episode_0001

Episode 1. Harmonious family. Beautiful girlfriend.

I had an unusually good memory since I was young.

It wasn’t to the extent that I never forget anything I see once… but I was smart enough to appear on a TV show about discovering gifted children.

Naturally, my grades in school were excellent as well. I was at the top of my class for three years straight at a fairly well-known autonomous private high school.

It’s not like I studied that hard. Didn’t I say? That my memory was exceptional. I was the type who could get top grades just by glancing at the workbooks and textbooks. Math was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to cover it by investing the overwhelmingly abundant time I had compared to other students solely in math.

“Our son! Congratulations! Let’s have a party today! A party!”

“See? My genes really came through! You know how much I used to study back in the day…”

“Oh, really? Do you think I haven’t seen your student record? Such exaggeration. How embarrassing.”

Graduation ceremony, marking the end of high school. I saw my mom and dad coming to congratulate me. They always seemed to be on good terms. It naturally warmed my heart.

“Thank you. Mom, Dad. Time flies, I’m already graduating.”

“Honey, it only gets faster as you get older. What are you going to do later? Hehe.”

“Your mom is right, son. Time flies so fast since I met this old woman…”

A harmonious family, a prestigious university. My future will be smooth sailing. I firmly believed that.

Suddenly, I realized there was someone who hadn’t shown up yet. I turned my head and looked around. Where is she?

“What are you looking around for? Are you looking for someone?”

A playful voice came from behind me. A beautiful, clear voice like a nightingale. A voice that was very familiar to me. I smiled brightly and turned around.

“Seon-ah!”

Whack─

I felt a pleasant pressure on my chest, along with a heavy weight. She hugged me. The subtle shampoo scent that was unique to her calmed my heart.

I hugged her for a while before gently letting go. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, but I wanted to see her face.

“Here, congratulations on your graduation. You’re finally an adult?”

She handed me a colorful bouquet of flowers. Naturally, her soft hair fluttered before my eyes. She had medium-length hair that went just past her shoulders.

Her caramel-colored hair shimmering in the light was dazzling. That wasn’t just because of the lighting shining on us from the ceiling of the auditorium. Even in a lightless darkness, her brilliant features would surely shine.

“Adult? What are you talking about? The new year started a week ago.”

She was the same age as me. But she graduated a week earlier than me because we go to different schools.

“Hey, who ever saw an adult wearing a school uniform? You have to wear casual clothes on weekdays to be a real adult!”

“You’re not wrong. Although the returning students who are still in high school might not like hearing that.”

Was it just a coincidence that such a lively girl approached a stoic guy like me? Even if this situation is just a coincidence, I would gladly offer praise to the god who bestowed this connection.

“Mother. Father. I’m here. My goodness, you two seem to be getting younger the more I see you. Are you taking some kind of tonic these days?”

“Hehe, thank you for the compliment.”

“Ahem, ahem. Young lady. You’ve become even more beautiful.”

Seon-ah was also very close to my family. That’s because she had frequently encountered my mom and dad during our nearly two years of dating. She melted my parents’ hearts with her unique, cheerful personality.

Well, I would have been the same if I were her parents. With her puppy-dog eyes and bright smile, what adult could dislike her cute behavior? If I have a child later and get a daughter-in-law, I hope she’s a woman like Seon-ah.

My mom took out her cell phone and said.

“Okay, okay. Let’s take a picture?

“Great! Mother, how about taking it with mine? It’ll turn out much better.”

“Is that so? I don’t mind.”

Seon-ah had recently replaced her phone in celebration of graduation. We decided to take pictures with her phone. I asked a student who was passing by to take a picture for us.

“Okay, smile. Say cheese~”

At my mom’s signal, the student touched the phone several times in a row. The characteristic shutter sound of an Apple phone rang out dozens of times.

My dad only moved his lips to say while posing.

“Is it over?”

“Yes~ It’s over.”

“Thank you for taking the pictures. Student.”

After taking pictures together, we went outside. There was no longer any reason to be in the auditorium. We had already taken pictures with the teachers and friends. They said they would create a group chat later and upload them.

We got into my dad’s 22-year-old SUV and left the school. On the way to the place where we were going to have lunch, Seon-ah, who was sitting in the back seat with me, said.

“Yo-han, is all your luggage packed?”

“Hmm? Yeah, yeah. I already packed it all last week.”

“Last week? You’re so organized.”

“Of course, we’re going on a trip tomorrow.”

Seon-ah and I had decided to go on a trip to Japan tomorrow. It was a trip we had been preparing for since three months before graduation. We had already received permission from both parents, and now all we had to do was get on the plane.

“Ah, I’m so excited. Ten nights and eleven days, this is the first time I’ve traveled abroad for so long.”

“Me too. Don’t worry. I’ve already made all the plans.”

“Hehe, a ‘J’ is different, after all? I was so surprised when I saw the itinerary the other day.”

“It was easy to make the itinerary because you told me exactly where you wanted to go, Seon-ah.”

That was true. I wasn’t that interested in Japan normally, so her wishes naturally helped a lot with the trip planning.

I sighed and said to Seon-ah.

“When I went on a trip before, the person I went with didn’t tell me anything like that, so I had a really hard time.”

“······Ah, when you went on a trip to Busan with your ex-girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Exactly then······.”

Shiver!

Suddenly, I felt a chill down my spine. With trembling eyes, I turned my head and looked at Seon-ah.

“······.”

There, Seon-ah was staring at me intently with strangely empty eyes.

“Didn’t you say that going on a trip with me was a first last time? Yo-han?”

“······.”

“That’s strange. Did I hear wrong? That can’t be······. Huh?”

I hadn’t lied to her. That’s why I said with a confident voice.

“······It’s the first time traveling abroad.”

“······.”

***

“······.”

We headed to Outbake with her, who was noticeably quieter than before. When we arrived at the restaurant, we sat down at the seats we had reserved and ordered whatever food we wanted.

Seon-ah still had her mouth tightly shut, but when she was about to go to the bathroom, I got up to follow her.

Looking at me, my mom quietly whispered.

“Go quickly.”

After Seon-ah went into the women’s bathroom, I stood in front of the bathroom, awkwardly stroking the back of my head. Not long after, she came out.

“Seon-ah, um. Can we talk for a minute?”

“······Okay.”

Seon-ah and I walked down the hallway of the building for a moment. Soon, when I saw a secluded place with relatively few people, I headed there.

I held her right hand and said.

“I’m sorry. For lying about not having gone on a trip before. I won’t lie in the future. Okay?”

“······.”

“And I didn’t even sleep with her. It was a day trip. Traveling this long is with you······.”

“······think?”

It sounded like she said something quietly, but I couldn’t hear it well. I lowered my head and brought my face closer to hers.

“Huh?”

“I’m not mad because you lied, Yo-han.”

“······.”

Before I knew it, her eyes were red.

“It’s our first trip together. I’m so angry that we haven’t gone on a trip yet after dating for two years. Sniffle, sob.”

“······.”

I hugged her without saying a word. For some reason, it seemed like choosing silence was the right answer right now.

Soon, the sound of quiet sobbing in my arms resonated in my heart.

“······.”

It was definitely the same familiar weight as at the graduation ceremony, but the feeling was completely different. It was heavier and even more weighty.

······Not long after, she fell away from my arms. Soon, she covered her face with both palms and said. Her face was so small that I could only see her hair.

“I’m, hiccup. Sorry too. Mother and Father are all waiting.”

“Ah, no. It’s okay. Are you feeling a little better?”

“······Yeah. Yo-han.”

“Huh?”

“Can I go in first? I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

She probably meant she wanted to fix her makeup. I nodded and turned around.

“Okay.”

“······.”

I was walking down the hallway towards the restaurant… and then I turned around and went back to the bathroom from earlier. About five minutes later, she came out.

Her eyes, which were already big, widened even more when she saw me.

“······Go first.”

“Ah, I suddenly wanted to go to the bathroom too. I just came out. I just came out.”

“······Pfft.”

Seon-ah patted my back as she laughed softly.

“Let’s go. Yo-han.”

“Okay.”

She and I walked side by side down the hallway of the building. While walking towards the restaurant, I turned my head and looked at the top of her head.

‘I’m glad she’s not angry anymore. Seon-ah is kind of obsessive, huh?’

But I was already her prisoner, and even this side of her looked cute.

Step─ Step─

I liked my life right now. A harmonious family, a prestigious university, a beautiful girlfriend. I sincerely had nothing more to wish for. Just like my life so far, my life in the future will surely be happy. I firmly believed that.

[Would you like to enter the tower?]

[Yes] [No]

[Time limit: 59s]

“······Huh?”

A freeloader interrupted my life like that.