Battle of Wits Between Two Women (3)

,”Being in the city, it’s really big, it can’t be compared to our neighborhood.”

,”There was a manga cafe in your neighborhood?”

,”There was, but not a cafe this big, just a place with chairs to sit and read?”

,”Isn’t that just a manga room, where old men go, not a manga cafe?”

,”Oh, no, it really is a manga cafe like this.”

They said they wouldn’t fight, but just listening to them talk, I could feel a strange battle of nerves.

It wasn’t like they were deliberately trying to fight, but it was obvious from their conversation that they were subtly testing each other, engaging in a battle of wits.

I couldn’t tell them not to fight outright, but I was stuck in a situation where it was ambiguous to tell them not to fight.

,’I’d rather they just fought outright so I could get angry, but if they just say they’re talking, only I become awkward.’

If there were two choices, both would be the right answer, but conversely, both would become the wrong answer.

In this ambiguous situation, whether I watched them talk or not, I had no choice but to empty my mind and just pray that they would fight.

I didn’t even know the reason why the two were fighting, so even if I intervened, there was no solution, so I maintained even more neutrality.

We ordered two glasses of grape juice and a cola, and headed to the innermost part of the cafe, where we could lie down and read.

After securing our spot and marking it as ours by leaving our clothes there, we each left to choose a book.

There were many manga. It seemed like it had been over five years since I last read one, but I never thought the manga I used to read would be completed.

I thought there would only be manga at the manga cafe, but surprisingly there were a few classic books as well, so I grabbed the manga I was reading and a classic novel by my favorite author and returned to my spot.

I wondered what they were talking about as they stuck together even while choosing books.

There were no other customers in the cafe, so even though it was an atmosphere where a little bit of noise was tolerated, they spoke in small voices.

I could hear them talking, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying at all, so I leaned back and flipped through the manga I was reading.

–

The drinks came before the two people, and I sipped the grape juice through a straw while flipping through the book.

I could understand why I had been reading it for the past five years. All I could say was that it was fun, without any other flowery words.

After starting to read a book in a quiet place for the first time in a while, I nodded, feeling that this kind of quietness wasn’t so bad after all.

,”Why are you nodding, did something lewd come up?”

,”*Kelloke!*”

The saliva that was going down my throat got stuck, causing me to cough, and I calmed myself down by swallowing another sip of grape juice.

Why are you suddenly saying something lewd, Sea, not Jua.

I took another sip of juice, making sure to calm my throat, and closed the book for a moment.

,”Why would something lewd come up…I’m just reading something I read five years ago because it’s fun.”

,”It’s because there’s someone who actually reads books at a manga cafe.”

What nonsense is this?

You come to a manga cafe to read manga, what else would you come to do?

,”You come to a manga cafe to read books, what else would you come to do.”

,”You should come here for a date. Oppa doesn’t know the world these days, seriously.”

,”Jua, you…never mind. Isn’t reading a book already a date?”

,”Usually, people come to manga cafes to talk and hang out…manga is like a second priority?”

No, where does that exist.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t you just go to a cafe, order a coffee, and talk all day long?

I don’t understand, or are they saying strange things?

I let out a sigh of disbelief, and the two whispered to each other and nodded.

,”If Oppa wants to rest, he should rest.”

,”Instead, lend me your thigh as a pillow.”

,”…Okay.”

As if they had promised each other, they laid down, using my thigh as a pillow, and read the books they had brought.

Quite unexpectedly, they were both flipping through the pages of ordinary romance fantasy novels.

,’I heard it’s popular with women, but if they’re both reading it, it must be really fun.’

I heard quite a few stories while playing VR games.

I didn’t go out much and wasn’t the type to look for rumors outside.

When I was in college, I still talked to my classmates, but I don’t have the opportunity to talk to my classmates anymore…

The only way I get information from the outside is through Ji-hye’s occasional updates on the outside situation or communication with VR game users.

,’I’m a shut-in, I should read the newspaper for a while.’

Even if I say this, I know very well that I won’t read the newspaper.

But I know myself well enough to know that I’m the type of person who has to say it to myself, even if it’s just a word, so that I can remember it later and make an effort to look it up.

So today, I whispered to myself, meaning to remember it later. Find some news, you idiot!

Only the sound of the three of us breathing and the sound of flipping pages could be heard in the room where we were lying down.

There were no customers, so the staff didn’t come into our view, and we couldn’t hear any footsteps.

The store was so quiet that the sound of flipping pages was loud.

,’It’s so quiet, I’m getting sleepy…’

I yawned silently, put down the book for a moment, and took out my cell phone.

Just in case, to contact Ji-hye and tell her that I’m going to eat dinner and go in.

Of course, I wasn’t over the anger about today’s events.

But if I were to eat dinner and go in, she would have to eat alone without knowing why, so it’s the least I can do for my sister.

[Hey, I think I’m going to eat dinner and go in today. Order something to eat.]

While I was putting down my cell phone and stretching for a moment, *Kkak-ttok* rang.

[Why? Oh, are you on a date with the kids?]

[Yeah, so I think I’ll be late. I’m leaving it just in case.]

[Then…okay. Eat something delicious and come, and if you think you’ll be late, give me another call.]

[Don’t just eat something carelessly because there’s no one at home.]

I sent *Kkak-ttok* and started reading the book again.

It was fun, but the atmosphere of the cafe was too quiet, so I kept yawning and my eyes were slowly closing.

The kids seem to be reading quietly too, and since it’s quiet, I think it’s okay to sleep for a while.

I covered myself with Sea’s poncho like a blanket and closed my eyes for a moment.

Maybe I was still tired, but as soon as I closed my eyes, I started to fall asleep very naturally.

–

It’s fun.

I only heard about it when I was broadcasting, and I wanted to see it because they told me to watch it.

Thanks to Oppa choosing the manga cafe, I was able to see it for the first time in three years.

,’The manga…room in my neighborhood only had manga for old men…’

Even though I didn’t want to admit it to Unni, it was a manga room.

A place where only old men go that doesn’t sell this many manga or drinks.

So I wanted to come here once, but I didn’t want to come alone, so I chose it as a place to go, and Oppa accepted it.

I thought she would get angry, but Unni followed me more easily than I thought.

I didn’t want to come, but was it a pretty good choice in its own way?

I thought it was okay because she was quietly reading a book every time I glanced at her.

,”I have to see the next volume…huh?”

I heard a slightly rough breathing sound in my ear as I was about to get up after seeing everything.

It wasn’t a sound of excitement, but a sound of lightly snoring because he was asleep.

,”Is Jua sleeping?”

What, Unni wasn’t sleeping?

I waved my hand towards Unni and answered.

,”I’m not sleeping. Unni wasn’t sleeping?”

,”Why would I sleep, then is Oppa sleeping.”

I turned my head towards the sound of snoring, and Oppa was sleeping quietly.

He was covering his face with a book like he would in an old manga, and snoring from underneath it.

Is he sleeping like that because he’s tired, or is it because the light on top is dazzling?

I laughed at his sleeping figure.

,”*Puahaha*, what is that. Why is he sleeping like that?”

,”Is he tired? It’s not fatigue that can be relieved in a day, but should I have just told him to sleep at home.”

,”If he’s sleeping that well, he must be really tired…I feel like a bad girl for trying to go to a motel at the end.”

,”…A motel at the end?”

Unni paused slightly at my words.

,”Yeah, did you think you were going to end the date quietly? We’re women who need love too.”

Unni was silent for a moment.

I wondered if she was thinking about something, so I waited for an answer.

But wouldn’t Unni have thought about this too? It’s going to be harder and harder to play now.

If we can’t play anyway, it’s easier to get all the love we can on the days we play.

But Unni’s answer was surprisingly different.

,”I was really going to just eat dinner and go home at the end…”

,”…Why? We don’t know when we’ll meet if we meet today, is that okay?”

,”Well, that’s true, but I can see you steadily while filming videos? I won’t hide this on purpose, so please understand that it’s not a boast.”

,”If you say it like that, anyone would think…it’s a boast?”

,”Really, it’s not…then isn’t it okay if you play with the excuse of broadcasting together?”

I changed my posture and lay down to look at Unni, and Sea Unni was also lying down and looking at me.

,”Me?”

,”From what you told me before, the kids who broadcast like it when they do missions related to Oppa, right?”

,”…That’s right, you know that feeling? Wow, they’re really doing this…like that.”

,”It might be a little difficult as a job, but give yourself some confidence with that. The mission costs aren’t cheap.”

When I nodded instead of answering, Unni continued.

,”It’s not something I should say, but I think you’ll gain confidence if you laugh and get paid while doing that kind of thing? It’s harder than now when you start looking for a job properly, but you live together, so you can do that much.”

,”I can do that much. Um, that’s right. Thanks for letting me know.”

,”In that sense, give me the next place.”

,”Ah, I don’t want to. While we’re at it, let’s decide where to go now, where do you want to go, Unni? I think we’re going to eat dinner now, so I’ll decide on a restaurant.”

,”Then…me too, a restaurant. What about the menu.”

I smiled and crawled towards Unni, whispering.