Chapter 144
There’s a saying about a sweet time.
I don’t know whether it really is sweet, but the time we spent on the Ferris wheel was sweet enough.
We didn’t talk about anything in particular, just looked at each other and took in the night view beyond the window.
Still, it was satisfying in its own way.
“So?”
“Pardon?”
“This can’t be your only dream, can it, Ms. Si-yeon?”
“...Ahahaha!! Of course not!!”
Hong Si-yeon, who’d been staring at me blankly, burst into laughter.
The beauty, surrounded by the faint lights of the night view, looked absolutely delighted.
“There’s a saying, after all: ‘Boys, have dreams.’”
“You’re not a boy, Ms. Si-yeon.”
“It’s just a saying. There’s something else I’d like to do next time, too. Would you do that with me?”
“Of course. What would you like to do?”
“Go to an amusement park.”
“An amusement park? We’ve been to Lotte World together.”
“We weren’t in this kind of relationship back then.”
“This kind of relationship?”
“Closer than friends, but not lovers yet?”
In other words, we were in that ambiguous in-between stage.
She naturally reached out and took my hand.
Then she moved each of her long fingers until our hands were interlaced, and smiled.
“Would you give me a chance to close that gap?”
Hong Si-yeon was someone who helped me a great deal.
Objectively speaking, she was beautiful, too.
She was rich and had a good personality.
She was older than me, but she didn’t look that much older, so there was no problem there.
“Of course, I know another woman is approaching you, Noah.”
She meant Han Yu-na, I supposed.
Anyone but an idiot could tell that she had strong feelings for me.
Naturally, Hong Si-yeon had noticed.
“Rare things are scarce in this world. Fighting and competing to claim them is a basic human desire and instinct.”
“I see.”
“If you don’t intend to reject me, Noah, I hope you won’t stop me, either. Wouldn’t it be fair, at least?”
“That’s fair, too.”
“Hehe. Thank you for understanding.”
Hong Si-yeon slowly lowered her hand.
But she didn’t let go of mine; our fingers remained entwined.
“Let’s have even more fun tomorrow.”
Before I knew it, the Ferris wheel had stopped.
When the door opened, she slowly let go of my hand.
“I’m a little surprised, though.”
“About what?”
As we got off the Ferris wheel, I said to Hong Si-yeon,
“I thought you’d get on the Ferris wheel and go, ‘Come here!’ and then do all sorts of things.”
I hadn’t actually looked into the future.
I’d only guessed.
Hong Si-yeon looked at me with round eyes, then burst into giggles.
“Are you talking about a physical attack? Hmm. How should I put it? Isn’t that a little low-class?”
“Low-class?”
“You’re not someone who can be seduced with nothing but a body and sex appeal, Noah.”
She calmly linked her arm through mine.
Wasn’t this seducing me with her body and sex appeal, then?
I could feel her ample breasts against my arm.
“Just think of this as showing off how close we are.”
She looked up at me and smiled slyly.
.
.
.
The next day.
The place I went with her was Universal Studios.
“Hmm. Now that I think about it, something always happens at the amusement parks you go to, doesn’t it, Noah? Do you think something will happen here, too?”
“Do you think I’m like the protagonist of some famous detective manga, bringing trouble and incidents wherever I go?”
“Who knows? But whenever I’m with you, Noah, something does seem to happen. It happened last time, and this time, too, didn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
But it was just a coincidence.
“So? What about this time?”
“Why don’t you turn over a card?”
Hong Si-yeon turned the card over with a bright smile.
It was the upright Fool.
“That card is pretty unusual. So, our brilliant fortune-teller, what’s your reading?”
“Nothing special. Looks like we can just enjoy ourselves today.”
“Oh my. Is that really true?”
It was.
Nothing would happen at Universal Studios.
No rides would break down, and no tourists would die.
Of course, people who recognized me might come up to me, but that was pretty much the same wherever I went.
“So all we have to do is enjoy ourselves?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe. Then I can walk around holding your hand like this.”
Hong Si-yeon naturally took my hand.
She didn’t interlace our fingers like she had on the Ferris wheel the day before, though.
But the way she held it firmly showed just how much she’d wanted to come to the amusement park holding hands.
“Let’s go!”
And so I went in with Hong Si-yeon.
The tickets were ridiculously expensive.
But she said she didn’t want to waste time waiting, and dragged me all over the place.
Here and there, tourists recognized me, just as I’d seen in her future, but none of their futures held any particular problems, either.
We simply enjoyed the amusement park like ordinary people.
“Ah. That was fun.”
“We’re not done yet.”
As we ate hot dogs for a late lunch, Hong Si-yeon laughed.
She’d been smiling all day. I wondered if her facial muscles were okay.
“We only have three more rides to go, and then we’ll have done all the important ones.”
“Yes!”
“Great. Let’s finish eating and head over.”
This time, we were going to the Harry Potter area.
Hong Si-yeon said she liked Harry Potter and confidently declared that she absolutely had to buy a wand there.
“Did you know they have a special wand there?”
“Yes. I heard. You mean the wand of the chosen one, right?”
At the wand shop, they called someone up as part of an event, held a little ceremony, and offered them a special wand.
Some people loved the event; others weren’t interested.
Hong Si-yeon seemed to love it quite a bit.
“Yes! I really want to be chosen! I’ve been here three times, but I never got picked.”
She’d been to Universal Studios three times with her younger sibling.
But she’d never been chosen, she said with a small sigh.
Well, they usually did that sort of thing for kids.
“Last time, it was another woman.”
“Hmm. Really?”
I wasn’t particularly interested, but Hong Si-yeon really seemed to want it.
The problem was, there was no future in which she was chosen.
Since we’d come all this way, shouldn’t I help her fulfill at least one dream?
“Ms. Si-yeon. You’ll do what I tell you, right?”
“Pardon? Of course. I’ll do anything you want, Noah.”
That was quite a commendable thing to say.
After lunch, we headed straight to the Harry Potter area.
As expected, there were lots of people there.
When we went into the wand shop, quite a few people were waiting to enter the wand-selection experience area.
“Hmm...”
If she got in line now, she wouldn’t be chosen.
In that case, I’d change the future.
“Let’s go in with the next group.”
“All right.”
After letting one group go ahead of us and joining the line for the next time slot, I fiddled with a card and looked into her future.
“Would you like to go ahead of us?”
“Oh. Yes.”
These people weren’t going to buy a wand.
They’d only come to look around and try the experience.
And next...
“W-Whoa?! Noah hyung?!”
“Oh. Since you recognize me, are you a fan?”
“Whoa!! Wow! Meeting you in the Harry Potter area feels like meeting a real wizard!”
The tourists, who looked like college students, laughed and asked me for autographs and pictures.
After giving them what they wanted, I smiled and let them go ahead of us.
And next...
Oh. That person was a scalper.
Normally, since there were no kids in this time slot, they’d pick an adult, and that person would be chosen.
But surely it was better for the merchandise to go to someone who’d treasure it rather than a scalper.
“Ms. Si-yeon. Get in line here.”
“Yes!!”
Hong Si-yeon joined the line where I indicated.
When her turn came and we entered, a Black man was looking around with a serious expression.
He was asking who the wand would choose when his eyes met mine.
His eyes widened slightly.
He was a fan of mine, too.
He didn’t mention me while he was working, but his eyes never left Hong Si-yeon and me.
Then let’s seal the deal here.
I slightly raised our joined hands.
“You there, young lady with the red hair!! Would you like to be chosen by the wand?!”
He shouted.
Hong Si-yeon, who’d been happily looking around, was startled.
“M-Me?”
“Yes!! You, the lucky young lady accompanying a great wizard who has mastered the magic of prophecy!”
A great wizard, huh.
I wasn’t really a wizard or anything.
Anyway, Hong Si-yeon stepped forward, unsure what to do, and he politely took out a wand and held it out to her.
The wand of the chosen one.
A solemn scene unfolded, and the moment she received the wand from him, the area lit up.
“W-Wow!!”
Hong Si-yeon was a beauty I could never praise enough.
She was more beautiful than most celebrities.
Maybe that was why.
Honestly, the sight of her holding the wand and rejoicing like a little girl was picture-perfect.
So I took a picture of her.
“Ah! D-Don’t take pictures, it’s embarrassinggg...”
She hurried over to my side, linked her arm through mine, and leaned her head against me.
And then...
She whispered very softly.
“....Thank you, Noah. My dream really came true.”
“Haha. This much is nothing.”
Compared to getting raid loot, that is.
.
.
.
“Aaaah~! It was like a dream!”
We left Universal Studios after the sun had set.
She looked incredibly happy.
She had held my hand so tightly it was as if she would never let go, then slowly walked a step ahead and turned around.
“Whoops.”
We bumped into each other with a little tap, but she didn’t back away.
Resting her head naturally against my chest, she spoke in a soft voice.
“Really. Thank you so much.”
“It was just one piece of merchandise.”
“To me, it wasn’t just merchandise. And haven’t I gotten a lot of things like this before?”
I’d told her about the future and changed it more than once.
Hadn’t the benefits she’d gotten from those times been far greater than getting one wand?
At my words, Hong Si-yeon shook her head slightly.
“Because I got it after I became a little closer to you.”
That’s what made it special.
Hong Si-yeon’s face wore a brighter smile than ever.