Chapter 40 : Date Course
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Glance.
While walking down the street.
Glance.
An unknown gaze.
Glance, glance.
Sometimes it comes to us. It was the fleeting glances of people walking down the street. When men and women laughing and chatting passed by us, their eyes would linger on us.
Seing Ahrin could feel various emotions piercing through her, such as gazes mixed with slight admiration and strange jealousy.
And she knew where those feelings came from. She turned her head slightly to look at the man walking beside her.
"······."
Lee Se-Won, frowning slightly as if the sunlight was harsh. From her perspective, even his frown seemed valuable.
The unique aura emanating from his appearance was enough to attract people's attention.
There might have been words she had said earlier about cliques and outcasts, about the insurmountable wall between them.
Ahrin felt that same wall with Se-Won. In fact, he seemed to have a wall even higher than those walking insiders.
He had an aura that made her want to approach him, but she feared getting hurt if she did so recklessly. Honestly, she still couldn't believe that he was walking beside her.
It felt like a dream. As happy as a dream, but with the uneasy feeling of a mirage that could disappear at any moment.
Caught in that feeling for a moment, she soon shook her head to clear her thoughts.
'Let's just have fun.'
Continuing to be anxious would only wear her mind out.
For now, she decided to focus solely on making him happy.
She was well-prepared. She had searched the internet multiple times to plan the date course and had even purchased a movie that was popular among men.
Time would pass quickly as they followed the schedule. Her plan was to part ways in the middle of the night.
'If we can do more...'
Spend the night together...
Just thinking about it made her face feel hot.
Various skin-toned backgrounds swirled in her mind.
"Hmm..."
It seemed like she needed more time to clear her mind of those thoughts.
---
The downtown area was always bustling on weekends. Modern people, weary from society, or students tired from school, would rush out on weekends.
They would release the stress accumulated in their daily lives by having fun all day. It was an active and good way to relieve stress.
Honestly, I liked having fun, but I didn't particularly enjoy crowded places.
Walking through the streets was uncomfortable, and on hot days, the heat from the people made the weather feel twice as hot.
It was uncomfortable and hot. That made me irritable.
That's exactly how I felt today.
Unfortunately, the weather was quite nice today. The sky was clear, and the sun was fiercely burning my skin.
Every time I passed people on the street, I felt an unnecessary discomfort.
'Honestly, I just want to go to a motel...'
Well, I decided to endure it for now.
Looking at her, she seemed to have prepared a lot, so it didn't seem bad to go along with her plans.
Honestly, it was true that we were awkward with each other.
Even though we went as far as Yasu last time, we still didn't know much about each other.
We didn't have many topics to talk about, and we didn't know each other's personalities.
If there was an ABC in relationships between men and women, we had skipped AB and gone straight to C.
It was a strangely unique relationship.
In that sense, this meeting was suitable for breaking the awkwardness. I could go along with her plans for a day.
"This way."
The first place we arrived at was a store lined with claw machines.
"Let's kill some time here for now."
Following her nervous guidance, I entered the store.
Various cute stuffed animals were piled up inside the machines.
It was a place filled with fluffy and pink vibes.
I was amazed.
"Oh..."
I already wanted to leave.
This cute and quaint space didn't suit me at all.
What was the use of impractical stuffed animals? They were cute, but if I had something like that at home, I would only be called a sissy.
Ah, come to think of it, this was a world of sissies.
Damn it.
"Sis, that one is so cute! Can you get it for me?"
"Oh, sure! Just leave it to me!"
Nearby, a sissy was jumping up and down, looking at a stuffed animal. His behavior was so cute that I felt an urge to give him a strong flick on the forehead.
It wasn't just the gender norms that were reversed, was it? It was something I didn't particularly want to know.
'Come to think of it...'
Claw machine stores were also one of the dating spots for insiders.
It was mainly a place where women showed off their claw machine skills to their partners who liked cute things. Of course, only a handful of people could perform well here.
Not everyone liked cute things. It was a very narrow-minded view.
As I was thinking that, Ahrin asked awkwardly with a smile.
"Do you have any stuffed animal you want? I'll get it for you."
"......"
I felt a bit disappointed, but...
Anyway, I couldn't refuse to go along with it.
I looked around for a moment.
Usually, places like this had some cool figures, but it seemed that in this changed world, even the figures had been reverse TS'd.
Helplessly, I chose a fluffy lion stuffed animal.
Zing.
A thousand-won bill was inserted into the machine, and the lewd claw moved to grab the lion stuffed animal.
Ahrin was concentrating as if her soul was mortgaged inside.
Somehow, the claw grabbed the lion stuffed animal and lifted it up. The lion stuffed animal, precariously held by its leg, was smoothly lifted up.
Seeing that, Ahrin face lit up.
Thud.
But that was only for a moment. The claw, manipulated by the store owner, dropped the lion stuffed animal as soon as it lifted it up.
The pathetic claw ultimately failed to grab the stuffed animal.
"Ah..."
I could hear Ahrin sigh beside me. She seemed quite disappointed. I said a word for her.
"Oh, Ahrin, you really suck."
"......I still have a few chances."
She took out another thousand-won bill. It seemed like she was fired up. As expected, people needed to be provoked to ignite their will.
Again, her eyes seemed to shoot lasers as she concentrated. From her momentum, it seemed like she would succeed soon.
I watched Ahrin claw machine challenge like that.
In the end, she did manage to grab it.
"Well done~ You did great~"
I dragged out my words and followed her.
After finishing the light amusement, we were walking around downtown again.
Currently, a small and cute lion stuffed animal was hanging from my right hand. The soft fur tickled my skin.
The texture in my hand was fluffy.
Sure, she did grab it, but she seemed a bit gloomy. Of course, I knew the reason.
I said in a slightly teasing tone.
"But 10,000 won is a bit much~"
This small stuffed animal cost a whopping ten thousand won to grab.
Of course, it was fun when we grabbed it.
After failing nearly ten times, we finally succeeded once. How could it not be joyful?
At that moment, I even expressed my joy out loud and shook Ahrin shoulders.
But that was only for a moment.
As soon as we grabbed it and went out to the street, reality hit us. A stuffed animal that could fit in one hand for ten thousand won. We couldn't help but consider the cost-effectiveness.
Perhaps it would have been better to have a hot bowl of soup. Such thoughts were inevitable.
Well, at least we did grab it. A sucker who won was better than a sucker who lost. She was a winning sucker.
"But we still have some time left... What should we do?"
"Speak casually."
"Ah, what should we do?"
As I teased her and walked, she asked. As expected, the claw machine wasn't efficient.
It ate up money but didn't take much time. As a result, we still had a lot of time left until the movie.
I could see her panicking at the suddenly empty time.
Did she really plan to spend the time until the movie just with the claw machine? The awkward date course made me laugh.
I thought for a moment and said.
"Well, since we have nothing to do, let's just walk around."
"Is that okay?"
"I don't mind."
Since it wasn't that long until the movie time. It didn't seem bad to walk around aimlessly until then.
If we saw something fun while walking, we could play with it.
We started walking aimlessly like that.
Ahrin stood on the left, and I stood on the right, walking side by side.
We didn't talk much.
"The weather is nice today, right?"
Since neither of us had a lively personality, moments of silence were inevitable.
Ahrin would say something trivial like this when the silence became awkward.
She still seemed difficult to handle, and I could see her fidgeting. Seeing that made me want to tease her.
I looked around for a moment. The downtown area on the weekend was indeed full of couples. It was common to see men and women walking in pairs.
In the past, I would have cursed at the sight, but now I didn't have any particular thoughts.
Ah, maybe it was because I had experienced C.
As I watched them for a while, I realized that most couples were holding hands.
Suddenly, a fun thought crossed my mind. Even though we were awkward like this, how would she react if I held her hand?
Curious, I suddenly grabbed Ahrin hand.
"!"
At the same time, she flinched. Regardless, I said.
"We might get separated, so let's hold hands."
"......"
Ahrin nodded silently. Ah, I wanted a more varied reaction.
But since I had made her face turn red, I decided to be satisfied.
I could feel the warmth from her fingers. A soft touch was wrapping around my hand.
It was a quite comfortable afternoon.
"Ah."
After walking for a while, a question suddenly popped into my mind, and I asked her.
"By the way, what movie are we going to watch?"
"Ah, it's called 'The Secret'... It's a melodrama."
"Ah..."
Huh?
"What did you say the genre was?"
"Melodrama."
I could see her smiling brightly, as if she was happy about something.
I was amazed.
"Oh..."
And then I thought to myself.
Seong Ahrin, this girl had no talent for planning dates.
Translated by ReversalNovel.web.id
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