On the table sat four boxes of fried chicken, each a different flavor, steam still rising from the crispy skin.
Park Dong stared at them, eyes practically glowing.
Oh… this looks fucking delicious.
Inseop, meanwhile, glanced at Park Dong's group hovering around the table.
…This is more awkward than I thought.
Now that I think about it, I barely even know these people.
Park Dong shot a glance back at Inseop, Hyewon and Ono, swallowing hard.
Fuck, I'm starving.
Are we eating or just going to keep staring at each other like idiots?
Seojin seemed to sense the tension.
"Fuck, I'm hungry. If you guys want to keep staring at each other, do it somewhere else."
He slipped on a plastic glove, grabbed a piece of chicken, and took a big bite, his face instantly softening in bliss.
That broke the atmosphere.
Everyone dove in.
Irina and Park Dong immediately turned it into a competition, each grabbing chicken with both hands, tearing through pieces in seconds before reaching for more.
"You beast leave me some!!" Park Dong yelled.
"You're just slow, punk!" Irina shot back, cheeks stuffed.
Grease, bones, and laughter piled up fast.
Afterward, they moved outside.
The air was noticeably cooler, cicadas buzzing faintly in the background.
Ono and Park Dong sat on a wide wooden bench, while Suwon cradled a whole watermelon in his arms like a treasure. Daegyu, Inseop, and I stood nearby, enjoying the breeze.
"Mm… the air's nice," Park Dong muttered.
He eyed the watermelon. "Where'd that come from?"
"Ahjussi bought it," Suwon said. "Told us to eat it down by the valley."
"Oooh," Park Dong nodded, then turned to Ono. "The stream isn't far, right? Just a bit more walking?"
"It really is about ten minutes," Ono replied calmly.
"Okay,"
Daegyu said, though his hand drifted to his pocket.
"I kinda want to smoke…"
He glanced at Inseop.
"You smoke?"
"Uh… no."
Daegyu's eyes moved from one person to the next, but everyone gave the same silent answer.
He sighed and tucked the pack away.
Am I really the only smoker here…?
Maybe I should quit too.
Inseop turned toward Seojin. "Hey… it looks like you get along really well with Seol Hyorim."
"Of course," Seojin replied immediately. "She's head over heels for me."
He lifted his chin smugly, practically posing.
Park Dong snorted. "Don't let Seolhyo hear that. She might actually beat you into a pulp."
Seojin scoffed. "Who could bring themselves to ruin a face like this?"
The rest of them stared at him with dead, fish-like expressions.
Everyone eventually stopped talking to him, already knowing that no matter what the topic was, he'd somehow twist it into another excuse to flaunt his looks.
Suwon then smirked and nudged Park Dong. "You shouldn't be worrying about other people's relationships. Why don't you try doing something about Irina instead?"
Park Dong stiffened instantly. "W-what? What would I even do? Huh?"
The others burst out laughing, seeing him flustered just from her name being mentioned.
"Just try getting a little closer, haha!"
"Ah forget it, damn it!" Park Dong snapped, waving them off. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"
Ono, who hadn't joined in at all, watched them quietly, a faint frown on his face.
So noisy…
The girls soon came out of the house, faces bright, clearly ready to head to the stream.
Ono didn't waste any time he turned and started walking ahead, hands in his pockets.
We followed Ono down the open path, our footsteps crunching softly against the ground while the cicadas grew louder, filling the space where our voices had been.
The sound of our laughter slowly thinned out as we left the house behind, fading into the open air.
At the mountain valley stream, the girls gathered on one side, snapping photos and giggling as they posed beneath the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.
On the opposite side, the boys stood around chatting, their voices carrying over the steady rush of running water as they kept glancing their way.
Inseop looked over at Hyewon, who blended in easily with the other girls, and a satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
Suwon shot Park Dong a teasing grin. "If you treat her kindly instead of acting stubborn like usual, you'll be fine."
Daegyu, standing beside Park Dong, burst out laughing. "HAHA yeah, that's hard to imagine."
"Shut up, punks," Park Dong snapped, glaring at all of us. "Don't worry about me. I can handle my own love life. And you've got no right to give advice you're single like me."
Suwon clenched his teeth but stayed quiet.
Annoying as it was, Park Dong wasn't wrong.
From across the stream, Seolhyo raised her hands and shouted, "Hey! Does anyone have sunglasses I can borrow?!"
I spotted the pair tucked into Suwon's shirt, snatched them, and ran toward Seolhyo.
"Hey! I was using those!" Suwon yelled after me.
Park Dong scoffed as he watched me sprint off toward Seolhyo like an obedient dog. "So who's head over heels for who now, huh?"
He glanced back at the girls, his eyes settling on Irina's back.Be nice… to Irina?
We'd been bickering since middle school.
Did they really think it was that easy now? Still… we couldn't keep fighting forever. Maybe just maybe I could try.
At least for this trip.
His ears burned red as he finally spoke. "Hey, Rina."
Irina turned around. "Yeah?"
Park Dong placed a hand on her shoulder.
Just as I thought…
Then, without warning, he yanked her down with him, both of them splashing straight into the water.
"Eeeek?!"
Being kind just isn't for me!
"Wha?! Park Dong, are you crazy?!" Irina yelped as the two of them splashed straight into the water.
Seolhyo squealed when the water spray reached her.
"What are you doing, you insane punk!"
Park Dong only laughed, flinging water everywhere. "We're at a stream! Getting wet is the whole point!"
"You're dead!" Irina shouted, scooping water at her hands throwing at him with all her strength.
Chaos erupted almost instantly. Irina kick after getting up they immediately splashed at each other, laughing and shouting.
"Get lost!!"
"Ugh!!"
Seolhyo retaliated by splashing me when she caught me laughing too hard, and I only laughed more, scooping water up with both hands and firing it back.
"Who said you could laugh at me huh?!"
Nearby, Inseop and Hyewon splashing at each other, smiling like they had their own little world.
"Ah, It's cold!'
Suwon and Daegyu lounged on a large, sun-warmed rock, stretched out and looking at everyone lazily from the sidelines.
And then there was Ono. He sat a little apart on a rock, facing the sunlight, sunglasses hiding most of his expression, looking completely unbothered by the noise.
Jinkyung's gaze swept over the scene the pairs forming naturally, the laughter, the tangled mess of arms and splashing water.
..Sure, i'm excited because we came for fun..
The corner of her mouth tightening just slightly.
But how should I say this..
Everyone's got a pair…
She smile bitterly.
And I feel like I'm the only one without one...
Must be my imagination... right?
Jinkyung stood a little apart from the group, the laughter and splashing echoing across the valley.
The boys were throwing Suwon into the air, laughter bursting out as water splashed everywhere. They caught him, then tossed him up again, louder each time.
"Are you okay?!"
"You threw him way too high!"
"HAHAHA!"
"KYAHAHAHA! Jinkyung, come over here too!"
Jinkyung stood a little farther away from the group.
"Yeah, yeah," she called back lightly.
I don't have a pair.
She glanced down at the photo she'd just taken on her camera.
Looking at it now, she realized it had always been like this.
With Hyorim or Rina, someone always came up to them naturally.
Boys treated them like girls they were interested in openly, obviously.
For her, it was different.
They treated her more like a comrade.
Her expression hardened just a little.