The day of the school trip arrived. Early in the morning, the school was full of students in casual clothes.
The entire first day of the trip was spent moving: bus from school → Gimpo Airport → flight to Jeju → bus to the resort.
"My whole body aches."
No surprise—everyone felt stiff and worn out.
The resort in Jeju was surprisingly nice—clean and upscale. Seeing such a fancy place only made Hajun's heart heavier. This was all paid with Mom's money. Once vacation started, he definitely needed to get a part-time job.
With that resolve, he headed to his assigned room. Each room housed five people. He entered with Taeyoung and the other three roommates, dropped off his bag—and they had to leave right away.
The first day of the school trip was a group activity. Everyone got on the same bus, went to a designated location, and stayed there until the set time. Of course, the destinations were the obvious school-trip clichés: Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, a theme park, a museum. Visit three spots and the day ends.
After dinner, they got free time.
Honestly, there's nothing special about a "school trip." At least tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow was complete free time. You form groups with friends and go wherever you want. You just have to contact your homeroom teacher once every hour.
"Where do you wanna go tomorrow?"
After showering lightly and getting ready for bed, Taeyoung asked.
Hmm, tomorrow… was there anywhere Hajun wanted to go? Truthfully, he was sick of Jeju school trips. Seongsan Ilchulbong, the Toad Road, the Chocolate Museum—he'd already been to all of them multiple times. And it's not like Jeju has amazing entertainment either.
He mulled it over while searching places on his phone. Then he found something halfway decent.
"Wanna go to the aquarium?"
"Aquarium?"
"Yeah."
Taeyoung didn't seem thrilled, but since he had no better ideas, he nodded. "Sure, whatever. There's a beach nearby too."
"Let's just stick around that area then."
It's not like students have cars. They'd have to use buses or taxis. Meaning their movement would be limited. So usually you pick one main spot, then hang around nearby. For them, that spot would be the aquarium.
After deciding their destination, they talked about the upcoming class battle.
"What number are we performing?"
"Seventh."
"That's such an awkward spot."
There were sixteen teams total—eight from each class. Seventh was smack in the middle. Ugh. That was boring. Ideally, Hajun wanted to go first or last.
"Ah, and Han Goyo is sixth."
"Right before us, huh."
Han Goyo and Kang Seonghun's stage. Hajun was curious. He'd seen Seonghun that morning—he looked like he hadn't slept at all. Understandable. If Hajun were in Seonghun's shoes, he wouldn't sleep either. Meanwhile, Goyo was the same as always—expressionless, indifferent, unreadable.
After that, he and Taeyoung kept going over stage details. Nothing new—just the same discussions they'd had over and over.
Thus ended the first day of the school trip.
—
Second day.
Hajun and Taeyoung woke up at 10 a.m., washed up quickly, and headed to the aquarium.
"We came all the way to Jeju just to eat convenience store food?"
"You shouldn't have slept in. Besides, this tastes awful."
Hajun muttered while shoving the last of his triangle kimbap into his mouth.
To get to the aquarium, they had to transfer buses three times. After about forty minutes, they arrived. It was quite a large aquarium. Smiling, they bought tickets and went in.
"You like fish?"
While looking at the tanks under the blue lighting, Taeyoung asked.
Hajun nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"Sashimi?"
"I like it."
"You're cruel."
Whatever. Hajun ignored him and leisurely explored the aquarium. He didn't know why, but watching sea creatures swim freely made him feel good. His favorites were whales and sharks. Especially the whale shark—he loved them so much he once wrote a song themed after one.
"Hey, isn't that Han Goyo?"
After wandering for a while, Taeyoung tapped him. Hajun turned—and there she was. Goyo was leaning against a wall, blankly staring at penguins.
"Ah."
She noticed them and stood up. Then she walked over and greeted him.
"Hi."
"Uh… hey."
She said nothing else—just stared at him.
…Why? If you say hi, either leave or say what you want. She just stood there, silent.
After a moment of thought, Hajun asked, "You by yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you alone, got no friends?" Taeyoung asked bluntly.
Goyo, still expressionless, nodded. "Nope."
"…Sorry."
Taeyoung, unusually flustered, apologized.
Hajun clicked his tongue. No sense of tact, this guy.
But Goyo didn't seem bothered at all. Watching her, Hajun cautiously offered, "We're heading to the beach after this. Wanna come?"
Goyo hesitated briefly, then nodded.
What an unreadable girl.
After finishing the aquarium, they headed to the beach. Goyo said nothing. She only nodded occasionally when they spoke. She looked even more exhausted than usual. Hajun felt a twinge of sympathy. She was probably being nagged nonstop by Seonghun.
Unable to bear it, he went to a convenience store, bought a chocolate milk, and handed it to her.
"What's this?"
"Drink it."
"You're giving it to me?"
"Yeah."
"Can I take it?"
"I literally said it's for you, didn't I?"
She accepted it. She stared at it blankly, then carefully took a sip.
"…Sweet."
"It's chocolate milk. Why would it be bitter?"
"Right."
After that, she said nothing—just stared at the ocean while sipping the milk. Hajun stood beside her and stared at the sea too. Taeyoung was running around in the waves, like he had zero thoughts in his head. Must be nice not thinking about anything.
They stood there quietly for a long while until Hajun said, "Cheer up."
"Hm?"
"I said, cheer up."
"…Okay."
Hajun stretched with a big yawn. It had been a long time since he had such a peaceful moment. He'd been so busy. Resting a little was fine.
He and Goyo continued to quietly watch the ocean for a long time. Then, as they were about to head back to the resort—
"…Thanks."
Goyo whispered.
—
Before they knew it, the school trip was nearly over. Day 2, 8 p.m. Time for the final event.
Yet none of the students looked sad. In fact, everyone looked thrilled. Of course. This was the main event—Class Battle. A showdown for festival slots and pride. It might seem childish, but to the students, it was incredibly important.
With the opening greeting from the comedian Lee Hwayeol, the battle officially began.
"And now, let's introduce the judges who will be evaluating the performances! The staff members of VR Resort! Please welcome them with applause!"
Onto the stage walked the judges: five male resort employees in their early twenties. Just like Hajun predicted—college students working part-time during break.
Seeing them, Taeyoung stared at Hajun in awe. Hajun shrugged smugly.
After a quick explanation of the rules, the performances began.
The first act was a ballad by a first-year from the odd-numbered class. As expected from a vocal major, it was a good stage—but not mind-blowing. Good skills, poor song choice.
The shows continued—third, fourth, fifth performances. Then the sixth stage: Han Goyo & Kang Seonghun.
Goyo stepped on stage, and the judges gasped. They were reacting to her looks. Goyo herself was as expressionless as ever. Seonghun looked at her and sighed deeply.
The music started.
He had prepared an arranged version of a girl group song, not an original. Time had been too tight to write one. The song was "Rough" by Hwayangyeonhwa. A song about that vague age between minor and adult, and wondering what you can do for someone you love. Famous for its addictive chorus and lovely choreography—the song that first made Hwayangyeonhwa known to the public.
It was actually a solid choice. Not too difficult, with prominent key choreography and loads of sweetness in both song and movement.
At first, Seonghun was overflowing with confidence. He had Han Goyo. His arrangement skills. The song was already popular. The judges were early-twenties guys. They were already dazzled by Goyo's visuals. According to plan, they should now be overwhelmed by her charm.
…If everything went according to plan.
"…What is that dancing…"
Somewhere, someone murmured in disbelief.
Seonghun covered his face with his hand.
Goyo's stage was… painful to watch. Not because she couldn't sing. Her vocals were incredible, as expected. The arrangement slowing the tempo was excellent. Her unique tone added poignant emotion, transforming "Rough" from a cute song into a sorrowful one.
The problem was the dance.
Seonghun now understood why Hajun hadn't given Goyo choreography in the Freshman Concert. Goyo was stiff. Unbelievably stiff. No flexibility whatsoever. She couldn't even handle the easy "gentle swaying" moves of "Rough." She was like a pair of chopsticks. A dance meant to be sweet and fluttery looked like… a broken robot.
Combined with her signature deadpan expression—it was borderline creepy. And yet, she sang beautifully. The cognitive dissonance was extreme.
"…Poor thing."
Watching the stage, Hajun muttered—no one could tell whether he meant Seonghun or Goyo.
Looking around, everyone was stunned. Taeyoung was desperately holding back laughter. And Goyo? Completely expressionless. It was starting to get scary. Was she thinking anything while performing? Considering her performance in the Freshman Concert, that didn't seem right…
Soon, the stage ended.
"T-That was a very… unique performance!"
Comedian Lee Hwayeol desperately tried to smooth things over. Pitying applause came from the students. Seonghun bowed his head even lower.
Score: 87 points.
It was the highest so far—but given their names, it was disappointing.
And now—it was Hajun and Taeyoung's turn.
As Taeyoung walked up, he looked at Goyo. Then he smirked and said, "Watch closely."
"…"
Goyo said nothing—just pouted slightly. An extremely rare expression.
Taeyoung, pleased, grinned and stepped onto the stage.
"Next up is Class 8! A performance by Kim Taeyoung and Yoon Hajun! Let's see what they've prepared!"
At the sound of those names, the students' eyes lit up. Even Seonghun lifted his head. What kind of stage had Yoon Hajun prepared this time?
Taeyoung grabbed the mic and began to sing.
"Flyaway. I'm gonna fly to the sky."
The students frowned. Was the MR broken? They couldn't hear any backing track.
Meanwhile, Seonghun's face stiffened. As someone aiming to be a pop composer, he knew this song. He knew exactly how powerful it was to men in their twenties.
Taeyoung kept singing.
"I'll grab my guitar and go on a trip. I'll leave this suffocating life behind, and fly to the sky."
Still no MR. The audience murmured.
And then—
A massive guitar sound blasted from the speakers. Fast, exhilarating—the kind of riff that made your heart race. It was played by Blue Aka's own Won Seongmin. Just listening made your body move. One of the judges stood up.
The arrangement was altered, but the melody stayed the same. But honestly, they had already recognized it from the first line.
The song that defined their youth—Fun Real's "Flyaway"!
The epic guitar solo ended. The real song began.
"Should I take an old car and leave the city? Should I sing to that wide sky?"
As soon as Taeyoung entered on beat—the judges started singing along. Students turned, eyes wide, as the judges belted out the lyrics.
Hajun smiled and clenched his fist. Just as planned.
A song that hit nostalgia, Taeyoung's exhilarating rock vocals, Seongmin's fiery guitar, and a stage they were clearly enjoying. There was no way twenty-something men could sit still listening to this.
Then the highlight.
"Flyaway, fly to the sky. I'm gonna fly. I'll reach the edge of the sky."
Not just the judges—even Lee Hwayeol, even the teachers were nodding their heads and humming along. Taeyoung got hyped and started running around the stage. He air-guitared wildly, making everyone laugh.
The stage turned out even better than expected.
He finished with a soaring high note. The judges erupted in cheers. They clapped loudly—one even whistled.
And the score?
"99 points!"
Ninety-nine out of one hundred. No need to see the rest. It was unquestionably the highest score. Hajun was certain.
And just as he predicted—their stage took first place.
"First place goes to Kim Taeyoung and Yoon Hajun! They will receive a festival performance slot!"
They had won exactly what they wanted.
The school festival would take place in mid-October. They still had roughly three months. Plenty of time to prepare.
Mid-October. The Seolwon Arts High School Festival, with countless people coming to watch.
Yoon Suyeon would stand on that stage.
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