The Bet
"……Let me see."
"Ah……."
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, I eased the long puffer down off Rahi's shoulder. She didn't pull away from my hands. She only went on stroking my hair, slow and quiet.
"Damn it. That's going to bruise. That son of a bitch……."
"……Shinwoo, you know how to swear?"
"Of course I do. God, this pisses me off."
Rahi's snow-white shoulder had flushed an angry red, and it didn't look right. I was no doctor, but that color was nothing good. A blood bruise, if I had to guess. It upset me. What a damn shame.
"Pfft."
"You're laughing? Can you not tell I'm pissed?"
"……Shinwoo."
"What."
"……Kiss me."
"No. Aigoo, what am I supposed to do with this. They still sell that menthol rub, right?"
Just then the elevator chimed its arrival on the first floor. I clicked my tongue and drew the puffer back up over her. Rahi slung the gym bag that had fallen to the floor over her shoulder and quietly started to lean into my arm. I felt her arm wind around my left one, laced my fingers through the hand that had taken mine, and held on tight. As we stepped out of the elevator, I whispered to her.
"……There's a camera here too."
"I don't care anymore."
"You mean that?"
"……Yes. It was a gym that barely had any work anyway, and it wasn't even fun."
Thank goodness. She didn't seem afraid of the CCTV anymore. I'd kissed her in the elevator on purpose to check exactly that, and it seemed to have worked. Maybe this cute, stubborn little bear was just easygoing by nature. Or maybe I'd actually managed to wipe the fear away with that kiss. I nearly let out a sigh of relief.
CCTV isn't something you're supposed to burn through like this.
Back at the gym, the first thing I'd meant to confirm was precisely that fear of cameras. After that, I'd planned to turn the fear toward pleasure. It was the perfect toy for play: it felt like someone was watching, when in fact no one was.
In reality, people almost never go back and comb through old footage, outside of a few special places. And those, you simply don't go to. It was only that Rahi already had a precedent, and I hadn't accounted for the owner checking the cameras every single day.
Do I have to draw the plan up again?
The effect had been so strong she'd forgotten what I'd told her yesterday. For an ordinary person that would be natural, but I knew perfectly well from the business in the alley that Rahi was unusually sensitive to other people's eyes.
And for watching her tear that part of herself down and crack out of the shell, there was no better prop than CCTV. Now I'd have to start over from the beginning.
"……Shinwoo."
"Hm?"
"……I like you."
"Me too."
"……I worked up the nerve to say it. Could you put a little sincerity in yours?"
"I don't know. Right now that shoulder is driving me out of my mind."
"……Thank you."
"For what."
"You're…… the first person besides my mom who's ever worried about me getting hurt like that."
I didn't answer.
Well, it was that kind of world. Once you came of age, you more or less lived on your own. I was old enough, and even I still felt a long way from the image of a real adult. Yeah. It made sense that she'd been scared. At her age, how many things worth taking responsibility for could she even have run into.
And there were fewer places to lean on than in the world I'd come from. The way she said it suggested her mother wasn't nearby. She'd mentioned that they used to live together.
"Where's your mother?"
"Jeju Island."
"Nice place to live."
"……She's sick."
"……What's wrong with her?"
"Her heart. Thankfully the insurance covered the surgery, but…… it's gotten hard for her. Physically, she says it's too much."
"You sure you don't need to go see her?"
"……She mostly just lies there. Her strength's been fading little by little, so even if I go, it's hard to really see her. What about your mother?"
"She passed away."
Rahi's hand tightened in surprise. Before she could say she was sorry, I spoke first.
"Ah……."
"It's fine. It's already been five years. I still think of her sometimes."
"……I see. I should…… prepare myself, too."
"If you can see her, see her as much as you can. Oh, and her voice. Record your phone calls. You'll want to hear it sometimes. I…… didn't, and I regretted it a lot."
"……I'll have to get a new phone first."
"Ah, right. See, that's why you should buy domestic, Coach."
"……Only aunties use those."
"Did you just talk down Korean-made products?"
"Wh-what talking down did I even……."
And in that moment I tipped my face down and pressed my mouth to Rahi's lips.
"Ah……."
"You asked me to, a minute ago."
"……Seriously. Not like this."
"Oh my. Look at you. You want it deep, with all these people around?"
"N-no…… there wasn't anyone earlier……."
"Getting all eager."
"……That's too much. Y-you're the one who made me like this, Shinwoo."
"I know. That's what makes it cuter."
"So mean. All you ever do is tease me……."
"Then let's not tease. Want to go play?"
"……What?"
We'd come out onto the main road. I stopped and turned to her. The sun was still up, though the light was slowly going gold, and it was the first time we'd been out together in the daytime like this. On top of that, Rahi's face still looked sunken, and I wanted to lift her spirits a little.
"We ought to go on a date, too. Every day it's just bed and s—."
"Ah. Ah! People! People can hear you!"
"What. If it's sex, you call it sex……."
"Ah, seriously! Wh-why aren't you embarrassed at all? People are going to think you're……. Ah."
I caught the hand she'd flung up in a rush to cover my mouth, lowered it, and met the eyes looking up at me.
"Anything you've been wanting to do?"
"……Ah."
She ducked her head, fidgeted with her hands, and blurted out a place. A laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it.
"Hey! At least hit them!"
"I—I'm shooting!"
"Eat it! Eat it! Come on, eat it!"
"Eek!"
"Kill them! Kill every last one!"
"Sh-Shinwoo, get that one! We have to get it!"
"Take all of those and we'll run out of ammo! Just shoot the weak points!"
Not in my wildest dreams had I expected a woman to be the one to ask me on an arcade date first. That I was only now learning Rahi liked games was partly my own fault. Arcades were disappearing little by little these days, sure, but a few of them were still hanging on.
"I'm dead……."
"Want to go again?"
Rahi shot me a glare as I spun the toy gun through a few easy turns with a practiced hand.
"Did you eat and then do nothing but this? Honestly. How are you this good? I've never seen anyone clear that boss without getting hit."
It was a little funny, hearing Rahi's always-stiff way of talking finally sound her age. Even in bed she clung to that polite speech, and only slipped into something casual right before she finished.
"There was a time I lived and died by billiards and games. I traded every last college credit away for junk like this. This version in particular, I'm pretty confident."
"……And that's something to brag about?"
"Hey now. Being good at junk is a talent too, you know? The arcade is a cold world. None of that 'good game' mercy. The only question is whether it's a one-coin clear or it isn't."
I shrugged and shot the horde of zombies on the screen without even looking. Rahi glared at me as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was wounded pride in the eyes fixed on me, so I put on a deliberately nasty smile and chuckled.
"This isn't even a game."
"……Not this. Let's do something else."
"I'm still alive, though."
"……I'll watch."
"Mm, don't be like that. Want to make a bet? Wishes on the line."
"A bet……?"
"Yeah. But you pick the game."
"……You mean it? You can't go back on it."
"Do I seem like I would?"
"……No. Then let's do that one."
At her prompting I set the gun back in the shooter cabinet—I wasn't even dead yet—and turned away without a second thought. I whistled as I followed her, and the people who'd been watching looked at me like I was ridiculous, but I was used to looks like that.
The electronic chatter and noise of an arcade I hadn't visited in ages put me in a fine mood. Like coming home. Where Rahi led me was a driving game called Initial C. I won without much trouble.
"……Unbelievable. A one-minute gap?"
"They used to call me the White Lightning of Irohazaka……. I miss those days, when the whole arcade fell silent the moment my Evo's misfire kicked in. Mmm."
"……At this rate you'll be opening a tofu shop in your old age."
Rahi's grumbling was so cute I almost laughed.
"So. That's one in the bank, yeah?"
"……Let's do something else."
"Man, our Rahi's got no fighting spirit at all. The type who quits the second she can't win?"
"Grr."
"No. Sense. Type."
"……Something else!"
This was too much fun. A world where I didn't have to play courtesy games just for being a man. This place might actually be heaven. Rahi and I roamed the arcade and tried every kind of game there was. When we played Iron Fist, of course, I let her win once each time. By a hair. Because Rahi looking happy was cute.
……Nice to look at.
She was adorable, getting this happy over something so small. I lifted my head. Past the cabinet she was preening at me, and a fond warmth rose up until I wanted to pet her hair.
I'd enjoyed myself enough. I ought to play along. We had such a good time that before I knew it, it was dark outside. We sat on the chairs in front of the arcade and caught our breath.
"Ah, that was fun."
"For me too……."
"What's this? Suddenly back to the usual Rahi?"
"S-sorry. When I get excited, I……."
"Don't be. I liked seeing it."
"……Did you have fun?"
"Yeah. But if you play all wound up like that, you're not going to get anywhere, you know?"
"……I-it's you who's weird, Shinwoo. I'm pretty good, I'll have you know……."
"Aigoo, is that so?"
"……This isn't how it was supposed to go."
I chuckled at that and took her hand. She'd probably wanted to come to the arcade and show off how good she was. Her bad luck was that the opponent happened to be me.
"So. Shall we settle the score?"
"……You have ten, Shinwoo."
"You ought to be afraid. Of what I'm going to do with those ten."
"……Seriously. This is a scam."
"A scam? I warned you plenty at the start. You're the one who took the bet."
"I am never, ever making a bet with you over a game again."
"If we'd had a day like this sooner, I would've known you liked games."
"……Ah."
"Let's go on another date."
"……Okay……."
"Somewhere else you've been wanting to go?"
"Um…… an amusement park, and…… a zoo."
Too cute a place for a date. In a way, it was a sad thing to say, too. Mid-twenties, and she still had a fantasy about spots like that.
"Let's do it. If we go to Hanseong Land, that covers both."
"……Really? You'll go with me……?"
"Of course. Why? Have you ever seen me lie?"
"No……."
Still holding my hand, she fidgeted, then whispered.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Let's have fun when we get there, too."
"Okay."
"Then should we get some food? You hungry?"
At that, Rahi stopped. I stopped too, looked at her, and asked.
"What?"
"……Shinwoo."
"Yeah. What do you want to eat?"
"……I want…… t-to eat the food you make."
I could tell well enough whether her face was red from the lingering heat of the arcade, or red from embarrassment.
And I knew what she meant by it, too. She was saying she wanted to sleep over at my place.