Chapter 85
* * *
The next morning.
Seungah followed along, grumbling.
“I told you, I'm not eating breakfast···.”
She was so sleepy she could barely open her eyes.
She had tossed and turned until late at night, and this was the result.
I answered Seungah's grumbling.
“Then later you'll complain that you didn't get to eat.”
I could already picture her regretting missing the buffet.
“···No, I won't?”
Saying it while avoiding my gaze didn't make her very convincing.
If Mom hadn't told me to bring her along, I would have just left her alone too.
“······.”
When we arrived at the restaurant, I saw Ji Nuri eating with her family.
“Good morning.”
Ji Nuri greeted me with her mouth full and a nod.
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
Somehow, it reminded me of a school trip···
— “···Somehow, this reminds me of our school trip.”
Ji Nuri's Minimi muttered that while chewing her food.
We had ended up thinking the same thing.
Well, we were in the same class and had gone around together.
“······.”
I brought over some food and sat at the table across from Ji Nuri.
The tables weren't far apart; they were actually right beside each other.
“Hwaaam···.”
Seungah let out a languid yawn as she brought over her food.
“Huh?”
Ji Nuri tilted her chin at that.
“You didn't sleep last night···?”
“Mmm···.”
I answered for the nearly dozing Seungah.
“Her sleep schedule's flipped.”
“Hmm···.”
Ji Nuri looked at her with a slightly worried gaze.
“······.”
I calmly chewed my bread.
There was no need to worry that much.
She'd perk right up once we entered the water park anyway.
“Right. You said we were going in first thing in the morning?”
I said that to Ji Nuri as she peered around.
“Yeah, we can just walk there.”
The water park was right next to the hotel, so we didn't need to take a car.
That meant we could set out at our leisure.
‘It is convenient having it right next door.’
There was a reason it was expensive.
I guess the location really did make the price.
······.
After breakfast.
We walked to the water park.
“See you later.”
Seungah's eyes were sparkling by then, and she gave a small wave.
She disappeared with light steps.
“······.”
I headed to the changing room with both fathers.
As I took off my top in front of the lockers.
Taking off my clothes between the two fathers was···
“······.”
Somehow.
It felt strangely suffocating.
“Oh. Looks like you've been exercising hard?”
Ji Nuri's father slowly raised his eyebrows as he looked at me in the nude.
It was pure admiration.
— “Being young is nice.”
He nodded, saying that he'd been like that once too.
I played along appropriately and gave him a polite smile.
“······.”
Even after thinking about it again, it was a strange situation.
How had I ended up going all the way into the changing room with my friend's father?
It still didn't feel real. It didn't feel like reality.
‘···Haven't they come out yet?’
We left the changing room first.
Women took longer to change or shower, after all.
“Want something to eat?”
The older man asked.
“Uh··· Then I'll have a Coke.”
There was nothing else to do while we waited, so I bought a churro and a Coke from a nearby snack stand.
Thankfully, he paid for them.
“···.”
Sluurp-
I took a sip of Coke.
While we waited and ate our snacks,
‘Ah, there they are.’
Ji Nuri and Seungah came walking out from a distance.
Their mothers were behind them.
“······.”
Seungah's face looked somewhat dazed as she trudged over.
— “···Wow, it's freaking huge.”
“Kuh!”
My eyes instinctively squeezed shut.
I nearly spit out the Coke I was drinking at Seungah's mutter.
I immediately realized who she was referring to.
“Cough, khff···.”
Coke dribbled from the corner of my mouth.
— “It's completely soft—”
Seungah continued.
I turned my head and let the rest of what she said go in one ear and out the other.
“······.”
Ji Nuri stared intently at me.
— “···Heh, getting embarrassed.”
Her Minimi wore a sly grin.
It snorted and looked smug.
“······.”
Seeing that made my eyebrows droop.
It wasn't because of you.
No, if we're being precise, it was because of you.
“We'll get a spot, so you two go ahead and have fun.”
Ji Nuri's mother waved as she placed the key card on the bench.
— “Hehe. We can spend some leisurely time together for once.”
The older woman looked at her husband and hummed excitedly.
‘No wonder.’
It seemed that inviting a family of friends she'd never met before had been partly motivated by this.
She must have wanted to spend some cozy time alone with her husband.
After all, if she stayed with Ji Nuri, she'd have to play with us.
“We'll be back.”
The three of us went outside. Hot sunlight poured down.
The murmuring voices of the people around us lay over everything like background music.
There were people everywhere we looked.
“Where should we start?”
“Wait a moment···?”
Ji Nuri tapped the phone inside her waterproof pouch.
It seemed she'd planned out an itinerary in advance.
“Let's rent life jackets first.”
I nodded at her suggestion.
The rental shop was easy to find because it was right nearby.
“One large and···.”
I stopped speaking to the employee and asked the other two,
“What sizes are you guys?”
“Small.”
“Uh, um. Small for me too.”
Seungah answered immediately,
while Ji Nuri thought about it before replying.
“One large and two small, please.”
“Yes, one large and two small. Here you are.”
I took the life jackets from the employee one by one.
Then I handed them back out to the two girls.
I quickly put on the life jacket I'd received.
“?”
Just then, my eyebrows twitched.
Seungah and I had both finished putting ours on quickly, but···
For some reason, Ji Nuri was twisting her body this way and that.
— “Nngh···.”
Her Minimi grunted as it tried to zip it up.
But it wasn't working.
It simply wouldn't fasten. It looked like it might burst if she forced it.
— “Ah···.”
Seungah's Minimi watched the scene with a blank stare.
Perhaps it had realized the reason.
“···Please change it to a medium.”
Ji Nuri quickly gave up and changed sizes.
The replacement worked. She had to loosen the straps several times, but she could wear it.
— “Tsk···.”
Seungah lightly clicked her tongue.
It was obvious at a glance that her favorability toward Ji Nuri had dropped.
“······.”
Now that we'd put on our life jackets.
It was finally time to have fun.
“Let's ride that one first···!”
Ji Nuri pointed at one of the rides.
— “That looks like it'll be so much fun!”
Her Minimi bounced up and down. It seemed incredibly excited.
— “Eek.”
Seungah's Minimi, on the other hand, hesitantly backed away.
Its mouth fell wide open.
— “What's that thing···?!”
It was horrified as it looked at the ride soaring high into the air.
Oh, right.
Seungah hadn't been able to ride scary attractions since she was little.
Six or seven years old, maybe? I still remembered her crying her eyes out inside a Ferris wheel because she was scared.
She had gotten better after growing up, but that tendency still hadn't disappeared completely.
“···Unni? Isn't that line really long?”
Seungah said with an ambiguous smile.
“It's okay. We have passes, so we can ride right away without waiting.”
“Huh?”
Seungah and I looked down at our wristbands at the same time.
It was true.
So the tickets included passes too.
That unni Seungah knew··· What an incredible gift she'd given her.
“Let's hurry.”
Ji Nuri excitedly took the lead.
“······.”
I followed after her, then casually asked Seungah,
“Do you think you'll be okay?”
“···Uh, one should be okay.”
Seungah looked at Ji Nuri, who was so excited, and steeled herself, apparently unable to back out.
“Aaaahhh—!”
But that quickly turned into a regretful expression.
“Eek! Aaaahhh!”
Seungah screamed with a face that looked as though she were about to cry.
After riding the first attraction, we returned to dry land.
— “That was so much fun···!”
Ji Nuri's Minimi huffed excitedly.
“My legs are shaking so much···.”
Ji Nuri looked at her legs and let out a laugh.
She wasn't completely unafraid either, but she seemed to be enjoying the thrill.
“Huuugh···.”
Seungah was barely standing, using my shoulder for support.
— “I seriously thought I was going to die···.”
She bent halfway at the waist and muttered in a low voice.
“······.”
I looked down at her and slowly blinked.
‘I thought my eardrums were going to burst···.’
My ears felt muffled.
The noise Seungah and her Minimi had made together was what caused it.
“Let's go straight to the next one.”
Ji Nuri flicked through her phone.
“Let's do something simple this time and catch our breath.”
“···What is it?”
Seungah asked in an anxious tone.
“That one.”
Ji Nuri pointed upward.
A long slide stretched all the way from the sky down to the ground.
Seungah's expression abruptly froze.
— “You said it was simple···!”
Her Minimi shouted loudly.
‘No wonder Ji Nuri's parents liked her.’
Ji Nuri liked playing more than I'd expected.
I had no idea how she'd managed to hold back during the school trip.
“···Wait, you can't ride this with two people.”
Seungah's eyes flashed.
Ji Nuri nodded at that and crooked a finger.
“That's true, but people with passes can ride it alone.”
“No, then it won't be funnn···!”
Seungah let out a sweet smile. It was clearly intentional.
“I'll wait here. You two go.”
“Huh? Okay?”
Ji Nuri raised a questioning look.
“Come on, come on.”
Seungah quickly nudged our backs.
“I'll be eating ice cream right up ahead, so hurry back~”
Then she took off like she was fleeing before we could stop her.
We were left standing there blankly.
Ji Nuri's gaze slowly turned toward me.
— “Ahem···.”
Her Minimi let out a fake cough.
“······.”
Somehow, I felt like I knew what Ji Nuri was about to say.
I spoke a step ahead of her.
“She hasn't been able to ride scary things since she was little.”
“Ah···.”
Ji Nuri nodded.
“It did look that way.”
She nodded as she replayed what had just happened.
— “We should change the course to the wave pool. I'll take out all the rides along the way···.”
Ji Nuri immediately changed the course.
Perhaps she'd already been considering several options, because it didn't take long.
“······.”
Even so, we arrived at the next ride.
“The woman should sit in front, and the man should sit behind.”
We followed the employee's instructions and climbed onto the tube one after another.
— “This looks like it'll be so much fun!”
Her Minimi clung tightly to the tube. It stomped its feet excitedly.
“Please put both legs between your arms.”
“Ah, okay.”
I placed my calves between Ji Nuri's armpits.
“······.”
Ji Nuri glanced back and let out a teasing, “Heh-heh.”
She had a slightly mischievous expression.
I crooked a finger, telling her to look forward.
Ji Nuri let out a little snicker and turned her gaze back around.
Since she'd come here to have fun, her energy was running quite high.
“Hold tightly to the safety bar. We're departing right away~”
The tube slid forward.
“Uh···!”
At first, it seemed to descend slowly.
Then it picked up speed and grew faster and faster.
“Aah!”
Ji Nuri screamed.
It was more an exhilarated shout than a cry of fear.
Our bodies swayed this way and that with the movement of the tube.
Whoooosh—!
After racing along at high speed, we reached the end.
Splaash——!
The impact of the descent sent water spraying over the tube.
“Cough! Cough!”
A cough burst out of me.
I'd swallowed some water. That happened because I'd had my mouth open.
As I wiped the water from my wet face,
“Heh.”
Ji Nuri burst out laughing.
Good grief.
It was an utterly childish laugh.
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(!Sign!)
(There's an AI illustration if you scroll down!)
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(Ji Nuri's Swimsuit 1)
(Ji Nuri's Swimsuit 2)
+ The reason it's not a bikini is that this is a family trip.