Seko, the abbreviation for Seoul Comic World.
I had heard there was an event like that from afar, but I had never been there myself.
I had a unhealthy perception that it was a place where people in cosplay wandered around, and where child-like characters were stripped for business.
It’s a preconceived notion that’s somewhat inevitable, considering it feels like a sacred place for the few anime otakus in Korea.
Surely, Shiyeon had some experiences from when she went there a few times with friends during elementary school.
Looking back, I wondered if it was too early to have allowed her to go.
Thinking this way, I responded to Shiyeon’s suggestion to go together with a rather dispirited demeanor, revealing a lack of confidence.
“I’ve never been to anything like that….”
It’s natural to feel intimidated by first-time experiences.
I didn’t think I hated the idea, but for some reason, I couldn’t boldly accept Shiyeon’s suggestion.
Then, Shiyeon gave a reassuring expression as if to say not to worry, pressing down on my shoulder from above and said,
“It’s okay! I know it well!”
“Ugh….”
Now, unlike when we were in elementary school, I could feel strength from the pressure on my shoulder.
There was a feeling that I was shrinking under the weight of her enthusiastic jump.
I was already shorter than the kids in my class, so I wished she wouldn’t press down on me like that.
In my previous life, I never really cared about my height as I grew naturally, but among students, I used to rank in the top positions…
Now, however, I found myself not being able to rank at all year after year when it came to height.
Whenever anyone got a bit closer, they would pat my head, and even if I tried not to care, it was impossible not to.
While they considered it a cute expression, the recipient felt strangely.
“It’s already small enough without being pressed down….”
When I let out a noise like a doll when pressed, Seonhyuk, who was sitting next to me, poked the part I was concerned about without hesitation.
A short word escaped reflexively.
“Shut up.”
“Oh, Seko… I want to go too.”
Dongha, with his chin resting on his desk, rolled his head here and there, complaining.
“Why? You can go.”
I couldn’t help but feel perplexed that someone who had ditched school just to get a magical girl signature couldn’t go to Seoul, as I nudged him in the side with my foot after taking off my sneakers.
Wow, this cushion… it might be softer than some cushions.
As I enjoyed the reassuring touch at the tip of my toes, Dongha muttered gloomily, not caring about the side where my toes poked him.
“They said we can’t go during vacation. They said we have to finish at least our homework first….”
“Then just do it.”
“Ughhh….”
When I asked if it couldn’t be done, Dongha began to mutter incomprehensible sounds like his intelligence had dropped.
If he’s like this in 7th grade without any tests, how is he going to handle 8th grade?
It was the break right after the 5th period, and the 6th and 7th periods on alternate Wednesdays were club activities.
Though they were called the 6th and 7th periods, they were almost like playtime.
Effectively, it was almost the end of the school day.
So right after the 5th period ended, our homeroom teacher came in as if it were closing ceremony time and left the same concluding remarks as always.
“Everyone, do well in your club activities for the remaining two hours, and let’s get home quickly so that our parents won’t worry; okay?”
“Yeeah-”
The elongated responses from students signified that class had ended.
As soon as the teacher’s concluding remarks were finished, a huddle of students gathered outside our classroom and rushed in.
These were the people using our classroom for their club activities.
What was the name again, the Literary Sharing Club?
I think it was a name like that.
Anyway, we crossed paths with those 2nd years as we headed out of the classroom.
The place Shiyeon and I aimed for was the 3rd grade 2nd-year classroom, where the coloring book club activities were set to begin.
Though they had a grand name even using English, simply put, it was coloring like we did in kindergarten.
The group gathered could hardly be more than 5 people, a small club.
In contrast, popular clubs like the Gaming Technology Research Club had a rumored level of competition comparable to the heights of the sky.
Perhaps its name having “game” included was a reason for this rumor that they played games outside.
Additionally, due to the influence of Japanese animation peeking into the light, the voice acting club surprisingly gained popularity.
Naturally, there were various sports clubs, but if I had to answer why I chose this club with such little popularity…
“Today, let’s just fill two pages and play?”
“Yeah-”
For now, the activities were simple.
We could just go to some café outside, sit down, color two pages of black-and-white pictures, and we were done.
The remaining time would just be spent playing with our smartphones or ordering snacks to pass the time.
There was no benefit to going to clubs that were filled with competition or sports-related activities.
Avoiding other clubs like debate clubs that seemed to drag too much work with them led to this choice.
It was quite satisfactory, actually. There weren’t too many people.
For two hours, we gathered behind the club adviser, wandering around in a café, coloring and messing around with our smartphones.
Only Shiyeon was earnestly focused on coloring.
Even that was limited to tools like colored pencils, thus the result was just passable compared to the effort she was putting in.
As I was coloring pages of the coloring book for quite a while,
The 2nd-year science teacher, who was our club adviser, casually started a conversation.
“Kids, what do you want to eat? It’s not even my money, it’s school funds, so order whatever you want.”
“Um, well….”
Even though they had become comfortable with the club friends and teacher over the winter activities, the students hesitated when it came to spending money.
Seeing their fumbling made me frustrated, so I reached out to the center of the table and glanced at the menu.
There were six people counting our teacher.
‘With this many people….’
I scanned the table and selected something we could share eat.
Since no one around seemed likely to make suggestions in this atmosphere, I took the initiative and spoke to the teacher.
“Let’s each order a drink, and order about two honey breads and kaya toasts to share?”
“Oh, yeah, let’s do that. What does everyone want to drink?”
With that suggestion easily accepted, the teacher asked each seated student about their drink preference.
Now that we had decided on the shared items, it seemed that the club members were confident enough to choose what they wanted to drink.
“I’ll have a vanilla latte.”
“Hot chocolate?”
“I’ll have a caramel macchiato.”
“What about you guys?”
Shiyeon and I had ultimately turned into a set menu.
Even when called by our club adviser, we were referred to as ‘you guys’ instead of by our names.
It felt like we were already bundled together.
“I’ll have brown sugar bubble tea.”
Anyway, that aside, I chose something trendy these days, bubble tea.
Once I finished, it was Shiyeon’s turn to answer.
However, there was only the sound of Shiyeon’s colored pencils scratching, and no response directed at the teacher.
Noticing something was off, I turned to look at Shiyeon sitting right next to me, who was diligently scratching her colored pencils against the book.
Perhaps she was so focused that she couldn’t hear her surroundings.
“Shiyeon?”
After giving her a gentle tap on the shoulder to get her attention, her head lifted slightly.
Noticing a hint of confusion in her expression, she seemed to be asking, ‘Did you call me?’
“Oh, yeah?”
“What are you going to drink?”
In a hurry, Shiyeon put down her colored pencils and quickly began skimming through the menu.
As I watched her cute actions, the teacher chuckled, then turned to me with certainty and asked,
“This one tends to lose track of the surroundings when focusing?”
“Yeah, a bit like that.”
“I’ll have a strawberry latte!”
Nodding my head as a sign of affirmation, Shiyeon’s order came in late.
It seemed the teacher struggled to remember every order, pulling out a pen from his clothing and clicking it as he recounted the orders one by one.
“Then, strawberry latte, vanilla latte, brown sugar bubble tea, hot chocolate, caramel macchiato, along with honey bread and two kaya toasts… right?”
Going through the verification process to check if anything was incorrect.
“Yeah.”
After hearing our responses, the teacher finally got up from his seat and headed towards the counter, slipping the pen back into his pocket.
A little later, he returned to our table with a call bell.
“Wow, you can’t buy anything now because it’s too expensive.”
The teacher must have been astonished by the price, returning to our table with a sigh mixed with a bad impression.
Considering we’d be sharing the snacks, we actually ordered less than expected.
Curious about the total amount, I subtly shifted my gaze toward the receipt and asked,
“How much was it?”
“39,900 won, it’s almost 40,000 won.”
Taking the receipt that was held out, I checked, and indeed, the total printed was 39,900 won including the beverages ordered by the teacher.
It reminded me of the home shopping ads I often saw on TV.
29,900 won, 39,900 won… why does it always fall short by 100 won?
Suddenly curious about what the teacher ordered, I pointed my eyes toward the menu listed on the receipt.
Strawberry latte, vanilla latte, my choice of brown sugar bubble tea, hot chocolate, caramel macchiato…
And a chocolate cookie shake?
‘Surprisingly, the kids have good taste.’
I had imagined it would only list things like Americano or cafe au lait but found myself blinking at the unexpected menu, staring intensely at the receipt.
Wow, it does sound delicious.
