episode_0016

I firmly grabbed the man’s arm with both hands and, after running around to escape the woman, ended up entering a nearby restaurant.

The man, relieved after successfully evading the woman, sighed with relief as he looked at the menu. Unlike before, his complexion had improved significantly, and a smile crept onto his face.

“Since the signature menu here is steak and sausages, how about ordering that with two sodas?” he suggested.

“I’ll follow your choice! Oh, let’s also order some beer. You didn’t drink much yesterday, right?” I replied, recalling his restrained behavior from yesterday despite the lifting of the alcohol ban.

Even though I had suggested moderation despite lifting the ban, the man did not refuse my offer and readily ordered two glasses of draft beer.

Draft beer may be unfamiliar to me, but since it was recommended by the man, I’ll enjoy it! I may not know what steak is, but I’m sure sausages and beer will go well together. But why is this man staring at me so intently?

“Did I get something on my face?”

“No, it’s just that the way you wait for food is so childlike.”

“Childlike? That’s too much! Weren’t you acting like a child when you agreed to order beer earlier?”

I may not know how I appear, but it’s true that the man’s attitude changes when the topic of alcohol comes up. He must really like it!

“People can enjoy alcohol, you know. As long as they don’t overdo it, it’s fine.”

“Hmph, you said you don’t know about people. If you ever get drunk and act up towards me, I won’t just sit still!”

I mean it. If that ever happens, I’ll smash all the alcohol in the house, including the man’s head!

“I won’t just sit still… Oh, the food’s here.”

Oh, you were waiting! So, this is the steak? It looks a bit lower in quality than in the picture, but a photo is just a photo, so I’ll have to taste it.

“Mmm~ Delicious!”

“I’ve been telling you to eat slowly every day… That’s more like Jueun-hye.”

I don’t know what it means to be like Jueun-hye. I just ate it all in one bite because it was delicious. The sausages are also excellent. I can’t stop the fork because it’s beyond my expectations.

“Nom nom~ But why are you eating so slowly? Eat up! You’ve just been drinking beer since earlier… Here, say ‘ah’!”

Feeling guilty for eating well alone, I picked up a sausage I had saved to eat later with the fork and offered it to the man.

“… ”

But why is this man staring at me with wide eyes without eating? I picked the biggest one with care, you know.

“My arm hurts, hurry up and say ‘ah’.”

“…Ah.”

If you’re going to eat so well, why are you hesitating like this? But maybe it was too hot, as the man turned his head away with his mouth closed.

“It was that hot? Here, have some beer with it…”

I offered the beer glass, but as the man kept turning his head in refusal, a woman appeared behind him.

But she had crimson hair and a leather jacket… That woman from earlier? She’s coming this way!

“Excuse me, sir, can you…”

“Found you.”

Oh… I’m too late.

On the other side, the man sitting there had his face in his hands, bowing his head. Unlike that man, I was happily looking at the photos on the phone with the now-familiar Rachel noona, smiling brightly.

“Can you see the person wearing the red costume here? This person is the video of Hennesy from back then. It’s been 5 years already! I miss it…”

The video that noona showed me was of a man wearing a full-body red costume, doing backflips or taking pictures with children.

At first, Rachel noona, who was hostile due to a misunderstanding, said that she discovered the man who used to be a friend in the past and was on the same team as her uncle, who disappeared suddenly. She approached him with joy.

Of course, the strange name Rachel is not her real name but an internet nickname. The man said that he was active under the nickname Hennesy at that time. The problem is that the team these two were part of was a cosplay team created by otakus who like comics and movies.

“Sir, were you trying to run away because of this? You look cool though.”

“Right? When we first met, you were really shy, but suddenly you got so fit to do this character cosplay…”

As Rachel noona and I became close, the man’s irregular sighs were heard as we chatted. Whether he spoke or not, I kept looking at the man’s old photos and thought that he was quite active back in the day.

Moreover, unlike his neutral face, his body was muscular. It turned out that he worked hard to act as his favorite hero character.

“Hey Rachel… Even though the team has disbanded, why are you still active?”

Staring at Rachel noona with a hand on her forehead, the man looked pale and kept glancing at me. I don’t know why he keeps looking at me while talking to Rachel noona. Maybe he feels guilty towards me.

“Even though the team has disbanded, I enjoy this cosplay hobby. Of course, there are people who don’t like it, but who dares to criticize me when I like it?”

Rachel noona confidently answered without hesitation. Her confident appearance surprised the man, and I, too, felt inspired by her passion.

“But why did you come right on the day of the event? It’s been 5 years since I last saw you at the event, how…”

“I happened to have the opportunity to come here, so I applied. I didn’t have any ulterior motives.”

“Hmm…”

Rachel noona, showing a suspicious reaction, put the potato fries she ordered in her mouth. But why does she keep looking at me and the man alternately?

“Then I have a question. What’s the relationship between this cute kid and Hennesy? Are you his girlfriend!?”

Covering her mouth with one hand, Rachel noona pointed at the man and me alternately, looking shocked.

Girlfriend? The man already has a steady partner, so mistaking someone like me for his girlfriend!

“He’s not my girlfriend!”

I cut in sharply and reached out for Rachel noona’s potato fries, pretending to be mischievous. The man seemed relieved by my statement and started chugging the remaining beer.

“Yeah, yeah, girlfriend, what nonsense…”

“I’m his wife!”

– Pffft!

Closing his eyes and stuffing the potato fries into his mouth, the man sprayed beer everywhere. What a mess! Here, take a tissue, you uncouth man~

*

After parting ways with Rachel noona, who was giggling as if she had seen something funny, and conquering almost all the rides, it was already past 9 o’clock. Tomorrow is Monday, and I was worried about staying here until this late, but the man said it was okay, so I felt relieved.

“Today was fun. Thank you, sir~!”

After having a great time, I was a bit tired, so I sat down overlooking the square, holding onto the railing, and turned my head towards the direction where the man was, expressing my gratitude.

Memories like this, that were so enjoyable, are few and far between. Since becoming friends with Jueunhye and spending time with the man, each day seems to be special and enjoyable.

“By the way, sir, what about that? Cosplay? Why don’t you do it anymore?”

In the video shown by Rachel, the man looked so cool, so I wonder why he stopped. I heard that he had a lot of those hero figures, but I couldn’t see any at home… Did he put them all in the warehouse? Wait, Rachel mentioned that there was an event today… Could it be that the cosplay costume is in the bag that the man brought this morning!?

“That, that’s like an embarrassing dark history now… Ugh, why did I meet that guy here.”

“Dark history? Why is that a dark history~ It was so cool, wasn’t it?”

That’s my honest opinion. Just like Rachel said, at that time, the man did it because he wanted to, pouring his passion into it, and now he feels embarrassed.

“I got caught doing this hobby before… The girls made fun of me so much that I just stopped. You don’t dislike me doing this hero otaku stuff, do you?”

“Not at all! When I saw you wearing that costume and dancing, it was incredibly cool!”

Standing up and turning towards the man, I spoke up with confidence.

“I won’t make fun of what you do, and I won’t say anything negative! So, if you want to do something, go ahead and do it!”

I know that the man is not someone who would harm others, so if something like that were to happen, I would do my best to stop it, so don’t worry!

– Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom!

At that moment, with the sound of fireworks exploding, the area behind me lit up. Turning back again, I saw a large burst of light filling the sky.

“Wow, fireworks… Sir, don’t just stand there, come here! Let’s take a picture to commemorate this moment!”

Without understanding English, I grabbed the frozen man and took out my smartphone. Then, I showed him the picture I took at the moment the fireworks went off, smiling.

“Haha~ Why are you so stiff, sir. You’re really clueless~”

In the picture, I was holding the man’s arm, drawing a V with my left hand, and laughing brightly, but the man was captured with his gaze fixed on me, in a strange, stiff pose.

Although the man had quite a few demerits today, it was enjoyable, so I think he passed today’s date practice with a decent score, don’t you think?