Finally, a semester is over, and vacation has begun.
On the first day of break, I was lounging in bed, hugging Do-ah.
Leaving school feels so refreshing.
To celebrate the vacation, I should take some pictures of Do-ah.
I opened the camera app on my new phone and switched to selfie mode, raising my hand to include Do-ah.
“Do-ah, look at my phone screen~”
“Uh-huh.”
I captured both our faces together on the screen.
Click!
“Do-ah, this time, be cute.”
“Uh-huh.”
Click!
“Be cool.”
Click!
“Look sassy.”
Click!
I couldn’t help but admire the pictures I took.
“What do I do, Do-ah?”
“Why?”
“Our Do-ah is shining so bright in the photos.”
“Uh-huh.”
Do-ah always reacts nonchalantly when I compliment her, like it’s a given.
“But did you know?”
“Uh-huh?”
I covered Do-ah’s ear and whispered.
“Actually, I shine more than you do.”
“No way!”
She reacts coolly but eventually shows her true feelings.
“Hehe, what should I do~? Do-ah is now the second prettiest!”
“No! Do-ah is prettier!”
“Hmm~ I’m not so sure about that?”
Maybe I teased her too much, as Do-ah started to cry.
“Boo-hoo!”
Her crying sounds so cute, just like how I used to cry.
“Do-ah, stop. Crying makes you look uglier.”
Hearing my words, Do-ah’s sobs only grew louder.
Mom, who was outside, heard the crying and came through the door.
“Do-hee, why are you making Do-ah cry again?”
“I was just messing with her by saying I’m prettier. Hehe.”
Mom opened her arms to Do-ah.
“Oh dear, was our Do-ah sad? Come here, and I’ll scold your sister for you.”
Do-ah, who had been in my arms, wriggled free and ran to Mom to hug her.
Seeing Do-ah, I stretched my arms toward her like a tragic heroine, whispering softly.
“No, Do-ah, Princess! Please don’t leave me!”
“I don’t like you!”
Hehe!
Do-ah’s reaction was so cute that I couldn’t help but laugh.
Now I understand why I like teasing her.
Every little reaction of hers is adorable; how can I not tease her?
“Did you hear that, Do-hee? Do-ah said she hates you~ Our Do-ah wants to be with pretty Mommy instead of ugly sister, right?”
“What are you talking about? Objectively, I’m prettier than Mom.”
My mom listened to me and struck a seductive pose while saying,
“Ah~ You’re still too young to chase after your mom’s mature beauty.”
“Ugh. In five years, I’ll be sexier. Flat-chested.”
“… ”
Looks like I might have hit too hard at my mom’s weaknesses.
“Sorry, Mom. But Dad likes it, right?”
“Either way, you’ll end up just like me.”
“I trust Dad’s genes.”
While my mom and I were bantering, Do-ah was still crying, apparently feeling very sad.
It’s time to soothe Do-ah now.
I put on a sad expression and said to Do-ah in a whiny tone,
“Do-ah, I’m sorry… Do you not like me anymore…? I really like you, you know…”
Do-ah hesitated for a moment, crying, but eventually came and hugged me.
“No, I like you, Big Sis. I don’t hate you.”
“Hehe, I like our Do-ah so much~”
“Yeah.”
“And actually, Do-ah is prettier than me, so let’s stop crying, okay?”
“Yeah. I know.”
I hope Do-ah stays this cute forever.
But what if she hits puberty and starts hating me later…?
What if we run into each other on the street and she pretends not to know me, then comes home and tells me not to act like I know her…?
Sniff sniff, Do-ah, are you embarrassed by your big sis?
I only have you.
“Do-ah, how could you do this to your big sis?”
“…?”
Anyway, after playing with Do-ah and healing the fatigue accumulated over the semester, I found myself with nothing to do.
According to my usual schedule, I’d be suffering at school, but just rolling around in bed makes me feel lazy.
I need to come up with something to fill my time and establish a routine.
As I pondered what to do in my spare time, I decided to study a foreign language.
Why? Because it’s cool.
Me fluently speaking a foreign language in front of others?
I’d fall for myself!
Being cool is the best; what more do I need?
While considering which foreign language to study, I realized that I am currently studying English consistently and have no problems with daily conversation.
For natural local speech, I’ll have to attend a language academy or study abroad later; doing it all alone at home is too much.
Now, for the second foreign language.
The ones I’m interested in are French and Japanese.
First, the reason I want to study French:
The pronunciation is sexy.
It sounds sophisticated.
Let’s imagine this:
I’m in Paris, France, with a group, dining at a Michelin-star restaurant.
Then, I order the main dish in fluent French and ask for a recommended wine to pair with it.
People around me are amazed.
Once I hear the name of the wine, I say,
“I’ll have that, please.”
Ahhh…
What if they want to display me at the Louvre Museum?
Anyway,
The reason I want to study Japanese:
Japanese has a similar grammatical structure to Korean.
Korea and grammar structure are the same.
There are many words with the same pronunciation and meaning.
So it should be easy to learn.
Ugh, maybe I should just stick to Japanese since I have to use it more.
How long does it take to get to France, anyway?
As soon as I made up my mind, I went to the kitchen and told my mom.
“Mom, I’m going to study Japanese.”
“Suddenly?”
“I have too much free time at school, so I have nothing to do. It feels weird to just sit around.”
“Do-hee, if you study too much, you’ll struggle later. You know it’s important to play too, right?”
“So I’m just preparing to play later as an adult.”
“Then I don’t mind, but don’t force yourself to do something just because it’s tough.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. If it’s boring, I’ll quit right away.”
“Ugh, I told you to stop with the bad words. Do-ah is listening and learning.”
“Oops. Okay~”
“So are you going to attend a Japanese language school?”
“No, I’ll self-study. I feel like attending a school would just be a hassle.”
“Then should I tell Dad to bring back some Japanese textbooks on his way home?”
“Mhm. For beginners.”
After speaking with Mom, I entered my room and lay down on the bed.
Even without textbooks, I should at least listen to some lectures on YouTube.
I searched for beginner Japanese courses in the search bar.
YouTube is indeed convenient.
Lying in bed and listening to quality lectures for free, what a world we live in!
If only this existed when I was young in my previous life, I would’ve gotten into Seoul National University.
Or maybe not.
Anyway, I opened my notebook and was lazily listening to the lectures, but surprisingly, the Japanese lessons are fun.
I thought learning a foreign language would be as torturous as when I first learned English.
But learning a language on my own feels more like discovering a culture than studying.
It’s amazing that just by writing and pronouncing the basic Japanese script, Hiragana, I can read Japanese right away.
Of course, if I can read the characters, I can speak the language, but when I learned English, I was so focused on memorizing words that I didn’t feel this emotion.
Maybe it’s still fun because I’m a beginner.
I hear I also need to learn Katakana to read loanwords in Japanese, so that might be tough.
But if I don’t want to do that when the time comes, I can just quit.
Maybe I’ll consider becoming an interpreter or a diplomat later.
Next, I should try studying French too.
.
.
.
It’s been a week since vacation began.
Now I’m never bored.
I’ve created a routine that I must do every day, which makes me feel at ease.
Oh, speaking of which, I have vacation homework.
Do I really have to do this?
“Mom~”
“Why, Mom, I’m busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“SNS.”
These days, since I couldn’t post my photos, Mom’s been posting Do-ah’s pictures instead. Totally addicted to SNS.
I feel weird that my fandom might be shifting to Do-ah. Am I a bit of an attention seeker?
“Stop posting Do-ah’s pictures.”
“No way.”
“Why?”
“She’s cute.”
“That’s true.”
Maybe I should start an SNS and post pictures of Do-ah too.
“Anyway, I have vacation homework.”
“What is it?”
“I have to do a book report and a picture diary, one each week.”
“Really? Work hard~”
Mom is so into SNS, she can’t spare a glance at me.
I shoved my face between Mom and her phone, looking up at her.
“Can’t I just not do my vacation homework? You know I’m not exactly a normal kid.”
“Just do it. How hard can it be?”
“If you tell the teacher, I won’t have to do it!”
Mom pushed my head away from the phone screen and said, “When else will you get to do that? This is the best time.”
sigh… Fine, since we’re talking about it, let’s just get it done today.
First, the picture diary.
Inspiration hits.
I doodle a heart.
And below it, the caption: Do-ah is lovable.
Huh? Is this modern art?
Next up, the sun.
It’s hot.
Mom won’t turn on the air conditioning.
Fine.
Now for the egg.
I ate an egg.
Is this too half-hearted?
I enjoyed it perfectly, fried.
What should I draw next?
Maybe the YouTube logo.
I watched YouTube.
Wow, done with four parts in a flash. Am I a genius?
Now on to the book report.
Classic literature is the best for book reports.
Snow White.
My skin is whiter.
Cinderella.
If she runs in glass slippers, wouldn’t the glass break and stab her foot? Since it doesn’t break, it must be reinforced glass.
The Little Mermaid.
The mermaid is half-human, half-fish. If she’s always in the water, wouldn’t the skin above the water rot and swell? Did they waterproof it?
Rapunzel.
Once I wash my hair, I’d use up an entire bottle of shampoo. But doesn’t her hair get heavy? The traps must be killing her neck.
I finished my summer vacation homework, and it hasn’t even been ten minutes.
Is this me?
I’m ridiculously scared.
My talent.
The rest of the vacation, I can relax without worrying about homework.
Good, good.
.
.
.
Wait, I thought I spent the vacation leisurely, but why is it already the last day?
What do I do now?
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