Ronde World!
"I've already told all of you this, but today is a free day. Just don't cause any trouble, stay safe, and don't do anything that would stray from a student's duties..."
Teacher Shin Haseon had gathered the whole class together and launched into a speech. Among them were students yawning, students staring off into space, and students whispering with the friend beside them. Not a single person was actually listening.
Of course they weren't. Their attention wasn't on their teacher — it was on the amusement park rising behind her. Everyone kept craning their necks this way and that, wondering when they would finally be allowed inside.
The time was 9:30 a.m. There were still about thirty minutes left until the gates opened. Hearts pounding, they bounced on their feet and wished they could just go in already.
"That excited, huh?"
A blunt voice cut in from the side. I glanced over to find Kim Woojin watching me with a look that said this was all a pain.
What is that supposed to mean?
Of course I'm excited!
I had either rushed through my existing schedule or shoved it back, all for today. For this day alone. Naturally, the agency had been against me going to an amusement park at all.
"Of course I am. Honestly, this is my first time at an amusement park. I'd only ever heard about them. I never actually planned on coming... I'm really looking forward to it."
"Y-your first time?"
Kim Woojin's face said he couldn't quite process that.
What? I said it was my first time. Did I tack something extra on? I didn't like the look he was giving me.
"I'd rather be practicing acting with this time, honestly."
"Oh, is that so? Then sit this one out."
"Can't do that. I already paid to get in. When you can play, you should play. Once I get busier, who knows when I'll get another chance?"
He wanted to have fun himself. He could grumble all he liked, but he couldn't quite hide the way the corner of his mouth kept twitching upward.
Aigoo.
For someone who called himself an actor, he was letting a little thing like this light up his whole face. How much nicer would it have been if he'd just said from the start that he was excited and wanted to play?
"What's with that look?"
"It's nothing. Where's your friend, though?"
"Him? Bathroom, probably. He said once we're inside, even bathroom time has to get cut down."
Choi Wooseok was clearly planning to wring every last drop out of today. He'd gone off to the restroom to empty himself of fluids he didn't even have.
Fair enough. Just the people I could see around us already numbered well over five hundred. Cheongsol High's first-years alone came to about four hundred, and once you folded in the other schools, today's crowd would easily top two thousand.
I'd seen this coming, so I'd already made my own trip to the bathroom. A few people had recognized me along the way and tried to swarm, but I'd slipped out cleanly thanks to Tsuki, who had appointed herself my knight-escort for the day.
At the moment, Tsuki and Lee Yuwol had gone ahead to the ticket booth to print the tickets we'd bought in advance. Mobile entry would have been plenty, but this was a first amusement-park visit for both Tsuki and me, so we'd decided beforehand to turn the tickets into souvenirs.
"Ah. Looks like they're letting people in now."
While we sat through the teacher's speech and the safety briefing, ten o'clock arrived, and the line began filing through the gates in order.
"Do you have people you're hanging with today? If not, you could come with us..."
My phone buzzed in my pocket, cutting Kim Woojin off mid-sentence.
"Ah — hold on a second."
It was a call, and a familiar name lit the screen. I turned my head a little and pressed the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
Tsuki's voice came through from the other end.
"Jiwoo-chan! Where are you right now? We're about to go in."
"I'm about to head in too, but there's a ton of people in front of me. If you get in first, just wait for me. I'll be right there."
"Okay! I'll wait, so you have to hurry! Tsuki's never been to a Korean amusement park either, so Tsuki's super excited!"
I was excited too — and a little worried. Tsuki had said this was her first time coming to Korea. Visa issues, school issues, all of that, the agency had told me not to worry about; they'd handle it. They never explained the details.
Tsuki was like a little sister to me. If something went wrong, I was supposed to look after her as the unnie. She wasn't alone, though — Lee Yuwol was with her as the adult in the room. So there probably wouldn't be any real trouble.
"I'll be there soon. Stay put."
"Okay! See you in a bit! Bai~!"
I hung up, slipped the phone back into my pocket, and looked at Kim Woojin again, whose sentence I'd cut off a moment ago.
"What were you saying?"
"No... it's nothing. So you do have people you came with?"
"Yeah. I barely make it to school, so I haven't really made friends yet. When I mentioned that, some people who are basically family said they'd come play with me today."
"Ah... a guy?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
A guy? What guy.
Tsuki had her occasional old-man streak, but she was very much a girl.
...Wasn't she?
If I sat with the thought long enough, Tsuki could have been a case like mine — a guy who'd turned into a girl.
No way. Come on...
I still couldn't quite shake the unease. A girl on the outside and a guy on the inside. That was kind of gro— wait.
That would mean I was gross too.
I shook my head hard and shoved the useless thought away.
"It's not. She's a girl. A girl. Don't say stuff like that — you'll jinx me."
"Yeah, fair. You're a rookie who's just starting to blow up. A little early to crash and burn over some guy scandal. Still, be careful. There are always lunatics who'll say weird things."
I chose my next words with care.
"Then shouldn't you not be standing next to me either? You're a guy too, last I checked."
"Ah...."
Kim Woojin's face went scarlet in an instant.
"W-what kind of thing is that to say! I have zero interest! And I'm an aspiring actor too — I don't even have time to date... Ah! It's our turn. Come on, let's go in!"
He whipped his head around and bolted for the entry gate. In other words, he ran. I snorted a laugh at his back and followed him through.
"Jiwoo-chan! Over here, over here!"
Tsuki was waving both arms wildly near the entrance. Lee Yuwol stood beside her with a drink in her hand.
"There you are. What's that, though?"
"In case we get thirsty later. The water in here is expensive, so I bought it outside and brought it in."
At the gate they only checked tickets. No bag inspection. That was why you could always spot a few people walking in with food they'd bought outside.
Then my phone buzzed again. I pulled it from my pocket and checked the screen. A message from Kang Ho-yeon.
Worry soaked every line. I already knew all of this, so I sent back a light reply.
The condition for the agency letting me come to the amusement park had been that I run a social livestream. That way they could monitor me in real time and step in ahead of time if I did something problematic or wandered into something dangerous.
And I had today's knight-escorts, Tsuki and Lee Yuwol, on either side of me. It was safe to say nothing was going to go wrong.
The messages kept stacking. I pressed my fingers to my forehead.
She sounded exactly like a mom fretting over her kid. No — at this point, calling her my second mom wouldn't have been strange at all. Tsuki had literally saved Kang Ho-yeon's name in her phone as Mother.
This was never going to end.
I could feel the fear in Kang Ho-yeon's reply.
Kang Ho-yeon, thoroughly rattled.
The replies finally stopped. I had no intention of brushing off what Kang Ho-yeon had said. I already knew the agency was worrying about me and thinking of me.
In my last life, I had never felt this — the sense that the company was actually protecting me. It was only a one-year contract, and they were still wrapping me in this much overprotectiveness. I was already planning to renew next year.
And I liked Kang Ho-yeon. I liked everyone else at the company too.
Especially...
I looked at Tsuki and Lee Yuwol. Having the two of them here — the fact that I wasn't alone — that was what I liked most of all.
"Um... Jiwoo? Can we start the stream already? Hoyeon unnie's been blowing up my phone with scary messages."
"Ah..."
So that was it. She'd gone and asked Lee Yuwol for backup. I nodded, opened my personal socials, and tapped Go Live.
Preparing stream...
A black screen and white letters. Then my face filled the frame, and viewers poured in the second they saw I was live.
Half the chat was startled that I'd gone live with no announcement at all.
The other half wanted to know what I was even doing. I watched the viewer count climb and threw out a greeting.
"Hi everyone! School sent us out on a field trip today, so I turned on the stream to go on a date with all of you!"
One viewer asked about the location. Telling them was fine. Once I started riding the attractions, they'd figure it out anyway. I lifted my arm so nobody around me would end up on camera and did a light spin.
"Today's destination is~ Ronde World! Honestly, it's not just Ronde World — this is my first time at an amusement park at all, so I'm so excited. You're all going to spend this date with me, right?"
No, you really don't need to take a half day for this...
The entrance to Ronde World.
The gates had only just opened, so a lot of people were still waiting around the entrance to get in. Standing in the middle of the line, waiting her turn, one young woman let out a heavy sigh.
She had once aimed to be an idol, only to get forcibly cut when her company hit a crisis — a walking streak of bad luck. In Jiwoo's words, a growth-type idol who would become a huge star someday. Kim Jina.
She was nineteen. Same as every other school, hers had put the field trip to a vote, and Ronde World had won.
I'd rather be practicing even a little in time like this.
Getting cut hadn't made her give up. She was going to try again, and again, and she was going to make it as an idol no matter what. That was the fire she was still burning when—
"Miss? Please go ahead and enter."
"Ah... s-sorry."
She covered her face at the staff member's call and held out her ticket.
"Yes, you're all set."
"Thank you..."
In a voice that barely made it out of her throat, she took back the ticket torn in half. That scrap was her all-day pass.
She hurried inside, and since she was already here, she looked around with the thought that today, she wouldn't think about anything. She was just going to have fun.
People here. People there. May was Family Month, and schools were packed with events, so the crowds were only to be expected.
Start with the most popular ride first....
Jina's eyes narrowed.
"What's going on over there? Why is everyone piled up like that? Is there some kind of event?"
An honest question. As she'd just been thinking, May was Family Month — an event wouldn't have been strange at all. Curiosity tugged her toward the crowd, alone.
She didn't have any close friends around her. Idol practice and lessons had eaten her friends starting in middle school, and she hadn't made any new ones after starting high school either.
Not so bad. At least I can go wherever I want.
She barely shoved through the crush of people and reached the front — and the look that crossed her face then was pure, hollow disbelief.
"Huh? Jina unnie?"