episode_0047

Carrying luggage, I took the elevator down with the kids and left the apartment complex. Since it was troublesome to cross the barricade, I asked the taxi driver to wait outside the complex.

-Drrrrrrrk.

The sound of the suitcase wheels dragging on the floor could be heard. It was an extremely hot day. It felt like I might start sweating soon. Normally, it would have been an annoying situation, but even so, our family’s smiles never faded.

When traveling, good weather is just a bonus, so we were quite pleased with the weather. Even though it would be evening by the time we arrived, the weather felt suitable for going to see the night sea.

“The weather is nice, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. When we arrive, the sun will set, and the sea breeze will blow, so it should be pleasantly cool, right?”

“Well, I feel like I should unpack and go meet my friends as soon as we arrive. Is that okay?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to have dinner at the hotel before moving?”

After pondering Davin’s words, I nodded in response.

“He has dinner plans. If his friend comes to Busan, he’ll guide them to a delicious rice soup restaurant.”

I thought he was a friend from another city, but it seems he’s around the same age.

“Is that friend a high school student?”

“No. Around twenty, I think? Besides that friend, there are two more. That friend is the only adult, the others are my age, one guy and one girl.”

“Oh, I see. Got it. I should go see the sea and eat something delicious with my sister.”

After finishing the conversation, we arrived at the taxi and loaded the luggage. Nayoung and I put clothes in the same suitcase, while Davin just brought his travel backpack, so we didn’t have much luggage.

-Thud!

“Okay, let’s get in.”

The driver got out and loaded our luggage, then opened the car door for us. It seemed a bit overly kind, but since he was doing it, we decided to gratefully accept the service.

“Th-thank you.”

I sat in the front passenger seat, and the kids got into the back seat, and soon the car departed.

“Where are you going to play?”

“Ah, yes.”

Usually, drivers prefer to just drive without talking, but perhaps because he was older, he naturally started a conversation with me as soon as we started driving.

“Where are you headed?”

“To Busan.”

“Busan? A great place to visit. Lots of delicious food. Going to see the sea?”

“Haha, yes. Not for swimming, just to see the sea.”

“Are those your siblings in the back?”

Oh, this pattern again? If I say “I’m their mom,” it will lead to the usual follow-up stories, which were getting tiresome.

“Yes. Haha.”

And when I looked in the rearview mirror, the kids were staring wide-eyed.

“Haha, they all look so lively. Is the young lady a college student?”

“Yes.”

I don’t know. Although the excitement of going on a trip remained, I found this conversation annoying and was responding half-heartedly. By the time we got out of the car, I had become a 23-year-old fourth-year university student who had started working at a food company. Taking a break during the holidays, I was a kind older sister taking my siblings to Busan for a trip.

As I got out of the car and received the taxi driver’s well wishes for a fun vacation, Nayoung looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes and said,

“People are quite shameless. Isn’t that right, unnie?”

I was just being lazy. Despite explaining that, Nayoung kept teasing me by calling me “unnie.”

“Can you buy me something to drink? Sis.”

Even Davin joined in teasing me. Lately, it feels like the authority of parents is crumbling. Well, they say that nowadays having parents who are like friends is the trend.

Once I accepted this kind of joke, I felt like it would continue, so I opened my mouth to cut it off properly.

“Are you going to keep calling us that today? Should we just go normally instead?”

Upon hearing this, Dayoung grinned as if she found it amusing and whispered in my ear.

“But Mom, wouldn’t this seem more normal to others?”

Listening to her, she had a point… Darn it. There’s no logical flaw. No, it’s just that my face is too fake right now.

“Shall we keep calling each other by our first names until we get to the hotel?”

Call each other by our first names? What does that mean? Planning a rebellion? Is this a statement of rebellion against the current authority?

As I pondered the meaning of the word “call each other by our first names,” lost in thought, Dayoung explained that it meant speaking informally.

“Speaking informally? What’s that? Like ‘reverse time’ or something?”

When I asked that, Dayoung shook her head and said,

“‘Reverse time’ is when the youngest becomes the oldest and the oldest becomes the youngest. Calling each other by our first names means just using informal language equally.”

“I see.”

The language used by kids these days is certainly quite different from when we were young.

What was it they said? Giving everything away? Whatever it was, their language, where they cut down and view everything differently, was a bit hard for me, an older person, to understand.

Anyway, although I was negative about Dayoung’s suggestion, I nodded my head because it seemed like another way for our family to get closer.

“Okay, do as you please.”

“Got it, sis.”

From Dad to Mom, and then to sis. How far does my authority extend?

We had about 30 minutes left until the train arrived, so we wandered around the station, bought some snacks, and took pictures here and there at Dayoung’s insistence.

Later, as the train was about to arrive, we grabbed our luggage and descended to the train platform to wait.

Although the station interior was cool with air conditioning, as we descended to the platform, we were greeted by the stifling heat.

“Ugh, it’s hot.”

In the sweltering heat, as I adjusted the collar of my t-shirt, Dayoung lightly slapped my hand.

“Oh, hey, sis…! That behavior is not allowed! Do you want to be caught for indecency?”

Just by adjusting my clothes, did it have to sound like indecency? Looking around, I could see a few men hurriedly looking away.

The power of my body…

Even though I was just wearing a simple outfit – jeans, a white shirt, and a thin cardigan – it seems even in this ordinary attire, I couldn’t hide my strong presence.

Glancing around cautiously, I settled into the KTX train that slowly pulled up in front of us.

“Ah, it’s cool.”

As soon as I boarded, the coolness inside the train was refreshing. After checking the seat number on my phone screen, I found my seat and rotated the front seat to face each other, eliminating the need to find a place for the luggage.

I intentionally booked seats that rotated like this.

“Nice.”

Luckily, with just three of us, I wondered if it would be rude to rotate the seats, but seeing that no one came until the train departed, it seemed that at least at our station, the remaining seat was unclaimed.

Soon, the announcement sounded, the train started moving, and finally, the realization that we were truly on a journey sank in.

“Wow, we’re departing.”

It wasn’t just me who felt that way; Dayoung and Davin were waving excitedly as the train moved.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but think that it was a good decision to leave the car behind.

In the end, isn’t travel all about emotions? Ultimately, how fulfilling a trip is determined not by which course you took or how you traveled, but by how satisfied you were.

“Sister, kimchi!”

Next to me, Dayoung sitting in the aisle seat lifts her camera and gestures for me to pose.

“Oh, sure.”

Suddenly posing with kimchi, she smiles, and then with a click, a photo is taken. Then Dayoung takes something out of her bag, operates her phone, and photos start coming out of that device.

“Mom, what’s that?”

Printing photos instantly by connecting it to a phone, not a Polaroid camera. What, like a printer?

“Oh, it’s a photo printer. You didn’t know that?”

I turn my head to look at Davin. It was a question of whether she knew, but Davin just scratched her cheek awkwardly and chuckled.

“Am I the only one who didn’t know?”

“Anyway, Sister really… isn’t old-fashioned either.”

Oh, old-fashioned. Well, I’m kind of old-fashioned, aren’t I? Should I be criticized for being old-fashioned?

Anyway, looking at the printed photo, although the quality wasn’t great, it had a similar sentiment to a Polaroid.

“Wow, amazing! It looks more convenient than a Polaroid.”

Above all, with a Polaroid, you can’t do things like editing, so there might be inconvenience, but with this product, you can do simple edits on your phone, making it seem more useful.

“Hehe, I bought two sets of 50 sheets each, so we have to fill up a total of 100 sheets. Get ready. I’ll use all of these in three days.”

D-Day? Are we really going to rest now?

“Yesterday on the show, they told us to take lots of pictures in our room. We have to take a lot.”

Thinking about work even when going out, how much of a workaholic are you? Who do you resemble to be like that, goodness!

Anyway, until we arrived in Busan, we took nearly 20 photos inside the train.

Somebody, please save me!