Chapter 34: Extra pushes the princess’s swing.

“Sunbae (senior), so are you done with your errands now?”

“……Hmm, no?”

After finishing the omurice I gave her, Lee Seorin wiped her mouth with a napkin and smiled at me.

“Last time, it was late, so I gave you a ride straight home, but it’s not that late yet, is it?”

As Lee Seorin said, compared to last week when the sun was setting, it was still daytime.

I told my sister in advance that I had an appointment and would be home late, so there was no reason to go in now.

“I was thinking of stopping by one more place, would that be okay?”

“Where are we going?”

I didn’t want to go too far.

‘Because it’s a hassle.’

Even if I use a car to go back later, it still takes time.

And that wasn’t the only reason.

The problem was that if I didn’t go in until bedtime, Siyeon wouldn’t go to bed and would wait for me until I got home.

-I wasn’t waiting? Of course, I was doing the homework that I have to submit tomorrow. More than that, hurry up and wash up. I drew the water.

Once I went in late at night.

She said that, but it was obvious on her face that she was just waiting for me to come in the living room.

Since then, she subtly hinted that she was waiting when I came in late, so I didn’t want to go in too late.

Even so, I didn’t want to be called an older sister who makes her younger sister, who wakes up early every day to go to school, have dark circles under her eyes.

“Do you know that there’s a playground not far from here?”

“Playground……Ah, you mean the one next to the open space?”

The playground that Lee Seorin mentioned had been in this neighborhood for a long time.

It was far from home, so it wasn’t within walking distance, so I didn’t visit it often, but when I was young, I went there with my whole family, and I also went there with Siyeon alone.

‘It was fun.’

Swings, seesaws, slides, jungle gyms, and so on.

I mainly played by carrying or leading my sister, but even that was just fun in the past.

“That’s right. I saw it in passing before, and it looked fun, so I wanted to play there at least once.”

Saying that, Lee Seorin got a little closer to me.

“……If it’s okay, would you like to play with me?”

Two hands.

She wrapped my two slightly larger hands with her two slightly smaller hands, then looked up at me and said.

‘……A princess.’

Who is Lee Seorin?

Usually, she was the Student Council President who maintained a aloof, shallow smile among the students and was held in high esteem, and she was a princess who made even those highly proud students from prestigious families her followers.

Such a person.

If she coaxes me to go to the playground with her golden eyes sparkling like a 5-year-old child, who could possibly refuse this proposal?

“……Okay. I also want to go there after a long time. I’m also curious about how it’s changed.”

I felt like I was being swept away somewhere, but there was a part of me that felt that feeling wasn’t bad either.

Why?

Because she’s a character I’ve seen a lot in the original?

No, rather than that…….

“Really? I’m glad…….”

Maybe it’s because she’s a person who can see the other person’s emotions, and yet can be genuinely relieved by the words of permission.

“Then, I’ll call you when we’re done.”

“I understand.”

The car left, and what I saw in front of me was an empty playground soaked in the sunset.

“There’s not a single person.”

I thought there would be at least a few kids when we came, but it was as if we had rented the place out, and there wasn’t even a shadow of a person except for us.

“That’s right? It’s strange. When I saw it before, there were a few kids, but is it because it’s late?”

Lee Seorin, who answered casually, entered the playground ahead of me.

‘……Surely, it can’t be?’

Did she use bodyguards to chase away the people who were in the playground……?

No, no matter how much of a princess she is, how can she stop people from entering the playground?

It was already evening time when the sun was setting, so it was understandable that there were no people in this corner playground.

“Hoobae-nim, come quickly!”

With a light step that could be known just by looking at her back, the first place she headed was the swing with two seats side by side.

‘Did they install a new one?’

At Lee Seorin’s call, I approached, and a swing with a distinctly different color from the old swing I used to ride greeted me.

Well, it was already rusty back then, so it’s natural that they would have replaced it with a new one after more than 10 years.

Still, I felt a little sad.

Clunk.

“Sunbae, do you know how to ride a swing?”

I sat next to Lee Seorin, who was already sitting on the swing, and asked just in case.

From what she said, it seemed like she had never ridden one before.

“I’m fine. I just have to swing my body, right?”

Lee Seorin, sitting on the swing, answered confidently and swung her body.

Creak, creak.

“See, I ride well, right?”

With just a few movements of her body, Lee Seorin looked at me with a triumphant expression.

‘……She’s definitely riding for the first time.’

The limit of the swing was not just that.

I’ll have to show her a demonstration myself.

“Sunbae, watch carefully.”

If I was wearing a skirt, I might not have done it just in case, but now my school uniform pants were firmly protecting my legs.

Tap tap tap.

I step on the ground, walk backward, and pull the swing as far back as possible.

“Hoobae-nim……?”

Perhaps sensing something unusual, Lee Seorin stared at me blankly, and I took my feet off the ground and forcefully stretched my feet toward the sky.

Swoosh!

The cool evening breeze greeted me as I went up so high that I could say my feet touched the sky.

‘It’s beautiful.’

I saw the sky completely, without being obscured by any buildings.

Perhaps it was because my two legs were off the ground.

I felt as if I was melting into the sky, where dark navy blue and orange mixed and clashed.

‘When was the last time I was immersed in such an appreciation.’

If it were me in my previous life, I would have looked at that sky and expressed my despair about how to live tomorrow.

If it were me before I found my memories, I wouldn’t have left a very special impression.

Because there were no major difficulties in living life.

So, the reason why I feel a throbbing in my chest while looking at that sky is probably because it’s only me now.

My ears became muffled.

It was because the wind wrapped around me as I ascended to the sky.

As I got farther and farther away from the sound, I got closer to the sky.

I didn’t feel bad.

No, I felt good.

It was the best.

It was as if the wind had taken away all my worries and concerns.

-…….

Gradually, the speed decreased.

The swing, which had reached the highest point it could go, began to pull me down to the ground.

But, I don’t stop.

I leave my body as it is and go to the other side.

Feeling the blood rushing to the back of my head, I reached the highest point on the other side, and then came down again and soared into the sky.

A few times like that.

The swing, which had been moving in an almost semicircular trajectory, eventually lost its strength and returned to its original position.

Tap.

“Ugh, I’m dizzy…….”

Because I hadn’t ridden in a long time, the moment I landed on the ground, dizziness, as if I had spun around several times as a punishment, hit me.

‘I should have ridden a little more gently.’

I overdid it because I was excited to ride the swing after a long time and because I was showing off how to ride the swing to Lee Seorin.

But, it seems to have been successful.

“Wow……Hoobae-nim, did you learn how to ride a swing separately? How do you ride so well?”

Lee Seorin was looking at me with wide eyes in surprise.

“If you feel the sensation of moving back and forth well, Sunbae will also be able to ride well soon.”

“Really?”

At my words, Lee Seorin moved her body as if to review the way I rode the swing, but the awkward, large movements were making the swing tilt sideways rather than swing back and forth.

‘She’ll get hurt if she rides like that.’

It was cute that the princess was moving so hard like that, but it was also true that it looked somewhat unstable.

If you don’t get the center of gravity right, the impact is considerable when the swing tilts and comes down.

If the rope gets tangled by mistake, it can lead to a major accident where you spin around like the teacup ride at an amusement park, so you need to be careful.

Therefore, I stood behind Lee Seorin.

“Sunbae.”

“Yes?”

“Try to straighten your posture.”

At those words, Lee Seorin lowered her slightly rolled-up skirt and grabbed the swing with both hands.

“Like this?”

‘She’s obedient.’

The back of Lee Seorin following my words looked like a child who was anxious about what would happen next.

She’s probably thinking about how I rode a little while ago.

But, I couldn’t raise her as high as I did a little while ago.

The rider herself was inexperienced, and above all.

‘If she falls and breaks the princess’s nose, I’ll hear all the complaints…….’

Even if she says she’s okay, I didn’t want to get involved in such a thing.

‘So, just a little.’

I pull the swing back, shorter than the distance I pulled it back, but definitely farther than Lee Seorin was riding earlier.

“Hold on tight, Sunbae!”

I shouted loudly once to warn Lee Seorin, then let go.

“Kyaaa!”

With a shrill scream, the swing goes much farther than the trajectory Lee Seorin was riding alone.

‘……Uh, will she be okay?’

I meant to do it weakly, but it went up higher than I thought.

“Sunbae, keep your legs straight out in front!”

Still, I say what I have to say.

Because you have to keep your legs straight to move back and forth well without shaking.

“Th-Then everything will be visible!”

At Lee Seorin’s shout as she reached the highest point and came down, I pushed the swing up again and replied.

“No one is passing by in front anyway!”

It was something I could say because there wasn’t even a shadow of a person.

“Ugh……I don’t know anymore!”

Her pretty legs straightened out, and even though I pushed with the same force, Lee Seorin went up much higher than before.

If someone was passing by this park right now, they could see the princess’s underwear through her wide-open skirt.

I couldn’t see it because I was behind.

I wasn’t disappointed.

Why would I look when I barely avoided going to jail if Lee Seorin reported me for looking?

“Hoobae-nim! Is this really okay!?”

When I looked at where Lee Seorin was at that shout, she was much higher than before.

‘……I don’t know!’

“It’s okay! I’m pushing much more safely than when I rode!”

It wasn’t a lie, because I was pushing stably.

……She has to take it well.

Whoosh!

“The wind is too strong!”

Lee Seorin’s long hair fluttered in the wind.

I thought she might be annoyed if her set hair was messed up, but I couldn’t feel that at all in Lee Seorin’s tone.

“Isn’t that why it’s more fun?”

“That’s the problem! My hair is getting messed up like this! It’s too fun!”

Kya-ha.

“I can never show this to other people!”

I was starting to lose strength in my hands, but I had no intention of stopping pushing the swing.

“We’re still going!”

“More! Push me harder!”

The sunset was still lingering on the playground.

Lee Seorin’s body was reflected red in the sunset.

That was the same for her excited face.

If I were to express the emotions she’s feeling right now in color, it would definitely be sparkling like the color of the sunset.

Even though I don’t have the ability to see emotions like she does, I could easily guess it.