Chapter 27
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientess
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: School Trip (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pssshhh-!
With the massive hiss of air brakes, the bus carrying Class 1 and several other tourist buses came to a smooth stop in the rest area parking lot.
"Alright, everyone off! You must be back at the bus by 11 sharp. Anyone who's late gets left behind at the rest stop~"
No sooner had the teacher's half-threat end than the kids poured out into the bus aisle like a flood.
"Ugh, my back is killing me. Hey, let's get off quick. I'm starving."
Siwoo, who'd been sitting in the very back, swallowed dryly and stuck close behind Juwon's back.
The faint foreign sensation of the thin lenses still felt a bit unfamiliar every time he blinked, but the clear, unobstructed view without the thick horn-rimmed glasses was nothing short of a whole new world.
The moment he stepped down the bus stairs and faced the glaring sunlight of the rest area...
Siwoo, freed from the heavy glasses pressing on his nose bridge, felt strangely awkward at the direct touch of the humid early summer breeze on his skin.
Unconsciously, he reached up to adjust his nonexistent glasses, then sheepishly lowered his hand at the sight of it slicing through empty air.
"Whoa, there's a ton of people. Wait, who's already in line for hot dogs this early?"
Juwon, stretching with arms raised as he led the way, suddenly halted.
Then, glancing at Siwoo shuffling awkwardly beside him, he burst out snickering.
"W-what? Why are you laughing?"
Siwoo's ears turned red as he awkwardly rubbed around his eyes.
He hadn't noticed it on the bus, but now that he was thrown bare-faced into a sea of people, it felt incredibly embarrassing.
"Nah, just feels like I'm walking with a different guy. Shoulders back. You look fucking great."
Juwon slapped Siwoo's back with a smack and hurried toward the rest area's food court.
The rest stop, coinciding with lunchtime, was a chaotic crush of students and regular tourists.
To avoid bumping into others, Siwoo stuck right behind Juwon's back as they walked.
As they neared the food court entrance, the area around it felt especially rowdy for some reason.
"Whoa, those girls are super pretty. From another school? Should I say hi?"
"Quit it, you idiot. Can't you see that beefy dude planted next to them? He's probably her boyfriend."
Following the stares of the nearby students, sure enough, drawing all the attention were his flashy-looking friends.
"Excuse me, coming through~"
Juwon pushed through the murmuring crowd into the food court.
"Hey? Seo Juwon!"
Right after entering was an outdoor terrace.
Dasom, who had arrived early and snagged seats, waved at Juwon, causing the gathered friends to turn their heads.
"Hurry over! The pork cutlet line's getting long, so we ordered first..."
Dasom's wave cut off mid-sentence, her voice dropping abruptly.
Chaerin, too, widened her eyes at the familiar yet unfamiliar male student standing behind Juwon.
"...Who are you?"
At Dasom's dumbfounded question, Juwon pulled Siwoo in by the shoulder.
"Who else? It's Nam Siwoo, the one I fixed up today."
"What?! Fatty Nam? No way!"
Dasom and Chaerin rushed right up to Siwoo's face in shock.
"Whoa, your eyes are huge without glasses?"
"Wow... One pair of lenses and you change this much? Why'd you even wear those glasses?"
At their monkey-at-the-zoo fussing, Siwoo's face flushed red again.
While soaking up the attention from Dasom and Chaerin, Siwoo awkwardly turned his head and subtly glanced behind them.
What expression would she have? Just as he eagerly tried to meet her gaze...
"Hey!!"
Someone slapped his back hard and refreshingly.
"Gah!"
"You actually look like a person now? Back when we first met, you were really... Nah."
Park Geon barged between Iseol and Siwoo, laughing heartily mid-sentence as he pounded Siwoo's shoulder.
Jiyoon also peeled her eyes from her phone in curiosity, stepping close to peer right into his eyes.
"Ooh... Lenses really change your vibe like this."
The sudden uproar over Siwoo's makeover died down, and the hungry group quickly picked their orders and gathered around a large table on the terrace.
And no sooner had he sat down...
Iseol, who had been staring at him from afar, casually walked over with her food and pulled out the empty chair right next to him.
Swipe-
As she sat, the early summer breeze carried her bobbed hair swaying gently against him.
"..."
Under the table, the sleeve of her thin cardigan brushed and separated from Siwoo's elbow.
Even that faint touch made Siwoo's whole body stiffen as he gulped.
Keeping his head fixed forward, Siwoo stole a glance at Iseol's profile beside him.
"The lenses... You bought them?"
Iseol broke the silence first.
"Oh, these? Juwon got them on his own."
At her surprisingly flat and bland reaction, Siwoo replied a bit glumly.
Unlike the others' fuss, Iseol didn't even glance at his contact-covered eyes.
When she ate in silence without saying more, Siwoo clamped his mouth shut and silently sliced into his pork cutlet.
'...Of course. She's surrounded by handsome, cool guys. As if ditching my glasses would mean anything.'
Embarrassed at his own overreaching hopes, Siwoo gave a self-deprecating smile and shoveled rice into his mouth.
A moment later, just as Siwoo finished eating and stood with his empty tray...
Thud-
Under the table, Iseol's small, pale hand grabbed his wrist.
Startled, Siwoo stopped and turned his head.
Without looking at him, Iseol whispered so softly only he could hear, right in his ear.
"That... glasses."
"Huh?"
"Way, way better without. Don't wear them anymore."
Siwoo blanked out for a second.
"Wh...?"
His mind went white at her words, blurting dumbly as he whipped his head toward her.
But by the time his gaze reached her, she had already grabbed her tray of leftovers and bolted from the seat.
Standing there like an idiot with his empty tray, Siwoo replayed her tiny whisper in his ear hundreds of times.
"Want this?"
"Sure!"
"...This smells amazing too. Looks tasty, right?"
"Let's get that too!"
In front of the outdoor snack bar at the bustling lunchtime rest area.
Iseol and Siwoo stood side by side amid the swarm of students and tourists at the busy snack corner.
"Ha... Hey, how are we supposed to eat all this? We just finished pork cutlets, and you say yes to everything."
Iseol alternated glances between the menu board and display case, sighing in exasperation at Siwoo nodding eagerly right beside her.
But her scolding seemed to go in one ear and out the other for Siwoo.
After bolting from the restaurant, he'd scanned around and spotted Iseol, then trotted right up and glued himself to her side.
Students from other classes kept glancing their way, but Siwoo couldn't care less right now.
Iseol, who had run from him earlier, wasn't pushing away the guy now standing next to her.
"Everything looks good to me? Hot dog sounds great, and those butter potatoes too."
At Siwoo's beaming grin toward the display, Iseol crossed her arms and let out a scoffing laugh.
"Hah. So what now? Decision paralysis? This good, that good? What, you like me too?"
As she picked menu items, Iseol tossed out a playful, snappy joke.
"Yeah!"
A bright, hesitation-free reply in not even a second.
"..."
"..."
The noisy rest area din faded into a distant underwater hush for a moment.
Iseol's crossed arms slowly turned her head toward Siwoo.
Siwoo, too, only realized what had slipped from his mouth moments later.
"...No, wait, not like that. I mean, not that I don't like you. I... As a friend! Like a friend!"
Face burning crimson to his neck, Siwoo babbled excuses.
Iseol, listening quietly to his idiotic flailing, trembled her pursed lips.
"...Pfft."
"...?"
Unable to hold it, Iseol bowed her head and burst into laughter.
A bit later, wiping tears from laughing, she brushed her swaying bob behind her ear and looked at Siwoo.
Under the dazzling sunlight, her crinkled-eye smile and radiant grin imprinted in Siwoo's vision like slow motion.
Thanks to the lenses, he filled his clear view with her pretty smile unimpeded—his face instantly turned red.
"Fine. Get it all. Your super-fan here will treat."
Iseol drove the nail in with a teasing lilt, pulling out her wallet.
"Ah, seriously, that's not what I meant...!"
Siwoo wailed at the spilled milk, but...
Gazing at her beaming side profile, an unstoppable smile spread across his own lips.
As promised 11 o'clock approached, Iseol and Jiyoon bid reluctant goodbyes to their friends and boarded the Class 2 bus.
"Haa... June's getting hot already. Should've worn something lighter."
Jiyoon plopped down next to Iseol in their pre-claimed back seats with a groan.
"Yeah, maybe I should've too."
Iseol pulled a handheld fan from her small bag and flicked it on.
After her laughing fit with Siwoo at the rest area, an unusually soft, faint smile lingered on her lips.
"Hey~ Share the breeze~ I'm sweating."
Jiyoon clung to Iseol's shoulder, whining and cuddling up.
Cutting through their cozy vibe came a tentative voice.
"Um... Iseol."
A Class 2 girl from the seat right in front poked her head over the backrest to address Iseol.
She was the type usually keen on guy talk in class.
"...? What?"
Iseol tilted her head at the sudden call.
"That guy you were with at the rest stop... Who was he?"
The blunt question dropped.
Iseol's lingering smile vanished in an instant, wariness surging in its place.
"...Why do you ask?"
Her voice dropped a tone, but the girl, missing the shift, pressed on casually.
"Oh~ Just, he seems like one of the few decent ones at school, kinda cute puppy vibe? Kinda my type, so if he's single, thought maybe this trip's a chance to get friendly."
"..."
Half-draped over Iseol, Jiyoon suddenly felt the air chill around them.
Iseol gripped her fan tighter, staring coldly at the girl ahead.
"...Shouldn't you ask him yourself? No reason for me to tell you."
"Oh? Y-yeah, right? Of course. Sorry, shouldn't have asked."
At Iseol's sharp, icy rebuff, the girl finally read the room, gave an awkward laugh, and turned back around.
With the talk cut short, Iseol silently turned her expressionless gaze out the window.
And the back of the Class 2 bus maintained a suffocating silence all the way to Gyeongju.
Jiyoon watched the whole scene with keen interest.