WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 43: Oppa, Where Are You Going?

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Sia’s lair.

There, Sia was working herself to the bone on a secret project she had not told anyone about.

Normally, “working oneself to the bone” was just an expression, but at this very moment...

She was literally carving her own bones.

She was making Minjun another accessory as a gift.

She had already made a sword to match the one she had given Minjun. Now, it was time to make accessories.

When she was a hatchling, she had made jewelry from the gems in her lair as though playing house. But this was her first time making jewelry from her own bones rather than gems.

Because of that, it was by no means an easy challenge, even for her.

On top of that, since it was a gift for someone precious to her, she wanted it to be more perfect than anything else.

After spending several days considering designs for rings, earrings, and necklaces, as well as how to craft them...

She still felt she had a long way to go.

“I’ll rest a little, then get back to it.”

With a big yawn, she buried her face in Minjun’s old clothes on the desk.

There was barely any of Minjun’s scent left on them, but it still seemed to ease her fatigue somewhat.

‘Should I ask him for more clothes if he has any to spare?’

If she did, what excuse should she use to ask for them?

With such thoughts in mind, she sat down in front of her laptop.

The first thing she saw when she turned it on was the childhood photos of Minjun that she had secretly copied from his family home last time.

No matter how many times she looked at them, they were adorable. She never got tired of them.

‘How could our oppa have been this cute and handsome even as a child?’

She had looked at those photos yesterday and the day before, yet she still could not get enough of them.

It was like how she never got tired of rice, even if she ate it every day.

After admiring Minjun’s photos for a while and changing her desktop background to one she liked, she clicked on another folder.

These were not photos from Minjun’s album. They were photos of Minjun that she had collected from the internet herself.

It might seem strange to find photos of someone who was not a celebrity online, but Minjun had worked actively as a child model.

He had appeared in all kinds of advertisements and occasionally worked as a child actor, so it was not strange for records of him to remain online.

Of course, he had not appeared in many productions, and Minjun’s parents had not told her which ones he had worked on, so they had not been easy to find.

But her blind love for Minjun made anything possible.

She replayed clips from dramas where Minjun had appeared in minor roles, watched commercials he had been in, and admired posters for products he had modeled for.

It was one of her greatest pleasures in life.

Only after searching the internet some more, finding several childhood photos of Minjun that she had missed, and saving them did she prepare to resume her work.

Then, at that moment...

Minjun called.

The moment her phone rang, she tossed aside the tools in her hands and answered.

“Oppa! How have you been? I miss you so much. We haven’t seen each other in over a week.”

[I miss you too. But we’ll see each other the day after tomorrow, right?]

“Yeah! Have you decided what we’re doing the day after tomorrow?”

[I looked around yesterday, and I found a cafe with a nice atmosphere and delicious bread. It looks like the kind of place you’d like too. What do you think?]

“That sounds perfect!”

They spent around ten minutes having a sweet conversation like any couple would.

“Sia, I think I need to hang up now.”

[Why? Are you going to a Gate? Or training?]

She naturally assumed it was one of those two things.

But it was not.

[You know, that... appointment I told you about. The one I made with my mother and that noona...]

“Ah.”

At that moment, the smile that had filled her face froze.

Minjun had told her before that he had arranged a meeting with Go Yuna, but Sia had not asked when or where they would meet.

She thought knowing would only ruin her mood.

[...Nothing’s going to happen, so don’t worry too much. I’ll call you again as soon as it’s over.]

“Okay.”

She immediately hung up.

That one piece of news had ruined her pleasant day.

She wanted to rush to the meeting place and use magic to spy on Minjun and Yuna, but ironically, another part of her did not want to do that at all.

If she saw that woman flirting with Minjun in real time, she felt her anger would only boil over.

“...Right. It’s not like I can change it anyway.”

She would hear about the meeting from Minjun later. For now, she should get back to making jewelry to calm herself down.

Steeling herself, she sat back down and resumed making the jewelry.

However...

She tried to focus only on crafting it, but she could not concentrate at all when the image of Minjun with that woman kept appearing before her eyes.

“That fox bitch, I need to catch her and beat the shit out of her-”

After that, Sia’s lair was filled for quite some time with obscenities beyond anything Minjun had ever heard or could imagine.

* * *

‘...Did Sia get really upset?’

The difference in her mood before and after I mentioned my appointment with Yuna noona was extreme.

Well, I wasn’t thrilled to be here either, but it must be worse for Sia.

So get a grip, Yoon Minjun.

Anything could happen today, so stay sharp.

If I gave Yuna noona even the slightest opening, then both Yuna noona and I would be buying tickets straight to the afterlife that very day.

As I tried to steady myself, my mother, who had briefly gone to the restroom, returned.

Then we headed to a pasta restaurant in Gangnam, where we were meeting.

“Isn’t this incredible, son? I thought they were living well in America. How could we run into each other in the middle of Seoul after twenty years?”

“I know.”

That coincidence has been giving your son and future daughter-in-law quite a headache lately.

Naturally unaware of that fact, my mother happily reminisced, telling stories about my childhood and Yuna noona.

I couldn’t remember more than half of them, but listening to her...

It really did seem that Yuna noona and I had been almost like siblings when we were young.

Though that was an incredibly long time ago.

Anyway.

When we arrived at the meeting place, Yuna noona and her mother, who had arrived first, greeted us warmly.

“Oh my, it’s been so long!”

“I know. Has it been about ten years since we last saw each other?”

Our mothers greeted each other first.

“Oh my, you’ve grown up just like you were when you were little. You’re such a lady now.”

“Look how tall and handsome you are. Minjun, do you remember Auntie?”

Then my mother greeted Yuna noona warmly, while Yuna noona’s mother did the same to me.

“I remember now that I see you. Have you been well?”

I was happy to see Yuna noona’s mother too.

She had practically raised me like her own child when I was young, so I couldn’t help but feel grateful and happy to see her.

The problem was that noona.

Yuna noona was smiling brightly and acting cute around my mother.

Every little thing she did was like a ticking bomb that could upset Sia, so I couldn’t help feeling tense.

If something went wrong, I wouldn’t be able to keep living the peaceful life I had until now.

After exchanging brief greetings, we entered the restaurant, ordered, and began talking properly.

Since this was that kind of gathering, the first topic was naturally what everyone had been doing lately.

As I had learned when we met before, Yuna noona had retired from being a Hunter at an early age and was enjoying success as a food-service entrepreneur. From what I heard, her parents also seemed to be running successful businesses in America.

“Then, Yuna, what kind of restaurants do you run now?”

My mother seemed fascinated that Yuna noona managed several restaurants at such a young age.

“I run a Korean restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, and a Chinese restaurant. The Korean and Japanese places are still small and haven’t been open long. It feels a little awkward to say it myself, but the Chinese restaurant is fairly well known. It’s called Hwansang Nugak, and it’s nearby...”

“Oh my, that was your restaurant?”

My mother seemed extremely surprised to learn that the popular restaurant featured several times on television was run by Yuna.

Hwansang Nugak.

Was it really that famous?

Well, she was a source of trouble for me, but... objectively speaking, I had to admit that Yuna noona was capable and successful.

“Yes! If you come by with Minjun later, I’ll treat you to a huge meal!”

“But don’t you need to wait a long time there even with a reservation?”

“I can make room for one table at the owner’s discretion, so don’t worry, Mother!”

Mother?

Not Sia, but Yuna noona calling her Mother felt strangely out of place.

Taken on its own, it made Yuna noona sound like my mother’s daughter-in-law.

‘If Sia saw this...’

It bothered me, but I had no choice but to let it go.

If I overreacted, that would only seem stranger.

Not long after, our pasta arrived, and the chatter continued as we ate.

They said this place was famous for its food, but maybe because I was nervous, I could barely tell what it tasted like.

“This brings back memories. Do you remember, when filming ended and we went out to eat, nine times out of ten we always went to a Chinese restaurant?”

When Yuna noona’s mother brought up the past, my mother agreed as if she remembered it vividly.

“That’s right. Do you two remember?”

“A little?”

I remembered only very vaguely, but Yuna noona remembered clearly.

“Yes! It would have felt strange not to eat jjajangmyeon. Even when someone suggested something else, Minjun and I always begged to have jjajangmyeon.”

I didn’t remember it clearly because I had been so young, but I did remember loving jjajangmyeon so much as a child that “obsessed” would have been the right word.

I didn’t like it as much now as I had back then.

“When I looked through the albums recently, I found photos of you two eating jjajangmyeon.”

With that, Yuna noona’s mother showed us photos taken at the time.

They showed us as cute little kids, eating with black bean sauce smeared all over our mouths, then smiling brightly when we noticed the camera.

My mother was absorbed in the memories as she looked at the old photos. Perhaps something else came back to her, because she added, “That reminds me. I don’t remember when it was, but you saw Minjun enjoying jjajangmyeon at a Chinese restaurant and said that you would open a huge jjajangmyeon restaurant when you grew up, so you could feed Minjun as much as he wanted.”

...Did that really happen?

I had no memory of it whatsoever, but Yuna noona’s mother nodded along, so I supposed it had.

Wait.

Could it be that Yuna noona opened a Chinese restaurant because...

The moment that thought reached me, I squeezed my eyes shut without realizing it.

No. It had to be a coincidence.

If it wasn’t, it would be really frightening.

“Yuna, do you remember saying that?”

“No. I heard about it for the first time today too. Wow, I said that?”

In response to my mother’s question, Yuna noona said she didn’t remember and looked amazed.

“You never know what life will bring, right, Minjun?”

Then she looked at me.

“...Is it really a coincidence?”

“Hm?”

“Nothing. I just think it’s strange too.”

I had meant to think it to myself, but I accidentally muttered it aloud.

I wonder if she heard me.

“Then, noona. Just in case, were you really dreaming of becoming the owner of a Chinese restaurant since you were little?”

“Come on, no. I told you, I barely remember that time.”

Yuna noona smiled and lightly shook her head at my question.

“My father runs businesses too, and I like food. I made a lot of money as a Hunter, but it didn’t suit me, and I got injured, so I retired. It just happened that way.”

I wanted to believe her, but for some reason, the thought that it might not be true slowly began to grow in my mind.

“Why? Would you prefer it if that was the reason?”

“N-No!”

Her sudden question caught me off guard, and I stammered.

If I didn’t have a girlfriend, wouldn’t this be a situation that could easily be misunderstood?

It was a huge relief that Sia couldn’t see this.

The two mothers must have found my reaction amusing because they burst out laughing immediately.

“Why are you so flustered? It’s all in the past.”

“That’s right. People can say things like that when they’re children. Besides, Minjun, you have a girlfriend now too.”

I couldn’t tell them that was exactly why I was flustered.

Embarrassed, I lowered my head, while Yuna noona quietly laughed at my reaction.

“Then, Yuna. Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

At my mother’s question, Yuna noona lightly shook her head, seeming embarrassed this time.

“My last relationship was in high school.”

“Really? That’s surprising. I’m sure plenty of men would be interested in someone like you.”

“There were some... but I was busy with work, so unfortunately, I don’t think I’m in a position to date right now.”

Well, considering how she had acted around me before, that didn’t sound right.

Why did I keep feeling like Yuna noona was lying?

Just then, Sia called.

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