While thinking like those annoying brats, I set my bags down and started unpacking.
Stretching and releasing my poor shoulder that had been pressed down by the bag straps, I opened the top of both bags and took the contents into my mouth.
“Now, it’s good to come out.”
“Oh, is it the sword?”
Two mascots peeked out, pushing through their bags, their heads emerging as if they were tenants being shown a house by a realtor. They began exploring the hotel like it was their own home.
Following those mascots around the hotel room, I noticed the pristine white bathtub in the clean bathroom.
Unlike the tub in our home, which was often neglected and stained, the hotel’s bathtub even had a squeaky-clean sound.
Though I hadn’t had a particular thought, it possessed a certain magic that made me want to soak in it.
Similarly, Siyeon was rolling around on the fluffy white king-size bed.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Siyeon, eyeing the empty space on the bed where she wasn’t lying, groaned like an old man trying to sit down, putting her hands on her waist.
Like a snake slithering, she slid her upper body onto the soft bed.
Pressing her feet down and stretching her legs out, she let out a long, tired sigh…
Ultimately, she sprawled out with her head close to the center of the bed.
Seeing this, Siyeon, who had been flopped over on the bed, turned her head towards me and chuckled softly.
“Haah, you look like Grandma Mari.”
“Today, I’m the Grandma…”
Thinking it would be nice to take a nap like this, I flipped over, and Siyeon’s mascot was buzzing around in the air like a fly.
Seemingly wanting to continue the conversation, an unexpected question popped out.
“By the way, what’s that Surko…? What do you do there?”
“Didn’t you go with Siyeon a few times?”
When Siyeon went out with friends in childhood, I always tagged along, but this Sea Snake didn’t seem to know that.
Noticing the contradiction in the question, I asked back, and Siyeon answered in her place.
“When I was in elementary school, I kept hiding it in my bag for fear of being caught…”
“Oh, really?”
Siyeon had been worrying about something unnecessary back in elementary school.
She seemed to have been careful, but when it came to mascots ‘pretending to be objects,’ they were top-notch.
If similar dolls were lined up, unless one decided to hit them, it would be hard to distinguish my mascot from the rest.
After Siyeon made her explanation, she looked at the ceiling and began to explain what Surko was to the Sea Snake in detail.
“There’s Comic World, where they sell all sorts of games, comics, animations… and Magical Girl goods and do cosplay too.”
‘Magical Girl… that’s a thing too?’
Thinking about it, whenever there’s a surge in popularity, whether it’s a foreign example or not, cosplay and related memes activate without hesitation.
The word ‘Magical Girl’ intruded in the middle of the event I had primarily in mind, which was obviously games, comics, and animations.
So, could there be a chance that we might see our cosplay while just visiting?
‘That’s something I’m not too thrilled about….’
The thought of seeing myself from the viewpoint of others was a bit frightening, especially knowing that bank robber photos circulated around.
Lazily lounging around, I suddenly stood up and headed toward my bags.
To create a comfortable environment to relax in the hotel, I plugged the charger I took out of the bag into the outlet on the wall near the bed.
Once I took out my change of clothes, I realized it was already 5 PM.
It was a bit early for dinner, but since the meal schedule had become a chaotic mix since the break started.
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to eat a couple of hours early, so I left the mascots in the room and went outside to find a restaurant.
“Chinese food, beef specialty, pork cutlet, Korean food, snacks, rice soup…”
As I listed the restaurants I found in the area using a map app, I wondered if Siyeon would show any reaction.
There were places specializing in Indian or Western cuisine if I went a little further, but…
Since it literally required going a bit farther, I intentionally skipped mentioning those.
Among the restaurants I mentioned, Siyeon didn’t seem interested in any of them.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Um, anywhere Mari wants to eat!”
Well, I don’t know, anywhere’s fine.
Usually, I had something I wanted, but when I couldn’t think of anything specific, that was my reply.
However, this time Siyeon completely passed the chance to choose.
It seemed she truly had no particular desire.
In that case, it felt like it was time to stand up for the desires I had been bending for her sake every time we had to decide.
The opinion I had always abandoned at the crossroads of choice for Siyeon.
Not long after leaving the accommodation, the aroma that whetted my appetite made me stop in my tracks.
“Let’s eat here.”
The chosen restaurant was a Chinese place I hadn’t eaten at in a while.
“Another black bean noodles?”
Siyeon seemed to recall her recent Chinese meal and even added the word ‘again’ as she asked again.
If I had to explain why I chose that, out of the many restaurants—
“It’s close.”
That was the only reason: sheer laziness.
I couldn’t order delivery to my room from inside the hotel.
As for the taste… it was just okay, not particularly remarkable.
Still, it was better than the steadily declining standards of Chinese restaurants.
The two humans chose to eat at such a nearby restaurant for the sake of efficiency, but…
Siyeon suggested we go to a burger place to take care of the mascots, and we ended up walking a much farther distance, but that’s a secret.
Even after returning to the accommodation, I unabashedly bragged about it.
“So, those two beasts should bow their heads in gratitude.”
“Siyeon-sama, we are deeply grateful.”
“Really? Thank you!”
The bear cub, who could at least match the atmosphere, went beyond bowing his head and offered a grand bow towards Siyeon on the bed.
In contrast, the Sea Snake’s reaction was a bit lackluster.
Still, I took comfort in the fact that gratitude was shown, and so I let it be.
It felt like we had just eaten moderately and went for a stroll, but darkness had already begun to blanket the streets.
As the artificial streetlights and the lights from buildings started to fill the streets instead of the natural light from the sky, sounds from the kitchen occupied my ears.
The two mascots were shoving burgers and fries into their mouths using their whole bodies.
Thinking about it, could they even fit the bread and meat in one bite?
That thought lingered as it hit 8 PM.
Compared to usual, it felt too early to close my eyes on the bed.
However, the pressure of having to line up from at least 6 PM weighed down on me.
Even if I wasn’t sleepy, I had to go to bed.
After soaking leisurely in the bathtub and then getting out, I planned to melt into the fluffy bed and sleep.
Rising from the bed after fiddling with my smartphone for a while, I reached deep into my bag and took out some clothes.
“Hey, Mari, are you going to wash up? Me too!”
Suddenly, Siyeon also stood up and said that for some reason.
“Huh? What are you talking about? You’re not even a kid. Go wash up first.”
As I halted the steps I took to yield first toward the bathroom, without a chance to stop her, Siyeon started stripping off her clothes one by one as she headed toward her bag.
“What’s the big deal? We’re both girls!”
“Ugh.”
Even while exhaling in disbelief, seeing Siyeon bursting with enthusiasm, I first plugged the bathtub’s drain and turned on the hot water.
Estimating the pouring water temperature with my hands, I waited for the water level to rise.
Wondering how long it had been since we bathed together, I brought my fingers near my chin.
Could it be a few years since she started washing alone?
It didn’t seem like it had been since the early elementary school days, at least.
Since the point at which Siyeon was able to wash herself, nearly all of our baths had been separate, so it must have been a few years.
Back then, the tub was of a size where we could comfortably sit facing each other, but now even in this big hotel tub, we’d have to sit on top of each other.
Though I could say it was remarkable, I felt a sense of the significant passage of time visually confirming itself.
“Go in first.”
After playfully splashing water at each other and washing off, it was time to get into the bathtub.
I figured it would be better for me to go in later, so I let Siyeon have the honor of the first dip.
“Whoa.”
The water seemed to be just the right temperature, and Siyeon cautiously dipped her feet in before immersing her body into the tub.
As she pushed the water down while entering, the surface level rose dramatically.
However, it didn’t overflow, and it felt full enough.
Then, it was my turn to get in.
Having already checked the temperature with my hands, I promptly sat in the tub in the same direction as Siyeon.
“Ahh.”
After getting in the tub for the second time, I exhaled refreshing breaths.
The water that overflowed made a refreshing sound as it spilled out.
With the appropriate temperature and the comforting pressure of the filled water, I surrendered my body.
The subtle pressure felt like my chest was being compressed; it was slightly suffocating, yet I quickly forgot it in the warmth surrounding me.
My long hair floated and sank on the surface of the water, giving it the appearance of seaweed.
Instead of the hard bathtub as a backrest, Siyeon’s soft body felt like clay.
Between my shoulders and the top of my shoulder blades lay a soft, low peak that, when compared to mine, seemed like a natural mountain range.
From the two soft rice cake-like cheeks published on her body, the physical differences began to surface.
Looking at Siyeon, who was far more physically advanced, natural thoughts arose.
‘We lived in the same house, eating the same thing…’
Same environment, same food, similar nutrition.
Yet, there was a distinct difference in growth.
Is this the power of genetics?
Leaning back, I looked at Siyeon’s face with an expressionless gaze.
From a woman’s perspective or a man’s, she was cute.
‘Well, at least they gave her that well…’
“Why?”
As I sighed while thinking about Siyeon’s unknown parents who ‘at least gave’ her good genes, I stared blankly.
After staring silently for a while, Siyeon cocked her head curiously at my deep exhale.
It seemed that saying the truth could hurt.
“Nah, it’s nothing.”
I said it was nothing and tried to brush it off…
“What? You were going to say something!”
Instead, her reaction made her more curious about what I had to say, and Siyeon pulled me in from behind and began to press for the details more stubbornly.
Thus, a day at a hotel costing 240,000 won per night passed noisily.
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