Because You Won't Budge
“Huh? Come ooon! Let's go on vacaaaation!”
The tiny study room, already packed tight with just us four girls, started filling up with her whiny voice.
“Summer, summeeer! Vaca~tion! Vaca~tionnn!”
That noise should've been insanely annoying. But Chaewon wasn't showing any sign of it, and even cool-headed Seoeun wasn't reacting. They were just buried in their thick textbooks and tablets.
Of course, so was I. They say when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you.
“Hey, you bitches! Don't ignore meee! Vacation! Summer break! Splashin' in the water!”
Ignored over and over, the abyss finally jumped up from her seat and climbed right onto the conference table. The one throwing a tantrum on the study room table in front of my eyes was Seo Dayeon, a 20-year-old freshman in Hanul University's Business Administration department. Not a kid anymore, but a full-grown adult. A grown woman doing this—honestly, it was too much to handle. Was it because I used to be a guy? But glancing at my friends with their heads down on the table, it didn't seem like that was the issue.
I let out a quiet sigh so the abyss right in front of me wouldn't notice. And just in case that cosmic distortion swept her away and she tumbled to the floor, I evacuated my small, precious strawberry ice smoothie to the farthest spot from her tentacles.
“Seriously, I went through hell to book this study room.”
“Ugh, whatever! Let's go playyy!”
“Seoeun, do something about her.”
Her name came up, and Seoeun shot me a sharp glare with her curt voice.
“Excuse me, are you with this crazy chick? Mind reining her in? She's disrupting our studies.”
My head was starting to throb. Festival week had ended, and another week had flown by. Today was Saturday, so the whole week was gone. Which meant finals were right around the corner.
The big event left in the semester, finals—we'd booked this study room to prep comfortably, steeling our resolve. Things had actually gone that way until the cosmic abyss showed up 30 minutes late and started wreaking havoc.
Finally, once the hem of her white knit top rode up to her bra band, even the still Seoeun started moving.
“Haa. Can't deal with this. Seo Dayeon, cut it out and get down.”
“No way. Let's go on vaca—ow!”
Seoeun smacked the cosmic abyss's belly fat, and after a couple of sharp slaps, the abyss reverted to Seo Dayeon and climbed down from the table.
Of course, even after getting down—
“Yeah, yeah? Yuwon, Chaewon. Let's go play. It's summer now!”
She still wasn't giving up. Ignoring the fresh citrus perfume wafting close as she scooted right up next to me, her eyes shifted to the soft, tender prey sitting beside me.
“Yeah, yeah! Chaaewon! Let's go play during break.”
Unlike me and Seoeun, sweet-natured Chaewon seemed to have a hard time shaking off the clingy leech.
“Um, Dayeon. Vacation sounds great, but isn't it too late to plan now? Most places are probably fully booked.”
“Nope! The moment you think it's too late is too late!”
Did she even know what she was saying? Poking the sore spot, the little cute fish pulled out her tablet from her designer backpack and started swiping through the screen, humming cheerfully.
“Ta-da! How's this? Right by the beach, infinity pool on the rooftop! And it's got a hot tub too!”
Thrusting out her already modest chest even more, Dayeon shoved the tablet in front of Chaewon. On the screen was a sleek resort private villa. Under her blingy nails swiping away: Nordic-style wooden saunas, and just like she said, an infinity pool facing the sea that screamed SNS post.
“Yo, Seo Dayeon. You scored this? Isn't it too good?”
“Won't it be pricey? And hard to book?”
Chaewon, at 100% captivation from the pics, and even ice-cold Seoeun got totally hooked. Not that it worked on a total homebody like me.
“Hehe. Used dad privilege to borrow it! Company's employee perks—Dad's turn this summer. It's welfare-subsidized, so not that expensive.”
Dayeon beamed, nodding like it was no big deal. Yeah, that flashy designer backpack suited her perfectly in moments like this.
“Wait, shouldn't your family use it then?”
“We've got a high school senior at home. Can't transfer it either. Come onnn, guys. Pleeease! I gotta tiptoe around Suhyeon all summer!”
Oh right, Dayeon's family has a test-taker too. Mine's Yeon next year. Wait—snap out of it, Song Yujeong! Don't fall for it. Important stuff now: not test-takers, not your sister Song Yeon like Dayeon's. Not vacation. Exams. Finals. Next week!
“Dayeon, shouldn't we focus on exams first?”
“Ugh, whatever. Dayeon'll handle exams that day. More importantly, swimsuits! Doesn't matter for others, but Song Yuwon has to wear a bikini!”
~
Finals period meant even this study room, pretty far from campus, was a nightmare to book. Had to reserve weeks ahead, and even then, competition was fierce—I snagged just one three-hour slot. And we ended up wasting all three hours.
Once they saw the pension Dayeon found, Chaewon and Seoeun's eyes glazed over too. The three squealed, syncing calendars, hunting rides, chatting dream restaurants and swimsuits.
Amid their skyrocketing energy, trying to read printouts and textbooks quietly was no joke. No way words were sinking in. Fine, Chaewon I could shrug off. But even reliable Seoeun caved—nothing more to do.
Just like that, we blew Saturday afternoon before finals week. Grabbed a light bite at the franchise snack bar on the first floor, and it was already 7 PM. Too awkward for the library now, and they'd probably just talk vacation anyway, so we called it quits.
Back at my studio, I washed up roughly and dove into bed. My mind wasn't at ease. Not because of today's waste. Honestly, I'd prepped decently all week. No, what was messing with me was something else.
I placed a hand lightly on my already heavy lower belly, these past couple days.
“Probably overlapping.”
My breasts had been sore and swollen lately, super uncomfortable. Just like when the first buds formed on my flat chest way back.
Haa... Come to think of it, that time was rough too.
I sighed softly and opened the top drawer of the desk shelf. Checked the leftover painkillers—enough, no need to buy more. Like Yunseo said, my periods were pretty irregular. Unlike Mom, Yunseo, and Yeon, who were pretty tame.
Mom said it was Dad's side! Even sweet Grandma turned into a different person during hers. Cramps, these huge tits—apparently all from Dad's genes.
I closed the drawer and slowly got up. Worrying now wouldn't make it wait till exams end. And if it hit later than expected, that'd be a headache too.
I powered on the computer, changed into light clothes hanging on the chair: soft wireless sleep bra, white tee, comfy black short shorts I'd been favoring lately. Exams next week, sure. But gotta do what needs doing, right? Library all day tomorrow, no time for homework then.
Grabbed a handful of chocolate from the kitchen cabinet—prepped for when it hits—and crunched back to the desk. Munching the sweet chocolate to melt away this melancholy mood, I double-clicked the familiar icon and logged into the game.
Break looming meant end-of-days vibes everywhere. Tomorrow's update livestream preview, balance patch chatter flooding world chat. I muted the cymbal-crash noisy world chat and checked friends list, just in case.
Sure enough, the familiar nick popped right up.