Chapter 15
I led the hesitant woman into the trampoline area.
A moment later, she came in after me, tried a light bounce, and looked at me with a flustered face.
"How do you play this?"
"Like this."
"Aaaah!!"
One bounce and she lost her balance, tumbling onto the floor.
I called out to the kids around us.
"Kids! Bounce!!"
"Aaaah! Eek! Stop! Stop!! Ahahaha!!"
And yet her body was bursting with laughter because it was fun!!
It was obvious that she, rolling around on the trampoline floor with the kids, was confused by such primal fun.
"Just bounce."
"...I've used a trampoline a few times."
"Oh? Really? Where?"
"Trampoline dieting."
"That's not playing; that's jumping to lose weight."
Is that the same thing?
I steadied the wobbling woman and showed her how the kids were playing.
They sure knew how to play.
They bounced hard and rolled hard.
Even while they were sweating, the laughter never stopped.
It was something she'd never once seen in her past.
"Do those kids look like they're thinking about anything while they jump?"
"I... don't think so."
"Let's try playing like that."
"...I don't know how to play..."
"If you don't know, then roll!!"
"Kyaaaah!!"
I stomped my feet, dodging Han Yuna as she reached for me.
She lost her balance and went rolling about.
Han Yuna's always-neat hair came undone.
The woman who was always so upright couldn't even stand properly.
"Kids!! Help!!"
"Waaah!!"
"Attack the pretty big sister!!"
"Knock down the pretty older sister!!"
About five kids were bouncing around Han Yuna.
Each time, on her face as she rolled on the floor...
the laughter wouldn't stop, perhaps because the unexpected situation and awkwardness were so fun.
.
.
.
After bouncing around for about an hour, we got off.
Maybe it was her first time playing like this, because Han Yuna's face was flushed with confusion and excitement.
"Please have some."
"What is this...?"
"It's a slushie. You haven't had one of these either, have you?"
"...Yes."
If you've been bouncing for an hour, you need something cold.
"Kids, you should have some too. This pretty big sister's buying."
"...Me?"
"At least this much, please."
"Yes."
"Wow!!"
"Thank you!"
Han Yuna opened her wallet for the kids who had been running around.
While the innocently smiling kids took their slushies and sat down beside her to rest, she glanced toward her legs.
"The feeling of standing is strange."
"That's how it is after you're done on the trampoline."
"But bangbang...? Isn't this a trampoline?"
"When I was little, we called it a bangbang."
She looked troubled.
But you just have to feel things like this with your heart.
"Big bro! Big sis! Thanks for the treat!"
"Let's play again next time!!"
The kids said it was time for cram school and left.
Han Yuna, watching them go, smiled faintly.
"I didn't expect you'd be rolling around like that."
"I didn't expect you to be this bad at it either."
"...I once took gymnastics classes at school. Back then, I did three flips on a trampoline."
"Oh. Really?"
"But... this is different."
It's less bouncy than a gymnastics trampoline.
And absurdly wide.
At school, no one was allowed to approach the trampoline when someone else was on it.
It was dangerous.
And besides, she said quietly, no one ever approached her in the first place.
"Still..."
"It's fun, isn't it?"
"...Yes."
She couldn't deny that it was fun.
"I don't really know, but I heard that once you become an adult, there's something called saving face, so you can't play like this."
"Yes. It certainly isn't in keeping with that."
"But what about it?"
"Pardon?"
"Isn't this far from where you usually spend your time, Ms. Yuna?"
"Well... that's true."
Han Yuna came from a chaebol family.
Who would have known she'd be bouncing and rolling around in a neighborhood like this?
"In a place where no one knows you, can't you loosen up a little?"
Our NC.A.
Seo Yurim.
Even a username like "Mereljjujjupalgosipda" doesn't do that, does it?
How can a female idol's game ID even...
"I've heard there are all kinds of ways people loosen up."
Especially our director.
He acted like a good, kind person outside, but as soon as he played Etmarble Go-Stop, he turned into someone else and cursed up a storm.
"Let's look for your own way together."
Han Yuna, staring at me blankly, let her eyes curve slightly.
It looked a little awkward compared to her usual smile, though.
For some reason, it felt like that was her real smile.
.
.
.
The next day.
A call came around lunchtime.
It was Han Yuna.
When I went out, she was there in casual clothes that looked comfortable instead of the polished but stiff suit she usually wore.
"What are we doing today?"
"Let's go to a PC café today."
Without saying much, I headed to the neighborhood PC café with her obediently following along.
"Let's get a couple seat."
"A couple..."
I sat down with her after she hesitated for a moment.
Apparently curious, Han Yuna looked around here and there.
"Have you ever played games before?"
"No."
"Then let's play Dunsa together. For the 7th anniversary, they're throwing freebies at new players."
From transparent avatars to legendary gear.
Every time you level up, they give out potions, gear, armor, and even pets.
That's right.
Newbies are always welcome.
"I've never played a game like this before..."
I knew.
The only things she could really call games she'd played were chess and janggi.
And even then, only enough to enter competitions, not to play for fun.
"Try it this time. Ah, and healer is good. Healer. In games like this, healers are always treated like nobility."
"And I'm leveling a new character too."
Han Yuna, though puzzled, chose a character exactly as I told her without saying anything.
And then we started.
One hour in.
"Heal me."
"Okay."
Two hours in.
"Could you do a little better on damage?"
"......."
Three hours in.
"Why do you go fight somewhere else when I lay down an AoE?"
"No, why would you put the AoE there..."
"That is the optimal spot."
Four hours in.
"Is there time to rest now? We need to kill at least one more."
"...Let's eat first and then keep going."
With her crisp, precise manner, the healer on the monitor calculated cooldowns as if she were the character herself, handing out heals and buffs.
And whenever she had a spare moment, she even applied debuffs to the mobs.
She doesn't look like someone who just started gaming.
This woman.
I wonder how she'd do in a raid?
"What do you want to eat?"
"...I don't even know what they sell..."
"Then I'll order for you."
A little while later, an employee brought over the food.
Katsu-don and cola.
I ordered jjagechi.
She stared blankly at the plate placed before her.
"Why? Don't you like it?"
"I didn't know PC cafés went this far."
"I hear that's standard these days."
This PC café's food quality is amazing.
She quietly took a bite with her wooden chopsticks, in a very refined, cultured manner.
"...It's delicious."
"It's the kind of flavor that hits your dopamine. Hurry up and eat so we can get back to hunting."
And so.
We spent 12 hours having fun at the PC café.
"Phew. Let's stop here for today."
"Let's do a little more."
This woman.
Is more serious about games than I expected.
.
.
.
The next day, again.
"Let's go to a manga café today."
"Understood."
"Have you ever read manga before?"
"If webtoons count, I've read one or two because the staff recommended them."
"Then you'll enjoy it."
When we went to the manga café near the station, it was cleaner than expected.
After getting seats, I recommended a few manga to her.
"'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure...? Is this... any good?'"
"I thought it was fun."
I read it too when I was at the orphanage. An older boy in my room recommended it, and it was fun.
Hesitating at first, she started reading the first volume, and before long she was devouring it with intense focus.
"...Hoo."
It was about time to go.
She glanced at the timer, stood up, went to the counter to pay, and came back to say...
"I... stopped time."
She must have been deeply moved.
After quoting JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's famous line, she gave her signature faint smile.
"It's much more fun than I expected."
"Right?"
"Is there anything else?"
"I hear shoujo manga can be fun in its own way. I don't really know, but girls seem to like it."
That was a lie.
I had actually read a lot of shoujo manga too.
A lot of them were recommended by the older girls at the same orphanage.
"Dream-Colored Patissiere. I hear this one's fun."
I actually cried reading this.
It was really moving.
"...Why are her eyes so big?"
"Let's just call that artistic license and move on."
She seemed a little put off by the art style, but she read it obediently.
And then she said...
"Aren't you hungry?"
"I'm a little hungry. Some ramen, maybe..."
"Let's get some bread."
This woman.
Is getting influenced by manga more than I expected.
.
.
.
And just like that, we spent nearly ten hours at the manga café.
A few people were amazed to see her reading manga in such a cool pose, but
we didn't care and played hard anyway.
"Hmm. That was fun."
"I see. It certainly... was fun."
"When do you start work?"
"In two days."
"Then I guess we only get tomorrow to hang out."
"...Yes. That's unfortunate."
"What's there to be disappointed about?"
I said it without much thought.
"We can hang out on the weekend."
"On weekends..."
"What do you do on weekends?"
"I usually go to work even on weekends."
"...Pardon?"
Why would anyone do something that crazy?
"Because even if I'm alone at home, there's nothing in particular to do."
So I go to work.
Even though she wasn't getting any special weekend overtime pay, when she worked at the hotel she would still go in on weekends and work.
"Why waste time on something like that..."
"...I thought it was worthwhile in my own way."
She replied reluctantly, but after having fun, she seemed to feel a bit of regret.
"Even if it was only from time to time, I should have tried it on my own. Maybe I had been feeling guilty about playing."
"You can't stay tense all the time. You have to loosen up when it's time to loosen up."
"Because when I loosened up... I got attacked."
"Ah. Ah..."
"Anyway, I had fun."
She smiled brightly.
And then she bowed her head slightly.
"From now on, I'll try playing like this."
"If you're bored, give me a call."
Not just for requests, either.
***
Back to work.
It was a new assignment, but it wasn't difficult.
Because I'd once spent time worrying over my father's hotel management issues when I was home alone, and had even researched and studied them.
But there was something else.
I found myself looking forward to the weekend.
'Maybe I should go to a PC café this weekend?'
The game I played with Kang Noa was fun.
They say games are fun even when you play alone, so maybe I could enjoy it by myself too.
Or I could go to the manga café.
There were manga I'd left unfinished.
Or maybe I should go bounce on the trampoline?
Or should I go find some other activity?
Anticipation welled up in my heart.
And then, when the weekend Han Yuna had been looking forward to finally arrived...
.......
Something.
Something was different.
The manga café, the PC café.
Even going back to the trampoline, it wasn't as fun as it had been then.
I hesitated.
I felt like I'd become a useless person who couldn't even enjoy things alone.
So she wondered if maybe she should call him for no reason.
But it felt wasteful to let this golden weekend slip away like this, so she picked up her phone.
-Hello?
Her heart fluttered at the sound of his voice.
Simply talking with him felt like it would be fun.
"It's Han Yuna."
-Yes.
"It's Sunday tomorrow... would you like to go out and play together?"
He'd probably agree.
He was... at least someone she could play with like a friend.
-What should I do? I already have plans for tomorrow.
She had always been alone.
And rejection was something she was used to.
Even so...
Without realizing it, she pouted her full lips slightly in annoyance.