School Trip (1)
After the sports festival wrapped up and we returned to our peaceful daily routine for a brief moment, the students soon started buzzing with excitement.
"Everyone, you know what's next after the sports festival, right?"
"Yes~ The school trip!!!"
The kids in Seonwoo's class started cheering loudly. A school trip was one of the quintessential high school events, especially since second-years only got one shot at it—something that wouldn't come around again. Seniors were buried in college entrance exams, and freshmen had training camps, so this was the one chance to really enjoy it.
Since everyone had a rough idea of where we'd be going, they began whispering about their plans for the free sightseeing day.
"Yes, everyone, the place we're heading to this time is!"
"We're planning to go to Jamon Island this time."
Everyone looked shocked at the homeroom teacher's announcement. It wasn't because of the weird name of the island. In this world, Jamon Island was a famous tourist spot with historical ruins—kind of like Jeju Island if I had to compare it to a real place.
Anyway, the reason the kids were surprised was that the rumors about the training camp being canceled turned out to be true.
"Is the training camp really canceled?"
"Oh, what's the deal this time?"
"Great, no boot camp bullshit."
The third-years at Pullyip Middle School were stunned for a moment before they started getting hyped as the reality sank in. As for the rumors, apparently the principal had some sudden epiphany: the kids would suffer through entrance exams once they hit high school, so why not let them have fun for their last middle school hurrah? That's what he proposed.
"So yeah, that's how we ended up replacing the training camp with this field trip."
"Yesss~!!!"
Everyone was thrilled. But there was one person who couldn't join in the cheering.
"Phew~"
"Taeyang, aren't you happy?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I am."
"You always seem so composed, even during good news."
Of course I was. I'd seen it coming. The school trip destinations for Pullyip Middle School third-years and Pulkkot High School second-years were the same place. In the school trip event of Love Chain, "Kim Taeyang" played a key role in Kim Hayan's flag route.
And the reason I let out that sigh? I had no breathing room before another major event I had to bulldoze through.
In Love Chain, the school trip event came right after the sports festival—an important episode early in the game. It dropped hints about which heroine route you were leaning toward and gave chances to reverse heroine affection levels. The heroines who'd built up a lot of affection here would realize they had feelings for Seonwoo.
If Hayan-noona started realizing she had feelings for Seonwoo because of some slip-up, things would get rough. I had to block it by any means necessary.
Let's do this right this time. Don't screw it up.
Resolving myself once more, I decided to get my head straight for real this time. No more messing up.
First things first, head home and review my Love Chain notes again.
On the second day's free time during the school trip, Seonwoo hangs out with the heroines. But once they arrive at the tourist spots, they split into groups of two or three based on preferences to explore nearby.
Depending on who Seonwoo pairs up with, you get affection-boosting opportunities. Pairing with Yuli first is advantageous. She's awkward with the other girls anyway and just trails after Seonwoo, so he ends up looking out for her. But it slightly screws over Seong Juyeon, who misses her chance to pair with him. Yuli and Juyeon end up in a bit of a... not quite a nerve war, but something like it. Mostly, Yuli just ends up scaring Juyeon off unilaterally.
If you're heading toward the Cho Yuli route, Seonwoo ignores Juyeon's reaction and keeps pampering Yuli. If it's the Seong Juyeon route, he sends Yuli off to hang with Hayan or Iri and smoothly consoles Juyeon.
Then later, Seonwoo loses his wallet. He's got just enough coins in a small coin pouch for the day, so you're torn between searching for it or borrowing money.
Searching means wasting time you could use on the other girls, which sucks.
If you search, Kim Hayan joins in as payback for you finding her hairpin during your first meeting. The two of you end up alone together, chatting about that first encounter, and the mood heats up.
If you borrow, rich-girl Choi Gahee takes care of Seonwoo. If her affection is high, she buys stuff for him and starts feeding him all sorts of things, saying he should gratefully accept it. Refuse the food and her affection drops; eat it and she coos over how cute he is, boosting it.
By the way, this happens when Seong Juyeon steps away to the bathroom, so she misses out on joining the search.
"Phew~ So that's all the second-day free time flags."
I double-checked for anything missed and flipped the page. Next up were the nighttime events...
The incident where "Kim Taeyang" triggers Hayan's flag happens here. After arguing with Taeyang on day one, Hayan asks Seonwoo for advice around the time they return to the lodging on day two. She says Taeyang's been extra prickly lately, like he's going through puberty or something. Seonwoo agrees to hear her out, with a choice: talk tonight or tomorrow morning.
If you pick tonight, an event unfolds between Hayan and Seonwoo. Hayan comes to his room briefly to talk, but panics at the sound of a surprise teacher inspection and hides. She meant to pull him aside outside, but technically boys and girls aren't supposed to approach each other's lodgings. To avoid suspicion, she ends up in the dorm closet by accident. Then Seonwoo's male roommates come in, making escape even harder.
That's when Hayan starts realizing her feelings—right as the guys ask Seonwoo if he likes any girls. As he starts to answer, Hayan feels this weird emotional stir and waits with bated breath, but then the door flies open. Other girls shout that the teacher's gone and invite everyone to hang out, cutting the conversation short.
Hayan slips out while the girls are gone but obsesses over what Seonwoo's answer was going to be.
If you pick morning instead, Seonwoo follows the guys to the girls' rooms for fun and runs into other heroines. From there, it's either Seong Juyeon or Choi Gahee... but whatever, not important, skip it. Doesn't matter who.
"Blocking Hayan-noona comes first anyway."
Considering the current situation...
Choi Gahee's flags can be ignored entirely. Her target right now is me. No chance of building affection with Seonwoo—in fact, she's already showing Yandere Stage 1 signs toward me. Unless I tank my own affection with her, no way she'll go for him. Hell, if she finds out I'm there too, she'll come hunting for me right away. Iri-noona will tag along excitedly. Already exhausted thinking about it. Dealing with those two while prying Hayan-noona and Yuli-noona away from Seonwoo...
"Oh yeah, Yuli-noona."
Yuli-noona and Seonwoo get involved when I'm not around, so I have no clue how far their flag has progressed. Gotta ask Hayan-noona later if Yuli's made any new friends. I'm still running the "The World Is Still a Warm Place!" strategy, but I need to check if it's actually working...
For this school trip, just observe Yuli-noona. Gauge how obsessed she is with Seonwoo, and if she seems lonely, have "Gold Friday Angel" drop a post to keep her from relying solely on him. If I can snoop discreetly, that is.
Knock-knock.
After a while, there was a knock at the door.
"Yeah, noona."
I closed my notebook, opened my textbook, and answered.
"Coming in."
Hayan-noona entered.
"What's up?"
"Well, I heard from Yuyeong~"
Hayan-noona said with a bright smile. She's been texting Yuyeong? That's a bit unsettling...
"Taeyang, you guys are going to Jamon Island too, right?"
"Yeah, it'll probably be like a school trip for us."
"Then we might run into each other~"
Not might—I'm planning to seek her out first. Hiding my real intentions, I replied.
"Yeah, we might bump into each other by chance."
"You're not embarrassed to be seen with your noona or anything, right?"
Hayan-noona said something out of left field.
"What the hell? If I was, I wouldn't have hung out with you on weekends."
"True. But what if you're with your friends and I show up—won't it be awkward?"
"Don't worry about it. More importantly, why bring it up all of a sudden?"
Noona nodded, satisfied with my answer.
"So why the third degree?"
"Just curious about something. Oh, for the free travel day, you're planning to stick with Yuyeong, right?"
"No."
I denied it immediately. Yuyeong has plenty of friends—why would she stick with me? Even if she did, it'd mess up my plans.
But noona just gave a wry smile.
"You two still on bad terms?"
"It's not that we're on bad terms, it's..."
How to put it? After thinking it over, I decided to be straight.
"She's a hassle."
"In what way?"
"She bugs me."
"But she's been holding back lately, right? Less clingy than before."
True enough. Lately, even when Yuyeong gave me that creepy smile, if I turned her down, she'd back off without going full yandere. It started after she talked with Hayan-noona... What the hell did they discuss?
Anyway, the key point was that Lee Yuyeong had started following Hayan-noona's lead, and Hayan-noona was taking Yuyeong's side.
"Taeyang, I get that you don't like Yuyeong."
Hayan-noona nodded.
"Pushing when someone's clearly not into it gets annoying. She's definitely done wrong stuff."
Hayan-noona held up her index finger pointedly.
"But how about one last chance?"
"Last?"
Does noona seriously think Yuyeong will back off easily?
"I've got her back just this once. But if she still rubs you wrong after, she'll give up clean."
"For real?"
"Yeah, we just talked it out."
"Hmm..."
Yuyeong personally agreeing to give up... Hard to buy it.
"I'll decide if I wanna hang with her once we're there. So what's your actual point?"
Of course, Yuyeong or not, I planned to stick solo to block Hayan-noona's flag. But her words made me rethink.
"I talked to Yuyeong too. Taeyang, how about hanging with me this time?"
An invite to tag along with Seonwoo's group.
My mind flashed—this could turn the situation in my favor—and I accepted immediately.
Maybe things could actually go smoothly for once.