Hana's Room
"Hah!"
A cool breeze blew straight through and jolted Hana awake. She scrambled up and looked around. Jiyu and Yumi were still fast asleep. She pulled out her phone, checked the time, and figured she'd only been out for about two hours. Then she started shaking the two of them. Sleep too long now, and they'd be wide awake all night—so waking them was an act of kindness.
"Jiyu! Yumi! Get up!"
"Mmm..."
Jiyu and Yumi rubbed their eyes and sat up. A moment later they took in their surroundings, and surprise spread across both their faces.
"We fell asleep outside!"
City kids almost never slept on an outdoor platform like this. In the city, sleeping out in the open was rare to begin with. There was nowhere to lie down, and if you dozed off somewhere people were constantly passing through, someone was liable to walk off with your wallet or your phone. For the two of them, spending the night in a place that felt like the countryside was a wonder all its own.
"Sleeping outside isn't so bad, is it?"
Yumi stretched her arms high overhead. Napping on the wooden platform really wasn't bad at all. Lying beneath a tree while a soft breeze washed over you was genuinely healing. The leaves kept the glare out of her eyes, and drifting off to the sound of wind and birds left her feeling wonderfully refreshed.
Of course, they were children used to beds. Doing this once in a while was fine, but if anyone told them to sleep like this every night, the hard boards would leave them stiff and sore.
"We ate strawberries and watermelon, so now we work!"
Hana picked up the farm tools and looked at Jiyu and Yumi. Two extra hands had shown up; it was time they earned their keep. Wasn't that why she'd shared the strawberries and watermelon she'd raised so carefully? There wasn't really much that needed doing, but she wanted to teach them the joy of growing things. An experience like this was hard to buy, even with money.
Ordinary children rarely got the chance to try their hand at farming. These days, few families even had relatives who still worked the land, and the number of farms kept shrinking. Places where you could do real farming were hard to find.
"Aww..."
Yumi picked up a hoe with a thoroughly wilted look. Unlike her, Jiyu grabbed a shovel with a bright, excited face. Hana fully intended for the two of them to learn, with their own bodies, exactly what farming was. Brimming with satisfaction, she led them into the greenhouse. When in Rome, do as the Romans do—and if you came to Hana's greenhouse, you followed Hana's word.
"That's it! We'll stop here, you two!"
Had about an hour passed? Hana called the children together. Yumi wore an expression that plainly said already? and turned to her.
"Already, Hana? Can't we do a little more?"
Yumi had started out looking utterly deflated, but somewhere along the way she'd caught the bug. Whatever Hana taught her, she soaked it up with an almost frightening genius. Jiyu, by contrast, seemed to be getting by well enough, more or less.
"I wanna go to Hana's room~!"
Jiyu seemed endlessly curious about the room where Hana usually lived. While they'd been talking, Hana had mentioned that she lived in a building, so neither Jiyu nor Yumi thought much of it.
They already had some sense that Hana was a child with money. She rode around in a fancy car, and when she bought snacks or sweets she swiped her card without a second thought.
"We should wash up a little first! If we go like this, we'll get my room dirty!"
Hana said it while looking at the two of them, both caked in dirt. Luckily they'd changed clothes before the farm work started, so they only needed to wash themselves. Maru was carefully keeping the outfits they'd taken off. Hana quietly ushered them into the house built beside the greenhouse.
They'd put up a temporary house while constructing the greenhouse, so there was no need to scramble for a place to wash. The Byeolbit Institute had built them a whole house, almost like a vacation cottage at a tourist spot. Jiyu and Yumi stared straight at Hana.
"You're not washing?"
Yumi said it because she knew Hana was just as covered in dirt. Beside her, Jiyu looked at Hana too.
"Yeah! Let's wash together!"
At that, Hana's face went red.
"I'm fine!"
From Hana's point of view, bathing together would be a crime, so she refused. Jiyu and Yumi tried to talk her into it, but her refusal was so firm that they got nowhere and had no choice but to go in and wash by themselves. They decided Hana must simply be a shy kid.
Jiyu and Yumi came out of the bathroom, where hot water had poured in a rush, wearing the clothes Maru had kept for them. Outside, Maru and Hana were already waiting. Wherever Hana had washed, she was spotless.
"Let's go to my room!"
The thought of finally seeing the room still wrapped in mystery set Jiyu's and Yumi's hearts pounding. Yumi was dying to know what the room of a girl who took first in the whole school as easily as eating a meal looked like. How hard would you have to study never to lose that rank? And yet, whenever she saw Hana at school, she didn't seem all that focused on studying.
She'd caught her goofing off plenty of times during class. Though, to be fair, Hana did seem to concentrate well enough during the memorization subjects.
They left the garden plot, and after a walk that stretched on for the better part of half an hour, they arrived in front of the building. It was sleek, and it was enormous. Even craning their heads all the way back, they couldn't see the top. The girls had no idea that if you gathered what Hana earned in a single year, she could buy dozens of buildings like this—but if they had known, they wouldn't have been able to hide their shock.
"All right, in we go, you two!"
Maru stepped slowly through the entrance. It was still working hours, so plenty of people were moving through the lobby. Jiyu and Yumi realized that Hana lived somewhere unusual. At school she had only said she lived in a building; coming here and experiencing it with their own bodies made it look completely different.
They could have sworn that no other child lived in a house like this. Where in Korea would you find a kid who lived in a skyscraper?
"Hi!"
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Hana flung a hand high and greeted the staff at the front desk. The employees returned her greeting just as easily. They hadn't seen one another in over half a year, but even if they didn't meet often, they recognized her at once.
To begin with, if there was a child in this building, it was only Hana. You had to be over twenty to work here, so a ten-year-old squirt simply did not exist in the building except for her. Staff sometimes brought their children in, but that had happened only once.
"The people who work here are really nice!"
Hana told Jiyu and Yumi as much. The two of them nodded along. Maru led the children to the elevator. For today, she had a duty to look after them the way you'd look after students on a field trip.
They rode the elevator up to the tenth floor. Jiyu and Yumi gasped at the view outside. The walls were all glass, so the scenery lay open before them.
"Whoa! I think our school's over there!"
Jiyu stared wide-eyed at the city spread out in the distance. Even with eyesight like an eagle's, seeing the school from here was impossible. The distance was simply that great. Still watching the view, Jiyu and Yumi turned when they heard the chime announcing that the elevator had reached the tenth floor. At last it was time to step into Hana's room.
They hadn't walked far down the hall before Hana's room appeared. Jiyu and Yumi went inside. A wide room welcomed them.
"Whoa! It's full of dolls!"
Jiyu exclaimed at the pile of dolls stacked beside the bed. Yumi glanced around as well. Wherever she looked, it was an ordinary elementary schooler's room. She had expected a room packed with books, and the letdown hit her hard.
"This is my room!"
Hana wandered here and there, explaining as she went. Jiyu bounced around in delight, keeping pace with her. Yumi trailed along behind Hana too. The interior had been redone not long ago, so the place had the feel of a brand-new home.
After roaming around, they all flopped onto the big bed and started talking.
Then Maru came in and set snacks and drinks on the table. From the look of it, she had brought the snacks kept in the lounge. They were delicious, so Hana beamed and dug right in. Jiyu stuck herself to Hana's side and inhaled the snacks.
Maru smiled at the children.
"Have fun while you're here~"
"Okaaay!"