Chapter 14: It Really Felt Like This Theme Was Made for Us

I had already broken into a nervous sweat early in the morning before I finally left the house.

“But don’t you have to move around a lot in an escape room?”

“I deliberately chose the one with the least activity.”

“Oh, nice thinking.”

Today’s date course… No.

The place we chose to help recover my memories was an escape room café.

“An escape room club, huh? I don’t think I would have been the one to suggest joining that first.”

Chaea and Hyunwoo had both been members of the escape room club.

Of course, there was no way the school would have approved a club that didn’t contribute to university applications.

“You were actually the first to say you’d join when I said I was starting it.”

Hyunwoo had created the club as an independent extracurricular activity.

It was a choice he could afford to make because he planned to get into university based on his academic performance—and had the grades to back it up.

“Really? I wonder if it was fun…”

“You’ll say it was fun no matter what.”

Hyunwoo wasn’t just blindly confident.

When they got older and no longer spent their time running around playgrounds—

—Yoo Chaea, there’s this thing called an escape room café. Doesn’t it sound fun?

—What’s that?

It had been a new hobby he’d found after years of only playing games at home.

Hyunwoo enjoyed solving puzzles and problems.

Chaea liked looking at mechanisms and interior designs.

That’s how they had both stuck with this hobby for so long.

It had the downside of being a bit pricey.

But that was never much of an issue for Hyunwoo.

“We still have a little time, so let’s sit down for a bit before heading in.”

Hyunwoo pointed to a café in front of them.

They had rushed out thinking they’d be late, but since they arrived earlier than expected, they needed to kill some time.

“Welcome~”

A smiling barista greeted them as they walked in.

Hyunwoo simply nodded in response and turned to Chaea.

“What do you want to drink?”

“What did I usually like?”

“Americano.”

“Then I’ll have that.”

“Okay.”

Hyunwoo walked up to the counter and placed their order.

“One iced Americano and one peach iced tea, is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Please wait a moment~”

After receiving the buzzer, they sat down.

Chaea immediately asked what was on her mind.

“You don’t drink coffee?”

“Coffee doesn’t sit well with me. Plus, I don’t like bitter things in general.”

“Now that you mention it, I think I remember that.”

Bzzz—

“I’ll be right back.”

The drinks were ready so quickly that it almost made the buzzer seem pointless.

Hyunwoo returned with the tray and handed Chaea her coffee.

“Try it. Maybe your taste has changed.”

“Alright.”

Sip—

Chaea took a small sip through the straw.

A slightly bitter yet clean taste lingered on her tongue.

—I got coffee, Yoo Chaea.

—Gasp. Thanks! How did you know I wanted some?

—I just happened to see a café and thought of you, so I picked one up.

A fragment of memory surfaced.

‘That’s right. Hyunwoo used to buy me coffee sometimes.’

Even though he hated coffee himself.

Whenever he passed by a café, he would say she came to mind and bring her an Americano.

“Heh.”

A silly grin escaped her lips.

The taste of coffee mixed with the flavor of an old memory—it felt nice.

“…What’s with you all of a sudden?”

“Nothing. This is really good.”

“Yeah? I still don’t get the appeal of coffee.”

“You’re still just a kid, Hyunwoo.”

Hyunwoo flinched.

—What does coffee even taste good for?

—Why are you complaining when you’re the one who bought it for me?

—No, I’m genuinely curious. It’s just bitter.

—Hehe. You’re still a kid, Hyunwoo. You don’t understand the taste of coffee yet.

The conversation was repeating itself.

Once in the past.

And now, again.

Hyunwoo, scratching at old memories, brushed his bangs back and scoffed.

“Whatever. You wouldn’t even go anywhere if I weren’t around.”

“If you weren’t around, I just wouldn’t go anywhere.”

“……Sip.”

With nothing left to say, Hyunwoo silently sipped his iced tea.

Sweet, cold, and refreshing—far more to his liking than bitter coffee.

After spending some time at the café, they finally arrived at the escape room café.

“Did you make a reservation?”

“Yes, two people under Do Hyunwoo.”

“Let me check… You reserved the ‘Searching for Lost Memories’ room at 3 PM, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay, then please store your belongings and take a seat. I’ll explain the rules shortly.”

After confirming the reservation, they put away their coats in a cabinet.

“‘Searching for Lost Memories,’ huh?”

Chaea whispered into Hyunwoo’s ear.

“Is this theme… meant for us?”

Hyunwoo chuckled at the unexpectedly innocent question.

“Of course not. It’s just a coincidence. I picked it because it required the least movement, and it just happened to be called that.”

Even Hyunwoo had been a little surprised when making the reservation.

The theme with the least physical activity just happened to be called ‘Searching for Lost Memories.’

He had booked it purely based on the name, without even looking at the story.

Once their belongings were stored and they sat down, the staff began their explanation.

“Is this your first time doing an escape room?”

“No, we’ve done a few before.”

“Then I’ll skip explaining locks and mechanisms and go straight to the story.”

From beside him, Chaea blinked at Hyunwoo.

‘This is my first time, though?’

Her gaze practically spoke aloud.

‘It’s fine. I’ll explain everything to you.’

Hyunwoo blinked back to reassure her.

Meanwhile, the staff handed them a book containing the story.

“You wake up in a room with no recollection of how you got there. You don’t even remember who you are.”

Flinch.

Chaea’s shoulders trembled involuntarily.

“Your goal is to uncover clues about your identity, figure out who the person beside you is, and discover why you’re both trapped here before escaping! Any questions?”

“No questions.”

“Great! The person holding the tablet, please come forward. The other person, place your hands on their shoulders and close your eyes.”

Hyunwoo grabbed the tablet and closed his eyes.

Chaea placed her hands on his shoulders and followed the staff member.

Clunk.

The door opened, and a wave of cool air brushed against their skin.

“I’ll knock when it’s time to start. You have 60 minutes.”

Thud.

Knock, knock, knock.

A knock sounded almost immediately.

Hyunwoo and Chaea opened their eyes.

“Uh.”

“Wait, what?”

They had expected a bleak and desolate room fitting the theme of lost memories and captivity.

But instead…

“This looks like a bedroom in a regular house.”

“It’s much smaller than a typical bedroom.”

“It’s not our room—it’s my room.”

Contrary to expectations, the room was quite ordinary.

The only unusual things were some doodles on the walls and a locked safe.

“So, what do we do now?”

“First, we need to find the first puzzle. There’s a bed over there, so just sit tight for a moment.”

“Got it—ugh… The bed’s harder than it looks.”

Chaea, expecting something soft, rubbed her backside after sitting down.

“They wouldn’t put in a nice bed just for decor. Does it hurt a lot?”

“No, I’m fine… Oh? Is this part of the puzzle?”

As she shook her head, she pulled back the blanket she had been sitting on.

A book with a puzzle written on it appeared.

“You’re right. Looks like this is the first challenge.”

“I found it with my butt!”

“Please, don’t say that so loudly.”

Escape rooms weren’t as soundproof as people might think.

Hyunwoo clapped a hand over Chaea’s mouth and started reading the puzzle.

“First, we need to log in to the computer.”

“You figured that out just by looking at it?”

“Well, we’ve done this so many times together.”

Once they found the first puzzle, everything started to flow smoothly.

“Shouldn’t we convert this into numbers?”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Liar.”

“I mean it.”

Even though Chaea didn’t have prior knowledge of the puzzle, her sharp intuition pointed out things they might have otherwise overlooked.

“…What is this?”

“It looks like we’re close to finding the answer. Let me see that for a sec.”

Hyunwoo effortlessly solved the more challenging puzzles.

As expected, most of the problems were designed to be solved while sitting still rather than requiring physical activity.

“Sss….”

“Let me try this one, Hyunwoo.”

“Wait a second—I think I got it.”

“…I also think I got it.”

Thanks to that, even though Chaea remained seated on the bed, she could still actively participate in solving the puzzles.

Then, they hit a roadblock—a puzzle that refused to be solved no matter how hard they tried.

“Hmm…?”

“I think we’re missing one more clue.”

“Haven’t we checked everything?”

“Yeah, we’ve opened every drawer.”

“Ah! What about that?”

Chaea suddenly spotted something and jumped up from the bed.

“What is it?”

“On top of the wardrobe! Hang on.”

She pointed at the spot they had overlooked and immediately tried to climb onto a chair.

“Hey, hey, that’s dangerous! I’ll do it.”

“I found it, so I’ll grab it. Just hold the chair steady.”

“No, wait—”

Before he could stop her, Chaea had already stepped onto the chair.

Hyunwoo quickly grabbed the chair to make sure she didn’t fall.

…This is exactly why I said I’d do it myself.

From his position, his field of vision was suddenly filled with Chaea’s backside.

It was as impressive as her chest, making it impossible to know where to look.

“This must be it, Hyunwoo.”

“…Really? Just hurry up and come down.”

Afraid of any potential misunderstandings, he swiftly turned his head away.

“Tada!”

Chaea climbed down with a satisfied smile, completely unaware of what Hyunwoo had just witnessed.

“This is definitely the right clue. It fits perfectly.”

“Oh, you’re right. If we put this here…”

Hyunwoo did his best to erase the vivid image from his mind and refocused on the puzzle.

“And the last step…”

Click.

Although they had hit a few roadblocks, they managed to escape within 60 minutes.

“Congratulations! You escaped without using a single hint!”

The staff applauded them before explaining the story in detail.

“You might have pieced it together, but the two of you were actually lovers.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s what we suspected.”

It wasn’t a difficult relationship to guess.

There were framed photos of them together.

Toothbrushes placed side by side in the bathroom.

Plenty of evidence suggested they were a married couple.

…Wait, doesn’t my own room have all these things too?

Hyunwoo had childhood photos with Chaea in his room.

Their toothbrushes were also stored together in his bathroom.

As Hyunwoo experienced a strange sense of déjà vu, the staff continued the explanation.

“The reason the two of you lost consciousness was because of a suspicious drug in the drinks at a newly opened café. After escaping, you reported the shady café owner to the authorities.”

Clap clap clap clap.

The staff applauded again and handed them a heart-shaped whiteboard.

“You can decorate it however you like, and we’ll take a commemorative photo! We’ll print it for you right away, so let us know when you’re ready!”

Hyunwoo briefly wondered why they gave them a heart-shaped board instead of a regular one.

“What should we draw, Hyunwoo?”

Seeing Chaea already holding a pen and contemplating, he decided it wasn’t worth overthinking.

“We can just write our names.”

“But we should add a little something.”

“Then…”

They decorated the whiteboard together and took the commemorative photo.

Whirrr…

They waited as the picture was printed.

“Please enjoy our other themes next time.”

“Our couple-themed rooms come with discounts, so we hope to see you again!”

“…Thanks?”

Hearing the staff’s meaningful remark, they left the escape room café.

On their way home, Hyunwoo naturally took Chaea’s hand and asked,

“So, how was it?”

“It was really fun.”

“I figured as much. What was your favorite part?”

“Hmm… If I had to pick…”

Chaea recalled the atmosphere of the room they had been trapped in.

It was smaller than the place she shared with Hyunwoo, but…

The details of their shared life had been perfectly recreated.

“It felt like the theme was made just for us.”

She hugged the photo close and smiled.