Chapter 140

“Huuuaaaah…”

Maru looked really tired. Maybe it was because of what happened yesterday. Well, if a newbie got caught by their superior, it made sense. I didn’t get scolded much since it was partly my fault, but my heart definitely skipped a beat.

“Hana, have a good class!”

“Maru, take care!”

Maru’s driving was wobbly and dangerous. Sitting in the passenger seat, I felt like I was in a race car. Apparently, Maru spent the last week of her job training learning how to drive.

No wonder her skills were lacking—she only had a week of practice. But I figured she’d get better after a few more days. Honestly, I wanted to drive myself, but sadly, my legs were too short to reach the brake and accelerator.

The only thing I could ride was a kickboard. Sure, my legs were long compared to my body, but at 135cm, there was only so much I could do.

With my bag bouncing on my back, I arrived at the school entrance. I waved at the grumpy-looking security guard and walked in. Inside, some kids were playing soccer—probably training to become soccer players.

When I got to the classroom, Jiyu and Yumi greeted me. I was right on time. We chatted for a bit, and before I knew it, class was about to start.

Luckily, since we’re elementary schoolers, classes are only 40 minutes long, with a whopping 20-minute break. Back in high school, it was 50 minutes of class and only 10 minutes of break…

Anyway, I focused on the class.

—

“Hana, let’s go get dessert today!”

“Should we?”

We finished school early today, so we had some time before the car arrived. Jiyu stuck to my side, chatting away. Yumi, probably hungry too, didn’t interrupt. Even though we’d just had lunch, we were already hungry again—typical elementary schoolers.

Our stomachs were strong, but not strong enough to eat like Mukbang YouTubers. We ate small portions frequently.

“I know a place with delicious crepes!”

Yumi raised her hand excitedly. She loves sweet snacks, so her recommendations were always on point.

“Let’s go!”

I raised my hand too. I also had a sweet tooth. Sure, it’s a kid’s taste, but hey, I *am* a kid, so it’s fine.

We slung our bags over our shoulders and started walking. We had to take the subway for two stops. Jiyu, Yumi, and I stuck close together—we didn’t want to get separated.

We took the escalator down to avoid the harsh sunlight. It was an awkward time of day, so there weren’t many people around.

Once we got underground, there were more people. They kept glancing at us—probably because Starlight Elementary’s uniform is a bit unique.

“Didn’t the math teacher seem off today? She looked really grumpy.”

“I heard her husband got into trouble yesterday.”

“Really? That explains it.”

We chatted about random things while waiting by the screen doors. The train arrived with an announcement, and I opened a map app to check where we were going. Yumi knew the way, but I wanted to take a screenshot of the location on my phone.

That way, it’d be easier for Maru to pick us up later. Describing the surroundings would’ve been too vague—this was much faster and clearer.

When we got on the train, we spotted an empty seat. It was technically a two-seater, but for small elementary schoolers like us, three could fit comfortably.

But we didn’t need to worry about that. As we walked over, the people sitting there got up and left the train.

We plopped down on the now-empty seats, and the doors closed. The train rattled and slowly started moving. This was my first time riding the subway, and my heart was racing. New experiences always got me excited.

“Hey…”

But then, a young man sitting next to me spoke up. Huh? Bora once told me to treat guys who talk to you with strange looks as less than human—not even wolves, just beasts.

But this guy didn’t have that weird look, so I answered.

“Yes?”

He pointed awkwardly to the seat next to me. There, my long hair was sprawled all over…

It was placed on the chair. It was because my hair, which grows in length freely, had grown exceptionally long today. My hair grows randomly, and today it had grown incredibly long.

With a flustered expression, I quickly gathered my hair. I had tied it long and hanging down like a stingray, so that’s why.

“Ah, sorry!”

I swiftly moved my hand to pick up my hair that was sprawled on the seat. Then I placed my hair on my thigh.

“Thanks~”

Fortunately, no one sat on my hair or anything like that, so it was a relief.

“Hana, you should cut your hair like me!”

Jiyu pointed to her hairstyle and said. Compared to my long hair, Jiyu had a bob cut. It wasn’t as short as a pixie cut, though. However, Yumi, sitting next to her, frowned and said.

“No! Hana looks really good with long hair!”

“I’ve had long hair too, Yumi! Short hair is so much more comfortable~”

The two started bickering. I just shrugged and took out my mobile phone. Yumi and Jiyu always argued like this. And after the argument, they would link arms as if nothing had happened.

We arrived at the station we needed to get to. Looking around, there were only adults. I had to look up to see their faces.

Hugging Jiyu and Yumi tightly, we got off the subway. We linked arms and weaved through the crowd. There were so many people here that it felt like we might lose each other.

*Beep!*

[Child!]

Being a child had its perks. We could ride public transportation at ridiculously low prices. And we received consideration everywhere. When riding the bus, if there were no seats and we had to stand, sometimes people would make way for us. Maybe because we were small and couldn’t reach the handrails, wobbling around, we looked pitiful.

Crossing the exit and taking the escalator up from the subway station, we saw a crowd that resembled a market. There were so many people. Even though we had only crossed two stations, the surroundings had changed so much.

“Hana, Jiyu, we just need to walk a little further from here!”

Yumi grabbed our hands and pushed through the crowd. It seemed like we were the only children around.

But Jiyu’s memory seemed to be wrong. Holding Jiyu’s hand, we arrived at a place where there was nothing. There were stores, but they were clothing stores.

“Huh? There was a crepe truck here before!”

Jiyu also looked around in confusion. It couldn’t be that Jiyu’s memory was wrong, so it seemed like the truck had moved somewhere. Stores can’t move freely, but food trucks can just start up and move.

“Uncle, uncle! Is there a crepe store around here?”

While Jiyu was asking a passing uncle, I couldn’t help but feel burdened by the gaze I received. A young woman who seemed to be with a child was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

As I stood there awkwardly, the woman crouched down to meet my gaze. She smiled and started talking.

“How old are you? And what’s your name?”

“10 years old, Hana…”

“Wow… Are you a child actor?”

“Ah… no!”

“You’re so pretty and cute, Hana. Have you ever been on TV?”

“No…”

“Do people around you often say you’re pretty? And you probably have a boyfriend, right?”

“Nooo…”

I quickly hid behind Jiyu under the woman’s gaze. Seeing me like that, the woman smiled.

“You’re so cute! I want to pinch Hana’s cheeks!”

Fortunately, she didn’t.

By the time Jiyu had asked around and come back, we found out that a crepe store had opened. It seemed like the store owner had made a lot of money. Enough to abandon the truck and open a crepe store in a building.