Chapter 156: Summer Vacation

[Blooming Core Minor Gallery]

Title: Did you enjoy the Bok server…?

Content: (Group photo with various pets and mounts)

(Group avatar photo with the square in the background)

This has been the 5th Blooming Core Server, the Lumina Project!

(GIF of a mouse character lowering one arm and bowing politely)

Comments:

• No, don’t go ㅜㅜㅜㅜ

• Ah, the photos really make me cry…
  └ I cried with Koharu when she was bawling ㅜ

• The emotional impact is still pretty strong… Are they not doing an after-party game or something?
  └ Gotta start spamming them with 1,000 won punches tomorrow.

• Ah, I stayed up all night watching the server, and as soon as I woke up, I rewatched what I missed from someone else’s perspective, then stayed up all night again doing a full tour… Now that it’s over, it doesn’t feel real…
  └ You should be thankful the server ended before you died and got a Darwin Award from watching streams…

• They really prepared a lot for the server this time.

• Simply GOAT
  └ It’s obvious they put a lot of effort in after the 3rd gen joined lol. Multiple mods and even a story.
  └ The story was surprisingly good too.

• All I see in the photo is Leah lol
  └ Her presence is insane haha
  └ She totally carried today~
  └ Nah, it wasn’t just today, she carried from the beginning to the end of the server lol
  └ True, the management team should bow down to Leah… She dove into all the prepared content and created so many role-playing situations.

• So what now?

• Seriously, why isn’t the next server announced yet? Is Blooming not working?
  └ It ended today, you brats lol

• Seriously, when is the next one?
  └ Can’t you tell from this being the 5th server…? Probably in winter.

• But it’s a shame Nagi didn’t participate… Everyone in Blooming could have joined.
  └ She doesn’t stream often anyway, is she doing something else?
  └ Dunno?? Maybe burnout…
  └ Is a 1st gen member going to be the first to graduate…? ㅜ
  └ What graduate? She could just be taking a break. Should I graduate your life for you?
  └ Woah, woah, you sound like Githeori, calm down lol

It was already August. The sun blazed, and the humidity was suffocating. It was weather impossible to endure without air conditioning. The air outside was not just hot but sticky, and just looking out the window made one feel warm.

While the server was running, they couldn’t schedule a group day off. Still, the topic kept coming up.

“Let’s really go when it’s over.”

A promise they had all made but kept postponing. Now, everyone’s schedules were clear, and the timing was right.

A hocance. No, perhaps they should change the name slightly. They had switched from a hotel to a private pool villa midway.

The goal was a completely independent place where they would encounter almost no people, but the prices for such places in Seoul hotels were too high. So, they booked a villa two hours away by car.

The meeting point was the underground parking lot of a cultural center in downtown Seoul. Karen and I entered together.

“Leah and Karen are here!”

Koharu, who had arrived first, greeted them, waving both arms. She looked as cheerful as usual, but I felt a strange sense of unease.

“Haaam. Hiii… Ah, I wanna eat.”

Karen, still half-asleep, swayed as she returned the greeting.

“Did you two meet on the way?”

“Didn’t you see the message? Karen slept over at my place.”

I shrugged slightly as I answered Koharu’s question.

“Huh! What? What did you two do?”

“Nothing much. She just came over on the last train and slept.”

It was literally true. Karen had pestered me about wanting to visit my place, but once she arrived, she didn’t drink with me or even talk much. She just slept. In the morning, we barely spoke as we were busy getting ready to leave.

My place wasn’t even that close to the meeting spot. If this was all she was going to do, I didn’t understand the point of her lugging all her baggage over.

Anyway.

“Koharu. I don’t particularly want to be a nag… I have no such intention. None at all, but.”

Koharu blinked.

“Is it just me, or does your way of speaking seem a little different?”

Koharu’s expression momentarily froze. Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly waved her hands.

“Ah… Unni!! No, it’s not! I think I went a little crazy because I was playing Bok so hard! Uwaaah…! Leah unni, I’m so sorry!”

“Why are you pressuring her?”

Karen chuckled beside me. I tilted my head slightly.

“Was it pressure? I was just curious.”

“I was so scared it woke me up completely, ya.”

Then she spoke gently to Koharu.

“She expresses things strangely, but she probably really was just curious. So don’t worry about it too much.”

So, where exactly was the misunderstanding in that expression?

Karen put on a slightly more serious expression.

“But you said it just slipped out like a habit from streaming, right? You should be careful about getting too immersed.”

At the hint of worry in her voice, Koharu gave an awkward laugh.

“Yes, Unni. I’ve been going at it full tilt for almost a month… Hehe.”

Koharu turned her head towards me.

“Come to think of it, Leah unni, you’re really amazing! You put so much effort into your acting on stream, and you don’t even make mistakes like me!”

For some reason, Karen’s eyes wavered slightly at those words.

“For me, that way of speaking is just how I am. Actually, I’m being more mindful now. Not that I’m acting right now, but… it’s true that the way I speak on stream is more comfortable.”

“How can that way of speaking be more comfortable!”

“Because I’m more used to it.”

“Unni, did you…attend some kind of finishing school…?”

While Koharu had a blank expression, a presence stealthily approached from behind. Karen and I saw who it was but pretended not to notice.

“Boo!”

“Kyaaah!”

Sara, the last to arrive, had startled her from behind. Of course, she immediately faced physical retribution from Koharu.

“But is it okay to hit the oldest person while still using polite speech…”

As if hearing Karen’s murmur, Koharu said confidently.

“It’s fine because this is how it’s always been!”

“It’s not fine…”

Sara grumbled, rubbing her shoulder. Then she looked down at her phone and said.

“Ah, the driver contacted me. The van will be here soon.”

“Wow! I’ve never ridden in a van before! I’m excited!”

Among us, only Sara had a driver’s license, and since it was quite a distance for one person to drive, we had decided to charter a van with a driver.

A moment later, large headlights slowly rounded the corner of the parking lot entrance. It was a black 9-seater van. When the driver got out and opened the trunk, everyone started moving with their suitcases and bags.

Sara looked at my luggage and said.

“…Choeun-ah, is this all you have?”

“Yes.”

I put down my small black carry-on suitcase.

“It’s surprisingly simple… Is there anything actually in there?”

“Right? Toiletries, a change of clothes, a swimsuit, that’s all.”

“Wow… So efficient…”

Sara said, sounding impressed despite herself.

“Actually, I’m curious about what everyone else packed so much of.”

I glanced at Koharu’s suitcase. It looked like she was packed for a 3-day, 2-night trip.

“That’s…just for the mood!”

“I didn’t know what to bring, so I just threw everything in, and it ended up like this.”

“I have two makeup pouches alone. Please understand.”

Even after we got into the van, there was a chaotic exchange of organizing bags and drinks.

The van drove so smoothly and quietly that we barely noticed when we had departed.

We chatted about trivial things, starting with the recently concluded Bok server, and then various other topics.

As we left the city, the buildings grew shorter, and greenery became more abundant. Karen and Koharu fell asleep on the way.

After driving for quite a while, the car rounded a final curve, and a building emerged from between the dense trees.

The pool villa was a structure with a harmonious blend of a dark slate roof and light-toned wooden exterior walls.

The outer fence was arranged with knee-high landscaping shrubs, completely blocking outside views without feeling stuffy.

Opening the main gate and stepping inside, a spacious entryway led to a living room with a high ceiling. Natural light streamed in softly through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

The living room floor and walls were also made of high-quality wood.

A terrace extended from the side, and beyond the terrace, a rectangular swimming pool of moderate depth lay serenely.

Everyone silently stepped inside.

“Woooow…”

“Amazing…”

Everyone exclaimed in unison.

The accommodation was indeed much larger than the photos suggested, and the privacy seemed perfect.

“Alright, let’s unpack first.”

Sara clapped her hands once.

My mini carry-on was small, and unpacking was quick.

Toothbrush pouch, lotion…

As I took things out one by one, something caught in the corner was pulled out with my fingertips.

“…Huh?”

It was a black bikini. I had no memory of packing it.

At that moment, Koharu glanced in my direction.

“Huh? Is that perhaps…”

Karen also whipped her head around.

“What, Leah! You wanted to show us your bikini after all!”

The puzzle pieces immediately fell into place. The reason she had insisted on coming to my place even though she wasn’t going to do much…

“…Karen.”

The voice that came out of my mouth sounded, even to my own ears, quite chilly.