Chapter 67: Gamcheon Culture Village

The quiet street was nearly deserted, with only a few scattered pedestrians passing by.

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian’an walked hand in hand along the peaceful street.

It was only after getting closer that they realized almost every shop on both sides of the road was a hair salon.

Behind each cramped little salon area hung a curtain leading farther inside, as though a much larger space lay beyond it. Strangely, however, there were hardly any hairdressing tools to be seen inside. Behind each cramped styling area hung a curtain that led deeper into the shop, as though another, much larger space lay beyond it.

Each shop had a young female attendant sitting inside. Most of them were fair-skinned and dressed casually. With hardly any customers around, they were either looking down at their phones or simply sitting there in silence.

What was even stranger was that quite a few of the salons had already drawn their curtains across the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Normally, that would mean they were already closed for the night.

Yet the lights inside remained on, and from time to time, faint silhouettes could be seen moving behind the curtains.

Although neither of them had any intention of getting their hair done, Xia Jiuwei ultimately couldn't resist her curiosity.

She pushed open the glass door of one of the shops and poked her head inside.

"Excuse me... is this a hair salon?"

The female attendant looked up from her phone and glanced toward Xia Jiuwei at the entrance.

The next second, her expression stiffened slightly.

She then shook her head repeatedly, somewhat awkwardly, raising her right hand to signal that the two of them should not come any farther inside.

Xia Jiuwei froze for a moment.

"Nia, let's go."

Sensing that something was strange about the atmosphere, she immediately pulled Lu Nian’an away.

Standing across the street, Xia Jiuwei sighed somewhat regretfully.

"We still didn't find out what they actually do here."

There were dozens of hair salons along the entire street, all with nearly identical layouts.

Xia Jiuwei figured that even if they asked at the other shops, they probably wouldn't get an answer either.

After thinking for a moment, she suggested, "Why don't we just watch for a while? As long as someone goes inside, we'll know what they're actually doing."

The two of them quietly stood by the roadside and watched the shops across the street.

Before long, someone emerged from one of the hair salons that had its curtains drawn.

A middle-aged man walked out with a perfectly natural expression.

The female attendant accompanied him to the entrance and even handed him a bottle of something to drink.

Once the man had left, she pulled the curtains open again, and the shop immediately returned to looking like an ordinary hair salon.

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian’an exchanged a glance.

They had more or less figured out what kind of service these "hair salons" were actually offering.

Without saying another word about it, they turned and walked away.

They had barely gone very far when they saw an office worker in a suit calmly walk into one of the shops.

The next second, the curtains were drawn once again, and the man and the attendant disappeared behind them.

The two continued along the street.

Along the way, they passed several nightclubs, karaoke establishments, and other brightly lit businesses.

Then, all of a sudden, Xia Jiuwei stopped.

She looked up at the sign above a shop, her eyes widening slightly.

KISS BAR.

"Don't you think this name..."

She trailed off as she looked inside.

Most of the attendants were only eighteen or nineteen, and the girls inside were dressed even more provocatively than those working at the "hair salons" they'd just passed.

Lu Nian’an followed her gaze for a moment before immediately taking her hand.

"We probably shouldn't stay here too long. Let's go back."

"Mm."

The two didn't linger and soon returned to the hotel.

Back in their room, Xia Jiuwei didn't immediately return home with Lu Nian’an.

Instead, she walked alone to the balcony and gazed out over the city beneath the night sky.

A strange light faintly shimmered within her violet eyes.

The next second, from within her vision, the entire city seemed to be shrouded in a thick mass of black resentment, as though the entire city were shrouded in a thick, oppressive cloud of resentment.

"Hm?"

Lu Nian’an gently wrapped her arms around her from behind.

Xia Jiuwei blinked, and the violet glow in her eyes gradually faded.

"It's nothing."

Looking out at the city, which had returned to its ordinary appearance of countless illuminated windows, she spoke softly.

"I told you, I'm not going to interfere on my own anymore."

As soon as she finished speaking, the two of them disappeared from the hotel room together.

Early the next morning, Xia Jiuwei refused to let Lu Nian’an sleep in and woke her up early.

After washing up and changing clothes, the two instantly reappeared inside their hotel room.

After checking out and leaving the hotel, they hailed a taxi and headed toward Gamcheon Culture Village.

About fifteen minutes later, the taxi arrived at the foot of the hill beneath Gamcheon Culture Village.

After paying the fare, the two stepped out.

Standing at the entrance to the village, Xia Jiuwei couldn't help stretching her arms in a huge yawn, feeling completely refreshed.

She looked up at the sprawling Gamcheon Culture Village.

House after house, each at a different elevation, was stacked across the hillside in layers, their vivid colors covering the mountain like a gigantic pile of building blocks.

Xia Jiuwei pointed toward the higher part of the village with growing interest.

"Why don't we climb all the way to the top first?"

"Sure."

The two walked side by side, slowly making their way uphill.

Most of the houses along the way were painted in soft, pastel colors, with colorful murals and art installations scattered throughout the village.

They passed through narrow alleys between buildings, climbed a stretch of painted stairs, and eventually emerged onto another road.

At the intersection, a small street cart caught their attention.

An elderly woman with snow-white hair was running the stall.

When she saw the two young women approaching, she immediately called out enthusiastically,

"Young ladies, would you like some hotteok? Only 2,500 won each."

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she suddenly remembered that the two looked like foreign tourists and probably couldn't understand Korean.

Just as disappointment began to show on her face, Xia Jiuwei smiled and spoke.

"Ma'am, we'd like two hotteok—one original and one with peanut powder."

The familiar Korean immediately made the old woman freeze.

Then, a huge smile spread across her face.

She quickly packed up two golden, crispy hotteok, cut one open, sprinkled a generous spoonful of peanut powder over it, and handed one to each of them.

The stall didn't have a card reader.

Xia Jiuwei took out the Korean won they had exchanged after arriving in Korea and paid in cash.

Just as the two were about to leave, the old woman called after them.

"Wait."

She glanced at the remaining hotteok on the stall and let out a helpless sigh before picking up two more and holding them out to the girls.

"Ma'am, wouldn't that be a little much?"

Xia Jiuwei hurriedly tried to return them.

But the old woman simply smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, dear. I haven't had many customers for several days now. If I can't sell these today, they'll only go to waste, so I might as well give them to you."

Xia Jiuwei lowered her eyes to the hotteok in her hands, then glanced at the price sign beside the stall, which was written entirely in Korean.

She gazed at the sign thoughtfully for a moment.

Then she smiled and accepted the extra hotteok.

"Let's go, Lu Nian’an."

Watching the two young women walk away, the old woman returned to her stall and sat down, staring blankly at the sky.

If business continued like this...

What would she do in the future?

Yet, contrary to her expectations, another customer arrived at the stall not long afterward.

It was a foreign man carrying a hiking backpack and dressed in light clothing.

He spoke in English, none of which she could understand, and disappointment immediately returned to her heart.

But the man soon began gesturing with his hands before finally pointing toward one of the items on the price sign.

The old woman followed his gesture.

Then she suddenly froze.

The sign, which had originally been written entirely in Korean, now contained translations in English, Chinese, Japanese, and several other languages.

"When did... these get added?"

She stared blankly at the sign, unable to remember when the additional languages had appeared.

For the rest of the day, her business suddenly picked up.

Although she still couldn't speak any foreign languages, the translated sign, combined with a few simple gestures, was enough for her to complete transactions with foreign tourists.

By evening, she pushed her cart back to her old, run-down little house.

Sitting at the table, she carefully counted the money she'd earned that day.

It was almost as much as she normally made from an entire week of running the stall.

She looked toward the old, yellowed photograph beside the bed and finally smiled with relief before quietly falling asleep.

After leaving the stall, Xia Jiuwei had quietly added translations in several languages to the sign, allowing herself to accept the two extra hotteok from the old woman without the slightest guilt.

The two continued toward the higher parts of Gamcheon Culture Village.

As they walked, they bit into the freshly made original hotteok.

Its crispy outer shell encased a soft, chewy brown-sugar filling, and every bite was wonderfully sweet and fragrant.

"Not bad, huh? What do you think?"

"It's very good."

"Do you like it because it's not too sweet?"

"No. I'm just worried you'll get cavities."

Xia Jiuwei immediately opened her mouth and leaned in toward Lu Nian’an.

"Look. Every single one of my teeth is perfectly healthy. I'm not going to get cavities."

“All right, all right. My Mia has such pretty teeth.”

Lu Nian’an patted Xia Jiuwei's head with an almost approving expression, only to receive a mischievous glare in return.

The two continued walking and eating, quickly finishing the first hotteok.

Just as they were about to take out the second two that the old woman had given them, that familiar sensation of being watched appeared once again.

Sure enough, it was the same person they'd encountered at the airport.

"So annoying. So annoying."

She leaned against Lu Nian’an and repeatedly rubbed her head against her shoulder.

After a few seconds, she suddenly stopped, her eyes lighting up.

"Nia, I've got an idea."

The corners of her lips slowly curled upward.

"Want to give it a try? I think it'll be pretty fun."