Cherry Blossom Festival (2)
The cherry blossoms danced in the air... Tteongbonaeng...
“This is nice. Want to take one with me too?”
“Come on in, make yourself comfortable.”
“I’ll hold the selfie stick from now on.”
“Thank you, Gaeun unnie.”
The Queen came over and linked arms with me. Aram took the photo using the phone The Queen had given her.
“Kyaa~ What a beautiful shot. Taking it now.”
Click~
Besides The Queen, Aram and Gaeun unnie also took pictures with me. The sound of the shutter must have been pretty loud because it started drawing attention from the crowd.
“Tteongi-nim, could I get an autograph?”
“Of course!”
“Me too…”
“Everyone, come on over!”
“Would Danbal Queen-nim be okay with it too?”
“Yes, I’d be happy to.”
Aram started laughing like she had been expecting this all along.
“Looks like it’s finally my time to shine.”
“Huh?”
“Everyone, please line up~ I brought autograph paper with me!”
“Oh… she’s really good at this.”
“Aram, I’ll help too.”
“Thank you~”
Thanks to Gaeun unnie and Aram, the growing crowd quickly turned into an orderly line.
Meanwhile, the very first female fan approached shyly and held out some candy.
“Tteongi-nim, this… I made it because White Day is coming up soon…”
“Whoa~ Thank you so much.”
I glanced at Aram, who was filming right beside me, and said,
“See, guys? I told you I’m popular. I even get candy from fans.”
“What’s your username?”
“Ah, that’s a bit…”
“It’s okay, you can say it comfortably. I can already guess.”
“TteongAndYas…”
“As expected… none of my viewers are normal.”
Anyway, I wrote Tteongi♡ on a sketchbook-sized piece of paper and added To. TteongAndYas.
“Don’t get caught by anyone else, okay?”
“Thank you… I actually bought the March issue of Maksim too…”
“I’ll sign that for you too.”
A little while later, after finishing the impromptu fan meeting, my legs started to ache. Probably because I’d been standing so long in heels. As a temporary measure, I started massaging my thighs.
“Maybe standing the whole time was a bad idea? My legs hurt.”
“Would you like a massage, Tteongi-nim?”
Hearing The Queen’s words suddenly reminded me of the massage I got at the gym. “…I-I’m fine, really.”
At that moment, Aram pulled a spray-on pain relief patch from her backpack and handed it to me.
“I figured this might happen, so I brought spray-on patches.”
“Aram, you have great sense. I’ll handle the spraying.”
The Queen sprayed the patch around my calves while Aram filmed it.
“Don’t say weird stuff.”
“Tteongi-nim, if you’re really tired, should I give you a piggyback ride?”
“Aww~ It’s not that bad. You’re being way too overprotective, Your Majesty.”
“L-look, real cherry blossoms!”
We entered the park and walked a bit further before discovering a stunning flower path. I crouched down beside the blossoms and looked up at Aram.
“Aram~ Where am I? There are so many flowers you can’t even find me, right?”
Aram spread her fingers and gently pinched me between them.
“Y-you found me right away.”
“Of course! Because there’s no flower as pretty as you, Tteongi-nim.”
“Whoa~ Aram really knows what she’s talking about.”
Inside the park where the cherry blossom festival was in full swing, the crowd was so massive it was almost impossible to stream properly. It was half people, half cherry blossoms.
“Th-there are way more people than I expected. It’s going to be hard to keep streaming like this.”
“I agree. For now, Tteongi-nim, please hold my hand so you don’t get lost.”
I tightly grasped The Queen’s hand. Gaeun unnie, who had been filming us, thought for a moment and then spoke up.
“There’s a bike rental station nearby. How about we rent bikes and head to the outer area? The scenery there is really nice, I know a good spot.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“Looks like the time has come for my bicycle license to shine.”
“But what about filming?”
My question was met with a brief silence.
“We’ll have to ask for understanding while we’re riding. Let’s go rent them first.”
“Okay.”
I held The Queen’s hand tightly as we arrived at the bike rental station. The middle-aged lady running the place greeted us warmly.
“Welcome~”
“What kind of bikes should we rent?”
“I’ll rent one with a rear seat so I can carry Tteongi-nim.”
“Makes sense. Since Tteongi said her legs hurt, it’d be good to let her rest a bit.”
“N-no, I’ve been working on my lower body strength lately!”
“Perfect, this bike even has a phone mount.”
“Sigh~ It’s the NewTube era after all. We’ve got them on all of them.”
Gaeun unnie removed the phone from the selfie stick and mounted it on The Queen’s bike.
“Everyone, can you see the stream clearly?”
It looked like the chat confirmed they could.
“They say it looks good.”
“Thank you. I’ll be in charge of filming while we’re riding.”
The Queen would ride the bike and I’d sit behind her. But… wait a second. I’m wearing a skirt. Doesn’t that mean I can’t spread my legs like that?
“…”
I sat down with my legs modestly pressed together. It was my first time experiencing this, so the feeling was strangely new.
“Tteongi-nim…”
“What is it, Aram?”
“I’m entrusting this selfie stick to you.”
“Ugh… Ramx…”
“Please take care of it while we’re riding!”
“Got it.”
After the final payment, we were finally ready to set off.
“We’ve rented the bikes, the stream is ready. Shall we head to the outer area? Just follow me.”
“Tteongi-nim! Our team can at least win at biking!”
“Huh?”
“I’m claiming first place! I’ll show you the skills that once earned me the nickname Squirrel!”
Aram took off ahead of Gaeun unnie, looking thrilled.
“Sigh… She doesn’t even know where she’s going. I’ll ride slowly, so you two can follow at your own pace.”
Gaeun unnie also set off.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes…”
I held the selfie stick in one hand and wrapped my other arm around The Queen’s waist. Leaning against her as we rode through the cherry blossoms… it wasn’t bad at all.
“The atmosphere is lovely. The petals are fluttering down so gently.”
“It really is. It somehow feels like I’m on a date with you, Tteongi-nim.”
“Hehe…”
So The Queen was thinking the same thing as me.
“They say you never know what’s waiting around the corner in life… Maybe that’s what makes it fun.”
“Let’s switch into emotional mode for a bit.”
These guys really are consistent as hell.
“Ever since I met you, Tteongi-nim, every single day has been happy. Let’s stay close from now on too.”
“…Your Majesty.”
I wasn’t supposed to, but tears welled up in my eyes without me realizing it.
“I-I’m not crying! It’s just flower pollen… Hic…!”
“Don’t put it in.”
Following Gaeun unnie, we arrived at the outer area of the park, which was completely empty of people. I had worried the scenery might be underwhelming since it was the outskirts, but it was actually even more beautiful than the main area, with cherry blossoms blooming everywhere.
“Wow… How did you even find a place like this?”
“I came here once before with the trainers from our gym during the cherry blossom festival. That’s when I discovered it.”
Meanwhile, Aram came pedaling back from far away.
“Tteongi-nim~ I got first place!”
“Congratulations. The title of ‘Speedster’ is now officially yours.”
“Uhyo~ I got Tteongi the Speedster!”
“Ah, no. You can only take the Speedster part.”
It was currently around 11:30 AM. The perfect time to dig into our packed lunches.
“Everyone worked hard riding the bikes. Shall we eat now?”
“Kyaa~ That’s the lunch you made while streaming, right!”
“Yep, sam…”
“Samgyeopsal triangle kimbap!!”
“Really? I’m looking forward to it.”
“It might kill all four of us after four people eat it.”
“W-what on earth did you make?”
“N-no! It just means it’s that delicious!”
“I know~ Let’s hurry up and eat.”
Under a cherry blossom tree, we spread out the large picnic mat we had brought. Then we placed today’s main dishes on it one by one.
“Tteongi-nim, be careful when you sit. We can’t have your underwear showing.”
“Ah…”
If The Queen hadn’t said anything, I would have just sat cross-legged without thinking.
“I think showing underwear gets you banned unless it’s for an underwear ad shoot.”
Would anyone even give me an underwear ad? With my H-cup size, it’d probably be hard to find one that fits.
I pushed that thought aside and sat on the mat with my legs tucked to the side like a mermaid.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
“Yes, it’s great.”
Aram clutched her chest and said,
“Ugh… My heart isn’t okay.”
“Aram, I fixed the selfie stick in front of the mat.”
“Yes! Thank you.”
I opened the lid of the lunchbox. Thanks to keeping it warm, steam was rising so much it looked like it had just been made.
“Whoa~ Delicious food… and cherry blossoms.”
And on top of that, my girlfriend, whose 100th day was coming up soon.
“Everyone’s hungry, right? Let’s eat. I brought drinks too.”
The Queen handed me a can of peach soda.
“It’s a shame we can’t drink alcohol in the park.”
“Let’s at least do a toast before we eat.”
Following Gaeun unnie’s lead, we all raised our cans.
“A cool toast is a must on a day like this. Tteongi, I’m counting on you.”
“Alright.”
With a solemn expression, I opened my mouth.
“Although we were not born on the same day…”
“Haha! Are you doing the Peach Garden Oath? That’s cool.”
“We wish to die on the same year, same month, and same day. Cheers!”
“Cheers~”
The four cans clinked together with a wonderfully refreshing sound.
“Our Tteongbung-is, cheers too.”