New Year's Date
Siwoo was summoned by Sia on the early days of January, the beginning of the new year.
On the day before the date, her message was simple. emGT;[Wear warm clothes!]/emGT;
With a mix of slight worry and expectation, I headed out.
“Huhu! Today’s destination is right here! We’re going to get school uniforms!”
“Ah… so that’s what you meant.”
“Why? Were you expecting something?”
Sia leaned in with a cutesy giggle.
pGT>“Ouch!”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
“Ugh… hand me over.”
“…It’s cold.” pGT>“There’s a heating pack~” pGT>“You use it.”
Though I’d rejected holding hands because it might make things weird, Sia forcefully slipped her hand into my pocket without a second thought. pGT>“Whoa!” pGT>“Hehe, now you’re safe, right?”
“No… no, it’s fine…” pGT>“All right, let’s go!”
Following Sia, I set out to get our high school uniforms.
Of course, I pulled my hand out of the pocket midway in case of danger, but we quickly agreed to hold hands again.
Arriving in the city, we reached the store… and my eyes widened. pGT>“This… isn’t the place we went to before?”
“Yeah!”
“They sell Noa High uniforms here too?”
“Yeah!”
“Incredible…”
“Come on, let’s go inside!”
Inside, old memories came rushing back.
People ahead of us were already getting measured, and they looked like middle-schoolers.
Not long after we entered, a staff member approached.
“Which school?”
“Both of us are from Noa High.”
“Mmm, from Noa… come this way.”
Following the staff, the uniforms were lined up just like last time.
But Noa High was unique—sky-blue shirts instead of white.
“The uniform here is blue.”
“Yeah…”
“It’s not white, so it looks pretty, right?”
“Ah… yeah.”
I wasn’t entirely sure, but I nodded along anyway.
Based on what I remembered from middle school, I quickly found a fit and tried it on.
This time Sia had a small issue too, but nothing like before.
“I’ll take care of alterations here and on the side.”
“Sure~”
Thanks to experience, we got fitted much faster than before.
This time we bought three sets of both the top and bottom uniforms each.
“Come back in about an hour!”
We stepped outside after hearing that.
When I tried to call my mom to deposit money on my check card, it was already full.
Probably Mom knew Sia would be buying uniforms today.
And a message had arrived.
[This time too, eat something delicious with Sia!]
My allowance was mostly saved for meals, but if I could use the check card, I didn’t need to spend my own money.
Wandering around trying to find a good restaurant, we finally left the store.
No bags this time because we’d left them at the counter.
Last time carrying them had been a hassle, so this felt great—my hands were light.
“So what now?”
“Are you hungry, Siwoo?”
I’d had a quick sandwich at home, so I wasn’t starving.
“I’m not really hungry since I ate at home.”
“Then… should we stop by home for lunch?”
“Where?”
“Huhu, it’s a secret.”
“…Sure.”
“Then the destination is set!”
“Huh? Where are we going…?”
“Come on, let’s go!”
“I need to know where…”
“Come!”
Sia grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.
I matched her pace and started walking beside her, hand in hand.
“There’s one thing I really want to do once!”
What Sia wanted to try once was…
“Life Four Cuts?”
“Yes! Let’s go inside quick!”
Back in elementary school, Sia and I had tried Life Four Cuts for the first time, and we’d gone there occasionally during middle school too.
Suddenly something clicked and I followed her in.
“Come on, let’s go inside!”
Sia led me into the booth.
On the selection screen, I chose [Graduation Photo].
“I heard there’s an event where you only get photos for graduation season.”
“What’s different?”
“I don’t know! That’s why I’m here!”
“Ah… ha…”
Well, if Sia wanted to try it, she would.
I read on the monitor how the graduation photo was taken.
It was completely…
“Mmm… it seems we’re supposed to photograph everyone from elementary school to university graduation.”
“Ooh! So elementary, middle, high, and university photos?”
“Looks like it.”
“Wow! Sounds fun! Perfect for us!”
“Yeah…”
Sia was happy, so I agreed.
But that “perfect for us” line made me wonder—was it just because we’d grown up together, or did she mean something else?
Seonghun and Donghyeok kept talking about how confessions always work for them, but honestly I had no clue.
They bragged about giving me relationship advice every day, yet both were clueless, so their credibility was low.
Even Seonghun’s ex-girlfriend situation made it worse.
With that strange feeling, Sia and I took the photos.
The photos turned out great.
We used stickers matching each school and even tried the graduation cap from the final university photo.
Sia and I swapped poses, and after the session we left.
After we exited the store, Sia kept staring at the photos she’d had printed.
Curious about her happy face, I asked.
“You like them that much?”
Immediately she answered.
“Yes!”
I wanted to ask why, but I figured there must be a special reason and held back.
It wasn’t just the photos being together that made her happy—my selfish side still wanted a deeper meaning.
Still, I couldn’t help the thought.
So I swallowed the question again and said to Sia.
“What now?”
“I want to go somewhere!”
“All right, let’s go.”
Following Sia to the place she wanted.
“An arcade…?”
“Yeah! I wanted to come with you!”
“Sure, sounds fun.”
This was my first time at the arcade, so I looked around curiously.
Sia was already exchanging coins at the change machine.
With cash on hand, I changed some into coins too.
Inside the arcade, I noticed there were many two-player games.
Then Sia shouted.
“Siwoo! Let’s do this!”
She jumped straight into air hockey and basketball.
“From the left!”
“Kyah~”
We played shooting games with guns and zombies, and racing games too.
At first I worried if we’d have fun, but it was incredibly enjoyable.
Time flew by unnoticed, and we played far longer than an hour.
“Sia, let’s go get the uniforms now.”
“Yeah! It was super fun!”
“Yeah, first time and it was great.”
“Hehe, lucky me!”
As we were about to leave, a punching machine caught my eye.
Coins still in hand, I hesitated.
“Want to try?”
“Um? Ah… it’s okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Then…”
I inserted a coin and the punching area slid forward.
Like I remembered, I gripped my wrist and swung with all my strength.
“834 points!”
For a first try, the score surprised me.
“Ooh! High score!”
“…I didn’t hit properly…”
On the second try, I used my full power.
“902 points!”
The nearby high score was around 920, so I must have been strong.
“Waa!”
“I guess it’s pretty strong?”
“Yeah!”
“Give me a sec to wash my hands.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.”
My hands were a little sore from the punches, so I washed them with cold water in the restroom.
“...?”
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah…”
The arcade felt strangely tense.
Well, it was probably nothing.
I followed Sia without thinking.
Back at the uniform store, we picked up the altered uniforms and took the bus.
“Siwoo, leave the clothes at my house.”
“Sure. Where should I go with them?”
“To our house.”
“…What? Okay.”
Confused by Sia’s words, I still got off the bus thinking she’d probably go to a nearby restaurant.
I dumped the uniforms at home and took the bus again to Sia’s place.
Arriving at Sia’s house, I called her.
“Um, come inside our house.”
Her words made me pause outside the entrance.
******
While Siwoo went to the restroom, some guys nearby started cautiously watching Sia.
They were all drawn to her beauty and were sizing each other up.
Meanwhile, Sia quietly watched the punching machine, warmed up, and prepared.
With one second left on the timer.
“Hup!”
Sia swung her fist.
A loud sound echoed through the arcade.
The score board rose.
“943 points!”
But Sia frowned, unsatisfied.
The guys who had been approaching after seeing her beauty either changed direction or looked away.
Siwoo, who hadn’t heard the sound because he was washing his hands, came out.
They left the arcade together.
For a while, the arcade stayed unnaturally quiet.