The Loner at the Birthday Party
The food we’d ordered for the birthday party arrived quickly, and before long the table was covered with pizza, fried chicken, bossam, and sweet-and-sour pork.
Song Changwon had brought the cake, and according to him, he’d somehow gotten his hands on one of the special cakes usually ordered for members of chaebol families on their birthdays.
But for all the importance he’d tried to attach to it, the cake looked perfectly ordinary, so Yu Somi deflated a little and said,
"Um... for a special chaebol cake, there isn’t any gold dust sprinkled over it or anything?"
"It’s a custom-ordered cake that normally comes with a congratulatory message lettered on it for the birthday person. I didn’t have time to add the lettering this time, but I can guarantee the taste, so trust me and try it."
"Oh, really? Then since the food’s all ready, let’s sing happy birthday and dig in!"
We set number-shaped candles on top of the cake and lit them.
Normally, events like this were supposed to happen with the lights off and the curtains drawn so the room would be completely dark—that was the unwritten rule—but unfortunately, Lee Narin’s living room didn’t have any curtains.
With the room still bright, the little flames on the cake didn’t have much presence at all.
Still, Narin seemed satisfied enough, and with her cone-shaped party hat on, she sang happily along.
"Happy birthday to you~♫ Happy birthday to you~♫"
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"Happy birthday, Narin!"
"Thanks, guys... but it’d be a shame if the food went cold, so let’s move on to eating."
After singing the birthday song, she gently blew out the candles, and then we all moved on to the commemorative photo session.
...
Come to think of it, Han Sia, Yu Somi, Lee Narin, and even Song Changwon were all breathtakingly handsome or beautiful in that rare, almost unfair way, so sitting there in the middle of them in the photo made me feel a little embarrassed.
I wasn’t so ugly that people would ever call me hideous, and I was the sort of ordinary guy who, while looking into the bathroom mirror, would think, Yeah, I’m not bad-looking, at least. But when the people around me were on that level...
This was basically a photo taken as punishment for making the ugly person stand out.
If someone who didn’t know the situation saw it, they’d probably think a staff member had wandered into a celebrity concept shoot by mistake.
But apparently I was the only one bothered by the face in the picture, because everyone else seemed satisfied.
Narin, especially, looked so pleased with the photo we’d just taken that she couldn’t take her eyes off the phone screen.
"...I should back this up online so I don’t lose it."
"I’m glad you like the picture."
"Yeah. It’s been a really long time since I had a birthday party with this many people. And the old photos I took with a film camera were mostly lost when my parents died, so this is the only photo I have of a birthday party I’ve had myself."
"...Guys. Should we take a few more photos?"
In the end, we didn’t get to start eating until after we’d taken several more pictures.
We also held the gift-opening ceremony in between bites of food.
The order for opening the presents was whatever Narin felt like.
So the first gift she brought out from her room was, as expected, the huge black bear stuffed animal.
"I noticed it when we came in earlier, but seeing it again, that’s a massive stuffed animal. If you could stretch its legs out, I think it’d be about my height."
"Eeeek!! It’s so cute!! Narin, can you hug the bear like that and look over here?"
As expected, the black bear stuffed animal Han Sia had given her created a striking contrast against Narin, who was so overwhelmingly white-toned overall.
It was enough to make anyone who saw it break into a fond smile.
Yu Somi, having witnessed the scene, couldn’t hold back and let out a shrill squeal while hammering the shutter button.
Han Sia, who had chosen the black bear as her gift, wore a deeply satisfied smile, while Song Changwon couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from Narin at all.
Honestly, she was so pretty and so tiny that she looked even more like a doll than the huge bear did.
If Narin ever got hired as a mascot model for a bear plushie commercial, there was no doubt that from that day on, black bear stuffed animals would become an essential household item in homes all across the country.
"Is that really something worth making such a fuss over? I’m just hugging a big stuffed animal."
Since Narin herself couldn’t see what she looked like, she seemed to have a hard time understanding our reactions.
Hearing that, Han Sia explained it in a calm, easy-to-understand tone.
"No. Right now, you’re so cute I’d want to lock you in my room and keep you there."
"..."
"Why are you looking at me like that? I toned it down quite a lot, actually."
After hearing Han Sia’s words, Narin’s eyes started trembling.
I had a feeling her internal alert level toward Han Sia had just jumped up by a couple of notches.
...
Still, when Narin later looked at the photo Yu Somi had taken of her, she seemed to like the sight of herself hugging the bear, so the little photo shoot using the giant stuffed animal as a prop continued for a while longer.
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"All right. The next present is this one."
The next gift Narin brought out was the Samdanbong I’d given her.
It wasn’t an expensive model, but I’d chosen one that was a little lighter so even someone with her small frame could handle it easily.
I’d also paid attention to the length so it would be easier to use in an emergency.
Of course, there was nothing I could do about the cheap materials, so if you swung it at a person a few times, it would probably warp and need to be thrown away...
Still, it was more than enough to subdue one person.
Come on, Narin! Tell me what you think already! How is it? Do you like it?
"Oh. I already have a Samdanbong. Still, thanks, Jung Ian."
"...Pfft...! Cough. Sorry for laughing, Ian. But how did you know Ian was the one who prepared this?"
"Well... she’s been staring at me so intensely since just now that even if I didn’t want to know, I couldn’t help it."
Ah. I wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
If I ever had to prepare gifts for the others again, I’d need to ask what they wanted first and choose from there, just like Han Sia had said before.
Still, since the gift I’d prepared had at least made Yu Somi laugh for a moment, I decided to take comfort in that.
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The third gift Narin brought out was a mysterious square box prepared by Song Changwon.
Inside were an elegant tea kettle and teacups, along with a set of various teas.
...Wait. I’d seen that before, even before my regression.
It was a brand known for having a slightly more mainstream, more stimulating aroma than ordinary tea, which made it something people passed back and forth as an easy gift in all kinds of places.
Come to think of it, I first encountered that product around the time I started graduate school.
Of course, I’d only come across it a little late, so it must have been released before then, but...
Still, it was already out? And this was 2011??
While I was inwardly surprised, Narin reacted as if she already knew the product.
"Ah, I see. This is one of those gift tea sets that’s been under development lately. I heard the manufacturer’s been handing them out little by little to promote them and gauge reactions. That has to be a gift from Han Sia or Song Changwon."
"Wow... a product that hasn’t even been released yet? Now I’m curious what it tastes like! Could I try some today too?"
"Good idea. After lunch, let’s all have a cup."
Song Changwon’s tea set got a decent reaction.
Well... it was pretty much guaranteed to be a hit even in the future, so maybe that was only natural.
Narin set the tea set aside in the corner for now, then headed back into the room to fetch the last present.
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"What is this? It doesn’t look all that bulky, but it was heavier than I expected, so it surprised me a little. Is there a book inside or something? Going by the shape... maybe a novel or a comic? Then this has to be a gift from Somi."
Sure enough, Narin immediately figured out that Yu Somi was the one who’d prepared that gift.
And the contents were, naturally, a comic book.
But apart from that, I was curious about Somi’s choice, so I studied the contents of the opened gift box carefully.
Hmm... the cover showed a little blue-haired boy wearing loose white pants and carrying a golden flute around his neck.
It was Magi, a popular work that would later get an anime adaptation.
Seeing that it went up to volume six, it looked like she’d brought over the full amount that had been released in Korea so far.
...
Whew... thank goodness you picked something normal this time, Somi.
Honestly, the works Somi had recommended to Narin up until now had been pretty vicious in their lineup...
I’d been worried she might have picked another difficult one.
So if Somi had somehow gone with something like When the Something Bird Cries, I was planning to quietly warn Narin to be careful.
After that, Narin successfully guessed who had prepared each of the gifts we’d brought.
To be fair, the gifts Somi and I had prepared were practically already revealing their answers outright, so all that was left was figuring out who had brought the giant bear plush and the unreleased tea set...
Even that, though, was easy if you thought about it for a second.
"Honestly, I just can’t picture Song Changwon giving a giant bear stuffed animal as a present. So I think the tea set is from Song Changwon, and the bear is from Han Sia."
"Correct~♪ Well done, Narin!"
"Haha... if I’d paid a little more attention to keeping my expression under control when it was my turn, I could’ve made this a little harder."
"That happened because the girls never intended to hide their gifts in the first place. It’s not your fault."
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Now that Narin had finished the event where she guessed who had prepared each gift, it was time for her to choose the present she liked best.
The candidates were the bear plush, the Samdanbong, the comic book, and the tea set.
And the person whose gift won first place would get Narin to grant one request.
But Yu Somi insisted that "Narin might not fully understand the value of the gifts yet!" and suggested that each of us should have a chance to explain the appeal of what we’d prepared, so the final announcement was pushed back a little.
Still... whatever I said now, the Samdanbong was already doomed.
Given that Narin already owned one, the value of the Samdanbong I’d given her was essentially converging on zero.
So I gave up on the idea of the Samdanbong taking first place and decided to listen carefully to what the others had to say instead.
"Then, in order, I’ll go first."
Han Sia, who had prepared the black bear stuffed animal, stepped up first to make her pitch.
The giant bear plush she’d won after spending more than 100,000 won on the claw machine was such a perfect match with Narin that the money she’d put into it didn’t feel remotely wasted.
It was such a strong candidate that it almost didn’t even need any further selling.
Narin herself also seemed to be very fond of the bear, so I’d already been quietly expecting the black bear plush to win.
Then Han Sia picked up the bear again, set it into Narin’s arms, and...
pulled Narin into an embrace with the bear and all.
...
Huh?
"Ugh...!! Narin!! Why are you so cute? We’ve got an empty room at our place too, so don’t live alone and just come stay at our house!"
"Huh...? Kyaaah!?"
"Heh heh heh... Your arms are caught by the bear, so you can’t get away, right? Just give up obediently! No, actually, I kind of like it when you struggle a little bit even more..."
"Police! Call the police!"
Ah.
Han Sia’s eyes had completely gone out of their minds.
Using the difference in their size, she’d pinned Narin down completely, and with one hand she was even patting her hair.
"A little hug between girls won’t get you punished, Narin. And if my dad makes one phone call to the police station..."
"Hiiiiiik...!?"
Now Han Sia had started rubbing her face against Narin’s cheek, and when I couldn’t bear to watch any longer... I pulled out the Samdanbong I’d given her and placed it in Narin’s hands.