Chapter 61 Part 4: First Outing

When Amy asked if I had time, Rain said yes, of course.

That’s how my first outing to the theme park this weekend was decided.

I started researching the theme park during the remaining time.

The plans for the day were written crookedly in a small notebook.

First, I would ride a large star-shaped disc and tour the entire theme park.

After that….

While I was scribbling with colorful colored pencils, I stared blankly at the growing number of notepads on my computer desktop.

I frowned at the messy way they were scattered all over the desktop.

The contents of the notepads were all simple.

A repetitive series of short words.

There were also many exclamation marks with strong feelings.

Wasn’t someone trying to send me a message?

I moved the mouse to bundle several notepad files at once and threw them in the trash can.

The image of the trash can changing into a sign that it was full of trash.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, I moved the mouse to empty the trash can.

The notepads disappeared with a rustling sound.

But the words that were vividly remembered in my mind did not easily disappear.

I stared blankly at the screen, shook my head, and started scribbling with my colored pencil again.

“Jeff. Is your plan coming together?”

“Yes!”

“Are you that excited?”

“Of course.”

Amy came over to me, who was sitting in front of the computer, scribbling away, and said, patting my head.

“But I can’t stay too late.”

“It’s okay!”

The time Amy gave me was until 5 p.m.

If I left here, I would arrive around 1 p.m., so I would only have 4 hours to spend there.

That’s why I continued to revise the contents of my notebook while studying a more efficient route.

“What about Shine?”

“I like everything if Jeff is good.”

I showed the contents of my notebook to Shine, who was sitting next to me, and asked for her opinion, but she didn’t seem particularly interested in my plan.

Holding the notebook in my hand, I buried myself in the soft chair and shook my short legs.

The back and forth movement of my legs added to the sway of the chair.

That night,

I realized for the first time in my life that I couldn’t sleep when I lay down in bed with my heart full of anticipation.

My heartbeat was pounding so loudly that it was almost overwhelming.

I couldn’t close my eyes even when I pulled the blanket over my head.

“Shine…?”

I gently pulled down the blanket that I had pulled over my head and called out to Shine, who was lying next to me.

But I didn’t hear the answer I had expected.

I buried my face in the pillow with my cheeks puffed out.

I couldn’t sleep.

But I couldn’t wake Amy or Shine up either.

I was wriggling under the blanket by myself, so I carefully moved out of the blanket.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I looked down at Shine, who was quietly sleeping.

A face just like mine.

A family with a body just like mine.

Small hands and short legs.

Soft cheeks.

Nothing was different from mine.

I reached out and pressed Shine’s cheek.

The soft texture and the soft cheek that I pressed along the shape of my finger were like rice cakes.

“Jeff”

“Ah….”

I was pressing Shine’s cheek for a while.

Shine’s closed eyes slowly opened and she gently wrapped my hand.

Startled, I tried to pull my hand away urgently, but she put strength into her hand and gently pulled my body.

My body collapsed lightly.

I was able to twist the hand that was being held away and pull it away, but I didn’t reject her touch.

“You didn’t sleep?”

“Yeah. Because I couldn’t sleep.”

I collapsed on the seat next to Shine and answered Shine’s question with a faint smile.

After hearing my answer, she reached out and gently stroked my hair.

“Did you drink coffee?”

“No. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Do you want to sleep?”

“Yeah. If you don’t sleep now, you won’t be able to have fun tomorrow.”

After hearing my answer, Shine quietly smiled.

At the same time, Shine’s hand, which had been gently stroking my hair, began to move slowly.

From my head to my forehead and to my eyes.

Her small fingers gently brushed over my eyelids.

When I looked at her as if to ask what she was doing, she reached out her other hand and covered my eyes.

“Good night, Jeff”

What are you doing now…..

“Je…”

A faint voice.

As if my faint mind was floating to the surface, I moved my hand as the sensation gradually became clearer.

My hand, which had been wrapped in a soft blanket, slipped out of the blanket and was exposed to the cold air.

My body flinched at the sudden change in temperature.

I rubbed my blurry eyes and got up.

“Jeff!”

“Rain…?”

I muttered absentmindedly at the sight of Rain waving her arms and fussing in front of me.

My head felt heavy.

It felt different from usual.

It felt like my fatigue hadn’t gone away.

I dragged my sagging body out of the blanket.

Why was Rain sitting on my bed?

I was curious about the chick that appeared in a completely different place than usual, so I asked Rain in a slow tone.

“Rain… why?”

Maybe because she was still awake.

A significant portion of my question was cut off, but Rain seemed to understand what I was saying and answered.

“You said you were going to play!”

Going to play.

When?

Today?

A series of words that continued slowly.

Theme park – Rain – promise.

“Ah!”

Only then did I remember.

Today was the day to go to the theme park.

I jumped out of bed and looked around unsteadily.

Shine and Amy were sitting at the table watching television.

“Amy!”

“Are you awake?”

“Theme park!”

“There’s still time, so go wash up and come back.”

I turned to Shine at Amy’s words.

She seemed to have already finished preparing perfectly, wearing the clothes that Amy had prepared for her.

Shine looked like a doll in her pure white one-piece dress.

“Uh…”

Her face hardened.

Anyone who saw the clothes that Shine was wearing could tell that they suited her very well.

That was the problem.

Amy always prepared the same clothes for me and Shine.

Like the glow-in-the-dark dinosaur pajamas and the sweatpants she wore when she went around.

It wasn’t that I felt aversion to wearing the same clothes as Shine.

It was an inexplicable aversion that came from deep within.

My face, frozen in that distorted, alien feeling, didn’t show any signs of relaxing.

My gaze turned away from Shine and toward the table in front of her.

A pure white one-piece dress that Amy must have prepared was spread out wide on it.

So. That’s what I have to wear?

Something so flashy?

“Jeff?”

If you think about it, it wasn’t a strange problem.

That’s why it was a problem.

There was no problem with me wearing those clothes, but the moment I imagined myself wearing them, an inexplicable aversion surged.

“Jeff? What are you doing?”

“Ah…. Rain.”

I stood there, motionless, at that subtle feeling Rain pushed my body into the bathroom.

I was staring blankly outside the bathroom, then stood on the step Amy had prepared and looked at the mirror on the sink.

The face of a small girl with messy hair.

The girl, who had a slightly embarrassed look in her eyes, reached out and touched her face.

“Is it me?”

I asked the girl in the mirror with a subtle smile.

I didn’t hear an answer.

A person with a living conscience might be distressed by the suffering of others.

However, most people are tired of recognition.

The ongoing war and the rise of corporations have taken away the leeway they had in their hearts.

Now, no one cares about each other.

They don’t mourn when someone gets shot on the street.

They don’t feel pain when someone gets crushed by a machine in a factory.

They just mock.

“Who told you to walk down that street at that time?”

“Wouldn’t it have been okay if you had followed the safety rules? Who forced you to go to the factory?”

They just belittle the suffering of others.

Their sense of justice only explodes when they criticize each other.

When an incident occurs that could attack a corporation, the poor or gangs become furious and express their hatred toward them.

They say that all the people in the corporation are trash who have sold their consciences, that those disgusting people are ruining this city and this world, and that all the employees who agree with them are part of the same gang.

It’s not wrong.

Corporations that have gained enormous power are infiltrating politics and sucking up enormous amounts of money.

Public order maintenance such as the police, infrastructure such as subways, buses, and roads, and even water and electricity have been largely privatized.

People working in corporations were no different from participating in the crime.

On the other hand, those who were somehow able to make a living criticized the poor and the gangs.

The trash who would shoot a gun if they got caught, the disgusting people who had no intention of working hard to earn money and living honestly, and who committed crimes whenever they had the chance, all of whom were potential criminals connected to gangs.

That was how the middle and upper classes of this city viewed the poor.

This was also true.

A man wearing a neat suit and walking down a dangerous street was more attractive to the criminals of the slums than a woman walking around naked.

“I guess we should probably go out now,” Amy said, getting up from her seat while I was smoothing the hem of my one-piece dress.

I ran to the corner of the room at her words and put my yellow bag on my back.

“I’m ready!”

Excited and full of anticipation.

Shine and Rain came up next to me at my powerful signal of completion.

“Jeff”

“Huh?”

“Did you bring your notebook?”

“Notebook…”

As I rummaged through my bag at Shine’s question, I remembered that the notebook containing the theme park plan was on the computer desk.

“Thank you!”

I almost forgot.

I hugged Shine’s body lightly and ran quickly to grab the small notebook.

“I’m really ready!”

Now I was really ready.

Amy, who was looking at me, smiled lightly and said, “Let’s go.”

I left the room and looked around.

The hallway was deserted because the vacation season wasn’t over yet.

“Where are you going?”

“Let’s go up the stairs first,” Amy said as she continued walking.

After chasing after Amy for a while, we were able to arrive at the front of the stairs.

Surely we don’t have to climb all these stairs?

I looked up at Amy with a worried look.

As if she sensed my gaze, Amy turned around and smiled.

“Are you worried about having to climb all the stairs?”

Amy’s playful question.

I nodded.

Amy tapped her phone screen while watching me.

At the same time as a small noise, a large hole appeared behind Amy.

It was a black, undulating, unsettling vortex.

Startled by the sudden appearance, I took two steps back.

“Warp…?”

“Come here, Jeff. Shine.”

Amy stood in front of the large vortex and held out her hand.

Shine also had a puzzled expression on her face at the sudden vortex.

When I was exchanging glances with Shine without hastily extending my hand, Rain, who was standing next to me, jumped into the vortex with a reckless movement.

It happened so quickly that I couldn’t reach out and grab Rain.

When I was just opening my mouth in confusion, the vortex that had swallowed Rain rippled, and Rain’s small face popped out.

“Aren’t you going to come?”

Rain acted as if she was so familiar with it.

Shine and I realized from her appearance that the vortex wasn’t dangerous.

When I approached Amy, who was silently extending her hand, and grabbed her hand, Amy started walking toward the vortex.

The black, rippling surface.

Rain’s head floating above it looked bizarre at first glance.

The moment I got right up to the vortex, I shut my eyes tightly.

Hwaak- The sound of a strong wind in my ears.

The cold air brushing past my cheeks entered deep into my lungs.

Startled, I opened my eyes wide and looked around.

It wasn’t a building.

The clean space with the pure white exterior walls no longer existed here.

A wide, open view.

As you can tell it’s high up, the end of a large mountain range appears at the end of your gaze.

Whoosh- The breath that escaped from my mouth turned into white vapor and dispersed.

This was a rooftop.

The rooftop of some unknown, unidentified building.

And it was a very wide rooftop, too.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo-!

The sound that approached as if late became clearer.

In the middle of the rooftop.

A black exterior that immediately caught my eye.

The propeller that was spinning at a high speed let out a loud noise.

“Helicopter…?”