School Festival Day
It had been a little over a month since I entered Noa Elementary School. In that time, a lot happened, even if it was just a small amount. First, my dad left again to go back to work. He had seen Sia off at her entrance ceremony and left right after three days. The day before he left, saying goodbye made me feel incredibly sad. It was like... it seemed as if I was spending more time playing with my uncle than with my own dad lately. And then there was another thing. Sia had been appointed as the temporary class president. At the time when the temporary president was being decided, we received recommendations from the class, and Sia was overwhelmingly selected as the temporary president. But from Sia's perspective, she really disliked it. It was probably because the attention from the new friends lately was a burden. In kindergarten, the friends had stayed almost the same, and even though the class changed, we could still hang out as usual since everyone knew each other. But now that we were in elementary school, all the kids were new faces, and it seemed the interest in Sia was quite strong. Boys and girls alike. That was why Sia had been hiding beside me all the time. Of course, the girls weren't doing it with any ill intent; they had just come close because they wanted to be friends with Sia. The problem was the boys. "Ouch!" "Fufufu! Hey, run away!" "Are you okay? Sorry I couldn't block it." "It's fine... I'm okay." The boys had started bothering Sia more and more. No matter how much I tried to stop them, they would sneak up from behind, pull at her, and run off like before, and I couldn't handle it. I told the auntie about it, but... "Ah... Sia is doing that too... Did you talk strongly to her?" "Yes..." "Then what about the teacher?" "I told the teacher too... but the kids won't stop." "Hmm... I've tried everything I can... If this is the case, there's no sharp countermeasure..." Since everything I could do had already been done, I had no choice but to take care of it myself. While we were doing this, one day we went to Sia's house together. The auntie couldn't come out to pick us up because of an urgent matter. We had walked the route so many times that I knew it by heart, and Sia and I held hands as we returned. The next day, the rumor that Sia and I lived together spread throughout the class. It was still a little chilly, so the auntie had come to pick us up by car the day before, but yesterday we had just walked. And somehow, it seemed like one of the kids from our class had seen us. When the rumor spread to the entire class, several boys approached us. "You live together? Why are you going home together?" "I asked Mom, and if we go home together, we're supposed to live together." They kept pushing us like that. Just as I was about to step in and resolve it. "Yeah, we live together." "...Sia?" "...Huh?" "Eh...?" The class fell into silence. It was thanks to Sia's bomb statement about living together. And then Sia gave a follow-up. "Sia studies with Siwoo, plays together, and all that. So stop bothering her." "Eh...?" "Stop bothering." "Yeah..." "Oh, okay." Surprisingly, Sia's direct approach worked. But there was one thing that worried me. "Is it okay to say that?" "What?" "No... even if I say we live together..." "...It's fine... And Mom said it's okay to say that if she doesn't like it." "Ah..." I understood Sia's words. If the auntie had given permission, there was no problem. But Sia glanced at me and asked quietly. "You... are you okay with that?" "What?" "I just said we live together... is it okay?" "Me? I'm fine, of course." "Really? Then... that's great." When I said I was fine, Sia looked happy. Well... I was also happy because the boys were no longer bothering Sia, so I didn't worry as much. It wasn't that I was happy about Sia saying we spent time together. Absolutely not. △△△△△△ The time passed quickly, and before we knew it, it was May. And in May, there was the school festival. Since it was our first school festival after entering elementary school, I was really looking forward to it. The kids in our class were also in a good mood because it was a school festival after the midterms. Of course, I was excited too. Since this was my first school festival, my parents were both coming. "Siwoo, your parents are coming?" "Yeah, since it's my first time, they'll be here." "I see." Sia didn't seem particularly bothered, but I bet she was secretly disappointed that her uncle wasn't coming. So I didn't show it in front of Sia. On the day of the school festival. In my hand was the lunchbox. My mom had made it from the beginning, and after half of it was complete, she added store-bought side dishes. If we ate the store-bought stuff like before, it would be fine. But. 'Son, really sorry. I don't think I can make it to the school festival today...' 'Next time, next time I will definitely go to the school festival.' Because of the urgent matter that came up this morning, my dad and mom had to leave in a hurry. Usually Mom would have stayed with me, but since Mom was gone, it meant something really urgent. So... there was no choice. Mom had taken the lunchbox and specially brought a bag with clothes to change into for the school festival, saying she was sorry as she left. I nodded that I understood, but I felt incredibly sad. Because my parents were too busy lately. The feeling of being left alone... That's how I felt. So I prepared alone. The rice was already ready, so I washed up and changed into my PE uniform. And I sat at the table and started eating... It didn't taste very good. The PE uniform was yellow, but the color in my heart was the same as dark, gloomy clouds. After I finished preparing, ♪Ding dong.♪ "Siwoo. The auntie is here!" The auntie came to pick me up. She had come rushing because Mom called her saying she couldn't make it to the school festival. I opened the door. "Siwoo, did you eat? Did you shower?" She came inside and at the same time expressed concern for me. And after that, Sia followed in too. "I ate, and I finished preparing." "...I see... are you not hungry?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go." "Yeah... let's go." The auntie was saying something, but in the end, without saying more, she left the house with me. Sia glanced at me from beside me and then. Slipped her hand into mine. Sia's hand holding mine was so warm that the gloomy clouds in my heart felt a little lifted. When we arrived at the school, it was bustling with people. Today was the day for the first-year new students, so there were many parents. "Auntie will wait here. Have a good time at the school festival." "Yeah." "Yes..." So we headed to our class with Sia. [Ah, from now on, we will begin the Noa Elementary School first-year school festival.] Finally, the school festival had started. The school festival was held until four in the afternoon. It was now nine-thirty, so there was still a long way to go. After waiting for the principal's boring speech and other people's small talks, the school festival finally began. The school festival was divided into blue team and white team, and it was held that way. The odd-numbered classes were on the blue team, and the even-numbered classes on the white team. We went to the white team's seat and sat down. Before the school festival, each person had decided on their events, so the people who weren't participating waited. While waiting, [This match is the rolling ball race. The participants, please come out and wait.] "Ah, I have to go." "Siwoo, fighting." "Yeah, I'll win." The rolling ball race was simple. It was a race where the blue team and white team took turns rolling the ball, and the team that reached the finish line first won. It looked simple, but the biggest problem was properly passing the ball to the next person. If you gave it to the wrong place, it would come back and start again. The order was randomly chosen, and I became the last participant. The race started, and the waiting people sat nearby to watch the previous participants. Both teams had similar abilities, so there wasn't much difference in who was leading, but right in front of me, the participant rolled the ball and made a mistake. Because of that, a gap opened, and even when it was my turn to pass the ball, I didn't pass it properly. I made another mistake, but I ran as fast as I could, grabbed the ball, and ran. Fortunately, the friend running with me wasn't good at rolling the ball, so the distance between us narrowed, but there was still space. While doing so, I passed where our class kids were sitting, and then by chance, I met eyes with Sia. Sia said to me with her mouth. 'Fighting!' Just three letters, but it suddenly filled me with power, and I ran even faster until... "White team wins!" I won. "Waaah!" When I said I won, I immediately ran to Sia. Sia came to meet me. "How was it? I won!" "Yeah, I saw. You were really fast." "Hehe." Even though this morning I was feeling sad because my parents weren't there, now it felt like that feeling had disappeared thanks to Sia. "Since Siwoo won, I'll go win too." "Ah, was it chicken fighting?" "Yeah, just wait a little. I'll be back soon." "Yeah, okay." Sia headed to the chicken fighting area, and I went back to my seat and started drinking from the water bottle. The water level seemed a little low... Maybe Sia had drunk it. While I was gulping down the water, [Blue... white team... white team wins! Everyone, clap...!] Soon, the news of the white team's victory came. "Eh?" I was puzzled, but from far away, Sia was approaching with a triumphant expression. "You won already?" "Yeah, wasn't it fast?" "I see..." Sia had won in the blink of an eye, and she came sitting right next to me. While talking with Sia about various things, before we knew it, it was lunchtime. Sia and I went to find the auntie. "Here! Kids, let's eat!" The auntie took out several lunchboxes. Starting with kimbap and gimbap, there was also chicken wings. Of course, there was the lunchbox Mom had packed too. "Let's eat." "Yeah, eat a lot." Other families were gathered around eating rice too. Everyone was eating with their own families... No matter how I looked, it seemed like I was the only one whose family wasn't there. Still, I was fine. Because Sia was sitting here eating with me. It wasn't lonely. After that, the sports day continued, and the result of the school festival was... [Blue team 1200 points! White team 1200 points! It's a tie! Clapping for those who worked hard, we finish the Noa Elementary School first-year school festival!] It ended in a tie. I was disappointed I didn't win, but it was still fun. "Okay, let's go home." "Yeah." We went to Sia's house, ate the chicken the auntie ordered deliciously, and with Sia, fell asleep.