READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 270
That night, the crazy convenience store snacking continued just like the day before.
Strangely, it was a convenience store with a ton of character merchandise, and the dessert called Mochi Roll was pretty tasty.
The morning breakfast schedule wasn’t much different from yesterday.
And then, from 8:30 AM to 8 PM.
Almost half of the day was entirely dedicated to free exploration at Universal Studios.
Yes, in this place where you can only see the tops of people’s heads, we had to stay for a whopping 11 hours and 30 minutes.
Passing the spinning globe at the entrance and glancing at the guidebook, the first place we headed to was…
A theme park fronted by Italian plumber uncles in red and green overalls.
Among the things I knew, the most familiar were the two mustachioed uncles.
From my childhood in a past life to now.
They’re an endless fountain of fun, tirelessly popping up in series after series.
There was also a green dinosaur that jumps and throws things.
In a theme park that felt like characters from a game had come to life, my smartphone camera didn’t know when to stop.
As always, what remains from a trip are photos and souvenirs.
The problem, of course, was the suffocating crowd.
“Mom, over thereeee!”
“XX, XX XX!”
Aside from the occasional Korean, most of the chatter was in Japanese.
Was there Chinese too…? I couldn’t tell.
The noise was overwhelming, and as time went on, the number of people only increased instead of decreasing.
After about an hour, it became nearly impossible to even take a single photo.
The merchandise shops? By the time I realized they existed, they were already packed with people.
Forget adult flexing—those places were filled with adults ready to throw cash around.
Pushing past the crazed fans, buying a lot was out of the question. I barely managed to grab one green dinosaur plushie before leaving.
“Wow, I’m so exhausted.”
Those few minutes felt like a war just to buy one item.
In a popular theme park, there was no place to sit and rest, so from then on, I wandered aimlessly like a ghost.
That aimless wandering started about an hour after entering.
From that point on, it felt less like enjoying the park and more like desperately searching for a place to sit and rest.
The Italian mustachioed uncles, the orphan with a lightning bolt on his forehead, the one-eyed yellow bean.
Moving away from the park filled with characters whose faces I’d recognize even without watching a single episode, farther and farther away.
Only when I reached the area with animal characters I didn’t recognize did I finally find a place to sit.
“I’m dying.”
Crossing my legs, I tapped my thighs with my fists.
I tried to loosen up my aching muscles by pounding on them as hard as I could.
The sightseeing in Japan had been nothing but endless walking, both yesterday and the day before.
Even during breaks, I had gone back and forth to a convenience store that was a bit far from the hotel, so it was no wonder my legs were killing me.
I wanted to rest at the accommodation soon, but checking the time on my phone…
It wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
“Why is time moving so slowly…?”
Muttering complaints under my breath, I fiddled with my phone connected to a power bank.
Of course, even when lunchtime came, the problems didn’t disappear.
In fact, new problems arose…
“Wow, look at the line.”
That was the meal situation.
Even after receiving a 1,000 yen meal coupon from the teacher and scurrying around looking for a cafeteria, there wasn’t a single place without a line, probably because it was lunchtime.
Obviously, the popular theme park cafeterias were out of the question…
Other places were no different—just varying lengths of lines, but all required a long wait.
Lunch and dinner felt the same.
After nearly 10 hours of being worn out by the noisy crowd, I slumped onto the bus like seaweed washed up on the shore.
The other students seemed to have run out of energy after that day too. After returning to the hotel, they only made quick trips to the convenience store and didn’t gather to play games at night.
Yeah, after all that wandering, if anyone still had the energy to play at night, they wouldn’t be human.
“Ugh, I don’t want to go home.”
Spending the last night in Japan, we reached the final leg of our 3-night, 4-day trip.
After enjoying a luxurious hotel breakfast for the last time, we packed our belongings, checked out, and left the hotel.
Dragging my now somewhat emptier suitcase, I loaded it into the bus’s luggage compartment and boarded.
The extra space in the suitcase would be filled with travel souvenirs from the duty-free shop.
Before leaving Japan, we visited some castle as our last tourist spot, but all we did was take a few photos.
The duty-free shop, practically the last stop, was where the real battle began.
“What should I buy?”
“Isn’t this cute?”
“Should I get this Umaibo?”
While other students were debating what to buy with their friends, I quickly grabbed Royce raw chocolate, Shiroi Koibito, and Tokyo Banana.
Of course, you could buy these in Korea, but the price would double.
While others were calculating their remaining allowance and adjusting their purchases, I boldly went for the largest sizes.
36-pack snacks for 30,000 won, a box of chocolates for 8,000 won, 8-pack mini bread for 10,000 won.
At first glance, it might seem expensive…
But the moment these enter Korea, the price doubles, no exaggeration.
Since there’s nothing better for gifts, I bought as much as I could at a low price.
Of course, my idea of “as much as I could” was quite different from my friends’, and some of them were shocked.
“Hey, Mari… why are you buying so much?”
“I’ll use it all.”
Unlike my classmates, who only needed to feed their own families, I, who lived a semi-adult lifestyle, had to buy gifts for Tae Hyun’s family, Ji-eun’s family, and snacks for us.
Even though I was on a trip, I had to fill my suitcase with things to repay favors or for the side dishes I usually received.
Even though it was just a way to repay favors, seeing the recipients happy made me happy too.
And so, our seemingly short 3-night, 4-day school trip to Japan came to an end.
“Ughhh!”
“It was fun, right?”
“If only Universal wasn’t there…”
Even Siyeon, who I rarely saw except when all the students gathered, joined us.
We shared our thoughts on the trip, dragging our suitcases home late at night.
Siyeon’s skin looked even smoother, clearly having enjoyed the trip.
Arriving at Grand Park a little past 10 PM.
Despite the late hour, the sound of countless suitcase wheels rolling was deafening.
‘When will I catch a taxi to get home?’
“Haah.”
Thoughts brushing against the dark sky and an automatic sigh escaping.
Some parents had come to pick up their kids even at this late hour, calling out “our daughter” and taking them home.
Seeing that, Siyeon and I felt strangely solemn.
Our footsteps awkwardly stopped at the same moment, but we quickly snapped out of it, nudging each other with our elbows and nodding.
“Let’s go home.”
“Yeah.”
The sound of footsteps and the rolling of suitcase wheels, interrupted four times.
In the chilly early autumn breeze, the repetitive sound finally stopped with a clunk as we passed the elevator.
“Ha, ah… ugh.”
The tension finally released as soon as we got near home.
It came out as a yawn, uncontrollably spilling out of my mouth.
Covering my mouth with a belated hand, my mouth stretched even wider.
The yawn, a sign of relief, stretched out, and small droplets formed at the corners of my eyes.
Wiping the moisture from my eyes with my fingers, the elevator opened with a “4th floor” announcement.
Beep beep beep, the familiar sound of the door lock code being entered.
Siyeon, who had gone ahead, opened the door with a click and spoke as she entered.
“I’m home—”
“I’m back—”
Holding the door Siyeon had opened, I stepped inside and closed it, leaving my words behind.
The first to greet us at the sound of the front door lock wasn’t the mascots, but a cat.
Could it recognize the sound of footsteps from outside?
“Meowww—”
“Sorry, Junie…”
Every time we come back from outside, Junie scolds us with a long meow.
Of course, this time we were gone a bit longer, but we can’t just never go out.
Anyway, this cat’s meow is full of emotion.
If I had to describe it… resentment?
As the commotion in the messy entrance continued, two mascots slowly emerged from their room.
“Oh, you’re back.”
“Yeah, we’re back.”
“Baemi, I’m home—!”
“Welcome back!”
Even though we were having the same conversation, the difference in how we treated the mascots was clear.
While organizing my suitcase, I pointed at Gomteng, who was munching on something, and asked.
“…What’s in your mouth?”
“Chicken leg.”
Instead of just saying it, Gomteng had to pull it out and show me.
Ugh, gross.
Frowning, I organized the suitcase with one hand and comforted Junie with the other.
I patted Junie’s butt until the resentful meows stopped, and soon enough, satisfied, Junie walked away.
Even though the trip was over, it wasn’t like I could just relax. So busy, so busy.