Chapter 177: Choi Arin was also excited

Naturally, Choi Arin, while grumbling about being dragged to Japan, completed all the departure procedures herself.

She had her passport and handled the baggage check-in smoothly.

She seemed to know more about it than Hayoon.

“Unnie, how are you so good at this?”

“Huh? Oh, well, I’ve been studying for a week… no, is that important?”

“Hehe… no, it’s nothing.”

Despite her feigned reluctance, she seemed quite excited.

Of course, with the COVID-19 situation, international travel hadn’t been easy.

Now that restrictions were lifting, it was natural to be excited.

“Never mind that, just wear your mask properly. It’s a bit more relaxed these days, but you still need to wear it properly on the plane.”

“Alright, alright.”

Choi Arin unwrapped a new black beak-style mask she had bought and put it on Hayoon’s face.

Hayoon’s face was so small that even with the mask on, there was some extra space, and it didn’t fit snugly. Choi Arin clucked her tongue.

“Why aren’t you a celebrity or something? Seriously…”

“You’re pretty too, unnie…”

“What? Rea… no, are you changing the subject again?”

When Hayoon retorted, Choi Arin, who had been on the verge of feeling good, responded coyly.

She definitely didn’t have low self-esteem, and her looks certainly didn’t warrant it, but she always felt small in front of Hayoon.

Every time Hayoon acted like this, she couldn’t help but react petulantly, wondering if Hayoon was teasing her.

“Hey.”

“Huh, what? No… to unnie…!”

Hayoon cornered Choi Arin against a pillar at Incheon Airport, trapping her in a kabe-don pose.

They had both checked their luggage, so their hands were free, and they had enough time for such playful antics.

“I’m just saying pretty people are pretty. Why do you keep denying it? Are you doubting my eyes?”

“Th-this… I told you, I’m your unnie… Hayoon…”

“Exactly. I’m telling you, unnie, you’re pretty.”

“Eek…”

Flustered, Choi Arin didn’t know what to do and lowered her head.

She covered her beet-red face with her hands. Hayoon lightly patted Choi Arin’s butt and urged her to hurry.

“Let’s go through immigration, unnie. We need to go and sit down early.”

“…”

Was she still embarrassed?

Choi Arin kept her face buried in her hands.

Hayoon chuckled and linked arms with Choi Arin, walking through the middle of Incheon Airport.

This made the posture uncomfortable, so Choi Arin eventually lowered her hands.

“…!”

As the two beautiful women walked together, men in the airport around the same time, even those with their girlfriends and wives, stared slack-jawed.

Hayoon’s proportions were so good that even in jeans and a short padded jacket, she drew attention.

And next to her was Choi Arin, who had made an effort to dress up in a skirt.

At first glance, they even looked like a couple.

And in reality…

‘Wow,… they totally look like a couple.’

‘Ugh, I should be the one leading… I’m the unnie…’

Both of them were subtly conscious of the other.

Hayoon, observing other couples at the airport, thought their actions were practically no different from a couple’s.

And Choi Arin, perhaps because she had already imagined marrying Hayoon, had no trouble fantasizing about them being a couple.

In Choi Arin’s mind, she could almost hear people whispering, “Oh my, look at them.” “Are those girls a couple? They’re pretty.”

Sometimes, having too vivid an imagination was a problem.

She became self-conscious of others’ gazes, her body tensing up, which naturally allowed Hayoon to take the lead.

I’ll lead like an unnie!

It seemed Choi Arin’s grand dream would take a long time to achieve.

Or perhaps, no matter how much time passed, her turn might never come.

“Alright, unnie, look at the camera. Peace.”

“P-peace…!”

Hayoon even took the lead in taking selfies, guiding Choi Arin with natural ease.

Choi Arin, internally repeating, I should be leading, I’m the unnie, couldn’t do what Hayoon did so effortlessly.

“Hehe, just taking pictures is fun.”

They took dozens of photos while waiting for their flight.

Hayoon looked at the pictures with a mischievous smile.

Choi Arin, still pouting, didn’t entirely dislike being led.

And then, signaling the true beginning of their transformative trip to Japan…

The roar of the airplane engines filled the air.

The airplane engines roared as they landed at Haneda Airport.

Hayoon and Choi Arin followed the signs to immigration, cleared customs, collected their luggage, and took a limousine bus to their hotel.

It was a high-end hotel with a clear view of the Shibuya nightscape.

Not a suite, but a reasonably priced family room.

They had booked it online and were slightly anxious, but after checking in, they felt they had made a good choice.

“Wooooo! Japan! Japan!”

“Hey, Hayoon, cough, cough, I can’t breathe.”

Hayoon hugged Choi Arin tightly and jumped up and down.

This was Hayoon’s first trip abroad.

She was thrilled with their accommodation for the first night of her first overseas trip, celebrating like someone who had hit the jackpot.

“I’ve calmed down a bit.”

“Hoo, okay. Much better.”

Choi Arin humored Hayoon’s childish excitement.

It seemed this was the only time she got to act like an older sister, but Choi Arin was content with being able to do something, anything.

“Alright, shall we go have some fun?”

“Yeah, let’s go…!”

With determined expressions, the two of them headed out into the streets of Shibuya.

The scenery screamed “Japan.” Their first destination was a very famous gyudon restaurant.

While udon and tonkatsu originated in Japan, they were readily available and well-made in Korea, and udon even came in meal kits.

They wanted to try gyudon, a dish harder to find outside of specialized Japanese restaurants.

“Wow, the egg yolk, the color is insane.”

“I know, it’s more orange than yellow, the color is wow…”

The moment they broke the raw egg, the crown jewel of Japanese cuisine, and took their first bite.

“Wow.”

“Crazy…”

Even Hayoon and Choi Arin, who had frequented Japanese restaurants for company dinners, were met with a taste that impressed them. In reality, even Japanese restaurants often focused on sushi, making home-style dishes like gyudon a rare experience.

“It’s a bit salty, but overall, it’s delicious.”

“Me too, I actually really like salty food.”

The biggest hurdle for Japanese food was often the intense saltiness from the soy sauce base, but it was no problem for Hayoon and Choi Arin.

They finished their delicious meal and headed back out to the streets of Shibuya. Hayoon stood in the middle of the street, arms outstretched, asking Choi Arin to take her picture.

“Ah, I want to take off my mask.”

“Huh? What mask?”

“It’s a thing. Facing your inner self, something like that.”

“Are you… going through a chuunibyou phase?”

“Ah, non-weebs wouldn’t understand.”

“I play a lot of weeb games too…”

“You skip all the story and just look at the illustrations, unnie. Anyway, just take my picture.”

“Alright, alright.”

Hayoon, in Japan, spouted jargon that Choi Arin couldn’t understand. Choi Arin just went along with it and took pictures.

Next up was a shopping center.

“Wow, crazy… Look at this, unnie.”

“Hey, hey… put it down, Hayoon.”

Cup sizes were larger in Japan, and overall sizes were more varied. There was a whole rack of bras so large Hayoon’s entire face could fit inside with room to spare.

Fascinated, she flapped one around, and Choi Arin, horrified, stopped her.

When an employee approached, giving them a pointed look, Hayoon, embarrassed, asked for a bust measurement and bought a lingerie set that fit.

“Bi-big, br-breasts.”

The employee who measured Hayoon, perhaps knowing some Korean, gave her a thumbs-up as she left.

“See? Unnie? My breasts are this amazing.”

“Yeah, Min Hayoon’s breasts are pretty awesome.”

“Hehe.”

The two of them giggled about it, then took the subway a few stops to a slightly run-down cafe.

This was the cafe where the protagonist of a famous JRPG series supposedly lived.

As such, it was a pilgrimage site for weebs like Hayoon. Hayoon grinned and ordered coffee.

“Leblanc, please.”

“Leblanc? Is that coffee too?”

“Yeah, it’s a special menu item only sold at this cafe. And for dessert… Tiramisu? How about tiramisu?”

“I’ll have it, I’ll have it, it looks delicious.”

And tiramisu as well.

Neither of them ate a lot, but they planned to walk as much as possible to digest, enjoy the delicacies, and then move again to digest, aiming to experience as much as possible.

After enjoying a delightful first day, the two returned to their hotel in Shibuya.

There was a beer vending machine on the first floor.