Chapter 21

EP.21 At the Festival

"The weather is nice, isn't it?"

Here, where the warm spring breeze blows.

It's been a week since I last went out to cause trouble.

Since then, I've been holed up at home, not going out at all. It's been a long time since I've been out.

On the way to the festival.

Se-eun and I, along with Su-bin, were walking down the street for the first time in a while.

Ah, it's not really the first time for Su-bin. She always goes out to do the shopping.

Anyway, it feels good to be out in the sun again after so long.

Yeah, people need to get some sun sometimes. I heard somewhere that the sun provides vitamin D or something. You can't stay inside all the time.

"Brother, you're wearing black again?"

Se-eun scolded me.

After living together for quite a while, I've learned that Se-eun has a standard for when to call me 'hyung' or 'oppa.'

She usually calls me 'hyung,' but when she needs to ask for something or is in a good mood, she calls me 'oppa.'

...Can't you just stick with 'oppa'?

Honestly, if she scolds me firmly, she'll probably call me 'oppa' all the time.

But I don't really want to do that. It might make things awkward and create distance. I'll just wait for her to open up her heart. Someday, she'll call me 'oppa' all the time, right? She definitely will...

Anyway, it's good that she's calling me 'oppa' now because she seems to be in a good mood. But why is she asking about the black clothes again?

I checked what I was wearing. I was wearing a black coat, and underneath, I was dressed normally. The coat hides most of it anyway.

In the end, I'm dressed in black, just like in Egoistic. But, isn't black the best color for a coat?

I decided to tell Se-eun a truth she doesn't know.

"Se-eun, black is the color for men."

"What do you mean?"

Se-eun laughed. Oh, she usually doesn't respond so brightly. I was expecting a scolding look, so this is quite surprising.

Instead, she's humming a tune and walking, looking quite happy.

Se-eun, you must be really serious about ice cream, huh?

Or maybe you're just in a good mood because we're out?

Su-bin also seemed to find Se-eun's appearance cute and was smiling happily, covering her mouth.

Se-eun's silver hair is rare, so people are glancing at her, and Su-bin, being naturally beautiful, is drawing attention as well. Why is this happening?

By the way, Su-bin has a recognition reduction filter applied because of her initial exposure on TV. Of course, the filter only affects her face, making people who see her have face blindness. Since I already know who Su-bin is, it doesn't work on me.

But thinking about it, it's quite interesting. I can walk around without a mask or filter because I always wear one, but Su-bin needs the recognition reduction filter every time she goes out.

By the way, this recognition reduction filter is a product of the latest technology. It was invented by a genius researcher in the U.S. who said, "How long do heroes have to wear weird masks?" When you go through the device, it applies a recognition reduction effect to your face for a certain period.

Se-eun somehow got the design and made one for our underground base. Thanks, Se-eun!

Without the recognition reduction, it would be a disaster... Su-bin wouldn't be able to go shopping.

If Su-bin can't go out, we'd have to order takeout for every meal. That's what being a 'homebody' means...

"Ah, I can see it!"

Se-eun exclaimed excitedly.

Yeah, I can see it too.

[13th International Ice Cream Festival]

A large banner hangs here.

I never thought I'd end up at an ice cream festival.

The streets are lined with booths that have refrigerators. I can't help but wonder how much the electricity bill for this festival must be.

Se-eun is already excited, looking around everywhere, and Su-bin is also looking around curiously.

"Oh, it's rice ice cream!"

Se-eun ran off somewhere. Hey, wait for us!

When Su-bin and I slowly followed, Se-eun was already holding an ice cream cone.

A white ice cream in a cone.

"It's delicious! Do you want to try, oppa and unnie?"

Se-eun asked, her eyes sparkling.

Rice ice cream. I've only heard of it, never tried it.

"Sure, let me try."

I took the cone Se-eun offered and took a bite.

Hmm, it's delicious.

I thought it might taste like hot rice, but it's closer to vanilla.

"Oh, it's pretty good. Su-bin, why don't you try a bite?"

"Me? I, I..."

Su-bin suddenly looked flustered and her face turned red. Why is she reacting like this?

"Se-eun, it's delicious. Why don't you try it?"

"Come on, unnie, try it!"

Under the repeated urging of Se-eun and me, Su-bin's face turned even redder, and she finally lowered her head.

"Okay. G, give it to me."

She stuttered and reached out her hand.

Why is she back to being the extremely shy Su-bin from the beginning?

Did I push her too hard to eat it? Did it bring back the nightmare of our first meeting?

"...Ugh...This...indirect...Is it just me...?"

She mumbled something, but it was too quiet to hear. Then she closed her eyes and took a small bite of the ice cream. Why is she eating it so seriously?

"Mmm...It's delicious!"

After taking a bite, she finally smiled and said it was delicious. Right? It's a slightly nutty vanilla flavor, so it's quite good.

After taking a bite, the remaining cone went back to Se-eun, who finished it off neatly. She eats well.

***

We wandered around the festival for a while, trying different ice creams. We spent money like water, but since we have plenty, it wasn't a problem.

Since this is a global festival held in different countries, we saw all sorts of ice creams. There were familiar basic flavors like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and mint chocolate, as well as brand ice creams like "Alien Dad" and "Shooting Star." Besides those, there were also unique flavors you might only find here.

Wasabi, cold noodle, steak, and ramen-flavored ice creams. Surprisingly, the steak flavor was quite good. It felt like eating a grilled ice cream. I don't even know what I'm saying.

There were also flavors that shouldn't exist, like desk, booger, and earwax. Why are they selling these for money...

...Of course, we made a bet with rock-paper-scissors, and the loser had to eat the booger-flavored ice cream. Su-bin lost and ate it with teary eyes, but after one bite, her face turned pale, and she threw the rest away. Don't eat it, just give it to the trash can.

We're now eating mango-flavored ice cream. I don't know why we have to eat mango-flavored ice cream here... Isn't that right, Se-eun?

When I asked her with a scolding tone, she confidently whispered back, putting her foot on my leg and leaning close to my ear.

"Because oppa is the leader of the Mango Gang, you have to eat mango-flavored ice cream!"

"Se-eun... Honestly, don't you think the mango thing is getting a bit old? It's not fun if you overdo it."

"No? I find it fun every time. And no matter how much oppa denies it, the name of oppa's fan club is the Mango Gang."

Se-eun laughed. She's just teasing me for fun now...

Well, as long as you're happy.

As we looked around, we eventually reached the event corner.

This place sells collaboration ice creams like Frankenstein-flavored and Mickey Mouse-flavored.

Over there, there's even Egoistic-flavored ice cream...

Huh?

Wait, what flavor?

"Here, only available here! Egoistic-flavored ice cream!"

A woman in the booth was loudly trying to attract customers.

What is this?

This is a violation of portrait rights!

"Oppa, hehe, there's even ice cream. Hahaha!"

Se-eun was laughing brightly. Is it funny?

Wait, Su-bin is also turning her head and laughing?

What's even funnier is that this is the only booth with a line. People are taking photos with the ice cream in front. For Instagram? It's really ridiculous...

At the strong request of Se-eun and Su-bin, I ended up standing in line and buying the Egoistic-flavored ice cream. What does it taste like...?

The ice cream itself is common vanilla with a half-mask made of chocolate, which is my trademark. The eyes and mouth are also made of chocolate, giving it a strange feeling. The only difference is that it has mango inside?

Fortunately, it's edible. I wonder if the person selling it knows that Egoistic came and ate the Egoistic-flavored ice cream...

Going a bit further, there was a game area. A balloon-popping game with darts. If you hit many balloons, you get a prize. But since it's an ice cream festival, the prizes are also ice cream. A 10-layer ice cream? What's that?

"Se-eun, I'll show you. I used to be a dart-throwing expert. I'll get you a 10-layer ice cream or something!"

"Oppa, are you trying to cheat with telekinesis?"

Stung by Se-eun's words, I decided to just play the game. That's why I don't like perceptive kids. The booth can accommodate two people, and since no one was there, we could play right away.

"Phew... This heavy and cool feeling."

I was making small talk with Se-eun while holding the dart, when someone else came to play the game.

Without thinking, I glanced to the side to see who it was, and my brain froze.

Radiant blonde hair.

The most beautiful face in the world.

The person who came to play the game was Stardust, Shin Haru.

Eh... Why are you here?