A Bag of Chewy Malrang Cow Candies

In front of a large commercial building, I smoothed my hair in front of a sparkling display window, checking my overall appearance.

Considering I just threw on whatever I had at home, I looked pretty decent.

Neat sneakers, shorts suited for the hot weather, and a loose, pure white shirt that draped down from the top.

And to top it off, a snapback I stole from Harang to block the sunlight.

It was a haphazard fashion, but the fact that it didn’t feel messy was probably thanks to my naturally pretty face.

I pouted and fiddled with the brim of my hat.

If it were a normal day, I’d be lying in my capsule, playing Deron.

But today, I couldn’t. It was because of the promise I made with Sohee.

I recalled the memory from a few days ago.

‘Hayeon-ah.’

‘Yeah.’

‘I’m free next weekend.’

‘Great, let’s grind on that day.’

‘…’

It was a truly indifferent and terrible answer. A blunder on my part, completely disregarding the feelings of my middle school friend.

I ran a hand down my dry face. That indifferent response had completely erased Sohee’s bright smile.

‘O-Of course, I’m kidding… So, wanna hang out on the weekend? Wanna see a movie or something?’

‘Okay.’

Sohee answered as if she had been waiting for me to say that.

Only after making that promise to hang out did her smile return.

Because of that promise I made that day, I had to be out here at this hour.

I checked the time on my phone and squatted in the shade of the commercial building, avoiding the scorching sunlight.

12:10 PM.

There were still 20 minutes left until our meeting time.

Sohee-[Are you here yet?]

A message had arrived from Sohee. I fiddled with my lips and hesitated to reply.

If Sohee were a normal male friend of this age, he would have been nagging me about why I wasn’t there yet.

But Sohee was a delicate middle school girl. I bit my fingernails and frowned.

She might feel pressured if I replied that I was there earlier than her.

-Answer carefully.

I nodded and carefully composed a message.

Hayeon-[I’m not late.]

Isn’t this good enough?

I was smiling with satisfaction, thinking that, when suddenly a darker shadow fell over me and a familiar scent wafted over.

It was definitely the shampoo Sohee usually used.

I slightly took off my hat and looked up.

“Hi.”

“Ah, Sohee-ya.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I haven’t been here long.”

Sohee nodded at my answer and began to look me up and down.

It felt like I was being inspected by an adult.

I gave an awkward smile and said to Sohee.

“D-Do I look weird?”

“No, you’re pretty.”

It was a straightforward compliment. Sohee smiled brightly and held out her hand to me.

Just because the meeting place had changed didn’t mean her behavior had changed.

As always, whenever we were going somewhere together, she would always hold out her hand like this, asking to hold hands.

I reached out and took her hand. Sohee intertwined her fingers with mine and gently tugged my arm.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to see a movie.”

“Movie…”

I didn’t have a hobby of watching movies, but I nodded.

I came out today with the intention of catering to Sohee, so I was planning to go wherever she wanted to go.

I started walking side by side with Sohee. The fact that I was holding hands and walking with a middle school girl made my heart flutter a little.

“Hayeon-ah.”

“…Ah, yeah?”

My reply was a little late because I was having unnecessary thoughts.

I shook my head and looked up at Sohee’s face.

“What genre of movie should we watch?”

“Ah, just something normal? Something popular these days would be good, right?”

“Really? Then I’ll book it as I please?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Sohee nodded at my answer and started fiddling with her phone.

The height difference was significant, so I couldn’t see her phone screen.

If I turned my head, all I could see was her large chest.

It makes me think every time I see it.

Is that really the chest of a middle schooler?

I was so busy worrying about whether Sohee’s chest was real or fake that I just kept walking, and before I knew it, we had arrived in front of the movie theater.

Before entering the theater, Sohee fiddled with her phone and asked me.

“Do you want popcorn?”

“Ah, um. No.”

“Then what about cola?”

“I think I’m okay.”

“Okay.”

To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be able to focus on the movie.

I rubbed my tired eyes and secretly yawned without Sohee noticing.

I’ve been staying up all night playing games a lot lately, so I was constantly dozing off at every opportunity.

I was sure I would fall asleep during the movie.

How long had it been? It seemed like all the preparations were finished.

Sohee took my hand and headed towards the staff, showing them her phone screen.

I stood on tiptoe and looked over her shoulder. I was curious about what was on Sohee’s screen.

“Confirmed. Please go to VR couple room number 22~”

The staff member gave a kind explanation and handed over a small card.

Is this how movies are watched these days? As much as the world has changed, it seemed that the culture had changed as well.

I walked with Sohee and cautiously opened my mouth.

“Couple room, what kind of place is that?”

“It’s a place where you watch movies together, just the two of us.”

“J-Just the two of us? There’s no one else around?”

“Yeah, it’s a place where you can fully concentrate on the movie.”

I breathed a sigh of relief at Sohee’s answer.

I was worried about what would happen if I fell asleep while watching the movie and started snoring, but it seemed like I wouldn’t be bothering anyone.

Sohee and I stopped in place.

Couple Room 22.

Sohee checked the nameplate on the door and brought the card she had with her to the door.

Then, with a beep- sound, the door opened automatically.

“Wow…”

I entered the room with Sohee and exclaimed in admiration.

The room was small and cozy. It was dark all around, but there was no problem recognizing the surroundings because of the soft light emanating from the large capsule in the center.

“Do we watch the movie in there?”

“Yeah.”

The capsule in the center of the room looked bigger than the gaming capsule I used.

Alright, let’s see how movies are enjoyed in this world.

I quickly sat down inside the capsule.

It was called a couple room. Naturally, the inside of the large capsule was designed for two people to use together.

Sohee started to adjust the settings of the capsule with familiarity.

It seemed like she had been to a place like this once or twice before.

I followed what Sohee was doing and adjusted the settings.

After investing about 5 minutes, all the settings were completed.

Now, all that was left was to put on the headset.

I fiddled with the headset, which looked different from the one I used for gaming.

“It’s not for full dive?”

“Yeah, it’s just for watching movies.”

The moment I put on the headset, the title of the movie and a large poster appeared before my eyes.

It was definitely the movie Sohee had chosen.

“A sci-fi genre?”

“You don’t like it? Should I change it?”

“No. It’s okay.”

The movie Sohee chose was a sci-fi genre.

Her taste was a little unusual for a middle school girl.

“Should I play it?”

“Yeah.”

The moment I finished answering, Sohee played the movie.

I relaxed my body and stretched out lazily.

Then, the surrounding sounds were blocked, creating an environment where I could fully concentrate on the movie.

The content of the movie was quite interesting, but the content didn’t enter my head.

It was because of the drowsiness that came with the start of the movie.

Slowly dragging sounds circled around my ears and scattered.

Just as the sensation in my arms and legs was fading dimly, I heard Sohee’s voice.

It was definitely her voice, but I was half asleep, so I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s fun…”

So I just spat out whatever came to mind.

In this situation, the most common question would be about my impressions of the movie.

The movie scenes flowed by like a dream.

I didn’t know how much time had passed.

The moment a large mecha Tyranno bit the neck of a mecha cobra.

My consciousness sank deeply.

***

Thud-!

I was startled by the huge sound that stimulated my ears and trembled.

It seemed like I had fallen asleep for a very short time.

That moment. Something warm that had been on my thigh slowly disappeared.

When that warmth disappeared, I even felt a sense of emptiness.

“Hayeon-ah, sorry. I think I dozed off for a bit…”

Sohee’s voice was deeply hoarse.

As if she had been in a really deep sleep.

I cleared my throat and replied.

“Ahem… R-Really…? Was the movie not good?”

“Yeah…”

Sohee and my seats were close together as they were couple seats.

There was a possibility that my hand had touched her body while tossing and turning in my sleep.

I fidgeted with my hands and stroked my thigh.

It seemed like Sohee had put her hand on my thigh while she was asleep.

The conversation ends there.

Fortunately, it seemed like she didn’t find out that I was dozing off.

The end credits of the movie were rolling.

It seemed like the movie had ended with the explosion scene from earlier.

When I took off the headset on my head, I could recognize the surrounding situation.

The room with the lights on was bright.

It was like the lighting was clearly distinguishing between the movie and reality.

I stretched my stiff body and got up from my seat.

“Sohee-ya?”

“Yeah.”

“Aren’t you getting up?”

Sohee was still wearing the headset.

She wasn’t getting up even though the movie was over.

“J-Just a moment, I’m going to watch the post-credits scene.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

I got out of the capsule and checked the time on my phone.

The screen showed 2:30 PM.

I entered this movie theater around 12:20 PM, so the movie’s running time was probably 2 hours.

It was about 5 minutes after that that Sohee came out of the capsule.

“Was the post-credits scene a bit long?”

“Yeah…”

Sohee’s cheeks were slightly red as she hesitated to answer.

It seemed like it was hotter inside the capsule.

We’ve seen the movie, so now it’s time to eat lunch.

I rubbed my rumbling stomach and said to Sohee.

“You didn’t eat before coming out, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s go eat lunch. I’ll pay this time.”

“R-Really…?”

“Yeah, Sohee paid for the movie.”

It seemed like Sohee was hungry too.

She showed an excited expression, her eyes shining at my answer.

Sohee and I held hands and walked out of the commercial building and started walking for a while.

“Yeon-ah, where are we going?”

“To a very delicious place.”

I was glad that the meeting place was close to my house.

There’s a place nearby that makes really delicious pork bone hangover stew.

I grabbed Sohee’s hand and headed there.

[Nolbu’s Pork Bone Hangover Stew]

“Here it is.”

“Pork bone hangover stew…?”

“Yeah, it’s really delicious.”

It was a little past lunchtime, so the inside of the store was quiet.

I entered with Sohee and shouted loudly.

“Auntie! Two pork bone hangover stews, please!”

“Our Hayeon-i has come? Why didn’t you come last week?”

The store owner, Auntie, recognized me and gave me a bright smile.

I gave an awkward smile and replied.

“I was a little busy.”

“I see, you came with a friend? Wait a little bit. I’ll bring it out soon.”

After waiting side by side with Sohee for a while, two steaming earthenware pots were placed side by side on the table.

Sohee’s face darkened a little.

The meal was satisfying.

Sohee said she was full and left half of her rice.

As expected of a middle school girl, she ate a small amount.

“Um, Hayeon-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“I, I think I should go now.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, my dad said he’s coming home in the evening.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do.”

I was planning to spend the evening with Sohee, but my plans were thwarted.

Just before we parted, Sohee looked at me with a regretful expression, then went into the convenience store and bought a bag of Chewy Malrang Cow candies and gave it to me.

Not individual pieces.

Today, I received a whole bag.

I fiddled with the Chewy Malrang Cow candies and saw Sohee off as she walked away.