Don't Take Candy From Strangers

We were kicked out of our bus seats by two ahjummas today. They were very nice about it - they didn't slap me (like the lady we saw in Seoul) nor did they smack me with an umbrella (like the lady at the Suncheon bus station). They simply marched to the back of the bus and motioned us over.
We were on the bus to Suncheon. I had Christmas shopping to do and everyone else just wanted to get out and have some fun. We sat in the very back of the bus, Little D against one window, me against the other, and V sitting in the middle. There was a seat between us, giving us ample room to keep our bags and snacks within easy reach. We had just settled into our respective seats when the ahjummas struck. They got on the bus one stop after ours and marched past rows and rows of empty seats to commandeer the seats usually reserved for teenage delinquents and the like. (I would like to take this moment to mention that our choice to sit in those same seats says nothing about our ages and/or our delinquency or lack thereof.) With great big smiles and much hand-waving, they sat in my seat and the one immediately beside it. I moved to sit right next to Little D while V moved to the seat just in front of ours.
We then proceeded to studiously ignore each other.
About halfway to our destination, I felt a touch on my arm.
"Yepuda," Ahjumma number 1 said.
I glanced down at my jeans and T-shirt, wondering why she was calling me pretty. "Kamsahamnida," I replied.
Then she pushed two pieces of candy into my hand.
"Kamsahamnida," I said again, handing one to Little D.
She then tapped V on the shoulder and deposited a wrapped candy into her hand as well. Without bothering to stop and read the label, I unwrapped the candy and popped it in my mouth.
And almost gagged.
My first instinct was to spit it out into my hand, but a quick glance to my right revealed Ahjumma number 1 smiling at me and sucking on her own piece of hard candy. I tried to smile back. It must have been successful, because she turned back to her own companion. I grabbed the gold and red wrapper and stared. "Red Ginseng Candy" it read in English just above the Korean writing.
"What kind did you get?" I asked Little D.
One look at his face was enough. "It tastes like grass," he muttered.
I fumbled with my purse. "I have tissue if you need to blow your nose," I said.
Little D stared. "What?"
I tried to surreptitiously motion to the ahjummas. "Tissue. To blow your nose." I stuck out my tongue with the piece of Red Ginseng nightmare on it.
"Ah," he said. "Yes, please."
I handed him a tissue and he pretended to blow his nose. I dug into my bag for another tissue for myself and froze. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I turned and saw Ahjumma number 1 motioning at me while talking to her companion. I smiled, nodded, and moved the candy to the other cheek. Inch by inch, keeping one eye on the two ahjummas, I pulled a tissue out of my bag. Then, as they both turned to look at something out the window, I put the tissue to my face and pretended to blow my nose. Except I really did blow my nose.
"Yuck," I said and quickly folded the tissue and spit the candy out.
The ahjummas looked over at me and I faked a cough and blew my nose again.
When we got to Suncheon, I waited until the ahjummas got off the bus so they wouldn't see me throw away the tissue-wrapped candy.
Next time, I won't take candy from a stranger . . . or I'll at least read the wrapper before I put it in my mouth.