Chapter 139: That Time I Opened a Casino in South America (3)

TL: Skye

“I’ll have to see it for myself.”

Yu-jin muttered as he read the field report from Choi City.

The report was packed with details on infrastructure expansion, tourist trends, and more.

The numbers were good. Revenue was good, visitor numbers were good, and satisfaction ratings weren’t bad either.

But there were things numbers alone couldn’t show.

Were the streets clean? Were the people friendly? Was it inconvenient to get around? Those were things he could only find out by walking the streets himself.

It definitely wasn’t because he’d been working nonstop for the past month and wanted a break.

Seriously.

“Chief of Staff Isabella.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Why don’t we go to Choi City for an inspection?”

Isabella nodded.

“Understood. I’ll assemble the accompanying staff and security detail. I’ll also contact Senior Secretary Sophia and Mayor Antonio...”

“No.”

Yu-jin waved a hand.

“If everyone knows the president is coming, they’ll prepare everything and dress the place up. Then we won’t see what it’s really like.”

“In that case...”

“Let’s just go by ourselves. We can disguise ourselves as tourists too.”

“J-just the two of us?”

“Of course.”

“......”

Isabella hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“When are you thinking of going?”

“I’m planning to stay from morning until the afternoon, so how about leaving tomorrow?”

“...Understood. I’ll make the preparations.”

Her steps were quicker than usual as she turned away.

Of course, doing away with security entirely wasn’t an option, so on the way back to her room, she contacted Lucio and instructed him to have SIA agents covertly escort them from a distance.

Because the president’s safety wasn’t negotiable.

And so, the next morning.

Yu-jin came out dressed casually, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses.

Then Isabella appeared, and Yu-jin stopped dead for a moment.

“......”

He had seen her every day for six years.

Her hair neatly tied back, her perfectly pressed suit, an expression that rarely betrayed any emotion. That was the Isabella Yu-jin knew.

But the woman standing in front of him now was different.

Her hair fell past her shoulders, and instead of a suit she wore a sky-blue dress, with flat sandals on her feet.

“......”

“Does it look strange? I tried to dress like a tourist...”

“N-no. It suits you very well.”

Yu-jin cleared his throat.

“It’s just... you look very different from usual.”

“I merely chose clothing appropriate for the inspection.”

Isabella answered calmly.

“And Your Excellency, you cannot address me by my title today. It would defeat the purpose of the disguise.”

“Ah, right. Then what should I...”

“You can call me by my name.”

“Isabella?”

“...Yes.”

“Then please call me Yu-jin too, Isabella-ssi.”

“Th-that...”

“Wouldn’t ‘Your Excellency’ stand out even more than ‘Chief of Staff’?”

“...Understood. Yu-jin-ssi.”

“I like that.”

With that settled, Yu-jin and Isabella traveled by car to the station and boarded the train.

They took their seats among the tourists.

Bwaaah- bwaaah.

As the Korean-imported train began to move, the Caribbean coastline unfolded beyond the windows.

A coastal road lined with palm trees, cobalt-blue water, white sand beaches. The thirty-minute ride looked like the opening sequence of a movie.

Yu-jin gazed out the window, then stole a glance at Isabella. She was looking outside too.

‘I always thought she was beautiful... but she’s even prettier in casual clothes.’

While he was thinking that, the train pulled to a stop.

“We got here quickly.”

“Yes. It is a little crowded, but if the travel time is this short, I don’t think it’s too bad.”

The moment they stepped out of the station, the energy of the tourist city washed over them.

Tourists wandered around with smiles on their faces, while a street vendor hawked sunglasses to passersby.

They called it an inspection, but to be honest, half of it was simple curiosity.

Yu-jin had visited a few times before, but those had all been formal inspections. This was his first time seeing the city through the eyes of an ordinary tourist.

The first thing Yu-jin and Isabella did was walk along the beach.

Coral sand crunched beneath their feet. The emerald sea stretched endlessly before them, and the sound of breaking waves filled their ears.

Overwater bungalows dotted the sea, while the silhouettes of tourists parasailing drifted through the sky.

“Everyone looks like they’re having fun.”

“I-it’s the result of what Yu-jin-ssi envisioned and what thousands of people worked so hard for.”

Apparently finding the form of address awkward, Yu-jin cleared his throat.

“Ahem. It’s about lunchtime, so should we get something to eat first?”

“Yes.”

The two headed toward the restaurant district.

“Let’s try that one.”

Yu-jin led Isabella into a seafood restaurant overlooking the beach.

A friendly employee guided them to a table on the terrace.

A seat overlooking the sea.

The two of them beneath a white parasol.

“I hear the lobster here is famous. Shall we order one lobster and a pasta dish?”

“...Yes.”

About fifteen minutes after they placed their order, the grilled lobster arrived.

Fresh lobster caught in the Caribbean had been drizzled with lemon-butter sauce. It looked delicious, and the aroma alone made his mouth water.

Yu-jin took one bite and his eyes widened.

“This is really good. And at this price, it’s definitely good value.”

Isabella picked up her fork as well.

She took a bite, and her expression changed. Ever so slightly, truly ever so slightly, the corners of her mouth rose.

“It’s... delicious.”

Yu-jin smiled.

There was something strangely cute about the expression she made as she said it.

It was hard to believe this was the same Isabella who routinely chewed out the Senior Secretaries at Cabinet Meetings.

After sharing a glass of wine as well, the two headed to a nearby café.

“This place has a nice atmosphere too.”

Yu-jin ordered an Americano, while Isabella ordered a café latte.

Yu-jin took a sip and spoke.

“Isabella-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“We’ve worked together for six years, but I think this is the first time we’ve ever sat down and had coffee like this.”

Isabella thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I believe so.”

“We’re together every day, but strangely enough, we’ve hardly ever had time like this.”

“...Because we’ve almost never spent time together outside of work.”

Yu-jin set down his coffee cup and asked,

“What do you do on your days off, Isabella-ssi?”

“...Nothing particularly special. I organize whatever paperwork has piled up, or review the following week’s schedule in advance.”

“Not things like that. I mean what you do when you’re actually relaxing.”

“If I have time... I occasionally read.”

“What kind of books?”

“Mostly books about historical figures.”

“Historical figures?”

“Yes. I read a book called Stalin’s War. Before that, I read a history of Germany’s Third Reich.”

“......”

While Yu-jin sat there at a loss for words, a breeze outside rustled the palm leaves. The scent of coffee lingered inside the café.

“Ah, I’ve also read a Korean novel recently.”

Yu-jin’s eyes widened.

“You can read Korean novels?”

“Yes. Your Excellency... Ah, Yu-jin-ssi sometimes talks about Korea, so I studied Korean and started reading them. I found them more interesting than I expected.”

“What did you read?”

“A novel called The Naked Tree.”

“Ah, The Naked Tree. It’s about people living amid the ruins after the war.”

“Yes. While reading it, I thought it felt similar to the San Marcos of the past.”

Isabella took a sip of her coffee.

“And... I thought the people in it who quietly kept moving forward reminded me of you, Yu-jin-ssi.”

“......”

Yu-jin had exchanged thousands of conversations with Isabella over the past six years.

But this was the first time they had ever talked like this, about something other than work.

It was almost...

‘Isn’t this basically a blind date?’

Or maybe not?

Considering their age, was this more like an arranged-marriage meeting?

“Ahem. If you’re finished, shall we head back out?”

“Yes.”

The two left the café and headed toward the marina.

Yachts were lined up at the docks, and a queue had formed in front of the sunset cruise reservation booth.

“Everything looks good, but the layout’s a little inefficient. To get from here to there, people have to go all the way around... I should tell Mayor Antonio to fix that.”

“It is still the early days. I suppose it was something they simply failed to consider.”

Unlike usual, Isabella answered gently. Strangely enough, it both suited her and didn’t.

After looking around the marina, Yu-jin entered an accessories boutique with Isabella.

“They have quite a selection.”

As Yu-jin looked over the displays, he pointed to a necklace.

“Could I see this one?”

A thin silver necklace.

Yu-jin took the necklace, then held it out to Isabella.

“Would you try this on?”

“...Me?”

“Yes.”

And so Isabella put on the necklace.

“It suits you. We’ll take it.”

“......”

“It’s a gift.”

Her face instantly turned red.

“Th-thank... you, Yu-jin-ssi.”

Seeing an expression he had never seen on her before, so different from usual, Yu-jin felt something strange.

Thump-

He had no idea why his heart was doing that, but suddenly he felt like he couldn’t just stand there doing nothing.

Flustered, Yu-jin spoke awkwardly.

“Sh-shall we go?”

“...Yes.”

When they stepped outside, the sun had begun to set beyond the Caribbean.

The sky shifted from orange to red, then from red to violet.

The sea took on the colors of the sky and reflected them like a mirror. The sun hung over the horizon, slowly descending.

Yu-jin stood there for a while and watched the sight.

"..,...."

It had been a strange day.

He had definitely come here for an inspection. He had come to evaluate the quality of service and check for infrastructure problems. And he had, in fact, found several things that needed improvement.

The long wait times at restaurants, inefficient routes through the city, the shortage of public restrooms, and so on.

But if he was being honest.

What stayed with him more than any of those things were other moments entirely.

Isabella with her hair down, wearing a dress. The tiny smile she made while eating lobster. The sight of her walking along while eating ice cream. And the way she had grown shy after putting on the necklace.

He had seen her every day for six years, yet somehow, it felt like he was seeing her for the first time today.

“Isabella-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“Thanks to you, this turned into a good inspection.”

Isabella was silent for a moment.

The wind blew, brushing her hair across her face. The glow of the sunset colored her features.

“...I enjoyed it too.”

Her voice was quiet. So quiet it was almost lost in the wind. But Yu-jin heard it.

Isabella turned her head slightly. Their eyes met. Beneath the golden light of sunset, Isabella’s eyes shimmered.

Yu-jin looked away first. For some reason, he felt as though he shouldn’t keep staring.

“We should probably head back soon.”

“...Yes.”

The two headed toward the station.

Normally, Isabella walked half a step behind Yu-jin, but today, they walked side by side.

Neither of them was conscious of it. No, neither of them even noticed.

On the train ride back.

Yu-jin was looking out the window. The sun had completely set, turning the Caribbean a deep indigo. One by one, stars began to appear.

He sensed her beside him.

When he turned his head, Isabella’s eyes were closed.

Her head was tilted slightly.

Toward Yu-jin’s shoulder.

‘She must be tired.’

The sharp expression she usually wore was gone, leaving her face peaceful and relaxed.

Yu-jin stayed perfectly still in case he woke her.

He remained that way until the train arrived in Libertad.

“......”

It was the day the seed of an unfamiliar feeling was planted in Yu-jin’s heart.

*****

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