Seventeen, and the Accomplice (5)
“It's been forever since I rode a roller coaster, but yeah, it's always a blast no matter how many times. The only bummer was it being an indoor park, so the track felt kinda short?”
In front of Seojin, whom I hadn't seen in ages, I was just spilling all the amusement park stories one after another. Sometimes it felt like I had a review pre-written and memorized, which made me a little nervous every time I started talking. But Seojin, as always, listened with her eyes wide open, not missing a single word. Seeing that made me realize all over again how I'd been stressing for nothing. Every single time.
“There weren't many people, so we rode it twice. But Kang Mincheol looked like he was about to die, so we couldn't do anything too intense after that.”
I started off picking my words carefully, but once Seojin got into it, I couldn't help getting excited too. Even though I was the only one talking the whole time, she never once showed a hint of boredom. Honestly, this was my life's little joy.
“And then? Anything else?”
Seojin's eyes sparkled as she leaned forward a bit. She's still just a kid, I thought, even as that eager look made me a tad uneasy. I worried about letting her down with a lame story, but pulling out anything else was tricky too. All the memorable stuff from lately had been exams, and I didn't want her dealing with that kind of stress. I just wanted her smiling the whole time.
“The freefall ride was fun too! It starts off slow and boring, but the second you hit the drop—whoosh!”
I traced an arc in the air with my hand to show the plunge. Seojin followed my fingertip with tense eyes, like she was dropping right alongside me. In that vein, I went through all the rides I'd done with the kids, one by one. After that, since Kang Mincheol was looking totally wrecked, we stuck to milder stuff—no more thrills. Guess he gets carsick worse than expected. Before we knew it, time flew by, and it was already 6 p.m. I was just about to wrap up and head home when...
Actually, I'd planned to end on a nice note with the carousel. If only Kim Yuha hadn't teased me beforehand, like what, you're not a kid anymore, carousel? It pissed me off and soured the mood.
...Of course, I skipped that part for Seojin. No need to badmouth him in front of her when she likes him. Even if he's the guy I hate most.
I did mention we were getting along fine as usual, so she didn't seem too curious. Anyway, after rattling off all the park tales, Seojin looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
“I wanna go to an amusement park too...”
When was the last time she'd been? Since I started living her life, she'd probably just been sleeping here, so it felt like only a few months to her? Even though five years had passed in reality. How did that feel to her?
...Yeah, better not overthink it. My head gets all tangled.
“Don't worry, we'll hit the park or wherever—you name it!”
I said it with a smile, but if you asked whether I was truly confident... honestly, no. I'd racked my brain plenty on how Seojin could swap back. But it was all just guesswork. What I wanted was simple: for her to reclaim her body ASAP and live normal days like nothing happened. It was her body from the start, after all.
The most plausible idea I had was if she stayed awake without sleeping while I dozed off. Maybe we'd naturally switch back. A vague hope.
But dwelling on it brought up another worry. If she did get her spot back, what then? Could she handle it? And... what about me?
Would our positions flip completely, with me being the one stuck sleeping this time?
...No point agonizing over maybes. Headache incoming.
“Then first off, I wanna meet that ajusshi oppa mentioned!”
Her words caught me off guard, and I tilted my head. Totally unexpected.
“The ajusshi?”
“Yeah!”
She beamed so innocently it left me flustered. Not Mom, not Dad, not unnie... not even Kim Yuha? The ajusshi, specifically? Why?
“Last time oppa talked about him, you seemed super into it. First time I've seen you like that, so it's been on my mind!”
“Uh... did I?”
Hearing it put like that felt weird. Was I really that hyped? Sure, all my friends were kids, so hanging with someone my age felt comfy. Age-wise, he was only 2-3 years older—practically a peer. And no pressure around him.
“So, anything else with the ajusshi?”
Seojin leaned in closer, eyes shining brighter. Starting to feel the pressure...
“Eh, nothing much? Just that every Saturday when he drops off unnie, we goof around at home?”
“Drops her... off at home...?”
Seojin looked baffled, which baffled me right back. What's weird about inviting a friend over? He's not a bad guy.
“Yeah. With unnie, it's... they meet up, but she said they'd just pretend. No dinners or anything. So I asked what he eats after, and he said PC bang or conbini junk. That's no good, right? So I told him to come eat at home.”
I even explained how I'd rope him into hanging out since he was already pretending with unnie. Meals included—least he could do, yeah? Other stuff too: watching TV, chatting. Not much to tell, but the story dragged on.
“Is that... really okay...?”
Seojin looked uneasy. What's with her today? More overthinking than usual.
“Hmmm... if oppa says it's fine, I'll believe it.”
She said it with a sly, smirky grin. Extra annoying today—pissing me off.
“But like, hypothetically.”
“Huh?”
“If unnie and the ajusshi actually hit it off and end up marrying... what would oppa think?”
The probing question threw me, but my answer was set.
“What would I think? If it works out, great. Our family gets tighter with a big corp, unnie marries a good guy and's happy. Good for ajusshi too.”
“Ek?”
Ek? What the hell's an ek? What'd I say to get that reaction? Treating me like some weirdo...
...Wait. Does she think I like the ajusshi?
“You little punk...!”
“Ow ow ow...! Why pinch!”
It'd been ages since I grabbed her cheeks and gave her a proper payback. Seojin whined with teary eyes, prying at my hands, but I felt zero guilt this time.
Problem was, she suddenly yanked my cheeks in revenge. My eyes watered.
“Gah...! Why're you pinching!”
“Oppa started it!”
Our feet tangled, I couldn't hold her weight and toppled backward. My back hit the floor with a thud, but losing control to this kid stung worse. So I grabbed her other cheek too, stretching both wide.
It took forever for the pinching war to truce. We'd roll around, hands slipping off cheeks, then grab again—dozens of minutes. Seojin gave first, exhausted. Don't mess with an adult, kid.
“Yoon Seojin. You're thinking weird stuff, so I'm telling you now.”
I let go and laid it out straight.
“I got zero feelings like that for ajusshi. So quit imagining crap.”
She rubbed her cheeks, glaring with the world's most wronged face. I glared right back harder till she looked away, tail between legs.
“Really not...? But from the stories, ajusshi might...”
“Drop it! Ajusshi's got zero feelings for me either!”
I nailed it shut, and she couldn't even look up, pretending otherwise. Geez, one friend story and she jumps to romance? Five-plus years as a girl, and I still like girls? What is this, some marriage show obsession? Kid's got wild imagination.
Okay, ajusshi is comfy. I'll own that. We click, time flies, he's got fun sides. But that's mutual, right? We're just chill friends. No way I'd fall for him, and no way he'd fall for me. What would he even see in me? Get real.