Rest (3)
I walked along the beach with Sena.
Sena was wearing dolphin shorts, an oversized T-shirt, and flip-flops. Her bleached blond hair was twisted up into a round knot and tied high on her head—the so-called “messy bun.”
Sena patted her stomach with both hands.
“I’m still full.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t eat in moderation.”
“It’d be rude to leave food behind.”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just order less in the first place?”
“You saw how much my friends were eating. How can you say that?”
“Fair enough.”
Watching the kids eat had made the thirty-thousand-dollar-a-night rate feel worth it.
“Wow! The sky is beautiful.”
We stopped walking for a moment and looked up at the night sky. Stars invisible in the city were scattered thickly overhead, stitching the darkness together.
“There are so many stars. Oh! That star’s moving.”
I glanced at it and said, “That’s not a star. It looks more like a low-orbit satellite.”
“...Could you not ruin the mood?”
Well. What did it matter whether it was a star or a satellite?
As long as it was shining, that was enough.
Sena drifted into thought for a moment.
“When I was little, this reminds me of going to the sea with the family. Where was it again? Sokcho?”
“Probably Gangneung. You remember that, though?”
“Of course. Didn’t my brother run around looking for me because he thought I’d gotten lost?”
“Th-that happened?”
“Yeah. Mom said you were crying while you searched everywhere for me.”
“Come on, no way...”
I acted as if I didn’t remember, but I actually remembered it clearly.
I’d taken Sena out to the beach with just the two of us, and then the kid had suddenly vanished.
I’d panicked and run around like a madman, wondering if she’d fallen into the water or been kidnapped by some creeps.
In the end, I spent hours searching before returning to the lodging in tears. Only to find out she’d already come back and gone to sleep.
What was she, a first grader back then?
That little brat had grown up before I knew it.
Even if she still wasn’t even 160 centimeters tall.
“Hehe! Thanks to you, I get to come to places like this with my friends. Do you know how jealous they are of me?”
I snorted.
“It’s nothing.”
We were sharing the same lodging anyway, so aside from the private jet, there wasn’t really any extra cost.
Seeing my little sister puff up with pride made me feel strangely good.
I thought back to my first life.
Back then, I almost never went home, and I drifted away from Sena too. We still saw each other once or twice a year, but it always felt as if there were miles between us.
But now things were different.
She was my only younger sister, so this time I really had to treat her well.
“Achoo!”
“Are you cold? Let’s head back.”
* * *
While Han Miru and Han Sena were out for a walk, Jung Sojin, Park Yejin, and Jo Yookyung gathered in one room. The bed was big enough for three people to lie down on comfortably, and when you opened the window, the sea spread out right in front of you.
Jo Yookyung said, “It still feels like I’m dreaming.”
Park Yejin nodded. “Same. I can’t believe I actually got to come to a place I’d only ever seen in movies.”
“Sena’s brother is so cool, isn’t he?”
“When he was walking over earlier, it felt like he had a halo around him.”
“Oh! Right? I felt that too.”
That was probably because he had walked toward them with the sun at his back, but...
Jung Sojin thought of her own older brother.
Compared to the brother who only played games at home like a child, Sena’s brother really did feel like a grown man.
As that thought crossed her mind, Jo Yookyung asked, “Sojin, you said you’d seen him before, right?”
“Yes. When I went over to Sena’s house, he used to help me study sometimes.”
Back then, he’d just seemed like a friend’s older brother. But now, strangely enough, even looking at his face made her heart race.
“Oh, right. Sena said her brother was really smart too, didn’t she?”
“Yes. Miru-oppa graduated from the University of Korea with a degree in economics.”
“Sena’s so lucky. She has such a cool older brother.”
“If only my brother were even half as good...”
“But does he have a girlfriend?”
“Of course he does, doesn’t he? Maybe he’s even dating some blond beauty.”
“Aww, probably.”
Jung Sojin shook her head.
“No. Sena said he doesn’t.”
“Come on, how would she know?”
“Right. He could be dating someone behind his sister’s back.”
“Maybe he’s seeing a blond beauty in the States?”
At that, Jung Sojin’s face fell.
* * *
When people thought of a resort destination, they thought of the sea.
The Caribbean, especially, was famous for its clear, beautiful water. Having come all the way here, it would have been a huge waste not to get out on the sea.
The resort offered every kind of marine sport imaginable: scuba diving, snorkeling, parasailing, banana boats, jet skis, and more.
Of course, those came at an extra cost.
We rented a yacht early that morning and headed out to sea. It was a large, three-story yacht with a motorboat and jet skis stored on the back.
The daily rental fee was thirty thousand dollars.
Considering the staff wages and all the leisure equipment included, it wasn’t really that outrageous. They even had a nurse and a professional photographer on board in case of emergencies.
Sena screamed, “Whoa! It’s huge!”
Sojin looked around in wonder. “This is my first time on something like this.”
Sena turned to me. “You’ve ridden on stuff like this a lot, right?”
“That...”
I was about to say no, but the others spoke first.
“Of course he has.”
“Right, oppa?”
“...”
No, you guys. This was my first time too.
But when you’re in front of the kids, you have to act like you know what you’re doing.
I was an adult. That was what being an adult meant...
I boarded the yacht as naturally as I could.
The captain, who looked local, spoke to me. “I was told by the manager that you’d be visiting today. We’ll do everything we can to take good care of you.”
“I appreciate it. Please take care of us.”
I greeted the staff one by one as well.
Inside, there were bedrooms and bathrooms, and on the deck there was even a heated pool for warming up when it got cold.
Looking around the interior, I could see why rich people were so obsessed with yachts.
After about thirty minutes, the yacht stopped in the middle of the ocean.
“Wooooah!”
“Waaah!”
A blue sea stretched out in every direction.
So this was the Caribbean.
Once notorious as a pirate sea, it had become a top-tier resort destination centuries later.
The staff lowered the motorboat into the water.
“Everyone’s got their life jackets on, right?”
“Yes!”
Sena and her friends clung to the banana boat attached to the motorboat and screamed as though their lives depended on it. Not long after, all of them were sent flying into the sea.
For some reason, even after falling into the water, they were laughing their heads off.
Then came parasailing.
They attached a parachute to the motorboat and sped off, lifting it into the sky. Apparently they couldn’t do it if the wind was too strong, but luckily the weather was clear and the breeze was calm.
I went up with Sena.
“This isn’t something scary, is it?”
“It’s not scary.”
I’d done it before on a trip years ago.
As the motorboat picked up speed, the parachute rose much higher than I’d expected.
Sena couldn’t hide her awe at the view from up there.
“It’s gorgeous! I can see another island over there!”
While we were busy having fun, the staff installed an inflatable slide on the top deck of the yacht. They let water run over it to turn it into a water slide.
Apparently they didn’t know the meaning of tiredness, because Sena and her friends kept sliding down again and again before flinging themselves into the sea.
“Why are you just watching?”
“Just go ahead and enjoy yourself.”
“What are you talking about? You have to ride too. Guys! Get my brother!”
“Waaah!”
“Hey, wait—!”
We ate lunch on the boat.
With practiced hands, the staff grilled meat, shrimp, clams, and cleaned fish over the fire for us.
Maybe because they’d played so much, everyone ate heartily.
The highlight of marine sports was definitely scuba diving.
Apparently, you could see a shipwreck and sea turtles here.
“Anyone know how to scuba dive?”
Jung Sojin raised her hand.
“I’m advanced.”
“Oh! Really?”
“Yes. My father likes scuba diving.”
For the record, I was an open-water diver.
I got certified when I went to Cebu with Seonwu in college.
We put on our gear and went into the water.
Sojin and I, since we knew how to scuba dive, simply followed the diver on our own, while the ones who couldn’t were held by both hands by the divers and guided through the sea.
The water was so clear you could see the bottom.
The shipwreck had long since become a home for fish.
Coral reefs and all kinds of fish surrounded us, and even sea turtles moving in a school came into view.
When one of the divers pulled out some snacks, the turtles gathered around. Sena and her friends watched in fascination, and another diver followed along with a camera, taking photos for them.
We only returned to the resort once we’d played ourselves out and the sun was beginning to set.
The sun was sinking beyond the horizon, painting the sea red as it went down.
I stood by the railing with a cup of warm coffee and watched the sunset spill across the water when Sojin came over to my side.
She bowed her head politely.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Still, this place is incredibly expensive.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re sharing the lodging anyway.”
“You even flew us here on a private jet.”
“Whether one person or several people ride on it, the cost is the same. If anything, I should be thanking you for coming with Sena. If none of you had come, I would’ve been stuck at the resort alone and bored.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you, I got to rent a yacht, come out on the sea, and have a good time.”
Sojin wore a frilled monokini with a beach towel wrapped around her. Her hair, tied back in a ponytail, was still wet and shining.
Her face was round and cute, but her body was no joke. She was about the same height as Sena, yet she was the complete opposite of Sena’s childlike frame.
How could that face and that body even exist together?
Back in middle school, I remembered there not being much difference between her and Sena at all.
What in the world had created such an impossible gap between the two of them?
Making sure my eyes didn’t wander where they shouldn’t, I said, “How’s school going?”
“Yes. I’m studying hard.”
“Our Sena should study a little too. Come to think of it, Sena, you don’t have a boyfriend, do you?”
“No. I don’t.”
If she had one, I was planning to at least get a look at the guy.
Sojin quickly added, “I-I don’t have a boyfriend either.”
“Really? I would’ve thought you’d have tons of people chasing after you.”
It wasn’t just her face; with that body, there was no way she could be unpopular. And if she was a business major, there had to be plenty of guys around. Wouldn’t they be all over her?
Sojin shook her head vigorously.
“No, I’m not really popular. I have to study too.”
“That’s an excellent attitude.”
Very commendable. Very proper.
If you were in college, you should be studying. What was romance doing there?
“D-do you have a girlfriend, oppa?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s why I came to this beautiful resort alone.”
I had a few female friends, but no girlfriend yet.
For some reason, Sojin’s face brightened.
“Th-that’s a relief!”
“...Hm?”
What was a relief?
A little later, the yacht arrived at the dock connected to the resort.
I gave the captain and the staff a generous tip.
* * *
Unlike me, who was drained down to the bone, Sena and her friends still had enough energy to go play in the pool after dinner.
Honestly, their stamina was unbelievable.
I lay on a sunbed and watched them from there.
They kept teasing one another and bursting into laughter. Even after spending all day playing around, they still looked fresh as ever.
They looked kind of like puppies running around.
Sena came over and flopped down beside me.
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
“Was it fun?”
“Mm-hmm. So fun. I think this is the most fun place I’ve ever been to.”
“That’s a relief.”
Seeing her that happy made all the trouble worthwhile.
“Thanks, oppa.”
“Hm?”
“The girls all said thanks too. We didn’t really have anything we could give you, so we were thinking maybe we should write you a thank-you letter together.”
“No. Don’t do that. If anyone even thinks about writing one, stop them.”
“Okay. But do you need help with anything?”
“...”
For a second, I was genuinely surprised.
My little sister saying something that thoughtful?
I gave a small laugh and said, “You’re already helping a lot.”
“Huh? What did I do?”
“Taking good care of Mom and Dad. That helps me a lot, because it lets me work without worrying.”
The most important thing in the world was family.
What was the use of making all the money in the world if you didn’t have family to share it with? It’s not like I was going to die hugging the money to my chest.
The real happiness was making money and letting your family live comfortably because of it.
In my first life, I’d only given my parents grief. So this time, I intended to pour out every bit of filial devotion I’d failed to give them back then.
Money could be spent anytime, but devotion couldn’t be bought with money alone.
Thankfully, Sena was with my parents, so I could relax. Otherwise I would’ve been worried about them even while I was working.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Take care of Mom and Dad for me, okay? Remember their birthdays and anniversaries, and if anything happens, call me right away.”
Sena answered with confidence. “Hehe! Got it. Don’t worry, oppa.”
For some reason, my little sister seemed kind of adorable.
“So anyway...”
“Mm?”
Sena smiled sweetly and said, “Could you raise my allowance a little? Gas prices have gone up a lot lately.”
“...”
Maybe I’d lost my mind for a second there.
Get it together.