Chapter Text
Summer is birds chirping on trees, kids merrily playing on the playgrounds, and warmth enveloping you away from the cold winter. But summer in Sol’s dictionary is different.
Sol was currently on her summer break, but it didn’t mean she had enough time to take a rest. In her final year in law school* meant she had to study harder to maintain her scholarship as well as keep herself afloat in the competitive and high standard university she was in.
Moreover, living in a semi-basement in the city didn’t give all the good things that summer brings. It meant wavering from the sweeping heat and sweltering conditions of the city. So sometimes, Sol and Byeol opt to stay in the public parks for Byeol to play with the other kids while Sol studies through her books. There were other times when she went to Hankuk to go to the library. She also brings Byeol from time to time and the guards couldn’t resist the charm that she has so Byeol was often let inside. Sometimes her friend, Han Joonhwi, visits Sol and Byeol for a group study— sometimes Yeseul joins them. Though the rest of the study group studied diligently in the comfort of their own home.
Even though summer meant studying inside their small home or outside in the public parks and library, sometimes Sol and Byeol get lucky.
One afternoon, Byeol came rushing home with a paper on hand, calling Sol’s name. “Eonnie, I won a prize!”
Sol was deep in studying through her democratic law and barely looked at Byeol when she replied, “What’s that?”
Byeol shook her arm, which finally took all of Sol’s attention. Then, Byeol almost shoved the paper on Sol’s face. Sol took the paper and read the prize.
“Camping?” Sol asked.
Byeol eagerly nodded then jumped around their small area and gleefully shouted camping on repeat. Their mother who was quietly observing in the corner finally spoke and explained, “There was a raffle at the market last month. Byeol won the second prize, which is free camping with a camping kit. You can go whenever, but isn’t that lovely for you and Byeol to enjoy this summer?”
“But how did Byeol get in? She’s too young.”
Byeol stopped and said, “I put your name, eonnie.” She sat beside her older sister again and hugged Sol. “Can we go this weekend, eonnie ?”
Sol strategically scheduled the rest of her break as she had stacks of books to review before the semester started. She was nowhere near half of them and she still had a few more days* to finish them. But seeing her little sister’s doe eyes pleading her to go camping, Sol’s resolve slowly crumbled.
Seeing Sol’s hesitation, their mother said, “It’s much better to study there than here, Sol. It’s a full weekend. I will pack enough food for the two of you.”
“Yes,” exclaimed Byeol. “Can we also grill meat there?”
Their mother nodded. “I will pack more than enough meat if you want to.”
Byeol then looked at her again. Sol grinned then eventually agreed to her little sister's joy.
So there they were in the Yeoninsan Campsite on a bright Saturday morning. Their mother went overboard and packed more than enough food, so they had a heavy going in. Byeol was so excited that she couldn’t sleep the night before. Even with almost no sleep, Byeol was still jumping with energy as they greeted the caretaker of the campsite.
“Congratulations! B-103 is open for you.”
The Kang sisters bowed and thanked the caretaker. The caretaker gave them a map and instructed them carefully how to get to their site and how they would be able to contact him in case of emergency. With Sol's obvious struggle in carrying their bags, he gave them a cart to make it easier that the sisters gladly accepted. They then went on their merry way.
As they walked to their assigned camping site, Byeol continuously shared her excitement with her older sister. She said that it was so much better than spending all their time at home, fending off the summer heat. Sol felt bad when Byeol casually shared this kind of thought. Now that Dan was already successful abroad, she gave enough money to move Byeol to a better school in the area. Sol promised herself that once she earned enough money, then she would move their family out of the small apartment they were in.
Sol veered off topic and asked Byeol about the food they’re going to eat. “Say Byeol, what food are you most excited to cook first?”
“Oh! Can we grill meat first?”
“Of course!”
“Did you bring kimchi?”
“Eomma made sure that we have more than enough in here.” Byeol smiled brightly at Sol's reply. It warmed Sol’s heart and in response, she ruffled Byeol’s hair a little bit and pulled her little sister to a quick hug.
But the bright smiles they had turned upside down when they saw the state of their area.
“Eonnie …”
Sol was left with no words. The area had a complete camping set, tent, grilling, and even chairs were there in front of them. The problem was…
“...I don’t know how to set up camp,” Byeol said, with a distinct dejection in her tone.
Her little sister was so excited for the past three days, couldn’t even sleep the night before, and this was all she could talk about to her, to their mother, and to their friends. Byeol rarely had a good vacation. Sol couldn’t even remember an instance when Byeol had a proper vacation because she spent a lot of time helping her or their mother on their errands or part-time jobs.
So Sol knew what she had to do.
“Byeol- ah , do you want to play with the flowers there?” Sol asked. Byeol nodded slowly, although despair still evident in her eyes. “Okay, go there. Don’t go too far from my sight, arachi ?”
“How will the tent form itself?”
Maintaining her composure, Sol quickly replied, “Your sister can do it! Go now and play.”
Byeol shook her head and said, “It will be much faster if both of us do it!”
Ahhh , Kang Byeol, the thoughtful person that she was. “Okay, but we might take hours setting this up.”
Byeol’s bright smile returned and said, “No problem!”
Determined to get the full camping experience, the Kang sisters went to work and searched how to set up camp online. Regardless of their combined brain power, their zero experience at camping was proving to be a huge hindrance than a source of excitement to them. One lady even passed by them and went to a nearby site. They saw her set up her camp quicker than they were trying to figure out which piece goes in each place.
At one point, Byeol even called Han Joonhwi using her sister’s phone. When Sol realized this, she quickly snatched her phone away and ended the call. Byeol teased, “It will be much faster if Joonhwi oppa comes here to help us.” Sol dismissed her and went to work.
The sun was almost at the middle on that fine Saturday when the two sisters finished building their tent. It wasn’t the best build, but they figured that it was the best that they could do. Good thing that there was shade from the nearby trees that they could still feel the cool breeze from the nature. They went for that nature experience after all. They then decided to start preparing for lunch.
Sol made the fire for grilling the meat, while Byeol prepared the meat that they were going to cook. Byeol also took out the kimchi as well as the cooked rice that their mother diligently packed for them. When everything was prepared and they were about to start grilling the meat, a strong wind suddenly came and the tent that they painstakingly built all morning collapsed. They could only stare at the mess.
“Eonnie… ”
“Our tent collapsed,” Sol finished, as she processed the fact in front of her. That was almost two hours of work down the drain.
Byeol looked at her older sister who was still staring hard at the collapsed tent. “What do we do now?”
Sol sighed, "Well," then looked at Byeol, “should we eat first?”
Byeol smiled and nodded. They went back to what they were doing earlier and began placing the meat that they prepared, not minding the tent behind them. Byeol even started sharing about her friends and what they were doing during the summer, based on their SNS updates.
They had grilled half of the meat that they intended to eat that time, when they heard a voice.
“Excuse me…” Both sisters whipped their heads to the direction of the voice and saw the lady who passed by them earlier. “Do you need help?” she asked and gestured at their tent.
Both Sol and Byeol swore they heard orchestral music and as if the sun shone brighter in the nice lady’s position. Though they were initially shocked that someone would pity their current predicament and that both sisters chose to cook food instead of fixing their tent, they got over it and nodded eagerly at the nice lady's offer. Sol even wiped a tear from her eye and Byeol almost jumped to embrace the nice lady but stopped herself.
In under 20 minutes, the nice lady was able to assemble and make the tent strong against the wind that may come. She even lent them some of her paraphernalia and a mug of coffee that she proudly presented, “I brewed this on my own.”
“Thank you so much,” Sol told her and then remembered that they had not introduced themselves to the nice lady. “I’m Kang Sol and this is my little sister, Byeol.”
The nice lady crouched to Byeol’s height and said, “What a cute name! I am Chae Songhwa.”
Byeol bowed 90 degrees and said, “Thank you so much, Chae Songhwa- nim .”
Songhwa smiled and patted Byeol’s hair. She then looked at the older Kang sister and asked, “Is this your first time camping?”
Sol blushed at the question and responded, “Yes. My sister won a raffle prize for this. We rarely get a vacation so we grabbed this chance.”
Songhwa nodded and continued to observe the things they have. “I see that you brought books on your vacation.”
Sol turned even more crimson. “Ahh, yes. I am studying for the upcoming semester.”
“That’s good! I love studying myself too,” Songhwa replied and tapped her chest. “I believe in the never ending quest for learning.”
“Wow, you’re amazing,” Byeol remarked unintentionally that she quickly covered her mouth. Songhwa laughed and thanked her for the compliment.
Byeol took that as a sign to ask one more question, “Do you have anyone with you?”
“Yes, they’re a little bit late because of something at school. They should be here in a few hours,” replied Songhwa.
Byeol looked at her sister, who immediately got what she was trying to point. “Oh! Then maybe you can join us for lunch in the meantime?” Sol offered. “This is the only thing we can offer you as our thanks.”
“Our mother has the best kimchi, too!” Byeol added.
Songhwa wanted to decline, but Byeol’s doe eyes were so difficult to resist. So in the end, she accepted the offer.
The Kang sisters and Songhwa were having a great time. Byeol broke the ice and shared what her friends were doing during the summer and other stories that her sister already knew but still loved to hear about. Sol also offered some stories from her end about law school. On the other hand, Songhwa mentioned that she was a doctor when Byeol asked.
“I’m in the neurosurgery department.”
“Amazing!” Sol and Byeol said at the same time.
Songhwa chuckled at their response. “I’m doing okay, I guess."
"Do you enjoy your work?" Sol asked.
"Very much. I like studying too," Songhwa said.
“Can you tell us more about your work?” Byeol pressed on, eager to learn more about the nice lady.
Songhwa then proceeded to share the cases she worked hard on and that she felt most fulfilled at, as the two sisters intently listened to her. Sol and Byeol were so amazed by what she was sharing that they have almost forgotten the predicament that they were in earlier. Songhwa on her part eagerly shared the best parts of the work but also cautioned how many hours and years she had to spend studying to get where she was.
Songhwa also asked Sol about her stories and she gladly shared some experience that she already had in court, though tried to skip over details that will incriminate the clients. Sol mostly talked about her professors and how they were firm but at the same time, “I’m learning a lot from them.”
“That’s good. That’s what professors want to happen,” Songhwa smiled. She wondered if her students would also say the same thing about her.
They continued exchanging their stories, when Byeol noticed someone came in.
“Joonhwi oppa!”
Sol was surprised that she stood quite quickly from her seat. “What are you doing here?” she asked as Joonhwi entered their space. Oddly, Joonhwi looked too formal for the setting.
“Byeol said you guys need help in building your tent,” Joonhwi said then looked at their area. “Looks like you figured it out.”
“Yes, because of this nice lady,” Byeol replied and gestured towards Songhwa. Joonhwi then promptly bowed and greeted Songhwa who waved her hand.
“You went all the way here?” Sol further probed.
“Yes, but I need to return to the city in a few hours.”
“Why?”
“I was helping in a case that will come back from recess by then.”
“Ya— Han Joonhwi! Go back now.”
Joonhwi just snickered, “Can I eat first?”
“Sure,” Sol replied and then lightly tapped Joonhwi on his shoulder. “You shouldn’t have come here!”
“I thought you might need some help.”
It was a sight so uncanny that reminded Songhwa of younger years. As they continued to banter, Songhwa saw that her companions finally arrived so she called Sol’s attention. “I have to go back to my area, too. My companions are here,” she said and gestured at Lee Ikjun and Uju.
That stopped Sol and looked at the newcomers. “Oh that's right.” The sisters and Joonhwi greeted the newcomers who greeted them back.
“I had a great time. Thank you for the food," Songhwa said.
“Thank you so much for helping us with the tent!” Sol said. Byeol bowed again at her and said that she was amazing.
"I hope we can see you again in the future!"
"Let's hope!" Songhwa replied to Byeol.
As soon as Ikjun placed their packs in place, he noticed Songhwa staring at the group she was with earlier.
“Why are you staring at them?” asked Ikjun.
Songhwa sipped from her cup of coffee first. “Nothing, they remind me of something.”
Ikjun looked at the group again. The older sister seemed to be telling a story to the guy, while the guy quietly and earnestly listened to her. The younger sister seemed to have gone inside the tent, so it was only the two of them alone. Songhwa further said, “They look like they’re best friends.”
Ikjun smiled knowingly.
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