Seoul Dragon - Chapter 72

Our destination for the academic field trip was Buyeo County in South Chungcheong Province.

It was about a three-hour journey by bus.

Sitting next to me was Sihyun.

For reference, Suyeon and Nayeon sat behind me.

"Unnie, unnie. Would you like something?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Jelly."

"Can I have one?"

I take a small jelly from Sihyun's hand.

A famous foreign brand jelly. I remember eating it often in various situations... but these days I don't eat it very often.

Come to think of it, the frequency with which I eat anything has definitely decreased.

Perhaps because my body doesn't require regular meals, my appetite itself seems greatly reduced.

That's not to say I dislike eating, so when there's something sweet or edible like this, I just accept and eat it readily.

"Thanks, it's delicious. Oh, you know there's a group project presentation after the academic field trip ends, right?"

"Yes."

"I might have something come up then, you know? Just in case, I'll send you the presentation script."

After the group project presentation, we'll officially start preparing for the final exams.

In many ways, it feels like the semester has passed too quickly.

"Okay."

"I'll probably do the presentation myself, but lately things keep coming up..."

As I clicked my tongue saying that, Sihyun smiled as if to say not to worry.

"Don't worry. I don't get nervous when presenting."

"Oh, that's good! Before my mutation, I would strangely get nervous and had to take Cheongsimhwan before presenting."

"Does that actually work?"

"Not a damn bit. I'd still be just as nervous."

"Ah..."

Well, chatting like that, we arrived at a rest stop... rested briefly at the rest stop, set off again, and finally, we arrived in Buyeo County.

Upon arriving at the academic field trip site, we rented accommodations, unpacked there, and moved according to the professors' guidance.

Of course, the elderly people who saw me were quite startled.

Naturally, quite a few people recognized me. It's not strange.

It's not like rural elderly people don't watch television, and my story has appeared everywhere.

They all seemed amazed, saying they never expected to see in person someone they'd only seen on television.

Anyway, putting aside such minor happenings, we officially began our field trip.

First, the team composition was... just familiar faces. Sihyun, Suyeon, Nayeon. The four of us as one team.

They probably organized it this way with the idea that two senior students would take care of two junior students. Above all, we all knew each other.

Right after forming teams, a professor was assigned to accompany us.

The professor who would be with us was Professor Hong Jeongtae.

He was the professor who asked me various questions when I first revealed I was a mutant in the department. Since then, he seems to have developed more curiosity, as he asked me about dragon characteristics and such things.

"Oh..."

Nodding at something, he began taking notes in his notebook.

"What is that?"

It might have been a somewhat rude question, but the professor scratched the back of his head and said:

"Haha, these days I'm analyzing the differences between beings that appear in legends, myths, and folktales passed down through generations and mutants."

"Ah... Are you going to publish it as a paper?"

"Well. There is a surprising correlation... but it might take more time to develop it into a paper."

Oh... he's preparing an interesting paper. I nodded.

"Ah, by the way, Seohyun. It seems you've met many mutants so far, and if it's not too presumptuous, could you perhaps tell me about their abilities?"

"Um... I'll ask them first. Since it's for a published paper, I think the mutants I mention would need to give permission."

"Thank you. Ah, now let's officially start the field trip."

As soon as the field trip began, our first target was the oldest elder at the senior citizens' center.

What we were researching now was the actual speech used during the liberation period.

"Eh... what? Ah, ah! That?"

And so, the elder told us various things.

What songs they usually hummed from the Japanese colonial period to liberation, what words they used... we recorded such things, and had a discussion based on the elder's story.

After doing all that, it was already evening. Time really flies.

As soon as dinner time came, the students happily ate the boxed meals delivered by the company. As if the money they had paid for student council fees wasn't wasted, the quality of the boxed meals was quite decent.

"The composition of the boxed meal is quite good?"

"Yes, I thought I was going to die trying to find this place. Every single one, if the price was cheap, the quality was terrible, so I raised the unit price, but even after raising the unit price, I heard there were still many places with weird quality..."

Nayeon, eating various things beside me, complained to me.

"You worked hard. It was worth paying the student council fee."

"These days, if you don't handle it transparently, there's a big fuss. The student council of a neighboring university, was it? There was a scandal when they embezzled student council fees."

"Really? I'm not very interested in student council matters..."

"It was just something that happened. Phew..."

"Is there any more on the schedule besides the presentation today?"

"No, no. After that, we're free! The teaching assistants and professors will drink separately, and we'll drink among ourselves. Ah, unnie, you'll have fruit again today, right?"

"I guess so. I won't get drunk anyway. Oh, but where do I sleep? Surely not in the girls' room?"

"Then in the boys' room? Unnie, you're a woman now."

"...That's true."

"Just sleep here. Nobody's going to mind anyway. It's not like you're going to turn back into a man."

Every word she said was right, so I couldn't refute.

After dinner, we officially presented the content we had prepared.

The professors looked quite satisfied.

The content structure was good, and we even hummed the melody sung by the elder ourselves, so how could the reaction not be good?

Anyway, after the presentation ended, drinking parties broke out everywhere.

I tried to stay close to Kim Nayeon, Lee Sihyun, and Nam Suyeon as much as possible.

While doing so, a few class of 2016 juniors who were close to Kim Nayeon came over.

"Ah, hello..."

"Oh, Heejin, hi~ What's up?"

"Ah, well..."

"Do you want to say hello to Seohyun unnie?"

"Y-yes."

"Unnie, this is Yoo Heejin, the cutest girl among the class of 2016."

"Oh, really?"

She seemed quite nervous, so I smiled at the girl called Heejin.

Even though Kim Nayeon was friendly with many people, there must be a reason for her to be so affectionate like this.

Although I generally don't like the class of 2016, not all of them are like that...

As long as I don't get involved with Seong Yunhwan and his group, it's fine.

"Hello."

"Y-you can speak casually with me..."

"Ah, I'm a bit shy with new people. I spoke formally to everyone here—Nayeon, Sihyun, Suyeon—at first."

"Ah..."

"So, I'll speak casually once we get to know each other better, okay?"

"Ah, yes!"

She was a bit awkward, but cute like a small animal.

How should I put it, like someone who would be adored wherever she went?

She seemed like a well-rounded person without any sharp edges to her personality.

While chatting with Heejin about various things, drinking games were starting everywhere.

Of course, I just happily observed the scene.

Oh... a "black knight" [someone who drinks on behalf of someone else]. Does that person like them?

With such trivial thoughts, I watched the class of 2016 students playing.

These kinds of things are fun to watch every time.

Nayeon, Sihyun, and Suyeon were also just observing the drinking games.

"Aren't you joining the drinking games?"

"I'm a bit tired..."

"Me too. It's been so long since I traveled this far..."

Sihyun and Suyeon looked half-asleep, as if they were tired.

"If you're tired, go inside and sleep."

"N-no, it's not bad enough to sleep, I just want to stay like this."

Saying that, they both stuck close to my side.

"Do you like me that much?"

"Yes..."

Actually hearing such words directly made me feel somewhat embarrassed. What's so good about me?

"My, my."

"What's with the 'my, my'... Ah, do you want to lie down using my tail as a pillow?"

"Tail!?"

Suddenly, the eyes of the two tired people flew wide open. What's with that scary reaction?

"Huh, why?"

"No, it's just... you've never shown your tail before."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"...Ah, right, I've never brought it out in front of you, have I? After bringing it out once on the variety show, I somehow lost my inhibitions."

"You showed your tail on the variety show?"

"Yeah. There's a really cute colleague of mine, and she asked me to bring it out."

"Oh... who is it?"

"You know her. Yoo Harin."

"...Huh? Is that... the Fairy-type mutant?"

At that moment, Yoo Heejin spoke to me as if a familiar topic had come up.

"Huh? You know her?"

"Yes..."

That's the reaction of someone who knows the person being talked about very well.

"How do you know her?"

"She's my cousin... We're the same age, so we're close..."

Ah, so that's why she wanted to talk to me.

Because her cousin is a Bureau agent.

"...Korea is really small."

"It really is."

"What? Heejin, you have a mutant among your cousins?"

"Yes. Ah, anyway... p-please take care of Harin. She can be a bit disorganized at times..."

Her attitude was completely like an older sister. Harin has disorganized aspects?

"Harin is disorganized? She seemed very mature to me."

"That's just a facade. When she meets with me, she always whines."

"Oh ho..."

Now this is an interesting story.

"Um, unnie?"

At that moment, I felt Sihyun's finger poking my side.

"Yes? What is it, Sihyun?"

"T-the tail..."

"Ah, the tail? Okay. Just a moment."

Saying that, I brought out my tail. The sudden appearance of my tail startled everyone.

"Wow... it's really big? Can I touch it?"

"Isn't that why I brought it out?"

As soon as I gave permission, they stroked my tail. All the while making exclamations like "wow," "amazing," and so on.

Is the texture of my tail that addictive? I could only tilt my head in puzzlement.