Chapter Text
It was another fucking awful day and Bak Yerim wished she was anywhere but here, working at her uncle’s stupid store, having to deal with her uncle’s stupid customers, and having to go home to her uncle’s stupid house.
She had long stopped telling herself how unfair all of this was. It did absolutely nothing except to make each passing second all the more bitter. Didn’t mean she didn’t bitch to herself whenever she could. Complaining was a very different thing than constantly wondering why this was happening to her. Much more enjoyable, too.
Her only consolation after the latest screaming match with her uncle was that there was at least one customer who looked as miserable as her. He was slouching in the corner, looked very tired, and was leaning on a crutch though she couldn’t see an obvious injury.
“What do you want?” she snarled. The guy looked barely phased. He opened his mouth to order when her uncle started screaming her name again.
“I told you,” she yelled back. “It’s that bastard Bak Soochun’s fault!”
Her uncle didn’t give a shit—when did he ever?—and Yerim couldn’t take it anymore. She ran. There’d be hell to pay later but she was sick of the smell of everything here and sick of her uncle’s words grating on her ears.
She ran and ran and ran until she reached the base of Namsan Mountain, sitting down with a thump. Even before she sat, she could see her vision starting to blur. She was not going to cry, she was not going to cry—
“Uh, excuse me?” a voice came and her head whipped up to see that tired guy from the restaurant. He was breathing a bit hard and leaning on that crutch like it was the only thing keeping him upright. Then again, he looked old and exactly like an ahjussi, so it made sense he’d be so tired out.
“Not interested,” Yerim snapped. “Especially if it’s from old guys like you.”
Ahjussi made a disgusted face. “I’m not interested,” he said, and did seem genuinely disgusted that she had implied he was.
“Well, what’d you come for then?” she said, shifting her position so that she could run if needed. Despite her judgment of him, this ahjussi did have to be relatively fast if he caught up with him. Yerim was faster, of course, but head starts never hurt.
“It’s just… I heard what the owner said to you,” he said. “I worked a lot when I was young, too, so I know some places that are kinder that you can apply to.”
Yerim blinked at this ahjussi. He was… offering her another place to work? What kind of bullshit was this?
“That guy’s my uncle,” she said. “I have to live with him. I can’t escape him even if I wanted to.”
“Ah,” Ahjussi said, shifting around a bit. “Have you Awakened?”
Yerim edged away. “For an ahjussi who claims to not be sketchy, you’re really suspicious.”
“Ahjussi?” Ahjussi parroted. “I’m only in my mid-twenties.”
Could have fooled Yerim. “Did you go to the army?”
“... Yeah.”
Yerim shrugged. “Then you’re an ahjussi.”
The guy, strangely, wilted. He rubbed his face with his hand and said, “Well, if you are Awakened, you can become independent. You wouldn’t have to live with your uncle and you could earn money for yourself. You’d only be able to enter dungeons two levels lower than your rank, but you’d get equal rights as an adult otherwise. You can even enter a Guild.”
The hope building in Yerim was quickly crushed. “So it’s useless if I’m E-rank or lower.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Ahjussi said. “You’ve got to be B-rank or higher. Mind if I sit? My leg’s getting tired.”
Yerim eyed him. “How do you know that? And what’s wrong with it, anyways?”
“Had to help a friend and got hurt,” Ahjussi shrugged, slowly lowering himself to the ground. “And sometimes, you can tell what someone’s rank may be before they’re Awakened. If someone is completely unremarkable, they may never Awaken, or simply be very low-ranked.”
Yerim couldn’t help but lean forward. “Does that mean that I’m remarkable, then? If you think I’d be high-ranked and all.”
“Yes,” Ahjussi said honestly. “I do think you have a lot of talent within you.”
She couldn’t get too optimistic. She had to crush that dream before something else crushed it for her. “Yeah, and how do I know this isn’t just a scam? Besides, who’s gonna Awaken me?”
Ahjussi looked at her for so long that Yerim was growing uncomfortable. Then he sighed, muttered something like, “Fuck this,” and said, louder, “I could.”
“You can’t believe that I’d just believe that,” she said, even as she really, really wanted to believe that.
“Believe it or not, that’s your choice,” Ahjussi said. “I can Awaken you and point you in the direction of a guild. It’d be your choice from there on what to do.”
“But why would you?” asked Yerim, and she thought she did a remarkable job at keeping the tremor out of her voice.
“It’s just a kind thing to do,” he said and Yerim got up.
“I don’t believe that,” she said. “You’re going to give me the full reason as to how you know this and why you’d want to do this, or else I’m leaving.”
She didn’t want to leave but if this ahjussi was so insistent on helping her, and if he actually meant it, he wouldn’t want her to go either. She hoped, at least.
It took a good fifteen steps, but as Yerim’s shoulders were slumping with disappointment, Ahjussi’s voice came: “Hey, student! Come back and I’ll tell you.”
Yerim made sure that it didn’t look like she was running back or anything.
“Look, my parents passed away when I was young,” Ahjussi said, “and… I had to give up a lot to take care of my dongsaeng. You can say that I didn’t get much support from people around me, and from what I can see, you don’t really have much support either.”
“So you’re projecting?” Yerim grumbled, but despite it, she felt a bit closer to this ahjussi already. “Playing out your own fantasy of someone helping you?”
Ahjussi snorted. “If you want to put it that way, then sure, go ahead. As for how I know, it’s one of my skills.”
“You’re Awakened?” Yerim asked, eyes widening. “What rank?”
“Only F,” Ahjussi answered bitterly. It was better than nothing, but had to be disappointing, especially if this ahjussi was waiting on a good rank to make taking care of his dongsaeng more easily. “My skill is ranked higher than that, though, so you don’t have to worry about the reliability of that.”
“But why are you telling me all this?” It was a pretty stupid thing, in her opinion. “I could just tell people.”
“Who would believe you, if you went around telling everyone right now?” Ahjussi said. “You’re not Awakened and I’m a beat-up F-rank. Who’d think that I actually had that skill?”
Yerim thought for a second. “Wouldn’t it be written down? If you’re ranked, you’re registered, aren’t you?”
Ahjussi raised his hand. “That’s the first rule of being a Hunter. You don’t register all of your skills. Keep some for yourself.”
Maybe if this ahjussi didn’t keep this one back, he wouldn’t look like such an ahjussi, but Yerim bit her tongue. This guy was looking a bit legitimate and she couldn’t pass up this chance.
“If you want to go along with it,” Ahjussi said, “we can write up a contract. I’d Awaken you after you sign it and you wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about my skill. You can add your own clauses about what you want from me.”
Ahjussi tapped his chin and continued, “Though, not having a guardian might make some things difficult—”
“I’m not going to have a guardian,” Yerim said, crossing her arms. “At this rate, I won’t be able to bear it anymore and I’ll just run away from home.”
She only added that last part because this ahjussi seemed to have a soft spot for kids, but it wasn’t as if she was lying. She had already started packing a bag.
Ahjussi seemed to consider her words, and maybe he noted the fact that she did run from the restaurant, because he nodded.
“Does your uncle treat you really badly?”
Yerim gritted her teeth, not liking that he had to ask that after witnessing him yelling at her, but at least he was listening. No one else bothered to do that, much less ask.
“Everything I earn, he takes away,” she said, feeling the anger that had been building up just start to pour out. “He makes me work for him and he stole all of my parents’ possessions when he ‘took custody’ of me. He sold the apartment I grew up in to build that restaurant and now I live in a room that might as well be a closet! And then , in front of everyone else, he acts like he’s such a great person, because look at him, he’s taking care of a kid that has nowhere else to go!”
Yerim was not going to cry, no, not at all, and definitely not in front of this ahjussi. No one was going to make her cry either, especially not her uncle, who wasn’t even here now.
“Hey,” Ahjussi said, his voice a bit more gentle, “it’s a bit annoying to sit here this entire time, isn’t it? Not very comfortable. It might be a bit early, but do you want to go get some dinner?”
Yerim nodded a bit, taking the excuse to rub her eyes hard, as if to push the tears back inside.
“Hmm, what should we get?” Ahjussi said. “You probably don’t like tripe…”
“No, I like tripe usually,” Yerim said. “Uncle’s is just the worst.”
Ahjussi nodded like he understood. Yerim looked at his raggled appearance and tentatively continued. “There’s a well-known place in front of here, but it’s a bit expensive.”
Ahjussi frowned, but patted his sides. Apparently that was enough for him because he nodded. “That’s no problem. Lead the way.”
Yerim stood easily and felt bad, watching how long it took for Ahjussi to stand, but she didn’t want to insert herself.
“It’s over here,” she said when he was ready and was sure to move slowly so he could keep up.
Yerim was worried that Ahjussi would balk when actually going into the restaurant, but he just stared a bit at the fancy marbling and continued on. The staff eyed them—especially at Ahjussi’s crutch, which made Yerim feel bad—but Ahjussi just assured them he could pay.
That was when Yerim got to taste the best tripe ever. It was a disgrace to call her uncle’s stuff tripe when this existed.
“You can have alcohol,” Yerim said, seeing how Ahjussi’s eyes lingered on the menu.
“Hm?”
“You really look like you want to drink,” Yerim pointed out, and then added, “I’ve seen drunk people everyday, so really, it’s fine if you drink.”
“Rule number two,” Ahjussi said, “don’t get drunk when you’re going to negotiate a contract. Your opponents may be too formidable and you’ll get robbed if you get drunk.”
Yerim scoffed. “Isn’t it that Ahjussi’s too soft instead of me being too formidable?”
Still, Ahjussi didn’t get alcohol and Yerim hoped it wasn’t because he was worried about the cost. Regardless, Yerim couldn’t help but feel… happier than before. It was probably just the food. The ssam was really good here.
“... That’s chili,” Ahjussi said, as if Yerim didn’t know.
“I like spicy things,” Yerim said after swallowing. Then, just to show Ahjussi, she dipped raw garlic in ssamjang and ate that too. Ahjussi looked half sick and half astonished.
“So the only thing I have to do now is sign the contract with Ahjussi?” Yerim asked after she finished chewing.
Ahjussi nodded. “Your Awakening could happen right away or it might take a few days. At any rate, it won’t take long.”
“Can’t you make sure it happens right away? It’d be really inconvenient if it happened when I got home.”
Ahjussi shot her a smile. “I’ll try. But first…”
Ahjussi moved his hand and suddenly, parchment paper appeared out of thin air. Yerim couldn’t help but gape.
“That’s—that’s the inventory, right?” There was nothing else it could be, so a part of Yerim wanted to kick herself for the question. She was supposed to be showing herself as a capable person, someone who could live without a guardian. “This is my first time seeing it.”
“You’ll get one soon, too. It’s only good for putting in dungeon-related things, but it’s convenient.” Ahjussi made room for the contract on the table and started speaking. “Now, there are two main conditions for this contract. First is that you can’t talk about my skill to anyone. You cannot communicate what it is in any way to anyone. Second is that you have to take care of yourself.”
Yerim stared at Ahjussi. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t rush into decisions or contracts,” Ahjussi said. “If you don’t want a guardian, then that is up to you. But the reason many young Hunters do have their guardians take care of contracts is because there are many people who want to take advantage of them. They’ll act nice, they’ll make everything seem like it’s in your interest to sign, but there’s always a catch. There’s always something you don’t see and will regret later.”
Ahjussi sounded bitter, and Yerim wondered if he was speaking from experience.
“Then what are you?” she asked. “You’re not taking advantage of me, if you’re telling the truth. These are easy conditions.”
“I’m just weird, it seems,” Ahjussi said. “There is a catch, though. If you violate the contract, then for one year, all of your stats will drop by 20%.”
Yerim frowned. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“A 20% drop means that the dungeon you can clear will be one rank lower. And you already can only enter dungeons that are two ranks lower than yourself. So if you are B-rank, then you’d get downgraded to E-rank dungeons if you break the contract. That is a huge drop in money.”
“I could rest for a year,” Yerim pointed out.
Ahjussi shrugged. “True, but this contract is Hunter Association certified. If you break any of these kinds of contracts, then your credit rating will drop to the ground, and your Hunter license could be suspended.”
Still, it didn’t sound all that bad to Yerim. She didn’t want it to happen but she could live with it if it did. “I thought Awakened Person contracts had really horrible penalties.”
“Oh, those exist. They’re illegal, though.”
That explained some of it, she guessed. There was one more thing bugging Yerim, though. “But only Awakened People have stats. So how would the contract work if I’m not Awakened, like now?”
“The curse applied to this also will affect Unawakened people,” Ahjussi said. “So your physical ability will probably drop by 20% if you break it before you are Awakened.”
Yerim eyed the paper, shuddering a bit when Ahjussi mentioned a curse. Ahjussi started to write the conditions when he suddenly stopped.
“Ah, what is your name?” he asked.
Right. Yerim didn’t know his name either.
“Bak Yerim,” she said. “Who are you?”
“I’m Han Yoojin,” Ahjussi said and Yerim thought a bit, trying to see if she had heard of the name before. She thought not, so she just shot a smile at Ahjussi. Hmm, perhaps she should actually refer to him by name, now. Yerim ran Han Yoojin’s name over in her head a few times before shaking her head. It felt too weird. Ahjussi he’d stay, then.
Soon enough, Ahjussi was finished and he handed the pen and the contract over to her.
Yerim was about to sign when suddenly, Ahjussi pulled the contract back. Yerim stared at him.
“Kids are definitely kids,” Ahjussi muttered to himself.
“Eh? Why’s that?” Yerim asked sharply. Ahjussi just shook the contract in front of her.
“I told you to be careful,” he said. “Look over the contract properly.”
Yerim pushed the contract out of her face so she could look at Ahjussi. “But there’s no problem with it.”
Ahjussi looked at her like she was stupid. “You left out your conditions.”
Yerim looked back to the contract and noted that yes, she had left out her conditions. She felt her cheeks begin to heat up.
“Sometimes you just forget these things,” she said hurriedly.
“Of course,” Ahjussi said, dropping that look on his face. “But that excuse isn’t going to affect any contract once you sign it. It won’t matter if you forgot, because you’ll be bound to what you signed. This is what it means to become an Awakened Person. You’ll get rights like an adult’s, but you also have to bear responsibility like an adult. Which is why I added the second condition, there.”
Ahjussi took the pen back and started to read the conditions he was writing, checking to make sure Yerim agreed. Yerim felt out of her depth, so she just nodded along, whether it was the condition guaranteeing the Awakening or the condition to provide counseling as to her journey as a Hunter until she was in a Guild.
“You know,” Ahjussi said as he was finishing up her conditions. Compared to his, hers were a lot, “you’re in good shape. You’ll get rank B or higher, so wherever you go, you’ll get good treatment. Especially if you’re rank A or higher, because that’s a free pass to the three big guilds.”
Yerim wondered why an F-rank knew so much about the higher ranks, but she just nodded along.
“Hmm, I think this should be a fair contract now,” Ahjussi said, squinting at the contract before handing it over to Yerim.
“So what do you want me to do?” she asked. Ahjussi had just checked it over, but he had gotten annoyed with her before when she went to sign it without reading.
“Read through it again and decide if it’s what you want,” Ahjussi said. “Look, I do mean what I said earlier. There will be people who want to take advantage of you, even when you’re in a good guild. Because you’re young, they’ll target you more.”
“... But I hate my uncle,” was all Yerim could say.
Ahjussi sighed. “I know, I know. I wouldn’t even recommend that kind of person to be your guardian anyways. It’d be a relief if he didn’t steal all your money.”
“He’d definitely run off with everything,” Yerim said, a bit eagerly, feeling a bit more at ease now that it didn’t seem like Ahjussi would try to stick her with her uncle.
Ahjussi looked at her for a moment before saying, “If it is okay with you, then I can assume that role for you.”
Yerim stared at him. This ahjussi was really doing too much. “Isn’t you counseling me the same thing?”
“Not exactly,” Ahjussi said. “My counseling by the contract will end when you enter a Guild. Besides, even if I did become, say, your supporter, a supporter can’t participate as a Hunter in a deal. I can help but if you get into a disadvantageous contract, then I can’t say that it’s an invalid claim. A guardian can possibly say that, though. If I became your guardian, it’d be like taking the role of your parents.”
Ahjussi cleared his throat a bit and Yerim couldn’t help but stutter. “P—parent? You’d be my parent?”
She called this man ahjussi but he wasn’t that old.
“Yeah,” Ahjussi said, and at least he felt as awkward as she did. Honestly, Yerim thought she might prefer if Ahjussi tried to proposition her because at least she knew how to react to that. She had no idea what to do here. “Of course, there are various ways that I’m ill-suited and insufficient to being a guardian, so it doesn’t have to be me.”
But other than Ahjussi, who could it be? She didn’t know adults who’d actually do this for her and besides, all the people she did know weren’t Hunters. They didn’t know as much as Ahjussi did and Yerim wasn’t sure they’d put in the effort to learn.
“If you’re scamming me, I’m going to destroy you,” Yerim said after a moment.
“As you should,” Ahjussi said, and she really hoped he wasn’t lying. “It’s okay if I don’t seem all that reliable.”
“It’s okay, ahjussi seems like he’d be reliable enough,” Yerim forced out. It felt a bit weird to say, but even more strangely, it did feel true.
“Ah,” Ahjussi said. “I understand.”
Yerim couldn’t believe this was her life now, but, wanting to hide behind her hands, she said, in a rush, “Please take care of me from now on.”
“Same here,” Ahjussi said, also quickly. At least he wasn’t going to act all parental and overbearing with her. Maybe he’d be more like a brother. Almost immediately, Yerim wanted to shake her head. She knew that Ahjussi said that he was only in his mid-twenties, but he’d always to be ahjussi to her.
Ahjussi still seemed embarrassed, but he continued to speak. “I said I would act in the place of your parents, but I don’t want to replace them. Still, as much as your parents loved you, I’ll, uh, I love you also to that extent.”
If Yerim’s face wasn’t red already it definitely was now. She scooted back involuntarily and rubbed her arms. But almost as soon as she had done so, she paused.
Weirdly enough, she was a bit reminded of that student next door who used to take care of her. Obviously, he and Ahjussi were two different people, but there was something about Ahjussi that was familiar. Maybe it was just because he was willing to take care of her.
“You didn’t have to take it that far!” she managed to get out after a moment. “It’s just, mutually beneficial, is what this is. That’s so weird.”
Ahjussi’s face was also red and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Here, I’ve added the guardian clause. Quickly sign and I’ll Awaken you.”
He really was embarrassed, wasn’t he? Now that Yerim had the time to breathe, the situation was pretty funny. A grown man, embarrassed by a teenager. Also, someone who was orphaned taking care of another orphan. It was like something out of a show.
Yerim couldn’t help it. She started to laugh. Ahjussi got even redder.
“Do you want to sign or not?”
“Just give me a moment,” Yerim managed to get out. “This is so funny.”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Your neck is red,” Yerim said. “I didn’t think that happened outside of stories!”
Ahjussi scowled, but it didn’t feel bad-tempered. “You’re difficult to handle too, okay?”
Yerim managed to get the worst of her laughter under control, but she was still giggling as she read over the contract briefly. Ahjussi had added that he’d act as her guardian until she entered a Guild and then look over her contracts until she turned eighteen. It seemed good enough to her, so she signed.
Part of her was waiting for this all to turn out to be fake, but instead, the contract started to glow, and the paper became shiny, as if it was laminated. Just to check, she touched the contract.
“It doesn’t look as if you can change it,” Yerim said, continuing to poke the paper.
“It wouldn’t be much good if you could modify it,” Ahjussi pointed out and Yerim pretended the burn on her cheeks was still from Ahjussi’s embarrassing words.
“Alright,” Ahjussi said. “I’ll use the Awakening skill, then.”
“Wait a moment,” Yerim said hurriedly. She had heard rumors about how your situation could affect what rank you got, and she did not want to fuck this up. She shook herself out and sat up straight, taking in deep breaths.
“Will I Awaken right away?” Yerim asked.
“If your luck is good,” Ahjussi said. “Could happen immediately or take up to a week.”
Yerim pursed her lips, but considering everything, it was a good deal. “Alright, do it.”
It didn’t look like Ahjussi had done anything, but immediately, a message window popped up.
“Holy shit,” she said, ignoring Ahjussi’s cough. “This—my message window really came up! Ahjussi! Ahjussi, how do I check my rank?”
“Just think about opening your Status Window. If you need to, you can say it aloud too.”
“Status Window!” Yerim said immediately, and just like Ahjussi said, it was there. And immediately, her jaw dropped. After Ahjussi’s words, she was hoping for C-rank, maybe B-rank since he was so insistent on that.
But this wasn’t B-rank. It was fucking S-rank.
“Ahjussi—” Yerim started, grabbing the table, only to feel something fine between her fingers. She looked down and saw that she had turned part of the table into dust. She looked up at Ahjussi, who also looked shocked.
“Uh, Ahjussi?”
“Don’t move,” he said quickly and Yerim froze, afraid to breathe too harshly in case that did something weird. “Alright, so right now, your strength is much greater. So you can’t touch anything until you get it under control, okay?”
“How do I get it under control?” Yerim asked.
“Your body will adjust,” Ahjussi said with a smile. “But let’s go out carefully now, okay? Move very carefully and think about doing everything extra softly and quietly.”
“Yes, yes,” Yerim whispered, and started to get up very slowly. She tried not to eye the table. She… didn’t know how much that’d cost. She really hoped she didn’t put Ahjussi into debt or anything.
Ahjussi hovered around her, extending his one free arm out in case she fell.
“Good job,” he was saying. “Slowly, step by step. Yes, like that.”
It was a bit easier now than before, and she told Ahjussi that.
“Still,” he said, moving his crutch along, “you can’t hurry. It may take some time for everything to get adjusted.”
Yerim would have to be very careful around Ahjussi, wouldn’t she? If she broke the ground, then it’d be hard for him to get around.
Ahjussi opened the sliding door for her and with some effort, put on his shoes. Then they both looked at Yerim’s shoes.
“I’ll put them on for you,” Ahjussi said after a moment. “Just give me your feet.”
“Ahjussi, I feel more confident but not confident enough to stand on one foot.”
“Then sit down really carefully. Slowly—”
Yerim couldn’t help it. Her hand touched the ground and left a handprint. It wasn’t as bad as the table, but it was still noticeable. Ahjussi didn’t say a word. He only knelt down and started to put on her old, ratty shoes. She stared at them, trying to ignore the property damage she was incurring.
Now that Yerim thought about it, soon, she’d have enough money to get whatever shoes she wanted. She could get whatever clothes she wanted and she’d be able to get some new clothes for Ahjussi because if he really wasn’t as old as he looked, then he should stop dressing that way. Besides, if he was going to be her guardian, he really did need to dress better.
Yerim smiled. With the money being an S-rank would give her, she could have her own place, get almost everything, and do anything she wanted.
Ahjussi got started on her second shoe and she felt like Cinderella, with Ahjussi as her fairy godmother. Or godfather, she supposed.
“Isn’t this a little exciting?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s more nerve-wracking,” Ahjussi muttered. “Make sure not to touch anything. I’m going to pay.”
Yerim watched as Ahjussi made his way to the checkout counter. She was interested in how he’d be able to afford all of this.
She was so intent on watching him that she didn’t notice the fly in front of her face until it was going to land on her. Lashing out, she realized a second too late that maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t have done that.
A table corner crumpled now and Yerim laughed nervously when she saw the faces of Ahjussi and the employee at the counter.
“It was a fly,” she told them. At least she’d never have to worry about stubbed toes again. She’d just destroy the table. “Definitely dead by now.”
The employee did not look assuaged and Ahjussi started dumping out a lot of cash from his pockets. At that, she stared, because what the fuck? He even handed over a number of credit—or maybe they were debit—cards and it looked like he was apologizing.
And then he left the cards back, returning to Yerim before the employee could even comprehend the stacks of cash and cards.
“Alright, let’s go,” he said and Yerim carefully stood up and followed him outside without any trouble.
“Ahjussi? How’d—why’d you have so much cash?”
Ahjussi turned back and since he was walking, part of his jacket was pulled away with how he was holding the crutch. Which meant that Yerim could see his shirt. Which had some splattered blood on it.
There were no rips in the shirt and if the blood was splattered… it likely wasn’t his.
“I was helping out a friend,” Ahjussi said with a wince. “Come on, before it turns out half those bills were forgeries or something.”
Yerim stared and then jogged a bit to catch up with Ahjussi. Part of her was worried about who exactly she signed up with, but the other part of her was calm. Ahjussi had taken care of her much better than anyone else in years.
Besides, he was only an F-rank and she was S-rank now. If he really was a bad person, she could kick his ass. There was nothing in the contract about not hurting him.
With that in mind, she followed Ahjussi with a spring in her step.