The Candy's Effect
I took a bite of the shaved ice and smiled. “Mmm. This is delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
I let out a quiet sigh of relief inside. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice anything strange about the dessert. Well, that made sense—I’d poured my heart into making that syrup and powder yesterday.
I kept the conversation flowing naturally with her. To trigger the candy’s effect, she had to look at me as much as possible while eating it, so I kept talking, feeding her one topic after another.
“So then I…”
“Ahaha.”
Our eyes stayed locked as we chatted, and her shaved ice disappeared at an impressive pace. By the time she finally set her spoon down, I could tell something in the way she looked at me had changed.
“Whew. I’m stuffed.”
“You really packed it away, huh?”
“P-packed? Did I eat that much…?”
“Haha. No, I was talking about myself.”
As I said that, I checked her bowl. She left a little, but that’s definitely more than two servings’ worth.
She had clearly consumed every bit of the powder and syrup sprinkled over the ice. Perfect.
Her tone was still mostly normal, but her face had a faint flush to it. More than that, she seemed to be subtly avoiding my gaze. It was a slightly different attitude than before. The candy’s effect had taken hold without a hitch.
Still, better to double-check.
During a brief lull in the conversation, I simply watched her in silence.
“…W-why are you staring at me like that?”
She’d been trying to look away, but when I kept gazing at her, her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.
“No reason. I was just thinking how pretty you are.”
“W-what?”
She clearly hadn’t expected that answer and asked again in a flustered voice.
Yeah. That confirms it.
If this had been the Yujeong I knew, she would’ve brushed it off with something like, “You’ve got good taste,” and moved on naturally. But this reaction was definitely different from her usual self.
I stood up from my seat.
“Looks like you’re finished. Want to have some tea before we go?”
“Huh? Oh, sure… let’s do that.”
“There are a few kinds. Which would you like?”
“Hmm. I’ll have herbal tea.”
I prepared two cups and set them down at our places. We sipped in silence for a while.
Now it begins…
I looked at her. She seemed lost in thought as she drank her tea. She also looked a little restless.
She’ll definitely feel reluctant to part ways like this.
The power of two candies was far stronger than I’d expected. Once someone felt that intense liking and attraction, they’d naturally hate for their time together to end. I could have brought it up first, but I decided to be a little mischievous instead. She’d probably reach out to me first.
If not, I can always say something myself.
I quickly finished my tea and set the cup down. If I’d successfully fed her two candies, then the plan was already more than halfway complete.
Finally, she set her own teacup down. When I glanced at her, she looked like she’d made up her mind about something.
“Um, Jinhyun…”
“Yes, Noona?”
“We…”
“Oh. Shall we head out now?”
“Ah, no—that’s not what I meant…”
Yujeong was rarely this flustered, tripping over her own words.
“W-we… want to take a walk somewhere?”
“Sorry?”
“It feels weird to meet up and then split right away. We could walk a bit and help our food settle…”
Her voice lacked its usual confidence. As I listened, I smiled inwardly.
It felt strangely surreal. She was someone I used to think was so far above me that I could barely look at her—I’d only ever interacted with her in the most businesslike way during shift changes. And now here we were, having this kind of conversation. What a bizarre twist of fate.
Well, it’s a little sad that it took mysterious candy from an app to make it happen.
Still, an opportunity was an opportunity. I nodded.
“Sounds good. We can walk for a bit and then catch a movie?”
“A movie? Yes! I’d love that.”
Her response was incredibly enthusiastic.
“Shall we get going then?”
“Let’s. Thank you, Jinhyun. The food was amazing.”
“Not at all. I’m happy you enjoyed it.”
We stood up. I took out my card and paid for the meal. The total came to a little over forty thousand won, but I didn’t mind one bit.
“Thank you. Please come again.”
Leaving the cashier’s polite farewell behind, we stepped outside. The heavy air-conditioning from inside vanished, and the hot summer air wrapped around us.
“Hmm. How about we walk to the nearby theater as a little stroll? There’s a path through the park.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
I casually pulled out my phone to check the time. It was a little past noon. She’d eaten the shaved ice around 11:50, which meant she would continue feeling affection toward me at least until 2:50 p.m.
We walked along the park path. Families were gathered chatting, people were jogging, and couples strolled hand in hand. As we enjoyed the scenery, I suddenly held out another candy.
“Hmm? It’s the same kind you gave me last time.”
“Yeah. Want one?”
“Hehe. Thanks.”
The syrup and powder had given roughly the effect of two candies, but I figured I’d need about one more dose to set the mood for a kiss. So I handed her the candy directly. Since her affection was already raised and we weren’t hiding the effects like with the syrup or powder, there was no need to be sneaky about it anymore.
“We’re here.”
“Huh? There’s a theater here?”
“Yes. It’s a small one in the basement, so it’s not very well known.”
After walking about twenty minutes through the park, I stopped in front of a building and guided her inside.
“There’s a big multiplex in the department store nearby, right? That’s why this place doesn’t get many customers. The facilities aren’t bad, though.”
“Huh. Nice. How’d you find a place like this?”
“Haha. A friend told me about it.”
I definitely couldn’t tell her the truth—that I had almost no friends and had searched for an unpopular theater so I could watch movies alone without feeling too embarrassed.
“It really isn’t crowded even though it’s the weekend.”
“Yeah. We should still be able to get seats for a movie that’s starting soon.”
“Great. What should we watch?”
She looked over the movie posters one by one. The theater was showing quite a variety—two or three major blockbusters everyone would recognize, along with a handful of smaller films.
After scanning several posters, she pointed at an action movie.
“Don’t you like these kinds of movies?”
“Steel Man. Yeah, I do. But that’s the fourth one… Have you seen the previous ones, Noona?”
“No… I’ve only seen the first one, actually.”
“Haha. Then let’s pick something else.”
She immediately pointed to the next poster.
“How about this one? Even my picky little sister said it was really good.”
“Oh, you have a younger sister?”
Yujeong’s little sister. She was probably pretty too.
“Yeah. She’s a high school senior. Want to watch this?”
It was Parasite, a major film that had been doing incredibly well at the box office lately.
“But I’ve already seen that one.”
“Ugh…”
She let out a small groan. I lied without a shred of guilt. Sorry, Noona. I actually haven’t seen it yet.
There was no way someone whose life revolved around the internet and games would have watched a movie that had only been out for a week. But it was a necessary lie. I’d heard it was an incredible masterpiece and had planned to see it soon, but sitting alone with her in a theater didn’t seem like the right time for it.
I pretended to think hard as I scanned the posters again, then pointed at one.
“How about this?”
“Let’s see… Oh~ That Day’s Autumn? I like it. Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah. I like these kinds of movies too.”
The film I’d chosen was a romance. While researching date ideas yesterday, I’d looked up movies worth watching and had already marked this one as a candidate. I’d heard that atmosphere was crucial for a kiss, and a romance film seemed like the perfect way to create that mood.
Among the romances currently playing, That Day’s Autumn had the most positive reviews. It was supposed to have a touching ending as well.
“Then let’s go with this one. It starts in twenty minutes—perfect timing.”
“Alright. I’ll go buy the tickets.”
“Ah! No, no. I’ll pay for the movie.”
She waved her hands frantically. I tilted my head.
“Come on. If you pay for the movie, then the meal I bought as an apology loses its meaning.”
“Apology… right…”
She muttered quietly. For a moment, a slightly regretful expression crossed her face. Seeing that, I spoke up again.
“Then I’ll buy the popcorn. You can get the tickets.”
“Ah! That works.”
She nodded.
“I’ll go get the popcorn. Please buy the tickets. Any seats are fine as long as they’re next to each other.”
“Got it!”
I got in line for popcorn while she lined up at the ticket counter.
“Couple Set A, ready!”
I took the popcorn and casually glanced back at her. She was talking with the female employee, apparently choosing seats.
Now’s the time.
I quickly opened the lid of her drink and poured out some of the contents. Then I pulled a water bottle from my bag.
Half should be enough.
The bottle contained carbonated water mixed with sugar and the Water of Desire I’d obtained as an item. It was one of the combinations I’d tested yesterday, and I’d confirmed that mixing other things in didn’t cancel out the item’s effect.
Adding carbonation and sugar made it taste remarkably similar to soda. That’s why I’d deliberately ordered her drink as cider. Unless someone had an incredibly refined palate that could distinguish between Coca-Cola and Pepsi blindfolded, they wouldn’t notice anything strange.
“Good, this much should be…”
I thought I’d added just the right amount and started to lift the bottle away.
Thud.
That was when it happened.
“Ah! Sorry!”
Someone walking behind me while staring at their phone bumped into my shoulder. If it had just been a bump, it wouldn’t have mattered—but the impact caused me to dump the entire contents of the bottle into her cider.
Shit.
I stared at her now completely desire-laced drink with a dazed expression.