A Day by the Han River
"Wow, the weather's perfect."
The moment we arrived at the Han River and stepped out of the taxi, a breeze brushed past me and I found myself smiling. Bright and clear—perfect weather for a day out.
"A mat! Or a tent? What should we do? What would be better to rent?"
Woo Cheong-hee, buzzing with excitement at the thought of an outing, stood in front of the rental shop fretting over what to get. He clearly wanted a tent.
"Cheong-hee, not this way."
"Huh?"
I grabbed Cheong-hee, who was lingering in front of the rental shop, and pulled him elsewhere.
"Ta-da."
"…"
The moment the bike rental stand came into view—rows of bicycles lined up—Cheong-hee's face fell.
"You said we were going for a… walk?"
"A walk on bikes."
We rented three bikes from the stand, bought some water from a nearby convenience store, and took a quick drink. After crushing the empty bottles and tossing them in the recycling bin, I wheeled my bike out.
"Shall we head out right away?"
"Where are we going?"
"Hmm, something around a forty-minute loop…"
"Loser buys chicken."
Before we'd even settled on a route, Lee Jae-jin threw out a chicken bet and took off first. I pushed off right after him, following as he navigated the path with easy familiarity. Behind us came the sound of Cheong-hee scrambling to catch up after the sudden chicken wager.
"Ah, hyungs, what is this!"
"What else? It's a stroll."
"How is this a stroll in any way?"
We followed Jae-jin in a single file at a moderate pace, Cheong-hee yelling as we went.
"This isn't hanging out—this is working out!"
"Speeding up now."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Once we hit the bike path, Jae-jin gradually picked up speed. Matching his pace, I pedaled hard—and before long, it had gone quiet behind us.
"Cheong-hee, doesn't this feel great?"
With the wind rushing over my whole body, I glanced sideways and saw nothing but river. The sunlight sparkled on the ripples, catching the eye.
"…"
I peeked back and found Cheong-hee's gaze locked on the water. Nothing beats exercise for blowing off stress. After so long without a ride, I focused in myself.
Clearing my head of stray thoughts, I flew along the river—and before it even felt like we'd rounded the turnaround, we were already back where we started. Exactly forty minutes. I gave Jae-jin a thumbs-up for leading the way.
"Chicken's mine."
"And the bet?"
"Just something I said."
We returned the bikes, picked up the chicken Jae-jin and I had ordered ahead near the station, then headed for the tent rental shop where Cheong-hee had been lingering earlier.
"The sun's pretty strong, so let's set up a tent and eat."
"Looking at the packages, they even rent out speakers and board games."
Each package included not just a tent but picnic mats, a table, a tripod, camping chairs, a parasol, and more, so I went with the fullest setup.
"Ah, I'll pull it!"
"I'm gonna swing by the convenience store real quick—go on ahead."
Jae-jin pointed at a convenience store and fell back while Cheong-hee rolled the wagon full of gear along with a rattle, leading the way. The back of his head, bouncing ahead with light steps, already looked thrilled. Had he been that desperate for a picnic?
"Cheong-hee, how about here?"
"Looks good to me!"
We found a spot where tents were allowed, looked around, and tossed the tent down in a quiet corner with a decent view of the Han River. The auto-expanding tent popped open and settled into place on its own.
"Whoa, that's cool."
"Let's set up the rest now."
First the parasol, then camping chairs underneath. Table in front of the chairs, speaker on top, picnic mat spread over the grass. Easy enough.
"You're already done?"
We wrapped up the picnic setup without trouble, and Jae-jin returned from the convenience store with an armful of snacks and drinks that he dumped onto the mat.
"You stopped by a café too?"
"While I was at it."
"Thanks, hyung—I'll enjoy it!"
"You're drinking iced chocolate."
Jae-jin handed Cheong-hee an iced chocolate and picked up an iced Americano for himself.
"Then I'm the ade?"
"Yeah. Both of you can drink coffee when you're adults."
"Wow, Jae-jin hyung sounds like a grandpa."
Since the guy buying gets to decide, I obediently took the ade—but Cheong-hee couldn't hold back a comment for even a second, and Jae-jin immediately clamped him between his arms.
"Ah, I'm sorry! Let me go!"
"Did saying 'grandpa' make me go deaf? Can't hear you."
"You're not a grandpa! You're not a grandpa!"
I leaned back in a camping chair, sipped my ade, and watched Cheong-hee thrash around.
"Han-hee hyung! Save me!"
I weighed whether to rescue Cheong-hee as he desperately begged, then met Jae-jin's eyes.
"Hyung, you should start thinking about your age. Must be tiring—why don't you take a break?"
"Should I? Maybe I am getting old—this is wearing me out."
Jae-jin sat down, pounding his own shoulder, cracked open his coffee lid, and drained a long gulp. The ice crunched. For someone playing along with the old-man bit, he looked absurdly sharp and vigorous.
Freed from Jae-jin, Cheong-hee sprawled out on the picnic mat. His hair was a complete mess—probably from being pinned under those arms.
"Grandpa's way too strong…"
"Is that a compliment? Thanks."
I took another long pull of the red ade and cast a sidelong glance around us. Curious looks were steadily multiplying—people who seemed to have noticed us. They looked unsure whether we were filming or not.
Watching them shift from foot to foot, held back by how openly we were setting a picnic vibe, I spoke up to Jae-jin.
"Hyung, have you thought about what to put in your vlog?"
"Ah, the thing the PD told us to film?"
Catching on fast, Jae-jin pulled a handheld camera from his bag.
"Alright, Lee Han-hee-ssi, where are we right now?"
"Hello, I'm Lee Han-hee. We're at Hangang Park right now."
Jae-jin panned the camera over the Han River view, then aimed it at Cheong-hee lying on the picnic mat.
"And why is Woo Cheong-hee-ssi like that?"
"Don't film me…"
"Oh? Are you sulking?"
"I'm not sulking!"
Watching the two bicker again, I widened my field of view. The appearance of a fairly professional-looking camera made the people who'd been inching closer start to back off.
"You said you wanted to eat chicken looking at the Han River. Get up already."
The moment I opened the still-hot chicken, Cheong-hee shot upright.
"The sun's strong, so get in the tent."
I ushered Cheong-hee into the tent, which had its entrance left open toward the river view, then scanned our surroundings. We ought to be able to eat in peace.
After a moment's thought, I grabbed a deck of cards as something to distract attention with. We went inside the tent, zipped it about halfway, and I pulled out the cards. Fully closing both ends would mean a fine.
"Let's play Catch the Thief while we eat."
We started playing Catch the Thief while picking up boneless chicken pieces with chopsticks for easy eating. I'd chosen the game without much thought, but it had a black hole in it.
"What is this? How does every single card I grab turn out to be the joker?"
Once the joker got sucked into Jae-jin's hand, it refused to leave—and after three straight losses, his face crumpled.
"It's destiny."
Even when he didn't have it, he kept drawing the joker every single time. At this point, destiny was the only word for it.
"Wow, so a person can actually be this unlucky."
Cheong-hee marveled and laid down another winning hand. If Jae-jin kept coming in last, Cheong-hee kept coming in first.
"Let's play something else."
"I'm amazing at other board games too, not just Catch the Thief! Da Vinci Code, Rummikub, stuff like that!"
"…"
Watching Cheong-hee radiate confidence, Jae-jin raised an eyebrow and pulled out a silver bell.
"Halli Galli it is."
"Huh? Halli Galli?"
From the pouch that had come with the tent package, Jae-jin had chosen Halli Galli—a physical game that tested dynamic vision and reflexes.
"Doesn't this game massively favor Jae-jin hyung?"
"Kids are better at this kind of thing. I'm an old man—I'm no good at it."
"Ack, I'm sorry! Stop with the old-man talk!"
And so Halli Galli began. Clutching the back of his swollen hand after getting cleaned out of cards, Cheong-hee stared at the frantically ringing bell and yelled.
"Hyungs, you're too strong! Go easier!"
"Isn't this how the game is supposed to be played?"
"Ack!"
When it was time to hit the bell, Cheong-hee yanked his hand back instead and shouted, trembling.
"I surrender! I surrender! This is a combat game!"
"What? It's already over?"
Jae-jin, who'd amassed a thick pile of fruit cards, smacked his lips as if disappointed. I stared blankly at the numb back of my hand. This was how the game was supposed to work, but still…
All three of us rubbed our reddened hands as we gathered up the empty chicken boxes. Was this really how it was meant to go?
After cleaning up the boxes, I brought in the Bluetooth speaker from the outside table, sat with my back to the half-open tent entrance, and queued up a suitable playlist on my phone. Something to mask the voices drifting in from outside.
"By the way, do we not need to film any more video?"
Cheong-hee, who'd been rooting through the convenience store bag for jelly snacks, eyed the handheld camera abandoned in a corner of the tent and voiced his doubt.
"Yeah. We weren't actually supposed to film today."
"Oh, we weren't?"
"Just testing it out. If we were shooting a real vlog, we'd have had the camera out since morning."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
It was already nearly four. Cheong-hee nodded as if replaying the day in his head—billboard tour, bike ride, wandering here and there.
"Then what are you hyungs going to film for your vlogs?"
"Hmm, I haven't thought about it yet."
With a long vacation ahead and the PD's assignment to each film a vlog, everyone seemed to be mulling it over.
"Take your time thinking. There's still plenty of time left."
"Wait, so none of you were planning to shoot a vlog today?"
At Cheong-hee's question, both Jae-jin and I shook our heads.
"I brought it to test, but filming today would've been a hassle in all kinds of ways. I was thinking of shooting alone later."
"Today we just came to hang out."
Besides, even if we didn't record anything ourselves, other people would probably capture it all for us. Was there any need to bother?
Thinking of the stares locked on us when I'd gone out for the speaker, I was pretty sure our location was already posted all over social media—but I kept that to myself. No need for them to know ahead of time.
"I see…"
Music still drifted from the speaker. Cheong-hee fidgeted with a piece of jelly, fell quiet for a moment as if deep in thought, then carefully spoke up.
"Actually… I've had something on my mind lately."
"…Yeah? What kind of thing?"
At Jae-jin's question, Cheong-hee answered in a soft, careful voice. He looked like he'd been thinking a lot.
"I happened to see some comments. They said I was clinging on without any real skill. And the reason it stung was… I think it's because I believed it myself. Preparing for stages together, I honestly thought, so this is what it means for the class difference to be that big…"
"…"
We listened quietly. Jae-jin's expression was serious too—he'd probably sensed Cheong-hee had something weighing on him while preparing for the second team battle.
"But still, I have fun being with you hyungs. I like it. You're both such good people, and I learn so much… When I'm with you, I feel like I become a better person. No matter what anyone else says, I want to stay close with you."
The shy smile as he admitted to those worries still looked so young. Figuring out who you are is hard for anyone—but it seemed he'd found his own answer.
"Yeah. Let's stick together."
Watching Jae-jin ruffle his hair with a look of fond pride, I stood up from my seat. He'd sorted his feelings out. Time to head outside.
"Shall we head out soon? The weather's so nice—we should at least look at the sky a little longer."
Thinking of the schedule packed from morning to evening, I led them outside. With a full course planned, we still had a lot left to do.
I unzipped the tent all the way, stepped out, and smiled to myself at the crowd that had grown even larger in the meantime. Time for a little test—and an event.