piece of paper and a pen politely, from his gloomy and cautious face.

I took the pen and quickly wrote my name and Ji-hye’s name and returned it.

The manager smiled even brighter and thanked me and shook my hand with both hands.

Is it because even I, who don’t know anything about business, know that it’s common sense to sell cheaply rather than keep bad stock?

I made a contract to pay the balance when I receive the item in case of any mistakes and left the store.

With all the preparations finished and only the upcoming wedding left, I headed home without feeling hungry even though it was past lunchtime.