Chapter 87
* * *
The vacation lasted three days and two nights.
The water park portion of the trip ended yesterday.
I was in the middle of a “goat-feeding experience” at a theme park in Gimhae.
Maa—
Maaaa—
The goat tore into the grass I held out, crunching loudly.
“Wow! Wow!”
Seeing that, Lee Seungah widened her eyes and giggled. She vigorously rubbed the fluffy fur with both hands.
“···You're really not going to do it? They don't bite.”
I turned around and waved the grass in my hand.
Behind me, Ji Nuri was hiding, using me as a shield.
“I-I really am okay.”
Ji Nuri's voice trembled. Her face had gone pale.
“Come here, kids~”
Whether Ji Nuri came along or not,
Lee Seungah waved the grass around, darting this way and that like the owner of a farm.
Maa— Maaaa——!
Clatter— clatter—
The goat followed her, moving with the clatter of its hooves.
“···.”
Swish, swish—
Depending on the goat's position, Ji Nuri orbited around me.
‘Good grief.’
It was the exact opposite of the water park.
Here, Lee Seungah was flying around, while Ji Nuri was showing an unusually timid side.
‘And she was so loud before we came.’
Her bold laughter about how fun it would be had disappeared long ago.
— “I-It’s much bigger than I thought···?”
She could pet cats just fine, but she was weak when it came to large animals.
It seemed this was something even Ji Nuri herself hadn't known, judging by how flustered she looked.
“···.”
I stood blankly in place.
I had no choice, since Ji Nuri was holding on to my collar.
But we couldn't stay like this forever.
I slowly stepped toward the goat.
Overcoming the strength of her grip, I walked forward one step at a time.
“Hey, hey, wait a second···!”
Ji Nuri fidgeted restlessly, then reluctantly followed me.
Her steps were hesitant.
···Anyway, that's how it happened.
And so, we continued going around together even after the water park.
There may have been several reasons.
The biggest, simplest reason was that our parents had grown close.
“···.”
I turned my gaze beyond the fence.
From a bench in the distance came the sound of cheerful chatter and giggles.
“No, so when Seungho was little—”
“Oh, really??”
The mothers of both families did most of the talking, while the fathers mostly listened and chimed in.
They had grown close incredibly quickly.
‘···Anyone seeing them would think they'd known each other for years.’
Both of them were naturally very sociable, which helped. But it mattered even more that the mothers shared the same interests. They both loved dramas, so they quickly found themselves speaking the same language.
Their chatter, as they sat on the bench, showed no sign of stopping.
“Hmm···.”
I figured they'd be talking for quite a while longer, so I turned my gaze back.
A goat was right in front of me.
The goat raised its head. Its long muzzle worked as it chewed.
Maa—
Only the bleating could be heard. As expected, no Minimi was visible.
That made sense. Minimis could only be seen on people.
“Here.”
I placed some grass in Ji Nuri's hand.
“Huh?”
I pulled Ji Nuri, who accepted it awkwardly, over beside me.
“Try giving it to him.”
“···.”
Ji Nuri swallowed hard.
She wasn't afraid of animals. It wasn't a phobia, either.
She was simply flustered by an experience she was having for the first time.
— “U···ugh···.”
For instance, Ji Nuri's Minimi wasn't making any noise.
Even though it was telling her not to do it, I could still hear proper words from it for now.
That's how anything is when you do it for the first time.
You can't help but feel nervous and hesitant.
“I told you it's okay.”
I continued in a low voice.
I cautiously reached my hand toward the goat in front of me.
“Good boy.”
Stroke, stroke—
I slowly ran my hand over its snow-white fur.
I could feel its fluffy texture between my fingers.
Maa—
See?
It was a gentle one. Maybe it was because it was so accustomed to human touch.
It calmly accepted my touch.
“Here.”
With my other hand, I lightly grasped Ji Nuri's wrist—the one holding the grass.
I slowly guided it forward.
“!?”
Ji Nuri flinched in surprise, but she didn't pull her arm back.
Even as her eyes narrowed more and more,
she eventually extended her arm forward.
Munch, munch—
The goat calmly chewed the grass she held out.
“That's right.”
What a docile little guy.
I gently stroked the goat's head.
“Ah···.”
With that short sound, Ji Nuri's eyes filled with wonder.
She abruptly turned her head and looked at me.
— “Hehe.”
Her Minimi let out a light laugh. At the same time, the corners of its mouth rose.
Its gaze seemed to ask, “How about that?”
It quickly grew smug and formed a pure, clear smile.
‘Good grief.’
I answered it with a faint smile.
How should I put it?
Well, that was a very Ji Nuri-like smile.
* * *
The vacation that had seemed both short and long came to an end. We set out for home.
Since our routes were the same anyway, we traveled with Ji Nuri's family.
In truth, we were only traveling together in name.
We were merely eating together at the rest stop.
“Did the convenience store have what I mentioned?”
Lee Seungah asked while holding a sotteok-sotteok in each hand.
One of them was mine.
“They didn't, so I bought something else.”
“Really? Maybe it's because it's a rest stop? ···What did you buy?”
“Chocolate mushrooms and spicy potato chips··· and some other things.”
“You bought a lot.”
Well, it wasn't my money.
Seungah climbed into the back seat first, and I got in after her.
Then Ji Nuri climbed in after me.
“?”
I turned around and saw Ji Nuri awkwardly getting into the car.
“No, what are you doing?”
I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
Why hadn't she gotten into her own car and come over here?
“···Huh? What? I got permission?”
Ji Nuri tilted her head as if asking whether there was a problem.
Whether she had permission or not, that wasn't the issue.
The issue was what Ji Nuri's parents would think.
— “Ah···.”
Then, she let out a small sigh as if she'd realized something.
Her Minimi nodded emphatically and continued in a confident tone.
— “···Isn't Seungho misunderstanding this···?”
What was that supposed to mean?
“I got in because I wanted to play with Seungah?”
Ji Nuri raised a finger.
“···Oh, right.”
I nodded appropriately.
It seemed pointless to say anything more. It was a swift surrender.
“···.”
Somehow,
I had a feeling the trip home was going to be noisy too.
* * *
Nom—
Ji Nuri stole a bite of his snack.
Since Lee Seungho was nodding off with the bag in his hand,
it was the perfect opportunity to steal some.
Munch, munch—
“Mm.”
It was quite delicious.
Snacks really did taste best when you stole them from someone else.
“Mm··· rainbow.”
Then she completed the word after “maple tree.”
They were playing a word-chain game.
“Forsythia.”
Lee Seungah immediately picked up the word.
“You just used that one.”
“For··· forsy···.”
Lee Seungah groaned as she racked her brain.
“?”
Bzz—
Just then, she felt a brief vibration from inside her pocket.
‘Sol?’
Wondering who it was, she saw that a DM had arrived from Isol.
— [Sol : (link)]
‘Huh?’
A single link had come through.
When she checked what it was,
it turned out to be a map showing the location of a shopping mall.
— [Sol : With Ayoung]
— [Sol : Go shopping?]
The DMs arrived one after another.
“Hmm···.”
Ji Nuri looked out the window.
They had been driving along the highway for quite a while.
They were still on the way, too,
and she felt like she would collapse the moment she got home.
Unfortunately, she was too physically exhausted for it.
— [Ji Nuri : Doesn't seem possible todayㅠㅠ]
— [Ji Nuri : It's the last day of vacation today!]
— [Ji Nuri : (dog emoji streaming tears)]
Ding!
— [Sol : (startled hamster emoji)]
The reply came right away.
She must have happened to be looking at her phone.
— [Sol : (nodding hamster emoji)]
Isol seemed to understand as well.
Come to think of it,
she had mentioned that today was the last day of vacation. She must have forgotten.
— [Sol : Was the vacation fun?]
She was asking whether the vacation had been fun.
Ji Nuri flipped through her album.
Was there a photo worth sending···?
— [Ji Nuri : (selfie with a swimming pool in the background)]
Ji Nuri sent Isol a photo.
— [Ji Nuri : They said it was the biggest in Korea, and it really was incredibly spacious.]
She thought it would be fun if Isol went there too someday.
Maybe for a graduation trip or something.
Or would they be going abroad by then?
“Ant···!”
Just then, Lee Seungah spoke.
“You used that one earlier too.”
“Ant···.”
Lee Seungah fell into thought again.
— [Isol : ㄷ]
Just then, a typo came through.
Ji Nuri tilted her head.
As she did, the next message appeared.
— [Isol : What's behind you?]
‘Behind···?’
Ji Nuri examined the area behind herself in the photo.
Lee Seungah was faintly visible there.
They must have ended up in the picture together by chance.
‘Oh, I should tell her about this too.’
Ji Nuri tapped away at the keyboard.
— [Ji Nuri : I was going to tell you anyway]
— [Ji Nuri : You know how we ran into Seungho's family here?]
— [Ji Nuri : Somehow we ended up hanging out together lol]
Ji Nuri let out a series of little chuckles.
Going on vacation and running into someone she knew.
Even she thought it was a pretty amusing story.
“···.”
She waited for a reply, chuckling softly.
“···.”
Hmm.
“?”
What was this?
The read receipt had appeared,
but perhaps Isol had fallen asleep while reading, because no reply came for quite some time.
“Modification···!”
Lee Seungah spoke again.
“Mm.”
Who knows.
She'd probably hear back later.
Ji Nuri picked up Lee Seungah's word again.
“Clam.”
“Ah, damn it···!”
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