Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 111

It was two days later, as promised, that Youngchan met Jamie again.

She came to the hotel where Youngchan was staying, and upon seeing him emerge, Jamie looked slightly surprised.

“Wow! This place is known for being expensive around here. Is your family rich?”

“……Ahahaha.”

Youngchan could only offer an awkward laugh at Jamie’s words.

It wasn’t so much that his family was rich, but rather that he was, but it felt awkward to correct her.

However, Jamie simply took his awkward laughter as a shy gesture typical of Asians.

Wishing to briefly silence her mouth, which would inevitably lead to her trying to involve him in something, Youngchan handed her the fruit juice he had brought.

“Here, this is for you.”

“Oh! Did you bring this for me?”

She was already thirsty, so she gratefully accepted it and took a sip, nodding in approval.

“As expected, even the fruit juice is different at an expensive hotel.”

Usually, the fruit used in fruit juice is cheap and soft. However, this fruit drink used high-quality fruit as its base, so much so that it tasted strongly sweet even without adding any sugar.

Jamie’s senses were keen, so she easily recognized the difference.

Youngchan carefully observed her as she was engrossed in the fruit juice.

Soon, he realized that she wasn’t entirely Caucasian.

Perhaps due to some East Asian blood mixed in from her grandfather’s generation, certain features were visible here and there.

Youngchan wondered if one of the reasons she was being so kind to him was because he was Asian.

‘Still, seeing her in casual clothes definitely makes the sense of déjà vu stronger.’

That only made him more curious.

She looked good in the old restaurant uniform, but her casual appearance in a white t-shirt and jeans was truly surprisingly beautiful.

Although she was a bit short, her limbs were long and her head was small, so it wasn’t immediately apparent that she was petite until you got close.

Unaware that Youngchan was observing her, she was completely absorbed in the fruit juice until she had emptied about half of it, then she snapped back to reality.

“This is no time for this! Today is going to be a busy day. Let’s hurry and go.”

“Yes, let’s.”

Following her, Youngchan couldn’t help but be a little taken aback by where they arrived.

Contrary to his expectation of being introduced to a one-on-one private tour, there were several other tourists gathered at the location.

“Don’t tell me you’re also working as a tour guide?”

“Hehe. Sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you. But I won’t charge you.”

“No, it’s okay. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll just relax and enjoy the tour.”

“Oh! You’re so kind. I have a good eye for people.”

Although she was a tour guide, she didn’t charge as much as other guides.

She only charged about $20 per person, and nearly half of that was used for entrance fees and such included in the package.

With 12 people including Youngchan, she would earn about $140 for the day’s work.

Considering that the minimum wage in the US in 2015 was about $15, it wasn’t a huge amount of money.

However, from her perspective, it was a good option since she could earn money during her short break without having to pay taxes.

She threw away the now-empty fruit juice and began to guide them as a tour guide.

As a tour guide, she certainly seemed a bit less professional, but no one complained.

This was partly because the guide fee was cheap, but more so because it was a unique experience to be with her, who was full of energy.

Unless someone was particularly mean-spirited, they wouldn’t complain about a kind and beautiful girl.

Therefore, Youngchan, who was almost new to this kind of guided tour, was quite satisfied.

The fact that it wasn’t a one-on-one guide reduced the pressure, allowing him to relax and take in the surroundings.

As the sun began to set, they arrived at the last guided location.

“This is the Neon Museum. It houses famous Las Vegas neon signs from the 1930s to the present, so you can naturally explore the history of Las Vegas.”

The Neon Museum, which Youngchan couldn’t visit the day before because it wasn’t open for individual exploration, was the final destination.

Youngchan thought that each of the neon signs that represented the glamorous Las Vegas was worth seeing.

Even if they had come during the day, the unique antique feel would have delighted the tourists.

Of course, the neon signs looked especially spectacular at night.

Even though the recently popular LED neon signs might be brighter, the unique charm of the original neon signs was still more special.

As the sun completely set, the tour came to an end, and the tourists, including Youngchan, applauded her for doing a great job as a guide.

“If you enjoyed today, please recommend me to others.”

She gave her SNS [Social Networking Service] ID to the tourists once again and said her final goodbyes.

Jamie smiled brightly as she approached Youngchan, who was standing alone among the dispersing tourists.

“How was it? Was it okay?”

“Yeah, it was great. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought you were a Las Vegas native.”

“Hahaha! It’s not that much.”

She waved her hands at Youngchan, who had dropped the honorifics since they had become closer.

But Youngchan hadn’t said it without reason.

Even though she had only settled there three years ago, the connections she had formed were impressive.

People recognized and welcomed her everywhere she took them, whether it was a restaurant or a store.

Anyone with a keen eye could see that they weren’t just welcoming her because she was bringing customers as a guide, but because they were genuinely happy to see her.

“Alright, alright! More importantly, let’s go eat. If we don’t hurry, we’ll have to wait in line for a long time!”

“Okay… let’s go.”

She still looked energetic, as if she hadn’t tired from talking all day, and led Youngchan.

Following Jamie, Youngchan arrived at a food truck near downtown with a great view of the Strip’s nightscape.

The old and shabby food truck had been in business for a long time, and there were indeed many people, just as she had said.

Most of them seemed to be locals, which made Youngchan realize that it was a hidden gem, and he didn’t mind the shabby exterior.

Rather, he was secretly enjoying eating on the street so freely for the first time in a while.

“How is it? Delicious, right!”

“I haven’t even eaten it yet!”

“Just try it.”

“…Okay.”

However, it was hard to fully enjoy it because of her excited prodding. He didn’t particularly like hamburgers, so he took a big bite without thinking, and his eyes widened in surprise.

It seemed to be just bread, meat, a little sauce, and pickles, but the burst of juice from that simple combination was incredible.

“Delicious, right! Delicious, right!”

“Yeah, it’s really good.”

Youngchan nodded emphatically at Jamie, who was chattering excitedly.

“I told you!”

She was as excited as if she were the chef who made the hamburger, and quickly unwrapped the packaging and began to eat.

As expected of an American hamburger, it was larger than domestic hamburgers, but it didn’t take her long to finish it.

She even looked like she wanted more, as if one wasn’t enough, showing that she had a great appetite despite her slender appearance.

“Should we buy this too this time? Is this good?”

“What’s there to say? Everything Uncle Ian makes is delicious.”

Youngchan bought plenty of side dishes such as french fries to go with the hamburger and shared them with her while looking around.

Then, he suddenly smiled silently.

‘Spending time with a beautiful foreign woman in the most glamorous city in the world. I couldn’t have imagined this even three years ago?’

Back then, his idea of ​​rest was just having drinks with a few colleagues.

Of course, as a man, he couldn’t help but envy the couples laughing around the streets and bars.

However, at the time, he had neither the environment nor the confidence in himself to be in a relationship.

“That was then… This feels like a dream now.”

“Huh?”

Jamie, who didn’t know what Youngchan was saying because he spoke in Korean, turned her head with her mouth full of food, and Youngchan chuckled.

“Haha. I guess I’m not a foreign beauty?”

“That’s Korean, right?”

“This? Yeah, it’s Korean.”

“Haha. I knew it. I haven’t dared to learn it because it’s difficult, but I’m quite interested in Korean.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m also a quarter Korean.”

Since the United States is a country made up of immigrants, it was common for people to introduce themselves in this way.

As Youngchan had expected, he wasn’t too surprised that she had inherited blood from Northeast Asia.

“My sister is especially almost half. She’s tall and has black hair like you.”

She said that she saw her sister’s appearance in Youngchan after a long time. And that’s why she was so happy and made this offer to Youngchan.

“You must have been close to your sister.”

“Yeah, we were close.”

Youngchan was curious about why she was speaking in the past tense, but he couldn’t ask.

-Booo-oong!-

Because her cell phone rang at that moment.

After checking the number, she answered the phone urgently and quickly said with surprised eyes.

“Yes. Yes. I’ll go. It’s not far. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

As soon as she hung up, she quickly got up from her seat and looked like she was going somewhere.

“What’s wrong? Suddenly?”

“Oh, a stage spot opened up. The team that was supposed to go on had a cancellation.”

“Stage? Do you also do music?”

“Of course. I’m good. My sister said I’m the best. Anyway, let’s break up now.”

“Um. Where is it?”

“Why? Are you going with me?”

“I can’t *not* watch the first foreign friend I made overseas perform on stage.”

“Friend? Hahaha. Yeah, a friend. Okay. I’ll surprise you.”

Whether the word friend had a deep meaning for her, she was particularly happy and allowed him to accompany her.

As a result of moving a little urgently, they were able to arrive at the restaurant in just 10 minutes.

The restaurant they arrived at had a different atmosphere than during the day.

During the day, there was still an atmosphere to enjoy culture, but at night, the atmosphere was mostly noisy like a bar.

Youngchan simply ordered drinks and desserts and was about to sit down, but then stood up.

The person who appeared to be in charge of the stage said something to her, and she looked embarrassed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, they said there’s no performer.”

“What?”

After hearing the situation, it was understandable why she was embarrassed. Usually, there is a performer who plays here, but for some reason, they also had a cancellation.

However, since most musicians can play at least one instrument, the musician would usually play in such cases.

“What should I do? I’m not good at playing instruments.”

The problem was that she had only played the guitar briefly when she was young. At this time, Youngchan asked.

“…What song are you going to sing?”

“What? No. It’s difficult to go up without playing an instrument.”

“I’ll do it for you. You can use that piano, right?”

“Huh? Oh. You know how to play the piano?”

“Yeah, a little.”

“!!!”

Jamie, who suddenly had a performer, smiled brightly like a child who had received a gift bundle.