The Taste of Revenge and the Sky Bike
The place where Choi Iseor finally arrived—having spent the entire drive dissolving the bitter red ginseng candy in her mouth, unable to bring herself to spit it out—was a cafe with an attached convenience store near Gangneung. It was a stop made solely to satisfy Iseor's frantic demands for a caffeine recharge.
"Hey, we're almost there anyway. Can't we just get coffee after we arrive?"
"I told you, I need caffeine in my system right now."
With that, Iseor took everyone's orders, handed them to the cashier, and vanished.
Assuming she had gone to the restroom, Ha Suyun turned her attention to the other two. Yoo Seoha was busy swapping out the battery of the camera mounted on the car, while Jung Hyun-ah was engrossed in a document.
"What's that?"
"Our... schedule for today."
"We had a schedule? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"You didn't ask..."
Now that she thought about it, she hadn't. Suyun twirled a lock of her hair, then took the papers from Hyun-ah.
[Gangneung Promotional Self-Produced Content Shooting Schedule]
"Wait, is this an ad?"
"That's what they said..."
"Then we can't show even a hint of disappointment when we go to these places, right? Aren't we supposed to just act thrilled about everything?"
"That kind of stuff is terrifying these days. Remember those famous comedians from a while back? Their careers ended overnight because of one regional insult. What was it again? Something about tasting like chewing on a grandma's skin..."
"What on earth does that even mean?"
"Please... get off the internet..."
"...Well, maybe if Suyun said that, it'd carry some weight, but you're really not one to talk, are you?"
While the two bickered, Suyun scanned the schedule. Meet up with the crew shortly, introduce Gyeongpo Lake, drive down to Anmok Beach, ride the Aranaby Sky Bike...
"What's a sky bike?"
"Oh, that..."
"What are you guys talking about? Here, I got your coffee."
Suyun had been about to ask about the 'Sky Bike' on the schedule, as the name sounded deeply ominous. However, Hyun-ah's explanation was cut short by Iseor's return.
"You wanted an iced americano, right?"
"Yeah."
For some reason, Iseor was being uncharacteristically polite as she handed Suyun the cup. Suyun accepted it, punctured the lid with her straw, and glanced at the others. It felt as though Iseor was subtly trying to herd Seoha and Hyun-ah away from her.
Suyun sensed something was amiss, but without overthinking it, she took a deep draw from the straw.
She froze instantly as an overwhelming saltiness assaulted her palate.
Alongside the bitter kick of caffeine came an intensely salty, faintly sweet, and fishy flavor.
Glancing sideways, she saw Iseor desperately trying to suppress a grin.
Sand lance extract...!
Suyun somehow forced her facial muscles to remain perfectly still, maintaining a deadpan mask as she forced the liquid down her throat. There was no logical reason to endure it, but letting it end here would leave her feeling far too unsatisfied.
Feigning absolute composure, Suyun swallowed the last of the mouthful and looked up at Iseor.
"Hey, what did you put in this? It's incredibly good."
"...It's good?"
"Is there... something in it...?"
Iseor's face went utterly blank.
Ignoring Seoha's confused "What is it?", Suyun pretended to take another sip while keeping her eyes locked on Iseor.
Iseor was staring at the receipt in her hand as if it were written in a foreign language. Her own drink, an identical iced americano, sat on the table.
"Is it really that good?"
"Yeah, this place makes a mean brew."
"There's no way..."
"Why... why?"
"No reason."
At Iseor's bizarre reaction, Hyun-ah stared at her in confusion, while Seoha began tapping on her phone. "Are the reviews for this place bad or something?" she muttered.
Seizing the moment, Suyun swiftly pulled out her straw, swapped her cup with Iseor's on the table, popped the straw back in, and took a long, fake sip.
The actual taste of the cool, crisp americano was wonderfully refreshing.
"You can actually drink that?"
"Why? It's great. Is there a problem? Or did you do something to it?"
"...Wow, you're really something else."
Finally giving up on the receipt, Iseor shook her head in disbelief, looked at Suyun, and plunged her straw into her own cup—which was, of course, the spiked one.
She took a deep, confident gulp...
Pffft!
A fine mist of coffee and sand lance extract sprayed directly onto Suyun's face.
Cough! Hack, blegh...
"Wh-what?!"
"Did it go down the wrong pipe? What's wrong with you?"
"Are you okay?"
While the cafe staff rushed over to fuss over the hacking Iseor, Suyun remained utterly motionless, slowly wiping the liquid from her face with her hand.
Swapping the cups to get revenge for the prank had been a brilliant move, but she really should have anticipated the physical trajectory of a spit-take...
"So, Iseor-nim... put sand lance extract in the coffee... but Suyun-nim pretended it was fine... drank it... and then, well, that happened?"
"Yeah. I'm telling you, Suyun is a total psychopath. Ugh, my stomach is on fire. How could she drink that and act like nothing was wrong?"
"You think I was fine? My clothes are completely ruined."
Because the pungent fish sauce had thoroughly soaked into her hair, they had to make an emergency detour to a nearby sauna. After a thorough scrub, Suyun and the members finally drove toward Gyeongpo Lake.
The conversation in the car revolved entirely around the recent incident.
"Seriously, you are so stubborn."
"You're the stubborn one! Who retaliates to a red ginseng candy by spiking someone's coffee with fish sauce? It's like getting stabbed just because you didn't say hello back."
"Isn't the person who wrests the knife away from the attacker and stabs them back even more extreme?"
"What are you talking about? Mine was self-defense. You're the one who should go to jail for assault with a deadly weapon."
"I'm the victim here! Why am I the criminal?"
"How are you the victim? I'm the one who drank fish sauce and got it sprayed all over my face."
Suyun snapped at Iseor, who was shaking her head in disbelief.
Kids these days are the problem. Just because they suffered a tiny bit, they completely ignore the suffering of others. Tsk, tsk. This is why South Korea's birth rate is plummeting, unemployment is rising, the country is going to ruin, the national pension is collapsing, and there's no future...
"Should we start a fight too?"
"...Huh?"
"Don't you think we need to secure some screen time too? This is Group Sound's own content, but only those two are getting any screen time."
"What... nonsense... are you talking about..."
"Yeah, let's fight. Quick, say something insulting to me."
"...What are you even saying, you Dongmyo fashion disaster..."
"...No, seriously, who started that rumor? Even when I look at fan tweets, they keep saying I look like I pick up my clothes from the Dongmyo flea market. Why do they keep criticizing my clothes when they don't know the first thing about fashion?"
"Triggered...?"
"You're dead..."
The pathetic bickering between Seoha and Hyun-ah drifted from the back seat.
Suyun stared out the window for a moment, then shook her head. They had all graduated high school and were legal adults, yet she couldn't comprehend why they still acted like children.
I guess I'm the only sane one here...
"Hello! You must be exhausted from the trip! Is the camera okay?"
"Yes, we swapped the battery too."
Waiting for them at Gyeongpo Lake was Manager Kim—who had reportedly been promoted from assistant manager—a familiar face they had seen frequently during their time in Japan.
Had he returned to Korea specifically for this shoot, or was he just handling it while visiting?
While Suyun shuddered at the sheer "black company" work culture of Label Echo Sound, Manager Kim approached them to explain the schedule.
"First, we'll shoot the opening here! After that, we'll film a segment introducing Gyeongpo Lake. The city of Gangneung insisted on a specific script, so we'll have to shoot according to that."
"Wouldn't it... be better... to keep it natural? If we use a pre-written script... it might feel too forced."
"That's true, but advertisers don't want natural! What can we do? We have to shoot it the way they want. This is practically our very first ad offer, after all."
"Our first ad?"
"Actually, we had plenty of offers, but we didn't have the time. Plus, before the Japanese debut, Suyun-nim insisted we reject anything that wasn't directly related to music..."
"Well, we can just start shooting them now."
The other three stared at Suyun with expressions that screamed, Why on earth did you do that? Suyun shrugged as if to say, What's done is done, and turned back to Manager Kim.
"So we shoot that. What's next?"
"From here, we'll walk down and shoot at Gangmun Beach, Songjeong Beach, Anmok Beach, and Gangneung Port. You'll have some time to sightsee while introducing those spots, and then we're scheduled to ride the Aranaby Sky Bike."
"Wait, I was going to ask Hyun-ah about that earlier. What is a sky bike? Do you actually ride a bicycle in the sky?"
"Yes, exactly!"
"Pardon?"
Suyun narrowed her eyes and stared at Manager Kim. His face was completely devoid of deceit.
"To be precise, it's the Aranaby and the Sky Bike. The Aranaby is a zipline, and the Sky Bike is... well, a sky bike! You know what a zipline is, right? Sliding down a wire. The Sky Bike is riding a bicycle along a wire. Both involve gliding through the air."
"Riding... in the air?"
Suyun brushed her hair back roughly. Riding in the air? If it was in the air, it definitely wasn't a normal bicycle ride. And a zipline was that tourist attraction where you slide down suspended from a single wire.
"...Ah, my stomach is feeling really bad right now."
"Pardon?"
"Iseor fed me sand lance extract earlier. My stomach is suddenly acting up, so I don't think I can continue with today's schedule. Why don't you take these three? I'll just head to the lodging and rest."
"What are you talking about~? Where do you think you're escaping to, Suyun? Hmm? Don't tell me you're scared? Surely Ha Suyun, who always complains about 'kids these days' and 'back in my day,' isn't trying to run away because she's too terrified of a zipline and a sky bike that even elementary schoolers ride?"
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you talking about? Who's scared? That's your problem. You're always trying to slander me. Hey. Do you think anyone would be fine after you fed them sand lance extract?"
"But... you were fine earlier..."
"You were completely full of energy, what are you talking about?"
Suyun snapped her head toward the other two. But they only clicked their tongues, looking at her with pitying eyes.
"Well... if she's scared, what can we do? I'll talk a bit more, so let's just leave Suyun behind. Iseor, Hyun-ah, and I can easily cover Suyun's share. Leaving behind a kid who whines about not being able to ride something even elementary schoolers can handle would probably be better for promoting Gangneung anyway."
"...Fine, let's go! Did I say I was scared? I said my stomach was bad because of the sand lance extract! But seeing you guys talk like that, I'll ride it even if my stomach is bad! Don't you dare say anything even if I throw up and collapse because of my stomach!"
Suyun stomped her feet, pretending to be angry, and headed toward Gyeongpo Lake first. Hoping someone would stop her.
But perhaps because they were bandmates and company staff who had rolled in the dirt with her for years, not a single person followed...
"Aaaaaaaagh!! Aaaagh!! I can't do this!! Let me down!! Uwaaaaagh, cough, hack!"
"Miss! Since you've gone that far, going forward is faster! Just keep going! The round trip doesn't take long! Just keep going!"
"I can't!! I can't do this!! Ugh..."
"Pffft-hahahaha! Ahahaha!"
"Hehehehe!"
"Oh, crap, lol, I can't breathe, cough, haha!"
Hearing the guide's shouts from ahead, and the laughter of her bandmates from slightly further back, Suyun felt a fierce fire ignite in her heart.
But that fire was extinguished the moment she turned the pedal once.
No, I wasn't this bad in the past...!
Surely, when she rode amusement park rides in her past life, it hadn't been this bad. Now, even if it wasn't full-blown acrophobia, this entire situation was just too terrifying.
How did this happen?
Was it because she had 'accepted' it?
Because she had accepted Ha Suyun's memories, Ha Suyun's emotions, and Ha Suyun's personality and soul, making that girl her and her that girl?
If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn't have done that... ugh.
Thinking such thoughts over something so trivial made her realize just how immense the terror she was feeling truly was...
Suyun somehow managed to pedal the bicycle bit by bit.
Actually, since there was safety equipment, there was absolutely no way she would fall. Thinking that way made it feel a bit better... No, it didn't feel better at all...
At the point when Suyun got off the sky bike and was throwing a sincere punch at the mocking Iseor.
"Hello~! Is everyone here?"
"Yes, hello!"
In a cafe in Gangneung, local Group Sound fans were gathered together. They were people who had gathered through a survey announced a while ago on Twitter and Group Sound Premium.
"We're planning to have the Group Sound members do some ads and content related to Gangneung. But we thought it would be best to hear from the local residents, which is why we gathered you all here today!"
"They're coming to Gangneung? Our girls?"
"Wow, amazing."
"When are they coming?"
"Uh, I can't tell you the exact time! But I can only say they'll be here soon."
"Wow, then I really have to get an autograph."
In the bustling cafe, people exchanged stories. What they would do when the girls arrived, what they would bring, whether they would bring merch...
Amidst the flood of conversation, the staff member raised their hand to quiet everyone down and spoke.
"So first, please write down what you want to show off in Gangneung on the paper we just handed out! Keeping Group Sound's concept in mind, what would be good? Things like that! Please start writing now!"
With those words, the cafe instantly fell silent. The sound of pens scratching and requests like "Please give me one more sheet of paper" filled the air.
After some time passed, the staff member took a brief phone call and then spoke to the fans.
"Alright, please stop there. And if you don't mind, we have a small favor to ask. Is there anyone who can explain why they like Group Sound? We're going to use this for the content, so we'll be recording. We can mosaic your face if you want."
"We also have free gifts~" at the mention of prizes, volunteers stepped forward.
And the volunteers passionately expressed their love for Group Sound in front of the camera.
"Our girls are beautiful... and their music is incredibly good!"
"In my opinion, they're the best rock group in Korea right now."
"Do you know how cute Suyun is? That chic yet somehow gap-moe-inducing charm... And Iseor too! Our girls are just..."
The last person, in particular, poured out an incredible amount of cringe-worthy praise, showing off their love for Group Sound.
And as they continued their passionate speech, they unconsciously turned their head at a sound from behind.
The members of Group Sound were standing there, their faces completely red.
And at that moment, both the fan and the band members had the exact same thought.
They finally understood what it felt like to die of embarrassment.