We arrived at the travel destination before 10 a.m.
The traffic was smoother than expected, so we arrived earlier than the scheduled time.
I came in Elderlyn’s car, but the others were supposed to drive their own cars.
After checking in, Elderlyn handed me the card key.
“Do you want to go in and unpack first?”
“Where are you going?”
“Yeah. We decided to rent some玩 things to play with at the pool. I also need to get beach towels. I’ll get everything ready and once Yoo-han arrives, we’ll go to the mart to buy groceries.”
“In that case, I’ll go in first.”
The satisfaction of a trip is usually proportional to the quality of the accommodation.
The place where we would stay was a large two-story detached house with multiple rooms.
As I looked around with an adventurous feeling, it was much cleaner and nicer than I expected.
I struggled to calm my childishly exhilarated heart.
We picked a room on the first floor.
It would be a bit difficult for these legs to go up and down the stairs.
When I was unpacking my bag, the others began to arrive one by one.
The first to arrive was Ryeo-hee, right?
When I peeked toward the entrance, she was just coming in pulling her suitcase.
What caught my eye was her chest area.
There was a tiny puppy cradled in her thin arms.
“Is that a puppy? It’s cute. What’s its name?”
“It’s Hisom. Say hi, Da-eun-ssi. Annnyeong~”
“Hello…”
Ryeo-hee softly wiggled its tiny paws.
I followed suit and waved my hand.
Seeing her call me ‘sister’, Hisom must be a female.
Its fur was very white and fluffy.
This body has a real liking for animals.
The reason I say ‘this body’ rather than ‘me’ is that I didn’t used to like animals this much.
Perhaps I was quite indifferent to them before.
But now, whenever I see a cute animal, I feel this urge to touch and hold it.
Suddenly, Ryeo-hee seemed a bit selfish for having such a cute puppy all to herself.
…No, that’s an exaggerated thought.
I barely managed to regain control over my thoughts.
“Sister will be back soon. When Soobin comes, we’re going to the mart to shop.”
“Mmm, I should see that. There’s no way to come all this way and not have a barbecue. I’ll finish unpacking fast and come!”
Ryeo-hee then took Hisom upstairs.
About 30 minutes later, we all headed to the mart together.
Among countless crowds, a wheelchair moves along.
When was the last time I was in a wheelchair?
Probably a few months after the accident, though it wasn’t very recent.
Back then, I was close to a living corpse.
My body was merely a breathing shell, with my spirit long gone. There could be no better way to describe it.
Things became even worse after I forced Master to leave.
Nurses would sometimes help me onto the wheelchair for a walk.
But I hardly remember what I saw outside.
In fact, the memory of being in a wheelchair is rather vague.
The only thing that remains in my mind is the faint, miserable feeling I felt in the quiet corridors.
Most memories of that time are like this.
I remember occasionally coming to and seeing a bed, and at other times, a doctor’s face.
Dreams and delusions were all mixed up, so I still can’t distinguish what was real.
Therefore, I didn’t want to be in a wheelchair.
All sorts of despair and thoughts of never standing again would flood back.
That was the reason I insisted on using crutches at Sigma’s barrier-free accommodations, even though it was inconvenient.
Even in an incomplete form, I clung to my two legs.
But I guess I was wrong.
“Da-eun, do you want to try this?”
I didn’t need to answer the question.
Sansa immediately shoved a German-style sausage into my mouth, so all I had to do was to eat.
The rich juices soaked my tongue.
“Do you like it? Should we buy a little?”
“It’s delicious, and it would be great grilled with meat.”
“True, I should put one in the cart.”
It was an unavoidable choice at first.
Walking with crutches consumes a lot of physical energy.
It’s also slow, and keeping up with others is exhausting.
I can’t expect everyone to match my pace during the trip.
If I don’t use the wheelchair, I should stay in the room.
But if I stay alone, someone will have to stay with me.
That’s inconvenient.
I can’t ruin someone else’s trip because of my condition.
When I let go of my stubbornness, the situation unexpectedly turned out fine.
First, there were no negative thoughts.
Since the body wasn’t moving, my mind was at peace.
Although subtle, I did notice others staring.
But when I borrowed Soobin’s cap, it helped.
“Don’t you have any snacks you want?”
“I don’t eat much.”
“Really? I eat a lot of chocolate usually. Don’t you like sweets, Da-eun?”
“I do… But I think once I start, I’ll have a hard time stopping.”
“Ah, I get that.”
While she said she understood, Sansa picked out a few chocolate bars and put them into the shopping cart.
She seems to have crossed the uncontrollable stage.
Seeing her, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
It was fun.
I could feel how much I’ve improved.
I’m no longer the one who had nothing, no future, no dreams, no goals.
I’ve met people who can share their hearts and laugh with me.
So gradually, things will be okay.
There was a famous novel that said pain was like thorns stuck in the sole of the foot.
One day, I’ll bury these wounds one by one in my heart, and there will come a moment when I’ll remove the thorns.
“What kind of meat do you like?”
“To be honest, I liked all meats before… but lately, I’ve been eating beef a lot, so ribeye, I guess?”
“Your taste has gotten expensive.”
“I’ve been slightly feeling a sense of crisis.”
This was due to Luche.
Since there’s no athletes’ canteen during the vacation and I’ve been eating with Luche,
I naturally started following her diet.
My sensitive palate can clearly distinguish the difference in high-quality ingredients.
I can even estimate the quality and doneness of beef by taste alone.
Considering that most of my meat experiences used to be pork belly, this was a remarkable change.
Although, I’m not yet at the picky level.
“Does Sina-yeoni want anything? I’ll eat whatever is given to me.”
“Hmm, grilled food outside? I’ll go for shoulder meat. I heard the ribeye was already bought.”
“Hey… I can’t wait.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Our shopping only ended when the cart was completely full.
After returning to the lodge, we had a simple meal.
Now it was time to get into the water.
Although I was looking forward to it, there was something weighing on my mind.
It was the swimsuit.
“Maybe I should’ve gone with a rash guard…”
I didn’t know what I was thinking when I bought this thing.
It only hit me how awkward it was after I put it on.
The swimsuit I had bought was a plain black bikini without any special patterns or decorations.
At the time, I thought it would look good.
Since monochrome usually doesn’t attract much attention, it would blend in.
It might not have been a completely wrong thought,
if this swimsuit was on someone else besides me.
But no, when I looked at my reflection in the mirror,
my fair skin stood out strikingly.
It was flawless, without a single blemish, and there was nothing distracting in my appearance.
As a result, the attention was solely focused on my body.
Moreover, this swimsuit.
It felt like a lot of effort was put into it to emphasize beauty.
The subtle alignment of my breasts created a stunning valley that’s more noticeable than usual.
The lowering gaze followed the contours of the eleven-shaped abdominal muscles, naturally focusing around the belly button, and then proceeded to the end of the swimsuit line at the groin area.
As I looked at my face in the mirror again, it was flushed red.
It probably made me look even more seductive, so I turned away.
“Da-eun, are you all ready? Can I come in?”
“Yes…”
“Wow, it looks great on you. Didn’t know you had such a bold side?”
“It’s not like that.”
It was Elderlyn who entered.
She was carrying some cosmetics written in English.
“Did you apply sunscreen? If not, you can use mine.”
“No, I won’t.”
“What a waste of such fine skin. Come here quickly. I’ll put it on your back.”
There was no atmosphere where my objection would be accepted.
I obediently turned my back and sat, then whoosh –
I felt the cold touch of sunscreen as it was squeezed onto my back.
“Hmph!”
“Da-eun’s body is quite sensitive. You’re the type who would be popular with guys because of that.”
“No… It’s just cold. And I’m not that kind of person.”
“I already tried it. It wasn’t cold.”
“…”
I lowered my head, pretending the conversation didn’t happen.
I could clearly feel the sensation of Elderlyn’s palms rubbing my back.
Her gentle touch massaged my shoulders, then slowly descended over my wing bones, and finally toward my waist.
It was tender, considerate, and not unpleasant.
“Would you let me put sunscreen on your front too?”
“I’ll do it myself…”
“If you started, you must finish now. Don’t you know how weird it looks when you leave some areas?”
I nodded slightly. Under these circumstances, there was no way I could insist.
I started with the easiest parts like the back of my hand and arms, then moved on to my toes and legs.
When my hands reached the exposed areas of my chest and abdomen, Elderlyn said something terrifying.
“Do you know the swimming pool has cameras turned on?”
“What? I haven’t heard of that…”
“Yup. It was just a joke. If we kept the camera on, Ryeo-hee wouldn’t be able to play.”
Elderlyn giggled.
For the first time, I felt a bit of resentment toward Elderlyn.
