After quickly sending the monster away with death, I returned home.
Even as I stared at the screen, there were no missed calls on my phone, and I lay on the sofa, blankly gazing at my smartphone.
“Hmm? Oh.”
In that moment, Gomteng floated in the living room.
It looked as if he was blocking out the sounds around him with his fluffy arms, as if he was on a call with someone.
Is that some sort of communication method between mascots?
Anyway, I utterly failed to understand the structure of his body.
After a while, Gomteng removed his arms from his ears and looked at me.
“I’ve arrived at the accommodation. They said my smartphone is charging there.”
“Alright, thanks for letting me know.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief after Gomteng’s report connected to the Sea Snake.
How much fun must he have had, wandering around until this hour without even thinking of finding the accommodation?
Maybe I should have sent my power bank along with him; I swallowed my regret as I rummaged through the refrigerator.
A kimchi container that was of no use in our house.
Come to think of it, I forgot to return the container after finishing it.
Fortunately, it wasn’t quite midnight yet.
Thinking it would be nice to return it before I forget, I opened my smartphone and entered the group chat.
Rather than finding each number and leaving a message, one-on-one chats via an app seem to work better with the kids these days.
Scrolling through my screen, I found a familiar profile, Taehyun.
His main picture was one where he posed coolly with sunglasses and included some silly catchphrase.
I clicked on the round icon to create a one-on-one chat and sent my message without any hesitation.
[Hey]
[Are you sleeping?]
A number “1” appeared right away.
A spirited middle schooler probably wouldn’t be sleeping before midnight, I thought.
About ten seconds later? A yellow number slowly disappeared.
Before long, messages started flooding in rapidly.
[Nope]
[Why?]
[Are you coming?]
With the barrage of messages came quickly moving fingers.
[Yeah]
[Food container]
[Returning it]
[I forgot]
[Okay]
Conversations through messages were short and to the point.
I quickly threw on a short-sleeved t-shirt and tracksuit and headed toward the front door with the empty container…
While I was watching the interaction from the side, Gomteng suddenly interjected.
“You look like a live-in boyfriend.”
“Ugh, do you really want to talk crap all of a sudden?”
Unable to hold back, I started making a commotion.
Those few words he threw out made my stomach uneasy, and I turned my gaze from the entrance to him.
In the short span of putting on my slippers,
Gomteng didn’t stop there, bringing his hand to his chin and nodding his head while closing his eyes, muttering.
“Well, we’ve known each other since elementary school. It’s like that childhood friend trope seen in Japanese manga… Ugh!”
I punched him right on the face as he babbled nonsense he must have picked up from the internet.
With the punch landing squarely on his face, Gomteng bounced off the floor and flopped over.
Those few added words after the punch were just asking for trouble.
There’s no way a monster would show up in that short time, right? I thought dismissively.
Leaving Gomteng at home, I stepped out with the empty kimchi container.
Since I owe a lot to Aunty’s cooking, I’d feel guilty returning it empty-handed.
I stopped by a nearby mart to buy two boxes of energy drinks and stuffed them into the kimchi container before heading back to the apartment.
“Oh, you’re back?”
As I knocked on Taehyun’s house door after pressing the 17th floor button in the elevator, it was only Taehyun who appeared.
The lights were off in both the kitchen and the bedroom where Aunty and Uncle were supposed to be.
The oddly quiet atmosphere in the house made me tilt my head and ask.
“Where are your mom and dad?”
“They went on a trip. I said I’d stay home because I have an academy.”
“Oh, I see?”
Hearing the reason for the lack of presence, I let out a short sigh of understanding.
It turned out they had left only a home security guard behind on their trip.
If you’re going on a trip, wouldn’t it be nicer to go together?
But Taehyun stayed home, citing school vacation and academy progress.
Later, he won’t even get the chance to go when he wants to, so he should go while he can.
“There are two boxes of drinks in the kimchi container, okay? Put them in the fridge.”
Anyway, mentioning the contents in the kimchi container while neither Aunty nor Uncle were there, I asked him to put them in the fridge.
“Oh, sure. Is Siyeon at home?”
Simultaneously, looking curious about my house situation, Taehyun peeked through the transparent kimchi container lid and asked, having figured it out.
Why the sudden curiosity about Siyeon’s situation?
With no reason to hide it, I just listed the facts matter-of-factly.
“Siyeon went on a trip to Sokcho; I’m the only one home.”
“Alone? She didn’t go with anyone?”
Taehyun’s eyes widened in disbelief as if he couldn’t comprehend that Siyeon was traveling alone.
Even after hearing the whole story, he added his usual ‘I don’t know’ mannerism while mumbling something about a game, seemingly unfazed.
“I don’t know, something about ‘Earth Walk’ or whatever; what would I do if I went with her?”
“Oh, that game? Isn’t it not allowed in our country right now?”
After hearing the game’s name, Taehyun suddenly expressed curiosity.
Games are still a hot topic among boys, it seems.
“Apparently, it’s allowed in Sokcho.”
“Oh, really? Why…?”
“I don’t know; it even made the news, how do you not know?”
As I passed on the information I heard, Taehyun’s eyes widened as if it was the first time he was hearing it.
Why bother asking me when he knows I wouldn’t know?
If the news is saying so, then that’s that. Why doesn’t a gamer like you know about such news?
For a moment, Taehyun seemed to be tapping his smartphone, searching for something, and with a short sigh, it seemed he finally confirmed the news.
“Oh? It’s true.”
“Anyway, that’s why she went to Sokcho; I’m heading out.”
“Oh, bye.”
After casually saying goodbye, I took the elevator to the 4th floor.
Since it’s vacation and Siyeon wouldn’t be around tomorrow anyway,
I thought I’d just play games all night, and if a monster appeared in some other area, I’d go check it out, sitting in front of my computer, stretching my clasped hands forward.
‘Siyeon said she would call, but there’s been no contact.’
Still, hearing from the Sea Snake that they had arrived at the accommodation made me feel a bit lighter.
Whatever happens, I brushed it off and focused my mind back on the keyboard and mouse.
At the same time, 4th floor of a motel about 500 meters away from Sokcho terminal.
Siyeon lay on an unfamiliar bed, staring blankly at her charging smartphone.
“Is Mari sleeping?”
Time had already passed midnight.
I hesitated to call for fear that Mari might be asleep.
When Mari wakes up in the middle of the night, she can be really scary.
Thinking back, the times when we vented our frustrations on monsters lasted the longest after midnight.
My contemplating fingers simply kept tapping the glimmering game screen.
It had only been a few hours of fun capturing characters.
I had shared captured images in group chats, but that joy was fleeting.
Bae-mi, who had been rolling around on the same bed, quietly approached and asked,
“Did you have fun today?”
“Yeah, but….”
I answered affirmatively at first, then trailed off my words.
The words that followed “but” didn’t come out.
I had fun, but there was a feeling of something lacking.
But I couldn’t express what was lacking in words, so I just tilted my head.
It’s fun, but it lacks fun? What does that even mean?
I had captured 43 characters, including various types, after roaming around for hours.
I could easily capture more if I were to go out again, but I lacked the motivation to do so.
“But…?”
“I don’t know; it’s just not fun right now.”
I sulkily pouted at Bae-mi’s question and flopped down on the bed.
It was a strange statement, but it was the only way I could express the situation.
While wobbling my calves up and down on the bed, the plush sound of air dispersing mingled with the quilt crumpling and flattening like a sponge.
I remembered laughing a lot when I went to Sokcho with Mari back in the day.
I recall the chicken gangjeong was delicious, and when we went to the market to eat various things, I was constantly smiling.
I might not remember exactly what I said to Mari back then, but I think we laughed a lot.
Now, we can play games we wanted to play and roam around freely compared to then.
Yet, instead of laughter, my face was filled with a sullen expression.
Lying down and staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, my hand flickered toward the smartphone.
[I’ll go home right away tomorrow]
In the end, I sent a timid message to Mari.
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