This Feeling Is Too Precious to Let Slip Away
Because I didn’t want to simply let this feeling pass me by.
“Want to take a photo together, Yuri?”
I blurted it out, driven by the pure desire to preserve this moment with her.
I knew it was a small gamble that required a bit of courage.
After all, Yuri doesn’t like looking at herself. The fact that there isn’t a single mirror in the house bathroom says everything.
Though when I think about the occasional selfies she sends, maybe it’ll be fine.
But even that is ambiguous, because the hope that I’d be happy if I saw them cancels out her reluctance to be seen. In other words, the odds of success were fifty-fifty.
In many ways, I was curious what kind of answer would fly back at me.
“Hehe….”
Yuri looked at me as if she hadn’t expected it, then flashed a bright, affirming smile. She even sparkled her eyes and tilted her head toward me.
“This is the first time Noah’s ever suggested taking a picture, isn’t it?”
“Is that not allowed? I just don’t want to let this feeling pass me by.”
“Sure. It’s our first expedition together, after all. Let’s commemorate it♪”
“Are you sure? You… don’t really like looking in mirrors, right?”
She pinched my cheek lightly, as if I were adorable, then stood on her tiptoes to meet my eyes and gave me an answer I truly hadn’t anticipated.
“Because it’s you.”
“…!”
“Because it’s you, Noah—the only one I ever want to show myself to.”
“Yuri…”
“I like the version of me that’s with you right now. Do you need any more reasons? It’s simply because it’s you!”
Asking for further explanation would have been a waste of time, so I opened the camera app without hesitation.
Maybe I was more nervous than I realized? My hands were trembling even though I don’t have a tremor.
“Why can’t you focus properly! Give it here!”
In the phone screen Sunny snatched away, the two of us stood side by side wearing matching hats.
“Hmm… We’ve got a problem. What kind of pose should we do, Noah?”
“Isn’t it common sense for the person holding the phone to suggest the pose?”
“Who was the one who suggested taking the photo again~?”
We pushed and pulled at each other until, instead of answering, I reached out to fix her bangs and thought of a pose.
Ah, there was one.
A pose that would soon become trendy in the future.
“Sunny, want to try copying me?”
“Um… like this?”
She formed a V with her fingers, turned her palm upward, and flipped it downward. The so-called Gyaru Peace.
It was a pose that would sweep across Korea in a few years thanks to an idol’s selfie.
“The original personality finds it fascinating too. Do people take photos like this in America?”
“Well… strictly speaking, it originated in Japan. Come on, do it with more confidence.”
I struck the pose and checked our reflection in the mirror. Yuri fumbled with it at first, shifting awkwardly a few times, but she quickly caught on completely. She smiled faintly, followed along naturally, and even leaned her face forward more boldly than I did.
As expected, it suits her better because it’s Sunny’s vibe. It feels so full of life.
“Looks good. Lift the phone just a little higher. I’m getting cut off.”
“Then you bend down!”
“Who told you to be born so ridiculously short?”
“Ugh!”
She lightly stepped on my foot, but it didn’t hurt at all—it only made me laugh. Yuri’s expression had grown even brighter than before.
“Okay, now.”
Click.
With the shutter sound, the image of the two of us in the mirror was captured perfectly inside the phone screen. Matching hats. Matching V poses in the same direction. And the subtle way our eyes met. It looked perfect together.
I was thrilled beyond words that she was smiling like this right now. If anyone saw us, they’d definitely mistake us for a couple. I was so grateful for this lovey-dovey moment.
Someday… yes. I hoped it wouldn’t be a misunderstanding anymore.
“Looks good, right?”
“NoahNoah, we turned out amazing! The original personality’s going to be so jealous!”
“Tell her if she comes out now, I’ll take a shot with her too.”
“She says it’s too open a place and she doesn’t want to~ But she wants us to take more at home instead!”
“At this rate Ame and Cloudy will pop out too.”
I chuckled and picked up the hat. The same one Yuri was wearing. The hat that now carried memories of Jamsil with her. How could I not buy it?
“Noah!”
“Yeah?”
“Encore! Just one more time!”
Click.
Yeah. This one turned out pretty good too.
After that we shopped a little more and enjoyed a delicious dinner. It was steak cooked on a hot plate; since this was before the regression, the portions were generous and far less stingy.
Once we’d filled our stomachs, we stepped out of the restaurant. The evening glow had already vanished, and Jamsil was now drenched in a dreamy nightscape.
Under the streetlights, Sunny stretched with a bright smile.
“I’m fu~ll! Du-dung-dung!”
“Drumming on your own belly like that is kind of eye-opening.”
“Borrowing the original personality’s words… gap moe? That’s what it is!”
“Do you even know what that means?”
“Nope!”
“I figured.”
I took Sunny’s hand again as she beamed and we continued walking. At first she matched her steps with mine cheerfully, but soon she tilted her head.
“NoahNoah. The subway station is the other way…?”
“I know.”
“Then why are we walking this direction? Aren’t we going home?”
“I just… felt like walking a little.”
Yuri’s eyes widened slightly. When I pulled her hand closer so we walked side by side, she looked at me like a child who’d received an unexpected gift.
“Hmm~ Really? With no reason at all?”
“Don’t you think it’d be a shame to head straight home?”
I wanted the warmth of the day I’d spent with my childhood friend to linger. Ending the day’s atmosphere right here felt somehow insufficient. We’d been overflowing with heat until now. So this time, I wanted to cool down slowly in a quiet place, relying on the gentle embers.
“……”
As if she’d sensed that feeling, Yuri stared at me silently for a long moment. Then she bit her lip, lowered her head, and whispered in a tiny voice.
“…Idiot.”
Even as she said it, she kept holding my hand tightly. The moment her fingers completely wrapped around mine, I smiled and slowly shook her hand.
“Yeah, I’m an idiot. I’m the one throwing a tantrum because I want to stay with you so badly.”
“You’re too eager! There’s no mood at all! Any other personality would have deducted points for sure.”
She pouted, but her face didn’t look angry in the slightest. Instead, she wrapped both arms around me and leaned in completely.
“So…! You have to make up for it even more while we walk! Understand, Noah?”
“I’ll gladly keep you company~”
Laughter from people drifted in from afar. Red and blue lights poured from the various rides. Cheers from Lotte World rode the night sky and spread outward.
I suppose this is the place that decorates the city’s night most brilliantly.
But it wasn’t the destination we were looking for, so we left that splendor behind us and stepped into the quiet darkness.
When the lights gradually dimmed and the noise receded into the distance, Yuri asked softly.
“Seokchon Lake. So this is where you wanted to go, Noah?”
The calm lake unfolded before us. Even though it shared the same space as the amusement park, it felt like we’d entered another world. Unlike the amusement park that sparkled with brilliant colors, the night here was quietly dyed in soft, gentle light.
There were no cheers, no loud noises. Only the softly spreading breeze and the quiet flow of time existed.
I unconsciously slowed my steps. Yuri stopped walking with me.
“…The night view of Seokchon Lake feels even more special.”
“That’s why I brought you. The mood is completely different from daytime.”
She slowly stroked the back of my hand. Without saying anything, she fully embraced the warmth passing between us and intertwined our fingers again.
“Want to walk more?”
“Yes, let’s go all the way around. The original personality says this atmosphere is really nice too.”
After one full lap, I looked around. My gaze naturally settled on a cozy spot among the benches lining the promenade.
“Let’s sit here for a bit.”
“Okay!”
The night air felt even clearer. The pleasantly brushing wind and the gentle movement of the water were perfect. Sunny placed both hands on her knees and looked up at the sky.
“Hmm~ The stars aren’t really visible.”
“There are too many city lights here.”
“It’s so dazzling, yet we can’t see the stars because of it… Isn’t that ironic?”
Sunny gazed upward with a faintly wistful expression. I lowered my head instead to look at the lake. There, the two of us were reflected completely.
On the lake’s surface we sat side by side. Every time the ripples stirred, our silhouettes wavered along with them.
“Noah. You’re looking at how I look right now, aren’t you?”
“You caught me?”
“Hehe, how is it?”
It was a playful, casual remark, but I couldn’t answer right away. I simply alternated between her reflection on the water and the girl in front of me.
A silhouette gently swaying while holding light. An existence that carried clear warmth even atop quiet ripples. And my one and only childhood friend leaning against my side.
I smiled softly and took her hand again. The me on the water took her hand too.
“Haa… Aren’t you getting way too entangled compared to earlier?”
“It’s because the us on the surface still don’t feel like we’ve fully met yet.”
“Lame excuse…♡”
Our silhouettes on the lake swayed together. Every time the gentle ripples moved, the shadows connected softly, as if lacing fingers.
I watched the scene in silence. It really looked like another version of us in a different world were holding hands.
Something that might tremble in the wind and disappear with the ripples… Yet right now, in this moment, the image was so vividly clear that it held me captive.
“When I look at it like this…”
“It feels like I would have met you in another world too.”
Yuri blinked, then bit her lip. She looked flustered for a second, but soon the corners of her mouth lifted shyly.
“Hehe. It’s cringy… but I’m happy.”
Her slightly embarrassed smile overlapped with our reflection on the water.
“Noah, you know…”
“Yeah?”
“In the future… I want to keep going places with you like this.”
“…I feel exactly the same.”
My childhood friend smiled and leaned against my shoulder a little more slowly. On the lake’s surface, our silhouettes leaned together as well.
“Are you going to take a whole bunch of ‘us’ with you?”
“As many as you want. Whether it’s inside the country or overseas. Anywhere, because I want to be with ‘you.’”