Peninsula: I run a bed and breakfast on Jeju Island

Li Ran tidied up the snack bags, casually opened a bag of potato chips, and placed it on the table next to her.

He glanced at the time.

"Are we just going to sit here like this?" He turned to look at Choi Jin-ri.

"What do you want to do?" She was looking down at Brin when she heard this, and then looked up.

"Let's play a game."

"What do you want to play?"

Li Ran stood up and walked into the house. "Wait for me."

He returned shortly afterward.

He was holding a deck of cards and a few cans of beer.

Choi Jin-ri glanced at the beer. "I asked you that back then, 'You bought so much beer, how long are you planning to drink it all?'"

"We'll see when the time comes. Let's stock up at home first, so we don't run out of things to drink later."

He put his things on the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. "By the way, have you ever played that? The one where you put playing cards on the pull tab of a beer can?"

She tilted her head. "No."

"This is it."

Li Ran opened a can of beer and inserted playing cards one by one into the gap of the can's pull tab. "Put them in one by one, take turns. Whoever has the worst luck and is the last to open the beer loses."

"The rules are simple."

Choi Jin-ri watched him stuff cards into the jar. "What if you lose?"

"Let's drink."

"Then you got a good deal." She pouted. "Didn't you say beer is the same as water?"

"You don't mean you want me to drink all the beer by myself, do you?"

"Is that not allowed?" Choi Jin-ri blinked.

Li Ran's lips twitched slightly. "It's not impossible."

"Just kidding." She shifted her chair, leaned over to look at the cards in his hand, and said, "I'll play them."

Li Ran handed the cards to her.

She pinched a card and carefully slipped it into the crack of the jar. The card went in, but nothing happened.

"It's okay, just put it in," he said.

The two of them took turns putting one card into the jar.

The bag of potato chips was open to the side, and Choi Jin-ri would occasionally reach in to grab a chip while continuing to stuff cards into the bag with her other hand.

As more and more cards were stuffed in, the jar became tighter and tighter. Each time a card was inserted, a faint "click" sound was heard inside, and the two of them unconsciously slowed down.

"This one is yours." Li Ran handed over a card.

Choi Jin-ri held the card, aimed it at the gap, and slowly pushed it in.

I stopped halfway through inserting it.

She looked up at him.

"Continue." Li Ran's eyes were fixed on the card.

Choi Jin-ri lowered her head and stared at the card again, bit her lip, and gently pushed it in a millimeter with her fingertip.

The beer can remained completely still.

She breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the remaining cards in smoothly, and withdrew her hand.

"Your turn."

Li Ran took a card, aligned it with the seam, and slowly inserted it.

"Click".

The can made a sound, but it didn't open.

He breathed a sigh of relief and handed her the cards.

Choi Jin-ri took it, leaned close to the jar, inserted the card into the tightly packed gap, and gently pushed it...

"Bang!"

The pull tab popped open, and foam oozed out of the can. She instinctively shrank back.

Li Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud, and pushed the bubbling beer can towards her.

"I knew it." She shook her head.

Choi Jin-ri glared at him, took the beer, tilted her head back and took a sip, making a nonchalant expression, "It's delicious, what's the big deal?"

"Hey." He raised an eyebrow.

Choi Jin-ri put the beer can aside and began collecting the cards.

The courtyard was quiet, with the sea breeze occasionally blowing in.

Xiao Hei squatted beside the table, his eyes moving from Li Ran's face to Cui Zhenli's face, then back again, looking like he didn't know what was going on but didn't want to miss any movement.

Choi Jin-ri arranged the cards, opened a new can, and started putting the cards in one by one.

She picked up a card and handed it to him.

Li Ran took it and inserted it into the seam.

It's been sent in, everything's fine.

He pushed the deck of cards toward Choi Jin-ri.

After grooming its right paw, Brin jumped off the armrest, strolled to the table, rubbed against Li Ran's chair leg, and then sat down, looking up at him.

Li Ran looked down at it and gently patted its head twice.

Brin narrowed his eyes.

He withdrew his hand, picked up a potato chip, and took a bite.

Xiao Hei saw all of this.

It walked over, stood next to Brin for a while, lowered its head and sniffed its earlobe, and Brin turned its head and stared at it.

Little Black raised its right front paw, aimed it at Brin's head, and gently pressed it twice, with the exact same amplitude and rhythm.

After pressing the button, it looked up at Li Ran.

A look that says, "I can do that too."

Li Ran stared for several seconds, then slowly turned back to look at Cui Zhenli.

Choi Jin-ri placed the card halfway in the box, looked up, and the two of them exchanged a glance without saying a word.

"This guy..." Li Ran smiled.

"Learning from you. Tsk."

Brin twisted her head, brushed away Xiao Hei's paws, and sat down at Choi Jin-ri's feet.

Xiao Hei stood still, looked at Bulin, and then at Li Ran.

Li Ran bent down and ruffled its hair.

"Alright, that's good enough."

Little Black wagged its tail and swished it twice against the table leg.

Choi Jin-ri lowered her head again, put the card in, all the way in, then withdrew her hand; the beer can remained untouched.

She picked up the first can of beer, took a sip, and pushed the deck of cards to Li Ran, saying, "Your turn."

"You've got the flair of a gambling god, haven't you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"That's it!" She put her index and ring fingers together and made a smoking motion.

Li Ran continued to place the playing cards.

"Click".

This time, it was his card that held the line.

He picked up the opened beer can and took a sip.

"A draw," Choi Jin-ri said.

"A draw." He nodded.

The two played two more rounds.

Li Ran won a round, and Cui Zhenli won a round; they each drank a can.

There was an empty can on the table, a crooked stack of playing cards next to it, and the bag of potato chips was empty.

Brin ran back into the house at some point.

Little Black lay down next to the recliner, resting its chin on its front paws, its eyes slowly closing, and it fell asleep.

Choi Jin-ri twirled the beer can in her hand, not drinking it, just spinning it around.

"By the way, what did you do before you came to Jeju Island?" she asked casually.

"Just a regular part-time job," Li Ran replied.

"What exactly do you do?"

He thought for a moment, "Sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer, attending meetings, writing documents, and coordinating requirements. Something like that."

"That doesn't sound very fun."

"It's not very fun." He nodded.

Do you like that job?

Li Ran thought for a moment, "I used to like him. At first, I thought it was quite interesting, but then..." He paused, "it just became a job."

Choi Jin-ri looked down at the jar in her hand. "It's become a workday."

She repeated it softly.

Li Ran turned her head and glanced at her.

A gust of wind blew, flipping the bag of potato chips inside out. Choi Jin-ri reached out and held it down, then folded it up and placed it under the beer can.

"Sometimes I don't even know if I like my job," she said.

Upon hearing this, Li Ran blinked.

"It's just..." Choi Jin-ri began again, "Sometimes on stage, the lights are very bright, and there are many people below. That feeling is real, and I like it."

She paused for a moment.

"But I don't think I've ever really figured out what's going on offstage."

Li Ran moved the empty can to the side, making room on the table, without replying or turning it away.

Choi Jin-ri twirled the jar in her hand a couple of times. "Never mind, why bring this up?"

She raised her hand and took a sip. "Do you even know anything about these things?"

"I don't really understand," he said truthfully.

"Then forget it."