Karaoke Night
Swimsuit.
Clothing designed for moving in water.
Yet some swimsuits have an exposure level that rivals underwear. Depending on the style and the person wearing it, a swimsuit can stop being something that covers the body and instead become an outfit meant to highlight charm and show off one's figure.
“…”
For the first time, **Cheon Maru** truly felt the destructive power of a swimsuit.
A black bikini that emphasized her pale skin was revealing her explosive figure. Her slightly flushed cheeks, tinged with embarrassment, painted a uniquely cute picture. The intellectual atmosphere created by her glasses gave her an entirely different vibe, and in that moment he finally understood what gap moe truly meant.
“…What are you doing?”
“Uh… well…”
He lost his words for a second. She was someone he had already been physically intimate with. He had seen every inch of her bare skin. But the way she stood there in that revealing black swimsuit with her arms pulled behind her back, radiating a fresh kind of allure, was more than enough to threaten his sanity.
“Arang, weren’t you coming out to look in the mirror?”
“Ah, right.”
She walked past him and stopped in front of the mirror. For some reason, it looked like a small smile had formed on her face as she passed by.
***
“Is that the one you’re going with?”
“Yeah. Walking around the beach openly in a string bikini felt a bit much…”
The swimsuit **Cheon Maru** ultimately decided on for the beach was a skirted one-piece. Apparently these days there were even types with attached skirts that looked like actual skirts. He had picked out a simple one-piece style.
“Oh, so Maru already bought his.”
“Really? Then why did you even come along?”
“I dragged him here. He was being annoying.”
He couldn’t even remember anymore why he had found it so annoying.
“So we’re meeting at the academy on the promised day, right?”
“Yep. Maru oppa, I’ll leave the lodging and reservations to you.”
“Got it.”
They had decided that **Maru** would handle the accommodation arrangements. He said he was confident about it.
“Then see you then~ …is what I’d say, but it feels a little unsatisfying, doesn’t it?”
“Do you have more shopping to do? I think it’d be better to buy snacks and stuff once we get there.”
“It’s not that I have more to buy. Let’s just hang out a little longer before we go.”
It was definitely an attractive offer. Since they wouldn’t see each other much during vacation, they should enjoy moments like this. Plus, it was summer, so the heat made it hard to go out often anyway.
“What do you want to do?”
“Karaoke!!”
“I’m heading home.”
“Why?!”
The most horrifying answer imaginable had slipped out. Why did it have to be karaoke of all things?
“No, absolutely not. Singing is seriously off-limits.”
He genuinely had zero confidence in singing. It was the one area where even his parents had never once given him praise.
—*Cough!* *Hiccup!* O-our daughter! That was amazing!—
—…I’m not doing it.—
His mother, who was always calm and only ever said kind things to him, was the only person who couldn’t hold back her laughter when it came to his singing. Singing that in front of his friends was simply not an option.
“Whyyy~? Let’s play together~.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to play with you…”
“Let’s play… hehe…”
“…”
For some strange reason, it was always hard to refuse when **Unni** asked for something. Seeing **Kim Chaeeun** right beside her, it was obvious she was pulling the strings right now.
“*Sigh*… Fine. Let’s go.”
“Unni. Nice.”
He had willingly walked straight into the obvious trap, but what could he do? These were friends who had become precious to him.
***
With the heart of someone marching toward hell of his own free will, he stepped into the nearest coin karaoke room. He had agreed to go along with his friends, but that didn’t mean he had suddenly started enjoying singing.
“Who wants to pick first?”
“I… I’ll try…”
“Huh? Wait a second, Unni. Here’s the mic.”
Surprisingly, the first to step up was **Unni**. The song she chose was “The Egg That Stood Up.” It was one he liked too. Playing it on a rainy day always created a nice atmosphere.
“Long~ ago~.”
**Unni**’s voice flowed out smoothly without any breaks. The gentle, understated emotion and clear pronunciation brought out the true flavor of the song.
‘She’s really good…’
It might be rude to think so, but **Unni** had been his only source of hope. Given her usual quiet image, he had assumed she probably never sang, but now that he thought about it, these days you could easily go to a coin karaoke place by yourself.
“You sing really well, noona.”
“Right? Okay, next up is Arang!”
“Huh? Me? Already?”
“You came all the way here and you’re just going to leave without singing once?”
Of course he had planned to sing, but he hadn’t expected to be second. Especially not right after someone who sang that well.
“Ugh…”
What should he sing? A children’s song? That would be way too embarrassing. He didn’t know any rap. The only song he had sung with his mom before was…
Wait. Hold on. Was this really the only song he knew? And he was supposed to sing *this* right here?
He desperately tried to recall every song he could sing, but nothing but children’s songs came to mind. There was no helping it. He had only come here a few times when he was seven and never returned. Any more hesitation would just drag out this painful situation and make everyone uncomfortable.
No choice. He would have to swallow his pride for a moment.
“Hey, can you sing this?”
“Uh… yeah. I know it. You want me to sing this? Together?”
“This is literally the only thing I know! Everything I sang with my mom back then except this was a kids’ song!”
The song he had chosen was an extremely sweet duet love song. It was the very song he had sung with his mom that made her burst out laughing. He never imagined the day would come when he would have to sing it again himself. He desperately suppressed the urge to land a clean strike on **Kim Chaeeun**’s solar plexus as she made a huge fuss behind him.
“It’s already been days since you last called~”
For now, he focused and sang along with the music. He tried his best to ignore the laughter coming from behind. And then it was finally **Maru**’s turn.
“To tell you the truth, I thought about it a lot~”
…What the hell. Why was he so good?
His low, resonant voice spread out sweetly. Unlike Maru’s own wild sense of pitch and rhythm, **Maru**’s voice was perfectly controlled yet incredibly sweet. The lyrics sounded almost like a confession, and an indescribable feeling wrapped around his body.
““For you~””
The chorus part. **Maru**’s singing was good enough to cover for his own terrible skills, and the tension finally eased. His throat relaxed. Caught up in the growing sense of exhilaration, he glanced at **Maru** during the short instrumental break.
“!!”
Their eyes met. The moment he locked gazes with those gentle eyes looking straight at him, heat rushed to his face. Unable to stop singing, he forced his now-tense throat to continue the song.
—Wow! You could totally be a singer!—
Thanks to **Maru**’s hard carry, they received a high score. Not that it really mattered.
“Wow, that was hot.”
“W-what is?!”
“I never expected you to pick *that* song specifically to drag Maru oppa in. I didn’t see that coming at all.”
“No! I only knew the girl’s part of this song, that’s all! It’s not like I specifically wanted to sing it with Maru—”
“Then you could’ve just asked me to do the guy’s part, right?”
“…Ah.”
Right. He could have asked **Chaeeun**. Having lost any words to argue with, he handed the mic over to **Kim Chaeeun** and retreated into the corner.
…When singing a couple’s song, he had naturally assumed **Maru** would take the male part. He didn’t know why, but he had wanted it that way.
“Then it’s my turn!”
This time **Chaeeun** began searching for a song. Speaking of which… Maru oppa… Should he change how he addressed him too? Even if it was only a year’s difference, speaking casually to an older guy felt a bit weird. He used polite speech with **Unni**, so maybe he should fix that.
“…Maru oppa.”
“Huh? Uh?”
He saw **Maru** look over at **Chaeeun** in confusion. Since **Chaeeun** always called him “Maru oppa,” he must have thought she was the one speaking. Right now **Chaeeun** was too busy excitedly picking her song to even look this way.
“No, I was just thinking maybe I should change how I address you… yeah.”
“Ah, so that’s why you suddenly… You can speak comfortably, you know.”
Since **Chaeeun** kept calling him oppa, he had wondered if he should do the same. He didn’t have any older siblings, so he had secretly admired people who had older sisters or brothers.
“Um… I’ll just keep calling you the way I always have. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. Whatever’s comfortable for you is fine.”
But “oppa” somehow felt awkward in his mouth. Since he had permission to speak comfortably, he decided to stick with how he usually called him. Thinking back to how **Maru** had secretly smiled the first time he tried calling him that, it didn’t seem like he disliked it.
“I’m dying for the style! For the style—”
Suddenly **Chaeeun**’s soul-shredding song began. She really started with zero warning.
But she was kind of similar to him, wasn’t she? He watched her absurd performance in amazement, but…
“Pffft.”
Watching her basically scream instead of sing, his embarrassment completely vanished and he just found it fun.
—Arang, I’m glad you treasure your family. But there are things even family can’t do for you. That’s when you need friends. One day you’ll understand just how precious friends can be.—
A memory from his childhood. Back when he refused to make friends and only wanted to play with his family, those were the words his father had said to him. At the time he hadn’t understood.
“Hahaha! Hey! You’re in no position to criticize *my* singing!”
But now, somehow, he felt like he finally understood what his father had meant.
***
After screaming their hearts out, they moved to a nearby café, chatted for a while, and then went their separate ways. Promising to meet again in a few days.
“How about here?”
“Already fully booked.”
And now they were at **Maru**’s house, searching for accommodations near **Gwangalli**. The problem was that every single place was already fully reserved. Come to think of it, it was peak vacation season.
“This is troublesome…”
Even after searching for the day of their promise and the three days around it, nothing came up. Was **Gwangalli** really this popular? He had heard that because of the incident at **Haeundae**, a lot of tourists had shifted over to **Gwangalli**, but he hadn’t expected it to be *this* bad.
“…*Sigh*. I really don’t want to use that method.”
“You have a good idea? Looks like we’ll have to use it.”
There was no other answer. Even motels were fully booked. Why on earth?
“Wait a moment. I need to make a call.”
“Okay.”
**Maru** picked up his phone and left the room. Maybe he didn’t want them to hear, because he stepped out to make the call, but he didn’t actually close the door behind him.
…It should be fine to listen a little, right? It wasn’t like he was eavesdropping on purpose; the sound was just reaching his ears. Just a little. Just a tiny bit.
“Hello? Yeah, Mom.”
…Mom?!
The story continues in the next chapter.