Irina shut down her mini homepage.
At first, she looked unrecognizably frail quiet, hollowed out, like someone whose light had dimmed too suddenly.
But within a few days, she slowly began to regain her old brightness.
Amid the whispers of the other kids.
"Anyone know a cute guy?"
"Ask Ian to introduce someone. She probably knows tons, lol."
Hai-an, too, carried on with her school life as usual.
Hong Aera shot them a sharp glare.
The whispers stopped immediately.
They both look look at her with fear.
Scary…
Seojin sat at his desk, lost in thought.
"Ughhh… I'm so bored,"
He muttered. "I wish I could just hang out with Seolhyo all day."
Right now, there wasn't much to do.
Compared to the future smart tech, endless games, constant entertainment the early 2000s felt painfully limited.
No smartphones, no streaming, no social media feeds to kill time.
Just conversations, wandering around, or killing hours in front of a screen if you were lucky.
how could anyone survive this if they have experience of the future? being rich doesn't do much even the consider high-tech now still look garbage to me.
I glanced at Park Dong and Suwon already planning what they were going to do.
Suwon asked him. "So, what should we do?"
Park Dong answered without much care. "Let's go to the PC bang."
Before we could all leave, our homeroom teacher's voice boomed from the front.
"Quiet, quiet!! Don't go wandering off somewhere shady just because you got out early!"
"Behave while you're out having fun, and come straight home!"
"Yes, teach!!" we replied in unison.
And just like that.
The long-awaited first summer vacation had finally begun.
Or at least, that's what they called it.
Seojin grumbled under his breath about how ridiculous the school system even before or right now.
At this time, most general high schools still forced students to attend mandatory supplementary classes even during vacation. In truth, it wasn't much different from regular school days.
The only real difference?
We went home during the day instead of late at night.
Stupid school…
That kind of "freedom" barely counted as a vacation.
Still, at least I should still be glad for one thing out of the four weeks, there was at least one full week where we didn't have to go to school at all.
That short stretch.
That could finally be called a real vacation.
And honestly, it was enough.
Enough for one chance to go at a trip.
In 1st class, Inseop had come over to talk with Suwon.
"We'll need to take the train from Suwon Station, right?" Inseop asked.
Suwon looked up at him."How many days are we going this time? Like always two nights and three days?"
Inseop grinned, already excited."Yeah. Two nights and three days sounds perfect. Let's leave the day after tomorrow!"
Park Dong, who was sitting cross-legged on top of his desk, turned toward them."Where are you guys going for the weekend?"
Suwon's eyes lit up. With a proud smile, he gave a thumbs-up."To Ono's dad's place!"
Park Dong raised an eyebrow."Wow. That's… oddly specific. What's so special about some dude's dad's house?"
Inseop closed his eyes, already lost in imagination."Not much. Just the countryside. Nice air. There's a small stream nearby."
"Ooh," Park Dong said. "A stream sounds fun."
"And Ono's dad feeds us, lets us sleep over basically takes care of everything," Inseop added."Last time, we even grilled pork belly outside."
Park Dong's eyes widened."Wait. So you don't even need money?"
"Well," Suwon said, "you still need train fare."
Park Dong pointed at himself without hesitation."Alright. It's decided. I'm coming too!"
"Huh…?" Suwon blinked.
-
They went to Ono's classroom so Park Dong could ask him Ono about coming along, and maybe bringing his friends too.
Ono, bluntly said without an ounce of hesitation."No. You're not."
The words hit too cleanly.
Park Dong stiffen being rejected so bluntly."…What?"
"You're not even close with me," Ono continued flatly.
Park Dong flustered, scratching his head."I mean… yeah, that's true, but still..."
Suwon stare at Ono with incredulous look."You really just said that straight to his face…"
Ono wasn't done.
"And you want to bring your friends too?"
"Absolutely not."
But Park Dong didn't back off.
"What the hell? We've even been to a PC bang together!"
Ono stared at him, completely expressionless.
"That's literally all we've done."
"You're really gonna be this petty?!"
"You're the shameless one here."
"C'mon, let's just hang out as friends!"
Ono stare at him not faltering."You're really stretching the definition of 'friend' here. Does going to the same school automatically make us friends?"
Park Dong turned to Suwon in disbelief."Was he always like this?"
Suwon sighed."He's just doing this because it's a hassle."
Realizing words weren't getting through, Park Dong switched tactics.
He suddenly dropped to the floor.
"SCREW IT! WE'RE GOING ANYWAY!!"
He kicked his legs like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"IF WE CAN'T GO, THEN NONE OF YOU CAN, YOU!"
Inseop groaned, covering his face.
"Ugh… seriously…"
They were in the hallway now. Students had started stopping to stare.
After several minutes of relentless whining, pleading, and sheer embarrassment, Inseop and Suwon finally managed to convince Ono.
So the group now is.
Ono, Suwon, Junhyun, Inseop, Hyewon, Park Dong, Daegyu, and Jisung.
Park Dong frowned."Hyewon? Never heard that name before."
Inseop answered casually,"My girlfriend."
Park Dong look at him with shock.
"..."
Inseop's brow twitched."What's with that face? You shocked I have a girlfriend?"
Suwon suddenly realized something."Wait Seojin's not coming?"
"I don't know," Inseop said. "I haven't seen him. Where is he anyway?"
Suwon shrugged."Let's ask him too."
Park Dong scoffed."That guy's probably in Seolhyo's class."
Then he turned back to Inseop."Your girlfriend's coming, right? So we can bring girls too. Can I ask some of my close girl friends?"
"Do whatever," Inseop replied.
Ono shot them a sharp glare.This was his house and they were already deciding everything without him.
They headed to Class 1-6, where Seolhyo's group was.
After Suwon explained everything.
"A stream?" Irina asked. "With who?"
Suwon answered for them, since Park Dong suddenly got shy and Inseop wasn't close to the girls."My friends. Park Dong. And some others."
Irina thought about it."Hmm… I'm not really close with your friends…"
Suwon glanced toward Seojin, who was crouched in front of Seolhyo's desk.
Seolhyo had her head resting on her arms, one hand dangling lazily over the edge while Seojin absentmindedly played with her fingers, intertwining them, spreading them apart, then lacing them again.
"How about you, Seojin?" Suwon asked. "Any plans for vacation?"
Seojin looked up."Not really. My mom said I could come to Paris where she is right now, but…"
He shrugged."It's only one week off. I don't really want to travel that far."
Seolhyo turned her head toward him."You've been to another country before?"
Seojin thought for a moment."Yeah. I got dragged around a lot when my parents had business overseas."
"…Wow," Seolhyo said softly. "I'm jealous."
Seojin glanced back at Suwon."Then I'll come too. Since I don't really have plans."
Irina then turned toward Inseop, who was in the same class as her."Kim Inseop, you're going too?"
Inseop nodded."Yeah. That was the plan."
Irina's face brightened immediately."Ugh, that actually sounds really fun… What do I do? Should I go?"
Jinkyung, who was standing in front of Irina's desk, crossed her arms thoughtfully."I think I'll have to ask my mom first."
"I'll try asking too," Irina said quickly.
"Me too!" Jinkyung added.
"Yeah, go ahead," Suwon said with a grin.
Then Suwon glanced at Seojin and subtly gestured toward Seol Hyorim with his eyes.
Seojin understanding what he's saying squeezed Seolhyo's hand gently."How about you?"
Seolhyo stared at him flatly."Are you messing with me? You know I can't stay out overnight."
Park Dong, who had been listening in, jumped in."Seolhyo, let's all just go together. Just tell Minsu-hyung it's a group of girls traveling."
Seolhyo turned to him, unimpressed."Even if it's all girls, overnight stays are still not allowed."
She let out a small sigh, already resigned."If I don't come home even for one day, he'll send his juniors out looking for me."
Then she tightened her grip on Seojin's hand."…And if he ever finds out I have a boyfriend and that he's there too you can imagine how much trouble it'd cause."
"It's fine. Don't worry about me. Just go and have fun, all of you."
The three of them fell silent, the weight of her words sinking in.
Seojin stared at her, letting out a quiet sigh.
We really have to solve this somehow,
How long is her brother going to stay this overprotective? At this rate…
how are we even supposed to get married someday?
He let out a exhausted sigh.