New Year’s morning…or rather, lunch.
After staying up past midnight, we woke up at a time when the sun was high in the sky.
It was my birthday, but for some reason, we rushed to Siyeon’s room to stare at the computer screen as soon as we got up.
The website, heavy with the scent of animations and comics, felt strangely unfamiliar.
The mouse Siyeon was manipulating wandered around the screen before resting on the text for ticket purchase.
With a click, Siyeon pressed the left button, and a message popped up saying to log in after registering.
To log in, one must sign up, and if you’re under 14, guardian consent is required…
But wait a minute, there happens to be someone who just turned 14!
“Wait, let me try signing up in my name.”
Curious to see if they’d consider us 14 and up, I nudged my way to Siyeon’s desk and grabbed the keyboard.
Along with the first four digits of the easy-to-remember resident number being 0101, the rest of the 7-digit number was quickly typed in with the sound of tapping.
Had it been just yesterday, hitting enter here would have brought up a message saying, “Guardian consent needed for those under 14.”
Contrary to my expectations, the website responded normally without an error message, moving on to the next screen indifferently.
“Oh, it worked.”
The wall of being under 14 was knocked down with my birthday sign-up.
Seeing the screen move on, Siyeon, too, seemed to have just realized, her mouth forming a surprised little circle as she exclaimed.
“Right, now Mari can join!”
The issue was resolved with a virtual guardian’s resident number, finally freeing us from the long-held sadness of being under 14.
It felt like a transparent shackle on my ankle had vanished.
I couldn’t help but clench my fist in triumph.
Now I wouldn’t need to remember that barely recollected virtual resident number anymore.
Having completed the sign-up as a person over 14, I paid the general admission fee of 7,000 won.
Now all that was left was to wait until the day of the event.
The Comic World event happening over two days, Saturday and Sunday.
I roughly knew it was related to animation and comics, but I didn’t precisely understand what the event entailed.
So, in my spare time, I fiddled with my phone to look up details.
[Comic World has long lines for entry due to the high number of attendees compared to the venue size, with participants even camping out a day in advance to take front row spots, so it’s best to arrive and line up by 6-7 a.m.]
The first hurdle was clearly the entry time, and just a few lines of information I found on the wiki showed me the scale of the crowd expected.
The official entry time was stated to be around 10 a.m.
Yet, starting from around 6 to 7 a.m. to line up, there were even people saying they’d camp out the day before to prepare, making me feel the event’s popularity even more.
No, more than that… camping out in this winter weather?
‘Camping out?’
I couldn’t imagine doing that, so I started to assess the surroundings.
Considering that I needed to line up around 6 or 7, riding the subway’s first train would mean I’d have to leave by 5, at least an hour ride away.
Waking up early with sleepy eyes, dozing on the subway, and then shivering in line before 7?
…That was simply unacceptable.
Once the option of aimlessly waiting disappeared through process of elimination, I focused on finding accommodations near the event.
When searching for accommodations near the venue, a flood of precious information left behind by previous attendees poured in.
‘There’s only one hotel that’s close to the venue.’
From the gathered data, I found that cheap motels were located far enough away that I’d have to go to another station, and the only ideally placed place was a luxurious-looking hotel.
Upon seeing pictures of the good accommodation environment, I immediately searched online for the hotel’s name.
Upon entering the hotel’s website on my mobile, there were no regular rooms available—likely due to the anticipated event.
The only room still available was a Royal Suite.
It was pricier than normal rooms, but… I was grateful to have that at all.
Quickly making the online payment of 240,000 won for one night, I began looking for a minor’s lodging consent form.
Since it was a hotel, there was a high chance they’d scrutinize it adherently compared to a crudely run motel.
Unlike the time Siyeon went on a trip alone to Sokcho and casually pretended to be an adult while demanding a room over the phone, this would surely be pointless.
Having decided to go anyway, I wanted to do it properly.
Following the magical girl reporting procedure, I also completed the leave application for Friday afternoon through Saturday night, which fell under the event category.
Time flew by quickly, just like the fingers that were working fast…
Friday arrived, prepping for the day of the event, which was Saturday.
As time passed, the deep chill of Korea’s winter seeped into my bones.
On that winter day, it was already past lunchtime, about 2:03 PM.
Before leaving the house, I emptied my school bag and did a final check on the items I packed for my trip.
“Hand warmer and heat packs.”
“Middle pocket of the bag!”
“Clothes to change into.”
“Bottom compartment!”
“Tissues and wet wipes.”
“Front of the bag!”
“Wallet and transportation card.”
“Left pocket!”
“Charger and power bank.”
“Pocket for textbooks!”
With every question about the items, Siyeon confidently tapped her palm on the bag or pockets, making it seem like she hadn’t left anything out.
Several checks made me feel uneasy, as if I’d forgotten something among the travel goods.
Crossing my arms anxiously, I muttered.
“…I hope I didn’t miss anything?”
“Yep!”
Siyeon answered enthusiastically at my mumbling.
It wasn’t exactly a question, just a thought, but her good mood made me not care.
It was Friday afternoon, slightly past lunch.
Not rush hour, which meant the subway was relatively less crowded.
It was tough to grab a spot close to the exit, but I was lucky to find a seat at least a bit away.
I sat Siyeon in the center of the remaining seats and stood in front, reaching for the overhead handrail…
Reaching for the handrail…
‘Ah, got it.’
My fingers struggled to grab the handrail, which was oddly high—my little fingers barely had enough reach to catch it.
I never realized how hard it would be to grab something when you’re short.
Since the handrail on the bus is much closer, I thought the subway wouldn’t be an issue, yet my outstretched hand faced embarrassment.
With this, whether I let go or hold on, I felt my body sway anyway.
As those thoughts crossed my mind…
“Mari.”
“Yeah?”
A voice came from right in front of Siyeon.
And then a light tap on her own knees twice with her palm.
The unspoken pressure seemed to say, “Come sit on my lap.”
Of course, no one else was performing such an obvious action among the other passengers.
When only one seat was left, it resembled something that a mother with a toddler might do.
Glancing at the sudden and daunting choice in front of me, I hesitated for a few seconds.
Thanks to someone standing up at the next station, I was relieved I could avoid the embarrassing option of sitting on her lap.
No matter if we were girls; that was a heavy psychological burden.
It felt like I was about to lose some unnamable dignity deep inside my heart…
Thus began our journey as we got off the subway and transferred, eventually arriving in Seoul.
Upon fully exiting the station and stepping outside,
Ten minutes after I started walking back and forth between the destination listed on my map app and my current location, the hotel finally came into view.
“Wow-!”
Standing solo in a rectangular shape without any obstructing large buildings around, it was a clean hotel.
With its neat appearance, even the streetlights were bright, illuminating the surroundings without showing any sign of dimming as afternoon approached.
Siyeon seemed pleased with the accommodation choice as she let out a gasp of admiration.
Though it was smaller than the massive hotel I saw in America…
‘But that’s irrelevant to this.’
Of course, it wouldn’t compare to those hotels flaunting insane accommodation fees funded by taxes, yet for this place, it felt perfectly okay.
I might have felt this way because I lived far from hotels to begin with, but I also didn’t know anything about what reasonable lodging prices were.
Having never enjoyed a “hotel staycation” or anything, I certainly wouldn’t be equipped with any common sense about how much would be reasonable.
Anyway, given that I was here for an event, the accommodation fee didn’t feel like a waste either…
‘When those dreadful motels charge 150,000 won during travel season…’
Considering the yearly shenanigans of accommodations near the coastal areas of Gangwon-do, this already felt exceedingly reasonable.
Since the really bad aspects were there to remind me, the 240,000 won for one night suddenly felt like a deal.
Indeed, there must be something seriously wrong with the merchants in this country.
“Let’s check in.”
“Okay!”
Pushing aside the utterly empty thoughts, I glanced at my smartphone clock.
Check-in was available from 3 PM, but it was already past 4:37 PM.
Along with the record of my online booking, I handed over the minor’s lodging consent form without forgetting.
The staff seemed surprised to see this consent form, as if they very rarely encountered anything like it.
Whether they were skeptical or not, that only made it easier to receive the hotel room key card afterwards.
Upon inserting the card in the proper slot and stepping into the room, what awaited me was a grand bed taking up one corner of the room.
A bed spacious enough for two people—could it be king-sized?
“BED-!”
After throwing my bag aside, Siyeon leaped onto the hotel bed that was perfectly straight without a single wrinkle.
With a satisfying plop, the fluffy sound echoed as the previously immaculate sheets crinkled beneath her.
Even though I thought she still held on to some childlike traits, deep down, a boy in my heart screamed that I would have mimicked her if I were alone.
‘I get that feeling.’
That urge to jump in and break the surface of a shallow puddle.
I didn’t voice any of this since I knew it wasn’t all that unreasonable.
…I wanted to do it too.
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