HWAMB — Chapter 54

“Monday is white, Tuesday is checkered, Wednesday is polka-dotted, Thursday is… ha…”

Of all things, how did the conversation about class reps during the school trip turn into talking about Do Jin-gyeong?

“When did you even see that? The timing, seriously…”

At first, I thought about selling them online through a secondhand market called “Sweet Potato Market,” but I was too worried about what might come after, so I gave up.

Besides, they were still a gift from Hyun-woo. Twisted as his way of showing affection was, what could I do? I had to accept it.

As I sat calmly folding the fifty handkerchiefs one by one along with the rest of the laundry, my brother gave me a hollow laugh.

“What’s all this?”

“A gift from Hyun-woo.”

“All of it? How many are there?”

“Fifty.”

“What a ridiculous brat…”

Clicking his tongue, my brother walked out of the living room full of handkerchiefs. His voice was hoarse, like he had just gotten up. From the kitchen, I heard the sound of a cup being taken out of the cupboard. These days, he rushed home from work as quickly as possible, gritting his teeth.

“You’re coming home early these days, huh.”

“I’m not working overtime anymore.”

“Really? But can you just decide that on your own?”

“It’s true. I’m not doing it.”

He said it firmly, almost like he was casting a magic spell. I gave a bitter smile.

Every day, he came home with shadows under his eyes. It seemed like he was forcing himself to finish work by a set time and leave.

“They say when someone suddenly changes their habits, it’s a bad sign. Be careful.”

“Smartass.”

He smacked me lightly on the head with his finger as he walked over with a mug decorated with a bear. Then he sat down on the sofa, sipping his coffee.

Since it was the weekend, it looked like he could finally catch his breath.

“Are you going out today?”

“Yeah. I made plans with Hyun-woo.”

“Where to?”

“The arcade.”

For two days, from yesterday until today, the famous arcade “GGG” was hosting short collaboration events with various games, anime, and other genres. Among them, “Love Pink” was also scheduled for a collaboration event.

“A date, then.”

My brother muttered grumpily, answering without much interest.

A date… was it?

I wasn’t sure if Hyun-woo would even think of it that way.

I went into my room and carefully arranged the neatly folded handkerchiefs in my drawer.

“It’s about time I told him…”

That the claustrophobia caused by my parents’ accident had gotten worse. That I needed treatment. I kept telling myself I would say it, but the timing always slipped away.

I had promised myself I’d be brave, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

I took a deep breath.

“Hey, hyung…”

Just as I called out and stepped out of my room, a loud crash came from the kitchen.

“What was that? What broke?”

It was the sound of something shattering.

Startled, I ran into the living room and found my brother cleaning up broken glass on the floor. The smiling bear on the shattered mug somehow looked eerie.

“Hyung! Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“Damn… they say breaking something in the morning is bad luck.”

He clicked his tongue, grumbling as he cleaned up the pieces of the broken mug.

Then, to reassure me, he held out his spotless hands to show he wasn’t hurt.

“Anyway, what were you calling me for earlier?”

“Oh… nothing. I was just going to say I’m heading out.”

Having missed the right moment again, I picked up the bag and cap I had prepared in advance.

When my brother told me not to come home too late, I said I understood and stepped outside.

* * *

-Pop!

-Failed! Try harder and we’ll meet again next time! Goodbye!

That was already the ninth time.

Along with the cheerful music, bright lights flashed obnoxiously in front of my eyes.

“…”

“…”

Hyun-woo and I hung around the claw machines like we had some kind of grudge against them.

Every time I failed, that silly tune and the machine’s innocent voice made it feel like it was mocking me.

Especially with the way the flashing lights around the controls went off nonstop.

From beside us came a cheer. Someone must have just grabbed a rare prize. Damn it, I was jealous.

Out of the dozens of claw machines lined up, it was only me—only me—who couldn’t win anything.

“Fine, let’s see who wins this fight.”

Riled up, I pushed another coin into the slot, one of the tokens I’d exchanged at the counter.

The dazzling lights greeted me once again.

It was almost like they were saying, “Back again, sucker? Welcome.”

“What exactly are you trying to get?”

“Over there, the one buried in the middle.”

Hyun-woo frowned and peered inside as I pressed the buttons furiously.

“That one?”

“No, not that one. A little more to the left.”

“You sure you’re not mistaken? That thing’s ugly.”

“Because it’s ugly and worthless, it’s even more valuable.”

Hyun-woo gave me a look like he couldn’t make sense of me, then turned his eyes back toward the so-called ugly plush.

I was usually good at games.

Especially rhythm games, Tetris, Minesweeper—classic games. Even with console or RPG games, I picked them up faster than most.

But claw machines?

No matter how much I practiced, I was hopeless.

When I was younger, I’d tried countless times before finally giving up, convincing myself, “They must’ve rigged the machine somehow,” just to ease the sting of defeat.

-Pop!

“Argh!”

-Failed! Try harder and we’ll meet again next time! Goodbye!

As my cry rang out, that cheerful jingle blasted again.

Watching me with pity, Hyun-woo asked,

“Can’t you just buy that thing separately?”

“No… If it is sold, they slap a ridiculous premium on it.”

“But it’s ugly.”

“Exactly. It’s rare because it’s ugly.”

“…I really don’t get it.”

Of course, there were people who avoided them because they were ugly, but those weren’t true fans.

“Ugh, whatever. I’ll give up on this one. Let’s go, Hyun-woo.”

At least I’d won some prizes from the rhythm games and darts.

I’d known since I was six that the world wasn’t so kind that you could have everything you wanted just because you wished for it.

Hyun-woo stared at the machine as I sulked.

“There’s still time left. I’ll give it a try.”

“You? But you’re bad at games.”

This arcade had a limit on machine usage—only twenty minutes per person.

Thanks to the special event, there were plenty of machines set up.

“Claw machines are all about luck anyway. I’ve got better luck than you, so maybe I’ll do better.”

He had a point, so I stepped aside. Hyun-woo, serious now, gripped the joystick with one hand and kept the other ready over the button.

Even after failing a few times, he stuck with it persistently.

Catch and drop, catch and drop—he repeated the process until, after dozens of tries, he managed to drag it right up to the edge of the chute.

“Gasp… almost there!”

“Good, just a little more…”

Hyun-woo exhaled nervously, pulled out another coin, and slipped it into the slot.

“Only one minute left. Think you can do it?”

“Plenty.”

The machine’s looping jingle blared again. With a determined look, Hyun-woo pressed the button, and the claw slowly extended toward the target.

Straight and steady, the arm reached out and grabbed the ugly favorite plush firmly.

But then, something completely unexpected happened.

The plush being lifted was good enough—except something else was being dragged up with it.

It wasn’t another toy, but a smooth, shiny marble I had never seen before. It didn’t even look easy to grab, yet somehow the claw had caught it.

“What’s that supposed to be?”

“I’ve never seen it either… It doesn’t look like related merch. What is it?”

The claw, gripping both at once, wobbled unsteadily as it moved toward the chute.

Because of the marble’s slick surface, my favorite plush was slowly slipping off, pushed aside to make space.

“Uh-oh…”

It wasn’t that big, so it looked like it might slip through the gaps at any second.

In my head, I shouted, “Hang in there, hang in there!” cheering for the toy that couldn’t possibly hear me.

“Just a little more…”

“Please…”

But cruelly enough, my favorite plush rolled right off, pushed out by the marble. And at the same time, the marble fell neatly into the chute.

“….”

“….”

Before I could even feel disappointment, loud firecracker noises erupted.

-Pop! Pop-pop-pop! Pop!!

-Wow! Congratulations! You’ve won a special item! Let’s take a commemorative photo! Now—cheese!

“What the…”

-Click!

I glanced around, wondering if a camera was hidden somewhere, but of course, there wasn’t.