Escape Room Date
After the movie ended, we grabbed a light meal. Lee Yeondo led me into a nearby snack shop.
"Haa— I've been dying for tteokbokki."
"Tteokbokki?"
I asked, thinking it wasn't exactly the kind of dish that usually made the "foods I desperately crave" list.
"I'm on a diet. Except for today! Today is an automatic cheating day."
Diet? Cheating day? To someone who regularly got called a stick insect, it all sounded like news from another dimension.
One thing was clear, though. Yeondo had been holding back everything she wanted to eat just for today. I looked at her with a soft, fond feeling, then deliberately threw out something upbeat.
"Then after this we should go get some beef. Beef and a shot of soju—perfect combo!"
"Ugh… If I eat like this today, I'm going to have to starve myself starting tomorrow."
"But why are you dieting, Yeondo? There's nothing on you that needs dieting."
For a second I pictured her nude sketches. That lean body with zero spare fat. Of course, the places that were supposed to have some volume hadn't had much either.
"My stomach's gotten a little soft…"
She said it in a tiny, shrinking voice, but it felt like she was deliberately making sure I heard her.
Was she laying groundwork? Cute. Seriously cute. And at the same time, it got me a little worked up.
"Tteokbokki's ready."
Red, spicy rice cakes. Someone once said you should eat spicy food on a first date. Same principle as watching a horror movie, supposedly. It makes your heart race faster and tricks you into thinking you're fluttering because of the other person.
But the romantic comedy had been surprisingly good too. Especially the way it just kept firing off unapologetic R-rated jokes—it was a chance to realize Yeondo and I shared a pretty similar sense of humor.
Thinking of the movie, I asked her as she took a happy little bite of tteokbokki.
"How was the movie? Purpose of the Mountaineering Club."
"Ahem. Oh, this is good. Ah, the movie. The movie… was fun."
Huh? Why's her reaction so lukewarm? She was laughing the whole way through…
"I really liked that one scene. At the beginning, the main guy calls his parents because of the flood, and on the other side a woman is calling her boyfriend. The way those two calls overlap was so funny…"
After I said that, Yeondo nodded a beat later and chimed in.
"Yeah. I thought that part was funny too."
"What would you do, Yeondo? If it rained that hard and you got stuck in some mountain lodge."
"Stuck? Hmm… I don't know. Not much you can do, right? Can't exactly call a helicopter. What about you, Junhyun?"
"Me? I'd be completely thankful."
I said it without a second of hesitation, and Yeondo burst out laughing.
"Puhah! Thankful for what, exactly?"
"I'd have hit the jackpot."
"Ah, so that's why 'thank you'?"
"Yes."
"That's ridiculously dumb and funny. But you must've really enjoyed the movie. The second you started talking about it your whole face lit up. Cute."
"Huh? Cute?"
When I asked with a grin, she seemed to decide she'd misspoken, dipping her chin a little and staring only at the tteokbokki.
"Ah, this is so good. Adding the fried stuff was the right call. The rice balls look good too. Did you eat before coming today, Junhyun?"
"No… I was sleeping. Woke up and barely made it here in time."
"Sleeping in? Yeah, when I was new I'd go home after work and just collapse, and weekends I was basically half-dead. Plus you already landed two VIP sales. Oh right—so the commission came through right away?"
"Yeah. Instant deposit. They were all new VIP sign-ups…"
"Getting a VIP really is like plucking stars from the sky. You can make that much money and the deposit hits immediately, so everyone goes after it with bloodshot eyes… Haa, I guess my skills just aren't there yet."
Chewing her rice cakes with a blissful expression, Yeondo looked like the happiest person alive. Her words and her face didn't match. Which meant she had a lot on her mind.
I decided I'd listen to whatever was bothering her later over drinks, and checked the time. A little past six. A bit awkward to head straight for alcohol.
"Hey, Yeondo."
"Yes?"
"Um, is there… anything you want to do after we eat?"
"Eut! All of a sudden?"
Whatever she was imagining, she overreacted and startled for no reason.
"Yeah, I just got curious. And I don't know what we should do between eating and drinking."
"Ah… so that's what you meant. Hmm. Usually people go bowling. Or a café? Junhyun, are cafés not really your thing?"
"Cafés are fine. Want to go to a café, then?"
"No… never mind. Rather than a café… hmm…"
Yeondo thought for a moment, bringing a finger up toward her chin. Honestly, just watching her face while she concentrated felt like it could eat up all the time in the world. Café or anywhere else—it didn't matter. As long as we could sit across from each other, that was best.
But Yeondo clearly wanted to do something. She scanned the signs outside the window, then pointed with her finger. I followed her gaze. Big letters read: ESCAPE ROOM.
"Junhyun, are you okay with scary stuff?"
"…Scary stuff?"
Watch a horror movie or eat spicy food. Drinking is good too, if possible.
That advice was still holding up. We hadn't watched a horror movie, but Yeondo was naturally steering me in that direction. At this rate, I might be the one getting played.
I smirked and decided to go along with her for once.
"So you want to do an escape room? I've never done one. How scary can it even be."
I said it thinking of the haunted house I'd visited at an amusement park as a kid. Yeondo smiled like she'd been waiting for that exact answer.
"Think you'll still be able to say that later?"
"Heh. How bad could it be. Shall we get going?"
Around the time we'd finished every last piece of tteokbokki and were picking at the leftover onions, we stood up.
The escape room café was right across the street—less than a five-minute walk. Before going in, Yeondo said she needed the restroom, and when she came back she looked even prettier than before. The fact that she wanted to look good every single minute, every single second, came through so clearly that the corners of my mouth kept twitching upward.
We picked a four-star room out of five. The part-timer tilted their head.
"If you're beginners, I'd recommend starting with something lower-star first."
"No! We'll do this one."
Yeondo was so assertive I almost wondered what had gotten into her.
"Understood. I'll get it ready right away."
Once it was ready, we put on blindfolds and held hands. Then, at the spot the guide led us to, we took the blindfolds off.
A heavy thud—and a human face dropped from the ceiling out of nowhere.
"Aaaagh!"
I screamed before I could stop myself.
"Puhahahaha. Ah, that's hilarious."
Oh, shit, what the hell is this!
A disturbingly realistic severed head rolled across the floor and I went down without meaning to. Meanwhile Yeondo just stood there laughing like nothing was wrong. Damn, I got completely got. She looked down at me, still laughing, and held out her hand.
"Take it. Stick right next to me."
The gender roles had completely flipped. Out of pure embarrassment I scrambled up and fixed my clothes.
"I'm fine. Just startled because it's my first time. Ahem."
"Hehe. Funny. So are you not taking this hand?"
That, I couldn't refuse.
Pretending I had no choice, I took her hand.
"Come on. There's a time limit and puzzles to solve, so you've got to use your head."
"Using my head is what I'm good at. I was pretty solid at studying back in school."
"You don't look like it at all."
"You'll be shocked when you find out."
"Anyway, if we open this, the hint is…"
The second she fearlessly opened the chest, something sprang up. What now! Even knowing it was a mannequin, I jumped hard—and this time Yeondo was startled enough that she pressed her whole body as tightly against mine as she could.
A dagger was buried in the mannequin's chest, and a scrap of paper was stuck to it with the blade.
"This is not a game. This is real."
I read that far, and Yeondo continued from there.
"You are all going to die. You will not escape this place… Ugh… this is a different kind of horror than what I was picturing."
"It's got a Saw vibe."
I'd seen a few movies like that. That didn't mean I was confident at this kind of game. I'd always figured if I ever ended up in one of those films, I'd be the first to die.
"Yeondo?"
"Ah… yes! C-come on. F-follow meee."
Like Hansel and Gretel dropped into a dark forest, we trembled our way through the puzzles one by one. Along the way it was constant shrieks of "Kyaa!" and "Aaaagh!" as we grabbed onto each other, and the skinship piled up naturally.
Scary stuff forever. The terror was completely different when it was happening right in front of your eyes instead of through a screen like a horror movie.
Yeondo, who'd started out so confident, was soon clinging to me and screaming her head off.
Ah, this is seriously the most fun thing ever.
At some point I was enjoying the fear. What terrifying situation would make Yeondo throw her arms around me next? I startled right along with her and held her back. Her waist was unrealistically slim—when I pulled her in with my arm, she swayed and came with me.
Her chest pressing and flattening against my body didn't even register as a big deal anymore.
Why bother with a DVD room? This place was a real-life skinship zone.
We played like that for a long time until the time limit ran out and the part-timer came in. Normally other games don't show you the full clear simulation, but this one apparently almost never got cleared, so they walked us through the remaining puzzles and how the rest was supposed to go.
Even with the part-timer right there, Yeondo kept clinging to my arm and making a whole scene, which only made me feel better.
Haa, damn. Having someone watching just makes me cocky. A woman as pretty as Yeondo stuck to me—look at that guy's jealous face.
When we finally left the escape room café, Yeondo was completely drained, still linked arm-in-arm with me as we walked.
"Hoo, haa… Aigh! So embarrassing… Hmph… I'm usually not scared of this stuff."
"Then why were you scared?"
"No… it was just different from the horror I was thinking of. Ghosts and stuff don't scare me at all, but blood flying everywhere and chunks of flesh all over the place—I guess that gets me."
"Heh. That so? Perfect. Next time we should do something like this again."
"…Next time?"
"Yeah, next time. What, were you planning on this being a one-time thing?"
"Ah, no! Haa, anyway it was fun. Should we go drink, then?"
"Sounds good. Oh, but…"
I brushed the hair by her temple back behind her ear as I spoke.
"You're wearing earrings. I didn't notice."
"Ah… I just tried them today…"
Earrings I'd never once seen on her at the shop. I spent a while looking at the side of her face, quietly impressed.
"They're pretty."
"Th-thanks. But if you keep staring like that it's embarrassing…"
"Ah, sorry. Heh. Let's go. I already looked up a good beef place. Unfortunately they said no reservations."
"Oh, nice nice. You're well prepared. Let's go, let's go. Ahh~ please no waiting line."
Walking side by side like that, I realized sticking right next to a woman while walking wasn't as easy as it looked. Was this the reality of a guy who'd never dated? I was supposed to match her stride cleanly, but I was so awkward I ended up walking all stiff and off-beat.
Sensing something weird, Yeondo giggled beside me.
"Ah, you're seriously cute."
"Wh-what is?"
"You don't need to know. Where's the beef place again? Is it close from here?"
"Hmm, it's a bit of a walk. About fifteen minutes."
"Good. Even better."
"What's… never mind…"
We walked the whole way talking about everything that had just happened in the escape room, and before I knew it more than twenty minutes had passed. Alone it would've been a fifteen-minute cut; together it became twenty. And I didn't mind a single second of it. Just like she'd said—it was even better.
I'd heard that if you put a hundred women in a room, a hundred of them would love beef. Add soju on top of that and it was the cherry on top.
I pictured her drunk in my head. Today was the day I took Lee Yeondo down. So I planned to get her thoroughly wasted.
"What's your alcohol tolerance like, Yeondo?"
"Hmm… I don't know. About five bottles? Average."
?
She said it casually, smiling sweetly.
Wait. Am I the one who's screwed?