Ch.71Ramune 2

I stepped on the accelerator.

“—!”

True to its luxury status, the car surged forward instantly.

The sudden movement made both of us jolt in our seats.

My face flushed red at the girlish yelp that escaped my lips.

Anna stared intently at my hair standing up like antennae.

“And you were lecturing me about speed bumps earlier…”

“I-It’s been a while, that’s all!”

I raised my voice to hide my embarrassment.

Trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere, I pressed the accelerator again.

The black Porsche responded smoothly, gliding forward.

40… 60… 100 kilometers per hour.

I was cruising through the city at a whopping 100 km/h.

When taking corners, my body shifted toward the axis of rotation, but I enjoyed even that sensation.

Soon, a stretch of abandoned factories came into view.

I pressed the pedal firmly toward the gap between them.

The Porsche advanced as if it could demolish the factories.

But I soon had no choice but to reduce speed.

“—!”

A sudden siren wailed behind us.

Startled by the sound, I nearly hiccupped.

“W-What’s that…?”

Anna followed my gaze to look behind the vehicle.

We soon spotted a familiar black car we had seen at the department store before.

The Association Security Force.

What should I do?

Why is there security in this abandoned city?

I looked desperately at Anna.

She simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Want me to handle it?”

Her resolute response made me sigh involuntarily.

What was I expecting from her?

No choice then.

I’ll have to deal with this myself.

Come to think of it, we haven’t really committed any serious crime.

We just paid for a legitimate rental.

I flicked my finger to turn on the blinker.

Then slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

Soon, the Security Force’s Sonata parked leisurely behind us.

With the sound of a door closing, a man in body armor slowly walked toward us.

Wearing black sunglasses, he smoked a cigarette and rested his arm on the Porsche’s window frame.

“Security Force.”

Knowing his position of authority, he casually lowered his sunglasses.

Then he looked down at the girl who didn’t match the Porsche at all.

“Yes… you must be working hard.”

I forced an awkward smile.

The man looked at Anna in the passenger seat and spoke flatly.

“The speed limit on national highways is 60. You were clearly well over that.”

I sheepishly scratched my disheveled hair.

Of all people to get caught by, it had to be the Security Force…

“Well, I understand you wanted to have some fun since this is an abandoned city. However…”

He extended his large hand toward me.

His hand was covered in numerous scars, likely from fighting countless monsters.

“This area is currently suspected of being a drug trafficking site. So I’ll need you to cooperate with our inspection.”

“In-inspection? But this is our first time here…”

Ignoring my explanation, the officer cut me off.

“Let me see your license.”

Here it comes at last.

My face turned pale.

This wasn’t just about a fine.

Considering that Anna, sitting beside me, was a Class 1 wanted person, she would be discovered too.

I had to prevent us from being taken in at all costs.

But how…

The man yawned.

With one foot bent, he stroked the luxurious exterior of the Porsche.

“If you don’t have one, you’ll both need to come with me.”

I took a deep breath.

Then calmly smiled at the security officer.

“Actually, we don’t have our licenses right now.”

Anna sighed deeply at my honest admission.

She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket, ready to subdue the officer.

“Then, you’ll have to come with…”

I quickly interrupted him.

And began reciting my prepared lines.

“The car dealer has our licenses right now.”

“Dealer?”

His thick eyebrows twitched.

To deliver the finishing blow, I tilted my head shyly.

“Yes~. Actually, we’re on a test drive right now.”

“…”

“The dealer recommended this factory area as a good place for test driving. I had no idea there would be such an unfortunate situation.”

He kept his mouth shut during my lengthy performance.

Despite the clear motive of a test drive, he didn’t easily dismiss his suspicions.

“If you don’t believe me, would you like to make a call to verify?”

I casually took out my phone and showed it to him.

The officer stared at the blank screen.

My arm started trembling as his hand approached.

I didn’t even blink until he took the phone.

“Well, never mind. Looking at the license plate, it is indeed a test drive vehicle.”

He waved his hand dismissively.

Instead, he tapped the window frame and warned us.

“However, this area is currently restricted to civilians, so please conduct your test drive elsewhere.”

“Of course. We’ll leave right away.”

I nodded frantically.

Then immediately restarted the car.

I stepped on the accelerator.

As the car began to move, I kept looking back at the man through the side mirror.

He didn’t return to his car immediately.

He just stood there smoking his cigarette, watching us leave.

“Phew… that was close.”

I sighed, gripping the steering wheel firmly with both hands.

Anna finally removed her hand from her inside pocket.

“Your lying skills have improved.”

“Was my acting good?”

I grinned at the silver-haired woman.

She responded so matter-of-factly that my smile faded.

“Not really. If he had been a rookie, he would have called immediately.”

She’s right.

I had gambled on the fact that he seemed like an experienced veteran.

His arrogant, bothered attitude and leisurely smoking.

In fact, he seemed more interested in our Porsche than in our licenses.

“Where should we go now? Back to the showroom?”

“What are you talking about? We spent 5 million won, how can we return it so soon!”

I responded loudly.

She’s really too concerned about money.

“Wait a moment…”

I looked around while driving.

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to an advertisement on a tall commercial building.

A spinning Ferris wheel and animal pictures.

Just 20 minutes away from here.

Thanks to those images, I could immediately decide our next destination.

“Don’t worry, I know a great place to learn about emotions.”

Soon the car entered a spacious parking lot.

Many nearby visitors stared blankly at our Porsche.

Some even moved their parking spots to stay far from our car.

Thanks to that, I was able to park comfortably despite my clumsy skills.

Anna got out of the passenger seat.

In front of her eyes, a huge statue guarded the entrance to the amusement park.

A statue of the first-generation ranker Lee Seokhyun.

The ranker who had subdued Anna when her emotions were removed in the laboratory.

I looked at her with concerned eyes.

Fortunately, she just stared up at the statue without showing any change in expression.

“L-Let’s go in. There are more fun things inside.”

I quickly grabbed her arm and headed toward the amusement park entrance.

Anna followed me, dragging her feet to the ticket counter.

“Welcome to Royal Hunter Park~.”

An employee wearing rabbit ears on her head greeted us.

She smiled brightly as she looked down at my short stature.

“Hello, two tickets please.”

“May I ask what your relationship is?”

The female employee asked, looking back and forth between Anna and me.

“Relationship…?”

“Yes, if you’re a couple, we currently have a 30% discount.”

“We’re not really any—”

I quickly covered Anna’s mouth.

I smiled broadly and answered the employee instead.

“We are a couple!”

Anna’s lips twitched under my palm, seemingly annoyed by the consecutive lies.

I whispered to her.

“We… spent 500 today, so we need to save wherever we can~.”

We strapped the same colored free-pass wristbands on our arms.

I smiled while waving mine around.

“Is this your first time at an amusement park?”

“Yeah.”

“Look forward to it. It’s going to be really fun.”

Anna stared down at the small bartender.

Soon the little bartender took the lead toward the meadow with quick steps.

Despite promising to help her regain her emotions, she seemed to be the one having the most fun.

“Anna, look at this!”

I gestured after entering the grass field.

Anna followed leisurely with her hands in her pockets.

<Rabbit Farm>

A grassy area where rabbits released by the amusement park frolicked.

Perhaps because it had been so long since I’d visited an amusement park.

My heart was pounding.

I followed the rabbits eating clover as if entranced.

But the rabbits disappointingly fled in all directions to avoid me.

It’s okay if I can’t catch them.

Even their running away is cute.

Perhaps because I’ve experienced countless decadent things so far.

To me, such a peaceful world is indescribably beautiful.

“Come here, little ones~, don’t run away~.”

I was nearly tripped while lightly following the rabbits.

Then suddenly coming to my senses, I looked around.

“Huh?”

Anna, who had definitely been behind me, was nowhere to be seen.

Where did she go…?

“—!”

When I turned my head again, I almost fell over in surprise.

Anna had instantly approached me and was staring at me.

“You scared me…”

She held out her hand to me.

In that hand, she was gripping a white rabbit by its ears.

The rabbit squinted its red eyes as if in pain.

I hurriedly caressed Anna’s hand.

“Stop it. You’re hurting it.”

Anna tilted her head, then released the rabbit.

Thanks to that, it quickly ran away.

“Didn’t you want to catch it?”

“No~, I just wanted to pet it… it’s so fluffy.”

I recalled the sensation of the rabbit I had briefly touched thanks to Anna.

Its soft, firm bottom was very cute.

“Fluffy?”

“Yeah. Soft and squishy and such…”

In the middle of speaking, my thoughts suddenly froze.

Anna’s hand was gently pinching my cheek.

“Fluffy.”

My hair stood on end involuntarily.

I stammered as if experiencing lag.

“Uh, yeah…”

“Fluffy.”

She kept repeating the word as if enjoying the sound.

With my face completely red, I muttered.

“C-Could you stop touching me now…”

“Fluffy.”

“Geez… really…”

My voice stretched as my cheek was pulled.

I was only able to break free after Anna had sufficiently enjoyed my cheek.

We sat on the grass field for a while.

White cabbage butterflies fluttered around.

We watched groups of visitors entering the amusement park.

Soon Anna, seemingly bored, asked me.

“So, are we just going to sit here?”

“Why~? It’s nice.”

I tilted my head back to enjoy the fresh greenery.

Anna followed suit, tilting her head back as well.

“Normal people are strange. Enjoying such activities.”

I reached out to the grass field for her who had tilted her head for a moment.

And calmly plucked some clover.

When I was 15, was it?

My younger sister made something out of clover for me.

Recalling that memory, I tried to imitate my sister.

“Anna, can I have your hand?”

“Why my hand?”

“Here, a gift.”

I took her white fingers.

And tied a flower ring around her ring finger.

“My sister used to make flower wreaths too… but that’s too difficult for me.”

I grinned and gave Anna an apologetic smile.

But she didn’t show any particular reaction to my words.

She just stared down at the ring I had made.

“Siho…”

“Yes?”

“I’m thirsty.”

“Are you…? Then I’ll go buy some drinks.”

There was a concession stand near the grass field.

Anna had paid for both the Porsche rental and the amusement park tickets.

I decided to at least buy drinks for her myself.

While carefully scanning the options with my fingers, I suddenly stopped at one particular kind.

“Aquamarine…”

The cocktail that the woman claiming to be my sister had made.

A drink bottle of the exact same color as that cocktail was displayed on the shelf.

“Excuse me.”

I called to the part-timer who looked thoroughly annoyed.

He glanced down at me.

“What is this drink? It’s all in Japanese.”

“It’s Ramune.”

“Ramune…?”

When I asked again, the employee brushed it off impatiently.

“It’s like Japanese soda.”

“Ah…”

Soda, huh.

Then the taste should be fine.

I stared blankly at the pale blue drink before picking it up as if entranced.

It’s a color that suits Anna well.

“That’ll be 20,000 won.”

“What…?”

What kind of soda costs 10,000 won per bottle?

I handed over the crumpled bills with my lips tightly pressed.

Still, Anna had spent 500 for me, so 20,000 won is nothing…

Carefully cradling the Ramune to prevent the carbonation from bursting, I returned to the grass field.

In the distance, I could see Anna fidgeting with her hands.

“Anna…?”

I put down the Ramune bottle and looked down at her.

Anna brushed back her silver hair that gleamed in the sunlight.

In her hands was a wreath made of clover.

The Russian woman soon placed it on my head.

“My gift too.”