“…Ri, …Yeona.”
Slowly opening my eyes to a familiar voice that reaches me in my half-sleep.
The comfortable place I was leaning against wasn’t a bed but a car seat.
“We’re home.”
The familiar voice undoubtedly belonged to Senior Jiun.
When did I fall asleep? Rubbing my eyes and letting out a silent yawn, I unbuckled my seatbelt.
“Haah, yes…”
After finishing the yawn I couldn’t quite complete, I replied, blinking my half-closed eyes.
With a click, the seatbelt detached and quickly slapped against the wall.
As Shiyeon stirred awake, she rubbed her eyes and got up, stretching her opposite arm high toward the sky.
“Uuuhhhh-!”
A mix of rejuvenation and drowsiness escaped from Shiyeon’s lips, causing her body to shudder.
No matter how hard she stretched from a seated position, she couldn’t reach the ceiling of the car.
We all crawled out of the back seat, stretching and yawning.
Immediately, I grabbed a plastic container of holiday food from the trunk and held the handle with both hands.
Then, fingers from above snatched the container from my grasp.
“Give it here, it’s hard to carry, right?”
‘You’ve already taken it, though.’
I passed the container to the action-prioritizing Jiun and followed her home.
Naturally, I pulled out Gomtaengi from my pocket and tossed it onto the cushion, quickly shedding my padded jacket and any remaining outerwear before tossing them into the laundry basket.
Jiun, who had entered ahead of us, took out the japchae and jeon from the bag and put them in the fridge, while transferring dishes like galbijjim directly into a pot.
The first thing to do upon entering the house was to wash up.
“Huuh.”
As Shiyeon headed straight for her room to catch up on her lost sleep, I stopped her, and realizing the reason for my interruption, she made a sulky sound and headed for the bathroom.
The sound of the shower sputtering to life.
From a place filled with unfamiliar sounds, I returned to a house filled with familiar ones.
Going out was tough… not to say it was a total pain, but, in any case, home is the best.
Even if this place has its share of awkward moments, it’s still a sanctuary where you can truly relax.
Once the shower stopped, I immediately started preparing to enter the bathroom.
I pulled out some clothes to change into from the closet and walked around the house in my underwear.
The house was a bit chilly since the heater hadn’t fully kicked in, but Shiyeon would be out soon.
“Hey, are you going to shower? Want to shower together?”
Having moved the food inside the plastic container to pots and the fridge, Jiun suddenly suggested that we shower together, her face lighting up at my sight in just my underwear.
After all, she was comfortable staying at her own house and didn’t think it necessary to ask for my permission.
“Do as you like.”
“Okay, just wait a bit, alright?”
After all, it was a house with three women.
Watching Jiun confidently strip off her clothes without feeling burdened or embarrassed made me feel like I was transformed into an invisible man straight out of a comic book.
A peculiar feeling arose from the awkward gap between the fading memory of the male figure in my heart and the womanly form already covering my body.
Maybe it’s because I’m still young, or perhaps something’s wrong in my head.
Now that I’m an adult woman watching another woman undress so openly, I feel like it’s just ‘she’s taking off her clothes.’
What’s clear is that she’s lost quite a bit of weight proportional to her efforts.
“Let’s get in!”
As Shiyeon came out of the bathroom, we promptly entered together.
Thanks to the person who had bathed before us, the mirror was fogged up, and the bathroom felt steamy like a sauna.
“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
“Well, of course! After all my effort, I had to lose some, right?”
Overjoyed by the simple compliments affirming her significant weight loss, Jiun puffed out her chest proudly.
“Ah, it’s cold!”
One faucet attached to the tub and another on the floor.
If Shiyeon had used the latter earlier, it meant the one on the floor was providing warm water, while the shower head from the bathtub suddenly spurted out cold water, startling Jiun.
After a short mishap, bath time commenced.
With long hair flowing down, I adjusted the water temperature from the shower and aimed it directly at the crown of my head.
Closing my eyes tightly and feeling the warm water cascading down from my head to my back and running underneath me, the sensation was refreshing enough to chase away the slight grogginess.
“Mary, come here.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll wash your hair, come over here.”
“Oh, okay.”
Gently squeezing the dripping water off my hair, I pulled my chair from the bathroom and leaned back against the bathtub.
Having someone wash your hair is an experience you can’t commonly have unless it’s at a hair salon.
With my eyes squeezed shut to avoid shampoo getting in, my senses sharpened.
I could feel the delicate touch of Jiun’s hands, clearly controlling her strength and being careful.
The lather created from the shampoo spread from the crown of my head through my hair, soaking into it thoroughly.
Given the small dimensions of the body, her hands couldn’t reach far.
After a few gentle rubs with the towel, the spot was covered in a bubbly lather.
“Once you’re out, dry your hair thoroughly.”
“Yes—”
Jiun seemed a bit more inclined to stay longer in the tub.
To make sure no water droplets fell from my hair, I squeezed the moisture with the towel, then emerged from the bathroom in just my underwear and searched for the hairdryer.
The room looked tidier than before, and Shiyeon was bustling about.
In contrast to the sleepy state from earlier, my eyes were now brightened up.
A single bath could definitely wake one up.
“What are you doing?”
When I asked Shiyeon what she was doing in the oddly tidy room, she answered with a grin, clearly satisfied with herself.
“I did the laundry!”
‘Laundry?’
Why was the girl who had never touched the laundry basket in her life doing that?
I glanced around, wondering.
Upon listening carefully, the laundry basket was indeed empty, and many garments that had been lying around were gone.
“Good job, good job, Shiyeon, you’re so nice.”
Ruffling her hair, Shiyeon squealed with delight.
In that moment, the bathroom door burst open, revealing Jiun, who had just realized something.
“Oh? Guys, where did my clothes go?”
In an instant, her voice rang out in surprise through the room.
In the silence, the washing machine’s rhythmic sound led me to a sudden realization.
Among the scattered clothes, Jiun’s outfit was included.
As my gaze fell towards the drum washing machine beneath the induction stove, Jiun dashed towards it in shock.
“Gah, nooo!”
“Uh-oh, we’re in trouble.”
Jiun’s scream and my short sigh escaped.
Thus, the Seol festival came to a close.
There was one set of clothing lost.
“Attendance roll call, Class 1-B-”
“Yes-”
The Friday right after the holiday.
Honestly, it was a day when both teachers and students didn’t want to come to school.
And there were even those who didn’t come at all.
What kind of nonsense is this?
It’s the field trip application form.
In simpler terms, it’s a family trip application form, but….
Schools nowadays recognize family trips as valid attendance, can you believe it?
There’s just one weekday between the holiday and the weekend.
On this bizarre stepping stone, sharp-eyed parents had applied for this ahead of the holiday and treated it as a vacation, so they didn’t send their kids to school today.
“I didn’t have this kind of thing.”
Taking school off for a family trip, is that even possible?
With my knowledge of school stuck in bygone years, I argue that it’s strange, but it’s actually happening.
Perhaps that’s why, there were empty seats here and there.
Without the noisy kids in the nearby seats, I could lean against the wall and stretch my legs behind the window.
After the morning assembly ended, there came a brief break until the first period started.
The kids rose spontaneously from their seats without anyone prompting them.
The topic of conversation starting among the tightly gathered kids was….
“How much money did you get for Seollal?”
Immediately, it was about the New Year’s money.
70,000 won, 80,000 won, 120,000 won, and even some claiming to have received over 500,000 won.
While it made me wonder how that was even possible, it also subtly revealed discrepancies in family units or financial background among them.
Without anyone asking, the kids began comparing their money in a competitive manner.
While everyone else was talking about that, I was put on the spot due to something that happened in last gym class.
Once the conversation started, it quickly turned to what everyone received for their Lunar New Year money.
“How much did you get, Mary?”
“50,000 won.”
Of course, the flow of the questioning reached me as well, and without much thought, I stated the truth.
The other kids, having good ears, jumped at my muttered amount of 50,000 won, with a few boys who had always been envious of my game account coming over to challenge me.
“Hey! You only got 50,000 won? I got 110,000 won!”
“So, is that in your pocket now?”
Flapping my wallet, I brought out the 50,000 won and waved it right in front of him.
That 50,000 won could get me several meals of snacks with my school friends, the temptation was real.
His eyes flickered a bit, and sensing that he had some excuses, he brought his mom and tried to argue back.
“Well, mom said she’s keeping it safe!”
“Tsk tsk, try asking for it? She probably won’t give it to you.”
Chuckling while shaking my head, I tossed the 50,000 won back into my wallet.
I wondered how many kids were fooled by those words and ended up adding their New Year’s money to their living expenses.
It has probably already gone into their parents’ bank account.
