Side Story Chapter 4
The child’s gaze wasn’t directed at Song Ji-hyeok or me. He seemed to have spotted the love letter still floating on the sea and was running over in surprise.
This made my laughter deepen even more. If he had been watching from the beginning, it would have been no different from a sudden magic show unfolding before the pure eyes of a child.
And Song Ji-hyeok was mischievous. For some reason, he kept watching the child running earnestly toward us with a faint smile, then when the child was almost there, he collapsed the letters without leaving even a trace.
“…Huh?”
The child’s reaction was immediate. He stopped abruptly as if he had slammed on the brakes, and an expression like a raccoon who had his cotton candy washed away appeared on his face.
The moment I saw that, I unconsciously bit down hard on my teeth and turned my head away. It felt like laughter would burst out at any moment.
Song Ji-hyeok, on the other hand, displayed shameless audacity. He could clearly keep it floating all day if he wanted to, but he deliberately made it disappear at that timing, then pretended it had nothing to do with him and played innocent.
One unexpected thing was that the child was as friendly as his round face suggested.
“Excuse me, mister…”
At the cautious call, my head moved on its own. The child’s gaze was directed at me. Seeing his beaver-like cute face up close almost made me burst into laughter again, but I held it in tightly and responded to the child’s call.
“Yeah?”
“Did you happen to see what just happened?”
“What thing?”
“The seawater went ‘whoosh’ and floated up, making circles and moving around by themselves, and I definitely saw English being written! But it disappeared just now.”
The onomatopoeia ‘whoosh’ was accompanied by motions demonstrated with chubby hands. The sight was both serious and cute, making mischievousness suddenly well up in me too.
I was about to brush it off with ‘Well, I didn’t see it,’ but changed my mind at the last moment and decided to just go along with it. If I, who was much closer, hadn’t seen it, then it would mean only the child had seen things, and that would probably shock him tremendously.
“I saw it.”
“You saw it? It was definitely there, right?”
“Yeah.”
“…But it disappeared.”
Oh, please.
From his build, he seemed like an upper elementary student – how could he be this cute?
Thanks to that, with a heart like I was dealing with a nephew, I smiled and spoke to the child.
“Want to see it again?”
“Gasp, yes! Did you do it, mister?”
Seeing those expectant eyes made me feel a pointless regret. If I still had my Esper abilities, even if I couldn’t move seawater directly, I could have lifted it with wind. Or I could have made the child float gently.
“That wasn’t me… Wait a moment.”
Since Song Ji-hyeok was the only one who could do that now, I decided to use my privilege as his lover.
“Ji-hyeok, could you show that one more time?”
“Of course.”
A gently smiling face turned toward me. That smile was so soft and beautiful that I too was drawn to smile naturally…
“But you know, right? There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”
“……”
Unlike Song Ji-hyeok who kept smiling, my expression turned sour. Seeing me like that, Song Ji-hyeok added a few more words.
“Try making a deal with something tempting.”
Look at this guy?
Even though he couldn’t possibly not know what kind of look I was giving him, Song Ji-hyeok was steadfast. He seemed quite pleased with the current situation where he had gained the upper hand, or rather, something like the upper hand.
Though I hadn’t foreseen this situation, fortunately I had a very powerful weapon. I had one, but it wasn’t something I could mention directly right now.
‘Well then. This is definitely not something I’ll mention feebly right now.’
Thanks to that, I too moved to throw bait at Song Ji-hyeok with a face that had regained its smile. I took a step closer and whispered in a secretive voice against his ear.
“I’ll give you one amazing gift later. You can look forward to it.”
When I returned my head to its original position, I could see Song Ji-hyeok’s Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. Anyone could see he had taken the bait completely, but his seductive lips said something different.
“What if it doesn’t meet expectations?”
“That will absolutely never happen.”
At my confident assurance, Song Ji-hyeok’s eyes sparkled with interest. Soon he lowered his head slightly like I had done earlier, then whispered against my ear in return.
“Can I look forward to tonight?”
“Mm, that’s not quite the direction… but I’ll try my best on that front too.”
“Good.”
And so the deal was made. Soon Song Ji-hyeok’s gaze turned toward the child. While his default expression outside was emotionless, now his face didn’t hide his good mood.
“You, what’s your name?”
“Huh? I’m Kim Seok-young.”
“I see. Come closer.”
The child was brave. Even with a slightly frightened expression, instead of backing away, he cautiously approached us.
Song Ji-hyeok moved his body accordingly. He walked step by step toward the sea and stopped only when the incoming waves were almost touching the tips of his shoes.
Soon I understood why Song Ji-hyeok had specifically called the child closer. The rippling seawater gently floated up and transformed into the child’s name in the air about 1 meter high. Like fountain water that doesn’t stop, the child’s reaction to seeing this water show(?) that kept tracing the same trajectory was nothing short of enthusiastic.
“Awesome! Can I touch it?”
“Do whatever you want.”
The child who received permission cautiously reached his hand toward his own name. From my view, I could only see mostly his back, but I could clearly imagine what expression he was making and what was in his eyes.
This made me laugh again. For Song Ji-hyeok, this would be easier than eating cold porridge, but the child’s amazed reaction was incredibly cute.
‘When Song Ji-hyeok retires later, should I suggest he go on tour performances at kindergartens and elementary schools?’
Before long, the water fell with a splash sound and returned to its original form. The child, realizing the show was over, bowed deeply to Song Ji-hyeok saying “Thank you!” and ran back to where he originally was. Thanks to his somewhat chubby build, even his running figure looked cute.
Perhaps because it was quite impactful, a certain thought suddenly came to mind. Soon I glanced at Song Ji-hyeok sideways.
‘He’d probably play along…’
The result when put into action was obvious without even looking. No matter how generously I estimated, it would be a game that would end in a few seconds.
But there was a reason why things like the Darwin Award existed in the world. Unable to suppress curiosity and competitiveness, which were kinds of instincts, I eventually spoke those words.
“Ji-hyeok.”
“Yes?”
“Try to catch me…!”
*Grab*-
“…me.”
“……”
A moment of silence flowed. I froze in the position I was about to run away in, and the smile gradually faded from my face.
*Gulp*, I swallowed the dry saliva that went down on its own and slowly turned around. Song Ji-hyeok’s hand, which had definitely been in his coat pocket, was now somehow holding my arm.
So, to summarize, this is what happened. Before I could even run away laughing and saying ‘try to catch me~’, I was caught by Song Ji-hyeok.
“……”
As I grasped the situation, shame washed over me. Unlike me who tried to run away immediately, Song Ji-hyeok had been defenseless. So I thought I could at least run a few meters, but I never dreamed I’d be caught before I even finished speaking.
Song Ji-hyeok looked equally bewildered. While we were both frozen for our respective reasons, a seagull that had been circling overhead suddenly made a sound.
*Caw caw caw caw* – *Caw caw caw caw*-.
No, correction. That wasn’t a cry. Even without bias, it was a sound close to bursting with laughter.
A bird, of all things. Sigh.
“…Pfft.”
At the deflating sound that followed, my shoulders flinched. Soon hearty laughter burst from Song Ji-hyeok’s mouth too.
“Ahahaha.”
*Caw caw caw caw caw*-.
The hearty laughter from two – no, one person and one bird – echoed. Standing in the middle of it, I felt the urge to turn to ash and disappear for the first time in a long while.
Only then did Song Ji-hyeok let me go and even made a gesture of wiping his eyes with his hand.
“Sorry. My hand moved without me realizing, *sniff*, moved…”
“…No. What do you have to be sorry about.”
It was my fault for overlooking your animal-like reflexes…
Seeing Song Ji-hyeok bite down hard on his teeth at my muttered addition, I watched that sight with a dazed expression, then eventually let out a weak laugh myself.
Right. If I gave you laughter, that’s enough, isn’t it?
My pride doesn’t matter one bit.
“……”
Really.
“Ahem.”
Though my stomach does feel slightly bitter.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
