In-sae followed without saying anything, Hee-ae nodded his head vigorously, and Seon-yoon said it was good while covering his mouth. I led them out of the lodging.
As soon as we came out, the sea breeze wrapped around me intensely and passed by. The smell full of saltiness is rather welcome. I’d been thinking about going to the sea before possessing this body anyway, so this worked out well. Even from a distance, I could see the wave patterns the sea was creating. As I excitedly searched around for stairs going down, Hee-ae asked in puzzlement.
“You like the sea?”
“Maybe?”
I found the stairs that should be somewhere. Not very far away, there were stairs leading down to the beach. I slowly went down to avoid falling, then stepped on the sandy beach. The sensation of sand scattering beneath my feet felt vividly clear.
Already many kids had come down and were running around playing on the beach. At the sight of a few who had even entered the sea, Hee-ae grimaced and muttered.
“Clothes… getting wet…”
Though the words came intermittently, I could guess the context. I swallowed bitterly while looking at the kids who entered the sea. It’s not even a valley—if you play in the sea, sand sticks to your wet body, and the worst is smelling like salt from your body. No matter how much this is a web novel world, getting soaked in seawater was a no-thank-you.
“They went into the sea? Splash?”
Seon-yoon also made a dismayed expression. Those clothes are hard to dry, and just watching makes me tired and exhausted.
I carefully maintained a distance that wouldn’t get wet and approached closer. It was gradually becoming afternoon, and despite being spring, the merciless sun was scattering its rays. I felt In-sae and Hee-ae approaching from the side. In-sae plopped down on the sand. It was next to me.
“Aren’t we still in late April? The sunlight is really strong.”
Hee-ae made a tearful face and blocked the sunlight. Seon-yoon agreed and had a brief conversation with Hee-ae. Still, the sea breeze is cold. I don’t know what to do with this subtle weather.
The sound of gentle conversation permeated into the air and disappeared. Blankly looking at the sea, I unconsciously tried to stretch my foot toward the approaching waves.
“Shi-dan. You’ll get your foot wet if you do that, be careful!”
Hee-ae tilted his head and shouted. I pulled back the foot I was about to step forward with. I saw Seon-yoon next to Hee-ae get slightly startled at my gaze. I don’t have a fierce impression, so I don’t know why he was startled. I looked at Hee-ae and tilted my head the same way.
Hee-ae showed a flustered expression without filter. His face quickly reddened, so he must have been quite startled. Sorry, I won’t copy you.
I enjoyed looking at the sea for a while, being careful not to step forward again. I was blankly staring at the sea, and In-sae silently looked at my face with an expression like he was thinking about something.
Soon Hee-ae looked at his phone. Then he shouted.
“The kids are setting up a stage, want to go see?”
“Let’s go.”
Since I came out just to look at the sea, it doesn’t matter if we go soon. Though it’s regrettable. They said free time is until 6 PM, so it’s enough to come out later. Curiosity arose at the mention of even setting up a stage, so I followed. Do kids usually set up stages for school trip recreation?
***
Hee-ae headed toward a corner on the first floor with light steps. Just when I thought the path ended, there was one large door. It’s the auditorium door mentioned earlier. Seon-yoon and Hee-ae opened the door forcefully and headed into the already gathered crowd.
“The kids must be busy.”
“We can help together.”
In-sae grabbed my arm and pulled.
“That’s right. We can help.”
I agreed and was half-dragged into the crowd.
But In-sae threw me among the fan club members who exist everywhere and disappeared. He said we can help together, but it seems that “together” didn’t include you. I looked at In-sae’s disappearing back in dismay. In-sae looked back at me briefly.
When I suddenly appeared, the fan club kids seemed momentarily surprised then gave me a welcoming greeting. The kids who had been gathered and chattering busily soon started working.
“Can you help? Just pick this up and move it.”
“Mmhm.”
I clenched and unclenched my hands while looking at the classical piano that clearly looked expensive to anyone. Several kids gathered next to me and lifted the piano together. It’s heavy too.
‘Who on earth is playing the piano?’
A passing kid pointed at the piano and said.
“Huh? The Five Great Kings-nim decided to play that.”
Thanks for the answer. I was just curious. If they’re going to play piano, aren’t there many recent small and light ones? How did they even bring this classical piano? Was it already here?
The piano, clearly high-quality at a glance, was moved to the edge of the stage without a single scratch. It was positioned so it wouldn’t interfere with movement while the person playing the piano would be clearly visible.
“But you guys are fan club members, are you helping set up the stage?”
“Since the Five Great Kings-nim are also performing today, we have to help!”
“Mm, mm. Of course.”
At my question, the kids burned with passion from here and there. I even clapped my hands and admired them.
“Amazing.”
It’s a passion that wouldn’t be lacking even if they built an entire apartment to build the Five Great Kings-nim’s house soon. After that, the kids continued to move things and neatly line up clothes. Rumor has it someone’s doing a play or something.
I looked at the hanging skirt and my complexion turned pale. Let me say it again for sure—our school is a boys’ school. Sometimes we omit “boys,” but the official name is strictly Aseon Boys’ High School. I don’t know why there’s a skirt here. The class president who entered just then saw the skirt and made a bright expression.
“A kid from class 3 is wearing that in a play.”
I tried to calm my wavering eyes and calmly organized the hanging skirt. To think of wearing a skirt in front of all first-year students—what a strong heart. Though maybe they were forcibly dragged into it. The class president stroked the skirt and said.
“Second semester. You remember, right?”
“I have no idea. Sorry.”
Of course, I remembered all too vividly the talk from last time about putting a skirt on me or whatever. I hurriedly ran away from the class president’s wistful gaze. The kids who were lining up chairs were startled by my panic-stricken face.
“I’ll help.”
I approached any one of them and helped line up the chairs. The second semester is still far away, so I’ll forget. I’m going to forget. I barely shook off the afterimage and focused on lining up the chairs.
“Yu Shi-dan. Do you prefer long skirts or short skirts?”
Who knows when he heard the news, but Lee Seung came running from afar with a big smile.
“Wow, even if I cry at this rate, I have nothing to say…”
Everyone’s eyes fixed on Lee Seung running over like a ghost in a horror movie. At times like this, ignoring is the answer. I didn’t even give Lee Seung a glance and quickly lined up the chairs. As soon as I saw Hee-ae coming out from afar shaking off his hands, I approached him from the side.
“Hee-ae!”
When I stuck to Hee-ae’s side, he was flustered but didn’t particularly avoid me. I sighed and loosened my slightly numb wrist. Lee Seung was looking at me and Hee-ae with a gleeful face.
“You must have had a hard time.”
Hee-ae looked toward Lee Seung, then patted and comforted me. I just ran over because I was glad to see him, but it seems he misunderstood because of Lee Seung’s vicious expression.
“Let’s go around helping the kids together.”
Hee-ae held my arm and covered his face. I nodded at Hee-ae’s words and smiled.
***
“If we do the stage today, what do we do on the second evening?”
“That’s free time.”
In-sae answered while lying in the middle of the room. He had his eyes closed without moving. I looked at the time briefly.
The clock hanging in the room pointed to around 4:40. Since they announced to gather by 6 o’clock, there was plenty of time left. I got up and said.
“I’ll go out for a bit.”
“See you!”
Hee-ae smiled brightly and waved his hand. Seon-yoon was gone somewhere, so I went out with the two’s farewell.
It must be past midday now. It was time for the air to become cool. I chose this because I thought it would be good to go to the sea around this time. I greeted groups of kids swarming here and there as I exited the lodging door.
At the sea, there were people sparsely scattered for some reason. Though it wasn’t peak season now, it shouldn’t be this empty.
Wondering what was going on, sure enough, the Five Great Kings were taking a walk on the beach. In the distance, a group of fan club members were following along so as not to disturb the walk. Some strangers were mixed in the middle, so there seemed to be passing tourists too.
I really picked the wrong time. Why are the Five Great Kings taking a walk right now of all times? I stepped on the sandy beach and stayed where the Five Great Kings and fan club had left. Since they already passed, they won’t come back. Cho-yeon must have run away early because it ended at five people.
The crowds surged away. The surroundings became a bit quiet, but with the sound of the waves, the surroundings didn’t become very quiet. I looked at the sea comfortably.
It’s a sea like Cho-yeon’s blue eyes half-hidden behind half-closed eyelashes being unfolded again. Suddenly, Cho-yeon’s question came to mind. Cho-yeon had once asked me.
“How was it when you first possessed a body?”
Cho-yeon said he cursed every curse when he realized he’d possessed a body. Though now he seems to have let go of his lingering attachment somewhat.
Come to think of it, this guy rarely texts even when I urged him to text if he’s having a hard time. It’s obvious he’s agonizing alone. I’m worried. I quietly looked at the sea and thought of summer.
It was a summer I didn’t particularly try to recall. Standing alone at the sea makes me think all sorts of thoughts. What did I answer back then?
Did I honestly answer that I cried?
The scenery before coming to this place still vividly tears through my mind. I cried when I possessed this body.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
Do shi-dan has a particular face? I wonder why they’re being startled