Chapter 99: Memories
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: Memories
“Here’s the coke you ordered!”
Though we were four perfectly respectable adults, there wasn't a single alcoholic beverage to be found on our table.
The galbi sizzled as it cooked on the grill.
Once the meat was thoroughly soaked in the marinade, we began to eat in earnest.
“How is it? How is it?”
Fumurin spoke in the same tone she used with her Closer unnies, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she looked back and forth between Doah and me.
“It’s delicious!”
Doah mumbled, her small mouth full as she diligently chewed her meat.
It was definitely a taste I’d never experienced near campus.
A uniqueness that made me think, So this is the taste of downtown.
My aversion to waiting in line for food began to fade, just a little.
“You’re right. This is good.”
“It’s one of our top-pick restaurants!”
“Haeng-nim, if you know any good places, you should tell us too!”
Changjin whipped out his phone, looking ready to take notes at a moment’s notice.
To be honest, I rarely went out of my way to find places to eat, so I had to rack my brain for a while.
A decent place among the few I’d been to.
A restaurant worth recommending to others…
Right. This should be good.
“There’s a spicy galbi-jjim place in my neighborhood, ○○, and it’s really good.”
“The spiciness is no joke, and it’s super addictive.”
“If you ever come to my neighborhood, you have to eat there! I totally recommend it!”
I was sure that phrasing it like this would work even on the most popular people.
But for some reason, the couple sitting across from me looked troubled.
Doah placed a hand on my thigh.
“Oppa, that’s a franchise.”
Goddammit.
I really thought it was a one-of-a-kind place in my neighborhood.
My ears burned hot with embarrassment.
Knowing what kind of person Taemin Oppa was, the thought that I was sorry had been dominating my mind all day.
Sigh… I knew Fumurin was like this.
The way she talked when she wasn't streaming, and the topics she brought up—considering all that, this outcome was probably inevitable.
But I really didn’t know.
I had no idea her boyfriend was the exact same type of person.
All I’d heard was that he was super friendly and had a great personality.
I thought that even a shy person like Oppa would be fine with someone like that…
But now, my boyfriend, who should have been revitalized by the delicious food, had dark circles under his eyes.
“Should we get going now?”
It seemed like the best solution was to wrap things up quickly and disperse.
If we tried to do anything else, I felt like he might actually break down.
“Ah! Unnie! Before we go, let’s just do that one thing!”
“That one thing?”
If it was something that would take a long time, I was fully prepared to refuse.
“Let’s take pictures!”
“Pictures?”
Ah. Thinking she meant something to post on Instagram, I took out my phone, but Fumurin wagged her index finger back and forth.
“We have to do that four-cut photo thing! We came all this way.”
Aah… she meant one of those photo booths.
I was fine with it, but I wondered about Oppa.
I glanced to my side and saw him wearing the smile of a hero who had just finished his final battle and was about to peacefully pass on.
“Oh. Right. I can finally see the end.”
He looked like if I took his hand right now, he might turn to dust and scatter in the wind.
I put on my broadcast smile and agreed with her.
“Okay. Then let’s just go to the closest place we see, take the pictures, and head out.”
“Ah! Sounds great!”
It’s been so long since I’ve taken sticker photos like this.
The last time was at an amusement park with my friends in high school.
With four people, including the guys, crammed inside, the booth felt like it was about to burst.
“Okay, I’m putting the money in!”
As Fumurin inserted the bill, a timer appeared at the top.
[Three! Two! One!]
“Unnie! Unnie! Unnie! Unnie! What pose should we do? Quick! Quick!”
Hey! I didn’t know it would be this fast!
It was my mistake to assume that the experienced Fumurin would be the one giving directions.
“Uh… uh… let’s just be proper for the first one?”
Fumurin and I were in the front row.
Oppa and Fumurin’s boyfriend were in the back.
We ended up in a formation that looked a bit like a family photo, striking a very demure pose for the first shot.
“Ah. Okay, for the next one, let’s go for a super-close-friends vibe!”
As the countdown started again, Fumurin made a half-heart with her hand.
I naturally joined my hand to hers to complete the heart, and I suddenly grew curious about what poses the guys in the back were doing.
They’re probably not making a heart, right?
But there was no time to check.
The machine relentlessly demanded poses from us, and we moved frantically according to Fumurin’s instructions.
“For the last cut, how about the boyfriends do whatever they want to their girlfriends?”
The moment she finished speaking, Fumurin’s boyfriend nuzzled his face against her cheek.
He wrapped his arm around her neck as if to say he’d never let go.
What would Oppa do for me?
To be honest, I knew it was difficult to expect him to do something witty or clever.
But the human heart is a cruel thing, and it can’t help but hope.
[Three! Two! One!]
Even right before the voice announced the shot, Oppa hadn’t given me any instructions. He just stood there.
-Click
After all four shots were taken, the photo strip printed out.
“Ah, Unnie! The pictures came out so cute!”
Fumurin giggled as she handed one to each of us, and I couldn’t hold back my laughter either.
“Seriously, Oppa.”
For one, his expression was just hilarious.
Except for the first photo with the most static pose, Oppa looked completely lost in all the others.
In the shot where the girls were making a heart, he wasn’t even looking at the camera, seemingly startled by Fumurin’s boyfriend, who had forcibly thrown an arm around his shoulders.
And for the pose he wanted to do for me…
Even looking at it now, I had no idea what his intention was.
He had clasped his hands together, placed them on top of my head, and then rested his own chin on top of his hands.
What am I, your chin rest, Mr. Han Taemin?
What in the world was that?
“Ah! We had a lot of fun today! Get home safe, Haeng-nim!”
“Unnie! We’ll get going first! I’ll text you!”
The two of them waved at us from in front of the subway station.
As they were about to leave, Oppa’s face began to glow.
“You two get home safe~”
Aren’t you being a little too obvious about how happy you are?
I thought about scolding him, but I knew how much he’d endured, so it seemed right for me to let it go.
“Oh! Gahee! DM me later!”
Only after they were completely out of sight could I finally let out a sigh.
“You worked hard.”
I wasn’t kidding. I meant it.
“Did you have fun?” Oppa asked, stroking my hair.
“It was a bit draining, but I think I still had fun.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
We started walking back the way we came to catch the bus.
We naturally passed by the photo booth again.
I thought the pictures were cute, but a part of me felt something was missing, so I stopped in my tracks.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Want to take some more, just the two of us, before we go?”
We had a picture with four of us, but not one with just the two of us.
Wouldn’t that be a little sad in its own way?
“Umm.”
Oppa flinched.
It was clearly not a favorable reaction.
“I want to have at least one picture of us together to carry in my wallet.”
Of course, I had a few on my phone, but the feeling you get from something physical is different.
There was a clear distinction between data in a virtual world and a real object with texture.
“You still don’t want to?”
If he said no after I’d gone this far, I’d have to back down for today.
I’d just have to ask him to take one on another date.
“No. Let’s go.”
Oppa, whose eyebrows had been moving all over the place, finally gave in and entered the booth.
The space that had felt so cramped just a moment ago now felt quite spacious with just the two of us.
“But let’s decide on the poses first.”
Now on his second try, it seemed Oppa had learned a thing or two.
I agreed with his suggestion.
“You decide. I’m not good at this stuff.”
“Okay, then first…”
One shot sitting affectionately and looking at the camera.
One shot making a heart with our hands.
Smiling at each other would be pretty too, so one shot of that.
As I pondered what to do for the last one, I felt a slightly wicked desire bubble up inside me.
Hah… would he do it if I asked?
We were outside, but it wasn’t a place where others could see us.
Feeling my face start to turn red, I covered my cheeks with my hands.
“Did you think of the last one?”
Perhaps feeling relieved that he didn’t have to think and I was deciding everything, my boyfriend looked even more relaxed.
“Ah… well…”
“As long as it’s not too weird, it’s fine, so just say it.”
He encouraged me as I hesitated.
“It’s not weird, but I think it might be a little embarrassing.”
“What is it?”
“Well.”
The more I spoke, the wider Oppa’s eyes grew.
I was the one who brought it up, so why did I feel like I was the one who wanted to run away?
[Three! Two! One!]
In the final frame, there we were, the two of us, puckering our lips for a kiss.