[Winter: Sorry haha I’m at the company right now, you see]
[Me: Ahh T.T Are you at work???]
[Me: I was just curious when you’d be sending the perfume!]
She didn’t get a reply.
Even until the end of that lesson,
And the end of the lesson after that;
Until lunch time, she did not receive a single message back.
[Me: Unni?]
What time does a company usually end?
The elementary kid Jun Yungji looked it up on the internet. It said 6 o’clock on the web so the reply message should come around then.
Even though she thought that, there was still doubt rising in a corner of her mind.
Don’t tell me… there’s no way…
[Winter: Ah, sorry. Sorry for the late response.]
[Me: It’s okay. You just entered a new company so of course you’ll be very busy T.T]
[Winter: Thank you. I’ll send the post tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a weekend so there’s finally no work haha]
It will arrive by the day after that if it was sent tomorrow. Jun Yungji’s future customers of the perfume would be borrowing the perfume after 4 days so there was still enough time.
However, Jun Yungji still couldn’t help but feel anxious.
[Me: Hehe unni, good morning! Did you have a good sleep?]
[Me: Unni~~~]
[Me: Unni?]
[Me: Winter-unni? Are you sleeping in?]
[Me: It’s already noon…]
Because it was taking longer and longer to get a reply.
*
Was I scammed? Winter-unni didn’t seem like the person to do such a thing though…
Even though she had no evidence to support it, that was the impression she got from those numerous interactions – it was that she was a nice person with a kind heart.
Why would such a person scam me?
“…”
Every passing hour made her lips drier than before.
Jun Yungji had already sent the money.
The young scammer wasn’t that experienced with spending a lot of money yet. It was the first time she had spent thousands of dollars at once and she could easily remember how nervous she was when sending the money in.
A 3, followed by a 6 and two 0s?
Her hands had been trembling when she saw her bank account dropping down in a flash after pressing the OK button. All the money she had earned thus far had already been spent on things like a wallet, clothes, shoes and make-up.
But unlike how she had usually been scamming people for products worth ten or twenty dollars, the recent case that was worth 3,500 dollars was one that had required months of preparation and hesitation. And $3,500 was the borderline she decided on because too much money would move the police – she had earned all that money through such hard work and research and yet…
[Winter: What should I do T.T?]
[Me: Hwy?]
[Me: Why?]
[Me: Did somethign happen?]
[Winter: It seems I can’t use my main bank account today because of a system security update T.T]
[Me: What???]
[Me: Unni, I don’t really know a lot about it but,]
[Me: How is that related to sending the post?]
[Winter: I can’t pay for the delivery fee… T.T]
[Winter: Can you perhaps pay for me instead?]
It increasingly felt odd.
The elementary school scammer, Jun Yungji, did not know much about the main bank accounts, security system and whatnot, but she could still feel that something was off.
[Me: Yes yes. I’ll pay for it.]
Like that, she had to pay 20 dollars for the international post fee.
[Me: Unni?]
[Winter: Ah, I live in the countryside, and public transport is already closed for today…]
[Me: Sorry?]
[Winter: I should have messaged you earlier… but the delivery fee has been paid so I can send the post straight away tomorrow morning!]
[Me: But…]
[Winter: Or can you maybe lend me 20 more dollars? I can order the delivery drone to come pick it up. I will pay you back immediately as soon as the bank update is over!]
[Winter: I suddenly got into a car accident and I’m in the hospital now…]
And it at last bloomed into one.
[Me: Unni, you’re not lying are you?]
[Winter: … T.T I’m serious.]
She soon received a photo of a lady sitting in the hospital with her face covered. Jun Yungji searched for the image online but couldn’t find any duplicate.
It seemed that the photo really was taken by herself but even then, Jun Yungji could not get rid of her doubt.
How could all these things happen in the span of a few days? Does that even make sense?
[Me: Unni.]
[Me: Unni?]
[Me: Tell your family to send it instead.]
[Me: It’s worth 3,600 dollars. How can you draw this out so long?]
[Me: I really need it right now.]
[Me: Unni?]
[Me: Why aren’t you responding?]
[Winter: Hukk! T.T I’m sorry Q.Q]
But even at this stage, Winter continued with her sincere apologies.
[Winter: I’ll send it to you tomorrow T.T]
So Jun Yungji felt like going insane from all the frustration.
The person in question was saying she would send it, so why was it that so many incidents were interfering with it? And she couldn’t rush or get mad at someone that was in a hospital either, so she felt like going crazy.
“Serves you right.”
On the other side, Bom bit her tongue and smiled.
***
“Yungji. Is the perfume here?”
“Huh? Well…”
Jun Yungji broke out into a cold sweat but still managed to force a smile on her face. Four days had passed already due to bank problems, transport issues and car accidents all happening at the same time and the post was naturally yet to come.
But fortunately on the fifth day, Winter sent a receipt of the delivery post, so she only had to wait out one more day…
At this point, Jun Yungji was so pissed off regardless of whether Winter was being honest or not and had even thrown a bowl of rice at the ground at home which led to a massive fight between her and her mum.
“You’re lending it to us from today right?”
“Don’t hide it and just show it to us.”
“Me too. I bragged about it to my friends already.”
They came flooding her with queries but she had already prepared her lines beforehand.
“Oh yeah. I was going to bring it today, but my mum wanted to use it for one day so it’ll have to be tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Ehng?”
“Wait, so you don’t have it today?”
“Sorry, sorry. I told you my mum bought it for me right? So I had no choice.”
The clever child Jun Yungji knew how people would readily swear at the person in front of them but would still be reluctant to swear at their parents.
If they don’t swear at her parents, it would be an easy way to earn one more day.
And if they do swear? All her friends will immediately gang up on that person for bad-mouthing someone else’s parents.
Even though she was still sweating profusely, she was inside the delusion that her clever self could control them any day.
Kwang!
But that was when the wooden entrance of the room was kicked open with a loud thud as girls walked in. They were wearing such thick make-up on their face that they resembled Kabuki actors and had frightening eyes due to their eyeliner going all the way to their temples.
And standing at the centre of those girls was the unni that repeated a grade with lips so vibrant as if she had been eating raw meat till now.
The smell of cigarettes spread across. While Jun Yungji nervously tried to pacify herself, the unni that repeated a grade placed a foot above her table.
“Oi. Perfume.”
“Yes, unni. How are you…?”
“Why didn’t you come to me. I gave you money. Do I have to look for you on top of that?”
“Ah, the thing is… the perfume is here but my mum…”
“What?”
Hahahaha! They laughed out loud. “Mum! Mum she says!” “Hahaha” “Is she a kid?!” “Are you shitting us right now? Oi!” They simultaneously commented as four of their thunderous voices dug into her ears. Jun Yungji bit her lips.
“I will lend it to you tomorrow for sure, unni…! I’m really sorry…!”
“Of course you will lend it to me. But are you not going to pay me back for breaking your promise?”
“Sorry?”
“Give me back my 60 dollars.”
“T, then the perfume…”
“I’ll wait till tomorrow for you.”
She was one hell of a bully, but Jun Yungji had to nod with a servile smile on her face because her elementary school life would be over if she were to make a straight face here. She inwardly poured out curse words at Winter while returning those 60 dollars but it did not make her feel any better.
That was when she suddenly realised something.
Bring the perfume tomorrow?
But doesn’t the delivery come after the school starts?
“No… My life will be over then…”
That night, Jun Yungji had to urgently call the delivery company to change the delivery address to the school.
Won’t this make everyone know how this was a second-hand product? Wouldn’t they notice how it was a lie that her mum had been using it for a day? Thinking that made her scared but there was no turning back at this point and she had to come up with another lie.
It was well-known how the class representative defied the unni who had repeated a grade and became ‘fermented’ last month… Them finding out that this was a second-hand item was not the main problem now and she had to lend the perfume tomorrow.
“Fuck fuck…”
But thanks to pulling an all-nighter, she managed to think of an excuse.
The next day, as she was fretting about the delivery that had yet to come while worrying about the unni who could come to her class anytime…
At last, the watch of the elementary school scammer, Jun Yungji, who even at this point had zero regard for the victims she had deceived, rang.
[Korean Post: We have arrived at the front of the school.]
[Me: Please leave it there!]
It was then.
Kwang! The door was pushed open with a thud as a group of girls entered the classroom while noisily chattering to themselves. The smell of cigarettes spread as the girl at the centre shouted,
“Oi. Perfume–!!”
“Yes, yes! Unni…! It’s here!”
“What was that?”
My mum suddenly went overseas on a trip and posted it to me yesterday! Fortunately, it arrived at the school just then!
That was Jun Yungji’s excuse.
It was lunch time right now. Ignoring their gazes of disbelief, she went to the front entrance and received the delivery post.
She could finally relax herself a little. There was a fair bit of weight to the post and written on the box was the word, ‘Perfume’. Although the surname of the sender was ‘Yu’ and was different from her own last name, she could say it was the maiden name of her mother! It was a genius lie.
“Uh? It’s finally here!”
“Oh wow.”
“Your mum must be really busy…!”
Her doubtful friends slowly gathered one by one.
It was there.
That perfume, which Kyuchan-oppa had been using inside the drama…!
Inside that very box!
“Oi. Hurry up and open it.”
The unni that repeated a grade rushed her with eyes dripping with greed. However, Jun Yungji knew she would become the weaker one the moment she handed this to her. It was well-known how the friend next door lent her a sticker which was now being ‘borrowed perpetually’ against her will.
“Unni. This, is really expensive.”
“What?”
“It’s not just a few dollars. You have to give it back after you use it.”
“Do I look like a thief to you?”
“Please make a promise.”
She had to make a promise while she was the one with the upper hand. Her tough outburst gathered the eyes of her nearby friends who would serve as clear witnesses.
“Far out. Quite daring, aren’t you?”
Jun Yungji was frightened but;
“I get it so hurry up and just open it…”
Even the unni that repeated a grade had to lower her head a bit.
At last, Jun Yungji ripped the box open and,
“Uh?”
“Huh?”
“Nn?”
Inside the box,
Was naturally the priceless perfume artifact MX12.
“…?”
Right.
That was right. That had to be the case.
Even though it was oddly red, had three holes, and looked like a rigid rectangular prism of stone…
Even though it was stunningly similar to the red brick she picked up at a nearby construction site on her way back home to send to someone else…
It most definitely had to be MX12.
Jun Yungji, who was half out of her mind from the nervousness, raised the brick. She then handed it over to the unni next to her.
“You have to… bring it back by tomorr…?”
Immediately after that, the unni that repeated a grade picked up the brick and raised it into the sky so the friends had to intervene and separate the two of them.
*
That day was the most shocking day in her entire life – the unni that snatched her glasses and demanded for her cheek; and her friends who faced her with scornful eyes despite pretending to be standing up for her… After those times of shock and fear, she left school early to escape and found several new messages on her watch.
[Winter: Haha]
[Winter: It felt good when you were scamming other people for money right?]
[Winter: How does it feel to be on the receiving end of it?]
Even at this point, the elementary school scammer wrote a message saying she wanted either the perfume or the 3,600 dollars back but could not send it. She was blocked.
Another message came as she was about to turn the watch off.
[Winter: Try doing something like that again :)]
She wrote another message but could not send that either.
The memory of that day became a trauma and ever since that, Jun Yungji could not scam other people until the day of her death.
***
“Here’s your 3,560 dollars.”
“…!”
Gyeoul received a bunch of notes with a bright smile on her face.
There was a small incident but that was in the past already.
“…Thank you.”
Bending her back in a right angle, Gyeoul gave Yu Jitae a deep bow. While she was at it, she went around the living room and bent her back to all her sisters that were sitting on the sofa.
That was when Yu Jitae asked something out of curiosity.
“But why were you trying to buy that online?”
A memory crystal. A device that records down mana and saves it.
With a shivering pair of eyes, Gyeoul turned to her sisters. Yeorum and Kaeul also looked back at her with a flustered gaze before stealing a glance at him.
He wondered what was suddenly wrong with them but that was when Bom came out to clear up the situation.
“It’s nothing that big.”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember what happened when Gyeoul was quite young? We went with the ranker, Mr. Myung Yongha, on a trip together to see the stars.”
“I do.”
“That seemed to have left quite the impression on her; she wanted to go stargazing again in the future, and the device is to leave that as a record.”
Hearing that, Yu Jitae turned towards Gyeoul who quickly nodded back with mismatching eyes that looked like ‘O.o’.
For some reason, it was a slightly strange reaction but…
“Alright. In that case, it will be better to see prettier stars instead of gazing at the sky here right?”
“I guess?”
“I’ll look into it.”
Gyeoul had spent her entire fortune to buy it. Since that was how much she liked stars, it seemed that he would have to plan for a trip and look for a good place.
*
That was the end of the incident.
After that, Yu Jitae watched a movie with the kids. He could hear them laughing, whispering, caressing someone else’s hair, as well as the humming sound of the cleaning protector.
The smell of the cooked rice and the fragrant scent of the blooming flower gently filled the house, as the stars flickered brightly on the night sky outside.
Gyeoul buried her head into his chest and stored the memories of the recent events into a corner of her head.
