Chapter 24
Whoooosh···.
I could see the plane flying past outside the window.
Kansai International Airport. We'd arrived in Japan.
“···.”
The start wasn't looking too promising.
When I subtly turned my head to the side,
“Ahem···.”
Jinuri awkwardly averted her gaze.
— “Damn it···! This is so fucking embarrassing···!”
Her mini-me screamed, covering her face with her tiny hands.
The skin visible through the gaps was bright red.
“Sol, want to go over there and take a picture?”
Jinuri unnecessarily turned toward Lee Sol.
“···.”
A brief silence.
Lee Sol subtly avoided her gaze and nodded slightly.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“···?”
Her response had come a little slowly.
Jinuri blinked, as though she too had sensed something strange about it.
“Uh··· Did something happen?”
“···No.”
Another answer that came a beat late.
“Riiight···?”
This.
— “There is definitely something going on.”
···I thought so too.
There was definitely something going on.
“···.”
Then.
Jinuri's body subtly moved closer to me.
Was she more worried about Sol than embarrassed about herself?
“Hey, hey.”
Jinuri covered the corner of her mouth and lowered her voice.
“Did something happen to Sol on the way here?”
“···Hmm.”
Who knows.
I thought back over what had just happened.
— ‘No, I mean··· Yeah, I guess that can happen. She said she was tired.’
Good grief.
It had been a really ambiguous expression.
Judging only from that reaction··· for a moment, I wondered if she might be interested in me.
···But then again, thinking back to the conversation we'd had before,
— ‘If you date someone, you have to go out on dates regularly, and contact them every time.’
— ‘Wow··· Just thinking about it is exhausting···.’
Yeah, that's Sol for you.
It was hard to imagine her liking anyone.
Maybe this was just me being overly self-conscious.
“Or maybe it's because you went to sleep without playing with her?”
“···Hmm.”
Jinuri's mini-me folded her arms and tilted her head.
— “She isn't the type to get sulky because someone didn't play with her. She'd say it was a hassle instead.”
Her words only left me more confused.
“Anything else?”
“There wasn't much besides that.”
“Damn, then what is it?”
For now, it definitely had something to do with Jinuri.
Whatever the problem was, it was certain that she was involved somehow.
“···.”
I rolled my eyes around, looking for Lee Sol.
She had a blank expression, her gaze seeming to be focused on some problem.
— “···It's okay. It's nothing much, and it wasn't intentional.”
Lee Sol's mini-me said that while dangling her feet.
“···.”
She said she was fine.
···Then she really was fine.
Mini-mes never lied.
Ah, maybe.
“Or did you get motion sick?”
“Ah, is that it?”
At my words, Jinuri left as if she'd realized something.
Yeah, that was probably the most likely explanation.
If she wasn't feeling well, her expression might naturally look strange.
“···.”
Of course.
From the outside, Lee Sol's expression did look a little ambiguous.
Neither good nor bad···
“···.”
I turned my eyes back toward Lee Sol's mini-me.
Even though she looked like nothing was wrong, she was subtly watching this way.
Or else.
Could there be something about mini-mes that I still didn't know···?
If her mini-me saying she was fine meant that she herself thought so, but she actually wasn't fine···
If that was the case, the reason Lee Sol's mood had worsened was···
“Sol, want some of this? I bought it for you. They're Japanese gummies.”
Jinuri had bought some gummies from a convenience store.
She'd gone to the convenience store inside the airport in the meantime.
“···I told you I'm not mad.”
“I'm just giving them to you. That's all.”
“···Hmm.”
Lee Sol cautiously accepted the gummies Jinuri held out.
— “···Wow, this is fucking delicious.”
Her mini-me's expression gradually relaxed.
— “···Hmm, yeah, that can happen.”
What? She really cheered up right away.
···Figures.
I guess it really hadn't been anything.
“Everyone got your luggage? Come gather here for a commemorative photo~”
The teacher's voice rang out.
“Shin A-young, they're taking our class photo. Let's go.”
“I'm coming···!”
— “I knew I could count on him, damn it!”
I set off, making sure to bring Shin A-young, who had once again been caught by boys from another class.
Anyway.
Now the school trip had truly begun.
***
After eating lunch near Osaka Castle, the next place we visited was Dotonbori.
Just hearing the name, you might wonder what kind of place it was.
But once you actually came here, you couldn't help saying this.
“Wow, I've seen this somewhere.”
Shin A-young, standing beside me, tilted her head back in admiration.
At the end of her gaze was a huge electronic billboard with a marathon runner on it.
It really was a billboard I'd seen many times before.
“What was that called again?”
“···It says right there. The Glico Man.”
The answer came from Jinuri.
As expected of Jinuri, who loved Japan—ask her anything, and she knew the answer.
“Walk around until four, then meet back here. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”
““Yeees—””
With the teacher's words, the students scattered in different directions.
Tap-tap.
Shin A-young hurried over to the front of the Glico Man billboard.
“Take a picture of me···!”
This was the first thing she'd chosen to do.
Take an epic shot in front of the billboard while there weren't many people around.
“Sure. Whatever.”
It wasn't difficult.
I took out my phone camera and captured her in the frame.
“···Me too.”
Lee Sol, who had been subtly gauging the situation, stepped into the frame as well.
Then Shin A-young waved her hand.
“Should we all take one together? Nuri, you too.”
“Me too?”
Somehow, all three girls ended up in the frame.
The three of them each struck a pose.
Shin A-young and Lee Sol posed naturally, as though they were used to it.
Jinuri watched the others before stiffly forming a V with her hand.
A bandman between a model and an actress.
···That was kind of funny.
“All right, I'm taking it. One··· two··· three.”
Click—
Click—
“···.”
When I looked at the photos, they'd come out looking like something influencers would post.
···I hadn't even used a filter.
These girls were seriously unfair.
“Let me see.”
Shin A-young glanced at the screen. Her head came right up beside mine.
“Oh···.”
She tapped my arm with an admiring little thump.
“Not bad, huh? As expected of a theater and film major.”
“Huh? You were a theater and film major?”
Jinuri turned to look at me at that revelation.
“Yeah.”
“You want to become a director later?”
“···Probably?”
···That aside.
I casually changed the subject and asked Jinuri in return,
“Where should we go next?”
“Huh?”
— “Uh, are you suddenly asking me?”
Was she flustered by the sudden question? Jinuri's mini-me took a little hop backward.
Then who else would I ask?
It was obvious that Jinuri would know the most.
“Hmm··· I heard there's a Don Quijote around here.”
She did answer eventually.
See? She knew.
······
A churning mass.
There were so many people.
Looking inside the building, I saw display cases and rows of merchandise.
So this was what Don Quijote was.
“I guess it's like Daiso.”
“They do tax-free shopping here, too.”
Jinuri said that while picking up a basket.
That was definitely a good thing.
Maybe that was why the kids from the other classes had all flocked here too.
I hadn't spoken to them, but I could vaguely recognize some familiar faces inside the building.
“There are so many really interesting things.”
“···.”
Shin A-young and Lee Sol wandered between the shelves, looking slightly excited.
Honestly, this alone was already fun.
Was this what traveling abroad was like?
We were simply walking around a store, but even that was enough to make my eyes dart from side to side.
“···Oh.”
After we'd been walking around and browsing for quite some time,
Jinuri's footsteps came to a stop.
— “They sell this too···!”
Her mini-me's voice was louder than usual.
I discreetly checked what had caught her eye.
It was a character keychain.
It wasn't Chainsaw Boy, and judging by the guitar, I guessed it was from a music anime.
An anime with guitars—this was definitely something Jinuri would like.
“···.”
Jinuri subtly looked around.
The mini-me perched on her shoulder also glanced around with her.
— “Why are there so many kids here?”
A bead of sweat trickled down.
Was she worried about the other kids watching her?
— “Hmm···.”
Jinuri repeatedly touched the keychain in her hand, then put it down.
— “Phew··· Can't be helped··· Let's just buy it later. There'll be plenty of chances.”
In the end, she became too self-conscious and took her hand away completely.
···Good grief.
“···.”
I looked around and picked up a suitable keychain. It was another character keychain.
I showed it to Shin A-young, who was browsing the items beside me.
“What do you think of this?”
“···Huh? What is it?”
“I don't know either. Doesn't it seem like a good Japanese souvenir? It's cute.”
“You secretly like cute things, huh?”
Shin A-young looked at me and snorted.
“Hmm, it's nice. Cute, too.”
“···.”
Did you hear that?
She said it was okay.
— “···I guess this much is okay.”
Jinuri watched for a reaction, then quickly put the keychain in her basket.
Seeing that,
I hung the keychain in my hand back on the display.
“Huh? You're not buying it?”
“···I just want to look around a little more.”
Shin A-young gave me a puzzled look for a moment.
But she soon withdrew her gaze.
“Should we head out soon?”
There was about an hour until four.
When I checked the time, there wasn't much time left before we were supposed to meet.
Thinking it would be better to leave plenty of time to get there, I headed quickly toward the checkout.
“It's crowded···.”
The line was fairly long.
At this rate, we'd be waiting for several dozen minutes.
It seemed we'd done the right thing by leaving early, just in case.
“Let's pay first and meet at the entrance.”
“Got it.”
“Okay.”
***
“Phew···.”
With all my energy drained, I let out a deep sigh.
We'd somehow managed to pay.
Paying was a challenge abroad, too. Basically, we couldn't communicate.
“···.”
I looked around the entrance of Don Quijote for the others.
“···Haven't they come out yet?”
Should I wait a little?
First, I sent a text saying I'd come out.
“%%^^&$#...?”
“%^@$%@&...!”
“···?”
I turned my gaze toward the noise coming from farther away.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
The back of a head in the distance. That···
No matter how I looked at it, it was Jinuri.
When I walked closer,
— “Ha··· I got stuck with a weird person.”
Only then could I hear Jinuri's mini-me's voice clearly.
An unfamiliar Japanese man stood in front of Jinuri, wearing a friendly smile.
···Amazing.
It seemed she'd gotten hit on again in the short time since I'd last seen her.
Being pretty must really be tiring.
···At this point, wouldn't it be better if she wore a ring? I found myself thinking that.
At least then she could pretend to have a boyfriend.
“Excuse me.”
As I raised my voice and approached,
the Japanese man who had been pestering Jinuri turned his gaze toward me.
— “Whaddya? Boyfren?” (What? Her boyfriend?)
“···Snrk.”
Caught off guard, I nearly snorted.
The Japanese mini-me pronounced Korean so terribly.
···I'd learned one thing after coming here.
For some reason, foreigners' thoughts were all translated into Korean.
Their pronunciation was terrible, though.
“···.”
I was about to say something to chase him away,
but then I closed my mouth again.
···Come to think of it, what was I supposed to say?
“···Time. Okay?”
I raised a hand and turned on my phone.
Wait a second, let me open the translator.
Let's see.
Don't touch minors and get the hell out of here··· in Japanese···
“なんだよ···？(What the hell···?)”
— “···Whaddis guy doin’?” (What is this guy doing?)
His expression twisted strangely.
“Tsk.”
···If you're annoyed, you can speak Korean yourself.
Wait a moment.
I'm going to the trouble of speaking your country's language for you.
“···?”
Then.
My body was suddenly pulled sharply—toward the left.
Jinuri had pulled my sleeve toward her.
We ended up quite close, at roughly the distance between lovers.
···I couldn't speak Japanese well, but I could understand it to some extent, so
“この人. 私の彼氏なんですけど. (This guy. He's my boyfriend.)”
I understood exactly what Jinuri was saying.
—“Read the room and play along···!”
Jinuri's mini-me gritted her teeth, her face bright red.
···She was determined to get rid of him properly, too.
Judging by the situation, he must have been clinging to her pretty persistently.
“···.”
Since things had come to this, I might as well play along.
Without a word, I placed my hand on Jinuri's shoulder.
Would this do?
“···Huh. What?”
That was when I heard a familiar Korean voice.
Screech—
Jinuri and I turned our gazes in that direction at the same time.
“···.”
“···.”
When had they come out?
Shin A-young and Lee Sol were looking at us with their mouths slightly open.
Lee Sol's eyes, in particular, were trembling violently.
“···.”
The Japanese man glanced at us, sensing that something was strange···
— “···Somethin’ weird here, but I’d better just go.” (···Something's strange, but I'd better just leave.)
He smiled awkwardly and immediately turned away.
···Hey, wait. Don't go just yet.