Let's Go on a Trip!
A plan to go play at the beach had been drawn up. Hana was still a little kid who surely knew nothing about the seaside, so the trip could only be planned by Bora, Haru, and Maru.
Had they known that a man who had lived twenty years in South Korea was inside that body, they never would have planned it that way. She was hardly someone who knew nothing. The institute staff believed Hana was a child who had never been to the sea, and of course they did. She was a child they had picked up from a gate.
Into that neatly settling plan dropped one enormous variable. Hana said she wanted to go with her friends. The girls were Jiyu and Yumi, children the institute staff already knew. In the end, the trip was planned for one guardian and three children.
Maru would take the guardian's role. She already knew Jiyu and Yumi from helping with the school run, while Bora and Haru had work and schedules that kept them from going. One guardian was plenty anyway. If everyone tagged along, the children might feel watched, so they decided to let them loose. South Korea was famous for its public safety, and nothing much seemed likely to happen.
Countries where you could step out alone for a jog in the middle of the night were rare. In much of Europe or the United States, say you were going jogging at midnight and people would treat you like you'd lost your mind. Truly dangerous crime could happen there.
"Hup!"
Maru heaved the luggage into the trunk. It wasn't a sedan, but an SUV built to swallow a lot of cargo. Once the company heard Hana was going on a trip, they had prepared the car specially. They might use it once and never again, but money was spilling over anyway, so they had bought it outright, one swipe of a card, at a dealership nearby. Even that barely stirred the sand—a single handful of dirt tossed onto a beach.
Frankly, they could have bought every brand of SUV in existence and still had cash left over.
"Hana, you can just stay put!"
Maru said it at the sight of the bag in Hana's small hands. She had told her to rest in her room, worried she might get hurt hauling luggage, but Hana couldn't sit still and had come out carrying a bag. There was something praiseworthy in wanting to help, so Maru couldn't quite bring herself to scold her.
"You're doing all the hard work by yourself, Maru. I should help too!"
With that, Hana handed the bag over. Maru took it and tucked it into the trunk. Fortunately, what Hana had brought was light, only bulky, so carrying it hadn't been much of a burden.
The staff had handled the rest of the luggage, so all that remained was a reasonable amount of clothes. If they hadn't helped, the route from the parking garage up to the tenth floor was absurdly long, and it would have taken ages. Just going back and forth might have eaten twenty minutes.
"Shall we get in, Hana?"
"Yeah!"
Once the loading was finished, Maru climbed into the driver's seat. Hana came trotting over and settled into the passenger seat. Maru checked that her seat belt was on, then eased the car into motion. She had started out a beginner behind the wheel, but the skill built from driving Hana to and from school every day was paying off.
Maru seemed to have a talent for it too. By now she could boast a driving skill that wouldn't shame a chauffeur at a major conglomerate. Ordinary drivers wouldn't even dare hand her a business card. Then again, if you drove two or three hours every day and didn't improve, that would be a problem of its own.
Vrrroom—
Being a new car, a deep, grand exhaust note pleased Maru's ears. As expected of a vehicle fresh off the lot, it was brimming with power.
"This is your first time at the beach, right, Hana?"
Maru asked it lightly. Hana was typing a message to her friends to say they were leaving. At the question, she answered in a rush, like someone who had been caught.
"Uh... yeah! It's my first time!"
"Then you must be so excited, right? Going somewhere you don't know a thing about makes your heart pound!"
"You're right, Maru!"
They chatted like that on the way to pick up Hana's friends. Strangely, Hana knew the sea quite well. Where she had heard such things was a mystery. Maybe it was knowledge she had picked up on her phone.
It was a weekday, so the roads were quiet. They had considered going on a day off, but it was vacation, and Hana had insisted they go on a weekday, so a weekday it was. Maru had no particular complaint.
She would have been at the office working on a weekday anyway, and they had promised her a separate day off after the beach trip. It was a fantastic job: playing with kids and getting paid for it. Like celebrities earning money while they spent time at tourist spots. Maru had envied those variety shows on TV, and now she was making money the same way those stars did.
"Maru! Jiyu and Yumi say they're waiting in front of the apartment!"
"Yeah? Then I should turn left here."
They were following the navigation. Maru had taken Hana to visit Jiyu's or Yumi's place a few times, so finding the way wasn't hard. And with a navigator on board, getting lost was impossible. It kindly taught her everything from start to finish.
"We told them they only needed to pack clothes, since we were handling the rest!"
Hana said it as she spotted the children faintly in the distance. Just as she had said, the tent and the food were already prepared, so Jiyu and Yumi, frankly, only had to bring clothes. Anything else they were short on could be bought at a local market. They had already confirmed there was a store nearby.
Jiyu and Yumi had suitcases beside them nearly as big as they were. Hana waved at the girls as they drew closer. Jiyu and Yumi spotted her too and waved back in greeting.
"Jiyu! Yumi! It's been so long!"
"Long time no see, Hana! You've been well?"
Yumi returned the greeting. Since vacation had started, this was the first time they had met face to face instead of on their phones. If they had lived closer they might have seen each other now and then, but the distance was rotten luck. Even by car it took thirty or forty minutes. By bus, more than an hour.
"Hi~"
Maru waved and greeted Jiyu and Yumi. The girls spotted her and dipped their heads in a bow.
"Hello, unnie!"
She couldn't remember the last time she had heard someone call her unnie. Looking at the children, a smile rose on Maru's face all by itself. Little kids always drew a smile up from somewhere deep inside. Hearing them chatter felt like healing.
The moment she saw Jiyu and Yumi straining under their suitcases, Maru unbuckled and got out of the driver's seat. She doubted the kids could load those cases into the trunk alone. They had managed to drag them this far, true enough, but wouldn't it be easier if an adult helped?
Maru stepped out, took the suitcases from Jiyu and Yumi, and stowed them in the trunk with practiced ease. The girls clapped at the sight.
"Wow! Unnie, you're amazing!"
Yumi said it with her hands pressed together, as if she truly meant every word.
"Maru unnie is the best!"
Jiyu shot her a thumbs-up, delighted. Seeing them, Maru opened the rear door as if to say get in. Jiyu and Yumi scurried through. There was plenty of room inside. The car was that big. It wasn't a full-size bus, but among private cars, a vehicle this size was top tier.
"Seat belts on? Then shall we go?"
"Yes!"
Maru smoothly set the car toward their destination. Hana threw both hands up in a cheer. The trip had finally begun—the moment when hearts pounded hardest and chests fluttered. People said the best part of travel was right before you boarded the plane. A domestic trip was no different. The most dramatic moment was when everything was ready and you set off.
"Hana. What'd you do over break?"
Jiyu was curious what Hana had been up to. Vacation had only just started, so Hana answered as if it were obvious.
"I just lazed around at home!"
"Yeah? Did you see the Little Magician Rumi movie?"
"Of course I did! It was so moving! I'm so sad I couldn't see it with you and Yumi!"
At that, Yumi glanced aside and smiled. Even if Hana had invited her, who knew whether she would have gone.