Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Outing
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It had become a period that was warm, if you could call it that.
Late March—a weather that was warm if you wanted to call it warm, but still a bit chilly if you thought it was.
Yeah, up to here, it was fine. At least up to this point.
"Achoo!"
One downside now that April had arrived was that pollen had started flying around. And the worse news was that Seol kept sneezing because of it.
"You okay? Here, tissue."
"Thangks... *sniff*..."
Seol thanked me in her stuffy, nasal voice and started wiping her nose with the tissue I'd given her.
It was cute, but also a little heartbreaking. She seemed to be suffering so much from the pollen.
"How about grabbing a mask?"
"From the nurse's office?"
"Yeah, I bet they'd give you one if you said you're having a hard time with pollen."
"I'll get one if it gets worse..."
She didn't have a pollen allergy or anything, but Seol had a delicate constitution, so she was sensitive to stuff like pollen.
As I worried about Seol, she suddenly started poking my arm.
"Seol, what's up?"
"Um... do you... have time this weekend...?"
"This weekend? Why?"
In response to my question, Seol turned on her phone screen and showed me something.
It was a poster for the local forsythia festival.
"Forsythia festival?"
"Yeah, I wanna go..."
"With me?"
"Yeah... is that no good...?"
Her question left me no choice but to hesitate.
Was it really okay for Seol, who was suffering from pollen like this, to go to that festival?
Honestly, I wanted to say no. But her eyes looked so earnest that I couldn't bring myself to outright refuse.
"Ummm..."
"No good...?"
Seol looked up at me once, and that gaze pierced me even harder.
I had no choice but to nod.
"...Okay."
"Really...?"
"Yeah, let's go. Just the two of us."
The moment she heard that, Seol broke into a beaming smile.
"Yeah, let's go...! Just us... Achoo!"
Seol sneezed again and tried to reuse the tissue from before by folding it over.
I pulled out another one and handed it to her. She bowed her head deeply and blew her nose.
Was it really okay to take her out like this?
*
That night, after evening self-study ended and I got home, I told Mom about it.
But...
"Oppa... where're you going...?"
...an adorably unexpected variable popped up.
My brain started spinning fast. If I told Da-som the truth here, like "to the forsythia festival," she'd absolutely insist on coming along. I knew she would—she was my little sister, after all.
But if Da-som came? Then Seol and I wouldn't be able to enjoy the festival properly. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if I didn't enjoy it. But I wanted Seol to have fun.
I didn't know exactly what was behind her asking me to go together, but one thing was clear: she wanted to go to that festival badly enough to ask a friend to accompany her.
As I racked my brain, Mom spoke up to Da-som.
"Da-som, actually, your oppa~"
"Oppa...?"
I was on edge, wondering what Mom would say, but then she said something completely different from what I'd expected.
"He has to study~"
"Study...?"
"Yeah, studying. Super hard, tough studying."
"Ugh... I'm out..."
Da-som lost interest in an instant and scampered off.
Mom glanced at her retreating figure, then gave me a quick wink.
Mom really was sharp as ever.
I bowed my head slightly to her in thanks, and she chuckled.
"Alright. So your dilemma is you want to go to the festival with Seol, but she's suffering from pollen, right?"
It was a bit off, but the gist was correct, so I didn't nitpick.
"Yeah, that's it."
"Okay... Want to hear Mom's idea?"
"Sure."
"Mom thinks..."
"Mom thinks...?"
Mom trailed off a bit, then smiled lightly.
"How about going to the festival, but finding somewhere else?"
"Somewhere else?"
"Yeah. You look for a good spot, and recommend it to Seol."
"But she'll want to go to the forsythia festival..."
"Mom sees it differently."
Mom looked at me and let out a deep sigh.
"Anyway, suggest another festival as an alternative. She'll like it for sure."
"Ah... Okay..."
I nodded as I listened to Mom, then headed straight to my room and turned on my computer.
I searched for festivals, and a ton came up that I'd never heard of.
"Mudflat festival... piano festival? Rapeseed festival... and what's a science tech festival...?"
Two in particular caught my eye.
One was the cherry blossom festival, the other a garden festival.
But then came the moment that rendered all my worrying pointless.
"...Cherry blossoms and forsythia don't spread pollen?"
Cherry blossoms and forsythia are pollinated by insects, so their pollen doesn't spread much in the air. That's why even people sensitive to pollen can usually enjoy them.
Pollen that flies around in the air comes from things like pine trees.
Our school definitely had plenty of cherry trees, but also lots of pines.
I could kind of see why Seol was suffering.
"...Then the forsythia festival should be fine."
I closed all the other festival tabs and turned back to the forsythia one.
I checked what there was to do there... but nothing really stood out.
Just some experience booths and flower viewing, but it didn't grab me.
Plus, reservations were needed by tomorrow.
The cherry blossom festival, on the other hand, didn't require sign-ups. You could just show up and enjoy.
The experience booths looked way higher quality too—from face painting to all sorts of games, it seemed like more fun overall.
And since it was next week, there was more flexibility.
What would be better? Where could I take Seol to make good memories?
After agonizing, I decided to leave the choice to Seol.
[Seol]
The moment I texted her, Seol replied right away.
[Seol: Yup yup! What's up?]
[Nothing much]
[(Cherry blossom festival poster)]
[I looked around too, and there's a cherry blossom festival]
[Which do you think is better?]
Seol replied without a second's hesitation.
[Seol: I like both! Let's do both!]
Like both, so do both—an outrageous response.
...Would that be okay? Doing both.
[Both?]
[Seol: Would both be too much...?]
It would be a bit much. Two festivals in one week.
Of course, if Seol wanted to go to both, I'd take her. No reason not to.
[If you want both, let's do both]
[Seol: Really?]
[For real]
[Seol: ㅎㅎㅎ]
Her "ㅎㅎㅎ" looked pretty happy.
[Seol: But we can see cherry blossoms around school anyway]
[Seol: Let's just do the forsythia festival]
Maybe her "both" was a joke after all, since she went with just forsythia.
Relieved inwardly, I asked her.
[That one needs reservations by today—want me to book?]
[Seol: Oh, I already booked! For 2!]
What? Already?
Who was she planning to go with if I said no?
The thought crossed my mind, but then candidates popped up.
Yu Seung-ah, Ji Ye-eun, and even Lee Ji-yoon.
Any one of Seol's loyal friends would've happily escorted her if she'd picked.
Plus, Seol was popular with girls despite appearances.
Pretty, quiet, and kind.
Compared to her isolated childhood self, she was a total star now.
...Wait, that felt off thinking about it.
Then why ask me instead of one of those three girl friends?
As questions piled up in my head, Seol ended the chat first.
[Seol: See you Saturday morning at 9! It starts at 10, so we meet then, take the bus!]
[OK OK]
[Seol: Heehee, see you then!]
[Seol: (Sunny quokka waving emoji)]
Seeing Seol's mood even through a normal messenger app, all thoughts vanished.
Yeah, just go and have fun together.
That's what I decided.
No matter which festival, or why she asked me...
If Seol was happy, I was happy.
If Seol smiled, I could smile too.
She'd become that important to me.