The Applauding Extra 18

“Gangwon-do area.”

We’re going to a nice place. Since it was a school trip, I thought we’d spin around Gyeongju Bulguksa Temple and Cheomseongdae Observatory. Looking at the itinerary later, they’d secured lodging by the sea. In this sense, being in a web novel world is pretty nice.

They say the second semester school trip is a short 1 night 2 days, so I wonder why we’re going on two school trips. Still, it’s nice to travel without classes.

“Everyone!”

Hee-ae waved his hand from a distance. Even from far away, he was in a totally excited state. Only when he came close did he slow his running steps and ask.

“Am I a little late?”

“Not at all.”

In-sae answered while looking at his phone. I looked at Hee-ae and greeted him with a smile. Hee-ae was wearing a navy blue tee and black slacks. He must not feel the cold or sold it off somewhere—there was no jacket.

“Hee-ae. Aren’t you cold?”

“Ah.”

Hee-ae smiled awkwardly and looked at his outfit. He swept his hair back for no reason and said.

“I get hot easily…”

“You didn’t bring a jacket at all?”

“Here! It’s inside.”

Hee-ae said while pointing at his suitcase. That’ll be hard to take out, but does he get that hot?

“Anyway, today is mostly indoors, so won’t it be okay?”

Hee-ae said while tilting his head. I smiled and tapped Hee-ae’s head pushing it. Whether very excited, joy flowed from both his words and actions. Looking briefly at the time, it was 5 minutes before gathering time. The Five Great Kings and Cho-yeon still weren’t visible.

“Over there!”

Hmm, the protagonist. As expected, speak of the devil. Already quite used to the situation, I habitually prepared to clap my hands.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Today too, the short boy from the class next door came running while screaming in a high pitch. I don’t even know how he catches such perfect timing to scream. I recalled the incident when I ran into them in the alley last week. I really need to work hard praising the Five Great Kings.

Even until yesterday, I strangely felt a gaze from behind, so it seems they still haven’t let go of their suspicion. No, I don’t know why they’re so obsessed with wiping out thugs in the first place. They’re really so diligent and have such a deep sense of morality that it’s surprising.

“Where did Han Cho-yeon-nim go?”

“He’s the Noble Prince of the Full Moon. As expected, at the very end.”

“He’s over there though?”

I pointed to the opposite side. Perhaps he really hated the Five Great Kings, because Cho-yeon was entering not through the main gate but the back gate. Every time I see him, I wonder if he can really have such a cat-like appearance—it’s fascinating.

“He’s super far away!”

The twins pointed at Cho-yeon and screamed. He’s so far away, how did they recognize him? Their eyesight is good too.

“Han Cho-yeon-nim is so pretty.”

Cho-yeon, he is kind of like that.

I agreed with the fan club member’s words. The kids who saw that made eyes like they found it admirable. The kids thought I was a fan of Cho-yeon, and I think I just planted more certainty in that speculation.

“Like a noble crane!”

He looks more like a swan than a crane, but they keep saying that. Eventually I came forward with a solemn expression.

“He looks like a swan.”

“That’s right!”

The kids reacted that it was a better-fitting expression. My heart felt satisfied.

“Everyone, breathe.”

“Go get the respirator left over there and stay calm.”

The male student telling them to stay calm seemed the most excited. Here and there, kids were gasping for breath and shouting about heaven. At this rate, someone’s going to sing a hymn. They haven’t already made a song praising the Five Great Kings, have they?

But it’s not to the point of respiratory distress, I objected inwardly.

“I want to get into Han Yeo-wol-nim’s suitcase… Isn’t that okay?”

“Lee Seung. You saw that just now, right? Write down his name.”

No, that’s not okay at all. Not at all. The eyes of the boy who just spoke look really strange. Lee Seung scribbled that kid’s name in his notebook and wrote “WARNING” in large letters. Already several kids’ names were written in the notebook.

“Seeing the Two Hearts-nim made my heart go thump thump heart beat du-du-du-du, my heart fell and my mind fell with it!”

Please save me.

I want to escape from this bizarre praise now. A male student spoke rapidly while waving a glow stick he got from somewhere. Where did he even get the glow stick?

But well, there’s no other way. Though it’s too painful again today, I followed the kids around me and shouted.

“The lights are walking toward me so I just imagined my eyes going blind. Is my heart beating right now? That’s strange, I think it already fell. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.”

“Shi-dan. Should I give you a plastic bag? It’ll help with breathing.”

Hee-ae urgently brought a plastic bag and placed it in my hand.

“Thanks.”

***

Hee-ae decided to sit with another kid, so In-sae sat next to me. The very back seat was naturally taken by the Five Great Kings, and they forcibly caught Cho-yeon who was desperately trying to escape and seated him in the middle of the back seat. Being in the second-to-last row, the twins’ aegyo went straight into my ears.

Somehow it was no different from the school seating—if anything, it seemed worse, making me feel strangely distant. In-sae said he gets motion sickness so he’d sit by the window. I wasn’t particularly particular about seats, so I just sat on the aisle side.

I stuck my head out and called to Hee-ae sitting in front.

“Hee-ae.”

“Yeah. Shi-dan, what?”

“Want some?”

I said while shaking a bag of jelly. Hee-ae quickly nodded. I handed the jelly toward Hee-ae. To In-sae who was staring quietly, I took out and handed over apple-flavored candy and gum. In-sae obediently unwrapped it and put the apple-flavored hard candy in his mouth.

“How many hours did they say it would take?”

“Two or three hours.”

In-sae answered in a slightly mumbled pronunciation. I nodded and leaned my head back against the backrest. Two or three hours.

“It’s pretty long.”

I could hear the sound of In-sae chewing candy. That makes me want candy too. Beyond the bus window, the scenery passed by quickly. The high school I’d become familiar with grew distant.

How many minutes had we been driving after that? In-sae was dozing off nodding, so I just let him lean on my shoulder. I’m the type who doesn’t get motion sickness, but listening to the twins’ aegyo speech continuously makes me feel nauseous rising. How do they even do that way of speaking?

Just hearing the voice, I’ve reached the point of imagining a >ㅁ< expression. I just decided to give up on my ears. I even tried wearing earphones but at 30% transparency it kept coming through. Being faintly audible is actually more irritating.

“Han-gyeol is how what to do hng hng~.”

That’s right. Really, what to do.

It’s amazing that they keep making those lispy sounds without getting tired. I just gave up and closed my eyes.

I can’t sleep, but if I do this, won’t I fall asleep lightly at some point? Along with the faintly rattling car sounds, I could hear the kids’ talking. Hearing the kids’ voices is strangely reassuring. I closed my eyes.

“We’ve arrived at the rest stop. Those getting off, please get off briefly and return within 30 minutes.”

My drowsiness cleared at the sound of the teacher speaking. While I was thinking about waking In-sae for a moment, In-sae woke up first.

“What is it?”

“Your head was about to fall down, so I just let you lean.”

“Oh, thanks.”

In-sae asked in confusion when he found himself leaning on my shoulder. In-sae slowly lifted his head from my shoulder and leaned toward the window. I was about to sleep again, but opened my eyes.

“Are you going to the rest stop?”

In-sae, not fully awake, weakly shook his head in denial. Since I had no intention of getting off anyway, I just leaned my neck back against the backrest again and closed my eyes. Just as I was about to doze off again, I opened my eyes slightly and said.

“I’m going to sleep, good night.”

I closed my eyes again and slowly started to doze. How long had I been sleeping? I heard someone’s voice.

“Didn’t they say this kid can’t sleep well?”

“Can’t sleep.”

I stopped dozing and opened my eyes wide as I answered. Lee Seung’s body jumped out shortly as if surprised.

“You did this last time too, you really wake up suddenly. The Five Great Kings-nim are coming, I’ll go.”

I wasn’t even sleeping in the first place, just dozing. In-sae’s gaze was on my eyes again, so wondering if they were swollen, I pressed around my eyes firmly. As the Five Great Kings seemed to be entering, the kids murmured. Cho-yeon’s sharp voice, obvious to anyone, was heard from the front and the murmuring subsided.

With eyes full of curiosity, kids’ heads popped up here and there. In-sae, who couldn’t see the situation because he was by the window, showed a curious expression.

“So, stop clinging so much.”

Cho-yeon was pointing and looking at the twins with an annoyed expression. Whether they were facing Cho-yeon, only the twins’ backs were visible. Behind Cho-yeon, Nam-hwi was observing the situation as if it was interesting.

“Han-gyeol is… it’s because I like Yeon-i…”

“I see! I don’t like it. Respect my opinion too.”

Cho-yeon smiled brightly then immediately became serious and spoke. One person who appeared to be Lee Han-gyeol covered his face and pretended to cry. Honestly speaking, the crying sound was too contrived to be real crying. Honestly, it’s the right thing to say. Since Cho-yeon says he doesn’t like it, they should respect that.

“Just following around.”

“I said I don’t like it.”

Cho-yeon gestured half-heartedly, urging the twins to move aside.

“You don’t follow me either. I’m going to sit alone.”

Cho-yeon also yelled sharply at Nam-hwi as he spoke. He sat in the empty row next to us. It was a seat that was empty because there weren’t enough kids. Cho-yeon completely covered his ears and even closed his eyes, regardless of whether the twins were still pretending to cry or not.

Hee-ae was boarding the bus with his mouth full chewing something, then froze when he saw that scene.

I glanced at Cho-yeon with his eyes closed and ears firmly covered, then was surprised when our eyes met. As revenge from last time, I mouthed “What are you looking at?” Cho-yeon made a face like an angry cat.

“Han Cho-yeon-nim refused the Five Great Kings-nim and decided to sit alone.”

I took my gaze off Cho-yeon and summarized the situation for the curious In-sae.