Chapter 101
Buzz buzz buzz buzz-
The cicadas were crying loudly. It was so intense that it could be described as screaming rather than crying.
After enduring for a long time and finally transforming from a nymph into a cicada, it's natural to want to scream when faced with a world averaging 34 degrees Celsius.
It was really hot.
It felt like if you cracked an egg on the hood of a black car, it would actually fry. Even standing still, your back and armpits would be soaked with sweat.
But the bus was cool.
Vroom-
On the way to the zoo by bus, I watched the shimmering asphalt road and people walking with frowns on their faces.
"It's crazy to be out in this hot weather."
I was already realizing how foolish it was to have decided on a zoo date for tomorrow.
The bus stopped at the zoo station. As I stepped out of the air-conditioned bus into the world, a blast of hot air hit my face.
"Ugh, it's hot!"
Yang Juhee, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt and short black dolphin pants, frowned and complained as soon as she got off the bus.
Even though she was wearing the most skin-exposing clothes among us, she couldn't stand the heat. Come to think of it, Yang Juhee's hand, which I had briefly held before, was more than warm - it was hot.
She must have a constitution with a lot of internal heat. Wasn't Yang Juhee's first quirk 《Boiling Blood》?
Yang Juhee clearly had a constitution that was especially weak to heat.
"Ugh, it's hot! Look! I'm already sweating as soon as we get off the car. Were you really going to have a date with an idol in a place like this?"
Yang Juhee was blaming me.
Even considering it was a weekday, the zoo was empty due to the hot weather.
The parking lot was empty too. We could enter right away without needing to queue at the entrance.
"Well, I chose a place that might not have many people because Kwon Sua is a celebrity and might be uncomfortable in crowded places..."
Even a worm will turn when trodden on. After constantly hearing complaints, I wanted to make at least one excuse.
Of course, it didn't work at all.
I had two tickets, and there were three of us, so we bought one more ticket and entered the zoo.
The zoo had a floor covered with romantic-looking brick tiles, and snack bars and souvenir shops stood with an old but solid feel.
Signs on poles stuck in the ground showed the locations of animal enclosures like "Tigers 20m", "Raccoon Dogs 50m".
Yoo Dahee, wearing a white dress, made a shade with her palm over her face and shouted.
"There are raccoon dogs over there! Let's go see the raccoon dogs!"
Yoo Dahee was cheerful as if the hot weather didn't matter.
Unlike Yang Juhee, who was fluttering her clothes saying "I'm sweating even standing still," Yoo Dahee still hadn't shed a single drop of sweat.
She must be naturally sweatless.
"Look at them! They're all hiding in the shade!"
Yoo Dahee shouted, looking beyond the fence where there were many raccoon dogs.
The raccoon dogs curled up sleeping under the tree shade in the enclosure looked quite depressed. Maybe because of the hot weather, the animals weren't moving either.
Watching that scene, Yoo Dahee said.
"These days, not just stray cats, but raccoon dogs often appear in apartment parks or residential areas too! I once saw a raccoon dog in our garden, and it was so cute!"
Yoo Dahee was squealing with delight and busy taking pictures with her phone.
Is she planning to post them on Instagram?
Perhaps because of Yoo Dahee's commotion, the raccoon dogs sleeping in the tree shade started to open their eyes and approached the fence.
"They seem to like people!"
Yoo Dahee was very pleased. Yoo Dahee reached her hand towards the enclosure.
I saw a sign that said "Do not feed the animals".
Yap yap-
Yap yap yap-
The raccoon dogs clung to the fence and flailed their front paws, probably thinking we might have food. But for some reason, the raccoon dogs were only gathering around Yang Juhee.
"What... what's wrong with these guys!"
Yang Juhee seemed quite flustered. Watching this, Yoo Dahee chuckled.
"They must smell food on Juhee!"
"I don't have any food! Ah, let's go somewhere else!"
"They say we can touch rabbits over there!"
Patter patter-
Yoo Dahee, wearing sandals, ran busily towards a place marked "Experience Zone".
Yang Juhee and I followed, and in the "Experience Zone", rabbits were freely hopping around as if they didn't mind the heat.
Yoo Dahee caught and hugged a rabbit.
"It's a rabbit! I raised rabbits at school when I was in elementary school! Did you know? Rabbit meat is the fourth most slaughtered meat for food in the world!"
I thought her hugging the rabbit looked romantic like something out of a fairy tale, but it was a bit odd when she suddenly brought up slaughter.
I see. Rabbits are the fourth most slaughtered animal.
Yoo Dahee often read books, so she knew various facts.
"Oh, what's wrong with these guys! It's hot! Go away!"
Yang Juhee, who had been annoyed looking at the raccoon dogs, was also annoyed looking at the rabbits.
It was because the rabbits were crowding around Yang Juhee. White furry creatures pouncing and clinging in the sweltering summer must have been torture for Yang Juhee, who was sensitive to heat.
"Yang Juhee, you're popular."
I teased Yang Juhee. The raccoon dogs, and now the rabbits. Animals seemed to like Yang Juhee.
Come to think of it, didn't Baekseol, the white cat Yoo Dahee kept, act more affectionately towards Yang Juhee than Yoo Dahee?
Maybe Yang Juhee had a talent for being loved by animals.
***
"Wow, it's been so long since I've had bead ice cream. I first had it when I went to an amusement park with my mom, dad, and sister long ago. This is the first time since then."
A short break time. We sat in the shade of a snack bar eating bead ice cream. By the way, I paid for it.
The ice cream was very cool and delicious.
"I took so many pictures. Look at this. A squirrel put its face in my mouth."
Yoo Dahee seemed to like the photos she took today more than the ice cream.
In the photo Yoo Dahee showed me, there was Yoo Dahee with her mouth open wide and a squirrel half inside it. It almost looked like she was eating it.
"Now let's go see the tigers!"
Yoo Dahee was full of energy. She seemed to be having a lot of fun. Yang Juhee, while grumbling verbally, also took many photos and bought souvenirs.
She bought a headband with heart balloons, which suited her well.
"Hey, Ha Young-won. Take a picture of me."
"I want to be in it too!"
One thing I noticed today was that Yoo Dahee and Yang Juhee took an incredible number of photos. There was almost one photo every five steps.
Thanks to that, I had over 500 photos in my gallery just from today. I was practically their personal photographer.
"Upload them all to the group chat later. Got it?"
"Got it."
Anyway, that's how our zoo tour ended. My impression was this.
"For tomorrow's date, wouldn't the zoo be fine? The weather forecast says it'll be cooler than today."
"Hey, what zoo? You have to walk around all day in the zoo. If you go to the zoo for a first date, your legs will hurt and makeup will smear. Didn't you see how tired we were today?"
Yang Juhee frowned. Soon, Yoo Dahee chimed in too.
"My legs hurt too!"
Weren't they both just taking pictures and laughing and chattering? Even though we took over 500 photos.
Thanks to that, my phone battery was barely hanging on.
Anyway. With that feeling, we got on the bus to head back to our neighborhood.
It was already 3 PM.
Yang Juhee, who had sweated a lot, seemed a bit tired and dozed off in the back seat of the bus. Yoo Dahee chuckled seeing her sleeping with her mouth half open.
"Young-won, look at this."
Swish-
Yoo Dahee took out a mouth spray from the small handbag on her shoulder and sprayed it into Yang Juhee's slightly open mouth.
"Ueeerp-"
Yang Juhee made a strange sound and seemed to be tasting something, then frowned.
"Ugh, what's this. Ubrubebep!"
"Hehehe."
"Hahaha. She says 'ubrubebep'."
It was really funny.
Of course, Yang Juhee getting angry when she woke up wasn't that funny. We arrived in our neighborhood like that and decided to have a late lunch.
We had postponed lunch to eat outside because even a bowl of ramen in the zoo was too expensive for our allowance.
As we were wondering what to eat, Yoo Dahee pointed to a convenience store.
"Let's eat ramen and triangle kimbap at the convenience store!"
It was a good idea.
We ate cup ramen and triangle kimbap under the outdoor parasol set up at the convenience store, and the sensation of cool cola seeping into our bodies was thrilling.
"I want to drink cola too."
Yoo Dahee, who had already finished her ion drink, reached for my cola bottle. And as she gulped it down, I felt embarrassed thinking it might be an indirect kiss since I had put my mouth on that bottle.
Do girls usually not care about such things? Am I thinking too old-fashioned?
"Ah, I drank it all."
The problem was that Yoo Dahee had drunk all of my cola too. For Yoo Dahee, who hadn't even sweated, to consume so much liquid.
Is she actually a water ghost pretending to be Yoo Dahee?
"Hehe... I'll buy another one."
Some time after Yoo Dahee went into the convenience store, someone made a strange sound, "Huh?"
When I turned my head, there were familiar faces.
It was Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon in casual clothes.
They were each holding Starbucks takeout cups and were carrying lots of paper bags as if they had been shopping.
The paper bags had "Jeongsim-dang" written on them, which was a famous bakery in this Gaeryong. It seemed they had been on a bakery tour.
"It's Yang Juhee and Young-won. What's this? What's going on?"
Gong Ye-rin raised her thin eyebrows and repeated "What's this?" Soon, Im Hee-yeon joined in.
"What's going on with you two? Why are you together? What's this about?"
"Ah shit, stop being annoying and get lost."
Yang Juhee got angry. She was really angry, licking her lips with her tongue as she spoke.
Yang Juhee, Gong Ye-rin, and Im Hee-yeon used to hang out together as a trio, but at some point they had ostracized Yang Juhee, so their relationship had soured.
Groups of three girls are always a bit like that. Girls preferred pairs or groups of four that matched up perfectly.
"Why are you sitting there like that?"
Just then, someone appeared behind the girls. It was Wang Ja-hyun, tall and handsome.
Wang Ja-hyun looked at me and Yang Juhee sitting under the parasol and made an "Oh" expression.
"We shouldn't interrupt a date. Come on, girls. Let's go."
Wang Ja-hyun left with the noisy girls. Even on such a hot day, he wasn't sweating at all.
Instead, he even had a subtle yet artificial fragrance. Perfume smell? A male high school student wearing perfume?
It was quite unmanly.
Come to think of it, hasn't that Wang Ja-hyun been wearing perfume since elementary school?
He was the type to hang around with noisy girls rather than play with boys since elementary school.
"Hey. Ha Young-won. Doesn't this smell seem familiar?"
Yang Juhee wrinkled her nose. She must have smelled a familiar scent.
I too recalled many memories as I smelled Wang Ja-hyun's perfume. I took out a glass bottle from the hip pack I was wearing on my back.
[Subtle Perfume. A perfume made from water splashed by fairies. Greatly reduces the probability of being discovered by strange phenomena and Observers. Lasts for 100 hours when used. 0/2 uses.]
The first gacha item I had drawn.
When I sniffed this item that had been so helpful, it smelled exactly like Wang Ja-hyun who had just passed by.
Ah─.
I thought I had smelled this perfume somewhere before. It was in elementary school!
Why does he have this smell?
Countless thoughts raced through my mind.