Ch.6666. Void

“Ugh! That was lame!”

That was the first thing Hana blurted out as soon as she exited the tarot booth, despite having paid a whole 20,000 won.

“Huh? But weren’t you totally agreeing with everything inside and having a great reaction?”

“Hey, how awkward would it be if I told them they were wrong right there? I was just being polite.”

To tell the truth, Hana had gotten goosebumps all over her body from how eerily accurate the tarot reading was.

From asking if she had a man in mind.

To perfectly describing the current distance between them.

The advice given was along the lines of, ‘Be honest, just putting your feelings out there might not be a bad idea.’ Hearing such things while sitting next to the very person in question made Hana feel like her face might explode at any moment.

She had wanted to run out of there as quickly as possible.

But it wasn’t like there was no gain at all.

[One last question each.]

While Suhyeok asked the disappointing question of how his final exam scores would turn out, Hana had no intention of wasting her opportunity.

[Will I be compatible with the person you mentioned earlier?]

After drawing a card, the answer came.

[Yes. You’ll be extremely compatible. This is considered one of the best cards when checking compatibility.]

She knew there was no credibility to it, but still, it was a matter of feeling good. Secretly, Hana was quite pleased and didn’t regret spending the money at all.

“What should we do now?”

“Let’s eat something. Have you had lunch?”

“I was planning to eat together when you arrived.”

12 o’clock.

Anyone would have thought it was a lunch date.

“What? So you’ve been starving yourself all this time since you woke up?”

“I’m not that hungry anyway.”

“…Good grief.”

Hana grabbed Suhyeok’s wrist and began a runway walk in front of the food trucks.

“Hey, eat whatever you want! Seriously, don’t even look at the prices, just eat anything.”

Though to be fair, there weren’t many menu items over 10,000 won anyway.

“Really? Then, hmm…”

Deciding to be thoughtful about his free meal, Suhyeok chose a hot dog.

“One cheese dog and one plain, please!”

After paying and receiving their food, the two searched for an empty bench.

“Hey, over there, over there!”

Hana quickly moved toward a spot where a couple was just getting up.

“Nice~”

Genuinely pleased, Hana smiled brightly as she secured the spot.

And watching her, Suhyeok, though he really shouldn’t have, thought that this felt like a date.

If he had a girlfriend…

Would he feel like this every day?

Maybe there was a reason people encouraged others to date.

This unfamiliar feeling he was experiencing for the first time was thrilling and addictive.

“Hey, this is so good. Want a bite of mine?”

Hana, without even wiping the ketchup from her mouth, offered her hot dog to Suhyeok.

“No, you eat it.”

“Hey, don’t tell me you’re not eating it because my mouth touched it, like some elementary school kid?”

The atmosphere became strange.

Suhyeok hadn’t been thinking along those lines at all.

Meanwhile, Hana, who had been watching his reaction, suddenly felt her face burning up.

It was because he hesitated to answer what she had said as a joke.

“Are you a child? Don’t tell me you’re going to talk about indirect kisses at this age? Just eat it!”

Wanting to hide her face, Hana shoved the hot dog into his mouth.

In that situation, he couldn’t refuse.

It was definitely delicious, just as Hana had said.

Perhaps it tasted even better because Hana had been eating it.

“It’s good, right?”

“Mmm…”

“Yeah, yeah. Just tell me if you want more. I’ll buy it for you.”

After cleaning up their trash, the two walked along the tree-lined street.

The sky was gradually darkening.

It was now time for the celebrity performances, which could be considered the highlight of the festival.

Hana, who had looked up today’s list of performers on Instagram, showed the screen to Suhyeok.

“Is there any team here you want to see?”

There were famous idols and popular rappers.

“I…”

Suhyeok pointed at the screen with his fingertip.

“If I had to choose, these guys?”

What Suhyeok pointed to was an indie band team that was performing early in the lineup.

As everyone knows, indie bands don’t have very high recognition in Korea.

Even at university festivals, they would be classified as the lowest tier.

This was evidenced by their number 1 position in the lineup.

The main dish comes last.

Appetizers come first.

The booking fees also differed significantly based on position.

“So we’ll just watch them?”

Hana asked, seemingly surprised.

“Um… if you want to see others, we can stay until the end.”

“No, let’s just watch the band and go.”

Hana didn’t particularly like idol music.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say she couldn’t bring herself to like it.

There was a time when bands and rock music ruled the world.

But that was in the 80s, before Hana was even born.

Hana often wondered what it would have been like if she had been born in that era.

What if she had been born in the era of bands, not in the current pop-dominated world?

The best she could do in the 21st century was to trace the remnants of rock stars’ golden age.

Those days when they ruled the world would never return.

And there were still no signs of band music becoming mainstream globally again.

“But isn’t this spot pretty good?”

Hana and Suhyeok had secured seats fairly close to the front.

Indeed, not many people had gathered to watch the performances of the unpopular artists scheduled for the early part.

“Yeah. As long as we can see their faces, it’s a success.”

Once the setup was complete, the performance began.

“Hello everyone!”

“Hello~”

The vocalist, with hair even longer than Suhyeok’s, grinned.

“University festivals! They’re so romantic, and I enjoyed them a lot too. I’m deeply moved to be singing in front of you all today.”

He looked down at the audience with a pleased expression.

“Raise your hand if you know us!”

When Hana raised her hand, Suhyeok also cautiously raised his.

“Oh! Quite a few of you know us? Haha. That’s a relief! So, what’s our biggest hit?”

There were some answers, but the voices weren’t very loud.

“Hmm! That’s understandable! It’s okay! We’ll definitely show you what we’ve got today, so please enjoy and we’d be grateful. Let’s get started!”

-Clap clap clap clap

A heavy bass line provided the foundation.

Just from the first intro, Hana and Suhyeok felt like they might fall completely for the band before them.

This was Suhyeok’s first time seeing a professional performance live.

And for him, it was an incredibly amazing, fantastic experience.

“Endless season”

“Blue lips resemble a blue apple.”

The lyrics were also far from mainstream music.

It seemed like a love song, but it wasn’t straightforward.

But the words were clearly stimulating their imagination.

Leading them into a world they couldn’t understand.

A story that was purely their own, not created by others.

Appealing their world to the public seemed to shine on its own.

-Tak tak tak tak dudungtak

The song ended as the drums slowed down.

They had only performed three songs, but their allotted time was already up.

“That was Gray Mirror! Thank you!”

After watching them leave with their final greeting, Hana poked Suhyeok in the side.

“Let’s go now.”

“…Okay.”

The two made their way out through the crowd.

Now, the only option left was to visit a pub.

“Um… want to go to a pub?”

Although it was part of Hana’s original plan, she hesitated to suggest it.

After yesterday’s incident, suggesting drinking again seemed inappropriate.

“No. Alcohol is…”

As expected.

Suhyeok flatly rejected her proposal.

“I just think if we’re going to drink together, there’s no need to go to a pub…”

“Really? So you’re saying you’d drink somewhere else, just not at a pub?”

“I’m fine with it, but are you sure you’ll be okay, Hana…?”

Yesterday’s Hana had been completely wasted.

“I won’t drink too much. Let’s go.”

Feeling reluctant to end the day like this, Hana grabbed his wrist once more.

The two left the school and arrived at a convenience store.

After buying some drinks and dried squid, they settled in a nearby park gazebo.

“H-hey… isn’t it illegal to drink here?”

Drinking in public.

Suhyeok felt like everyone in the world was watching him.

“It’s fine as long as we’re not noisy. And it’s not like we’re having a wild drinking session, just one can of drink.”

What Hana had bought was a peach-flavored alcoholic beverage.

“Really? But if we get caught and have to pay a fine…”

“Ah! I’ll pay it! I’ll pay, okay? Or, well, do you want to go to my place to drink?”

“Not that…”

Hana felt a bit upset that he didn’t want to go to her place again.

After playing at my place just fine before.

-Tssssk

The sound of carbonation rose as she opened the can.

“So… it wasn’t much, but how was the festival?”

Hana casually asked for his thoughts.

“It was good. I feel like I did a lot of things I would never have done if I were alone.”

Getting a tarot reading.

Waiting in line to buy food.

Going to see a performance—all were firsts for him.

These might have been familiar to Hana, but Suhyeok had already experienced many firsts with her.

“Yeah? I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Hana took a sip of her drink.

Even the rough feeling as it went down her throat felt sweet.

“How about you?”

This time, Suhyeok asked Hana.

Actually, wasn’t it boring for Hana to drag me around?

Maybe she just hung out with me a bit longer because she felt sorry for me?

Suhyeok was well aware that he wasn’t that interesting a person.

“…It was good.”

Hana made eye contact with Suhyeok.

A strange and subtle current flowed between them.

Suhyeok was the first to turn his head away.

“…That’s good.”

Not knowing what to say, Suhyeok searched for a topic.

“Oh, right. Hana.”

As if something had occurred to him, Suhyeok called her name.

Hoping to ride this flow, Hana gently nodded.

“What?”

“You should thank Juyeon later too.”

“Huh? Why?”

It seemed Hana really had no memory at all.

“Juyeon and I carried you and washed you.”

Hana bit her lip slightly.