School Break

If you were to survey students on what they wanted to do during summer vacation, what kind of answers would you get?

The beach?

A summer retreat?

A hotel vacation?

Traveling?

Or just staying home with the air conditioner on and playing games?

Everyone's thoughts were bound to be different, but I figured they'd mostly be pretty similar.

Because hot weather makes you lethargic, so you either do things you couldn't do otherwise, or just lean into being lazy and find the fun in that.

For reference, my answer fell well outside the frame of 'probably similar for the most part.'

Because up until last summer, I was working a part-time job at a jjimjilbang in the mountains.

It was a job called 'bulgama fire keeper.'

A crazy job where I had to work in the furnace-like heat of the jjimjilbang, feeding wood into the fire at regular intervals so it wouldn't go out.

It paid a high hourly wage for that reason, but what kind of student would have imagined spending their summer vacation that way? Until last year, I was that student.

However....

In this world where I was married to A-ra, not only did I not have to do that kind of work,

but it also felt like we would be able to have fun for about three months, and I was already starting to get excited.

"Noona, where should we go for fun?"

I held out the tablet PC to A-ra with a buoyant expression.

A-ra was just as excited.

No, she was probably more excited than I was. She had been saying she wanted to go out and have fun with me constantly.

"How about Japan? There's a famous hot spring tourist city in Oita Prefecture."

"Isn't Oita Prefecture right next to Fukuoka?"

Come to think of it, like Osaka, you could also get to Fukuoka by boat from Busan.

A plane had the advantage of arriving quickly, but for us, who weren't constrained by money or time, even the process of getting to Japan was nothing more than a form of amusement.

"Then how about taking a boat?"

"A boat? You can get there by boat too?"

"The New Chameleon, I think? I know there's a Japanese-flagged ship."

I went onto the Busan Port website and searched for ships heading to Fukuoka, and along with a high-speed boat called 'Kobi', the 'New Chameleon,' which was classified as a ferry, came up.

"It has two-person rooms, too."

"It arrives the very next day, though. But since we're going anyway, how about taking the boat?"

"That sounds nice. It looks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like we can carry more luggage than on a plane, too."

A-ra nodded quietly, then pulled out her phone and called someone.

"Yeah, unnie. It kind of came up that since we're traveling anyway, we should go by boat instead of flying, you know? Yeah... no, not the high-speed boat! No, no, not towards Osaka, towards Fukuoka!"

"Who is it?"

"My manager unnie."

A-ra talked to her manager unnie for a while, then hung up after about five minutes.

"She said she'd make the reservation for us."

"It's fine for me to make the reservation."

"She said it'll be tough since it's almost peak season. If they said they'd handle it, we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."

I let out a wry smile as I looked at A-ra's grinning face.

Well, it was okay for her to be this brazen, given her status. The problem was that I had ended up wrapping myself in that same brazenness too.

"Then what about things like booking the accommodation?"

"She said they'd handle all of that, too. All we have to do is go and enjoy a free trip."

It would be difficult for A-ra to go on package tours anyway. That would no longer be a package tour; it would become a 'travel event with A-ra.' We were going to rest, and being surrounded by fans was absolutely out of the question.

"When do we leave?"

"I don't know that yet. For now, let's prepare what we can."

What was there to prepare? There was nothing to pack except clothes.

Ah, now that I thought about it, the most important thing for traveling overseas— I didn't have that.

"I also don't have a passport, so I have to get one made."

"Then, a passport and... before that, we'll have to get ID photos taken too."

"We also have to exchange currency."

The exchange rate didn't seem too bad right now, but it would be better to do it in advance. If I put it off and ended up doing it at the port, I would suffer a pretty big loss from the fees and the rate.

"Isn't it fine as long as you have a card?"

"Japan has very few stores that accept cards."

You could use cards at places like department stores, large marts, and Don Quijote, but it was very difficult to use cards at small neighborhood stores.

"I see... I've been to Japan for concerts, but I know absolutely nothing about it as a personal trip."

"I'll prepare things to a reasonable extent."

"You, Seong-hwan? Do you happen to speak Japanese?"

"I have JLPT N2, and I can handle everyday conversation to some degree."

Back when I was at the orphanage, I'd earned a Japanese certification, a Korean cuisine cooking license, and a Korean history certification. It was because practical certifications gave you a decent score in the self-reliance screening process for leaving the orphanage.

On top of that, Japan was the home of the subculture I had enjoyed back when I lived alone. It was difficult to enjoy it without knowing Japanese, so I had studied with pure grit and stubbornness.

"You knew Japanese... I didn't even know that."

"Then what were you planning to do when you got to Japan?"

"Mmm... body language?"

A-ra leapt up from the sofa and started expressing herself with her whole body.

Body language, she said... though translation apps ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are really good these days, too.

Still, the sight of her flailing her arms and trying so hard was so adorable that I spent a long while just watching her and smiling.

***

"Jae-yeong-ssi! We had a really important guest coming in today, you know? But there's a customer with a reservation at that time, so I'm wondering... could you cover for me?"

"...Is this guest so important that you'd go as far as to cancel, Director...?"

"You know Seong-hwan-ssi, right? A-ra-ssi's husband, I mean."

"He's someone that anyone who's been on the internet recently could hardly not know. Is he saying he's coming all of a sudden?"

"You catch on quick. He said he needs to get ID photos taken urgently, so he's coming for a cut."

It was even scary seeing the Director, who had been gloomy just this morning after a fight with his wife, suddenly brighten up with sparkling eyes like that.

Now that I thought about it, I remembered something about an ad on Seong-hwan Tube or something...

"Rather than an ad, he came once before for a cut, you know? That day, I guess Seong-hwan-ssi uploaded a picture of his hair to the community after getting a cut. The next day, the daily sales just went..."

The Director, who said the mere memory of that day made him ecstatic, his eyes shining, pulled himself together and started meticulously cleaning a corner spot.

It was about twenty minutes after the Director started tidying up with a great fuss. Yoo Seong-hwan, the man behind Seong-hwan Tube, walked into the shop.

His face was both gentle and cute, with a hint of handsomeness—perfectly balanced. His clothes looked a little plain, but looking closely, they were all designer goods that cost well over five hundred thousand won per piece.

And on his left wrist, an inexpensive watch reflected the fluorescent light. Ah, 'inexpensive' by the standards of the 'Patek Philippe' brand, of course. It was an entry-line item known to cost around twenty million won.

To people uninterested in fashion, it was a modest and neat outfit, but to those who lived for 'fashion,' it was the pinnacle of perfect and beautiful aesthetics.

"Seong-hwan-ssi! Welcome."

"Hello, Director."

"It's been a while. Has it been four months?"

"Haha.. I think it's about that long."

Yoo Seong-hwan smiled bashfully and scratched his head. As if in response, the Director came over with a comb and continued talking, checking the state of his hair.

"A-ra-ssi didn't come with you? Aish... I told her it's about time for her to get a cut."

"She seemed busy today. I came alone."

"Hmm... then there's no helping it. Go sit at the end over there."

As Yoo Seong-hwan walked over, he was exactly the same as the image I'd seen on Qtube. It wasn't a concept, and he wasn't forcing a different personality for the videos; he just seemed to be his genuine self.

Ah, our eyes made contact. I'd been staring too long to pretend I hadn't noticed, so I had no choice but to bow my head slightly and offer a greeting.

"Hello."

Just as his looks suggested, he really was a sweetheart. Smiling and greeting a complete stranger. It was definitely the kind of smile that the great Song A-ra could fall for. If he weren't married, he probably would've gone through a lot of trouble.

As Yoo Seong-hwan sat in the chair, the Director also went behind him and checked the texture of his hair once more.

"Seong-hwan-ssi, it looks like your hair is a little damaged? Did something happen recently?"

"Ah, I was briefly hospitalized after a minor accident."

"Hospitalized? Are you okay?"

"They said there was nothing wrong when I took a CT and an MRI."

"That's a relief, that's a relief. I'll give you a complimentary treatment service today."

They were chatting and laughing haha hoho. It was my first time seeing the Director smile and chat with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠customer. Not just me, but the other teachers were also staring at the two of them, fascinated. To think that cold-blooded beautician could smile like that.

*

"How is it? Do you like it?"

"Wow... I've felt this before too, but how can you create this kind of feeling just by trimming?"

"That's a trade secret."

And then he brought the treatment over and applied it meticulously to the hair. It might have looked like he was doing it roughly, but anyone could see he was putting in more care and sincerity than anyone else.

For reference, that treatment was a product of a company launched by the Director, and it was also scheduled to be featured in an ad on Seong-hwan Tube.

And it seemed the Director was even going to wash his hair himself, as he personally led him to the shampoo room.

"Wow... I didn't know the Director would be like that."

"Right? I was surprised, too."

"He's not even this much when A-ra-ssi comes, you know?"

Once the Director took Seong-hwan-ssi into the shampoo room and drew the curtain so the inside couldn't be seen, the other teachers gathered together ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and started chatting in a huddle.

"He really is exceptionally handsome, isn't he."

"More than exceptionally... it's a slightly different type of handsomeness, right?"

"The kind that awakens maternal instincts? That's what it is."

It seemed the female teachers were talking about that topic since it was their taste. But the Director was a man, so he wouldn't have any interest in that, right?