A Peaceful Day (5)
A Peaceful Day (5)
The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and got out of bed—Da-yeon was still sleeping peacefully beside me.
"Nngh..."
I carefully slipped out to the living room so I wouldn't wake her and turned on the TV. I sensed movement and looked over to see Jeong-yeon coming out of his room.
Jeong-yeon stretched and yawned, then spotted me.
"Haaaahm... Oh, you're up?"
"Yeah..."
"You want me to fire up that game system over there? Wanna play?"
The one Jeong-yeon was talking about was a racing simulator—a seriously hardcore rig that was way out of his league given his actual driving skills.
I sat down and put on the VR goggles.
Standing beside me, Jeong-yeon fiddled with this and that, getting the game running, and then hit the last button.
The screen lit up, and the machine even had a wind feature blowing at me...
I even felt that sensation of being lifted off the ground. It woke me right up.
I was enjoying myself for a good while when a delicious smell drifted over, and I took the goggles off.
Jeong-yeon was shredding sous vide pulled pork with his hands, assembling sandwiches.
He layered jalapeños and pickles between the bread, drizzled on sauce, then pulled off his gloves and went into the room to wake Da-yeon.
We ate the sandwiches Jeong-yeon made, got washed up, and then went to check out Jeong-yeon's university.
He turned out to be more of a social butterfly than I'd thought; people kept saying hi to him everywhere we went.
Around noon, the weather warmed up, so Da-yeon and I went to hang out at Central Park. We enjoyed a walk, had dinner at a restaurant in the evening, and then boarded our flight back to Korea.
The next morning. I put on my school uniform and got ready to head out.
As I was pulling everything on, Dad sat on the sofa watching me.
"Not many days left to wear that uniform, huh?"
"Sure isn't."
There was still some time, so I was lying on the sofa when Da-yeon punched in the door code and came in.
"Excuse me~"
"Da-yeon, you're here?"
"Yep!"
"Did you eat breakfast?"
"Of course~"
Da-yeon sat down next to me like it was the most natural thing in the world and reached out to touch my hair.
"You grew it out a lot, right?"
"Yeah!"
Da-yeon said she was growing her hair out now too, so she was still rocking a short bob. Her face still looked exactly the same as when we were little, which was adorable.
Once we were ready, I sat down next to Dad on the sofa and pulled up a game on my phone.
Da-yeon glued herself to my side.
"Hey, Da-yeon. Should we just head to school?"
"Already?"
Dad sat down beside me, then reached over and tugged my head—phone and all—to rest against his shoulder.
"Off to school already?"
"Not enough time to really get into a game, is there? I mean, they're just gonna show movies at school anyway."
"Jeil High does that too? What about the kids who want to study?"
"They put the students who want to study in a different classroom."
"What about Da-yeon?"
"She says she's done with studying now."
Da-yeon grinned and lay down with her head on my hip.
"It's time to have fun now!"
"Right. Our Da-yeon has done nothing but study for way too long."
We leaned against each other and lay around killing time, then finally headed down to the parking garage.
The Maklaren Spider. I opened the door of my Blackie and tossed my stuff in.
I opened my snack drawer in the passenger seat and fished out one of the lollipops inside.
While I sucked on the lollipop, Da-yeon picked up Tae-oh, who was waiting at the entrance. I watched them for a moment, then headed for Park Ji-hoon's place.
Da-yeon followed behind us, and her driving skills had improved at a rapid pace.
We exchanged greetings with Ji-hoon's parents, then picked up Park Ji-hoon and headed to school.
"Hey, go pick up Min-jun and Ju-won too."
"This is a two-seater, you know?"
"Oh, really? Never mind then."
Whenever I started up a game at home, I'd often call Park Ji-hoon and we'd play ROL together. Lately, though, he'd started avoiding me, saying he had to grind his rank.
Park Ji-hoon was in the passenger seat, listening to hip-hop and bobbing his head to the beat, when he casually started reaching for my snack drawer.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you think."
"Put it down."
Park Ji-hoon suddenly looked right at me and started wolfing down the snacks.
"You wanna die...?"
"Hey! I'll just fill it back up, okay? Getting all stingy over some snacks."
"...?"
"Mmm~ so good~"
I pulled the car right over to the shoulder and said,
"Get out."
"Oh, is it that day? You're being pissy as hell."
"...?"
Ji-hoon had been testing his boundaries again lately. Looked like it was time to re-establish the pecking order.
Maybe he'd gotten used to my different body now, because he'd been throwing around 'bitch' more and more often. I really needed to fuck him up properly, just once.
"... Sorry."
We got to school, parked, and headed to our classroom.
Han Jong-su was walking around with a laptop, studying English.
That bastard didn't study when everyone else did, and now, of all times, he's trying to cram.
He was probably studying because he was leaving for a working holiday in Australia next month.
I heard he was going with less than 300,000 won to his name. The guy is absolutely insane.
Jong-su said he was gonna cut off contact with his family for a bit and stay about 20 months.
Something about believing in the human will to survive...
He said the blueberry farm has dorms and is all set up really well, but...
My gut tells me there's a high probability that bastard ends up begging on the streets in a foreign country.
He knew zero English, so he was obviously gonna get fired on the spot. And if he got fired from that farm, what skills did he even have? There'd be nothing left for him but to lay down newspapers at a train station.
With that level of English, I seriously wondered if he'd even be able to find a new job.
Watching him earnestly trying to memorize the ABCs was truly something.
They were showing movies at school, but it must have been too noisy—Han Jong-su eventually switched classrooms to study.
It was honestly hard to find a crazier bastard than him.
The school must have restricted them from playing the Notflix drama I was in. They put on all sorts of different movies, but my drama never came on.
Da-yeon and I bought laptops so we could play Maple Leaf at school.
The feeling of gaming at school was a whole new kind of thrill.
A bunch of younger kids we'd gotten friendly with sat around us, watching Da-yeon and me play. Then, Yuk In-su came over and asked about the prices of some items.
Once In-su heard the prices, he went totally silent.
That was Maple Leaf for you—monetization that no one else could even touch.
"... Whoa."
Time passed. Before we knew it, our whole classroom had turned into a gaming zone, and we had a hell of a good time running 5v5 ROL in-houses right there.
The more Da-yeon played ROL, the higher her tier climbed. She was already Master 1 now, same as Ji-su.
If she really buckled down and committed to it... she could probably hit Grandmaster.
Time passed, and the winter break closing ceremony ended.
Next to me, Da-yeon had picked up Tae-oh and was at the wheel of the Lammerghini Urus, while I had Park Ji-hoon riding shotgun in the Tasla that Kim Seon-hwa had bought me.
Wooong... wooong... wooong...!
An electric car that sounds like a spaceship... Da-yeon was insanely jealous of that sound.
Da-yeon and I rolled down our windows, waved goodbye with grinning faces, and hit the accelerator.
The Tasla Model S... a vehicle that was the very symbol of sleekness and smoothness...
But Park Ji-hoon freaked out when he saw me go for a launch start.
"Hey!!! What are you doing!!!"
Park Ji-hoon, panicking at the sudden acceleration... I drifted on the slick concrete floor using the handbrake to whip us out of the parking lot. Da-yeon was left speechless.
I looked over at Park Ji-hoon, who was clutching the grab handle above his door.
"You scared?"
"Crazy bitch..."
Park Ji-hoon shut his mouth at how casual I was being.
The sound of the electric car was distinctive.
When you picked up speed, it let out a sharp, piercing sound, like "KEEEEEEEEENG!!!!"
Driving down the road, the car's spaceship-like exterior combined with that bizarre noise, so people were actually getting out of our way.
When you cruised at a moderate speed, it was so quiet you could practically call it silent. Inside the car, I had hip-hop blasting with Park Ji-hoon, both of us bobbing our heads.
"You're taking the driving skills test next week, right."
"Yup~"
"You want this big sis to give you a ride there?"
"Oh, that'd be sweet."
Da-yeon and I reached Seoul Station and picked up Jun-su and Min-ji.
They'd brought a ton of luggage. I stowed the smaller, compact stuff in my car, and we loaded the bulkier bags into Da-yeon's.
Jun-su got in my car, and Min-ji rode with Da-yeon.
Unlike Da-yeon's car, the cabin of mine was noisy.
But before long, Jun-su was bobbing his head too, enjoying the scenery outside.
Next to me, Park Ji-hoon was munching on something. I glanced over to see what he was eating—my mustache snacks.
"Put 'em down, you're a dead man."
"Mhm, already ate all of 'em, ya see?"
"Why the fuck are you eating those, you shit?"
This bastard just helped himself more and more brazenly, like they were his own. Then, out of nowhere, he yanked open the drawer and pulled out yet another one of my emergency rations.
"What are you, a squirrel? You stocked up a fuckton in here. Aaah~ hella tasty!"
"Ah! I said stop eating them, you fucker. You never even refill what you take."
"Mhm~ hella bomb~"
Park Ji-hoon started stuffing his face full of snacks, so I knife-edged him right in the Adam's apple. He started coughing and hacking, then used the snack bag to cover his mouth.
"Are you crazy?!"
"Why the hell are you eating them so shamelessly? Nobody told you to eat them. The fucking audacity is unreal."
From the back, Jun-su started trying to stop me.
"Uh... sis, please calm down..."
But Park Ji-hoon pulled out another pack of snacks and started chowing down again.
"Ah, I said stop eating my damn snacks!!! You total piece of shit!"
Our destination was my grandparents' house.
Da-yeon and I pulled our cars into the newly built parking area and stepped outside.
Grandma spotted me and called for Grandpa. I let each of them scoop me up into a hug, one at a time.
"Oh my! Our little puppies are here!"
And then the security guards who'd followed us began naturally dispersing to their positions.
Grandma looked around at all of us and said with a smile,
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
We started moving our luggage, and everyone gave Grandpa and Grandma the presents they'd brought.
"Oh, you could've just come as you are~ So thoughtful of you to bring all this~"
We'd come because an enormous blizzard was supposed to hit Gangwon Province starting tonight and lasting two days.
The security detail that followed us up also brought food supplies after hearing we'd be staying here for two nights and three days.
The large house, steeped entirely in Grandpa's sensibilities.
We all took the same rooms we'd used before and unpacked.
"Sis! It's started snowing outside!"
"Get your coat on first, or you'll catch a cold."
Grandpa had chosen Gangwon Province because it got an insane amount of snow.
Grandpa absolutely loved rain and snow.
He looked sentimental, sitting there enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee—until Grandma got mad at him from behind for just sitting there instead of helping, and he scrambled to his feet in a fluster.
I was watching some boys build a snowman when Min-ji looked over at me.
"I really want to try using that greenhouse over there!"
The place Min-ji was pointing at was the acrylic house Da-yeon and I had used before.
"That place is seriously awesome."
"Just looking at it, I can tell."
A lot more stuff had been added inside. There were two hammock beds, a sofa, and various other pieces of furniture that hadn't been there last time.
They said Grandpa, who was good with his hands, had made all of it himself in his workshop.
Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh looked at the piled-up snow, and something must've suddenly clicked, because they brought out some square frames from Grandpa's workshop.
Park Ji-hoon declaring he was gonna build an igloo, like some elementary schooler...
...Ahem, there's no way I could sit out something like this.
When I approached, Park Ji-hoon flinched and jabbed a finger at me.
"We're building a small one, so get lost."
"Hey, be real. If we go all-out and build a proper igloo, we can lay out sleeping bags and game in it during the snowfall. Doesn't that sound perfect?"
"... Deal."
I quickly sketched a blueprint in my head, picked up a stick, and started laying out the design for a twelve-person igloo.
"Yo, this is just inhumanly big."
"Nope. The one thing we've got to spare is labor."
When I turned around, HSW Team 5 and Team 7 flinched from a distance...
I shoved a shovel into Park Ji-hoon's hands and ordered him to dig where I pointed. HSW started scooping up all the snow around us.
Following my orders, Team 7 began shoveling and Team 5 started making snow blocks.
"You've gotta pack it down tight or it'll collapse~"
We paused work when Grandma called us in to eat.
The security guards had been about to eat the rations in their vehicles, and they got flustered—they clearly hadn't expected Grandma to call them in too.
Ten security guards total, five per team.
But Grandma had thrown twenty whole chickens into an enormous cauldron to boil. Beside it, twenty more were already prepped.
The unspoken message was clear: if it wasn't enough, she'd add even more chicken.
There was a reason Grandpa, Jun-su, Min-ji, and Da-yeon had gone into the kitchen and hadn't come out.
The table was too small for eighteen people to sit and eat together, so Jong-hyeon pulled more folding tables out from the vehicles.
Everyone took a seat, and in front of each person, a whole chicken had been set down—samgyetang made with serious intent.
There was abalone, octopus, wild ginseng Grandpa had dug up from the mountain, and all kinds of medicinal herbs packed in there.
I tried a spoonful of the broth first... Of course, Grandma's cooking. The taste was out of this world.
For light eaters like me, only a half chicken was served. Against the backdrop of the yard thick with falling snow, eighteen of us huddled together eating hot chicken stew. The feeling was strangely moving.
Grandma tore a drumstick off and placed it into my bowl.
"I actually prefer the breast meat, you know?"
"Just eat it anyway."
"Yes~"
The side dishes were incredibly varied too—from cockles to seasoned raw crab, a truly diverse spread.
Everything was homemade by Grandma. One bite of any side dish was enough to taste her skill.
The food must have hit the spot, because everyone was utterly focused on eating. As I was wolfing down the spicy skate salad, Grandpa smiled at me.
"Si-yoon, you want me to pack some up for you when you go home?"
"Dad said he's coming early in the morning."
"Oh, is that right? Is Gi-seok coming too?"
"I heard he's coming with him."
"If he's coming, he should've told me~ Aigoo, still... I'll have to show off the Go skills I've been sharpening~"
As Grandma ate, she somehow noticed that one of the security team's tables was running low on food, and she started refilling their dishes.
The security team, flustered, did nothing but bow and say thank you over and over.
"I'm not sure if it suits your tastes~"
""It's delicious!!!""
Jong-hyeon seemed to get along with my grandpa surprisingly well, striking up conversations more often than I'd expected.
Grandpa kept offering him drinks, but Jong-hyeon politely declined.
Grandpa smiled and nodded at him.
"You really are an impressive man. I'm always grateful~"
Grandma started taking the leftover boiled chicken and shredding it to make porridge. Grandpa stayed beside her, feeding her spoonfuls of her own meal as she worked.
"Any side dish you're in the mood for?"
"Just put a piece of radish kimchi on it."
Grandpa grinned from ear to ear, placing a spoonful of rice topped with radish kimchi into Grandma's mouth.
The security guards—who were mostly in their twenties—Park Ji-hoon, and Kim Tae-oh ate an absolutely staggering amount.
Da-yeon's eyes sparkled every time she tried a new side dish, and Grandma noticed.
"Sweetie, you want to make some with your grandma today?"
"Yes!"
When Grandpa let Roy and Rosa out of their pen, they shot outside full of excitement, but the heavier-than-expected snow and the freezing cold sent them scurrying right back in.
""Yelp.""
Grandma prepared two bowls of unseasoned porridge and set them aside to cool. She heaped a pile of dog food into the bowls so no person would accidentally eat from them, then placed them down for the pups.
And then she started serving seconds to anyone still hungry.
I'd purposely left room in my stomach to eat the porridge, so I got in line and received my helping.
One spoonful, and the way it warmed me up... I was absolutely certain no run-of-the-mill porridge spot could ever produce a taste this good.
I topped it with a piece of radish kimchi, and the red juice began invading the rice on my spoon.
This body had no immunity to hot food, so I blew on it—"hoo, hoo"—then took the bite. Is this what paradise feels like...?
Park Ji-hoon had been smirking at the blissed-out look on my face, but then he took his own spoonful. After that, he got fully absorbed in eating too.
The remaining meat scraps were gathered onto one platter and sent over to Roy and Rosa's food bowls.