Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Chapter 63 Sweet Trap
The moment our lips touched was very brief.
But that instant felt like an eternity.
A kiss with Estelle was an act that gave me that level of shock.
If the announcement that we would soon need to get off hadn't come immediately, we might have stayed frozen in that state for quite a while.
-This is Hongik University Station, Hongik University Station. The exit doors are on the right.
"...We need to get off here."
I took Estelle's hand and led her to the exit.
But my heart's pounding wouldn't stop at all.
'Don't act up, heart.'
This place isn't reality.
Therefore, the Estelle beside me is fake.
Even trying to think that way wasn't easy.
The resistance to her being an existence within a trial gradually diminished, and even the fact that this place was a world within a trial became hazy.
My hand felt real warmth from hers. Everything about her was vivid as if it were reality.
In fact, I was starting to think this place might actually be reality.
The first place I took her to was an escape room cafe.
It was one of the things I wanted to try if I ever had free time, or if I ever got a girlfriend.
"Is it okay if we do a scary one?"
There were several types of escape rooms.
There were just ordinary escapes, and there were also horror and mystery-related ones.
"Do you think I would be frightened by something like this? Let's go with the scariest one."
Estelle was indeed reliable.
I chose the most difficult and scary one, and we were locked in separate rooms.
The structure was that I had to escape from my room first, then rescue her and escape together, but despite it being my first time, it was just too easy.
There was no way analyzing the structure of an escape room cafe made by humans would be difficult for me, who had been analyzing the structure of powers used by transcendents.
When I found my way to Estelle's room, she was in a different state than I expected.
"...Why are you only coming now? Hurry up and get me out."
Even though she had spoken confidently earlier as if she had no fear, her gestures and expression seemed to be thoroughly frightened by the background and eerie atmosphere of this place.
'The gap moe is unreal.'
The escape room itself wasn't that fun, but watching her reactions was truly delicious.
When smoke suddenly burst out in front and a ghostly figure appeared, she grabbed my arm tightly and pressed her body close to mine.
"KYAAK! No, this is just..."
We also had a great time performing missions that could only be cleared through cooperation with each other.
After thoroughly enjoying the escape room cafe, we had lunch at a pork belly restaurant called Yukmong.
"Ah. Try this."
Remembering how she had fed me earlier, this time I wrapped some lettuce and brought it to her mouth.
"Ah-."
"SWOOOOSH."
Of course, it wouldn't be fun to put it right in, so I deliberately pulled it back while playing airplane.
"Ugh... Is that fun for you?"
"Yeah. It's really fun?"
But if I did it any more she seemed like she'd get annoyed, so I put the wrap directly into her mouth.
"How is it? Delicious?"
She nodded while chewing thoroughly.
"Mm... Not bad. Then you should try one too. Ah-"
She made a mischievous expression as she wrapped lettuce and aimed it toward me.
It seemed like she wanted to get revenge for earlier.
But I'm Han Yeong-min. I'm not foolish enough to fall for the same attack I had used.
I immediately opened my mouth and took even her fingers holding the wrap into my mouth.
She immediately pulled her hand back, leaving only the wrap in my mouth.
"Ugh...! What are you doing, you pervert?"
"Hehe... I could see what you were going to do, so I countered it."
Am I not the master of analysis?
"You really never think of letting me win... Petty human."
"Cough..."
Being called petty by Estelle made my chest area feel somehow tingly.
'Next time I should just let her win.'
Because if someone like her starts getting sulky, it's really unmanageable.
After eating, we went to a cafe where we had coffee and dessert while engaging in light conversation.
"You just ate, but cake can still go in?"
"Haven't you heard that there's a separate stomach for dessert?"
I had heard that before.
There was someone among my childhood friends who was like that too.
'But what was that person's name...?'
Never mind. If I can't remember, it probably means they weren't that important anyway.
Right now I just needed to be faithful to this moment. I'm so happy right now.
When I'm this happy, there can't be any problems.
"I've heard that saying before... but I didn't know it was true."
I contentedly watched her eat, and next we went to see a movie.
I liked all kinds of movies except gore, and Estelle didn't seem to have any particular preferences either.
So I booked the most popular romance movie currently, ordered one large popcorn and one large drink with two straws stuck in it.
I thought there was no need to divide it into two.
Maybe because it was a popular movie, the theater was very crowded.
But sitting together in the couple seats, even though it was extremely noisy around us, it felt like only the two of us existed in the world.
Every time our hands brushed while reaching for popcorn, every time we tried to use the straw to drink, we naturally became conscious of each other.
When explicit scenes appeared in the movie, we would look at each other with flushed faces, then turn our heads away again.
I don't know how long it's been since my heart pounded like this.
When the popcorn was all finished and cleared away, only her hand remained in that spot.
I gently placed my hand over hers.
She went a step further and interlinked our fingers.
I learned for the first time in my life that having our hands intertwined could be such a heart-fluttering thing.
It definitely wasn't like this when I was young.
When the protagonists in the movie looked into each other's eyes, kissed, and intertwined tongues, we also became more conscious of each other's presence.
Naturally, our gazes turned to each other's lips.
And our lips briefly touched.
Of course, we didn't go as far as a full kiss.
If we had gone as far as intertwining tongues, it felt like we would truly cross the line.
I had to maintain the line.
I definitely felt good, but something inside me wouldn't allow crossing that boundary.
After the movie ended, we became even closer.
If we had walked around holding hands before, now we walked around with interlocked fingers.
We weren't embarrassed by others' gazes.
Next, we enjoyably played physical activities like billiards, ping pong, screen baseball, and golf.
"I thought I heard you both say it was your first time, but you're both incredibly good... I don't think I have anything more to teach you."
Although both of us were doing these sports for the first time, perhaps because of our excellent athletic abilities, our skills improved so quickly that even the part-timer teaching us was amazed.
After finishing the sports, we had dinner together and then went to a busking street.
Many people were singing, and listening to it together while enjoying it was unexpectedly fun.
At that time, someone was apparently filming for YouTube or something, holding an event where they'd give 100,000 won if you passed by singing a song, and Estelle poked me with her finger from beside me.
"How about trying that?"
"Me...?"
She nodded.
"Yes. If you do that, I'll forgive you for the prank you played on me earlier."
I didn't expect her to still remember the prank from the pork belly restaurant.
I knew it was a joke, but I also wanted to sing after a long time, so I stepped forward.
"May I try?"
When I came forward, the YouTuber welcomed me with a smile.
"Of course! Everyone, here's a tall and handsome ordinary person who's come forward. Could you give us a brief self-introduction?"
This person seems to know how to flatter a bit.
"Hello. My name is Han Yeong-min. I'm just a college student passing by, and I came out to sing a song."
"Ah. You say you're an ordinary college student, not a model. Then what song will you sing?"
"I've prepared a song called 'So We Can Become One Page."
Shortly after, the backing track for 'So We Can Become One Page' that he played began flowing, and I sang with emotion.
"Honestly, I have a lot to say. I've been waiting. I believe you felt the same way too."
The noise from the surrounding audience became quiet all at once. Everyone was focused on my song.
I was originally decent at singing, but perhaps because my body had improved, my vocalization itself became more powerful, making my singing ability even more pleasant to listen to.
"What's with that voice..."
Among the audience, someone was amazed by my voice, and someone was turning on their recording function to capture that sound.
I went into the highlight with the delusion that maybe some people would use it as their morning alarm.
"Don't worry about anything, leave it all to me. So this moment can become a page that can unfold again."
I thought it would be too much of a brain freeze to do the second verse too, so I just did the first verse and handed over the microphone.
"Yes. That's all I prepared. Was it decent?"
"Decent? No, it wasn't just decent, it was excellent! Do you see the viewers' reactions right now?"
-Oppa! You're so cool!
-This is crazy, why aren't you giving him the 100,000 won quickly?
-Do you have a girlfriend? If not, can I get your number?
Countless other chats were rapidly appearing.
"Even though my skills are lacking, everyone seems to like it a lot. Thank you."
"How about one more song...?"
"Ah. I have someone with me."
If I stayed any longer it would be too embarrassing, so I immediately escaped.
Estelle was waiting for me outside the crowd.
"You sing better than I thought? I was planning to tease you mercilessly when you came back."
"Ugh... I figured as much."
I had noticed that this was something she made me do to make me look foolish.
"Shall we go home now?"
"Sounds good."
After returning home, Estelle showered first, and after she came out, I also washed away the fatigue accumulated during the day with a shower.
When I came out, she was lying on my bed.
"Hurry up, turn off the lights and come lie down. I want to sleep."
'What? Did we originally sleep in the same bed?'
"...Yeah."
This was a legendary situation. But I couldn't show that I was awkward, so I turned off the lights and lay down on the bed too.
"Tomorrow... you remember we decided to go on a trip, right? Han Yeong-min. You wanted to go on a trip so badly."
She lying beside me smiled and spoke.
I didn't remember, but since it was a fact that I had wanted to go on a trip, I affirmed it.
"Of course. A trip... I really wanted to go."
But I can't remember why I wanted to go on a trip.
However, wouldn't going on a trip with Estelle be more important than that?
"I wish tomorrow would always be just like today."
"Right. I wish it could be like that."
I fell asleep because I was tired, and when I opened my eyes in the morning, Estelle, who had woken up first, was stroking my head and greeting me.
"You woke up earlier than expected today. Did you sleep well?"
Thanks to her, I slept deeply.
Just as I was about to answer that way, a blue window appeared before my eyes.
[Remaining Time: 0 hours 0 minutes]
[Would you like to extend the remaining time?]
[Yes / No]
Only then did I remember. This place was a trial of the Tower, and I was in the middle of receiving a trial.
"What's wrong? You don't look good."
And the Tower was asking me whether I wanted to stay here longer.
Setting a very sweet trap called a trip that I had wanted to go on my entire life.