The Third Balance Game
"Whoa… okay, I'm heading out! Bye!!"
Ajeong fled as if she were running away, her face flushed red — clearly flustered by my bold move. Thankfully, it didn't seem like a bad reaction. She probably didn't enjoy it, but at least she wasn't going to press charges. I'd traded a little awkwardness for an incredible sensation, and I considered that a fair exchange.
After that day, I could clearly feel that her physical affection had grown more cautious. The unavoidable touches during workouts were still there, but the girlfriend-like gestures — holding hands, linking arms — had completely vanished.
Penny wise, pound foolish. I'd failed to restrain a single moment of desire and lost the quiet happiness that had been building. And it wasn't as if I could just ask her why she wasn't holding my hand anymore.
Maybe I should make the first move.
If we'd never done any of that, I wouldn't have known what I was missing. But once you've had the skinship and then it stops, you start to miss it. This time, I decided I'd approach her slowly from my end. Not that I had the courage for it just yet.
In a short span of time, my life had undergone enormous changes. The first, of course, was finishing my military service. Everything after that had essentially been set in motion by the Balance Game. Thanks to becoming handsome, I'd ended up as Ajeong's gym-only boyfriend. I'd also gained the ability to stick perfectly to a diet, making both my workouts and meal plan sustainable. And that delinquent girl who'd been smoking in front of my building — the one I'd worked up the courage to confront last time — hadn't been around lately either.
Still, the addictive pull of cigarettes must have been something else, because that strange strawberry scent crossed my mind every now and then. Either way, I now had the perfect trifecta of health covered: exercise, diet, and secondhand-smoke prevention.
The fact is, I'm getting healthier.
Enjoying my healthy, peaceful routine, Sunday rolled around once again. In an atmosphere of tension that stood in sharp contrast to my calm daily life, I waited for the KokoaTalk message.
11:59. One more minute until the stroke of noon.
…
Kok-tok!
I'd been worried it might not come, but thankfully the notification chimed at the exact same time as last week. I opened it immediately and checked the contents.
The first thing I looked for was anything about the trait I'd received. As expected, they had no intention of providing any explanation about it. That benefit had come from participating in the survey in the first place, so whether it'd keep being offered going forward was anyone's guess. For now, I'd make this choice, see what happened, and think about it later.
"Past versus future, huh…"
Whichever side I picked, I was certain I wouldn't lose out. The advantages of going back to the past, the advantages of checking the future… The first thing that came to mind was Bitcoin. I could check which coin had the biggest swing over a twenty-four-hour period and invest whatever money I had. But that was possible no matter which option I chose. Until I actually picked one, I couldn't know the market conditions from today through tomorrow, so there was no way to judge which side would be better for investing.
"What else…"
I decided I'd try investing in Bitcoin either way, and started weighing the pros and cons of each option. Fortunately, just like last time, there was no time limit, so I could deliberate and even do some research.
Sure enough, searching online turned up plenty of people who'd fantasized about scenarios just like this. The main advantage of going back to the past, according to most of them, was fixing embarrassing moments or things you regretted. Plenty of those came to mind for me too — but a mere twenty-four-hour rewind wasn't nearly enough to fix any of them. If I checked the future, the big draws were knowing major world events in advance so I could prepare, or using future information to make money. That also didn't seem like something with a lot of options inside a mere twenty-four-hour window.
"Ah…"
If anything, there was so little I could actually do that the balance felt perfectly even.
…
After a long stretch of deliberation, the option I chose was:
[Check 24 hours into the future]
Kok-tok!
The moment I finished selecting, a KokoaTalk notification chimed. I was about to check the message right away.
Huh?
For a moment, it felt like my consciousness had cut out. When I came to and looked around —
Nothing's changed.
My ordinary studio apartment. The computer and desk inside it, the bathroom, the bed, and lying on top of it…
That's me.
Wondering what on earth had happened, I carefully pieced together my memories. Ah. I'd clearly deliberated over the Balance Game options and chosen to check twenty-four hours into the future. And this state was the result. Of all the expressions I knew, "out-of-body experience" fit best. My body was lying on the bed as if I'd passed out, and only my soul had slipped free. When I went into the bathroom and checked the mirror, I seemed to exist in a slightly translucent state.
Other people probably can't see me.
…
I'm screwed. I never imagined checking the future would work like this. No — looking at the wording "check the future," this was actually the natural interpretation. I'd just assumed, because the other option was "go back to the past," that this one would also let me experience the future while still in my body.
Then it would've said "experience," not "check."
My plans had gone significantly off the rails, but this was no time to sit around regretting it. Now that I'd realized I couldn't physically affect anything, I had to move around myself and gather information. Fortunately, I could pass through walls, so I actually had an advantage on that front. No need to change clothes either — without even deciding on a destination, I headed straight outside the building.
Strawberry…
The moment I stepped out, that strange strawberry scent hit me. Sure enough, in the alley in front of the building, the delinquent girl I ran into so often was smoking.
What the hell.
She'd been out of sight for a while after I'd warned her, but here she was, casually smoking in the same spot as if nothing had happened. I'd wondered how she knew to avoid the times she'd run into me — but thinking about it, it wasn't that hard. My schedule was pathologically fixed. Aside from going to the gym and my once-a-week part-time job, I barely left the house, so my pattern was easy to predict. Still, figuring that out and using it after only about a week was impressive.
Kids these days are pretty sharp…
I marveled as I moved closer, wanting a proper look at her face — something I'd never really gotten before.
Whoa…
I'd never been able to look properly for fear of picking a fight, but the girl with that striking silhouette turned out to have incredible looks. She was even comparable to Ajeong. If Ajeong was the friendly, gentle puppy type, this one was a cold, strong-willed cat type. It was a face that suited bold, heavy makeup perfectly. This was the first time I'd ever studied a woman's face in detail without worrying about being caught, and I found it hard to look away. Starting from her face, I began examining her carefully from head to toe.
A teddy bear…
It absolutely wasn't intentional, but because of her posture, I ended up seeing it before I could stop myself. My eyes locked onto a teddy bear sitting proudly dead center on a pink background — a complete accident. I quickly straightened up and averted my gaze. Even if no one would ever know, this wasn't okay.
I'm sorry…
She wouldn't hear it, but I left her an apology anyway. She wouldn't even know I'd seen anything, so maybe it was fine that she couldn't hear it. Feeling guilty about the accident, I was about to stop observing her and leave when something in her hand caught my eye.
A cigarette. What was so great about those things that she kept smoking them? Right before leaving, my attention was snagged again, and I moved closer for another look. Given that strange strawberry scent, it had to be an e-cigarette.
…Huh?
What I found when I got close was something unexpectedly familiar.
Isn't that a Vita-stick?
A Vita-stick. I'd seen one back when I was still in elementary school. A kid I wasn't particularly close with had found a Vita-stick in the bathroom — that was the first time. The other kids had crowded around, everyone taking turns trying it, and I'd been curious too, but I hadn't wanted to join in on something a bunch of people had already put in their mouths. It was also the first time in my life I'd witnessed someone else's act of rebellion, and because I'd wanted to try it but never did, the memory still came back every so often. The reason I could tell it apart from an e-cigarette was that Vita-sticks were noticeably long. Of course, I hadn't examined every e-cigarette out there, so it might not have been a Vita-stick.
Hmm…
Admittedly, the idea of someone who looked like her puffing on a Vita-stick was pretty absurd. I made a careful mental note of its appearance and decided to search it up later.
Alright, time to go.
I didn't have a particular destination, but I'd spent more time here than expected.
Where should I go…
Twenty-four hours. That meant until noon on Monday, so I had a fair amount of time. And if I was going to check Bitcoin fluctuations, I'd need to wait until at least tomorrow anyway — so today, I could just visit places I wanted to see.
In the end, the first place I headed was Ice Bean, the cafe where I worked. There had been more customers than expected yesterday, but it was still comfortably quiet. I'd originally wanted to go see Ajeong, but I didn't know where she was or even where she lived, so that was impossible. She took Sundays off from working out, so maybe I could catch her right before this ended tomorrow.
When I arrived at the cafe, the owner was at her post as expected. Had she still not found a part-timer? She was still working alone.
This is a total cushy gig — why isn't anyone applying? Is she just being picky about who she hires?
At first I'd wondered if people simply weren't applying, but that definitely wasn't it. The hourly wage was above minimum, the difficulty and intensity of the work were rock-bottom, and the owner was a kind beauty. The workload was light enough that she could handle it alone, so she was probably holding out for the right person.
She must've actually thought I was decent, then.
Thinking that made me weirdly proud of having been hired. Working just one day a week meant less pressure, sure — but I'd still cleared the basic requirements, hadn't I? Maybe that was why the owner looked even more beautiful than usual today.
I wonder what she does when she's free…
An empty shop. The owner sitting at the counter was, as expected, looking at something on her phone.
Whoa…
On the screen was a plus-size specialty shopping site. At the top, the search term "F-cup" was displayed.