The three spent another hour at the public bathhouse before finally returning home.
By the time they got back, they were all feeling drowsy and in dire need of sleep.
Su-Jin felt so relaxed from the sauna that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She had a dreamless sleep and only woke up when the sun was already high up in the sky.
After blinking several times against the light, Su-Jin slowly pried her eyes open. She raised a hand to cover her face, trying to get used to the brightness around her first. Meanwhile, her body reveled in the warm feeling of the mattress, too lazy to move a muscle.
A few moments later, Su-Jin finally slid out of bed and glided towards the bathroom.
After spending so many hours yesterday, bathing in hot water and trying all the heated salt rooms, her body still retained the soothing sensations last night's pampering had given it. Soon, a contented smile appeared on her face as she languidly stretched her limbs.
She almost looked like a lazy Cheshire cat that simply wanted to lay down and sleep in front of a sunny window for the entire day.
Su-Jin spent the next half an hour in the bathroom, showering and brushing her teeth. While humming softly to herself, she wrapped a towel around her wet hair and, with one last glance in the mirror, she finally opened the door.
A burst of warm steam followed her into the corridor, smelling both fragrant and delicate. The cloud of steam then slowly dispersed as it hit the colder air outside the bathroom.
Just when Su-Jin closed her eyes, breathing in the scented air around her, a voice sounded close to her.
"Morning sleepy head." Min-Jun greeted his sister the moment he saw her stepping out of the bathroom.
Then, after giving her a once-over, he continued to inquire calmly.
"Didn't you have somewhere to be today?"
Su-Jin slowly opened her eyes and blinked at him confusedly. She looked him up and down, as if his attire could provide an explanation for his question. After all, it was a Saturday, so if she really had somewhere to go it could only be with him or with Mi-Suk.
Min-Jun was wearing sweatpants and a simple black t-shirt. Gyojeon was curled up at his chest, purring softly.
So far, nothing sparked Su-Jin's memory.
Just then, Mi-Suk suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway.
"That's right. Isn't today your company's sports day or whatever you called it?" she piped up.
Those words finally did the trick at bringing Su-Jin's mind on the right track. She froze on the spot, still retaining half of her relaxed expression, while her heart started beating faster.
In truth, she had completely forgotten about Kangji Tourism's Sports Day. After such a long, eventful Friday, all she wanted to do when she got home last night was to sleep in and laze around for the entire Saturday.
Who could have thought that her plans would be so cruelly shattered, and by an event she actually had been looking forward to, no less?
Without saying a single word to either her brother or her best friend, Su-Jin turned on her heels and hurried towards her room. Once there, she took a glance at her phone, trying to figure out just how bad the situation was. Maybe it wasn't that late or perhaps it wasn't even Saturday yet.
But despite all her wishful thinking, Su-Jin only got a bigger shock. Her heart almost stopped.
The day was indeed Saturday and the time was...
"11:30?!" She yelped. "Oh my gosh, I am so late!"
Then, as if to prove the saying that misfortunes do not come alone, Su-Jin also saw a notification for seven missed calls. Three of them were from Yeon-Ah, another three from Seo-Jun and one was from...
'Him'. she finished in a panic-stricken thought.
Adding to her already growing list of misfortunes, she also began to remember that the bus was scheduled to leave early in the morning. No matter how she looked at it, 11:30 was already late in the day.
Together with the image of a departing bus filled with Kanji Tourism employees, Su-Jin's overactive mind could easily envision Director Kang's intense, glaring eyes, as they stared at her coldly. She could see his face darkening with rage, almost to the brink of becoming black as the bottom of a frying pan.
Su-Jin let out a groan. She covered her face with both hands, letting out a few muffled words.
"The bus must have left by now, so how will I be able to reach the resort? Should I take a cab? But that would be too expensive. What should I do then? Argh! I am so dead!"
Just as Su-Jin was talking to herself like that, the doorbell suddenly rang. The loud, unexpected noise startled everyone in the house.
Mi-Suk was the first to react. She instantly hid herself inside her room, saying that she wasn't looking decent enough to be seen by anyone.
True enough, her usually stylish hair was now all messy and tangled. Also, she wasn't wearing any makeup. Despite looking youthful and very charming without putting anything on her face, Mi-Suk was still a very conscientious woman, wanting to always look her best in front of strangers.
While scoffing and shaking his head at women's silliness, Min-Jun went to check out who it was at the door.
"Yes?" He said lazily.
He opened the door with one hand, the other still carefully cradling the kitten.
A second later, Min-Jun's relaxed expression froze and, for the first time he got so startled that he almost dropped Gyojeon. Despite recovering his wits quickly, his arm still trembled slightly, earning him a few mewls from the sleepy kitten.
But Min-Jun didn't seem to notice the soft scolding of his charge. His eyes had widened in surprise, as he gaped outside the door.
In front of the house stood the most unexpected visitor.