Chapter 23
···Pheeeew.
Early dawn. The sky was a dark blue, just before daybreak.
The chill in the air seeped through my outer clothes.
“Yaaawn···.”
I headed to school, shaking off my fatigue.
The reason I was on my way to school even though it was still too early to arrive was that today was the day of the school trip.
Ding.
A message suddenly appeared on my phone.
— Shin A-young : Where r u rn?
— Lee Seungho : I've arrived.
“Sss, hoo···.”
I sent a short text and slipped my hand back into my pocket.
I'd only taken it out for a moment, but my hand quickly grew cold.
“Oh, you're here.”
Shin A-young, standing in front of the school gate, gave a small wave.
“Hi.”
I returned her greeting and blinked slowly.
It felt awkward seeing her in casual clothes unlike usual.
Somehow.
It was an unexpected outfit.
“···.”
I'd expected her to dress prettily, perhaps in a frilly blouse, but contrary to my expectations, her fashion was incredibly hip.
Headphones around her neck, a cap perched jauntily on her head, and a checkered jacket. A crop top showing a little skin, paired with casual wide-leg pants.
It was an outfit Jinuri might wear more than Shin A-young···.
Had they gone shopping together or something?
— “Heh. So he's a guy too, huh? Is that why I look a little different to him today?”
Maybe she'd noticed my gaze; Shin A-young's mini-me had her nose tilted slightly upward.
···That was kind of irritating.
“That outfit looks really good on you.”
“Huh, yeah??”
Shin A-young's mouth opened and closed. The sudden compliment seemed to make her a little self-conscious.
"Really suits you···!"
Seeing that, I emphasized the compliment even more. To make her feel even more embarrassed.
Punishing her with compliments.
Hadn't I landed a pretty solid hit?
I glanced around and asked,
“Where are the others?”
“···They're waiting inside.”
Realizing I'd been teasing her, she answered with a sulky expression.
It was another face she only made when the two of us were alone.
Whenever someone else was around, she immediately acted like a good girl.
“Let's go in. Follow me.”
I followed her past the main gate, then stopped short.
Wow.
Shin A-young had said she'd come out because there were too many people in the schoolyard.
Now I understood why.
Murmur murmur—
The schoolyard was packed with kids, far more than I'd expected.
Since they'd even chartered buses and parked them in the schoolyard, it did look more crowded than usual.
“Where did you say the others were?”
“Just follow me.”
I followed obediently behind her.
“···.”
After we'd spent a little while weaving through the students,
“Yaaawn···.”
Jinuri, who had been yawning softly, suddenly met my eyes.
Her brows rose slightly.
She immediately turned toward the back and spoke.
“Sol, Lee Seungho's here.”
At that,
Lee Sol cautiously poked her head out from behind Jinuri.
“···You're here?”
Lee Sol came out, taking small, awkward steps.
“?”
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
What was this?
···Who are you?
I couldn't help thinking that.
An outfit consisting of a square-neck blouse and a skirt, with an oversized leather jacket thrown over it.
Even the platform boots to add to Lee Sol's short stature··· She was dressed in a perfectly coordinated look.
Come to think of it.
“···You used to be a model, right?”
I'd forgotten about it all this time, but now that I thought about it, she had.
She really did know how to dress.
“···.”
Maybe my reaction was strange, because Lee Sol's expression shifted subtly.
— “His reaction is a little different from what I expected.”
She unnecessarily smoothed down her collar once and asked,
“···Why is it that when I dress like this, I look kind of strange?”
Had my words sounded negative?
That wasn't it.
“You should dress like that more often.”
Looking at her, I couldn't help thinking so.
Because she was the one who wasted her looks the most.
“···.”
Lee Sol's lips pressed into a straight line.
Then she silently nodded.
With an ambiguous expression, she turned around and plopped back down in her original spot.
— “Does that mean he thinks it suits me??”
Her mini-me crossed her arms and fell into thought.
It means it suits you.
“···.”
Anyway.
I had felt eyes on me for a while now.
When I turned my head to the other side, I saw groups of male students chatting among themselves.
From the outside, it looked like they were just talking to each other.
— “Wow··· she's fucking gorgeous.”
— “She really dressed up today.”
— “Should I ask her to walk around with me later?”
Their mini-mes were sneaking glances this way.
Every last one of them was sending his gaze over here.
“···.”
At least their mini-mes were cute.
If they had looked realistic, it would've been terrifying.
— “Crazy··· That lucky bastard Lee Seungho.”
Some of them were even thinking things like that.
“···Phew.”
I drew a hollow breath and moved away.
I could feel the men's piercing gazes in real time.
I was going to have to listen to thoughts like that for the entire trip.
It might be a bit of a trial.
“···.”
In the place I'd moved to, Jinuri was dozing off, her head bobbing as she leaned against a chair.
“Yaaawn···.”
Tears welled up in the corners of Jinuri's eyes as she yawned.
“Didn't you go to bed early?”
“I tried, but··· maybe because it wasn't my usual bedtime, I couldn't fall asleep···.”
— “I was too excited for no reason and couldn't sleep···.”
Jinuri's mini-me swayed unsteadily too.
She looked awfully sleepy.
“···.”
I gave a bitter smile at the sight.
Hmm.
Somehow, I had a feeling that was the case.
Since we had to leave at dawn, we'd had to get up early too.
“We're leaving in thirty minutes, so check whether anyone's still missing~!”
At the teacher's voice, Lee Sol got to her feet.
“Thirty minutes.”
— “It's time to take my motion-sickness medicine.”
She had said she suffered badly from motion sickness, so apparently she'd even planned around when to take her medicine.
Lee Sol placed the bag on her back on her lap.
She reached inside and rummaged around.
Rummage, rummage.
Rummage···.
The hand searching through her mini bag suddenly stopped.
“···Huh.”
A small bead of cold sweat formed on Lee Sol's forehead.
After that, her movements grew a little more frantic.
— “Huh? Huh? Where'd my motion-sickness medicine go??”
Lee Sol began taking the items out of her bag one by one and spreading them across the chair she had been sitting on.
“···.”
It wasn't there.
None of the things she'd taken out was a box that looked like motion-sickness medicine.
She'd forgotten it.
Honestly··· it was a situation that suited her.
“Um, uh···.”
Lee Sol was doing her best to remain calm.
But her confusion was obvious at a glance.
— “My motion-sickness medicine···!”
Her mini-me hopped around on top of the bag, wailing.
She looked utterly miserable.
“···.”
Jinuri stealthily approached from behind Lee Sol.
She blinked sleepily.
“Don't tell me you forgot to pack it?”
“···.”
There was no answer. Lee Sol merely gave a small nod, looking embarrassed.
Jinuri let out a deep sigh.
“Good grief—I knew this would happen. Wait a second, I'll give you mine.”
Jinuri rummaged through her own bag and took out a bottle of motion-sickness medicine.
As expected, Jinuri was the one who took care of Lee Sol.
“Here.”
“Thank···.”
Lee Sol's expression relaxed, then stiffened again.
“···This isn't motion-sickness medicine, is it?”
“Huh?”
Jinuri took it back.
“···Oh··· You're right. I must've grabbed the wrong thing.”
Since it was in a bottle, she must have assumed it was the motion-sickness medicine she usually took and packed it without checking.
Jinuri would never normally make a mistake like this.
But she wasn't in the best shape today.
“Wait a moment. I'll ask the teacher if there's any extra motion-sickness medicine—”
“Here.”
Before Jinuri could move, I held out a box of medicine.
Oh, right.
I took one myself before giving it to them.
“There are several, so take one if you want.”
Lee Sol took a motion-sickness pill and immediately tossed it into her mouth.
“···.”
Lee Sol stared quietly at me.
Why?
What?
— “If he ever has to be my manager, should I ask him to do it?”
She muttered that thought.
···Sorry, but I won't.
***
We arrived at the airport by bus.
“Everyone, we've finished checking in, so let's go board. Group One, get on first.”
At the teacher's words, the students began moving toward the gate one by one.
A large airplane was visible through the window.
“Oh···.”
It was my first time seeing one from this close.
A small gasp of admiration escaped me.
“Is this your first trip abroad?”
At Shin A-young's question, I nodded.
To begin with,
“It's my first time on an airplane, too.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah.”
My family didn't travel abroad.
Usually, even within the country, we went to places nearby. We never went anywhere far.
So one of my goals had been to go abroad for my graduation trip later on.
“Hello~ Have a wonderful trip~”
After having my ticket checked by the flight attendant, I went inside to my seat.
We took our seats in order.
By the window sat Shin A-young, Jinuri, and me,
with Lee Sol across the aisle.
Since the seats were assigned, we somehow ended up sitting like this.
“···.”
···But.
It's narrower than I expected.
Is that just how airplanes are?
“How long did you say it takes to get there?”
Shin A-young answered as she fastened her seat belt.
“I think··· about two hours?”
That's not as long as I expected.
I got a real sense of how close Japan was.
Vroooom···!
“···Oh.”
It's moving.
After the safety briefing and several announcements,
following a short wait, the plane slowly began moving forward.
···I'm getting a little nervous.
“Oh.”
I could feel the plane, which had been speeding along, lift off the ground.
My lower abdomen tingled a little, too.
It felt··· like the first time I rode a Viking.
It wasn't as scary as I'd expected.
But.
“···My ears feel a little strange.”
They felt clogged.
Like something was stuck inside my eardrums.
“Yawn when that happens. It'll get better.”
Shin A-young gave me a tip.
“Yawn?”
“Yaaawn.”
Lee Sol, who had been listening quietly, leaned her head out and demonstrated first, as if to show me how.
She covered her mouth, as if saying, Like this.
Yaaawn—
I tried forcing myself to yawn along with her.
“···Oh.”
It worked.
I learned another useful thing.
Once I relaxed a little, I gradually started feeling hungry.
“···Don't they serve an in-flight meal?”
“Probably not? It's a short distance, and we're flying low-cost, after all.”
“Really?”
I felt a little disappointed by Shin A-young's answer.
I'd wanted to try one.
···Can't be helped.
···Well, I'll have one next time. I'll get on a plane at least one more time in my life.
Just as I was thinking that,
Tap—
“···?”
Something pressed down on my shoulder.
The sudden sensation startled me a little.
I turned my eyes slightly and saw Jinuri's head tilted this way.
“Ssshhh···.”
Her breathing sounded soft.
— “······.”
Her mini-me didn't react either. She was fast asleep on Jinuri's lap.
···She'd been dozing since the car earlier, and now she was really asleep.
— “···Huh?”
Lee Sol's mini-me looked this way and trembled slightly.
— “···Is Nuri asleep···?”
Lee Sol checked on Jinuri, then quietly asked me,
“···Is that okay?”
“Let's just leave her be for a while.”
She seemed tired, and I figured we might as well let her sleep during the trip.
Besides, Jinuri would be helping us in various ways over the next few days.
I could think of this as paying her in advance.
“Oh, okay.”
Lee Sol's tone became subtly stiff.
Then she slowly turned her gaze to the other side.
— “No, I mean···. Yeah, I guess that can happen. She said she was tired.”
“···?”
I blinked slowly.
Inside, she was clearly saying it was fine, but···
“···.”
Somehow,
Lee Sol's expression was incredibly ambiguous.
It wasn't downcast, but it wasn't happy either.
That sort of ambiguous expression.