Contract Marriage with Memory Loss on Top - Chapter 10
The cold that Yeon-woo couldn’t feel when riding in the car suddenly enveloped him. Maybe he should have worn warmer clothes before coming out. When Yeon-woo shivered with his arms wrapped around himself, Ki-won took off the coat he was wearing. The moment the heavy sensation settled on his shoulders, the warmth Ki-won left behind cozily wrapped around Yeon-woo’s back.
“It’s fine…”
“You’re not feeling well either. What if you catch a cold?”
Maybe because it was the coat he wore often, Ki-won’s scent was deeply permeated in it. Yeon-woo firmly grasped it, worried the expensive coat might drag on the ground. Even though lending his outerwear made him lightly dressed, Ki-won didn’t show any signs of being cold. It’s not that Yeon-woo didn’t feel sorry though. Yeon-woo rushed towards the arcade that was starting to come into view, saying they should hurry inside.
“It’s wider than I thought.”
From the moment he heard “arcade”, Yeon-woo expected there to be machines other than claw machines. However, the scale was beyond imagination and dizzying background music flowed out from here and there. Not even knowing where to start looking, Yeon-woo’s feet malfunctioned.
‘But we don’t have any cash on us right now, do we…?’
Yeon-woo didn’t look into Ki-won’s wallet so he doesn’t know, but at least Yeon-woo doesn’t have any cash on him. In the first place, he thought they would just eat and go back, so he didn’t even think to bring any. Yeon-woo approached an average-looking claw machine and shrugged his shoulders as if regretful.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t bring any cash. Ha, ha… That’s too bad.”
It seemed like his soul had gone missing somewhere, his gestures were plausible but his tone was awkward. But Yeon-woo didn’t back down. Since he was the one who lied, he felt guilty for no reason, but he thought Ki-won probably wouldn’t think much of it. As Yeon-woo turned to leave saying they should go back, Ki-won’s voice caught him.
“It looks like you can use a card too.”
A cold sweat ran down Yeon-woo’s back. There was a black machine attached near the controls, it must have been a terminal.
‘Claw machines these days take cards too?’
Yeon-woo’s eyes trembled. Just before despair welled up, Yeon-woo smiled brightly again. If he left his facial muscles alone, it felt like they would stiffen up.
“So this is a place that takes card payments too… I didn’t know because the claw machine places I went to only accepted cash.”
Yeon-woo lightly added an excuse. Yeon-woo, who received the card Ki-won handed him, stood in front of the claw machine. The stuffed animals clustered together inside came into Yeon-woo’s view. To think he has to spend money to get those useless balls of cotton. It probably wouldn’t even be gum money to Ki-won, but Yeon-woo felt it was a waste and tightly shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear to directly witness money being wasted.
“Should we just do two thousand won…?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to do a part-time job because of claw machines, and now you only want to do two rounds? You can do more.”
“I guess two thousand won is too little after all, right?”
Yeon-woo, who changed his stance, chose ten thousand won, the most expensive option, reluctantly. A message saying the payment went through appeared, and after a little while the machine lit up. Yeon-woo stared intently at the claw machine playing a cute children’s song.
Right, since it turned out like this, he should at least get his money’s worth. Yeon-woo, who became resolute, set his sights on a teddy bear placed in the center. It was a bear with short limbs and a huge face, looking funny. Since it’s ugly, no one would have tried to get it, but at least he’ll take it home. Yeon-woo, who fixed the coat draped over his shoulders, rolled up his sleeves.
Once, twice, thrice.
Even though the number of available plays kept decreasing every time he missed the bear, not a single stuffed animal ended up in Yeon-woo’s hands. How could this be? He forgot the fact that the difficulty is quite high since he hasn’t played claw machines aside from when he was very young.
Irritation was slowly rising. Every time the claw grabbed the bear’s head and rose, it would just drop the stuffed animal.
Ki-won only quietly watched the back of Yeon-woo’s head. He didn’t strike up a conversation or make any comments. The only thing he did was sneakily pay for additional credits.
“Huh…? I’m sure there were only two plays left earlier, but why did it increase to ten?”
“Who knows, maybe it’s a bonus.”
Is that so?
Yeon-woo, who was about to naturally agree, had his eyes flicker. There’s no way a claw machine would have a bonus. Yeon-woo, who finally came to his senses, realized Ki-won’s wrongdoing.
“What will you do if you keep paying for it…! This doesn’t even get picked up well. It’s a total scam, a scam!”
Yeon-woo, who said he’ll die from the waste of money, snatched the card from Ki-won’s grasp. If he left it alone, it seemed like he would be catching stuffed animals until the business’ closing time.
“Tsk… Does this thing even get picked up?”
Yeon-woo tapped the innocent controls. The fighting spirit that had secretly risen also quickly cooled down. As the torturous hope of almost succeeding dragged on, the excitement that was about to arise died. Still, he should use up all the remaining plays before leaving. Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes to focus. Why does it look so hateful? He knew a stuffed animal can’t do that, but the expression seemed to be mocking him.
Exerting a high degree of concentration, he dropped the claw on the selected spot and the bear’s head was grabbed.
‘Please, please.’
He tried praying while biting the inside of his cheek, but the result was the same. He missed again.
“I’m going to stop…”
The discouraged Yeon-woo twisted his body unsteadily. Even if he raised his concentration to the maximum and aimed for the bear’s head, the claw couldn’t keep up.
“There’s still one left.”
He thought he used them all up, but apparently not. The dejected Yeon-woo grabbed the controls with a frown. Is it because his stance crumbled unlike the beginning? Ki-won, who was watching, approached and covered Yeon-woo’s hand.
“You have to go a bit more to the right for it to be centered.”
He was too close. Because he was bending his upper body and sticking his butt out to aim for the teddy bear, the posture of being pressed against him was embarrassing. Yeon-woo’s rapidly shaking eyes turned towards the back of Ki-won’s hand. He used Yeon-woo’s hand like a control to move the claw.
Soon, the claw slowly descended and grabbed the bear’s head. Unlike all the previous attempts, the feeling was strangely stable.
“Huh…?”
That’s when Yeon-woo’s mouth fell open. The claw that had been repeatedly dropping the stuffed animal while transporting it somehow didn’t let go of the bear all the way to the dispenser for some reason.
“Hyung! Look at that!”
Yeon-woo, who was stuck close to the machine not caring about the embarrassing posture anymore, had his eyes light up. The stuffed animal fell into the dispenser with a thud. When Yeon-woo was immersed in overwhelming emotion, Ki-won who took out the stuffed animal placed the bear in Yeon-woo’s arms.
“Hyung, how did you do that? Wow… Really, I thought this thing wouldn’t get picked up originally!”
He looked like an excited puppy with the way he was hopping up and down. The bear stuffed animal that looked hateful inside the claw machine now looked lovable to that degree. He wasn’t usually fond of stuffed animals, but he decided to treat it preciously since he obtained it after hardship.
“Hyung, how did you know that going to the right would make it get picked up?”
“It seemed like it would work if you match the center of mass.”
The amazing thing was that it could be grasped with the naked eye. Yeon-woo whipped his head around and examined the inside of the claw machine. No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t figure it out…. Ki-won’s eye measurement was at an astonishing level. So these are the kind of people who catch stuffed animals. The enlightened Yeon-woo stuck close to Ki-won’s side.
“Let’s go home now!”
Yeon-woo, with the teddy bear on one side and Ki-won on the other, advanced in high spirits.
***
Yeon-woo, who exhausted all his energy outside, lost his strength as soon as he entered the house. It was the first time he felt his physical strength to be this weak. The heat cycle’s period that acted up as it pleased was the problem. Suppressants had to be taken two pills a day for at least two days to be safe, so Yeon-woo took the medicine and headed to the kitchen.
“Eugh…”
Even though he has taken countless medicines, he has yet to see anything as bitter as suppressants. Yeon-woo, who frowned and made all sorts of faces, shook off the chills and put down the glass of water. Why was swallowing so uncomfortable too? Anyways, he didn’t like any of it.
Ki-won had gone into the study as soon as they arrived home. It seemed like he got a call from somewhere, is it work again? Yeon-woo stretched out his listless arms.
It felt like he had nodded off for a long time in the car, but even after coming home, the drowsiness didn’t go away. Taking suppressants in that state made the fatigue gradually deepen. Yeon-woo, who barely raised his heavy eyelids and entered the bedroom bathroom, let out a long yawn.
It was still early to sleep, but if he didn’t lie down right away, it felt like he would faceplant on the sink. Yeon-woo, who finished brushing his teeth and washing up busily, entrusted his body to the fluffy bed. Traces of exhaustion were stuck all over his body. Yeon-woo, who was shivering inside the cold blanket, lay on his side and curled up his legs. Ki-won occasionally nagged him saying it’s good to sleep in the correct posture, but at least this habit didn’t change easily.
“Ah… Hyung, it will be dark when you come in.”
Since he turned off the lights and lay down, the surroundings were pitch-black. Yeon-woo reached his arm towards the nightstand and turned on the bedside lamp. A soft light circulated in the bedroom where not even the silhouettes of objects could be seen before. This much should be enough for him to come in without bumping into things. The satisfied Yeon-woo went back to his sleeping posture with a relaxed mind.
The teddy bear Ki-won got for Yeon-woo was placed by his pillow.