---

“You want me to go out like this…? That’s absurd!”

“Come on, just try wearing it once. Honestly, it really suits you… okay?”

“Suit me? What are you talking about…! Move your hands from the door so I can change!”

After about ten minutes of bickering, Shinwoo finally pulled his hand away from the door and said,

“…Alright… I guess I went a bit too far. I’m sorry…”

“Huh…? Yeah… you know that well…”

Is he really giving up this easily? Normally, he would have pestered me all day until I agreed to his whims… “Do you really not care? Am I actually changing into my regular clothes?”

“So do it! Hah… I have no choice but to give this away to someone else…” “What do you mean?”

Waving some paper with a mysterious look on his face, I realized it was a ticket to X Wonderland amusement park.

“If you wear your school uniform for Christmas, you get a 50% discount…”

“Fifty percent…? Really that much?”

Whoa…! I almost missed that one… Just hearing the word discount makes my stomach respond, it’s the life of always tightening my waist. It’s been ages since I went to an amusement park… The only memory I have is slightly hazy, of holding my mom’s hand before I grew up.

This is the first holiday I’ve been looking forward to in ages… Can I really let such an opportunity slip away? I may be an introvert who claims “the outside world is dangerous,” but it feels like a waste…

“Come to think of it, Mom always tried to get discounts by bargaining on everything!”

I didn’t realize it then, but Mom probably took advantage of every telecom discount and special events like today just like I would.

“Ugh… but… do I really have to go this far…? Sacrificing my dignity like this….”

As I contemplated between reason and instinct, Shinwoo delivered the final blow.

“You get a 70% discount if you eat at the amusement park in a school uniform…”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and let’s go!”

Honestly, how can I resist 70% off? That’s practically the devil’s whisper.

Just like my mom said, you should think about why something is free, but don’t think too hard about discounts.

If I use this as justification for satisfying some peculiar preference, then the bad guy is him, not me. Right?

“So, stop grinning like that!”

“What? I’m just glad you look happy.”

If only I could speak… I wanted to punch that smug, handsome face right away.

With a face that could rival any celebrity, he’s somewhat athletic too, being tall and broad-shouldered. Why does God bless such a guy with everything…?

Even now, just walking down the street, I can feel the gazes of nearby girls on him.

I didn’t know a person could feel stares so blatantly like this.

They’re red-faced, stealing quick glances at him, and some even try to approach but look disappointed when they see me. Seriously, some women show outright hostility towards me… a bit unfair, isn’t it?

Watching a life as an alpha male that I could never imagine, right beside me…

Well, I may feel a similar alpha male vibe (?), but there are definitely no girls giving me that kind of look.

But the problem is that all those gazes are directed toward guys… Seriously, where did it all go wrong…?

“Is it just me, or is it quite fancy with all the decorations for Christmas Eve? Glad we came, right?”

“Well… it’s not bad… if only I wasn’t wandering around in a school uniform as an adult.”

“Still seems like you’re enjoying it a bit?”

“Enjoying? Who’s enjoying it!”

I jabbed him with my finger to the side, telling him to stop talking nonsense, and Shinwoo surrendered, apologizing.

“Ow ow… Sorry, I was just teasing since you seemed a bit tense.”

“If you can’t say anything nice…”

“Anyway, don’t worry about other people’s stares; there’s no need to care what they think.”

With a newfound serious tone, I tilted my head and looked at him, and he pointed over there, shouting.

“Ah, we’ve arrived… How long has it been since we went to an amusement park just the two of us? Really long time, huh?”

“We went once in elementary school… so, it’s been what, 12 years?… That’s really long…”

12 years? It feels like it’s been thousands… but I guess it’s just how I feel.

Amusement parks are great, they’re one of the few places where you can regain childhood innocence.

From carousels that everyone enjoys, bumper cars that are perfect for stress relief, haunted houses that have no idea why you go in, to top-tier attractions like the giant drop and roller coasters, there were endless fun activities waiting for us.

As we approached the entrance, a tall girl with long black hair greeted us and helped us with our tickets.

“Welcome, dear guest! Thank you for visiting the magical land of X Wonderland!”

I wanted to correct her several times, but the thought of missing out on the discount kept my mouth shut.

“Thank you, is this ticket really valid for a half-off discount?”

“Yes, it is! Enjoy your day at X Wonderland, dear customer~ One, two, let’s go~”

Her energy was really high. This girl looks to be around our age, and seeing her working so hard made me feel a bit sorry for her.

Setting that aside, there was something unsettling about how she smiled while looking at us.

Just as we were passing by, I suddenly heard a voice coming from behind me.

“Oh wait! You there, girlfriend!”

“…Huh?”

I tried to ignore it but accidentally responded in surprise.

“We’ve prepared a small gift for couples who visit wearing school uniforms today!”

“A gift…?”

As she handed over a paper box, she smiled and whispered in my ear,

“You two look fantastic together~ This will surely impress your boyfriend!”

“What on earth is this?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, no! Don’t even think about it!”

Looking at what was inside made my eyes bulge in disbelief.

Staring blankly at the object, I couldn’t figure out the intention of this gift, while the girl just kept smiling brightly.

“Mu-a-mongjung (無我夢中)… sometimes we need to let go of everything and be honest too.”

“You… what are you, exactly…?”

“How long will you just stand there?”

“Huh?… Uh… right…”

There was something familiar about her talking style… but pushed by Shinwoo, I had no choice but to enter inside the amusement park.

“Shall we start with something simple like a carousel?”

I felt like saying, “I’m not a kid!” but looking at the roller coaster, which was the source of all the screams in the amusement park, I began to think it might not be so bad after all.

Especially since rides that get your heart racing are so popular that the lines are long anyway…

“Are we too childish for this? Let’s head for the X-Express instead.”

“Wait. You don’t have to rush…” Eventually unable to resist, I was dragged by his enthusiasm, holding hands like lovers as we stood in line.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

I screamed as if my neck would snap. Thankfully, it seemed like I wasn’t the only one screaming, so I didn’t stand out too much.

When my feet finally returned to the ground, the world spun around as if I was dizzy. My hair was disheveled,

and Shinwoo seemed to be enjoying himself way too much, grinning at me.

“Why? So what now?”

“Heh… it’s nothing. So, shall we eat now? We waited so long that it’s already lunch time.”

“Finally…! Now it feels like we’re getting our money’s worth after all this fuss….”

With Christmas coming up, the place was packed with families with kids and couples filling the seats.

Among them, there were plenty of couples in school uniforms just like us.

After waiting about 10 minutes, we finally sat down and stared at the menu menus with wide eyes.

“You’re still choosing? You were choosing even while standing earlier.”

“Since we’re eating anyway, I want it to taste good; I can’t eat a lot…”

Even if I could eat delicious, fancy food for cheap, it wouldn’t matter since I can’t eat that much by nature.

Just one roll of kimbap fills me up, so it’s hard to enjoy the pleasure of eating.

But that doesn’t mean I dislike food; I often go food adventuring with Shinwoo, to the extent where I know what food is delicious in various places.

Since the amount I can eat in one sitting is limited, I often share various small dishes at different places with him,

but sometimes I wish I could eat like a food fighter or someone on a mukbang show.

“What’s with all that pondering? I’ll buy whatever you want, so don’t worry about the menu…”

“…Didn’t we agree not to say things like that?”

“Right… I’m sorry.”

At my cold tone, Shinwoo quickly shut his mouth and apologized.

In all honesty, there wasn’t really a need to apologize, considering the times he helped me when I was in financial trouble.

Ignoring the fact that I said it was okay not to repay me, he worked his butt off for months to pay me back, only to look guilty after falling over from exhaustion…

Of course, his actions were meant to help me, and there’s no way he intended to embarrass me.

I just wanted to maintain my pride as an equal friend, that’s all.

So I felt both grateful and sorry towards him, who understands my pathetic pride.

“Hmm… first off, let’s look at the discounted items…”

After contemplating for a few more minutes, I ordered the seemingly most popular hamburger steak set with some mentaiko udon on the side.

Since just one item was enough to fill me up, Shinwoo ended up eating the leftovers,

“Hey, I’m not that much of an eater either, you know? If you keep this up, I’ll mix all the leftover food together.”

“Got it… I’m sorry… but I’m really glad we came together. I’m lucky to have you.”

“Don’t say things that’ll make people misunderstand…”

“Huh? What did I say?”

Shinwoo’s expression stiffened at my words as he muttered something, but it got drowned in the noise of the surrounding people.

“…It’s nothing, just glad we came together…. So, you’re going to hang out with me wherever we go, right?”

“Huh?… Well, since you gave me a discount ticket… but where are we going?”

“Well, that’s…” At my words, Shinwoo pointed at a building outside with a meaningful expression.

“…Huh?”

And just like that, I ended up facing the consequences of leaving food uneaten in an unexpected way.

I found myself being dragged out to a corner of the amusement park by Shinwoo.

A haunted house. And it looked oddly old and rusty, like a real abandoned mansion rather than an amusement park building.

“Are you sure we have to go in here?”

I felt my palms sweating around the ticket as I gazed at Shinwoo.

With a carefree expression, he pointed to the entrance.

“You have to be punished. Leaving food uneaten is a serious offense.”

“But… this is a bit much…”

Watching me hesitating at the entrance, Shinwoo playfully hit my back.

“What’s there to be scared of? You think a ghost is really gonna show up?”

‘What if they really do?’

Such a thought crossed my mind, but it can’t be true. This is just an amusement park event.

Shaking, I handed over my ticket. The staff’s blank expression approached, and slowly the door opened.

Inside was nothing but darkness. A profound darkness where I couldn’t see anything.

“Shinwoo, you go first.”

“No way, why would I?”

His eyes sparkled mischievously.

Reluctantly, I took my first step inside, and I heard the heavy sound of the door closing behind me.

Not long after, my legs felt like they had frozen completely.

Then, a low and eerie laughter echoed from somewhere, lingering in my ears.

“Kihihihi–“

“…Are you okay?”

“Shut up…!”

Of course, it wasn’t supposed to be like this!

 

---