Chapter 56
* * *
Finding the two of them wasn’t particularly difficult.
They were naturally quite noticeable to begin with.
I just looked for the places where the gazes of the male Minimis subtly gathered. A little wandering was all it took.
As I walked around like that, I either found a beautiful cosplayer.
Or else, like this.
I could find the two of them.
“···.”
“···.”
When I spoke to them, the two didn’t answer.
Their Minimis were startled too, and froze in place. Noise flickered in and out.
“Hey.”
When I raised my voice again,
““Ah.””
only then did they react.
Along with the single syllables that came out simultaneously, focus returned to their eyes.
“Uh, it’s just···.”
Lee Sol continued haltingly.
“Seungah told us about it··· We were curious what it would be like, so we came···.”
Her fingertips fidgeted.
She seemed to know that she had done something wrong.
“···.”
I glanced around.
Since we were inside the event venue, it was noisy with all the people around.
“···Let’s go outside and talk.”
Not only did it seem difficult to have a proper conversation here,
but the performance would be starting soon.
I had to get the two of them outside before Jinuri went up onstage.
“You’re not here to sightsee, are you?”
The two of them promptly nodded up and down.
“···.”
I led them through the event venue’s doors.
I opened my map app and searched for a quiet place nearby.
A café should do.
Just as I was wondering where to go,
“···Excuse me? Sorry to bother you.”
A cosplayer came hesitantly walking over.
“Would you mind taking a picture with me?”
She asked timidly as she raised her phone.
I would have liked to take one for her, but···.
I gave a small wave with an apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry. I’m on a break right now.”
Getting these two out first was the priority.
“Ah··· No, it’s okay.”
She shook her head. Her face said not to worry about it.
— “Oh, come on. I went to all the trouble of asking.”
Her Minimi merely clicked its tongue and grumbled.
“···.”
I ignored the woman as she turned away and walked on.
It was a common enough occurrence.
— “···What’s with that woman?”
Lee Sol’s Minimi stuck out its lips. It looked quite displeased.
It couldn’t have heard my thoughts.
She simply seemed flustered by the sudden request for a picture. She wasn’t used to this sort of culture.
— “Hmm···”
Shin Ayoung, on the other hand, reacted differently.
Her Minimi glanced around with its eyes half-closed, then
— “···I guess this is common here. So this is the kind of place where you casually take pictures with people in cosplay?”
She caught on quickly, deftly grasping the unspoken rules.
Soon, the Minimi’s eyes lit up. It began to brim with subtle anticipation.
— “···Can I get my picture taken too? Should I ask later?”
“···.”
It was a shame, but I had no intention of posing for pictures.
This was supposed to be my last cosplay, after all.
It had been fun, but
it still wasn’t a hobby suited to my tastes. Watching was one thing, but doing it was a little much.
·
.
.
We entered a café. It was a shop a little distance from the event venue.
This was the quietest, least crowded place we could find.
I took off my suit jacket and kept only my dress shirt on. I had gotten hot from moving around.
“What do you want? I’ll buy···!”
Shin Ayoung moved quickly. She tapped away at the kiosk and looked at me.
I waved my hand.
“It’s okay. Let’s each pay for our own.”
“No, no.”
Lee Sol shook her head too, making it clear that they wanted to pay.
Were they trying to cheer me up somehow?
I wasn’t particularly angry that they had come.
I was a little flustered, but···
It was cosplay, but it wasn’t like they had gone overboard.
“Sure, if that’s what you want.”
I nodded.
There was no reason to refuse when they were offering to buy.
.
.
.
Om nom nom—
— “What is this? Why is it so good?”
Lee Sol’s Minimi happily sucked down its drink.
Its cheeks puffed up accordingly.
I took a sip of the café mocha I had ordered too. It wasn’t bad.
“Hmm.”
I began with a small sound, then
“Were you two hanging out together?”
tossed out a trivial topic.
“Yeah. We did some shopping.”
Lee Sol gave a faint smile.
She subtly shook the shopping bag she had set down beside her. It looked like they had bought quite a few things.
I see.
“What about studying?”
Gulp!
Cough, cough—!
Lee Sol choked and let out a small cough.
Her pupils shook as if caught in an earthquake.
“···.”
···Clack.
Shin Ayoung had been about to take a sip of her drink, but set it back down on the table.
Her slouching back straightened.
She pretended to be calm on the outside, but her eyes were rolling all over the place.
‘Uh···.’
···Their reaction was more intense than I expected.
I had asked in a somewhat interrogating tone,
but even so, I hadn’t expected the mood to sink this far.
“No, it’s just···.”
Shin Ayoung trailed off, then
“I’m sorry. We lied···!”
apologized quickly. She confessed the truth in a hurry.
The corners of her eyes drooped.
“Sooorry···.”
Lee Sol made a similar face. She looked dejected.
Both Minimis’ faces crumpled.
If they normally looked like standard SD characters, now they were crumpled as if someone had roughly scribbled them.
“Hmm.”
When I made a low sound, both Minimis flinched.
It was fascinating; this was a first for me too.
Could this be another kind of noise?
“···.”
I texted Lee Seungah that I would be at a nearby café.
I just had to keep them occupied until Jinuri’s stage performance ended.
* * *
Bzzzz———
Jinuri’s performance came to an end.
The sound filling the stage gradually faded, and silence soon followed.
Drip. Drip···.
Beads of sweat fell, one by one, to the floor.
“···.”
She had been hanging her head, but then suddenly lifted her gaze.
Waaaah——!
The entire scene of people applauding and cheering came into view.
“Th-thank youuu···!”
Jinuri smiled brightly and bowed her head.
The performance had been a success.
These cheers and this thrill. This was what she had practiced all this time for.
She felt as though everything she had gone through had been rewarded.
Phew—!
Jinuri came down from the stage and let out a deep breath.
Shin Ayoung and Lee Sol were nowhere to be seen either, so she could finally breathe easy.
“Unni···!”
“···.”
A voice called out to her.
When she turned her head, Lee Seungah was raising one hand slightly.
She waved it back and forth, beckoning her over.
Jinuri walked straight over. She wiped away her sweat with a handkerchief as she asked,
“How was it?”
“You played incredibly well, unni. I guess an arts high school really is different, huh?”
Lee Seungah gave her a thumbs-up with both hands.
Her friends beside her agreed with what she said.
“The anime details were spot-on···? You even played the technique from the anime exactly the same way in the middle, right?”
They were right. They recognized it after all.
She had known they would understand it properly.
“Mm-hmm.”
Jinuri nodded with a satisfied expression.
“That’s right, that’s right. Your acting was perfect too, and even the way your voice trembled was exactly the same.”
“···Huh.”
That hadn’t been acting. She had merely been nervous.
“···I suppose it was?”
Still, she nodded. She decided to count it as that.
After all, she wanted to be a cool older sister.
“···.”
Jinuri looked around, scanning her surroundings.
“···Where’s Seungho?”
“He hasn’t come back yet. He said he’d be at a nearby café with his friends.”
“···Really?”
Jinuri’s expression soon turned bitter.
She felt sorry toward Lee Seungho. After all, hadn’t he gone to find those two for her sake?
How could he do that?
She felt even sorrier because she couldn’t completely understand how he felt.
It bothered her that she kept pretending not to know his feelings.
She had even wondered whether she might be taking advantage of him.
“···.”
Jinuri fell silent for a moment.
‘I really should do something···.’
It seemed like she ought to.
No, she had to.
Jinuri made up her mind to repay him somehow.
“···Hmm.”
If so, what could she do for him?
Generally speaking, snacks would be a good thing to give someone.
The problem was that she didn’t know what he liked.
“Seungah.”
“Yes?”
“What does Seungho like···?”
“Huh?”
Lee Seungah raised her voice. She seemed a little flustered.
“No··· There must be some kind of snack he likes. I feel like I should give him something···.”
“Ahh···.”
Lee Seungah nodded, seeming quietly relieved.
Why was that?
“Hmm··· He’ll eat pretty much anything. It’s not a meal, just a snack, so I think anything would be fine.”
“Really?”
Jinuri happily brought her palms together. If that was the case, she had something good.
“As it happens, I have some delicious mint choco at home—”
“Anything but that.”
Her tone was somewhat chilly.
Lee Seungah shook her head with a slightly stern expression.
“Uh···.”
When Jinuri trailed off in confusion,
“I don’t think that’s a good idea···.”
Lee Seungah reiterated that it wasn’t.
She repeated it for emphasis.
“···.”
Jinuri’s spirits sank.
···No, couldn’t he possibly like it?
“Why don’t you just ask him directly? That would probably be faster.”
Lee Seungah steered the conversation elsewhere.
“Hmm, okay.”
That was a good idea.
“I should do that.”
What does he like, anyway?
I can ask him when we go to school.