Chapter 853
Chapter 853 – The Wishes of Two People (3)
— Elena
I wasn’t feeling great.
“Wow! Seriously, Hyung is a legend, a legend!”
“Seung-yeop, could you be a little quieter—”
“Seriously, I’m going insane! I almost cried hearing Hyung’s confession line, you know?”
One reason for my displeasure.
It was annoying that Seung-yeop was the one who witnessed Aleph confessing to Ari.
If it had been the teacher or Jin-cheol, they wouldn’t have acted like the world was ending, making such a ruckus like Seung-yeop did.
“Look! Standing in front of Older Sister Ari, staring longingly, making eye contact with her!”
“…”
“The first part was a bit awkward, sure. That happens. I’ve confessed a lot, and honestly, it’s really embarrassing.”
“…”
“… I think they could be together. With me—”
“Stop it! Seung-yeop, can you just sit down?”
“The next part was even cooler. I hope you will be with me. Everyone—”
“No, seriously, please stop and sit down.”
He should have conveyed his confession lines more appropriately and plainly.
He wouldn’t have made such a loud and overdramatic scene like Seung-yeop did.
What if I had been the one observing?
Wow, just imagining it is the worst.
Maybe it’s better that Seung-yeop saw it.
“Ugh! Seung-yeop! Please take a seat. Doesn’t Gain have a private life too?”
“Yeah.”
Another reason for my displeasure.
It was annoying that others were subtly paying attention to me.
“Ahem, Elena. Are you alright?”
“Teacher, why are you suddenly asking that?”
“Huh? I—”
“Hyung! Don’t poke the unpleasant person for no reason—”
“Jin-cheol, that doesn’t make sense. Why would I be unpleasant?”
I glared fiercely, and both the teacher and Jin-cheol flinched simultaneously.
“For a while… be careful… El… understand…”
“I’m not oblivious… I’ll be careful… you be careful too…”
“What are you two doing? You guys aren’t in a romantic relationship or something, why are you whispering like that?”
With that one remark, the table fell silent.
Not only Jin-cheol and the teacher, but even Seung-yeop kept his mouth shut.
In the midst of this, I wanted to commend Gain, who was observing with his doppelganger.
In some sense, that’s really impressive.
— Tak!
At that moment, Gain, who had been keeping his head down for almost 20 minutes, carefully tapped the table.
“Uh, I appreciate the cheerful talk, but Room 303 is in real-time progress. Let’s return to a serious atmosphere.”
“Uh, right. Haha! Seung-yeop, you should stop joking around too.”
“I’ll be quiet now.”
“Did your doppelganger notice any changes?”
“A little while ago, Winston died. We are sorting things out.”
“Huh… they said Winston was extremely strong, and you killed him?”
“It would be more accurate to say the train did. Ari and Aleph are the actors the train chose—”
— Drizzle!
As I stood up, everyone’s eyes were on me.
“I’ll just go wash up quickly.”
*
— Swoosh…!
I turned the shower on much stronger than usual.
The pressure hit my skin to the point of pain, washing away my undetermined irritation.
“…”
I wasn’t angry or anything. Really.
After all, who doesn’t have an idea about who likes whom?
It’s strange not to know considering we spent time together in the hotel.
It was just…
I was envious.
Unlike me, Ari had a connection with Gain even before coming to the hotel.
To me, it looked like a fateful relationship.
I felt a little regretful.
Unlike Ari, I didn’t seem to have such a connection—
“…”
But maybe this part isn’t known yet?
Before going to Room 303, Ari had no clue about any past love, did she?
So, maybe I could have something too!
What if I don’t?
What does it matter? I can just make one from now on.
With that thought, I steadied my heart.
— Tak!
It was about time to wash up.
As the shower turned off and the surroundings quieted, I faintly heard sounds from outside.
— Don’t you really not remember?
— I don’t remember, I said!
— Hyung, that’s just too much. How can you forget love?
— You take care of your own business!
Without me, those four looked like they were having a blast.
After all, the story of first love is usually the most entertaining.
By the way, it’s a bit surprising that Gain doesn’t know anything about the events in Room 303.
The reason contestants forget their memories from the first wish is that the hotel erases those memories.
In other words, after realizing the first wish, they can recall past events freely.
Gain realized his first wish.
Yet, for some reason, he can’t remember anything from the time of Room 303.
Is there some meaning to that?
“Uh?”
Suddenly, I realized something.
It’s a fact that the people at the observatory, of course Ari and Song-i, have overlooked.
Ari, didn’t you make a mistake yesterday?
“…”
Think about what Ari said when she rejected Aleph’s confession.
‘I got to him before Gayoung.’
‘Interest and love are quite different.’
‘If someday, you can overcome your own malice, then maybe I’ll think about it.’
No matter how I look at it, doesn’t that mean she was thinking about Gain while rejecting him?
So, to Ari, Aleph is just ‘someone who might be Gain in the distant future.’
The feelings she had for Aleph were probably just ‘he resembles Gain? That’s fun and interesting.’
The Ari in Room 303 never truly reciprocated anything toward Aleph.
She only saw him through the lens of Gain.
That’s natural for the current Ari.
She must have liked Gain even before entering Room 303.
But what about Ari before coming to the hotel?
She didn’t just like Gain; she didn’t even know he existed.
That means she couldn’t have projected Gain onto Aleph.
Could it be that she was confessed to then?
A sort of intuition.
I feel like she would have rejected him again.
However, the ‘reason for the rejection’ must have been different from now.
“…”
Once I realized that one fact, the next came to mind in quick succession.
It was a slightly sad realization.
The bizarre demeanor Aleph showed in the first round.
The sudden suicide and the letter left behind before dying.
Back then, Aleph must have left a letter for ‘Gain.’
Gain said he couldn’t read the letter, but that was a lie.
Afterward, Gain could read the letter written by the train, which was in the same script as the one Aleph wrote.
I can guess why Gain hid the contents of the goodbye letter from us.
The first round’s Aleph’s testament was probably somewhat personal, wasn’t it?
There must have been elements of anger or jealousy over Gain.
Because, after all, the Aleph of the first round also liked Ari.
… The Aleph of the first round realized why Ari would ‘absolutely’ not love him.
*
— Kim Muk-seong
— Creak! Bang!
The sound of the train door closing came from behind.
“… Eldist, this situation is really unexpected.”
“Hey, when did I ever expect anything?”
Earlier conversation.
I demanded the train to prove its good intentions, and it readily accepted.
And now, this is the result.
“Suddenly asking to confirm what Jin-seong got as a reward…”
We got off the train to check Jin-seong’s reward.
“Look at this. It says where Jin-seong is currently living and how to get there.”
“Now that’s considerate of it.”
“Well, what can we do? We have to go and at least grab a meal from Jin-seong.”
“Since we’re already out, we have no choice. So— huh?”
“What’s up?”
“Eldist, what’s that in your hand?”
“Hand?”
When I opened my right hand, a mysteriously shining golden coin lay there.
“It’s a coin. It’s really beautiful! Where did you find this?”
“… I have no idea.”
I truly don’t know.
But I also felt like I might know.
The name of this coin is ‘One More Chance,’ my inheritance.
I recalled that much, but I didn’t understand what the word inheritance truly meant.
“Let’s go.”
*
The moment of emotional reunion with Jin-seong.
Apologies, but both Aleph and I lost our words at once.
“Haha, I wondered if I would get to see you two alive again, but life is indeed mysterious. Fate has brought you two here.”
The foolish, rural guy Jin-seong was nowhere to be found.
Instead, a dignified middle-aged man in his fifties, with a regal air, welcomed us into a mansion-like home.
“Have you two had a meal?”
“Uh… no, not yet.”
Aleph instinctively tried to shout ‘Jin-seong!’ but quickly recoiled.
It seems it wasn’t easy to call him Hyung now.
In that sense, I felt much more comfortable.
Because, like now, he looked younger than me, after all.
“Ahem, Jin-seong. May I speak comfortably to you?”
“Of course. Are you uncomfortable in any way?”
“Uncomfortable? Not at all. I’m just pleased.”
It would be more accurate to say it was awkward rather than uncomfortable.
Until just yesterday, Jin-seong was merely a rural young man in his late twenties, after all.
“Food will be ready shortly. It feels good to reminisce after such a long time.”
Aleph carefully asked.
“I saw a few servants on the way here, but I didn’t see any family members. Hyung, are you living alone?”
Jin-seong shook his head with a light laugh.
“How could that be? Aleph, do you remember what I said before? My wish.”
“Of course.”
I remember it too.
‘A time when there are ladies who can love me! That time is just perfect.’
“Well, have you met the lady who can love you?”
This time, Jin-seong broke into a wide smile.
“Of course.”
“… Have you been happy?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
Hearing that put my heart at ease.
I wondered if Aleph felt the same; he wore a relaxed expression.
Jin-seong had lived happily with love, wealth, and honor.
The train had kept its promise.
*
After that, there wasn’t much to speak of.
We enjoyed delicious food and listened to what Jin-seong had been up to all this time.
Seems he lived quite well.
Thanks to future newspapers, he made a lot of money and even got a cute daughter with a lovely lady.
As a man, that was enough, right? Couldn’t ask for more.
“I’ve never forgotten your advice from the train, not even a day in 25 years.”
“My advice?”
“You told me not to be overly greedy. Otherwise, terrifying people would come for me…”
“Oh, you mean to be careful of the Management Bureau.”
“I managed it moderately. Isn’t it appropriate to have about five houses?”
“Five houses in Seoul is what’s considered appropriate? You greedy brat…!”
“Haha, elder, do you have any idea how much I struggled deciding whether to buy the land for the Hyundai Apartment in Apgujeong? I held off on that.”
“Wow, you resisted that?”
“Do you even know what the Hyundai Apartment is?”
“Sounds like a pretty expensive apartment. Isn’t that just your little jibe?”
“I held back. It would be troublesome if it became too obvious, right?”
“What about Bundang?”
“Huh?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard the saying about Bundang being under heaven…”
I hit a realization.
That story about Bundang under heaven was from the 1990s, right?
That would make it still future information compared to now?
Oops, I still have so many gaps in my memory, which is why mistakes keep slipping out when I speak!
Jin-seong slyly pulled out a note.
“Bundang, is that the next…? This part is recorded—”
“Hey, hey! Forget it! Do you suspect me or something?”
“I’ll have a bit more. Right now, I’m in the complete countryside, right? Just about 10 billion won would be enough. I’m a person with absolutely no greed, you know.”
“Ugh! Where did that pure rural young man go, leaving behind this golden toad of a fellow?”
“This all started thanks to you, elder. By the way, do you both drink? I’m sure the elder does, but… what about you, Aleph?”
“Of course, in this atmosphere, I must.”
By the time we were passing drinks back and forth, the awkwardness had long evaporated.
Before I knew it, the three of us were recounting tales from the time we took on requests together like it was a heroic saga.
“Hey, I really went through a tough time back then. That guy in a strange hat, I hit him in the head with one shot—”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, that was during the 19th request when Eldist wasn’t around. But I’m exaggerating too much, aren’t I?”
“Exaggerating?”
“I definitely shot him in the air. I clearly saw that happen.”
“Hey, you really want to lie?”
There were more tales like this.
“As time passed, I began to think this way: there must be beings who see us like a painting in this world…”
“What are you talking about?”
— Tak!
Jin-seong peeled a painting off the wall, revealing a traditional ink painting.
“In the eyes of the great beings in the heavens, we are but tiny creatures wriggling upon a thin piece of paper, aren’t we?”
“…”
“Being able to sweep a brush with one stroke to change our beginnings and endings at will. The train was such a being. And in this world, there are beings even above the train.”
“You, who didn’t even go to elementary school, suddenly sound like a philosopher…”
“Hey, elder, I can’t just let that go, you know?”
“What?”
“I graduated from Shin-dong Elementary School.”
“…”
“They opened it up for adults, you know. I just thought, a person should at least graduate from elementary school…”
“Good job, well done.”
Jin-seong smiled broadly as he said that.
“Nowadays, I think this: what’s important in a person’s life isn’t its length.”
“Mm?”
“It’s enough to live moderately. If you live too long, you tend to see unpleasant things.”
“What kind of nonsense is this from someone who hasn’t even hit sixty yet? Do you have health problems or something?”
“Elder, life is a painting. It’s like this ink painting. Does the size of the painting matter? No. It’s about how beautiful it is, whether small or large.”
“…”
“Fortunately, my life was filled with beauty. I hope your lives will be beautiful too.”
For a moment, I felt a slight uneasiness due to the ominously ambiguous words.
— Ting!
“Uh-oh!”
Maybe I was a little tipsy; I accidentally tossed the coin from my hand toward the ink painting.
— Squeak!
In an instant, the coin punctured the center of the painting.
“Oh no! I— I made a mistake—”
“It’s alright.”
“It seems I’m a bit drunk. Was it expensive?”
“It doesn’t really matter when it’s not someone else but you, elder. More importantly…”
Jin-seong looked at the painting and the coin with curiosity.
“It’s a sacred coin.”
“…”
“It’s as if the clumsy painting created by an inexperienced artist was suddenly torn apart by a coin that came down from heaven.”
“Look at you, turning into a fortune-teller now.”
“May I ask the name of the coin?”
“… One More Chance.”
