Chapter 51
* * *
It was dark. Both hands blocked her view.
Jinuri spread her fingers apart slightly and peered outside.
“···.”
The person sitting inside the booth was Lee Seungho.
If so, then the one beside him.
The child cosplaying Arorong had to be the younger sister she had seen last time.
And the two of them were now enveloped in silence. It was probably because of what they had just heard.
“···.”
Lee Seungho subtly looked away.
“···Huh?”
Lee Seungah raised her voice in apparent bewilderment.
‘Ah, damn···! I’m screwed···!’
Jinuri looked down. Her face crumpled.
She couldn’t rub her face for fear of smearing her makeup.
She should have come up with a proper excuse. Denying it outright had been a fatal mistake.
“Ah···.”
Lee Seungah let out a small groan, as if she had grasped the situation.
‘Or maybe··· I should run for it even now···?’
She rolled her eyes through the gaps between her fingers, searching for an escape route.
Ahem—
Just then, a small clearing of the throat could be heard.
“There are people waiting behind us, so let’s just pay first.”
Lee Seungho gestured toward the back with his eyes.
“Ah.”
When she looked behind her, there were many people waiting.
Jinuri hurriedly pulled out her wallet.
“H-here.”
She handed him some cash.
Lee Seungho accepted it without a word and returned her change.
He was impassive, as if this situation were nothing unusual, looking no different from usual.
“Here.”
Lee Seungho put the merchandise in a pretty plastic bag and held it out.
“···Oh, yeah. Thanks.”
Jinuri accepted it awkwardly.
She felt strangely unsure whether she was the only one embarrassed.
“···.”
Jinuri picked up the items and quickly stepped out of the line.
At Lee Seungho’s incredibly calm reaction, her mind, which had gone blank, gradually settled down.
···Come to think of it, that made sense.
There was no need to panic.
She hadn’t been caught by an ordinary acquaintance. He was an otaku too, just like her.
The reason he was so composed might have been because of that.
Perhaps Lee Seungho had already sensed it too.
After all, people of the same kind could recognize one another.
‘Ah, damn···.’
Still, it was embarrassing.
Being caught in cosplay was an entirely different matter.
Wasn’t she dressed far too much like an otaku?
Remembering it again made her face feel hot.
“Phew··· phew···.”
Let’s calm down.
Jinuri took several deep breaths.
“···.”
She became calm.
···Or at least, she tried to.
Jinuri forcibly turned her attention elsewhere, toward the warm merchandise in her hands.
“Hmm···.”
Jinuri examined the merchandise from every angle.
No matter how she looked at it, it was definitely the work of Artist Bebe.
“Huh···.”
An exclamation of admiration escaped her before she knew it.
To think Lee Seungho’s younger sister was Artist Bebe. The realization felt fresh all over again.
Not merely the younger sister of some acquaintance, but the younger sister of the classmate who sat beside her.
And she was an artist Jinuri often looked up online.
She wasn’t Jinuri’s absolute favorite artist, but she was fairly well known on social media.
How could such a coincidence happen?
The world really was a small place. She felt a little unsettled.
“Unni!”
A young voice caught her footsteps.
When she turned around, Lee Seungah was approaching with quick, pattering steps.
She had run after her, sweating profusely.
“Uh, huh?”
Jinuri looked bewildered at the sight.
Why was she acting like that?
Was there something else?
“This.”
Lee Seungah held out a paper bag with both hands.
“Huh? What is this···?”
Jinuri carefully accepted the paper bag Lee Seungah held out, hunching her shoulders tightly.
···Gulp.
She swallowed, her saliva passing down her throat.
The thought of being in front of a celebrity made her strangely nervous.
“It’s a gift from me.”
Lee Seungah opened the bag and pointed to each item.
“These are goods from my friends··· and this is a cushion that sold out. I’m just giving them to you, so you don’t have to pay.”
“Huh? Is it really okay to give me this much?”
“It’s fine. I kept them as extras. Artists sometimes exchange goods with one another, you know.”
Jinuri held the paper bag blankly and blinked.
Honestly, she was surprised. It was an entirely unexpected gift.
It was also the first time she had ever received something like this.
And on top of that, goods meant for exchanges between artists···.
These were more valuable than ordinary merchandise.
“···.”
Twitch, twitch—
The corners of her mouth began to twitch upward.
Jinuri held it back with all her might.
She felt like her face would look strange if she smiled now.
Don’t smile.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t realize you were keeping your identity hidden···.”
“Aw, it’s okay~”
Jinuri waved her hands and let out a sheepish grin.
At first, she had wondered what she should do, but since the situation had led to this.
Now, everything felt perfectly fine.
No, it was actually great.
Besides.
“Seungho is the same anyway, right?”
Because Lee Seungho was an otaku too.
Even if it hadn’t been intentional.
“Let’s just call it even.”
Thinking of it that way, the blow wasn’t as bad as she had expected.
It had simply become a matter of being embarrassed that she had shown her cosplay to a friend.
“···?”
Lee Seungah tilted her head to the side.
Seeing that, Jinuri became puzzled.
Why was she acting like that?
“Ah···.”
Lee Seungah drew out the end of her word as if she had just understood.
“Yeees, I suppose so.”
Then she nodded, smiling brightly and agreeing that was the case.
Jinuri followed suit and relaxed. She figured it was nothing important.
There was something she wanted to ask while she had the chance.
“···By any chance.”
Jinuri began with a slightly nervous expression.
“···If it’s okay, could I get your autograph?”
“······.”
At those words, Lee Seungah’s eyebrows rose.
She looked puzzled, as if she hadn’t expected to hear that.
And she also looked secretly pleased.
She coughed a few times and rummaged through her pocket, apparently looking for a marker.
“···I don’t give autographs to just anyone··· um··· where would you like it···?”
“Just a moment?”
Jinuri rummaged through her merchandise. She had brought a notebook somewhere.
Ah, here it is.
She opened the notebook and held it out to Lee Seungah.
Swish swish—
Lee Seungah quickly scrawled her autograph. As expected of a professional, even her signing posture was neat and composed.
‘Pros really are different.’
Jinuri quietly marveled inwardly.
···In fact, it was the result of practice.
Jinuri had no idea that Lee Seungah had practiced it repeatedly during her breaks.
“Next time, if you’re free, come to an event with me.”
Lee Seungah handed back the notebook with a bright smile.
“Huh? Really? Is that okay?”
Jinuri was startled.
She asked again, lowering her expectations a little despite her hopeful feelings.
“You don’t want to?”
“I’d love to.”
This was her chance. She accepted the offer without hesitation.
There was no reason to turn it down.
‘A fellow otaku friend···!’
Jinuri’s eyes sparkled.
She had gained someone to attend events with for the first time, even if that person was technically a younger sister.
More importantly, it was a meaningful accomplishment.
She really was lucky.
* * *
······It was finally over.
A sign reading “EARLY SOLD OUT” was placed in front of the booth.
“Haa···.”
I leaned back in my chair and let out a deep, weary sigh.
“Good work, everyone~”
“Good work, good work.”
“Hwaaah··· Will I be able to get up tomorrow···?”
The other girls, including Lee Seungah, slumped over with exhausted faces.
The problem was that we had to do this again tomorrow. My vision already seemed to be going dark.
Making money really wasn’t easy.
“Let’s just settle today’s accounts and go.”
Lee Seungah got up energetically and began writing numbers in the ledger.
Her hand moved with familiarity, as if this wasn’t something she had done only once or twice.
Then I could rest a little in the meantime.
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Okaaay~”
*
On the way back from the bathroom.
“Uh···.”
I spotted Jinuri.
She was loitering near the booth.
Her pink wig was gone, and she was dressed in everyday clothes.
But her atmosphere was different from usual.
Her face was expressionless and sharp, with a forbidding look that seemed to say, Don’t come any closer.
“What, you haven’t left yet?”
Since it looked like the accounting would still take some time.
I slowly walked over to Jinuri.
— “Oh, it’s her.”
Minimi let out a deep breath. Its expression relaxed somewhat.
“I got a bunch of things, so I wanted to at least say goodbye to Seungah before leaving.”
Jinuri lifted the paper bag to show me. It looked heavy at a glance.
She really had received a lot of this and that, just as she said.
“You’ll have to wait a bit since we’re settling the accounts.”
“Really?”
Jinuri relaxed her shoulders.
— “Then I can just wait a little.”
Minimi folded its arms leisurely. It was hard to believe it was the same thing that had been flustered until just now.
“···.”
Standing the whole time was making my legs hurt, so I crouched down on the floor.
I twisted my stiff neck from side to side.
This event had been more physically draining than I expected.
“···Your cosplay turned out really well. Honestly, this isn’t your first time, is it?”
Jinuri asked while leaning her back against the wall.
“It’s my first.”
“Huh? For a first time···.”
Jinuri’s eyes swept over me from head to toe.
“···It turned out incredibly well, though?”
“My younger sister did it for me. The makeup too.”
“Wow··· I’m kind of jealous.”
Jinuri’s eyebrows formed a straight line. She was being serious.
“?”
I raised my gaze. I didn’t understand.
“···Why?”
“I’m the youngest. My older brother and sister bully me like crazy, you know? I think having a younger sibling would be better.”
Jinuri shook her head as if thoroughly fed up.
— “···Though they’re both married and moved out now, so it’s fine.”
I hadn’t known Jinuri had siblings. So she was one of three children.
That was a truly rare kind of family these days.
“You’re coming tomorrow too, right?”
“Yeah, I have to work through tomorrow.”
I nodded at Jinuri’s question.
I had promised Lee Seungah that I would help her throughout the weekend.
Honestly, I did regret it a little.
But the compensation was pretty sweet in return.
“Hmm.”
Jinuri nodded as if she understood.
— “It’s a shame, but tomorrow I’ll have to walk around without cosplaying.”
Minimi gave a small nod.
I tilted my head at what it was thinking.
“···Jinuri, are you coming tomorrow too?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Jinuri, who had been standing still, soon nodded.
“···?”
She was coming tomorrow too?
As far as I knew.
“Isn’t there something tomorrow? You’ve been busy preparing for your performance all this time.”
At that question.
“Huh?”
A small exclamation escaped Jinuri’s lips.
— “Huh···?”
Minimi soon stiffened like a stone.
— “I have to cosplay tomorrow too···?!”
Perhaps she had remembered something she had forgotten.
Minimi’s mouth opened wide in shock, and its eyes trembled.
It kept stealing glances at me while roughly wiping its face with its tiny hands.
— “I have to cosplay again in front of him?”
“······.”
Watching that, I narrowed my eyes.
······Could it be that the performance was taking place here?