episode_0033

The place I was led to by the man was none other than an aquarium, in other words, an aqua park.

After being cooped up in the car for over 5 hours, my body felt stiff, but watching fish of all shapes and sizes swimming in the blue-tinted water filled me with a sense of vitality as if I had never felt before.

Moreover, the sight of a small school of fish illuminated by the lights, and a large shark swimming overhead, was so fascinating that I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

“Sir, sir! Look at that, it’s a shark, a huge one!”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. If you get lost, it’ll be a big problem.”

While I was trembling with excitement at the mysterious sight, the man behind me was following me with a calm demeanor, unlike me who didn’t know what to do.

“Stop fiddling with your smartphone and look at this! There’s a shark here—ahh!”

As I turned my gaze back to the tank, a triangular-shaped fish with a white belly suddenly appeared, causing me to almost fall over in surprise.

“Are you okay? You need to be careful.”

Fortunately, the man behind me caught me before I fell, but it was embarrassing to almost fall in such a clumsy manner.

“Uh, th-thank you, sir. But what is this? It suddenly appeared and startled me!”

“Don’t you recognize it? It’s a stingray.”

“A stingray? Oh, you’re right.”

As I closely observed the fish wriggling in the tank, I could see that it was indeed a stingray, probably because I had never seen the white underside before.

“Sir, doesn’t this part here look like eyes and a mouth? It looks so cute when you see it like this, right?”

“Haha, now that you mention it, it does look like that.”

As I pointed to the face of the stingray, which seemed to be smiling at us, the man’s laughter echoed in the sparsely populated aquarium.

“But isn’t it strange that there’s no one here? Even though it’s a weekday, it’s a bit odd not to see a single person… Could it be that we rented the whole place?”

For an aquarium of this size, even on a weekday, there should have been a lot of people, but for some reason, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. It felt like the two of us had rented the place.

“R-Rent? What are you talking about! It’s probably just that there are no visitors today… Oh, look, isn’t that the shark from earlier?”

Although his response seemed unnatural as if he was avoiding my question, when I looked in the direction he pointed, I saw a shark swimming along with many other fish.

Seeing the real thing in person is more touching than just looking at pictures or on TV. If I could touch it, I wouldn’t have any regrets. It’s a shame.

“You know, sir. Putting a shark in such a large tank, wouldn’t it just eat the smaller fish indiscriminately?”

“Well, it’s possible, but since they’re being fed, even if it eats one or two, it won’t be that noticeable, right?”

“I see… what a shame.”

“Oh, what a shame…”

It’s a shame. Although I couldn’t touch it, I wanted to see the water turn red due to the shark, like in a movie… Oh, but if that happened, it could traumatize young children, so it’s not a good idea.

Putting aside my regret, I followed the puzzled-looking man and looked at the turtles, jellyfish, deep-sea fish, and other marine creatures in the small tanks.

Among them, the one that piqued my interest was definitely the shark, but the man seemed to have no particular interest in marine life, only responding to me as I admired the fish.

It was quite an enjoyable time, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was the only one enjoying it, so I left the aquarium feeling a bit uneasy.

“Hey, Joo Eunhye.”

As I was looking at the photos taken at the photo zone on the street, a man carrying a large shark doll he bought at the souvenir shop approached me.

“Um… Oh, did you have fun today?”

What’s with this man suddenly approaching and stumbling over his words? And to think he’s already giving a review after just visiting one aquarium?

“Hmm~ Well~ It was fun, but if I had to give it a score, maybe around 55 out of 100?”

“Sorry.”

It was actually an enjoyable time, but feeling a bit disappointed that I seemed to be the only one enjoying it, I gave a low score partly out of teasing, but the man seemed quite shocked and disheartened.

“Sir, a score like that can always be redeemed, so don’t be too disheartened. And there’s no need to worry so much, right? Anyone would think we came here for a date.”

“D… Date…!?”

Even though it was just a trip to have fun with this man, it would be quite difficult to consider it a date, right? …But why is this man not following and just standing there lost in thought?

“What are you doing, sir? It’s already dinner time, let’s go—”

“Excuse me, hello~? Could you spare a moment of your time?”

Just as I was about to scold the man for standing there like a fool, a woman suddenly approached and asked for some of our time.

With blonde hair and a tan complexion, the woman was adorned with flashy jewelry, exuding a not-so-friendly atmosphere, making me feel uneasy for no reason.

Maintaining a high level of caution, the woman tightly held the man’s arm and took out a board, handing us two red stickers as she spoke.

“It’s not suspicious at all. I’m conducting a survey right now, and all you have to do is stick the sticker I just gave you on the place you consider most precious in your life.”

From her denial of being suspicious, it was clear enough that she was indeed suspicious. Although I was a bit doubtful, my guard softened as I saw the man, who had regained his composure, putting a heart sticker on the family section.

Hmm… right. Just sticking a sticker should be fine, so there’s no need to be so guarded. Let’s see. Family, love, religion, friends, health…

As expected, the family section was filled with many stickers, but thinking about being betrayed by the humans I had considered parents so far, it would be unreasonable to stick a sticker there. So, family is a pass.

Love? Thinking back on the women I’ve dated, it’s hard to say I truly loved them. Especially since I was betrayed by my girlfriend on the day of the accident, love is also a pass.

I’ve never even set foot in a church, let alone a temple, so religion is definitely not applicable.

Friends… precious. Precious, but now completely different people. Can I even call those good guys my friends? So, friends are a pass, not to mention I hardly know anyone!

In that case, health seems to be the right answer after all, right? Yeah, my health is top priority, in this harsh world, where would I find the time to worry about others.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and stick yours too.”

The man started to urge me to answer after a while of not being able to answer carefully.

…Alright, health is canceled. Instead, I decided on which item to put the sticker on.

“Hey!”

“Huh?”

As I put the sticker on the desired item, the foolish voices of the woman holding the board and the man echoed in my ears.

With a sudden pop sound, the man’s face turned red, but whether he said anything or not, he firmly held the woman’s arm and bowed his head briefly towards her to bid farewell.

“Now that it’s done, can I go? Well then, good work!”

It was just a simple survey, but regardless of the intention, leaving quickly is the best option when you don’t feel good about someone with that kind of impression.

Worried that she might follow us, I took big strides and ended up walking so far that her silhouette was no longer visible.

“Phew~ We’ve come this far, so it should be fine now. Sir, snap out of it now! Do you know how much I’ve suffered to bring you here?”

“…?”

“Sir~ Sir?”

Hmm. Why is this man suddenly acting like this?

Even when I shook his shoulders, he remained stiff with his right hand pressing firmly on the heart sticker stuck to his forehead with two fingers.

Out of curiosity, I pressed my body close to his left chest, near his heart, and listened.

— Thump thump thump thump thump thump

Wow. Why is his heart beating like this? Our man is completely broken… What should I do in this situation? Even if I want to slap some sense into him, I can’t risk leaving a scar on that handsome face, which would surely lead to regret later.

Hmm. How should I handle this…

— Thud, thud…

Oh no–! What, suddenly rain…

…

..

.

It’s raining right now!?

— Shooosh–!!

This is crazy! This is insane! An unplanned trip, and I didn’t even bring any clothes other than my pajamas. It’s the worst!

Hey! Kang Sunwoo, can’t you get up right now!? Snap out of it!!