Chapter 132: Sea Fishing
The next morning.
“Wait! Shinji! Where are you going?! Today’s schedule was definitely…”
“Just come along, you’ll see.”
After breakfast, the President, clueless about the situation, was led out of the mansion by the Vice President.
He led us to the garage behind the mansion, where Minami, who was in the same four-seater buggy we saw yesterday, slightly raised her right hand.
“Welcome, Miss.”
“Now Minami too! Really! Isn’t this different from what was discussed?!”
“Plans always change, Miss.”
The Vice President, saying something that sounded cool, opened the door of the buggy.
Anyway, having been brought this far, the President, grumbling, got into the back seat of the buggy that he opened.“Kim Yu-seong, you sit in the front… no, in the back seat.”
The Vice President suddenly changed his words and climbed into the front passenger seat before I could respond.
As a result, with only one option left, I naturally took the seat next to the President.
“Sorry. Is it cramped because of me?”
Although it was a space where two average people could sit comfortably, it felt almost full with me sitting.
“No! It feels more lively and rather nice! Good!”
With our shoulders almost touching, the President, startled, hastily urged Minami to depart quickly.
Then, Minami, lowering the sunglasses she had on her head, replied,
“Then, we’ll depart.”
The four-seater buggy carrying us drove through rough mountain roads and arrived at the stone-cut dock where we had disembarked yesterday.
And there, floating on the sea, was a different yacht from the one we saw yesterday.
“What’s this?”
As the President, who got out of the military-colored buggy, asked with wide-open eyes, the Vice President pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and replied,
“Since the President regretted not being able to play much yesterday due to sleeping, I asked Mr. Meguro to prepare it. It’s something the mansion people use when they need to go to the mainland in a hurry.”
“Shinji…”
The President looked at the Vice President with a touched expression.
“Both of you shouldn’t just stand there, get on quickly. Supplies are already loaded on the boat.”
Breaking the touching atmosphere, Minami, who intervened in between, stepped onto the yacht anchored in the sea with long strides.
It seemed like her own form of protest.
“Why don’t you compliment me too?”
“Shall we then?”
The President, cooling her slightly flushed cheeks with her palm, followed Minami onto the yacht.
Watching her, the Vice President and I also boarded the yacht one after another.
Vrooooom!
The yacht sped up with the sound of the electric motor running.
Following the Vice President’s suggestion to go far out to sea for the boat ride, we drove the boat far from the island.
For reference, Minami was the one driving the boat again.
“When did you learn to drive a boat?”
“I got it as a hobby a while back.”
Minami answered and opened her wallet to show something.
Shuffle!
A cascade of various licenses unfolded from her wallet to the floor.
Upon closer inspection, aside from the car driver’s license, which she was too young to obtain, she had most of the licenses.
Especially noteworthy among them was…
“Do you also have a motorboat license?”
“My birthday passed not long ago.”
Minami answered, raising her nose proudly.
“She has always liked riding things since she was young. If the President hadn’t taken her in, she might have become a biker. Even when she rides a bicycle, she tends to speed without realizing.”
Hearing the Vice President’s words, I imagined Minami in a black school gang uniform.
…It somehow suited her.
While we chatted, the President, who was looking at the blue horizon and enjoying the cool sea breeze outside, suddenly screamed.
“What happened?!”
Surprised, I went outside and saw the President pointing at something with her right hand.
“Just now, over there!”
Naturally, I turned my head towards the sea.
All I saw were white foams.
“Dolphins!”
“Dolphins?!”
Hearing me echo in surprise, the Vice President hurried out of the cabin.
“Dolphins, where?! Where?!”
Even the usually strict and serious Vice President couldn’t resist the excitement of dolphins.
We altered the course of the boat following the President’s sighting.
It was the area where the President had just seen dolphins.
But despite arriving where the white foam had appeared, there was no sign of dolphins.
“It’s strange. I’m sure I saw them…”
The President muttered as if wronged, and Minami on the deck shook her head, saying,
“They probably swam away to avoid our boat. It’s a pity, but there’s nothing we can do.”
“Oh, dolphins!”
The Vice President, full of anticipation, called out loudly in disappointment, but the sea remained silent.
Expecting too much only leads to disappointment.
If they had no expectations like I did, it would have been fine.
Watching her brother’s antics, Minami, apparently unable to watch anymore, crossed her arms and said,
“Since we’re here, let’s try fishing. If dolphins were seen around here, it means there are plenty of fish under the sea.”
“Wow…”
It was such a logically convincing explanation that I couldn’t help but admire it.
Then, the usually composed President raised her right hand and asked,
“But Minami, I’ve never fished before.”
“It’s okay. Sea fishing is something you learn as you do it.”
Soon, Minami, armed with a red fishing vest, hat, and long fishing rod, opened an icebox she had brought out of the cabin.
“I, once called the Master Fisher of Izumo, will teach you one-on-one.”
Maybe it was the sunglasses on her face, but she looked somewhat like a marine drill instructor, or was it just me?
“Ahhhh!”
Watching the President flustered by the impromptu sea fishing lesson, I couldn’t help but smirk.
“Miss, when fishing, there are generally three types of bait: dough, worms, and lures.”
Minami’s one-on-one tutorial, explaining from a beginner’s perspective, was so informative that even someone with some fishing experience would nod in agreement.
While eavesdropping on her explanations after casting my bait into the sea, I felt the fishing rod quiver and quickly lifted it overhead.
“Got one!”
Without much of a struggle, as I reeled in, the fish that lightly jumped out from the sea was a sand lance.
It was a versatile fish, more preferred in Japan than in Korea, eaten as sashimi, grilled, or fried.
If you would go to a proper restaurant, you’d almost always find sand lance tempura on the menu.
It was kind of like Korea’s spicy pork stir-fry in its ubiquity.
While attentively listening to Minami’s lecture, the President saw the sand lance fall to the floor, screamed, and clung to Minami.
Minami, with a warm smile, embraced her, seemingly moved by a protective instinct.
The sight of two pretty girls clinging and hugging each other was quite a sight to behold.
While I was distracted by the two, the Vice President next to me also seemed to have caught a fish and raised his fishing rod overhead.
True to Minami’s guess, there seemed to be a lot of fish in the area, as bait was quickly catching them, making it seem like a prime spot.
While the Vice President and I started competing to see who could catch more fish, and the president, after Minami’s 30-minute lecture, was trying fishing for the first time…
Squeak!
A strange whistling sound came from near the boat.
“Huh?”
Curious, I turned my head and saw a shadow poking its head out of the sea.
It was a dolphin.
“Dolphins!”
Startled by its sudden appearance, the Vice President leapt up from his seat.
“Quiet!”
I sternly cautioned the Vice President, who almost foolishly scared away the rare opportunity, and then beckoned the President, who was quietly watching from the side.
Squeak? Squeak?
Fortunately, the dolphin seemed interested in us, as it stayed still with its head poking out of the sea without fleeing.
I handed a fish caught with a fishing rod to the President and said,
“Try giving it directly.”
The President hesitated for a moment while holding the tail of the fish, which was flopping in her hand. Then, after making eye contact with the dolphin peeking out from the sea, she gulped and, with resolve, threw the fish, saying, “Here!”
Then, the dolphin, which had been waiting with its mouth open under the yacht, skillfully jumped out of the water and caught the food thrown by the President.
The waves, shattered into white foam due to this, glistened like jewels in the sunlight.
“Wow.”
The President, with her mouth agape, stared blankly at the scene.
It was cute to see her usually hidden, childlike innocence.
“Yu-seong! Did you see?! The dolphin ate the food I gave!”
“Yes, I saw it.”
“How can dolphins be this cute?! I want to raise one at home!”
As I humored the President’s rapid-fire excitement, she blushed brightly, as if realizing her own excitement.
Afterwards, the dolphin continued to snatch more than half of the fish we caught for an hour, performed some fan service, and then left with a long cry.
Gurgle!
As the President regretfully looked at the spot where the dolphin disappeared, she chuckled at the sudden sound of a stomach growling and said,
“We’ve watched others eat enough; let’s have our lunch now.”
Then, Minami, the source of the sound, slightly blushed and replied,
“Yes.”