Ch.118Equipment Shutdown (1)

After the Ferris wheel reached its peak and began descending,

Do Hamin and I sat side by side with our shoulders touching.

“Confessing like this… is this the right way? I wonder if there was something more I could have done for you.”

“Was that confession just now something you were pushed into by others? You did it because you wanted to.”

“Yeah… I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to do it better. Like those kids who are much better than me.”

“Come on, just standing is forgivable, but if you try to do anything more, the staff below would get angry. No matter how quietly you do it, sex would still be considered intense activity, right?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant!”

“Hehe, I know, I know. As if Do Hamin would do outdoor play. I wasn’t expecting that anyway.”

That’s something that shouldn’t be expected in an all-ages webtoon anyway.

“Why, do you feel like something’s lacking?”

“…Always. With you.”

“Really?”

*Slide*

I extended my hand that was overlapping with Hamin’s further down.

Like tree roots spreading underground,

Do-young Ban’s delicate white fingers intertwined between Hamin’s large, rough fingers.

“Do, Do-young…?”

“Your hands really are big. When you were Do Hami, you hid these hands so well, making them look dainty.”

I firmly grasped Hamin’s hand as he flinched in surprise and tried to pull back.

My fingers slipped between his knuckles, preventing them from sliding due to the sweat on his hand.

“You said you wanted to do something more for me, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Hamin looked at my face and quietly nodded.

“Then don’t let go of this hand until the Ferris wheel reaches the bottom.”

“Is that all…? Just staying still?”

“I don’t want your legs to give out because you tried something beyond your capabilities. You like peaceful things like this, don’t you, Hamin?”

“But you never really liked it, did you, Do-young…?”

“I’ve come to like it now.”

I slightly lifted Hamin’s hand that I was holding and said to him:

“Because I’ve come to like you.”

“…”

“So let’s just stay like this for a bit. Looking at the light shimmering on the water below.”

“…Okay.”

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“Ah, if you want to kiss me, you can do it secretly when I close my eyes.”

“I-I won’t do that!”

“Hehe, really? I was giving you permission while I’m still me. Don’t complain later if I don’t let you.”

As the Ferris wheel descended,

we didn’t talk much inside.

Except for the inevitable noise from the moving ride,

I didn’t want anything else to come between Hamin and me right now.

And so, Do-young Ban’s hand, which had taken root in Hamin’s,

remained intertwined even after the Ferris wheel completed its rotation and came all the way down.

“Careful getting off.”

“Got it.”

The Ferris wheel I boarded with Hamin’s escort

was also exited while holding his hand.

“ありがとうございます。また会いましょう。可愛いカップルさん。”

(Thank you, see you again. Cute couple.)

“Thanks. Kind guide noona.”

“Ah, goodbye.”

After getting off the Ferris wheel, I stretched my hunched back

as if it were morning.

“Whew, what time is it now?”

“4:40. If we start walking now, we should make it in time.”

We walked around the lakeside, feeling the breeze blowing over the water.

After spending about 15 minutes in that poorly ventilated space,

walking outside made me feel a slightly cool sensation in the air.

“Phew, it was turning so slowly I wondered when it would end, but looking back, it seems like it went by pretty quickly, don’t you think?”

“Huh? Oh… the Ferris wheel?”

“No, your confession, Hamin.”

“D-don’t tease me.”

“Hehe, I feel like you didn’t quite meet your quota today.”

“You keep track of that even on a school trip…? That quota.”

“Of course! It’s the time of day when I feel most fulfilled.”

Don’t be too disheartened.

Today might be the last quota.

“This isn’t any different from before the confession…”

“Hehe, did you think our positions would change just because I accepted your confession? Hamin, you’ll probably be in the palm of my hand until you die. After all, you took longer to confess than the Ferris wheel took to rotate.”

“…Then I just need to move faster to make up for being late.”

“…Huh?”

At that moment, Hamin, who had been walking behind me, quickly moved to my side

and pulled my shoulder toward him.

“Eek!”

I made a strange sound at his unexpected assertive action.

I knew I couldn’t overpower Hamin anymore, but I was still a bit surprised.

I didn’t expect to be pulled along with so little resistance.

“W-what… suddenly?”

“I told you before. I won’t stay at N:0 forever.”

Ah, so now you know how to counterattack when attacked.

You’ve grown a lot, my little nerd.

*Thud*

But that thought didn’t last long.

Perhaps he still couldn’t properly calculate his increased strength,

Do-young Ban’s body was pulled more forcefully than expected and collided with Hamin,

causing the glasses hanging around his neck to fall to the ground once again.

“Ah, my glasses.”

“Sigh, look at you immediately fulfilling your nerd quota by doing something beyond your capabilities. So honest, really honest.”

Yes, no matter how much you’ve grown,

this is the Hamin I know, radiating nerdiness in this way.

“Move aside, I’ll pick them up for you.”

While Hamin was fumbling, unable to judge the distance to his fallen glasses properly due to not being used to contact lenses,

I reached out first with my long arm and picked up his glasses from the ground.

“…”

Before returning Hamin’s glasses that I had bought him,

I held them up with both hands and peered at Hamin through the lenses.

“Wow, Hamin looks really tiny through these. Oh, I guess he’s tiny to begin with.”

Due to the high prescription for nearsightedness,

Hamin’s appearance through the lenses looked even smaller and more diminutive than he actually was.

But why?

To my eyes, that tiny figure reflected in the lenses

seemed more similar to the Hamin I had known and felt before.

It gave me exactly the same feeling as when I saw Hamin at the entrance ceremony.

Looking a bit younger,

a bit smaller and more fragile—the appearance of a nerd.

That image still remained inside his glasses.

“Looking at you like this… you really have grown.”

But the ‘real’ Hamin standing before my eyes, without the lenses,

was bigger and sturdier than what I saw through the lenses.

I couldn’t say that his nerdy appearance had completely disappeared,

but it was worlds apart from the diminutive Hamin seen through the lenses.

“Maybe I was the one shackling you all this time, Hamin.”

“…Huh? What did you just say?”

“I said you look handsome. You, Hamin.”

“Are you… trying to tease me again about being tied?”

“No… I said it because you’ve really become cool.”

“…Huh?”

You’ve become cool, Hamin.

To the point where these glasses seem unnecessary now.

“I really think you don’t need these glasses anymore. How about just wearing contacts like now instead of glasses from now on? And stop hiding your forehead because you’re embarrassed—show it proudly like me.”

“If you’re telling me to proudly show my forehead, I’ll do it. Because I want to be someone who matches you, Do-young. And I’ll wear contacts on days you want me to.”

Hamin slowly approached me as I held his glasses.

“But I can’t agree that those glasses are unnecessary. Nothing I’ve received from you has ever been unnecessary.”

“…Alright, then can I ask you for a favor?”

“A favor…?”

“These glasses I bought you. Please continue to treasure them for a long time.”

“O-of course. That’s obvious.”

“Even if someday I forget everything I said today… and tell you I don’t like your glasses, that they make you look like a nerd and to put them away… if possible, could you remember what I said today?”

The trace left on Hamin by Do-young Ban, not Miss Ban,

in this world of <Half of a Half>.

Whether or not it exists in the original storyline,

perhaps an impure element that disrupts the foundation of the world,

I still wanted it to remain by Hamin’s side if possible.

“Here, your glasses. This time don’t drop—”

*Whoosh!*

Just then, a strong wind blew from the front toward the lake, pushing against my hand.

“Oh no…! No, don’t!”

“B-Ban Do-young…!”

Hamin’s glasses were lifted into the air by the wind.

I instinctively lunged forward to catch the flying glasses,

forgetting that the lake was right beyond.

“Got it!”

*Splash*

I managed to grab the glasses with difficulty,

but my body lost balance and fell into the lake.

‘Damn, I just put on new clothes… Future Do-young will be furious if she finds out. I need to get up quickly…’

Just as I was about to paddle to get back to shore.

‘M-my legs… won’t move. Don’t tell me…’

Miss Ban Do-young.

You don’t know how to swim?!

Then why did you go to the beach and wear a bikini!

‘Ugh!’

Even trying to move by drawing on memories from when I was male,

my body gradually stiffened, sinking into the fear of Do-young Ban who never learned to swim.

‘Can’t… breathe—’

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‘…’