Rehearsal (2)
Even after that day, Yujin's Speech Correction kept right on.
At first, every time I had to tack a polite address onto Joohyuk, it felt like my tongue was tying itself in knots. A few days of saying it over and over, though, and the words started to sit in my mouth well enough. The swearing, of course, hadn't been scrubbed out completely. If something like that could be fixed in a handful of days, I would have fixed it ages ago, back when I was still living as Han Siwoo.
Joohyuk lit up every time I slipped, crowing that another Wish Coupon had just been added to his stack. Fortunately, they still hadn't piled up nearly as high as I'd feared.
Just as I was getting used to the speech drills, the release date of the movie we'd promised to see arrived.
Standing in front of the mirror, I reached for my maid uniform the way I always did, and stopped. Today was an outing. Not just any outing, either. It was what Yujin had called practical training.
In plain terms...
"She wants me to play at being on a date."
I was already tired.
Just then came a knock. Tok, tok.
"Yes. Come in."
"Sia! I heard it from Yujin—you're going on a date today?!"
"...Ah."
I want to say something else, but anything I add is only going to sound like a pathetic excuse...
Finding me standing blankly in front of the wardrobe, Yura shut the door at once and hurried over.
"Then let me doll you up again today!"
"What...? No—! I'd really rather go in something comfortable..."
"Those comfortable clothes you said you bought last time?"
I nodded.
"Hmm... Nope! Save those for later."
Damn it...
Bright with excitement, Yura started pulling outfits out and holding them up against one another.
"I'd like it a little more comfortable than last time, at least..."
"Mm... It's the skirt that bothers you, isn't it?"
"Yes."
As if that told her everything, she drew a top and a pair of pants from the wardrobe and held them out.
"Then wear it like this!"
Saved. It's not a skirt!
I took the clothes and changed on the spot, before Yura could change her mind.
"There. Now let me fix your hair!"
She sat me in the chair in front of the mirror and came at me with a comb, a curling iron, and an armful of accessories.
Once the whole production was finished, I went downstairs and found Joohyuk already waiting in the car parked outside.
"Have a wonderful time, Sia! You've got this!"
Yura flung both hands up to see me off.
I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding...
I gave her a short wave and climbed into the car waiting beyond the door.
"What took you so long?"
"Don't even start. Yura gets deadly serious about dressing people up. What was I supposed to do..."
Joohyuk looked me over and let out a short laugh.
"Still. It suits you."
"Yeah... Thanks."
A few dozen minutes in the car brought us to that same grand building as last time.
"Did you get the tickets?"
"Yeah. If we grab popcorn now, we ought to be right on time."
We went inside, took the elevator, and headed for the theater. When the doors opened, the air was thick with the sweet, buttery smell of popcorn.
"What flavor are you getting?"
"Let's get whatever you want. Caramel's fine, right?"
"Yep! You know me so well. And a lemon-lime soda, please."
Joohyuk ordered the popcorn, finished paying, and glanced at me.
"Your speech has gotten pretty well-behaved."
"Try minding yours with Yujin watching. You wouldn't have a choice but to change."
"Hmm. That so? Kind of a shame, though..."
"...What's there to be disappointed about?"
Ah... For a second there I almost slipped straight back into my old voice. And what exactly are you disappointed about this time?
Joohyuk, who had been smirking, took the popcorn and started off in silence.
"Answer me before you walk off! H— no, Joohyuk!"
"Pfft—"
"Don't laugh."
"I didn't."
"You just did."
"More importantly, Sia."
Joohyuk stopped.
"We came out for practical training, didn't we?"
"We did."
"And so far the only thing that's changed from usual is the way you talk."
"...Then what else am I supposed to do?"
"Already forgot what Yujin said?"
Thinking it over, it hadn't only been about watching how I addressed him and swallowing my curses. She had said that to other people, the two of us had to look like a couple.
I glanced at the space between Joohyuk and me. We were walking side by side the way we always did, but there was nothing about it that would read as lovers.
"So what am I supposed to do, then?"
"Why are you asking me? You're the one who has to practice."
"...You are genuinely no help."
I looked around. Every couple that had come to see a movie had their arms linked.
Oh, I'm insane. I have to do that with this guy?
"Ha... Why did I even agree to this... Fuck..."
I was muttering under my breath when Joohyuk, already ahead of me, called back for me to hurry up.
"Sia. What are you doing over there. Come on."
"Yeah. I'm coming..."
Even as I walked toward him, my head would not shut up.
Ha... I have to, don't I? I do have to, right? I really have to...? Linking arms with this bastard...
"Ah! I don't know anymore. I said I'd do it, so let's just do it!"
"You scared me. Why are you out here putting on a one-person show?"
That was when I caught Joohyuk's arm and linked mine through it.
Aaaah, I actually did it. Fuck...! I want to let go this second...
"..."
"L-let's just go. Joohyuk."
"Yeah. Let's go, Sia."
I glanced sideways. He was grinning again.
What is there to smile about, you smug bastard... Just you wait till this party is over. Ugh...
Swallowing the curses I wanted to spit, over and over, I headed for the auditorium.
We handed over the tickets and stepped inside, and a spread of wide seats came into view.
"What? These aren't the expensive seats, are they?"
"Dunno. They looked comfortable, so I booked them."
Joohyuk went to the row first and sat. I stood there stunned for a moment, then quietly followed and took the seat beside him.
Must be nice, having so much money you can book a place like this without a second thought...
I was staring at him, baffled, when he spoke.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Got something to say?"
"You're doing this on purpose to weigh on me, aren't you?"
"Doing what? I wasn't thinking anything like that."
"Ha... I don't even know anymore. Anyway, thanks to you I'll get to watch in comfort. Thank you."
A little later the lights dimmed, and the movie began.
At first I couldn't stop thinking about why we had come out today. Once the film actually started, though, that thought vanished quickly enough. It was a movie I had been waiting for, and it turned out to be more fun than I expected. Sitting beside Joohyuk, stealing popcorn as we watched, I looked up to find two hours had flown by.
"Oh... That was good. Right?"
I said it on the way out of the auditorium, and Joohyuk nodded.
"Yeah. Better than I expected."
"The ending was a little disappointing, but it was still worth seeing."
"You always did like scenes like that."
"That is true."
We left the theater and walked toward the elevator.
"What do you want to do now?"
"I want to go home..."
"Hm? Already?"
"We saw the movie. If we did what we came for, that's enough."
Joohyuk looked at me for a moment.
"Was seeing a movie the reason we came out?"
"...Wasn't it?"
"We came out for practical training."
"Ah."
I had been so set on the movie that I had forgotten completely.
"The point is to make it look natural on the day of the party, so stop making it so obvious you hate this."
"I haven't made it obvious."
"You just said you wanted to go home."
"...That's only because home is comfortable."
"There's a park nearby. Want to walk a bit before we head back?"
"A park?"
"Yeah. It's not far from here."
I wasn't sure we needed to go that far, but he was right. If we turned around after nothing but a movie, calling it practical training would be a stretch.
"Fine. Let's go."
Joohyuk said nothing, only smiled as if he were pleased, and started ahead. I moved to follow, and he suddenly held out his hand.
"...What?"
"Practice."
He took my hand.
I looked down at our joined hands. I had already linked arms with him; making a fuss now over holding hands felt a little late.
Right. Once the party is over, none of this will matter anyway.
Thinking that, I followed him without another word.
But Joohyuk, walking ahead, had been strangely quiet for a while.
"Why are you so quiet?"
"It's nothing."
He let go of my hand, almost casually, and walked on with one hand covering his face.
"What's wrong? Are you sick?"
"No. Nothing like that."
Frustrated, I reached for the hand hiding his face, meaning to pull it away. Joohyuk dodged this way and that and took off.
"Ah! Why are you even doing this!"
"I said it's nothing! The park's just a little farther."
"Hey! Wait up!"
I ran after him, and before I knew it we had arrived at the park.
"Hah—hah— got a real workout in because of you..."
"That's the second."
"Huh?"
Ah... I called him the way I always do without even thinking. Damn it...
"I'll put them to good use later. Two Wish Coupons banked."
"Ah... He got me good."
Joohyuk laughed as if the whole situation delighted him.
"Just you wait till this party is over."
"Yeah, yeah. There's a place selling drinks over there. Want something?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm a little thirsty."
We headed for a nearby vending machine, got two drinks, and sat on a bench.
"Hoo... That's cold."
"You hungry?"
"Not really. I don't think I am. Probably because I ate so much popcorn earlier."
"You basically finished a whole tub by yourself, didn't you?"
"It wasn't that much!"
"So what do you want to do about lunch?"
"If I get hungry later, I'll eat then."
"All right. Want to walk a little more before we go?"
"Walk again?"
"We came all the way to the park. You're just going to sit on a bench and leave?"
"...Fair enough."
We finished what was left of the drinks and stood. The park was quite a bit larger than I had pictured. Trees lined the walking path in a long row, and here and there people were out exercising or walking their dogs.
"This place is nice. You been here before?"
"I've come by myself a few times."
I glanced at Joohyuk.
"You really do just wander around on your own."
"Hahaha. You slipped on the address again. Wish Coupons, four in total."
"Ah... This is seriously suffocating. Calling you 'Joohyuk' all proper just will not stick in my mouth!"
"Endure it until the day of the party. After that I won't say a word."
"That's a promise? That day, I'll become a completely different person. For real."
"Yeah, yeah."
We traded talk that didn't amount to much and took one full turn around the park.
"We're really going now, right?"
"Yeah. This is plenty for today."
"Hoo..."
Finally, it was over.
Joohyuk called the chauffeur, and before long a familiar car pulled up in front of the park entrance.
"Let's go."
The moment I got in, I sank back against the seat.
"Ah... Home really is the best."
"We're not even home yet."
"We're on our way. In my head, I'm already there."
"Did you hate today's date practice?"
I thought for a moment, then looked out the window.
"It was hard, but... it was better than I thought it would be. The movie was fun, too. Anyway, we've done everything we needed to, so wake me when we get there."
"You going to sleep?"
"Don't know. I'm just going to close my eyes for a bit."
I rested my head against the seatback and closed my eyes.