Friday Morning. School Announcement.
"We're going to the zoo!"
That was the cheerful cry from the loudspeaker.
"YEAHHHHH!!" the students cheered.
Except for Kang Joon-Ho.
He slumped in his chair like a man who had just been told the zoo might be crawling with snack-hunting So-Ras, banana milk fans, and at least one suspicious fangirl who believes he's a vampire.
"Why can't we visit a normal place," he muttered, "like a tax office or a cave?"
So-Ra grinned from the seat in front of him.
"I hope there are peacocks. Maybe they'll teach you how to flare those glittery feathers of yours."
"I didn't flare. I tripped."
"You tripped like art."
---
11:42 AM – Zoo Chaos Begins
At the zoo, things were fine. For five minutes.
They visited the penguins.
They took selfies with goats.
One guy tried to feed a lion and was almost banned for life.
And then it happened.
Joon-Ho's System glitched.
---
[System Notification: "Gold Star Portal Temporarily Unstable"]
> Teleportation: ✅ Random Activation Possible
Status: Wiggly
"…Did you just say wiggly?!"
> Yes.
---
11:43 AM – Whoops.
So-Ra, her best friend Jae-Hee, and an unlucky bystander named Dae-Seok were standing near Joon-Ho when—
ZAAAP!
There was a loud pop, a shimmer of light—
—and all four of them vanished from the giraffe exhibit.
---
Location: The Gold Star Planet
So-Ra looked around.
Her mouth dropped open.
"…This… is not a zoo."
The alien sky sparkled pink. The wind glowed. The vending machine blinked cheerfully beside a glowing mountain of gold.
Jae-Hee screamed. "ARE WE DEAD?!"
Dae-Seok squatted on the ground. "Am I… high?"
"NO!" Joon-Ho shouted, panicking. "NO ONE PANIC. THIS IS JUST… A SECRET THEMED PARK."
So-Ra pointed at the mountain of gold.
"Is that… ACTUAL GOLD?!"
"No. That's… space sand."
She narrowed her eyes. "Then why is your name written in the vending machine display?!"
"…Brand partnership?"
Jae-Hee licked a gold rock.
"I regret nothing," she said, eyes wide.
---
Things Got Weirder Fast
So-Ra tried to interrogate the vending machine.
Dae-Seok sat on it and asked if it could make tteokbokki.
Jae-Hee got stuck in a hole trying to "mine" with a spoon.
Meanwhile, Joon-Ho screamed at his System:
"WHY DID YOU BRING THEM HERE?!"
> System Apology Level: Mild.
Emergency Return Portal available in 10 minutes.
Side Quest: Keep them from realizing this is your private planet.
Penalty for Failure: Loss of Peace & Sudden Fame Explosion.
---
10 Minutes of Panic: A Brief Timeline
Minute 1: So-Ra tried to take a selfie with a space boulder.
Minute 2: Dae-Seok threw a rock at the vending machine. It zapped him. He cried.
Minute 3: Jae-Hee tried to build a "golden slide." It collapsed instantly.
Minute 4: Joon-Ho screamed into the void. The void screamed back.
Minute 5: So-Ra found a snack labeled "???" and asked too many questions.
Minute 6–9: Everyone tried the snacks. Everyone briefly floated.
Minute 10: The emergency return portal opened. Joon-Ho pushed them in like bowling pins.
---
Back at the Zoo
The four of them popped back into place behind the giraffe pen.
A zookeeper blinked.
"You four were just—weren't you—?"
So-Ra smiled and said, "We were… at a secret idol training camp."
The zookeeper nodded slowly. "Right. Of course. K-pop stuff."
Joon-Ho collapsed onto a bench, face first.
"I'm never leaving the house again."
---
Later That Day
So-Ra texted him:
> "We'll talk later. But I know that wasn't a K-pop training center."
"And if you're secretly an alien prince, just blink twice." 👽
He groaned.
The vending machine dinged from inside his closet.
His mother yelled from the kitchen, "Why does your room smell like grilled asteroid garlic again?!"
He answered with the voice of a broken man:
"Because I'm a gift to humanity, Mom."
---
To Be Continued…