Friday, July 21, 2017.
The first semester of the second year ended, and finally, vacation began.
Early in the morning, we gathered in the playground to listen to the Principal’s speech, then returned to the classroom to receive our report cards from our homeroom teacher, Matsuda, before dispersing.
It was a really simple procedure.
After the closing ceremony, the girls went to buy swimsuits together, so for the first time, it was just the boys gathering.
“Ugh! Goodbye to this tiresome school for a while!”
Exiting the school gate, Satoru stretched and exclaimed, and Sakamoto, next to him, shrugged his shoulders in agreement, as if relieved.
“I’m also planning to play a lot of games today that I bought but couldn’t play during the semester.”
“Ah, you have a Switch at your place, right? Let’s play Mario, Mario.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”The two of them had known each other since middle school and seemed to have frequently visited each other’s houses.
Being the only one who met them in high school and not being part of the conversation, I was on the sidelines. Sakamoto, perhaps noticing this, spoke to me first.
“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard you talk about games, Kim. Don’t you like them?”
I shook my head.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a game console at home, so I only occasionally go to the arcade.”
It was unlikely that I, a former Korean, would dislike games.
I had considered buying one with my saved allowance, but I gave up, swallowing my tears, because it could disrupt my daily routine of home, school, and gym during the semester.
“How about coming to my place then? We live in the same neighborhood, after all.”
“Huh?”
I momentarily had a blank expression, surprised by Sakamoto’s unexpected invitation.
After all, I had never imagined being invited to the house of the protagonist, Sakamoto.
In the meantime, Satoru, who was next to us, said excitedly,
“That’s a great idea! Before we go on our trip to the sea, let’s have a farewell party to strengthen our bonds, just the guys!”
I asked again to confirm.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come?”
Then Sakamoto, revealing his white teeth, gave a thumbs up.
“Of course! We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
Honestly, it was a bit touching.
Thus, the holiday farewell party was decided in a flash.
Of course, it wasn’t like the end-of-semester parties at university, where we eat meat and drink until someone drops; it was a much healthier kind of party.
On our way, we stopped by a supermarket to buy snacks like squid and drinks, and headed to Sakamoto’s house.
“Oh, nice house.”
A high-rise villa at a huge intersection, about 10 minutes further from our house in the residential area.
That was Sakamoto’s house.
After swiping a card to enter through the automatic door of the entrance, we took the elevator, where Sakamoto pressed for the 13th floor.
Whirring!
The elevator ascended quickly and silently.
Ding!
When the elevator doors opened to the sides, Sakamoto used the same card at the door lock of the apartment directly to the right in front of us.
“Come in.”
Sakamoto said, opening the door wide.
“Excuse us!”
I followed Satoru into the house as if it were my own home.
‘Wow.’
Upon entering, my first impression was ‘high.’
Unlike typical apartments, this place had an incredibly high ceiling, perhaps because it was a duplex.
Thinking about how hard it must be to change the lightbulbs, I took off my shoes and entered the house.
“Make yourselves comfortable.”
Sakamoto ushered us towards the living room with a push on our backs.
The first floor, which seemed to be about 40 pyeong (approx. 132 square meters), had an island kitchen and a large living room. Honestly, I had only seen such luxurious villas in movies or dramas.
Compared to Rika’s blatantly rich-house vibe or Karen’s overwhelmingly large house, this one felt expensive in a different way.
Indeed, it seemed most people attending Ichijo Academy were quite wealthy.
Had there been no full scholarship system, I, too, like the Class President, would have found it difficult to pay the tuition.
As I glanced around and sat on the sofa, Sakamoto went to the kitchen with the juices and drinks we had bought at the supermarket, saying he would bring something to drink.
Meanwhile, Satoru, who had turned on the large wall-mounted TV and brought out the Switch controllers, extended one to me and asked,
“You know how to use this, right?”
“What do you take me for?”
I might not have a Switch now, but that wasn’t the case before I ‘possessed’ this body.
As I said that and wrapped the controller’s strap around my wrist, Satoru chuckled and did the same with his wrist.
“Hey, you’re not going to start without me, are you?”
Sakamoto, carrying a tray with drinks poured into cups, hurried over after seeing us.
“Would we do that without the homeowner?”
As Satoru said this and offered another controller, Sakamoto grabbed it and grinned.
“With so many of us here, it’s a good time to play that ‘game’, right?”
“That game?”
Hearing my intrigued response, Sakamoto nodded and opened a drawer under the TV.
“The game that’s not fun alone and somehow feels lacking with just two players.”
Saying this, Sakamoto proudly held up Mario Party above his head.
“Let’s play this today!”
It was commonly believed that Nintendo had many games suitable for entertaining guests.
And that was true.
It was fun alone, but even more so with two, and absolutely crazy fun with three or more.
Perhaps the fun almost doubled with the increase in the number of players?
Anyway, starting with Mario Party, we went through Mario Kart, and eventually reached Smash Brothers.
“Argh! I lost again!”
“Hehe, you’re still no match for me, Satoru.”
And although it was my first time playing games with Sakamoto, one thing was clear—he was incredibly skilled.
He was so proficient in all sorts of games and possessed such a competitive spirit that he could be described as a Korean born in Japan.
I, too, was once deeply engrossed in games to this extent, but that was all in the past.
Before I ‘possessed’ this body, my long graduate school life and giving up games for physical training made me feel as though I’d lost my childhood touch.
“Playing games with the Vice President would make for a good match.”
Saying that, Sakamoto tilted his head and asked.
“Playing games with the Vice President would make for a good match.”
When I said that, Sakamoto tilted his head and asked back.
“The Vice President? Does the Vice President like games?”
I nodded.
“He plays almost every day for 5 to 6 hours? He doesn’t really choose a genre. He plays so much that he gets scolded by his sister he lives with.”
“Ah, I can relate to that. My sister also crosses her arms behind me and looks at me with a really angry face if I play games for too long.”
Hearing this, Satoru tilted his head curiously and mumbled,
“Speaking of which, where’s your sister?”
“Ah, Yuika will come a bit later. She has violin lessons today.”
“Is that so?”
Hearing that, Satoru glanced towards the entrance and suddenly pressed the home button.
“Ah! What are you doing? Man! You’re just doing that because you’re about to lose!”
“Keep it down a bit.”
Saying that, Satoru suddenly pulled something out of his bag.
It was an action game with a cover prominently featuring a female character’s chest.
“That’s…!”
Sakamoto seemed to recognize it.
“In my house, the whole family shares the console, so it’s noticeable when I play. Let’s play at your place.”
Sakamoto swallowed hard.
“True, Yuika doesn’t play games…”
Regardless, he was also 17—an age full of curiosity.
It was certain he’d be interested in such risqué content.
I, having more experience, wouldn’t react to such exposure, but these guys couldn’t help it.
“…Yu-seong? What are you doing over there?”
“Changing the chip.”
As I said this and reached out my hand, Satoru, with a moved expression, handed me the package he was holding.
“Man, you’re really one of the guys, aren’t you?”
Knowing well that it would be half-censored but still playing along—that was just how guys were.
Click!
Inserting the chip, a new game appeared on the home screen.
I quickly returned to the sofa and entered observation mode.
“Shall we start?”
Sakamoto, after swallowing hard, pressed the A button on the controller.
Pop!
The screen momentarily turned black.
But soon, it brightened up, and the game’s opening video started to play.
Unlike typical Nintendo games, this one, clearly targeting male players, featured prominently bouncing chests from the very start of the opening video.
With its subtle charm, different from blatantly erotic videos, we momentarily forgot everything and quietly enjoyed the video.
After the short opening video of about 1 minute and 30 seconds ended, Sakamoto pressed the story mode on the controller, and characters voiced by professional voice actors began their lively and playful dialogues.
There were mostly female characters, but since we weren’t really playing for the story, it probably didn’t matter.
So there we were, silently playing this visually enjoyable game under an unspoken agreement.
Ding-ding!
Unexpectedly, the sound of the entrance door lock opening was heard.
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