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Chapter 119: Group D Assemble!
Chapter 119: Group D Assemble!
Chapter 119: Group D Assemble!
After Mei Ling’s departure, fleeting as the wind, the long-awaited day finally arrived.
August 8th.
It was the day to see my school friends again, whom I hadn’t seen since the start of the summer vacation.
We had arranged via messenger to meet early in the morning on the day of the trip.
The meeting place was the express bus terminal, from where we planned to take a bus to our destination, Chiba.
Having packed the night before and sticking to my usual schedule of a morning jog followed by a quick shower, I sat down for breakfast and told my mother.
“I’ll be gone for one night and two days, so if I leave this morning, I’ll be back by tomorrow evening.”
“Alright. Be careful and watch out for cars.”
“Yes, I understand.”
It would have been different if someone else had said it, but hearing it from my mother felt odd.Especially since the original Kim Yu-seong had become comatose due to a serious car accident, which led to me possessing his body.
I reassured my mother not to worry and handed her my empty rice bowl.
“You want to eat more even though it’s morning?”
“If I go today, I won’t be able to eat your cooking for a whole day. I need to eat a lot now.”
“As you grow older, you only seem to get better at flattering.”
Yet, my mother didn’t seem to mind the flattery.
Taking the bowl I offered, my mother heaped it with rice and handed it back, saying,
“Eat plenty and have lots of fun. Memories from your school days are something you can’t buy, even with money.”
“Yes!”
I answered energetically and took the bowl of rice from my mother.
8:20 AM.
I headed to the Shinjuku Express Bus Terminal, right on time, as we had agreed.
The original meeting time was 9 AM, but considering travel time, I left home 30 minutes earlier.
The various cooking utensils, clothes, and ingredients I brought from home filled my travel backpack, making it look quite bulky.
To anyone, I would look like an excited country boy heading out on a trip.
Of course, that wasn’t exactly wrong.
Our family rarely went on trips, not just abroad but also within the country.
This was due to my parents’ personal beliefs. Even searching through Kim Yu-seong’s old memories, the shop was almost always open unless there was a special reason not to.
Many people came to eat at our house instead of having home-cooked meals, and it seemed my parents were worried that if they closed even for a day, those people would miss a meal.
Well, their diligence was probably why we owned a house in Tokyo, known for its expensive land prices.
After taking the now-familiar Tokyo subway and getting off at Shinjuku station, the streets were bustling with people out and about despite the scorching midsummer sun.
This place always seemed so complicated, no matter when you saw it.
I made my way above ground, avoiding the crowd pouring out of the subway.
Now, all that was left was to head to the express bus terminal, though I wondered if I had arrived too early.
These thoughts crossed my mind just as I stepped off the escalator.
“Huh?”
I ran into Ryuji, the original protagonist of Scramble Love, and his childhood friend Yaguchi in front of the station.
“Hey! Long time no see.”
Ryuji, whom I hadn’t seen since visiting his house on the last day of school about two weeks ago, waved his hand happily.
I approached them and exchanged greetings.
“It’s been a while, Ryuji. And Yaguchi, thanks for lending your place last week.”
“No, I was glad to get an autograph from the fighter, Mei Ling.”
Then Ryuji, standing beside us, tilted his head and asked,
“What are you talking about?”
“Ah, last week Kim and Mei Ling, a world-famous female fighter, came for a sparring session. We lent them our dojo for a bit.”
“Oh? You sparred?”
Then, a foreign ghost behind Ryuji looked at me with interest, as if intrigued.
I couldn’t tell what it was thinking, but it didn’t seem to be anything good.
“It just happened due to various circumstances.”
“That’s too bad. I would have liked to see you fight at least once.”
We continued our conversation, walking towards the express bus terminal.
The topic was naturally about Mei Ling. It seemed Yaguchi was a true fan of Mei Ling, as he explained with more enthusiasm than his usual calm demeanor.
Thanks to this, Ryuji, who previously knew nothing about Mei Ling, quickly learned who she was.
As I looked at Yaguchi with slightly surprised eyes, Ryuji said,
“This guy gets carried away when it comes to topics he likes.”
Being childhood friends, this probably wasn’t the first time he had seen this side of him.
His bitter smile was a mix of many emotions.
Anyway, that was how we arrived at the Shinjuku Express Bus Terminal.
And there, at the designated meeting place at the express bus terminal, it was not us but the Class President who had arrived first.
“You arrived early.”
The Class President noticed us and slightly pushed up his round glasses.
We approached the Class President and asked,
“When did you get here?”
The Class President glanced at the wall clock and said,
“About 20 minutes ago from now.”
It was 8:50 AM now, so he had arrived around 8:30 AM.
“Why did you come out so early?”
“Since I’m in a leadership role, I thought there would be a lot to organize.”
The Class President said this and showed us a notebook filled with the trip’s plans.
It was evident how much effort she had put into planning this trip.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“This is nothing. Managing class affairs is actually harder.”
The Class President shrugged, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall.
We joined her and waited for the other members who hadn’t arrived yet.
After a while,
“Hello!”
Rika.
“Am I late?”
Karen.
“Yay! Just made it!”
Satoru.
“Hmm. The protagonist always makes a grand entrance.”
Following Sasha, all members arrived in sequence.
Once all eight of us had gathered, the Class President looked around at us and spoke as if making a vow.
“It’s a short trip of one night and two days, but I hope we all return safely without anyone getting hurt. Let’s depart!”
Following the Class President’s instructions, we efficiently picked up our luggage and started boarding the express bus we had reserved in advance.
The distance from Tokyo to Chiba was quite short.
If not deliberately taking a roundabout route like the last time at Imgan School, it would take about 1 hour by express bus.
Of course, arriving in Chiba didn’t solve everything, so we transferred to a regular bus heading to our destination, Onjuku Beach.
After a long journey of about 1 hour and 30 minutes, we finally arrived in paradise.
“The sea!!”
Seeing the endless blue horizon in front of us, Satoru excitedly exclaimed a line commonly used by Rupko.
It was the kind of sea that seemed to clear your chest just by looking at it.
I wanted to dive right into the sea and enjoy the summer, but unfortunately, we still had things to do.
“We need to go this way to the guesthouse run by my cousin.”
We followed Yaguchi, an experienced visitor of Onjuku Beach, in a line.
On the way, seeing women in swimsuits and beach houses, Satoru couldn’t contain his excitement.
“When I get to the beach, I’m going to start hunting first.”
Hearing his proud declaration, Ryuji and I, walking side by side, responded with a skeptical expression.
“Uh… good luck with that.”
We couldn’t really dissuade him from enjoying summer youth in his own way.
After about 10 minutes of walking, we arrived at a guesthouse near the beach.
It was smaller than expected, but it seemed to have everything necessary, so there wouldn’t likely be any inconvenience.
Besides, we wouldn’t be spending much time there except for sleeping.
“Obviously, we’ve separated the rooms for men and women,” said Yaguchi, picking up the keys at the counter.
Yaguchi, having received the keys from the counter, handed them over to Ryuji.
“What’s the plan for the girls? Are you going to the beach right away?”
The Class President nodded.
“Unless something special comes up, that’s likely. Is it the same for you guys?”
“Same here. Maybe because we snacked a lot on the bus, but I’m not that hungry right now.”
“Then it’s decided. Unpack a bit, and let’s meet in front of the guesthouse in 30 minutes.”
“Sounds good.”
We split into two groups, men and women, to unpack our luggage in our respective rooms.
Unlike the women, who needed various preparations to go to the beach, the men’s preparation was quick and simple.
I just wore a swimsuit and a T-shirt, applied some sunscreen to my face and arms, and I was done.
Do real men not wear sunscreen?
I don’t really know about that.
I already had an intimidating appearance, so taking good care of my skin might add a positive impression, right?
Anyway, quickly ready to go to the beach, we decided to go out and wait since there wasn’t much else to do in the room.
So there we were, huddled together, chatting about pointless things like who would have the prettiest swimsuit.
Finally, someone’s voice came from behind us.
“Sorry! Have you been waiting long?”