Chapter 197: Building a Magnificent Sandcastle!

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And so, the so-called “Sandcastle Construction Team” was born.

Yuna joined in, saying she’d wanted to try building one too.

So-eun unnie, thinking there might be heavy lifting involved, stepped up to help us.

“Da-jeong, what are you doing there?”

First, to lay the foundation for the sandcastle,

I was stomping the ground flat with my feet when Yuna, who had been watching me curiously, casually asked.

“Huh? Oh, you have to pack the ground down like this to build it properly.”

“Wow, you’re such a pro!”

“Hehe, honestly, I don’t really know either—I’m just following what I learned online.”

I awkwardly laughed and kept stomping. Yuna joined in, running over to help pack the ground. Soon after, So-eun unnie jumped in too, and before long, the flat foundation was complete.

Alright.

Now, just pour a little water to harden it, and we’re done.

After that, all we have to do is build the sandcastle we envisioned.

“What kind of style are you going for?”

“Like this—sort of an old European castle vibe.”

“Cool. But that’ll take a lot of work, won’t it…?”

“We’re making it small, so it’ll be fine!”

When I showed them the rough sketch, the two gave me a “Will this even work?” look. But seeing me clench my fists with determination, they nodded and got to work.

First, we had to make the base of the castle.

We filled prepared molds with sand, mixed in water, and let it harden slightly. Then, carefully removing the molds…

“Whoa, it’s holding together pretty well!”

“Yeah, controlling the water is key.”

As Yuna said, three sturdy-looking molds were now complete. We connected them with more sand, smoothing the seams, and then used a plastic knife to carve the outer surface to the desired shape.

Scrape—scrape—

“Da-jeong, can we try that too?”

“Sure! Just use the knife to carve the edges neatly, like in the picture.”

“I’m not very crafty, so I don’t know if I can do it well…”

“It’s fine! We’re just doing this for fun anyway.”

Watching this, the two picked up plastic knives and started carving the sides of the castle, making brick-like patterns.

“Oh, it’s starting to look like an actual castle! This is fun.”

“Right? It’s more fun than I thought.”

“Yeah! I saw videos of it and it looked really cool.”

Sandcastles might seem like child’s play, but they require a surprising amount of effort. Guess everyone’s got some skills.

After a few minutes of shaping, what had started as three round mounds now resembled something straight out of a fantasy novel.

Well, that’s just my optimistic view.

In reality, it’s just roughly carved, so it still feels incomplete.

But we’re already halfway there!

“What are you guys doing over there?”

“Building a sandcastle, right?”

“Hehe, yeah!”

While decorating the castle walls with handmade sand bricks, Jia unnie and Chae-yoon unnie—who had been splashing in the water—came ashore and asked.

They came closer, curious, and when they saw me decorating the castle, their eyes widened. They crouched behind me, leaning in to point at the sand brick in my hand.

“Whoa, Da-jeong. What’s that? Are you making bricks to decorate it?”

“Yep! If you stack these square ones, it looks like real bricks.”

“That’s so much work… This isn’t the sandcastle I imagined.”

“Seriously, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Da-jeong’s really good with her hands.”

“I-I’m not that good… ehehe.”

A little embarrassed by their praise, I unconsciously scratched my cheek—with my muddy hand.

“Da-jeong, you’ve got dirt on your face. I’ll clean it for you—hold still.”

“Okay, thanks… Huh?”

Because of that, mud smeared on my cheek. Yuna, who had been staring at me, reached out, saying she’d wipe it off. Just as I was about to thank her, I realized something was wrong.

Wait a second.

Yuna’s been handling mud too—her hands can’t be clean.

Don’t tell me…?!

Squish—

“Ehehe, gotcha!”

“Uwbueh…!”

As the saying goes, “Don’t trust too easily.”

Sure enough, Yuna hadn’t reached out to clean my face—she’d planned from the start to smear more mud on me.

Using her index and middle fingers, she pinched my cheeks like mochi, squeezing hard. Thanks to that, a weird sound—half-human, half-animal—escaped my mouth.

Uuu, so mean.

I trusted you, Yuna!

“Ugh, even elementary kids wouldn’t pull this prank… I’ll get a wet wipe. Hold on, Da-jeong.”

“S-Sorry, unnie.”

Jia unnie, unable to watch, sighed and ran to the parasol to fetch a wet wipe, then cleaned my face.

I feel like a little kid…

“Da-jeong, how do we make the windows in the design?”

“Ah, that’s…!”

Just as we finished decorating and were figuring out the next step, So-eun unnie asked, looking at the reference image on my phone. Quickly, I pulled out a small tool from my bag—a rounded spoon-like object.

“You use this to gently scoop out the shape of the windows!”

After carving out the window spaces, the indentations made it look like real windows had formed. Everyone gasped in amazement.

“There’s a tool for that too?”

“Building sandcastles is way more technical than I thought…”

“Did Da-jeong come here dead-set on making a sandcastle?”

“This is so cool. I made sandcastles a lot as a kid, but never like this.”

Anyway, after finishing the decorations and windows, the castle wasn’t exactly like the reference image, but it was close enough.

Finally, we used the spoon to carve entrances into the three towers and placed a pink cone decoration on top—done!

“Whoa!”

“Wow, it’s a real castle!”

“It’s so cool!”

“Da-jeong, how about a photo in front of it? It’ll turn out so pretty.”

As everyone clapped at the finished sandcastle, Jia unnie picked up my phone and suggested.

Honestly, I felt a little shy in my swimsuit, but memories like these are precious. Without hesitation, I nodded and sat down gently in front of the sandcastle as she asked.

“Okay, Da-jeong, look at the camera and smile!”

“L-Like this?”

“Mhm, perfect! You look adorable, Da-jeong!”

Too flustered to pose properly, I gave an awkward smile—but she loved it anyway, happily tapping the shutter while bouncing on her toes.

Click—click—click—click—

Uhh… how many is she taking?

The shutter sound showed no sign of stopping. She even changed angles mid-shoot.

“Why are you going so hard on the photos?”

“Done already? I was gonna finish tanning and help.”

Thankfully, the endless shutter barrage was cut short when the CEOand Ra-hee unnie, lounging on the sunbed, spoke up.

“CEO, look at this! Da-jeong’s sandcastle—isn’t it amazing?”

“Oh, well done! Did Da-jeong make all that?”

“N-No! Everyone helped!”

I waved my hands in denial, but the CEO’s skeptical look said she didn’t buy it. Hmph, we really all worked hard on it!

“Unnie, you took pics of Da-jeong? Show me.”

Ra-hee unnie, more interested in my photos than the sandcastle, trudged over to Jia unnie and peeked at her phone.

“Yeah, look. Isn’t she cute?”

“…Damn, that’s hazardous to my heart.”

The moment she saw the photos, Ra-hee unnie blurted out a swear—something I’d never heard from her in nearly a year of working together. I was stunned.

Wait, if Ra-hee unnie’s reacting this hard…

What do the photos even look like?!

Curiosity got the better of me. I quickly stood up, dusted off my butt, and scurried between the two unnies to see…

“Eeek…!”

I strained onto my tiptoes to check the phone—though, honestly, it was less “tiptoeing” and more “Jia unnie noticing me and tilting the screen down.”

Uuu, no wonder I feel shorter lately…

Last time I checked, I’d lost 0.5cm.

Am I shrinking?!

“Well, Da-jeong? Adorable, right?”

Burying my tiny existential crisis, I finally looked at the photos.

There I was, sitting gently beside the small sandcastle, smiling at the camera.

I’d expected my expression to look painfully awkward, but contrary to my worries, it didn’t seem that bad.

“I-I don’t know about ‘cute’… but it turned out okay, I guess.”

“See? This is why it’s frustrating—you’re this adorable but refuse to admit it.”

“Uuu… I d-don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I twisted away from Ra-hee unnie’s teasing, my face burning. I’m not cute, okay?!

“So, Da-jeong, the sandcastle’s all done, right?”

“Yeah, unnie.”

While squirming in Ra-hee unnie’s hold, Chae-yoon unnie suddenly sidled up to me. Her eyes had a mission glint, and I tilted my head in confusion—

“Yuna, grab her!”

“Got it!”

“W-Wait…?!”

In a flash, Chae-yoon unnie’s lightning-fast order struck, and Yuna sprinted over, clamping onto my arm. Then, Chae-yoon unnie hoisted my legs up—H-hold on! Is this…?!

“W-Wait, unnie! I can’t swim…?!”

Even without prophetic powers, I knew what was coming. I flailed, protesting, but Chae-yoon unnie flashed a grin straight out of an anime, her gums sparkling with confidence.

“Relax! If you drown, I’ll give you mouth-to-mouth!”

“THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM HERE—”

SPLASH.

And just like that, I became a drowned rat.

…I hate both of you.