Anemone
I got home and it was already ten o'clock.
I'd only planned to watch one movie before heading back, but somehow the time had flown by.
"Noah~? Looks like catching up with Yuri after so long made you happy. You left in the morning and were gone almost the whole day."
"It's been seven years... wait, what am I saying? It's been three years since we last saw each other. Once we started talking, it felt like we'd never stop."
"You didn't do anything weird while you were out, did you? Still, now that you're an adult, Mom would like to see you finally put the bolt and nut together."
I nearly spat out the water I was drinking.
I barely managed to stop choking and shot my mom a slightly resentful look.
"Um... Mother? There are some things you really shouldn't say in front of your son's friend from America."
"I heard everything from Mrs. Chris while you were in the States. She caught you watching adult videos with the volume turned up at night, right?"
"Agh, seriously!!!"
That's so unfair, Mrs. Chris!
She promised she'd take that secret to her grave, and now she's betrayed me?
As I trembled with indignation on the inside, Mom reached over and patted my shoulder.
"It's okay, sweetie. At least it wasn't NTR or harem stuff, right? Mom is so proud that you only watch pure romance!"
"Stop. Please stop. Don't give me a belated case of puberty..."
I could feel my mental strength draining away in real time.
And the fact that she wore such an innocent, proud expression while saying it only made it worse.
"Hehe, so? How's Yuri doing? Is she okay?"
Her face switched to serious mode in an instant.
I thought for a moment before nodding.
"It's not as bad as I expected. Still, it looks like she'll need a lot of support."
"I see. Honey, can you tell Mom the truth? The reason you came back from America... it was because of Yuri, wasn't it?"
"...I'm invoking my right to remain silent."
"Hmph~ Saying it like that just makes it more obvious~"
She even started poking me in the side.
Her intuition was strangely sharp.
When I asked how she always knew, she'd just answer, "Because I'm your mom!"
"Do your best. Mom is always on your side. And so is Dad, of course♪"
"You always end on a heartwarming note."
"It's a magic word, isn't it~ Oh, but no docking until you're a proper adult. Kids these days grow up so fast, but I can't compromise on that one."
"That's why you've been obsessed with the s... with that topic from the start!"
"The flower of pure romance is when a loving man and woman burn the night away together. Just like me and your dad~ Heehee, I miss your dad's face already."
It had only been one day since Dad left on his business trip, yet she was already missing him.
Even after I became an adult, and even after this regression, their passion was still burning strong.
Honestly, I was a little envious.
Because I dreamed of becoming like Mom and Dad someday.
"Anyway, I got it. Have a good night. You said we're going to Grandma's tomorrow since it's the weekend, right?"
"That's right! We'll leave at eleven, so get ready. And you know school starts again next week, don't you?"
"Of course!"
I gave her an OK sign and headed up to the second floor where my room was.
Plop!
After a refreshing shower, I collapsed onto my bed.
"Huh? There's a message."
It had only been a week since I returned from the States.
Which meant the only notifications I usually got were spam texts. Who would even message me?
I'd lost contact with my closest childhood friend, Yuri, so it wasn't like I had a bunch of friends waiting to reach out.
Figuring it might be a relative or family member, I unlocked my phone.
Oh. Right, we exchanged numbers while watching the movie.
Yuri had changed her phone number completely after she started getting bullied.
That was why the message came with that fresh "new friend" notification.
"How ironic. We've known each other the longest, but it says we're just becoming friends now."
Before replying, I pulled back the curtain by the window to check the weather outside.
A typical late Seoul night.
That probably meant the sunny personality I'd met earlier was still in control.
"She's pretty calm for the sunny version."
If it had been the sunny personality, she probably would've thrown in a bunch of emojis and chatted excitedly.
But the Yuri I was talking to through text right now felt quiet. Still.
Is it the cloudy one...? No. Her tone doesn't feel damp or clingy at all.
I looked up at the window again.
It was still an ordinary night, filled with the sound of crickets.
Then something Yuri had said earlier suddenly came back to me.
As long as the weather doesn't change, that personality should come out... but maybe she's feeling shy right now.
"....Could it be that this is actually her original personality?"
I wanted to check. To see if the Yuri I used to know was still inside her somewhere.
After hesitating for a moment, I sent another message.
"It's really her original personality."
Most people would answer that anemone means "Don't forget me."
That was because of the famous Greek myth associated with it, and the phrase had spread all over the internet.
But before I left for America, Yuri had given me anemones and said those exact words.
Thank you for playing with me all this time, Noah! You have to have fun in America too, okay?
I was just a kid back then and didn't really understand what she meant.
But girls hit puberty earlier than boys, so maybe she'd given me the flower as a metaphor.
So even back then, you were already preparing for goodbye.
Uh... from my perspective after regressing, that was ten years ago. I couldn't remember the color.
All that came to mind was the blurry image of her tearfully holding out the flower.
What should I do? Should I just be honest?
This wasn't a dating sim with save and load functions.
If I stepped on a landmine, I'd explode in real life.
After thinking it over, I decided to tell the truth.
I didn't want to lie about something like this, and she'd probably see through it anyway.
I sent the reply and immediately started feeling anxious.
But Yuri's next message swept all that anxiety away cleanly.
How would I know that?
If I did, I would've opened a flower shop a long time ago.
A cute emoji of a bear hitting a drum popped up.
And right below it came her answer.
I never expected Yuri to launch an attack like that.
I stared blankly at the screen for a long time.
No words came. No thoughts either.
Even so, she seemed to understand how I felt and didn't send any more messages, simply waiting.
"How am I supposed to reply to this?"
I typed and deleted the same message over and over.
Should I say something back?
Or should I just honestly say I was moved?
Hmm...
"It tickles. So much."
"....!"
It was a voice message.
Her voice sounded slightly sleepy and low, probably because she was lying down.
Combined with the calm atmosphere of her original personality, it was...
"Hehe, is it night and day?"
This time the voice message carried an outright seductive tone.
It was so sensual that if I hadn't been an adult in mind, I wouldn't have been able to handle it.
"That's exactly why it's cheating. I can't take it."
This time I sent a voice message too.
But even after waiting, no reply came from Yuri.
The read receipt had appeared, though.
Maybe my voice had sounded weird?
I was debating whether to send an awkward apology when—
The pout in her voice made me smile without meaning to.
I was happy to know that just as I felt my heart flutter for her, she felt the same way about me.
Once again, there was a long pause before her reply.
Had I pushed things too fast?
She'd switched back to text.
That meant I'd pressed a landmine option.
It was a moment when I resented my pathetic lack of patience.
I tilted my head.
Be brave all of a sudden?
Was she going to send another voice message?
Ding!
The courage Yuri showed was something I never could have predicted.
She sent a photo. A selfie, at that.
Hair flowing down, cheeks shyly flushed.
It was Yuri as she was right now, packed full of sincerity.
The chat ended.
She'd left only her photo behind and disappeared.
"....As expected, her original appearance is the prettiest."
I stared blankly at Yuri's photo for a long time.
Even though I knew I'd end up sleeping in tomorrow.