Chapter 91

* * *After coming out of the second exit of Hyehwa station, she flinched as she got hit by the sudden wind. Cold winds like these were the ones that reminded her that it was December.“It’s co...”A shadow rose up right in front of her as soon as she opened her mouth, it was Maru. Before she realized what was going on, he stretched his arms out towards her. She tried to step backwards, but realized there was something warm getting wrapped around her neck right then.“It’s cold, wear this.”“...Yeah.”It was Maru’s scarf. A soft scarf that had a lot of fluff on it, the type that she liked. She sniffed her nose a little bit. The scarf smelled pretty good. Did it get washed recently?“Want to try going there?”Maru pointed to a pasta restaurant on the other side of the road.“Over there?”The outside of the restaurant was decorated with logs and a fancy-looking signboard. The customers inside all looked like they were either college students or older. That is, the restaurant looked really expensive.“Let’s go. You like cream pasta and pizza with not many toppings, don’t you?” Maru walked forward after speaking. She silently agreed with him inside, before realizing what the boy just said.“Wait, how did you know that? That I like cream pasta?”“...I heard it from Hanna.”She easily caught that hint of surprise from the boy’s face. He was lying, she was sure of it.“Really?”Plus, she never told Hanna her favorite food. After all, Hanna was only ever interested in her own favorite food: army stew. “...Just a feeling. Don’t girls like stuff like cream pasta?”“Well, you’re not wrong, but… That doesn’t make this any less suspicious.”“I just guessed.”He regained his composure. Did he really guess? Or did he have someone telling him information about her? She could easily think of a few candidates on the spot, they probably worked with Hanna for this. “Anyway, it’s cold. Let’s go inside first.”Maru casually grabbed her hand again. She let out a short laugh, but didn’t pull away this time. At least it was obvious that he cared for her.

* * *She finished her food almost as soon as it came out. Maru smiled internally. Be it in the future or right now, her appetite was unchanging. She always ate well, and she used all of that energy for when she was on stage.‘That reminds me...’Memories were giving birth to more memories. One by one, Maru started remembering events that he shared with her, each one making him want to smile more and more. Most of his memories were gone, but the times he shared with her were still deeply rooted in his heart.“You smile really often,” she said curiously.Of course, I would. You’re right there with me.Maru swallowed those words and brushed himself off to be the type that smiled a lot.‘Well, it’s going well so far, at least.’Her favorite perfume, favorite scarf, and favorite food. Maru made use of his memories as much as possible to prepare for this day. He was confident that today was going to be a success. After all, he did have quite a bit of experience with women before he married.“Hm, hm hm, hm hm.”She started humming in happiness. Ah, he hadn’t heard this sound in a very long time. Just watching her hum to herself made him happy. For a few seconds, he stopped doing everything else other than listening to her sing. That melody… It’s the one she sang when they first met. The one that she liked to sing whenever she was happy or sad.[This is a happy and a sad song.]He remembered now. When she told him that line, her face was colored with tears.“Ah!”She opened her eyes and immediately looked down in embarrassment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”“What?”“People are watching.”Indeed, some people were watching the two of them with a smile on their faces. A loud hum like this in the middle of a quiet store was more than enough to garner some attention.“I didn’t want to interrupt good music.”“No… Ugh, whatever.”“Thanks for the music. It was very good.”“...You’re not going to get anything out of that praise, you know.”“Doesn’t matter, I already listened to your music.”Maru stood up first and pulled her chair back a little.“Do you come to places like this often?”“Mm, no.”It wasn’t a lie. It was his first time coming to a pasta place in this life. Of course, before that, he used to come here with her often. As a matter of fact, their dates always involved a pasta place in them. Right then, Maru was assaulted with so many memories that he started getting dizzy. When he grabbed his head and stumbled a little, she grabbed his arm with a surprised expression.“W-what the. Are you okay? Are you sick?”“It’s nothing. I just tripped a bit.”“What, you surprised me.”She calmed down pretty fast, Maru’s head went blank again. It looked like he could only remember fragments of his memories, not full ones. He grabbed the bill and walked over to the counter. The waiter asked them if the meal was good.“It was delicious. We’ll come again,” she answered for him.Maru handed his card over. He finished paying and turned around after grabbing the receipt. She immediately snatched the receipt out of his hand.“...80 thousand?”“Why?”“Just pasta, pizza, and a drink?““Well, it’s good as long as it’s tasty.”“No, but...”Then again, at this time, for people of their age 80 thousand won was a lot of money. She stopped at the entrance for a second before taking out a little wallet from her bag. She swallowed nervously before fishing 40 thousand won from it.“Here, here!”She was handing it over with nervousness on her face. That was probably a massive chunk of her allowance. Maru refused for now, but she kept pushing the money onto his face. In the end, he took it.“I wouldn’t have come here if I knew it was going to be this expensive.”She was shaking her head dejectedly. Maru watched her walk outside for a second, before walking back to the counter.“Can I borrow some pen and paper, please?”