Dragon and Summer Break
Even as I watched the kids through the CCTV and felt a strong urge to give my past self a solid knuckle to the skull, Ha-yan's lesson kept right on going.
Every so often, she would tell the children some embarrassing story about the two of us from years ago. If Rhea or any of the other homunculi had brought those up, I would have charged in and clamped a hand over their mouths on the spot. Coming out of Ha-yan's mouth, though, there was nothing I could do about any of it.
All I could do was curse the me of the past.
In the training room, Ha-yan was basically assessing where the trio stood with their magic. I'd moved Sia inside as a precaution just in case, so nothing major was likely to happen for a while. Besides, with Ha-yan there, what was there to worry about?
Which meant this was the perfect chance for a little free time of my own…
"And where do you think you're sneaking off to? Don't you see the work piled up right in front of you?"
"Can't you cut me a little slack? I'll handle it after lunch…"
"If I cut you any more slack, company business will stack up until the whole place freezes solid. Work piles up day after day around here — would it kill you to throw yourself into it for at least one day a week? You can check on Miss Ha-yan through the CCTV whenever you like anyway, so isn't this a little much? We have more than enough tasks that can't move forward without your approval. Oh, and you said after lunch? Then what about the rest of us, who still have to work through the evening because of that?"
"Aaaah. Fine. Fine, just drop the lecture already. I can't get a word in edgewise."
Tch. So much for heading upstairs for a nap.
Grumbling under my breath, I took my seat at the desk the way Rhea wanted. Then I started working through the company documents she'd brought over, same as always. Most of the day-to-day was handled by Rhea, just as I kept saying — but anything involving investments above a certain amount was something we'd agreed I'd deal with myself. So I didn't exactly have an escape hatch.
The contents of the papers weren't anything unusual, and I was working through them one by one at a steady pace when another document that made my face twist landed in front of me.
"They're already sending stuff like this? We've still got ages until the overseas trip."
"That's public officials for you. They fire off official notices way ahead of time, then sit around deciding whether you've forgotten about them or not so they can slap you with a fine. Thoroughly vulgar creatures."
"…You've been burned pretty hard, huh?"
"Shall I let you experience firsthand just how badly those people burned me?"
"Please. Spare me. With that kind of talk, I get the picture loud and clear."
I waved Rhea off and beat a quick retreat from the subject. Next time I went along on an overseas tour, I was definitely going to listen carefully to whatever she said.
"Ugh… Maybe I shouldn't have gone all-in on the CSAT. Should I have applied for early admission too?"
"This from the person who slept like a baby through every midterm starting in first year of high school?"
"Th-that was different! I'd just heard a new tanghulu flavor had dropped in another district — how was I supposed to resist that?!"
"Normal people resist that… You're just a little unhinged…"
"Says the guy who spotted a girl his type on a city bus and then didn't even show up for his exams during finals week!!!"
"AAAAAAAH!!! My ears!!! My ears!!!! My eaaaaaars!!!!"
"Why are you two already at each other's throats the second you meet?"
Company work was company work. Magic work was magic work. Strictly speaking, though, Ha-yan and I were high school students. Over in that other world, Ha-yan would already be treated as an adult, and I was regarded as so old that no one could even guess how long I'd been alive — but physically, Ha-yan and I were still high school students in South Korea.
And what do high school students get in the summer?
Summer break.
And what comes with summer break?
Summer homework, of course.
Sure, there were schools that went so all-in on the CSAT that they dragged every last high schooler back to campus even during vacation — but our high school wasn't that unhinged. That wasn't the trend these days anyway.
Ha-yan had just assigned the trio a project that would take them a little while, and the timing lined up perfectly with a message from Do Ji-yeon. How about we pick a few days, hole up at a study café, and knock out all our summer homework together?
Ha-yan and I had already been chipping away at ours on the side. Still, during that call, I asked Ji-yeon something.
"Didn't you and Choi Hoon already give up on early admission? Why start caring about summer homework now?"
As I remembered it, Ji-yeon had turned in absolute garbage for both her summer and winter break homework last year in first grade, and her parents had been called into the school over it. From the look of things, though, her parents seemed to have already settled that conversation with her — they didn't appear to be scolding her much anymore.
At my question, Ji-yeon answered in a voice so drained it was like I could see her deflate right in front of me.
"Until now, Grandma and Grandpa always covered the money for our summer trips. Somehow they found out, though, and they said if I mess up my homework like last year, I'm not getting a single won this time."
"…Oof."
That was a real problem. Families were all different, just like people — and apparently this kind of household existed too. Grandparents blackmailing their own granddaughter. Fresh, I'd give them that.
Then Ji-yeon added:
"They said if I don't finish all the homework and get my friends to vouch for it, I can forget about seeing any allowance or going on any trips this summer break."
"…And your parents?"
"Already rolled over."
"That so? When do you want to meet? Ha-yan and I are fine whenever."
Honestly, I wasn't the one who'd take the hit — but the thought of Ha-yan losing out on the beach or mountain trips we'd made with Ji-yeon every summer made me lock in a plan with her on the spot.
When Ha-yan heard the rest of the story at the study café, she clamped both hands on Ji-yeon's shoulders, stared her down with the light gone from her eyes, and said:
"From this moment on — if you let your mind wander from the homework, what happens to Ji-yeon?"
"H-huh? Wh-what happens?"
"Heh heh. Until summer break is over, you can forget about ever seeing me again… Same goes for tanghulu and malatang?"
"I'll do it!! I will absolutely do ittttt!!!"
Ji-yeon latched onto her summer homework like she'd just heard something she was never meant to hear.
Beside the two of them, Choi Hoon and I sat sucking down Americanos from the study café. I turned my head slightly and asked him:
"You're not even in that situation, though, right?"
"Nope. With my mock exam scores alone I can get into the same university as you."
"So why?"
"What do you mean why. I got dragged along. Said she hated studying and suffering by herself, or something. Not like this is the first or second time."
After years of Ji-yeon's outlandish stunts, Choi Hoon had basically become a set drink that came free with her order. Whether he'd gotten used to it or just given up, I couldn't tell — but he'd even brought a tablet PC so he'd have something to kill time with.
He glanced at the summer homework in front of me and said:
"You guys do your summer homework on your own. I'm on the CSAT track anyway, so I'll just study Korean, math, English, and inquiry subjects in that order, my own way. I was getting bored studying alone, so this works out."
Sure enough, his tablet was playing a CSAT prep lecture aimed at second-years. Ha-yan and Ji-yeon had already locked in on their homework for real, and it wasn't like I could sit around playing by myself in that atmosphere — so I matched the two girls' pace and started leisurely working through my own summer assignments.
At my level, the whole thing would have taken an hour. But I couldn't do that. Ji-yeon and Choi Hoon knew I had money — they just didn't know I was a dragon.
"Uuugh… I'm wiped."
"You spent half the day after lunch on nothing but homework — of course you're tired. Still, we made a ton of progress. At this rate we won't even need a full week."
"The amount of homework does seem smaller than last year. Maybe because of the kids prepping for the CSAT?"
"Wouldn't surprise me. I'm on the CSAT track myself so I don't know for sure, but if that's Ha-yan's read, it's probably right."
About five hours later.
Around dinnertime, our concentration hit rock bottom, and we'd relocated to a fast-food place. I sat there chewing on seasoned potato wedges, quietly listening to the two girls talk. We hung out after school plenty, but most of the conversation was always Ji-yeon and Ha-yan. Choi Hoon and I were there to throw in the occasional jab or just nod along.
Ji-yeon stretched again, then suddenly whipped her head up and asked Choi Hoon, who was buried in a game on his tablet across from her:
"Hey. Choi Hoon. You free starting this weekend?"
"This weekend? Out of nowhere?"
"Aaaah. Just answer. Are you free or not."
"Uh… yeah? Free, I guess? I wasn't planning on going anywhere this summer break except studying anyway."
Then she turned to me.
"You too?"
"You already know the answer."
"Still. Just checking."
Last, she looked at Ha-yan.
"Ha-yan too?"
"Well, yes? But why all of a sudden, Ji-yeon?"
"Hmm. So that's a yes. At this pace, summer homework will be a hundred percent done by Friday… then… hmm… Perfect."
Ji-yeon pulled out her phone and started rapidly trading texts with someone. Ha-yan, Choi Hoon, and I just stared at her with slightly bewildered faces. After about ten minutes, Ji-yeon looked up with the expression of someone who'd made up her mind, beamed at us, and declared:
"Awesooome! Confirmed! Decided! We're going! This weekend — we're going to the mountains!!!!"
"…What did you just say?"
The mountains?
Out of nowhere?
Why?
Still grinning, Ji-yeon explained.
"Why do you think Grandma and Grandpa have been giving me money to play with every summer? They're pretty loaded. Of course…"
She shot me a quick glance, then went on.
"Not as much as this guy over here, but they still own a villa up in the mountains. So I casually floated the idea. Said I wanted to go to the villa with friends this summer break and asked if they could be cool about it. We used to go as a family, but they said I'm getting close enough to being an adult now that going with friends is fine."
"A v-villa? You had something like that? Is your family rich…? I didn't think they were?"
Even Ha-yan, who'd been friends with Ji-yeon for ages, looked a little thrown by a story she was hearing for the first time. Ji-yeon waved her hands hard.
"No no no. I told you — it's not my family that's rich, it's Grandma and Grandpa. Mom and Dad have zero interest in doing anything with that money. So there was no reason for you to know, Ha-yan."
"I-is that so?"
"Yep. That's so. So we're going, right? This weekend? After we finish all the summer homework this week?"
With Ji-yeon's eyes sparkling at full brightness, the three of us checked each other's faces — then nodded with matching grins.
A trip just for us, and a villa on top of it?
Oh yeah. No way we were sitting that one out.