NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27: The president smile
EP.27 The president smile
I didn’t know if the president’s statement that she had been to Asakusa often was true, but she knew the entire geography of Asakusa shopping district without looking at the map.
Thanks to this, I just had to follow the president.
After looking at colorful umbrellas and theme trees with various flower patterns at a paper craft store, the second place we headed to, was a store selling various sculptures.
According to the explanation of the owner, foreign tourists who visited Asakusa seemed to buy many small statues sold here as souvenirs.
The president looked around the store and pointed to a Buddha statue with her fan.
“What do you think about this mysterious statue? It’s big and fancy, so I don’t think it’ll be bad as a decoration at home.”
“It’s… it’s definitely cool, but isn’t it a little too big?”
As I saw the human-sized Buddha, I expressed my reluctance.
It was probably made of brass, but when I checked the price range with my eyes, there were about six zeros attached.
Certainly, it wasn’t expensive if it was the president’s financial resources, but wouldn’t the receiver be more burdened?
However, in the eyes of the big-looking owner, the president’s choice seemed different.
“Hahaha! Miss! You have a good eye for the Buddha statue! This is one of our best works!”
“Ooh, I’m Saionji Kumiko. Thanks to the aesthetic that I’ve been raising since I was young, I have an excellent eye for this kind of art.”
“Then why don’t we take a look at these things, too?”
“Oh, this is another beautiful form of Buddha.”
The owner was excited and started to show another Buddha statue and the president was so flattered that she got influenced by it.
It was a redundant pattern, so it was time to look at my smartphone screen to spend the boring time.
The president, who was talking with the owner, suddenly stretched her back and said with a stiff look,
“Oh, my gosh. Look at me. There was something else left, and I was unconsciously focusing on the conversation.”
“What? Are you leaving already? I was going to show you my secret collection, what a shame.”
“I’ll visit you again next time.”
The president said goodbye in such an old-fashioned way like an aristocratic lady and left the store immediately.
“……?”
What was going on? I thought they would talk for another 15 minutes.
I lowered my head slightly to the owner and followed the president who went outside to leave the store.
The president was muttering something with her hand on her ear while sitting in front of the store.
“President? Are you sick?”
When I asked in wonder, the president, screamed loudly, and jumped from her seat.
“No! It’s nothing! I suddenly want to go to the bathroom!”
“Oh, then let’s go to the tourist information center nearby.”
“Then please guide me. I’ve never been there.”
“Yes. Trust me and follow me.”
I started walking toward the tourist information center around the center of Asakusa shopping district, as the president requested.
***
[Lady, this is not the time to talk about that.]
Kumiko Saionji, who was in the midst of discussing about the Buddha statue with the owner, was suddenly surprised by the voice in her ears and stood up straight without realizing it.
“Lady, what’s wrong with you? Something is wrong?”
“Oh, no. I suddenly felt a chill.”
After saying that and turning around, she put her hand on an earring-type Bluetooth earphone and spoke in ventriloquism.
‘Minami, speak quietly.’
But Minami Akagi too, had to say something over the speaker.
[Miss, you’re here on a date in Asakusa, not to see the Buddha statues. Look behind you. Isn’t Kim Yoo-sung looking at his smartphone with no expression? In dating between men and women, keeping the other person not bored is one of the basics of dating skills.]
“……!”
After hearing Minami’s criticism, Saionji Kumiko, who belatedly realized that her behavior was not suitable for a date, hurriedly ended the conversation she was talking about with the owner.
“Oh, my gosh. Look at me. There was something else left, and I was unconsciously focusing on the conversation.”
“What? Are you leaving already? I was going to show you my secret collection, what a shame.”
“I’ll visit you again next time.”
After successfully ending it, she hurried out of the sculpture shop.
Soon after, Kumiko crouched down and asked Minami a question.
‘So where should we go next?’
[You saw all the paper umbrellas, Temari, Buddha, and Ebisu, which you mentioned as examples of gifts earlier, so it’s time to go see kimono and yukata.]
Kimono! Yukata!
It was a perfect topic for Saionji Kumiko, who was blind in dating, to appeal her charm.
[If you can give us a moment, we’ll go ahead and recruit the owner of the kimono shop. You just have to guess what she’s saying]
‘What do you mean, how can I buy time…’
“President? Are you sick?”
At the sudden voice of Kim Yoo-sung from behind, Saionji Kumiko stood up in surprise.
“No, it’s nothing! I suddenly want to go to the bathroom!”
It was a rough excuse, but come to think of it, it was a perfect one.
Because it was just a short stay in the bathroom.
But Kim Yoo-sung, who couldn’t know the situation, was considerate of her and spoke first.
“Oh, then let’s go to the tourist information center nearby.”
Kumiko felt slightly guilty, but she decided to close her eyes and lie.
“Then please guide me. I’ve never been there.”
“Yes. Trust me and follow me.”
[5 minutes. Just hold on for 5 minutes.]
***
“Oppa, stay still here.”
Minami Akagi said so, taking off the headset she was wearing on her head.
“What?”
Suddenly, when Shinjiro Akagi was about to ask, Minami, who changed from shoes to sneakers, kicked the door of the limousine and ran out at a tremendous speed.
“Minami!”
Shinjiro hurriedly put out his head.
However, Minami was already sprinting at a tremendous speed toward the kimono shop in the shopping district about 2 kilometers away from where the car was parked.
Perhaps because it was the first day of Golden Week, Asakusa was crowded with families of tourists on a weekend outing.
Running in such a place was originally a perfect way to cause accidents, but such bad conditions were not even an obstacle for Minami, a Kunoichi1Kunoichi is a Japanese term for “woman”, but in popular culture, it is often used for female ninja or practitioner of ninjutsu (ninpo). who had been severely trained by Kougaru.
“Hop!”
She passed the promenade, which was crowded with tourists, by jumping lightly, using a small sign installed outside the store as a steppingstone.
As she landed on the sidewalk, twisting her body splendidly in the air, people passing by clapped their hands at the sight.
“Wow!”
“That’s cool! Miss!”
“Is it an event?”
But Minami didn’t had time to respond to their concerns.
‘100m straight on the road, then 300m after the right turn’
Pat!
There was an explosive acceleration at the same time as she stepped on the ground.
She ran at a tremendous speed along the map entered in her head.
Her running speed, faster than a decent runner in a neat office suit was truly amazing, drawing attention from people around her.
“Wow! A butterfly!”
At that moment, a child suddenly jumped out of a blind spot of the straight path.
“……!”
It was too late to suddenly put the brakes on while running, Minami narrowly jumped over the head and avoided the child’s mother who chased the child.
She started running again after beckoning to the mother of the child who looked at her with a puzzled expression, saying, “It’s okay.”
‘Three minutes left.’
It was time for the lady who went to the tourist information center with Kim Yoo-sung to start getting nervous.
She looked around to find a shortcut to the kimono shop and found a tricolored cat walking on the wall of a densely populated residential area.
Minami stepped on the mailbox on the street without hesitation and jumped.
“Aaaaah!”
The tricolored cat was startled and ran away at the sight of her sudden appearance.
Minami, who liked animals, was sorry for herself and started running fast on top of the wall.
‘Two minutes left.”
She had no choice but to jump onto the roof of the house because of the wall that was cut along the way.
Light footwork was the basis of a Kunoichi.
Quiet but fast.
Minami, who ran from a roof to another in a manner that barely made sound with her footsteps, finally arrived on the side road leading to the arcade shopping district where the kimono shop was located.
‘One minute left.’
Suddenly, when a girl in a black suit fell off the roof of a residential area, the people walking around were surprised and drifted away, but with no shame, she immediately made a final spurt.
After a straight run, she turned left right away.
Rattle!
After reaching a distance of about 2 kilometers in just five minutes, she gasped and said, holding out a black card to the owner of the kimono shop, who looked at her with surprised eyes.
“I’ll rent this store for an hour!”
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