A Peaceful Day (2)
A Peaceful Day (2)
The next day, Da-yeon was incredibly excited.
She grabbed my hand and led me like a puppy going for a walk.
"I've never been on a public bus before!"
"Me neither."
We met in front of the school, went to the terminal, and bought tickets bound for Gangwon-do.
Da-yeon, Kim Tae-oh, and I wore masks.
The three of us drew way too much attention with our faces...
Park Ji-hoon, of course, didn't need to.
"Aren't you hot?"
"Want me to show my face? If people swarm us, it'll get even hotter, you know."
Whether my body was small or the suitcase was big, I dragged my suitcase over and sat down on a chair.
"Want some coffee?"
I looked at the café Min-ji was staring at, then handed her my check card.
"Buy six."
"Hey... I have money too, you know?!"
"Buy them."
"Yep."
Min-ji and Jun-su headed to the café. A moment later, Min-ji came back with drinks tailored to everyone's tastes.
Ji-hoon, Min-ji, and I were on team sweet drinks.
Da-yeon, Tae-oh, and Jun-su were the Americano faction, so we were split down the middle.
Even with our faces completely covered and dressed plainly, we had an air about us, so we couldn't help drawing attention.
We started the trip feeling like we were stepping outside the fence, and it felt pretty liberating.
Of course, there were bodyguards following out of sight... but this much was fine.
This time, it was Da-yeon's wish, so we planned the trip to exclude even the slightest hint of luxury.
As soon as the bus arrived, Kim Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon helped load the group's luggage, and we got on the bus.
Da-yeon liked the window seat, so I put her on the inside. When I looked at her expression, she was flushed and wearing a smile.
"Da-yeon."
"Yeah?"
"Come here."
I put sunscreen on Da-yeon as she stuck her face out.
The bus drove for a while, and before I knew it, the surrounding scenery had completely shifted to mountains.
Da-yeon looked around with sparkling eyes.
Da-yeon, who'd studied rural landscapes in books, seemed to find it fascinating.
Well, Da-yeon was the one who used to love walking where there were no buildings in sight or riding a horse around the grasslands when we went to Lee Gi-seok's house.
"Want to go visit my grandpa's place this summer?"
"Si-yoon's grandpa?!"
"Yeah."
"Yes, I do!!"
Just then, Park Ji-hoon poked my head from behind.
"What about us?"
"Anyone but you can come."
"Bullshit? You'll end up inviting me anyway."
"Just pass me the snacks. I saw you packing those Cheetos."
"...They're mine."
"What do you mean? That means they're mine."
Park Ji-hoon eventually handed the Cheetos over to me.
I munched on the snacks with Da-yeon and enjoyed the surrounding scenery.
We got off the bus, bought an icebox and some ice, and then waited for the old man from the guesthouse.
The old man came to pick us up.
The guesthouse we soon arrived at after loading our luggage was even more bare-bones than I'd imagined.
A bed? Of course there wasn't one, and I was just glad the bathroom was decent.
How long had it been since I'd slept on the floor with a blanket...
Contrary to the poor facilities, we were excited.
Since the place was run by an old lady and an old man, I took off my mask and walked around wearing only round glasses.
"Excuse me~"
"What is it?!"
"A fish trap, bait, ssamjang..."
I took Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh and bought various ingredients, starting with a frying pan.
I thought it was a good thing I'd withdrawn some cash for today.
I picked up the completed fish trap and spoke to Park Ji-hoon.
"Hey, Ji-hoon, go throw this in over by that river."
Da-yeon looked at me with sparkling eyes.
"Si-yoon, have you been to valleys a lot?"
"My grandpa and grandma live in the countryside."
"Really?!"
"Yeah."
And when we went down to the pavilion we rented, it was nicer than I'd thought.
As we settled into the pavilion, a kindly old man came and split half a watermelon for us.
""Thank you!""
"You kids came on a trip by yourselves?"
"Yes!"
The old man smiled at Min-ji's confident answer.
"It's good to see kids these days out having fun like this."
"Thank you~"
We were hungry, so we quickly looked at the menu to order something.
"One large spicy chicken stew and one large goat stew, please."
"...Isn't that too much?"
"Those two eat a ton."
Where I pointed, Kim Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon had already changed into swimsuits and were wearing goggles.
Both of them said it was their first time in the countryside.
Park Ji-hoon, who was reminded of the past just as I was, got as excited as I do when I enjoy the countryside.
Kim Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon's bodies were enough to captivate Min-ji's eyes.
Jun-su, who came out later, stared at his own stomach.
It was cute to see his belly jiggle after so long.
I might not be good at complicated cooking, but I considered myself pretty damn good at simple dishes.
I had some country know-how, after all.
Da-yeon and Min-ji marveled at me using the watermelon rind as a bowl to make fruit punch.
"This watermelon is really good."
"Amazing..."
The old man brought the food before we knew it.
"Don't go over there, 'cause it's deep."
"How deep is it?"
"'Bout 3 meters deep~ Dangerous."
Min-ji was the only one here who couldn't swim, but it was a bit awkward to say that to the old man who was worrying about us.
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
"I'll leave the rice here in the pot, so help yourselves if you need more."
"Thank you~"
Min-ji soon approached the ones who were enjoying the water.
Park Ji-hoon excitedly ran up to me and said:
"The water's fucking sick, tons of fish. Think you'll love it."
"Really?"
If Park Ji-hoon was saying that, it must be pretty decent.
I hadn't planned to get in the water today on my three-day trip, but I'd have to change that.
Before I knew it, a generous amount of food was laid out.
Maybe because I don't like spicy food, the chicken stew was just okay, but the goat stew was incredible.
In my past life, I'd never eaten goat in Korea, so I had no idea it was this good.
"Wow... this is really good."
Park Ji-hoon liked chicken, so he almost single-handedly started emptying the spicy chicken stew, at a similar rate to how the five of us were reducing the goat stew.
Ji-hoon even scraped up the rice and ate it all, looking satisfied.
He started gulping down the fruit punch I'd made for dessert.
"Hey, muscle pig, get the trap out."
"Muscle pig...? That's definitely me. Okay."
I clearly meant it as an insult, but the fact that he liked it... what an idiot.
I took a small knife and a pot down to the water's edge, and Park Ji-hoon brought the trap.
Da-yeon came over to my side.
I rinsed the top of a flat rock with water and then cleaned the small fish.
Usually, you clean small fish with your hands, but I was more comfortable with a knife.
Shhk, shhk, shhk.
Park Ji-hoon tried to help, but when I gestured for him to go away and play, he took Tae-oh, Jun-su, and Min-ji and went off to have fun.
Their mission was to find things to enjoy non-stop for three days.
Da-yeon was watching the fish with round eyes.
"Wanna try?"
"Yeah!"
I grabbed one and carefully showed her the steps.
Da-yeon, unlike the typical city brats, handled the fish pretty well.
"Oh... you're good at this?"
"I want to be as good as you, Si-yoon..."
"Hey, to be like me, you'd have to handle them every day. You'd have to go work on a deep-sea fishing boat or something~"
We finished cleaning them, rinsed the fish in a bowl, and placed them on a kitchen towel to dry.
"When do we eat them?"
"I'm going to fry them for dinner."
"Sounds delicious..."
"Yeah, you can eat freshwater fish this size bones and all~"
"Really~?"
The group approached from afar before we knew it, Min-ji excitedly saying:
"Si-yoon, there are so many dragonflies over there!"
"Dragonflies? They're tasty roasted."
"...What?"
"Ahaha, I'm kidding."
But they really are good, with cicadas.
I didn't say more because I was worried they'd see me as a barbarian or Bear Grylls.
We returned to the lodging to get ready to swim.
"Wow... Si-yoon, your body is insane..."
As I was taking off my earrings, Min-ji saw my abs and poked them with her finger.
And then Da-yeon pinched my stomach with both hands.
"I could never get mine to look like this..."
Da-yeon, who worked out as hard as I did, had faint eleven-line abs visible on her pinchable, cute tummy.
"Wow... you two look incredible... I almost got a nosebleed."
Min-ji couldn't take her eyes off Da-yeon in particular.
Da-yeon and I wore rash guards and board shorts.
And I quickly spread sunscreen on the exposed skin, and did Min-ji's too.
Those who hadn't properly seen me and Da-yeon's grown-up bodies couldn't take their eyes off us.
I smirked and got into the water with Da-yeon.
When I put on my goggles and went into the deep water, I understood what Park Ji-hoon had been going on about.
To the point I couldn't believe it was a valley, the emerald water was full of fish.
There were more big fish than I thought, and I was thinking how much fun it would be to fish here as I swam around checking out the deep water here and there. When I came up,
Jun-su and Min-ji's mouths were hanging open.
"...?"
""No way!""
My diving skills, which Da-yeon, Kim Tae-oh, and Park Ji-hoon took for granted, were enough to shock the two seeing it for the first time.
"It's been over 10 minutes!"
Da-yeon stroked Min-ji's hair and laughed.
"Haven't you seen Si-yoon diving on Neotube?"
"What? There's something like that?"
"You're not interested in our Si-yoon~"
Min-ji fiddled with her phone inside a waterproof pouch, and Jun-su watched from beside her.
"Wow..."
I came up to the shallow water and said to Da-yeon:
"There are really a lot of fish. It's beautiful underwater."
"Really?"
"Yeah, go check it out."
As I was swimming and laughing brightly with Da-yeon, Park Ji-hoon dove off the high rock he'd spotted earlier.
And so, everyone lost track of time and got completely absorbed in playing in the water.
After playing for a while, I shook the water out of my hair and approached the pavilion to eat dinner.
The batter, oil, and frying pan I'd bought beforehand.
Da-yeon, who'd soon come out of the water, helped me like a sous-chef.
Da-yeon boiled the ramyeon, I fried the freshwater fish, and we made dinner.
The others, who'd been playing to their heart's content, smelled the food and came up to start setting the table.
Just as I remembered from my past life, fried freshwater fish is amazing.
"Wow... this is really good."
"You might get sick of it if you eat too much."
"Si-yoon..."
"Yeah?"
"I'm happy..."
"Ahaha."
Seeing everyone laughing like that made me proud, like we were properly enjoying ourselves.
Before it got dark, we spread out blankets in the pavilion in front of our lodging and put up a mosquito net.
After putting various snacks inside, adding extra blankets, we started tidying up the slightly messy pavilion.
Everyone finished showering, changed into comfortable clothes, and then went into the mosquito-netted pavilion and turned on a light. Only a pale glow illuminated the net in the darkness.
Da-yeon was giggling and wiggling her toes.
Raindrops started falling one by one, and the coolness added to the atmosphere.
Park Ji-hoon came inside the net last and thoroughly sealed the entrance so no bugs could get in.
"Hehehe... since it's raining too... can't skip the scary stories..."
"...Si-yoon?"
Da-yeon, who had been enjoying the atmosphere, suddenly made a scared face.
"Um... couldn't we... not do it?"
Looking at Da-yeon, her expression looked like if I started a scary story, she'd just go straight back to the room.
As soon as she heard the words 'scary story,' Da-yeon had already started flinching and looking around at the dark surroundings.
"I'm here, don't worry~"
"Yeah."
Leaving Da-yeon, whose expression relaxed again, we started playing the game Min-ji and Jun-su taught us.
The feeling of eating snacks and drinks and playing games in a pavilion filled with the sound of gradually intensifying rain in the darkness was a new kind of healing you couldn't get in the city.
Leaving the others absorbed in the game, Da-yeon and I lay down under the blankets and stared at the ceiling.
Shhhhhhh...
"How is it?"
"So good it gives me goosebumps..."
"Me too."
It was literally a situation so healing it gave you goosebumps.
If we slept here like this, we'd wake up to reality because of the damp blankets from the humidity, but we could just go back to the room before that.
Lying down and eating from the pile of snacks... if this isn't paradise, what is?
I was getting hit with a sudden wave of drowsiness and thought about sleeping for a bit, but Min-ji wriggled up between me and Da-yeon.
"What are you two doing?"
"Lie down."
"Wow..."
Shhhhhhh.
With the cool sound of rain and the wind brushing my face, drowsiness came over me again.
"Should we just sleep here?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
I fell asleep the moment the words left my mouth.
"Pshuuu..."