Ch.3030. Theater Date

End of class, homeroom time.

“…Well. That’s all the announcements I have. Everyone, don’t just stay home because it’s the weekend, go out and play. Kids need plenty of sunshine.”

-Yes.

The homeroom ended with words that definitely didn’t sound like something a teacher in their twenties would say.

The homeroom teacher gathered the attendance book and immediately left the classroom. As soon as the teacher’s silhouette disappeared, the classroom became even noisier than usual.

The reason must be, as the teacher mentioned, that tomorrow is the weekend. There’s nothing more exciting for students than days when they don’t have to go to school.

Though I’m saying this, I’m actually a bit excited too. After all, tomorrow will be my first weekend since coming here. What should I do first? Maybe I should catch up on some exercise that I’ve been putting off-. That’s what I was thinking when.

“Siwoo.”

Just as I was about to get up, someone spoke to me before I could. The female student sitting next to me. Hwa Nabi.

“Oh, what?”

“…What do you mean ‘what’? We’re supposed to go together.”

Where are we suddenly going? I wondered for a moment, but seeing Hwa Nabi’s puzzled look, it suddenly came back to me.

Come to think of it, I had promised to go to a dessert shop with her after school. I don’t usually have memory problems, but I keep forgetting things. So I let out a small exclamation without realizing it.

“Ah…”

“Ah? …You didn’t forget, did you?”

“…How could I possibly forget? I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, that’s good then.”

Hwa Nabi didn’t seem to be seriously interrogating me, so she let it slide when I brushed it off. Inwardly sighing with relief, I walked ahead toward the classroom exit.

As we entered the hallway, there was a sea of students heading to their various destinations. Hwa Nabi somehow managed to stay right beside me through the crowd.

“Siwoo. By the way, where is this dessert shop located?”

“It’s not far. Just a short walk after we exit the main gate.”

“So we don’t need to take a car.”

“That’s right.”

So I sent the driver home. Since I’ll probably be getting back late anyway, it would be inconsiderate to make him wait all that time.

“When did this place open?”

“Yesterday.”

“Hmm, yesterday. Yesterday… Wait a minute. You’re saying it opened yesterday? Then how do you know it’s good?”

“I have my ways.”

Being able to get ahead of the crowd before places from the original work become famous. That’s one of my few privileges.

Let’s set aside whether this can truly be called a “privilege.” There’s no point in dwelling on it; it’ll only make my heart ache.

“I’m not sure if I should believe this…”

“It’s so good you wouldn’t notice if one of us died while eating.”

She nods, but her face still looks puzzled. She must be wondering how I can be so confident, but of course, it’s because that’s exactly what was written in the original text.

The phrase “so delicious you wouldn’t notice if one of you died while eating” actually appears in it. It’s a place that becomes famous almost immediately after opening, and there’s even an episode related to this dessert shop, so it’s reliable information.

“Fine. Seeing is believing, I’ll know when we get there.”

“Wow, now you’re using figures of speech?”

“Siwoo, how much are you underestimating me? I know that much at least. That’s elementary school level.”

“Really? Then recite the types of figures of speech.”

“……”

“…Why can’t you speak?”

It seems Hwa Nabi still has a long way to go.

*

We walked a bit further and arrived at the dessert shop in question.

But strangely enough, the shop’s shutters were down even though it wasn’t closing time yet. Feeling puzzled, I approached closer.

Then I noticed a piece of paper attached to the shutter. It read:

[Closed today due to personal reasons.]

“…”

That’s strange. There was no mention of it being closed today. Faced with this unexpected situation, I was at a loss for words, and Hwa Nabi’s gaze grew increasingly cold as she glared at me.

“…Siwoo. What’s going on here?”

How would I know they’re closed for family reasons? But that’s not what Hwa Nabi was asking. I opened my mouth, feeling almost like a criminal.

“Well… They must have had some urgent matter.”

If they had to close on their second day of business, it must have been something extremely urgent. A so-called natural disaster. How can humans overcome nature?

I convinced myself with that explanation, but Hwa Nabi beside me didn’t seem to accept it.

After glaring at me for a moment as I scrambled for excuses, she eventually let out a small sigh.

“I suppose so. But it’s disappointing. If it had been bad, I would have just…”

“…Just what?”

“Nothing.”

She straightened her posture as if nothing had happened, but I felt a chill run down my spine. What would she have done if it hadn’t met her expectations? I’m a bit curious, but better not to ask.

“So, what do we do now? I was looking forward to the dessert shop all day.”

“Hmm…”

Any other dessert shop I know, Hwa Nabi probably already knows about. From our earlier conversation, she seems to really like sweet foods and frequents dessert shops as a hobby.

I brought her here precisely because it was likely the only place someone who loves sweets as much as Hwa Nabi wouldn’t know about, but now we’re in a difficult situation because of the unexpected closure.

“You didn’t think this through, did you?”

Hwa Nabi’s words were true, and I had no excuse ready. So I just nodded slightly.

“Hmm.”

Is it now time for her to blame me? I was inwardly bracing myself, but surprisingly, Hwa Nabi didn’t seem angry.

Rather than being angry, she looked more like she was contemplating something. Hwa Nabi crossed her arms and tapped her lower lip with her index finger.

After being lost in thought for a moment, she suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Siwoo. Let’s go somewhere else then. That’s okay, right?”

“Since we agreed to go to a dessert shop after school, going somewhere else is fine. But where do you want to go?”

“The movie theater. I want to see a movie.”

A movie theater. Come to think of it, I haven’t been to one in quite a while because I’ve been so busy with work. Was the last time about three years ago?

“Oh? What movie do you want to see?”

“An action movie. Spring calls for action movies, right?”

Hwa Nabi was already excited, making a gun shape with her fingers and aiming at nothing in particular.

Don’t most people think of romantic movies when spring comes? Her values seemed a bit different from mine, but that didn’t matter. I was in the mood for an action movie myself.

Watching movies comfortably at home is nice, but action movies are best enjoyed on the big screen at a theater.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

“Ah, but do you know where the nearest theater is? I’m not familiar with this area.”

“We can look it up on the way.”

This is why smartphones are so convenient. If there’s something you don’t know, you can just search it on a portal site. I immediately took out my phone and searched for theaters nearby.

“It’s four bus stops away, so it won’t take long by taxi.”

“But you told me not to take taxis before.”

“Did you forget what I said? If you have a lot of money, you can take whatever you want.”

We could even take a limousine if she wanted, but that would be too much in front of everyone. I strongly preferred not to draw attention.

*

Our new destination: the movie theater.

We hailed a taxi on the road and got off at our destination after a short ride.

What greeted our eyes was a multiplex theater.

It was a complex building with restaurants and shopping facilities on the lower floors, and movie theaters from the fifth floor up to the rooftop.

“Are you hungry yet?”

“No. I’m fine. What about you, Siwoo?”

“I’m not hungry either, so let’s book the movie tickets first.”

This may be an unexpected date, but as they say, it’s all good. Let’s just enjoy it with a light heart.

But I shouldn’t keep her out too late. I’ll probably watch the movie, have dinner, chat a bit at a cafe, and then send her home at a reasonable hour.

We took the elevator and arrived at the fifth floor where the ticket counter was located. Before booking, we looked at the pamphlets to see what movies were showing.

“There are a lot of interesting ones.”

Sci-fi, monster movies, giant robot films, spy thrillers… The pamphlets were lined with movies that would appeal to any man’s fantasies.

Even just reading the brief one-line synopses, many of them seemed quite exciting. The movie hasn’t even started, but my heart is already racing.

“Siwoo, what about this one?”

“Which one?”

The pamphlet Hwa Nabi handed me was for the same monster movie I had been looking at. Noticing this, Hwa Nabi’s eyes widened.

“Do you want to see this one too?”

“Huh? Not really, but it does look pretty good.”

“Really? Should we see something else then?”

“…No, if you really want to see it, I can make that sacrifice. Shall we watch this?”

My poor attempt at playing hard to get failed. As I pretended not to be interested while secretly recommending it, Hwa Nabi looked at me with a smirk. A face that said, “I knew it.”

“Be honest. You want to see this, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

I answered in an almost crawling voice. Honestly, I want to hide in a mouse hole. But to defend myself in this situation, today we came to the movie theater because Hwa Nabi said she wanted to see an action movie.

If I forced my preferences on her and made her watch a different movie, that wouldn’t be right.

No… To be even more honest, I can’t resist monster movies. A film where giant monsters with an average diameter of 50 meters all gather for a showdown? How could I possibly resist that? Any man would understand my feelings.

“Heh, alright. Let’s watch this.”

“…Are you sure? You said you wanted to see an action movie.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like we can only watch movies today. We can see another one later.”

“Okay. In return—though it’s not much—I’ll pay for the tickets and popcorn.”

And so, at the cost of showing my shameful side, the movie genre was decided. Since it would be a bit embarrassing to face each other, I left Hwa Nabi sitting in a chair while I went alone to the kiosk to book the tickets.

But.

“Oh.”

There are no seats. More precisely, there are no two adjacent seats. We came to watch together, so we can’t sit separately. What should I do?

“Siwoo. What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

As I stood helplessly in front of the kiosk, Hwa Nabi approached and asked. I stepped aside slightly to show her that there were no seats available.

“Oh, there are no seats?”

“Yeah. The closest showing is in thirty minutes, but there are no seats.”

“What about the next one?”

“That’s too late. It’s three hours from now.”

The movie is two and a half hours long, so with the waiting time, it would be five and a half hours total. If I were alone, maybe, but with someone else, we can’t wait that long just to see a movie.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s watch something else.”

“I don’t mind waiting.”

“No. I’d feel bad.”

I quickly navigated to another movie. It was the action movie Hwa Nabi had been eyeing earlier.

But this movie also had no adjacent seats.

“This one doesn’t have seats either. What should we do?”

“I know, today must not be our day.”

Maybe because tomorrow is the weekend, there’s an incredible crowd. Talk about bad timing.

“But it would be a waste to just leave after coming all this way. Wouldn’t there be seats for other movies?”

“I’ll check.”

Spending too much time would inconvenience others. After quickly checking for available seats:

The action and monster movies we wanted to see were sold out. The only adjacent seats available were for a romance movie, and only in the VVIP section.

“…This is the only one with seats soon.”

“I’ve never been in VVIP seats before. Have you, Siwoo?”

“No. I haven’t either.”

It’s forty thousand won per person, so eighty thousand for two. Add popcorn, and it’s almost a hundred thousand won for one movie. I never had the guts to spend that kind of money.

But I’m different now. To be honest, a hundred thousand won is hardly money to me. I completed the VVIP seat reservation with a confident gesture.

“But what’s the difference between VVIP seats and regular ones?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been there either. Should we ask a staff member?”

“It’s fine. We’ll see when we get there.”