The Train Trip That Went Viral (6)
After dinner I lay down on the bed to rest a bit. I had pictured some kind of overseas backpacker trip—squeezing into a grimy bunk with zero privacy—but this was actually really nice. We got to stuff ourselves with delicious food and snap photos to our hearts’ content. Out of a hundred things, ninety-nine were perfect. The single letdown had nothing to do with the package tour or the train. It was all because of Moddeok.
I’d taken the photos on Moddeok’s phone. Of course it had to be an iPhone. The phone itself wasn’t the problem; the comment that came with it was. It happened earlier, while we were eating. We were just about to dig in when Moddeok stopped us.
“Hold on. We need at least one shot. What should we do?”
“What do you think?”
“Finger hearts? Let’s do finger hearts. Sounds good. Everyone ready?”
I copied the shape Moddeok made with her thumb and fingers at a right angle, then pressed my fingertip to hers so it looked like a little space between them.
“Now bend the rest like this. We’ll each take three solo shots and finish with a group one.”
Following her lead, my fingers formed a heart. They were starting to cramp, but I held the pose.
“Perfect. Let’s shoot.”
We took a couple of pictures. Moddeok nodded and showed me the screen.
“Look at this. Pretty good, right?”
“Oh…!! It’s great.”
She’d made such a lovely finger heart. As expected, her girl-power was on another level. I was genuinely impressed—up to that point everything was fine. Then came the line that ruined it all.
“I’ll AirDrop them to you.”
“AirDrop…?”
I’d heard the word before. Something iPhone users did these days. I didn’t know the details; I’d been a Galaxy loyalist my whole life. My current phone was the same.
“I… I use a Galaxy…” I said, shy but brave.
She chuckled. “A girl who uses Galaxy? That’s a little far from the usual ‘vain, Instagram-flexing, social-climbing’ type, huh?”
The way she looked at me felt like she was teasing. I couldn’t back down. Not in front of the viewers. For their sake, I had to protect my pride.
I wanted to say, “I just like it,” but the courage wasn’t there. Instead I scrambled for reasons.
“It’s because of Pay. And call recording is convenient. File management is nice too, and photos are easier to sort. Plus when I top up games I can use Google Points for cheap recharges. And… when you tap the phone icon it doesn’t call right away, and…”
I listed every advantage I could think of. This was a pride battle. I refused to lose. If I lost here, I’d have no face left for the chat.
After that I braced myself for the usual iPhone-versus-Galaxy debate and prepared ten different counter-arguments. I was ready to defend a phone that cost over a million won. But Moddeok just smiled gently.
“I see. I’ll send them through KakaoTalk instead. Or would you prefer the cloud?”
A question I hadn’t prepared for. I could only stammer and nod.
Looking back, I had been completely defeated. Some viewers always said reality and the internet were different; now I understood what they meant.
“Pfft… pfft… How funny.”
“What’s so funny? Laugh with me.”
Moddeok naturally slid into the seat beside me. I couldn’t tell her the truth—that she was laughing at me, which meant I’d embarrassed myself.
“Pfft… pfft…”
“Pfft pfft?”
“Pfft… pfft…”
“Seriously, what is it?”
She shook me by the shoulders. I still couldn’t say it. Admitting it would be too mortifying. I laughed until my eyes closed.
“I’m just going to sleep… Good night!”
“Hehe. Okay, sleep well.”
The moment I closed my eyes last night, I was out. When I woke up we were already in Busan. We had famous local food for breakfast, then another stretch of free time. Was it just me, or were we riding the tour bus more than the train?
“Let’s take a picture here.”
In the end, the only thing that remained was photos. I dragged the two visibly tired people around and kept shooting. We moved to Gyeongju and took more pictures. That was basically the whole trip. I don’t drink coffee, but the other two needed a break, so we stopped for coffee time. I just scored the shot of a lifetime. Hehe.
“This is nice. Really nice.”
“This one?”
“Yeah…!!”
“I’ll send it to you.”
Moddeok’s voice was dry, her eyes tired. Had she not slept well? I’d slept like a log and felt great.
“Moddeok, did you not sleep?”
“Me? A little?”
“Hmm… why?”
People often said I was blessed. I could fall asleep anywhere the second I closed my eyes—unless something truly unusual was happening. Sleep just came naturally.
“…Hahaha.”
“If you’re tired, just sleep!”
“I’ll power through with coffee. My body clock is messed up.”
“Got it.”
She really was impressive. I just slept whenever I got sleepy.
“Pyeongjipja, are you struggling too?”
“M-me? I’m fine.”
Her voice said otherwise. She sounded completely drained. Maybe these two just weren’t built for travel.
“Hmm… we still have a lot left. Think you can handle it?”
“Hahaha… still?”
“Yes!! We probably need at least five hundred more photos.”
“Kuhahaha… sounds good.”
“Happy, right?”
“Y-yeah…”
It might be tough now, but later it would all become precious memories. Just hang in there a little longer! Fighting!
After a delicious lunch we visited famous spots during our breaks and kept taking pictures. We took more, and then even more. The entire trip consisted of sightseeing, photographing, and walking together—a very wholesome adventure. Dinner was great too.
“Whew… today was nice. You guys had fun, right?”
I scrolled through the shared photos while speaking, but no answer came.
“Huh? It was fun, wasn’t it?”
I sat up on the bed and asked again. Wait… both of them had collapsed.
“Eh?”
I hurried over and checked Moddeok’s pulse at her neck.
“She’s breathing.”
Then Pyeongjipja.
“Phew… she’s resting.”
They’d fallen behind. All they had to do was endure a little longer…
“Looks like Seon-a is the only survivor.”
I lay back down and kept looking at the photos. It had been so much fun. This was basically fulfilling a long-held dream. I’d gone on a trip with friends and even taken pictures. Now I could actually brag about them. I sent the prettiest ones to Mom and Dad. Their replies were simple: “Pretty.” “Nice shot.” Hehe. I felt great. I’d carefully selected only the best ones, after all. Of course they looked good!
“Hmm…”
While staring at the photos, a sudden thought hit me. It was quiet. Too quiet. Boring, even.
It was the morning of the last day. The only difference from yesterday was that the two people who had looked half-dead were now full of energy—especially Moddeok, back to her Day One form.
“Sleeping really refreshed me. Since today’s the last day, let’s make lots of memories. Shall we start now?”
“Sounds good!!”
I was all for it. The sun looked beautiful; it would make a perfect background. Hehe.
“Let’s take jumping photos too!!”
You know, those shots where everyone jumps together. I’d always wanted to try one.
“Shall we?!”
“Yes!!”
“Great!”
“Hehe. Let’s go!!”
We jumped together on the sandy beach near Jeongdongjin Station and took pictures. I was so happy. So this was what traveling felt like!! I was so excited I kept hopping around. The photos, however, were… let’s just say I won’t describe them out of politeness.
Our two-night, three-day itinerary was simple: breakfast, tour bus, lunch, sightseeing during breaks, dinner, board the train, do whatever, sleep, wake up in a new city, repeat. It was genuinely fun!! And we got to take so many photos!!
After morning pictures came lunch. Hehe. We ate well and then heard great news—we could visit a hot spring. We headed straight there.
Now that we were at the hot spring, I was in shock. It took every ounce of self-control not to say something rude. If I hadn’t known it would be impolite, I might have blurted out something awful.
…There were melons, grapefruits, and tangerines lined up right there in the hot spring.
“Whoa!!”
But the real surprise was Pyeongjipja. In the end, it really was about the hips. Compared to her chest, Moddeok’s hips were a bit modest. If they had matched her bust, they would have been bursting out, but they weren’t. Pyeongjipja, on the other hand… I couldn’t stop staring at that deep, curved valley line.
“Where are you looking?” Moddeok asked.
“Can’t you see it?”
“She does have a nice figure.”
“Right? I’m not the only one who noticed, am I?”
“Nope~ I felt it too. I kind of want to trace that line with my hand.”
“Hek…!!”
By Pyeongjipja’s logic, Moddeok’s comment was sexual harassment. I should report it. But first, I just kept staring at Pyeongjipja along with Moddeok. The unexpected dark horse had appeared, and we couldn’t look away.
“Pyeongjipja would make a great VTuber, don’t you think?”
“A VTuber?”
“If she did a reveal cam, everyone would die. Imagine her in a dress. Ahh. Let’s make her part of Seon-a’s squad.”
“Ooh?”
“Jjanghaem would be the mama.”
“Uwah!!!”
It was amazing. But… sob… I’m sorry, President. The president is still a fool who only has 450 Jjangpartan members. Only big companies like Maru’s can properly raise someone. Sob… I’m sorry. I don’t have the power to help you grow yet… I’m sorry, Pyeongjipja. Once I grow more, I promise… I definitely promise!!