| Saloi Translations is a freelancer, you can support them on: |
||
 |
 |
 |
| Author: Wanbi |
Original Source: Novelpia |
| Translator: Saloi |
English Source: Re:Library |
“Dohee, look outside, it’s so pretty!”
Sujin, who was in the same class as me in 6th grade, was sitting next to me, looking out the window and spoke with an excited voice.
Looking out the window, the clear clouds are indeed beautiful.
6th grade school field trip.
We were going to Jeju Island.
Of course, I didn’t plan on joining the field trip.
.
.
.
“Mom, our class is going to Jeju Island for this field trip?”
“Wow, Jeju Island? Elementary students these days have it good. When I was young, it was always Gyeongju or Gangwon-do.”
“—Oldie—”
I teased my mom and ended up getting a smack.
“But Mom, can’t I skip the field trip?”
“Why?”
“I need to practice at the company.”
Actually, saying I need to practice at the company is just an excuse. I don’t have the stamina to handle the kids’ energy for 2 nights and 3 days.
Of course, though the kids are 13 now and not as rowdy as before, they are still too much for me.
“School field trips are part of your education. Just go.”
“Eh, I’m being paid to be a trainee, so I should maintain a professional mindset and show up for work.”
“Sigh. Then at least go ask Team Leader-nim and follow their advice.”
“Okay.”
The Team Leader-nim would probably be pleased if I said I’m not going on the field trip because I wanted to practice
…
“Field trip?”
“Yes. It seems like two nights and three days is too long. I’ll just skip it and go to work to practice.”
“What are you talking about, just go and come back later.”
“Pardon?”
This is not what I intended.
“Go and come to practice later. You have very little school life left, so you should go while you still can.”
“But, practice…”
“What about practice? Go have fun and when you come back work hard”
Ah.
What is it with, Sweet Team Leader-nim?
.
.
.
For that reason, I ended up going to Jeju Island with them.
When we arrived at the airport and went outside, the weather was definitely nice.
The weather is pleasant.
“Wow! Palm trees!”
Sujin seems to enjoy everything.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Isn’t it amazing, Dohee?”
“No, it’s incredible.”
When I actually arrived in Jeju, my heart fluttered at its unique scent.
After leaving the airport and taking the bus, the first place we went was Yongduam and Yongyeon Valley, the closest tourist attractions to Jeju Airport.
When arriving at Yongduam and going down the stairs, the vast sea spread out before your very eyes.
September.
The weather is still hot.
The sea breeze cooled me down.
“Nice.”
The elementary school life that I was unsure how I would endure when I first started is school now coming to an end.
Now, thinking about it, I’ve been busy from when I was 5 years old to now at 13.
And I’m sure it’ll be even busier in the future for me.
For these two nights and three days, I will put everything aside and relax and heal.
The scenery is beautiful, so I should take some pictures.
I took several selfies with the ocean as the background and chose one to post in the family group chat room.
I guess Doa is in class or something, as there’s no reply.
I also picked two selfies and sent them to one of the New Talent Development Team Managers, Jo Soyoung Unni.
[Me: (photo)] [Me: (photo)] [Me: Manager, these are today’s selfies.] [Manager Jo Soyoung: Dohee, you’re in Jeju Island right now? Sounds fun!!!] [Me: Yes, haha] [Jo Soyoung Manager: But the expressions on the selfies are a bit disappointing no? Send another one with a prettier expression~] [Me: Yes]I ended up having to take a selfie class at the company because I couldn’t take good selfies.
There wasn’t anything special about the selfie class; you just need to send two selfies a day to the Manager until they’re approved.
I never thought I’d take a selfie class in my life.
Well I guess I’ll have to take another selfie.
“Hey, everyone~ Gather up, we’re moving to the next destination~”
The homeroom teacher called out loudly.
It seems it’s time to go to the next tourist spot.
.
.
.
After visiting Yongduam Rock, Yongyeon Pond, the Natural History Museum, Rail Bike, and Snoopy Garden, we had dinner at a restaurant and returned to our lodging, the resort where we would stay for two nights and three days.
When we arrived, the appearance of the resort was different from what I had expected.
In my past life, the accommodations for field trips were no different from inns.
They were dirty and cramped.
In fact, eight people were crammed into one room as a matter of course.
At that time, I didn’t know, but now I realize that the teachers received kickbacks1 from businesses and selected the accommodations.
I’m not sure if it’s because of stricter regulations on kickbacks these days or perhaps because the quality of teachers has improved, this accommodation looked clean and had good facilities.
And to think they even had a private room for four people.
Full of anticipation, when I entered the room, it was more than sufficient for 4 people to sleep comfortably.
There was even a bed, not just a bare floor.
So nice!
I’m starting to like this school field trip more and more.
I ran to the bed and lay down.
Ohh, so nice.
I was unexpectedly excited and ended up accumulating fatigue from wandering around the tourist spots.
Meanwhile, the kids who became my roommates didn’t seem tired and were blasting music charts and dancing around the room with their phones, seemingly indefatigable.
One of them, Sujin, jumped onto my bed.
“Dohee, are you sleeping?”
“No, I need to wash up and then I’ll go to bed.”
“Then Dohee do you want to wash up first?”
“Oki.”
Entering the bathroom and warming up in the hot water relieved some of my fatigue.
Being soaked in the hot water made this trip even more satisfying.
Traveling is fun.
I should travel more often when I have the chance.
After drying off and putting on my clothes, I came out and found the kids still playing loud music and were having fun singing along in unison.
It seems like youngsters never get tired.
“Hey, I’m done washing up, so the next person can go.”
After saying that, I went to the bed and lay down.
Lying on the bed covered with a fluffy blanket and watching YouTube was nirvana.
As I watched YouTube, I noticed that the kids must have finished washing up too and, instead of lying down like me, they had started playing music and dancing around the room again.
Ugh, so tiring.
The kids, who were having fun playing among themselves, noticed me lying down alone and came over to me. To which they started pestering me to play with them while I was resting comfortably.
“Dohee, don’t sleep and let’s play together~”
“I’m tired.”
“””Let’s playyy~”””
In the end, I gave up, fearing that if I didn’t join in a little, they would keep bothering me until dawn, and agreed to play along a bit.
“So, what are we going to do for fun?”
Sujin asked.
“Let’s play the Truth Game! Truth Game!”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
Sujin turned on her phone and opened the roulette app.
“Whoever it lands on has to answer. Got it?”
“Alright.”
I’ll just play along a bit and then go to sleep.
The first person picked was one of my roommates, Yuna.
She had an expression full of anticipation as if she was hoping to be picked.
Yerim, another roommate, asked.
“Yuna, do you have a crush on anyone in our class?”
Well at 13 years old, it’s the age when people are most interested in romantic interests of the opposite sex.
“Yeah…”
“Really? Who is it? Who?”
Sujin and Yerim eagerly asked back with excited expressions.
“Jinyong…”
“Kkyaak, really? That’s awesome.”
It’s a good time.
“Dohee, did you hear that?”
Sujin excitedly asked me.
“Oh, yeah, totally amazing.”
Huaaah, I’m so sleepy.
This time the roulette landed on me.
“Yay, what should I ask Dohee?”
“I’m really, really curious.”
“Dohee is so mysterious! She never shares anything about herself.”
“That’s why the boys really like her a lot.”
You kids really have a lot of curiosities about me…
“Let’s take turns asking Dohee questions one by one every time the roulette lands on her.”
Sujin even decided on the arrangement.
“”Yeah!””
Yerim asked me the first question.
“Dohee, do you have a crush on anyone in the class?”
Like, would I?
“No.”
“Then is there anyone you like, even a little?”
I can’t even remember all the names of the kids.
Is there anyone who doesn’t annoy me?
“Jungwoo?”
He’s the only one who hasn’t talked to me, so he’s relatively better than others.
“Wow, really? You like Jungwoo?”
“Really? Why him?”
“No, it’s not like I like him.”
“Ah! Oh my god!”
“No, it’s just that everyone else is annoying.”
“Really Jungwoo? Wow.”
Do elementary school students have filters in their ears?
They’re misinterpreting it as they please.
Anyway, after the questions ended, it was time for the next roulette spin.
It landed on me again.
Sujin, with an excited expression, said.
“Yay! It’s my turn to ask a question now!”
Sujin thought for a moment and then asked a question.
“Hm, Dohee, what do you do after school? You don’t just do piano lessons, right?”
Sujin knew that I went to piano lessons every day.
Should I just lie?
No.
In any case, in half a year, when I become a middle school student, I’ll have to explain my situation to the school and will be taking frequent early dismissals from school.
So it will be soon known that I’m a trainee.
I’ll just say it.
“Don’t go around spreading rumors.”
“”” Yes! “””
Looking at the kids’ expressions, I wondered if I could trust them.
“I’m just a trainee at an entertainment agency.”
“Really!?”
“A trainee? So you’re going to become an idol?”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
The kids were in an uproar.
“Well, I can’t say where exactly, but I’m a trainee. Again, don’t spread rumors, okay? It’s a secret among us.”
“”” Yes! “””
Afterwards, I humored the kids a bit and then fell asleep.
The next day.
The rumor that I was a trainee spread not just in my class but throughout the entire grade.
Plus, Jungwoo from my class came up to me and confessed his feelings.
“Dohee, same with me I like you too…”
What the **** do you mean by ‘Same with me’?
“Ah, okay, thanks. But I don’t like you. It’s just a false rumor.”
Jungwoo looked at me with a shocked expression.
**** this.
It’s my fault for trusting elementary school students’ mouths.
An even more annoying thing happened during the evening recreation time.
While I was clapping along mechanically to the host’s guidance and looking at my phone.
When the host shouted loudly.
“Alright now~, it’s time for your long awaited talent show!”
The kids’ cheers spoke volumes about how eagerly they had been waiting for this moment.
“Before we start the talent show, we have to have a class competition, right? So now, the best student in each class, come on stage!”
Huh?
While I was mentally recovering by surfing the internet on my phone, I was pushed up onto the stage by the kids.
“Please introduce yourselves one by one. Let’s start from Class 1”
“I’m Kim Jongbeom from Class One Grade Six! Go Class One!”
“Class Two Grade Six….”
.
.
“I’m Lee Dohee from Class Five Grade Six…”
“Wow, Dohee from Class Five is the best student?”
“Yes…”
“And her face is so adorable?”
A wave of excited chatter washed over the audience of kids below the stage.
“Dohee is the top student in the school!”
“Dohee is an idol trainee!”
Ah.
Stop.
You’re making me blush.2
The host, looking surprised, asked me.
“Wow, the top student in the whole school? Is that true?”
“Yes… well…”
“And about being an idol trainee too?”
“…Yes.”
I messed up, please stop it.
“Okay! Now that the self-introductions are done, let’s see the performances, right? Starting with Class One, start dancing to the song!”
The Class One boy started dancing wildly to the music.
“Wow, you’re so passionate! Dance, dance! Now can Class Two outdo them! Class Two, start!”
The boy in Class Two also started dancing passionately.
Soon it was my turn.
“I’m really looking forward to this girl the most. We can’t miss seeing the dance of an idol trainee, so let’s start right away!”
The speakers played a song by a current top-charting girl group.
Of course, it’s a song I had practiced during choreography lessons.
But do I have to dance this?
As I looked out at the audience, all the kids’ eyes were focused on me.
And the teachers too.
Looking to the side, I saw the host also staring at me intently.
**** it.
I had no choice but to perform a short dance to the song.
“Wow, she really is an idol trainee? Your dance style is different, you’re the best dancer I’ve seen! Everyone, give a round of applause for Dohee’s sublime dance!”
I’m going to develop stage fright before even debuting as an idol, **** me.
I’ve been living my life trying to be ladylike and not swear but I can’t help but swear.
****.
As I was getting off stage the host called me with the microphone.
“Please give this Ahjussi your autograph later. He’ll be your first autograph, okay?”
Feeling embarrassed to even say something, I nodded slightly and went back to my seat to sit down.
“Wow, what a wonderful performance. Now that we’ve seen the best students’ performance, let’s see the performance of the most popular student in the class, right? The most popular student from each class, come to the front!”
At the same time, all the kids’ heads turned and focused on me.
Ah.
It can’t be me.
I’m the one who doesn’t even hang out with you guys and just reads books alone by myself.
I’m an outcast.
I turned my head and looked at the teacher.
“Dohee, fighting3!”
The teacher said with a smile.
This ****.
I had no choice but to go up on stage. The host, laughing wildly, said.
“Studying well, being pretty, and popular—Dohee is so blessed!”
Go away.
Representatives from Classes One to Four danced, and now it was my turn.
I’ll just dance quickly and get off stage.
“Alright, now everyone! We’ve already seen Dohee dance, so it would be a shame for her to dance again, right?”
“”” Yes!!!!! “””
“So here’s a special stage for Dohee! Let’s all sing together!”
“Sing!”
“Sing!”
“Sing!”
What the **** did I do to deserve this?
Please stop.
In the future after debuting, the fact that a video titled ‘Lee Dohee’s Elementary School Talent Show’ was circulating was absolutely ******.
