One More Time
Today is Saturday.
The Saturday I promised to meet up with Chae-yeon.
I found myself sinking into a serious dilemma.
Did I really have this few clothes to wear?
The closet that always seemed packed with options now looked embarrassingly bare.
If I had known this would happen, I should have gone with Mom when she offered to buy me new clothes. It was stupid to brag that I already had too many.
My phone buzzed relentlessly.
Ha-jin: A new member is joining our writers' group tomorrow.
Yong-ju: Oh!! A newbie! A newbie!!
Gyeon-woo: Finally, I can escape being the youngest!! Now I get to act all superior.
Everyone sounded like they already knew about it, so I scrolled up through the Conscode conversation.
While I had been distracted by the new semester, they had already discussed bringing in a new member.
Hmm. Same age and from the same area, apparently. This will be their first novel.
Su-ho: A newbie? Then I'll stay sealed away for now.
ㅇㅇ: Yeah, you really need to shut up.
Su-ho: Guess I should wear a mask when we meet.
Ha-jin: I'll invite them to Conscode tomorrow. After a bit more time, I'll bring them along when we all meet up.
Su-ho: As expected of Lee Ha-jin, the official PR manager of the writers' group!! He really is a social butterfly!!
Ha-jin: ?
Su-ho: Sorry. I'll shut up. Just swear at me instead.
A new member. Our writers' group already had six people.
I had created it myself in the beginning, simply thinking it would be nice to have that kind of community.
The first members were me, Yong-ju, and Su-ho. After that, I brought in Ha-jin, and Ha-jin brought Gyeon-woo.
After exchanging a few more messages, I picked the best-looking outfit from what I had and headed to the meeting spot with Chae-yeon.
Fifteen minutes before our promised time. This should be enough for me to wait for her...
She's already here?
Once again, Chae-yeon had arrived early at our meeting place and was waiting for me.
Before I could even call her name, she spotted me and waved.
A light blue t-shirt paired with blue skinny jeans. Add in that flowing wavy hair.
When I saw Chae-yeon waving at me, I found myself waving back without thinking.
“How early did you get here? I thought I came pretty fast myself.”
“I just got here and was waiting. Maybe five minutes?”
“I’m always the one waiting whenever I make plans with someone, but meeting you always ends up with me being the one who’s late.”
“I’m usually a little early.”
Before heading off to bowl as planned, we stepped into a café.
Call it recharging our energy for the games ahead.
“You’re getting lemonade, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I didn’t even say anything—how did you know?”
“You’ve only ever drunk that since way back. And lemonade is what you always drank when you were little, too.”
“What the… Could you please get out of my head? I just got goosebumps.”
“Then change a little. The problem is that you keep staying the same person.”
When Chae-yeon suggested we get cake too, I chose the tiramisu.
Tiramisu is my all-time favorite cake, so whenever the chance comes up, I always go for it.
“Wow, even our cake preferences are identical. You hate coffee, so why do you like tiramisu?”
“Did you know? Back in high school, I thought the powder on top of tiramisu was coffee powder.”
“You only figured that out in high school? Are you naïve or just an idiot?”
“I was pretty innocent back then.”
“Stu… Ah, sorry. My real thoughts slipped out.”
“Hey, you were about to insult me just now, weren’t you? Say it properly.”
“You just said it so confidently. Let’s sit by the window.”
No, even so, that wasn’t enough reason to insult me to my face.
It was a time even my mom had acknowledged. To be exact, that “innocence” secretly meant “dumb.”
“Are you ready to buy me dinner today?”
“Listen to you. As expected, veterans have zero consideration for newbies.”
“If I go easy on you, it stops being fun. Since it’s a bet, we have to do it properly.”
“What if I actually win?”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. Wake up from that dream.”
“If that really happens…”
Chae-yeon laughed lightly and brushed her hair back once. The moment I saw it, my mind went completely blank.
That natural smile she gave me and the earring that peeked through her long hair.
It was just like the day I met Chae-yeon again…
She’s beautiful.
“Jung-woo. Jung-woo!!”
“Uh, yeah. What?”
“Why did you suddenly go quiet? It’s awkward for the other person.”
“Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“Don’t you know how rude it is to be thinking about something else while you’re with someone?”
“I do. That’s why I’m sorry.”
“Then you’re buying the drinks and cake.”
“Got i… Wait, what?! How did it end up like that?”
“You committed a rudeness, so shouldn’t you apologize properly?”
I wanted to argue back, but that endless smile made me accept the situation.
How could anyone spit in the face of a smile like that?
With no choice, I paid the bill and we headed to the bowling alley.
Something stopped Chae-yeon in her tracks as we walked.
It was the tanghulu we had eaten last time.
“Want to bet on dessert at bowling too?”
“Just say you want to eat tanghulu. Why are you beating around the bush?”
“I want to eat it.”
“I’ll buy it. What do you want?”
“You’re really buying?! For real?”
“Yeah. It’s not expensive.”
“Then I want black sapphire and strawberry!!”
Chae-yeon held the two tanghulu I bought her, one in each hand, and took alternating bites.
She turned into a squirrel again. Those puffed-out cheeks—anyone would say she looked exactly like one.
“Is it really that good?”
“Yeah!! I’ve been eating it nonstop since I tried it last time.”
“But what fruit is black sapphire anyway?”
“Grape!! Want a bite?”
“Ugh… It’s way too sweet. I can’t eat that. You have the rest.”
“Okay!! It’s so good.”
The brightly smiling Chae-yeon changed the moment we stepped inside the bowling alley—her eyes sharpened noticeably.
They were the eyes of a predator. She had always gone into serious mode whenever a bet was involved, even as a kid. It seemed time hadn’t changed that at all.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Don’t ask me to go easy on you later.”
“You might actually be the one who gets hurt by me.”
“No matter what I do, I really don’t think I’ll lose to you.”
“Sure, sure. Go ahead and start.”
“No. You go first. I’ll give you at least this much of a handicap.”
Did she really need to make such a big deal just because I let her go first?
Still, since it was an opportunity given, I planned to give it everything I had.
The more arrogant someone acts, the more you want to knock them down a peg.
I hadn’t played bowling since middle school. Even back then I wasn’t very good, so I was a little worried.
I threw the bowling ball with all my strength.
It rolled forward with a heavy thud, completely unimpeded.
And that ball…
Knocked over four of the pins standing there. It was a disappointing result for the first try, but I still had one more chance, so it wasn’t terrible.
“Feeling confident? You look pretty disappointed.”
“Hey, be quiet. You’ve been butting in since earlier.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll stay quiet.”
The second ball rolled down in a tense balancing act, avoiding the gutter and knocking over the pin at the far left.
Damn it. I screwed up.
“Pfft!!”
“Excuse me, ma’am. Your laugh is pretty loud, isn’t it?”
“Want to stop and leave? I can buy you dinner if you give up.”
“Just hurry up and throw.”
“Got it.”
Watching Chae-yeon now, I realized my earlier thought that she had changed from her childhood self was nothing but a delusion.
The way she looked at me and laughed without pause was exactly the same as back then.
Chae-yeon smiled lightly as she picked up the ball and threw it.
Unlike mine, her ball followed a stable path and slammed straight into the center of the gathered pins.
And those pins…
Collapsed without any resistance.
“Oh my, did I go too hard? That was a strike.”
“It’s only the beginning. We don’t know how it’ll end yet.”
“I think I do.”
“Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”
The game continued without pause. The large gap that appeared from the start only widened as time went on.
We each had only three turns left. To close the gap now, I needed strikes—there was no other answer.
A gap that couldn’t be closed with even one strike. I would need at least two to have any chance of catching up.
“Aigo, it went in the gutter? My hand slipped.”
“You let go on purpose, didn’t you?”
“I gave you a penalty. Otherwise it looked like you might cry.”
Now completely resigned, I threw the ball.
It rolled out steadily. That ball hit the pins and knocked every single one of them down.
“Oh, what is this? Beginner’s luck.”
“It’s your turn.”
Over her two turns, Chae-yeon only knocked down half the pins. If she had gotten a strike here, all hope would have vanished.
The smile still hadn’t left her face.
I tried to ignore it, but it was secretly getting on my nerves.
The ball I threw on my turn.
The result was a strike.
“Hey, wait a second. You were hiding your real skill, weren’t you?”
“I’m just lucky today.”
“No… No matter how I look at it, three strikes in a row is ridiculous.”
“There’s a saying that luck is a skill too.”
The ball Chae-yeon threw on her turn went straight into the gutter.
I wondered if she was going easy again, but her expression told me everything I needed to know.
“Are you trying to make my blood pressure spike?”
“…It’s fine. As long as you don’t get another strike, I can still win.”
Last chance.
I poured every ounce of concentration into the throw. The ball flew straight down the center without hesitation.
And then…
-Crash!!
Strike.
“Oh, it’s a strike.”
“Huh…? What the— Hey!! Don’t cheat. How can you get three strikes in a row!!”
“It came out. What can I do about it?”
“No, damn it. Be honest. You know the owner of this bowling alley, don’t you?”
“Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”
“You know the owner so they’re rigging it for you!! There’s no other way this makes sense!!”
There was a reason Chae-yeon was reacting like this.
Right before my final turn, the gutter ball had put the score at a point where even a strike wouldn’t let me win.
“If you have luck like this, just go buy a lottery ticket!! Why are you even bowling?”
“Sigh, does luck like this come every day? Looks like today was just the perfect day.”
“One more time.”
“No thanks? I won. You lost. Pfft!!”
“Ah, let’s do one more!!”
“I don’t want to. I won’t. Don’t… Ack!! Why did you hit me!!”
“Because I’m annoyed. I really can’t stand looking at you right now.”
My head felt numb, like I had been hit with a hammer. How could a fist be that spicy?
“If you want it that badly, ask me politely. It’s no good if the person making the request has that kind of attitude.”
Chae-yeon glared at me with a face that looked ready to explode at any moment.
Chae-yeon, the world is a cold place. No matter how hard you glare, it won’t change anything.
“Ugh… O-one more… time, please. I-I’m asking… you.”
“Hmm, no.”
“Hey!!”
“I’m kidding. I’ll play. But let’s make it quick. If we do a full game, we’ll miss dinner time.”
“You’re really something. I’ll win this one immediately.”
The result was my defeat. I had hoped for four strikes in a row just in case, but things don’t always go the way you want.
Even Chae-yeon couldn’t completely accept the outcome, so we decided to split the dinner bill.
“Trying to win with nothing but luck.”
“What did you say earlier, Chae-yeon? ‘One more time please. I’m asking you,’ wasn’t it?”
“Honestly, three strikes in a row was crossing the line!!”
“I did say luck is a skill too… Okay. Loosen your grip a little. You’re scaring me and I can’t talk properly.”
“Next time let’s bet on something else.”
“Sure. Betting is pretty fun. What do you want to eat?”
“Pasta!! Let’s get pasta.”
“Again? Don’t you get tired of it?”
“Pasta is so delicious. Plus every restaurant makes it taste different.”
“Well, I like it too, so it doesn’t matter. Let’s go eat.”
Today had been so much fun that it would remain a lifelong memory.
The few hours I spent playing with Chae-yeon at the bowling alley.
For those few hours, it felt like I had gone back to that time.
Back to when we played without a care in the world.