Department MT with My Childhood Friend
Two weeks after the group project.
Yerin and I were riding the KTX toward the East Sea.
MT, huh…
I’d gone once as a freshman, but looking back, the only real memories were of drinking. Chugging whatever the seniors poured, then nursing Chaeyeon when she got completely wasted… For me, MT had always felt less like a trip and more like unpaid labor.
This time’ll be different, right?
It was just classmates, so no seniors forcing drinks down our throats. And Sohee would definitely look after Chaeyeon.
Which leaves…
I glanced at Yerin sitting beside me.
She’d already polished off her third lunchbox and was now pulling out a convenience-store kimbap. She was about to take a bite when she noticed me staring.
“Want some?”
“I’m good. You eat plenty.”
I waved her off. Yerin tilted her head, then went right back to eating.
Guess this time I only have to look after her.
Yerin was a lightweight who still liked to act tough. A couple of drinks and she was gone, which made her a serious person of interest for this MT.
“…Why do you keep staring? You do want some, don’t you?”
She rummaged through her bag and held out a Jeonju bibim-flavored triangle kimbap.
“I already said I don’t.”
I pushed it away, then plucked a grain of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth. After that I cut straight to the point.
“Try not to drink too much on this MT.”
“Huh? Why me?”
“Why…?”
Because I have no idea what drunk-you is going to do, I almost said—
But Yerin beat me to it with a sly little smile.
“Got it. You’re worried drunk-me might get into something shady with the guys, right?”
“What?”
How the hell did her brain even get there? While I sat there dumbfounded, she reached over and ruffled my hair.
“I get how you feel, Sihyun. Having a friend as pretty as me around…?”
I grabbed her lips and gave them a good shake.
“There you go talking nonsense again. Just finish your food.”
When I let go she let out a little whimper, then snorted a second later.
“You keep treating me like leftovers, but I’ll have you know other guys see me as a flower on a cliff.”
“Flower on a cliff, my ass.”
I gave the hair on the crown of her head a gentle tug.
“One little poke and you’d fall right off.”
Boing. Boing.
This is kinda fun.
I kept playing with her hair until I realized she wasn’t reacting at all.
Guess she really is mad about earlier. I was about to peer past her bangs when—
Thump.
Yerin buried her face against my chest. In a trembling voice she muttered,
“Th-then go ahead and pick me if you can…”
The two of us got off at the station and joined the classmates who’d arrived earlier. Chaeyeon and Sohee were among them. The moment Yerin spotted them, her eyes narrowed to slits.
Squeeze…
As if she refused to let go, Yerin clamped onto Sihyun’s hand.
Chaeyeon shot them a frosty glare. The colder the look, the tighter Yerin clung.
“Looks like everyone’s here, so let’s head out.”
Once the destination was shared, people started pairing up with friends and grabbing taxis.
“Shall we go too?”
Yerin nodded at Sihyun’s suggestion.
They piled into a cab with a girl from their year they usually hung out with. On the way to the big supermarket that was their first stop, the classmate in the passenger seat twisted around.
“You two… are you dating?”
Blink. Blink.
Completely blindsided, both of them blinked at the same time.
A brief silence stretched out.
Yerin had been about to laugh it off with a wave of her hand, but she lowered it instead and asked, curious,
“What makes you think that?”
“You’ve been stuck together a lot lately. People have started whispering that you two are secretly going out.”
Yerin looked thoroughly pleased and nodded. Then she turned to Sihyun.
“Hear that, Sihyun?”
“Well… she and I have just known each other a long time. It’s not what people think.”
Yerin’s brow furrowed at his flat reply. Their classmate waved both hands.
“Come on… guys and girls can’t just be friends. Everyone says ‘friends’ on the outside, but deep down it’s always something else.”
Yerin nodded a thousand times in vigorous agreement, then looked up at Sihyun with hopeful eyes.
“Is that so…?”
As if checking for himself, Sihyun studied her face. Her cheeks slowly flushed under his gaze.
Still, he kept examining her carefully…
“You’re not completely wrong. But there are exceptions. To me, Yerin’s closer to family than anything romantic.”
Thud.
Sihyun’s words—so near yet so far—made the sky spin for Yerin.
She hung her head in despair. At the same time her fingers brushed the secret weapon buried deep in her shopping bag, and she made up her mind.
This MT, she would tilt Sihyun’s heart toward her.
After shopping, the group walked about fifteen minutes to the pension they’d reserved.
Three spacious rooms—one for the all-night drinkers, two for people who actually wanted to sleep.
Once bags were dropped, everyone started getting ready for the beach. Sihyun finished first, stepped outside, and headed down the stone steps.
Clack. Clack.
The steps led straight to the beach. At the bottom would be the “hidden gem” the pension owner had been so eager to brag about.
Damn, it’s hot…
Wearing nothing but navy swim trunks, Sihyun felt the sticky residue of sunscreen as he descended.
When the steps ended, an empty stretch of sand opened up. He set up the parasol he’d brought from the pension and sat beneath it, watching the gentle waves.
Perfect weather for hanging out.
He was just starting to lose himself in the calm sea when a noisy chatter hit his ears.
The others must have finally come down. Sihyun kept staring ahead—until a woman dropped onto the sand right beside him.
“Yerin…”
He turned, then immediately shut his mouth.
He’d assumed the woman who sat down so casually had to be Yerin. It wasn’t.
“Ha. Do I look like Yerin to you?”
The person next to him was none other than Chaeyeon.
Annoyed at being mistaken for someone else, she continued in a flat voice,
“This is the only shade. That’s the only reason I sat here. So don’t get any weird ideas.”
Sihyun almost snapped that he hadn’t asked, but decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and ignored her.
Time passed.
When he finally glanced her way, his whole body locked up.
That swimsuit… it’s the one Chaeyeon wore in Japan.
He’d wanted to see her in that bikini so badly back then that he kept begging her to go to mixed baths. She’d act annoyed every time, yet she always went with him. One of the best memories he had.
Why the hell did she have to wear that today…
Old feelings rose with the memory. Heat flooded his face; he buried his head against his knees.
Watching him from the corner of her eye, Chaeyeon let the corner of her mouth curl up just a little.
Seizing the moment, she pulled something from the pouch in her hand.
Pop.
The cheerful sound of a lid opening. Curious, Sihyun looked over.
Sunscreen…?
He had no idea why she hadn’t put it on at the pension, but what came next was more than enough to hold his attention.
Slick—
Chaeyeon began spreading the white lotion over her skin.
From the nape of her neck down across her chest. Along her slim waist to her soft-looking thighs.
She applied it slowly, deliberately, right where he could see. Then she suddenly turned toward him. Their eyes met.
“Why do you keep staring?”
“…I just happened to look over.”
Sihyun made the excuse and quickly turned away. The familiar swimsuit made his heart stutter. Compared to the past it was only a leftover flutter, but it was still enough to scramble his thoughts.
Seriously… she’s ridiculously pretty.
While he grumbled inwardly at the sea, Chaeyeon studied his profile. Then her gaze dropped to the sunscreen bottle. After a moment she said,
“Give me your hand for a second.”
“What for?”
She took his hand, squeezed a dollop of sunscreen into his palm, then turned her back to him. Sweeping her hair forward, she bared the pale nape of her neck.
“I can’t reach. Put some on my back.”
With that she untied the string of her bikini top. The fabric started to slip; she caught it with one hand.
“What the….”
Completely unprepared, Sihyun felt his throat close up. His eyes went wide; his whole body froze.
“…Hurry.”
Chaeyeon grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand to her back.
Until now she had only ever reacted. This time she was the one taking the lead—openly, deliberately—tempting him.