READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 251
Every day, as records were updated, the pouring rain began to flood the nation in an instant.
The rain, which had been falling heavily since a few days before the end of vacation, showed no signs of stopping even on the first day of school, as if it were only natural.
“Amy, ugh…”
Squelch, the muddy water soaking my ankles with every step.
A minefield that couldn’t be avoided unless you could walk on water.
The drains had long since lost their function.
From the manholes, muddy water gushed out in a way no one wanted.
“Ugh…”
Whether cursing or not, Siyeon couldn’t help but grimace at the shocking sight.
Even with all this heavy rain, only underground areas or low-lying places like Gangnam Station were submerged.
Of course, the school was located in a perfectly fine area unaffected by the rain…
And so, the situation turned into the word “normal attendance,” welcoming us with open arms.
The muddy, murky water, mixed with what seemed like sewage, rising up to our ankles.
A giant swimming pool created by nature in the middle of the city.
A sight that made you think, “Might as well just dive in and get it over with.”
“Can’t we just transform and go?”
“Is that even a question?”
I scolded Siyeon for asking the obvious and stepped into the water first.
The squelching sound of water seeping into my socks and shoes.
The discomfort was so intense that my face automatically scrunched up.
Once I stepped in, there was no turning back—I had crossed the river.
I gestured to Siyeon, who was still hesitating at the common entrance, and opened my umbrella with a loud snap.
“Let’s go quickly…”
“Ugh…”
At my resigned voice, Siyeon finally stepped in, grimacing.
Amid the circular ripples left by countless raindrops, we moved forward, leaving rough waves with each splash.
Of course, there was no way we’d make it to school unscathed, so I had packed two towels and extra socks in my bag.
If we fell, it was game over—no coming back from that.
Thankfully, no such disaster occurred, and we made it to school.
“The socks are in the back of the bag, the towel is where the textbooks are, and I put a ziplock bag there too, so put the wet socks in there. If you need to move, I also put indoor shoes in the second compartment.”
“Okay.”
Before we split up to our respective classes, I told Siyeon where the socks, towel, and specially packed indoor shoes were.
She usually packed her own textbooks, but the rest was my job.
For the start of school, I had packed wet wipes, a small umbrella, band-aids for cuts, and other miscellaneous items.
Perhaps due to the heavy rain, the classroom felt humid and gloomy.
But it wasn’t just the weather—the first day of school naturally brought a subdued mood.
The combination of the terrible weather and the unfortunate timing of the school year’s start.
The classroom felt like a moldy one-room apartment, as if mushrooms might sprout from the walls.
“Hi, Mari.”
“Hey.”
Even Seong-a, the symbol of diligence in our class, was swallowed by the gloomy atmosphere.
I greeted her and quickly took my seat.
As soon as I sat down, I hung my bag on the side of the desk and pulled out a towel.
I performed the act of taking off my shoes and socks, drying my legs and feet one by one with the dry towel.
I took out the dry socks from the ziplock bag and carefully put them on my now-dry feet.
The sticky sensation from earlier was gone, and I felt a small sense of relief.
The socks that had bravely endured the wet journey were sealed in the ziplock bag.
I’d have to toss them in the laundry bin when I got home.
‘The water tank… it’s empty.’
Of course, the chalkboard hadn’t been used during the break.
The water tank for the chalkboard was completely empty, and the day’s routine began as usual.
As the vice-class president, my main task was to fill the chalkboard’s water tank, so I casually tossed my indoor shoes onto the floor with a thud.
While everyone else was taking off their sneakers and socks, drying their feet on the desk pipes.
In the damp classroom, I alone enjoyed the dry socks and indoor shoes, feeling fresh.
Squelch, squelch, the clear sound of stepping in puddles scattered around the classroom.
After filling the water tank in the restroom and fitting it into the chalkboard machine, I returned to my seat.
As I plopped down, Seong-a, who had been resting her head on the desk, spoke up.
“Mari, I think you got a message.”
“Huh?”
My phone, which I had left on the desk, lit up as I looked at it, showing a message that had just arrived.
‘A message in broad daylight?’
There were no missed calls, and no numbers on the messaging app either.
It wasn’t a message from the telecom company about some service.
Most of my game alerts were turned off, so the most likely suspect was the messaging app.
Sure enough, when I pulled down the notification bar, I saw a familiar name.
[Tae Hyun: Are you sleeping?]
I tapped the message to open the chat, and there it was—a rare morning message from Tae Hyun.
Casually, I sent back a “Why?” and a series of short messages followed.
[Mom said]
[To bring]
[Some side dishes]
An abrupt announcement about bringing side dishes.
We were at school right now—what kind of nonsense was this?
Why was this guy acting like it was a holiday?
‘Wait… could it be?’
A thought flashed through my mind, and my fingers moved quickly.
I sent the message, half expecting it.
[Are you guys off school?]
[Huh?]
Just a simple exchange of messages, but an awkward silence followed.
Tae Hyun seemed equally confused, sending a short reply before going silent.
Since I was the one who asked, I waited for the next message.
While I was engrossed in the chat, Seong-a, sitting next to me, chimed in.
“Who are you texting?”
I didn’t know why she was curious since she wouldn’t know them anyway…
But I answered in a way that a third party could understand.
“A friend from elementary school.”
As I calmly stated the facts and looked at the screen, the next message arrived.
[You guys aren’t off?]
The message came as if it were obvious to take the day off in this weather.
Judging by his tone, their school must be in a low-lying area, and something must have happened to cancel classes.
Lucky guy.
[No]
[I’m jealous, damn it]
Realizing from the context that Tae Hyun’s school was off, I sent a message laced with envy.
Unable to contain my jealousy, I muttered a complaint loud enough for the person next to me to hear.
“They’re off school, huh?”
“Really? What school is it?”
“Don’t know, just that it’s an all-boys school.”
Seong-a, who seemed to think I was talking about a boyfriend, asked with interest, but I answered indifferently and slumped over my desk.
I had been feeling good about how well I had prepared for the heavy rain, but hearing that some schools were off sent my mood plummeting.
Why isn’t our school off?
The scenery at an all-girls school wasn’t much different from an all-boys school.
Without the need to be cautious around the opposite sex, wet socks were hung anywhere, and rough behavior was the norm.
Groups of students, with nothing to do since their phones were gone, played games like “stump the leader” even though it wasn’t gym class.
Indeed, when stripped of modern conveniences, people revert to physical play, regardless of gender.
A damp, uncomfortable rainy day.
During breaks, we doodled on the comprehensive notebooks, and after lunch, we killed time with board games placed on the lockers at the back of the classroom.
And so, without retaining a single lesson, we played to our hearts’ content until it was time to go home.
Although the rain had lessened, it would take days for the muddy water covering the ground to fully recede.
The area around the school, which had forced us to attend despite the terrible weather, was relatively fine…
But as we returned to the area where the water had soaked up to our ankles, Siyeon let out a groan.
“Ugh, I hate this.”
As we got closer to the apartment, the soles of my sneakers, which I had managed to dry, started getting wet again.
Maybe they had unclogged some drains, but the water level was lower than in the morning.
The muddy water that had reached our ankles earlier now only came up to the tops of our feet.
Still, we had to wade through the splashing water.
Despite the twists and turns, we somehow managed to make it home.
“Ugh, it’s so damp.”
“The umbrella was useless…”
The K-heavy rain had even soaked the mascots in my pocket, leaving them no escape.
The little guys, slipping out of my pocket, each had something to say about the record-breaking downpour.
Knowing I didn’t want to splash water around the house, they headed to the bathroom, twisting and squeezing themselves to shake off the water.
Finally free to touch my phone after holding the umbrella tightly in both hands, I opened a video platform.
Perhaps because I watch a lot of lifestyle-related news, the first video the algorithm showed me was from a public broadcast.
[Heavy rain causes vegetable prices to soar… Lettuce up 56%, Perilla leaves up 17%]
“Sigh, everything’s going up.”
I let out a deep sigh at the news that even edible greens like lettuce were getting more expensive.
Anyway, there’s nothing good about this summer.
Prices go up because of the heat, they go up because of the rain, they go up because of typhoons.
When will we ever have a good harvest and see prices drop?
Damn these stupid greens.