After eating ice cream and chattering and laughing excitedly, we fell asleep only when dawn came. The fluffy, soft bed and blankets, a summer night with air conditioning—it was indescribably wonderful. I was looking at the stars shining clearly and brightly through the window by my pillow when I fell asleep at some point, and I opened my eyes when sunlight seeped in.
“Mmm.”
Because the sunlight was bright, Hyeonho, who had been sleeping, groaned. Woojin had already pulled the blanket over himself. I approached the window and drew the curtains, then pulled Woojin’s blanket down to below his neck. And while properly covering Hyeonho with the blanket he’d kicked off with his feet, I remembered that Junsu also had rough sleeping habits. I went straight to the next room.
When I carefully opened the door, this room was also quiet. It was dark inside, perhaps they’d drawn the curtains before sleeping. And Junsu was sleeping crumpled up messily like during the retreat. It was remarkable he hadn’t fallen off the bed. How can you turn upside down on a single bed? I gave up on laying Junsu straight and was satisfied with just covering him properly with the blanket.
Eorin was sleeping soundly. I was almost certain that Eorin was a heavy sleeper in the morning. Coming to school early seemed to be purely through effort. Because his hair, which had been short, had grown a lot and was poking his eyes, I gently stroked Eorin’s forehead to brush his hair away. There weren’t many opportunities to quietly look at Eorin because I was always watching for signs that my feelings might be discovered. Grateful that Junsu was sleeping deeply, I squatted beside Eorin’s bed and looked at Eorin’s face.
Really, a face that looked upright like his personality. It was as if “I am a good and upright person” was written on his face. His eyebrows were straight, his nose was pretty, and though they were hidden now, his eyes were clear too. Did he look that way more because he was someone I liked? No matter what, at least one bad point should be visible, but to me Eorin was a perfect person. Not just externally but also kind inside, good-natured, deep in thought, and solid. How did he grow up embracing only such right things?
Ah, right. He did have a slightly childish side. I laughed quietly while recalling Eorin’s occasional sulking that I’d seen. Even that looked cute, so unrequited love was an amazing thing. Because it changed the world you looked at.
After slowly preparing brunch and waking the kids to feed them, we left the pension early. It was to catch fish with the fishing tools the pension owner had given us yesterday. Woojin and Hyeonho seemed to have grand dreams of catching and eating fish, but Junsu, who was picky about this and that, looked at the two who wanted to eat freshwater fish with a face that said he couldn’t understand them. Eorin, who said he’d only fished in the ocean, also held the pole with an intrigued face.
“Eorin-ah, do you know how to pole fish?”
“No, I don’t.”
Eorin said that and smiled brightly. Since I was seeing something called a fishing pole for the first time in my life, there was nothing I could do. With a flushed face, Eorin opened the bait container.
“Ugh.”
Woojin, who saw the maggots, turned pale and hid behind Junsu. Junsu’s face wasn’t much different. I’d already moved far away.
“Do we have to put this on?”
“That’s what the ahjussi said. Won’t it work out somehow?”
Only Eorin and Hyeonho were fine. When Eorin put a maggot on the pole’s hook, Hyeonho tapped the pole.
“The fishing rod is really thin. Won’t it break while catching fish with this?”
“He said it’s tougher than it looks. It bends a lot, look at this.”
After studying the pole for a while, the two excitedly walked into the valley. The water was slower than where we played yesterday but much deeper.
“We’ll… use the net.”
“Mmm…”
Junsu, who hit the wall of maggots, picked up the net. We decided that Woojin would shake the rocks or drive the fish and Junsu would lift the net, but though there were many visible fish, nothing actually got caught. After watching them come up empty several times, I became curious about Eorin’s side too, so I slowly moved my steps so the fish wouldn’t be startled.
“Caught any?”
“No, not yet. This is really hard, more than I thought.”
They seemed to be taking turns, and now it was Eorin holding the pole. When he turned the pole, the line wound at the end unwound and wound up. The fishing rod I knew was really long with a reel wound with line attached near the handle, but this short, thin fishing rod was my first time seeing one, so it was fascinating.
“Chiwon-ah, you try it later too. This is really fun.”
“But I really don’t think I can do maggots…”
“I’ll put it on for you. When I did it earlier I almost caught a fish, it’s really fascinating. I can feel something. Something taps.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It bit the end of the line but I can feel it all the way to my hand. Like this.”
Hyeonho tapped my fingertips. So this is the feeling when a fish bites. Having never fished before, I stared at the fingertips Hyeonho was tapping with my mouth hanging open. But suddenly water splashed from the side.
“You do it.”
“Huh?”
“I said you do it.”
Eorin, with a sulky face like yesterday, held out the pole to Hyeonho. When Hyeonho took the pole with a bewildered face, Eorin came to me and stuck close, then glared at Hyeonho.
“Are you going to keep stealing Chiwon away? And Chiwon, you—if you keep leaving me alone, I’m going to sulk.”
Hurt feelings dripped clearly from the eyes that met mine. Seeing Eorin muttering like that with a sulky face, I made eye contact with Hyeonho. My expression probably wasn’t any different from Hyeonho’s slack-jawed face. As soon as our eyes met, we simultaneously burst into loud laughter.
“Why are you laughing!”
“No, it’s funny! Damn, Kim Eorin is living up to his name.”
Hyeonho, who was cackling saying he was dying of laughter, gave me a thumbs up while Eorin had his head turned. I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but since it seemed to be a happy and good meaning anyway, I smiled back and raised my thumb. But when Hyeonho saw my face, he made a subtle expression, then shrugged his shoulders and brought over Woojin and Junsu, who were only coming up empty. After Hyeonho volunteered to be the maggot shuttle, we all played fishing together with one fishing rod.
Since all we caught were a few small minnows, Woojin and Hyeonho’s dream of catching and eating them crumbled vainly. After releasing the fish we caught and returning to the pension, we made stir-fried spicy pork with the little remaining meat and vegetables, waited for the sky to turn pitch black, then came outside again.
Hyeonho said he’d quit smoking recently. That’s why when we lit the mosquito coil yesterday, we’d made a fuss saying we’d light fire with charcoal because no one had a lighter, but having come outside for fireworks, we remembered again the fact that no one had a lighter. In the end, Eorin went all the way to the house where the pension owner couple stayed and borrowed a lighter.
“Let’s do it!”
Junsu, who tore off the outer packaging of the fireworks set that looked like long sticks, stuck the sticks in the ground to fix them, then excitedly held up the lighter. Since this was my first time seeing fireworks in person, I was incredibly excited. Woojin taught me to cover my ears tightly, so when I covered my ears with my hands, Junsu stepped back and covered his ears.
A brief silence flowed, and sparks shot out from the ends of the sticks stuck in a row. A sound of tearing through the air came, and soon colorful fireworks burst at the edge of the sky.
“Wow!”
It was the same as what I’d seen on TV, but the emotion was exceptional. They say the most fun thing in the world is watching fire, and with flowers added to fire, it was truly beautiful. At the continuously blooming fireworks, I watched speechlessly. Even the profusely blooming stars were now pressed by the momentum of the fireworks and temporarily hiding.
“It’s really pretty…”
Then, warmth touched me from the side. When I glanced, it was Eorin. Eorin, who was looking up at the sky, glanced down at me and smiled slightly. Bang, bang. Fireworks bloomed in Eorin’s eyes too.
“Let’s do this too!”
When the stick that had been pouring out fireworks for a while quieted down, Junsu brought over and set down a thick, large cylindrical stick and lit it. The fireworks that soon rose were much bigger and more colorful than the previous ones.
“Wow.”
“Freaking pretty.”
Woojin, who had been fidgeting, went to Junsu and Hyeonho, who were stamping their feet in front and cheering every time fireworks burst, and joined in the commotion. I burst out laughing seeing that.
Then, I felt a touch on the back of my head. While looking at the fireworks in the distant sky, Eorin gently stroked my hair.
“It was fun, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go play again next time.”
“Yeah.”
All the lights attached to the pension’s exterior wall were turned off, so the surroundings were pitch dark. Every time fireworks burst in the night sky, the surrounding scenery was drawn then repeatedly erased again by darkness. Eorin’s hand left me before long, but the warmth touching my arm remained as it was. Standing with elbows touching, that timid and lovely contact.
Loving Eorin, I was helpless even before small warmth. A large firework embroidered the night sky. In my heart capturing this summer night, a flower exactly resembling that color transferred over and bloomed.
Wanting to play late and sleep, we pulled down all the blankets and lay huddled together in the living room. In the end, dividing the rooms became a useless thing. Having talked and laughed until dawn broke, we left the pension and returned home having barely slept at all.
We slept all day at home too, and not many days later we welcomed the start of the new semester. Since the proper vacation was only about a week, the kids in class jokingly greeted each other saying it had been a while. Not even two full days after the semester started, we got used to school life again. The trip felt like a story from the distant past.
And on the first Monday we faced in the second semester, we solemnly held a class meeting.
“Comrades, did you all have a good vacation? Welcoming the first Monday, we are facing a critical issue.”
“What is it!”
“The Sports Festival, which has approached right before our eyes!”
At Yeongjin’s words, the kids cheered and pounded their desks. We’d been scolded by the teacher from the next class once before during a meeting, but I seemed to be the only one worried about getting scolded again.
