The Final Day of Vacation
It felt as if the spell of lovesickness had finally been broken. Was this how the princesses in fairy tales felt when they returned to reality? For the past few days, I had been drowning in a sense of listlessness. Our second single album promotions had concluded safely. The grueling schedule, where I’d barely managed two hours of sleep a night for five weeks, had vanished like bubbles, and the fatigue was now washing over me in waves. Every time that happened, I suffered from a burnout-like lethargy. I felt completely limp, both physically and mentally.
Every agency is different, but ours grants us a two-week vacation to allow us to recover quickly, leaving us completely free to enjoy our time off. Some members go on trips or go shopping, finding their own ways to rest. As soon as I got my vacation, I locked myself in our dorm. I ordered fried chicken for the first time in three months and binge-watched movies I’d only ever read the summaries of. I like going out and having fun, but I’m a homebody by nature; if I had to choose between indoors and outdoors, I’d choose indoors every single time.
That didn’t mean I stayed in the dorm the whole time, though. I spent the first week lounging around like an unemployed person, but I’ve been spending the remaining week mostly outside. As promised, I went shopping at the department store with Yeryeong. I explored cafes in Haebangchon with Mio-unnie, who loves desserts. I went to a climbing center with Iroha, who loves working out. And with Hana-unnie, who had just returned from a trip, I went to a dog cafe to pet puppies and rub cats, enjoying some healing time. After spending my time like that, I realized it was the last day of my vacation.
Even when the vacation ends, it’s not like our schedules will be as packed as they were during the promotional period, but they aren’t exactly empty, either. I have to take lessons for our next comeback, and we’re starting to film our own variety show for our YouTube channel tomorrow. However, I haven’t fully recovered yet. It’s not that I haven’t shaken off the fatigue from our promotions; that was taken care of by lounging in the dorm for a week. Was the vacation too short? That’s not it either. Yeryeong, who loves to play, whined that two weeks wasn’t enough, but for me, two weeks was the perfect amount of time—right before I started to feel bored.
Then why haven’t I recovered? I know the answer well. Sexual frustration. Would a child who has tasted the sweetness of candy be satisfied with just one piece? Of course not. It’s human instinct to crave more—one leads to two, and two leads to three. That’s the state I’m in right now. Having known the pleasure of being fucked by a cock, I wanted to be fucked again. Even when I masturbated while watching his self-introduction video, I couldn’t recapture the thrill I felt back then. Even when I rubbed my clitoris until it was swollen, I remained unsatisfied. Even when I poked around with my fingers, it was impossible for my slender fingers to replicate the thickness of a real cock. I wanted to go see Yujun-oppa one more time during the week, but...
As I mentioned, I couldn’t go because I was being dragged around by the members. Even though we exchanged DMs before bed, is a conversation on a smartphone the same as a conversation with our bodies? I miss him. Is this what lovesickness feels like?
“Wow! That, that...!”
It was the last day of vacation. We were gathered in the living room of our dorm, tearing into fried chicken and watching a movie. We had a modest spread of one chicken and two bags of snacks, each of us drinking a can of Blanc beer. Of course, Yeryeong and Iroha, who were still minors, substituted theirs with Zero Coke.
“Look at that *Jokbari*...!”
The movie we were watching was about independence activists during the Japanese colonial period. Mio-unnie, who is Japanese, huffed at Hana-unnie. “It makes a *Jokbari* like me feel bad, you *Joseonjin*.”
Hearing that, Hana-unnie burst into laughter. Seeing that reaction, Mio-unnie also sipped her beer, satisfied, and chuckled. Of course, it was a joke. They didn’t intend to insult each other. Because those two are close enough to trade spicy banter, they sometimes had these stinging conversations like this.
“Unnies! Be quiet!”
Yeryeong, who had been focused on the movie, was annoyed by the loud, cackling laughter. “Sorry, sorry.” “Sorry.” The unnies, who are weak against the youngest, shut their mouths and focused back on the movie. But Hana-unnie, who loves to play pranks, kept giggling as she poked Mio-unnie in the side.
“Iroha, wait a second.”
Iroha was using my thigh as a pillow. I carefully lifted Iroha’s head to get up. But Iroha pressed her head firmly into my thigh, as if telling me not to move. “Don’t go. Stay here.”
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
“No. Stay here.”
“That’s right. Su-a, don’t get up, just stay here.”
Hana-unnie, who had been playing with Mio-unnie until just a moment ago, joined in. She rested her head on my other thigh and blocked me from getting up.
“Ugh! What are you doing, even you, unnie?” I pushed Hana-unnie away. But the more I pushed, the more persistently she clung to me.
“It’s really urgent.”
“The more urgent it is, the slower you should go.”
“Ah, what are you even saying!”
“If you want to go to the bathroom, give unnie a kiss on the cheek.”
Hana-unnie, whose tension was sky-high from the little bit of beer she’d had, puffed out her left cheek and held it toward me.
“Kiss? What kiss?”
“Don’t be so shy.”
“Ah, come ooon!”
“Oh my, is Su-a angry?”
Hana-unnie smiled broadly like a prankster. If this were an animation, there would be giant stars twinkling in her eyes. Joining in, Iroha also puffed out her cheeks, asking for a kiss. It’s really annoying that they do this every time, knowing full well I won’t do it. I know perfectly well that they aren’t actually asking for a kiss. These two are just doing it for my reaction.
“Augh, you’re so annoying!”
The more annoyed I get, the more those two cackle and enjoy it. They’re witches, absolute witches. It wasn’t until our youngest shouted, “Unnies!” in annoyance that I was freed from their clutches. I ran to the bathroom as soon as I was released.
“*Sigh*... those immature brats...”
I let out a deep sigh and sat on the toilet. It wasn’t that I urgently needed to pee. It was because an alarm had gone off on the smartphone in the front pocket of my hoodie. Normally, I would have checked it right there. It’s not like we’re in a movie theater; I could check my phone for a second while watching a movie. But because the alarm wasn’t an ordinary one, I had no choice but to come to the bathroom to check it. It was the only alarm I had saved with a different sound. It only rings when I get a message from my *Otaku*.
I had sent him a selfie before the movie started, telling him I was going to watch a movie with the members today, and he had replied. 1 hour, 21 minutes, and 15 seconds. He had replied late because he was teaching at the academy. I told him to reply to my messages right away, but that’s realistically impossible. Yujun-oppa is teaching students at the academy, after all. He can’t look at his phone while he’s teaching. The fact that he replied meant his class was over.
I checked the time. ...It’s almost time for him to get off work. The movie was almost over. After the movie ended, the members would definitely start chatting in the living room. Even though we see each other’s faces every day, once we start chatting, two or three hours is the bare minimum.
I stood in front of the mirror and let down the hair I had tied up high. I brushed my hair, which flowed down to my waist, neatly with a comb. “Hmm... is it better tied up?” I tied my hair back up and checked the left and right sides. It looked prettier tied up for this outfit. Yeah, let’s tie it.
I tied my hair nicely, went to my room, put on my round glasses, and wore a hat. My hair would get flattened, but a hat is practically an essential item for going out. If I hadn’t tied my hair, I would have worn the hood attached to my clothes.
“Where are you going?”
When I appeared dressed to go out, Hana-unnie, who was drinking beer, tilted her head and asked.
“Convenience store.”
“Suddenly?”
“I drank some beer, and now I’m craving something sweet.”
“Aha, I know, I know.”
Even normally, when I drink, I strangely crave something sweet, so I look for sweets. Among them, I like chocolate milk the best. So, there have been a few times when I went to the convenience store to buy chocolate milk while drinking like today. In the early days of my debut, I had to ask the manager-unnie, and I couldn’t go to the convenience store alone, but a few months ago, the CEO gave me permission to go to the convenience store in front of our apartment by myself.
“Get me a Häagen-Dazs when you come back.”
“You mean buy you a Melona?”
“Häagen-Dazs!”
“I’ll buy you a Melona.”
I received my first settlement during our first single album promotions. But even if we are the most popular girl group in South Korea right now, it’s not like we’re getting salaries that make you say “wow.” Among the 3rd generation seniors, the popular ones must be earning a ton of money by performing and going on overseas tours, but our La Stella hasn’t performed separately in Korea except for fan meetings, and our only overseas experience was our debut performance in Japan, so the settlement money wasn’t huge. I earn more than the other members because I have advertising income, though.
For reference, unlike the scammers we had before, our agency charged us by deducting the money needed for our debut from our profits. Those scammer bastards demanded money upfront, saying it was a deposit... Of course, looking at my salary, even if it’s not in the hundreds of millions, I’m earning a fairly large amount of money. Enough to casually pick up a Häagen-Dazs at the convenience store. But strangely, even now, when I go to the ice cream section of a convenience store, my hand doesn’t go toward Häagen-Dazs. I know well that it’s delicious. I like Häagen-Dazs chocolate. However, habits aren’t easily fixed. It seems it will take a long time for me to get close to Häagen-Dazs.
I went down to the first floor. The cold night air had become quite cozy. In a few days, the temperature will rise, and it will get hot soon. ...I hate summer.
I came out of the front gate of the apartment and started running away from the convenience store, ignoring the one visible across the street. The place I was heading to was the academy where Yujun-oppa works. Should I call it a coincidence, or fate? Since it’s close from the dorm to the academy where oppa is, I can arrive within 10 minutes if I run. He’ll be surprised, right? The corners of my mouth curled up at the thought of surprising Yujun-oppa. My feet running through the night streets were light.