Chapter 152
Chapter 152
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Schisandra Tea and Horse Bone Powder
The last day of the school trip.
"This isn't just any souvenir! Didn't your parents give you spending money for this trip? If you buy even one of these, they'll be shedding tears of joy..."
"Wow..."
"It's sweet and tangy, perfect for drinking straight from the bottle, but it doubles as a skincare product too! Acne, beard marks, rosy cheeks..."
"Oh..."
Another classic school trip staple.
Targeting innocent teens with aggressive sales of bone dust powder or schisandra tea.
Aimed at prying open the wallets of students who feel obligated to bring home something after the trip and the pocket money they've received.
"After washing your face, slather this on like a mask, leave it for 10 minutes, then rinse. Our pretty girls know you have to start preventing crow's feet around your eyes in your teens, right?"
Schisandra tea that's obviously just a lump of sugar... on your skin?
I looked around in disbelief.
But my classmates, each holding a tiny paper cup, were already hooked.
I bet Bang Eun-ji in the room with the Class 6 kids had caved to the crow's feet pitch and bought a bottle too.
Still, with the kids on the fence, the uncle was refilling cups generously and keeping things cheerful. But the second no one looked ready to buy, he'd drop the smile and turn the mood sour.
"You've all been chugging it—gonna buy or what?" "Do I look like I'm digging holes for a living?" He'd guilt-trip them until someone stepped up and bought, refusing to let them leave.
Hard sell, pure and simple.
How does this crap even make it onto the itinerary?
"I've got bone dust powder too! 100% Jeju pony bones!"
'Did our homeroom teacher get a kickback for bringing us here?'
I glanced back suspiciously,
and saw our teacher whipping out her wallet, eyes gleaming.
"It's great for arthritis! Boosts growth! Essential for that age when your knees start hurting! Eat this, and you'll shoot up to 190 cm!"
"Those two boxes...!"
I grabbed her hand to stop her, whispering urgently.
"Teacher. That's false advertising."
"But...!"
Height growth?! She stomped her foot.
"Teacher...!"
Think about it! You're already in your mid-20s—if that stuff worked, you'd be tall by now!
"My knees hurt too...!"
"Teacher...!"
Buy it later in Jeju! Teacher! You're younger than me! Seo Hee! Snap out of it!
I was so busy wrestling her away that I didn't notice what was happening around us.
"Bone dust powder..."
"Let's go!"
I dragged our chanting teacher out and shoved her onto the bus.
"Phew."
Exhausting.
I wiped sweat from my forehead and glanced back.
There were Jeong Eun-seong and Seo Jae-kyeom, shoving each other with their shoulders as they emerged from the building, each lugging a massive shopping bag stuffed with six boxes of bone dust powder...
"......"
"......"
They avoided my gaze. Jeong Eun-seong mumbled,
"They said it'd make you taller."
"......"
"Good for the knees too."
"Ha..."
No wonder the uncle let us go so easily.
— O Schisandra Tea and Horse Bone Powder — Mi Forcing sales to minors prohibited. — Ja Don't steal snot-money from kids half your age. — Cha Just dig a hole and sell there! "You look like you're in your boyfriend's arms~."
We'd raced to the rest stop after getting fleeced on bone dust powder—a return visit after just two days.
'So much has happened in the meantime...'
Next to me, staring off into the distance, Jang Ji-won hugged Ye-su-a and said something like that. Last night she'd been bawling about swearing off dating forever, and I'd thought she'd finally come to her senses. Nope.
Ye-su-a's face was predictably sour, but as class president, she couldn't shove her off and just endured it...
"Ye-su-a, we'll get the chicken skewers."
Kim Ga-eun, looking utterly fed up, dragged us away from Ye-su-a and Jang Ji-won.
"What flavor?"
"Gochujang!"
"Not too spicy?"
"It was still tasty."
"Should we get some for Eun-seong and Jae-kyeom? They bought ours the day before yesterday."
"Nah. Tell them to mix it in water with their bone dust powder."
We ruthlessly bought only for ourselves.
"What about Ji-won...?"
"...Guess we have to. She and Ye-su-a are stuck together like that."
"Yeah... Can't discriminate on food, at least."
Kim Ga-eun grumbled with a twisted expression.
"Jang Ji-won is such a [bleep]... Seeing her come back all beat up, I feel a little sorry for her... But it's her own fault... And we're always the ones agonizing over it while types like her don't give it a second thought..."
"Tell me about it."
I let out a hollow laugh.
Ji-won, please! Get your act together!
"So, starting next week, we eat lunch with Jang Ji-won?"
"What? Are you nuts?"
"Right? How far are we supposed to go helping her? She needs to sort her own mess. It's her karma."
"Don't worry. She hasn't been eating lately."
"She hasn't?"
"Yeah... Dieting."
"Oh dear."
Try exercise instead of dieting. Don't you want to join the NIS? Stamina matters, kiddo?
We chattered as we headed to the bus.
"Hey, those guys..."
"Whoa."
"...Are they our stalkers?"
Gukgok High's buses were pulling into the rest stop.
Even though Jang Ji-won was persona non grata among the girls now, our friends knew she'd gotten beaten by Gukgok kids, and their expressions darkened.
"Whatever. Ignore them. We're leaving anyway."
I soothed the friends glaring like they were ready for round two and herded them onto the bus.
We prepped to depart; they prepped to arrive.
Just as our bus started pulling out.
"Fuck you! Fuck you!"
Jeong Na-jun suddenly plastered himself to the window, flipping double middle fingers at the Gukgok kids staring over.
Gukgok High lost it.
They rushed over, firing back their own birds, but
"Fuck you fuck you fuck you!"
Jeong Na-jun had already drawn the curtains by then...
And we were already leaving...
"Kyahahaha! We win!"
"Jeong Na-jun..."
"Kyahahahahaha!"
"...Why'd you flip them off?"
"Just did!"
"Right..."
But this guy's bird-flipping wasn't over yet.
"Pfft..."
"Pffft..."
Unlike the rowdy ride there with everyone belting karaoke, the way back had kids minding their own business.
Jeong Na-jun, who'd pulled back the curtains, returned to his seat and passed out.
Jin-ha, eyes puffy from whatever went down while I was away last night, slept far from him— a stark change from sitting right in front of him on the way there.
'Looks like they had their own drama.'
In the back, Jeong Eun-seong and Seo Jae-kyeom clutched their bone powder bags like treasures as they dozed. A lot had happened in two days, but right now, they both looked relieved and content.
Then,
"Oh."
Our bus overtook Class 1's ahead of us. As we passed, eyes met.
Suddenly, Yeon-hee in the seat ahead shot double birds at Class 1's girls.
"Eeeekekeke!"
A laugh straight out of Jeong Na-jun's playbook—from demure Yeon-hee? Unbelievable.
As I stared wide-eyed in shock,
Do-yeon beside me fired off her own double birds.
Ye-su-a, Ga-eun, Gyeong Se-in too.
Gyeong Se-in had somehow prepped her phone with an LED sign:
ㅗㅗㅗㅗ^_^ㅗㅗㅗㅗ
The birds rippled like a wave.
From the back, Jeong Eun-seong bellowed,
"Driver! Pass Class 1!"
"We'll give you bone powder!"
Seo Jae-kyeom chimed in.
Wait, when did they wake up?
As I marveled, our teacher yelled from the front seat.
"Hello?... Yes... Yes?!"
I thought maybe Class 1's teacher was complaining about the birds, but
"Park Su-hwan!"
It was a call from Gukgok High.
Turned out Park Su-hwan's crew—who'd been suspiciously quiet—had swapped numbers with Gukgok girls, visited their rooms every night, and snuck over using prepped flashlights and lasers from the balcony (such pointless diligence).
The problem? While the girls slept first, they rifled through wallets and stole cash.
'Just like with Jang Ji-won. How easy did they think they were?'
But the Gukgok girls didn't let it slide. Bracing for their own punishment, they reported it to their teachers right away and plan to press charges with the police.
"What?! It wasn't me! I didn't do it! That wasn't—"
Park Su-hwan tried passing the buck like always, but
"What the hell, you bastard! You suggested it!"
No more Jang Ji-won to act, lie, or cover for him, huh?
"Soon as we get back, bring your parents, Su-hwan. Or should I call? Your dad's number."
"Not Dad! Mom at least...!"
"Seeing you squirm like this makes me wanna call your dad even more."
Waited long enough, folks.
Park Su-hwan: OUT.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ School trip's over, kids!
Don't forget to unpack when you get home!
Time to study!
Skip studying, and your grades will run away~
Like a shy little kid~
(I sang this in the group chat earlier, but no one knew it. Whew. Dodged a generation gap bullet.)