I Need a Break
Everyone had praised Yeoncheong and Hasol for their iron wills, but the truth was, Yeoncheong had only managed those stunts by slapping a steel plate over her face and surrendering half her sanity to the void. Even so—running into Nayun once at the door, then Seoha twice more? No amount of face-armor and soul-docking could carry someone through three head-on collisions with her friends and leave her standing. And Seoha had actually *laughed* at Yeoncheong's mortifying pose, with an underclassman she knew standing right there. Her self-esteem punched a hole clean through the stratosphere.
Behind the partition, Yeoncheong curled herself into the deepest corner she could find and muttered that she wanted to disappear. Suyeon and Nayun approached her carefully.
"Hey, you were doing fine until just now. Why are you being so dramatic all of a sudden?"
Nayun shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance, as if it were nothing, while Suyeon extended a hand toward her hiding friend.
"It's filthy in there. Come on out."
"Guys, just leave me like this. I want to bite my tongue and die right now."
Yeoncheong, who simply needed time to recover, rejected her friend's hand with slightly more violence than necessary.
"Fine, I get it..."
As always, she'd pull herself together and come out on her own. Nayun understood that, but she never got to finish the thought.
*Smack!* A crisp, cheerful sound. Suyeon had slapped her bare skin somewhere at random, and lowered her gaze. She caught the eyes of the friend crouched in the corner.
"You really..."
The ends of Suyeon's eyebrows shot up, her face crumpled, and her lips pressed hard together, as if fighting to hold something in. Of the sorrow and anger churning inside her, anger was what surfaced first.
"Even as a joke. Even as a *joke*, you never get to say you're going to die like it's nothing."
Yeoncheong's past was her own business, but it hadn't even been half a year since she'd vanished without so much as a word to anyone. Later on, Yeoncheong would claim she had no intention of ever doing that again, if only because of how precious her life had become—but that was a line she could only say because everything had turned out well in the end.
Suyeon wasn't young enough to assume she knew what choice a cornered person might make at the very edge. So maybe Yeoncheong had meant it playfully, but to Suyeon listening, it was anything but light.
"Because I worry. Genuinely..."
Sorrow spread softly over the anger that had surfaced first. Yeoncheong wasn't so dense that she couldn't imagine what her friend felt thinking back on what she herself had done. She scratched her cheek.
"...Sorry. I'll be careful from now on."
"Careful isn't enough. Never do it. Ever."
"I'll... try my best."
That was what she said, but maybe her heart had softened, because Suyeon smiled. The friends, meanwhile, kept gawking noisily at the two of them having such a serious conversation.
Feeling all those eyes on her, Suyeon cleared her throat.
"Ahem. Guys, I'm going to take Yeoncheong out for some fresh air. That okay?"
The friends nodded, telling her to stay out as long as she liked. Having gotten her permission, Suyeon held out her hand again—but this time it was Yeoncheong who refused, for an entirely different reason.
"Can't I just rest here? Now that I'm lying here, it kind of fits my body perfectly. It's actually comfortable..."
A crack ran through Suyeon's smile.
"If you're going to rest, why not rest while enjoying the festival? Sitting in a classroom is stuffy."
"Not stuffy. I'd say it feels... stabilizing."
At Yeoncheong's second refusal, Suyeon's smile split clean open.
"Hoo... I really didn't want to have to use this..."
She rummaged through her tracksuit pocket, then swiftly looped something around Yeoncheong's neck. Next, she called over the spectating friends and told them to all pull at once. In their hands: red leashes, matching the collar now fastened around Yeoncheong's neck.
Having foreseen what was coming, Yeoncheong braced herself desperately to resist it, but...
"Gwaaagh!"
It was hopeless against such overwhelming numerical superiority.
Yeoncheong rolled cleanly across the floor, ejected from her corner. Suyeon, having succeeded in dragging her out, shouted while gripping the leash.
"Daengcheong! Walkies!"
Assuming she'd come along obediently, Suyeon kicked the door open and dashed out. Yeoncheong, sprawled on the floor with no control over her own body, had no choice but to chase after Suyeon the moment the leash went taut.
"Baek Suyeon, you evil woman! Give me back my moment... GIVE ME BACK MY MOOOOMENT!!!"
And so, amid a ringing shriek that echoed down the hall, Suyeon and Daengcheong receded into the distance...
"Everyone... what on earth is going on here?"
Teacher Jisu, who had come to help keep the peace as promised, glanced back and forth between the classroom and the two students shrinking into the distance.
Jersey maid meets puppy cosplay. The outfits were one thing, but the composition was positively violent.
"Daengcheong, run!"
"Stop calling me Daengcheong! I'm dead if they catch me, seriously!"
If you covered your ears against the cutthroat dialogue, it looked for all the world like a maid frolicking through a walk with her puppy. There was no possible way for it to go unnoticed.
After a full-on sprint down the corridor, Class 2-1 had been thoroughly publicized, entirely against Yeoncheong's intentions. And then Hwaryeong High School's resident supply of youthful energy—Teacher Jisu, in her jersey maid getup—drew yet another wave of buzz and pulled in even more spectators, all while Yeoncheong finally managed to corner Suyeon, gasping for breath.
"Hah... hah... There are people *everywhere*, and you run like a demon."
"Wasn't it fun? Seemed like you were enjoying yourself too?"
Yeoncheong shot her grinning friend a look of dead seriousness, pulled off her glove, and unclipped the leash from her collar. Leaving Suyeon to pout in disappointment, she was just turning back toward the classroom when Suyeon grabbed her.
"Wait! Wait wait wait! We came out to rest and you're heading back already?"
"Wandering around looking like *this* is not resting."
Even in the middle of this exchange they were drawing burning stares, so it wasn't exactly wrong. But this was the first time she and Yeoncheong had been alone together at the festival, and Suyeon didn't want to waste the chance.
"Come on, really? Siyeon's class even set up a mystery roleplay game. I want to hang out with *you*."
"That's already the second time today you've pulled that."
With Suyeon's eyes sparkling as she clung to her, Yeoncheong lifted her chin and forced her gaze away. But Suyeon rose up on tiptoes, shoving her head into Yeoncheong's field of view no matter what.
"So? You're just going to leave me to play by myself?"
"Ha... How are you this unreasonable, honestly?"
It came out grumbling, but it was, in the end, a yes.
Beaming, Suyeon took Yeoncheong's hand and her lips twitched with mischief.
"It's fine, I gauge the crowd before I do stuff. With you especially, since you'll put up with basically anything."
"Ugh... I have no one to blame but myself for spoiling you. Hyeeek!"
A ticklish sensation suddenly jabbed into her side and Yeoncheong's hair stood on end.
"Where does a dog get off lecturing a person about bad habits? Insolent."
Apparently Suyeon figured that if she'd indulged the seniors, she might as well indulge herself too. Yeoncheong saw red.
"Want me to show you what a *real* dog does?"
Suyeon shrugged, go on then, and—
"Ow!"
Yeoncheong headbutted her square on the head. Having successfully avenged the leash, she bolted, and this time it was Suyeon, forehead flaming red, who gave chase.
"You absolute maniac! If I catch you, you're DEAD!"
Yeoncheong flatly declared she would never set foot in the first-year classrooms dressed like this. Which meant the booths the two of them(?) could visit were limited to those run by the second-years, but—
"Yeoncheong! Did becoming a dog fry your brain too? Come on, work it out!"
"You couldn't solve it either, so why are you yelling at *me*? Don't make so much noise, I'm racking my brain here."
"I yielded this one to you. They say your brain grows the more you use it."
They picked on each other all the way through an escape-room cafe that had turned an entire classroom into a labyrinth, barely clawing their way out.
"Wow. How many rooms are these people using?"
"They said they worked really hard on it. The science lab and music room ones have completely different scenario themes."
They joined in Siyeon's mystery roleplay too, which was earning rave reviews everywhere. And as everyone was being assigned their roles—
"Hahaha! Yeoncheong, you're the dog here too. At this point, I'd call it destiny."
"Stop it before I actually bite you. Seobin, why on earth is there a dog role in a mystery roleplay?"
Seobin, who had written the entire script for the library club, scratched her cheek.
"Well... it's actually a pretty important role. It's a dog who witnessed the owner's murder, so it knows who the culprit is."
"Then what's the point! It says right here the dog isn't allowed to say anything except bark!"
She grumbled about what the hell this was supposed to be, but her past experience imitating a dog paid off handsomely. Under normal circumstances, having a dog-role player would throw the whole game into chaos. But Suyeon understood the meaning behind every single one of Yeoncheong's barks with uncanny precision, and they cracked the culprit's identity in no time.
"Yeoncheong, later I'm coming back with Siyeon to play with you."
"No. Don't come. Please don't come."
"We're coming. Yeoncheong."
Siyeon and Seobin insisting they'd absolutely come, Yeoncheong insisting they absolutely must not—and with that bizarre exchange as their farewell, Yeoncheong and Suyeon headed outside.
Just one step beyond the building, the atmosphere flipped entirely from the clamorous classrooms.
"Ughhhh... exhausting."
Yeoncheong flopped onto the playground stands and stretched until something popped.
Maybe it was the corridor chase, the head-scratching escape room, or laughing herself hoarse at the roleplay, but fatigue came crashing down all at once. Suyeon, apparently delighted by the reaction, kept grinning to herself.
"See? Wasn't it nicer to rest while enjoying the festival, like I said?"
Not about to hand over the answer she wanted so readily, Yeoncheong deflected on reflex.
"And you really think I'd forgive you for strangling me with a leash and dragging me out here?"
"Whoops. Busted."
Suyeon stuck her tongue out playfully.
Yeoncheong gazed up at a sky that looked impossibly high and murmured,
"Well... it wasn't bad, honestly."
Dressed like this, she hadn't had the slightest intention of enjoying the festival in the first place. It was only thanks to Suyeon subtly looking out for her, making sure she wasn't too embarrassed, that she'd managed to have any fun at all.
That much praise seemed to be more than enough for Suyeon, who smiled gently.
"Hand!"
Pushing her luck further, Suyeon arched an eyebrow as if to say, *you're not even going to give me this much?*
She'd kept Yeoncheong company all day—was there any reason not to indulge a little mischief in return?
Yeongcheong snorted a laugh and set her soft-gloved hand atop Suyeon's.
From then on, Suyeon ran through one command after another—the same orders the seniors had used when ordering their special menu—and then, ever so casually, brought her cheek close.
"Kiss!"
Because she'd been ratcheting up the stakes so gradually, Yeoncheong leaned in without a second thought—then jolted.
"You... are you planning to mess with me forever?"
"It's not messing around."
"What?"
Suyeon, seated shoulder to shoulder, grabbed Yeoncheong's shoulders. Using her grip as a launch point, like a runner off the blocks, she closed the distance in an instant.
Faced with a face hurtling toward her, Yeoncheong assumed this was revenge for the headbutt and screwed her eyes shut.
*Mwah.*
It all happened in a heartbeat.
Yeoncheong, eyes still squeezed shut, blinked stupidly at the entirely unexpected result. It took her a moment to process what the soft, warm sensation on her cheek could possibly have been.
"Wh...?"
"A reward for a well-behaved puppy. I don't give these to just anyone, so feel free to treasure it."
Suyeon shrugged as if it were all a joke.
But unlike her composed friend, Yeoncheong sat there with her eyes gone perfectly round, pinching her own cheek.
Maybe she'd been so exhausted she'd actually fallen asleep, and this was all a dream. She tried her best to believe that, but...
"Ow."
"Obviously. Because it's not a dream."
Yeoncheong muttered at Suyeon, who had leaned in with her lips pursed.
"No, but... why...?"
"I already told you once. I'm not saying it twice."
Suyeon brushed off her seat, stood, and hauled Yeoncheong to her feet.
"We've rested way too long. The others might nag us, so let's run back."
But Suyeon's face as she bounded ahead was flushed deep red—making a liar of all that composure from moments before.