Ganghwa Island
Ganghwa Island
"Seong-hwan. What do you want to do today?"
"Hmm... what should we do?"
After filming A-ra's car unboxing and finishing the presentation reasonably well, the semester had ended.
So, as soon as early summer arrived and vacation began, I was lying on the living room sofa instead of going to school.
And the crazy bitch who had been in my group before didn't show up at school for some reason.
It was a bit scary that she disappeared without a trace, but since the Director wasn't the type to kill someone, I was just letting it go.
A-ra also happened to have the day off today, so she was lounging on the sofa with me.
We had been driving around the city just yesterday.
Everywhere we went, people took pictures with their phones, and I could feel the prestige of the only car of its kind in South Korea.
I even wondered if that was why people drove expensive cars.
"Hmm... Noona has the next three days off too, you know?"
"Three days? That's a pretty long break."
"It seems like the person I was filming the variety show with got a DUI."
"Oh..."
Drunk driving is an act no different from murder.
If you want to die, die alone. Why do you have to make someone else a water ghost?
"Right? Seong-hwan, you will never drink and drive either?"
"I won't. In the first place, you come to pick me up when I drink."
"Hehe, that's true."
Whenever I said I was drinking, she would get worried, come to find me, and pick me up.
And she would lift me with both hands, in a pretty embarrassing position.
"You just don't know this, but when you're drunk, that position is actually the most comfortable."
"Really? Then I'll have to try it next time you're drunk."
"You'll do it for me? I'd like that."
"I don't know if I'll be able to lift you, though."
"I-I'm not that heavy!?"
A-ra started protesting that she wasn't that heavy.
I laughed for a bit, then stroked her hair and calmed her down.
"It's a joke, just a joke."
"Tch... even if you're a man, a husband shouldn't do that to his wife."
"But Noona can do it?"
"Urk..."
She seemed to feel a bit guilty and let out a small groan.
This kind of behavior was really cute.
"If you have nothing to do either, how about going to see the sea? For one night and two days."
"Huh? A trip to the sea? Let's go, let's go."
Thinking of A-ra's blue Bugatti Chiron reminded me of the cool sound of waves, so I suggested going to the beach.
A-ra immediately nodded and agreed to go.
Actually, when it comes to traveling, going with a fully planned itinerary like when we went to Japan is fun, but
just heading out without a plan, with only money and a car, is also really fun.
"Then let's go now."
"Let's go! Unplanned trip!"
That's my wife.
She seemed to know how fun a mindless... no, an unplanned trip was.
"Then shall we just pack some clothes to change into and head out?"
"Yeah. Which car should we take?"
If I chose a different car here, A-ra would be sad.
I kind of wanted to tease her and suggest taking the Cayenne or the Boxster.
"Let's take your beloved car."
"Beloved car? You mean the Boxster?"
"Even after buying a Bugatti, your beloved car is still the Boxster?"
"Of course. It's the first car I ever bought."
To name a car like that 'Bungbungi'...
Still, her affection for the car she used to drive was very A-ra-like, and I liked that.
By the way, I wondered if she had given the Bugatti Chiron a name too.
I got a little curious.
"Noona, did you happen to give the Bugatti Chiron a name too?"
"Huh?"
"The Boxster is Bungbungi, right? The Chiron should have a name too."
"Hmm... now that I think about it, you're right."
It wasn't a living thing, so there was no need to name it, but
A-ra's expression as she started to seriously consider it was hilarious.
"Hmm... Bangbang-i?"
"...Aren't you being a bit too random?"
"Ugh... I don't know what to name it."
At this rate, she might not even be able to name a child.
I was quite worried.
"It's a Chiron and it's blue... how about Peoreong-i?"
"That nickname has nothing to do with 'Chiron' though."
"Oh well, what does it matter?"
Isn't Peoreong-i cute?
It sort of sounded like the name of a planet being invaded by some frogs.
A-ra pouted her lips and started thinking for a long while.
It seemed she didn't really like it.
"For now, Peoreong-i is on hold."
"Well, you're the one who should pick the nickname anyway."
I wondered how long she'd think about it.
Or maybe I shouldn't have brought it up at all....
"Noona, think about the car's nickname later."
"Oh, right. We decided to go on a trip."
"First, let's think about where to go."
"Hmm... Incheon?"
We had already stopped by Incheon to pick up the car, so it wasn't that appealing...
And the sea there was too strongly associated with being a port.
"Since we're going anyway, how about going to an island?"
"An island? Ganghwado... or Wolmido?"
"Or wouldn't Daebudo also be fine?"
"Daebudo?"
It was an island near Seoul, a tourist spot, so there would be things to see.
And if we wanted to see the sea, picking either Daebudo or Ganghwado would be right.
"Or going to Ganghwado wouldn't be bad either."
"Hmm... then shall we go to Ganghwado?"
To be honest, A-ra seemed happy to go anywhere.
She probably wanted to run outside and grab the steering wheel right away.
"Do as you like. I'm fine with anywhere."
"Then let's head to Ganghwado. Hurry and pack your clothes and wallet."
"Yes, yes~"
I chuckled as A-ra dashed toward the master bedroom.
I had to give her an excuse like this, after all.
***
A trip decided on suddenly.
Though we had rushed out thinking an unplanned trip would be fun, I was a bit worried.
We had set out on a one-night, two-day itinerary and packed clothes and underwear, but
once we were on our way, what if there were no rooms at the hotel?
"What's wrong?"
"Noona, I'll make a room reservation."
"A room? It's still the off-season, so there should be plenty of rooms?"
"Even so."
A tourist spot was still a tourist spot, even in the off-season.
There might still be a lot of people.
"Our Seong-hwan worries so much~"
"I'll reserve a hotel that rents out grills."
"There are places like that? Let's buy a bunch of seafood and grill it."
"Meat too."
"Meat too~"
She took one hand off the steering wheel and raised it.
It was like she was raising a beer glass.
"Are you going to drink?"
"Can't I?"
"No, it's not that you can't. You said you have three whole days off anyway, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then we can do a hotel stay tomorrow and go home the day after."
"Wow~"
Seeing A-ra cheer, I gently stroked her hair.
Then I took out my phone and searched the reservation site for the best and most expensive hotel.
It was located right in front of the sea, a position where you could enjoy an 'ocean view'.
"Let's see, let's see...."
I accessed the hotel reservation site, searched for the hotel name, and found the room prices were set low, perhaps because it was the off-season.
The most expensive room was... wow, they had a penthouse here too.
"Korea really is good for traveling."
"Why?"
"The room we stayed in in Japan was incredibly expensive, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was about a million won per person per night, right?"
"But the penthouse at the Ganghwado hotel is 400,000 won a night."
"Wow... so it's almost one-fifth the price."
In Japan, it was around a million won 'per person' per night.
So two people for two nights would be about four million won.
You could think of this as exactly one-fifth of that.
Of course, comparing a ryokan to a hotel was ridiculous.
"I'll book this one."
"If it's the top floor, there's no noise from upstairs, so that's nice."
I nodded at A-ra's approval and paid right away.
Now we could just wander around, have fun, and then head over at check-in time.
"But when we get there, what do you want to do first?"
"We have to go eat lunch!"
"Then shall I look for a decent raw fish restaurant?"
"No, Noona already found one."
"Ohh... as expected of a glutton..."
"Huh? I think my husband just said something..."
"No. I said, 'as expected of a treasure'."
"Hehe... that's embarrassing."
She didn't seem to hear properly, so I let it pass as an embarrassing compliment.
But still... she hadn't thought to reserve a place to stay, but she had found a place to eat in advance.
That's A-ra for you.
***
"Here's the large platter and spicy fish stew."
"And two bottles of cider, please."
"Here you go~"
An open-air raw fish restaurant on the pier.
In a large restaurant of the kind you sometimes see in fishing villages, A-ra and I
ordered one large platter of raw fish, spicy fish stew, and drinks.
"This is on the house."
"Thank you."
"Enjoy your meal~"
Looking around, there wasn't a single other customer.
Maybe because of that, the owner gave us some sea urchin and abalone, sliced as sashimi, on the house.
"They even had abalone."
"It wasn't on the menu."
"Then it really must be a freebie."
I knew from buying abalone recently that they would be quite expensive right now.
Of course, it was a bit different here, where they could get seafood right away, compared to the middle of Seoul.
"What kinds of fish are in the platter?"
"Tuna, flounder, sea bream, salmon, mullet..."
"What's with the tuna and salmon?"
"And there's sea squirt and sea cucumber too."
I could understand the others, but I wondered if tuna and salmon were even caught around here.
Strangely, whenever you went to a seafood center or raw fish restaurant, they had tuna and salmon, but I never knew if they were caught locally or bought elsewhere.
"Well... as long as it tastes good, does it matter?"
"Is that so? Then enjoy your meal."
"Seong-hwan, you eat a lot too."
Since I didn't particularly like raw fish, I dipped the slices in the spicy stew and ate them like shabu-shabu.
A-ra ate some plain, dipped some in the vinegar sauce, wrapped some in seaweed....
She demonstrated various variations and began devouring it all.
Next time, I'll have to slice the raw fish for her myself.