"Happy now?"
Lin sat at one end of the sofa, propping up his head and watching the pink-haired girl happily eating noodles at the other end.
After finishing her bowl, she set it down and turned her head. Her tied-up long hair fell across the back of Lin hand. The faint sheen of oil on her lips reflected the light like a delicious jelly, and her laughing pupils mirrored Lin face.
Elysia pinched Lin fingers. Her beautiful face drew close, her breath sweet. "Are you angry? Over two years of hard work gone in an instant."
Lin shook his head. "No. I just don't understand why you did it."
"Hmm, maybe I just didn't want to play both sides anymore. Lin, didn't you say that sticking labels on yourself is considered 'normal'? What they see is an 'Ellie' covered in labels, not Elysia. That's not fair, is it?"
"You'll be cursed at."
"That's normal too. All this time, they saw what they wanted to see and believed I would always be the way they expected. When I show a completely different side, they will curse me, even if my intention was to let them know the truth." Elysia smiled nonchalantly. "If Lin discovered the opposite side of someone close to him one day, what would you think?"
Just as Lin was about to speak, Elysia held up an index finger to his lips. A mysterious smile flashed across her face. "Let's save the answer to that question for when the time comes."
"...You'll be all alone from now on." Lin changed the subject.
"Actually, when I said I have good friends on the internet, I wasn't lying. Some of them are world-famous superstars."
"I see..."
For some reason, Lin felt relieved.
"Before you leave, there are many things I want to do. I've been so busy streaming these past two years that I almost forgot what the outside world looks like." Elysia enthusiastically picked up her small notebook filled with things she wanted to do. "Let's go on a date, Lin."
...
"I want this, this, and this..."
Elysia spent lavishly on the menu, handing the packed order sheet to a wide-eyed waiter.
It was the first time the waiter had seen a customer order almost every dish on the menu, especially since there were only two of them.
She looked left and right at Lin and Elysia faces and figures, then left with an expression as if she were questioning her life.
Lin sat quietly opposite Elysia. "Don't eat too much. If we do intense activities later, be careful not to throw up."
"If I throw up, I'll just come back and eat more."
"..."
The restaurant's efficiency was quite high. Within a few minutes, dishes were brought out like an assembly line. The exquisite dishes were like works of art. Elysia picked up a fork and put a piece of sizzling grilled meat into her mouth.
"Hmm..." Then her expression became subtle. "Not as good as Lin cooking."
A very fair assessment.
However, it didn't stop them from eating this feast. People at the next table watched in amazement as the two seemingly took their time eating the pile of food on the table, yet the speed at which the food disappeared didn't match their leisurely movements at all, almost keeping pace with the service speed.
In the gap while eating small bites of a sundae, Elysia saw Lin head-down, dealing with a large piece of grilled meat. She glanced at the condiment bottles on the side, flashed a little devilish prankster's smile, and quietly took a bottle labeled "Extra Spicy."
She scooped a spoonful of sundae with strawberry jam, then smeared the similarly colored dip over it. It looked exactly like a delicious scoop of sundae covered in strawberry jam.
"Lin, say 'ah'~"
Lin looked up to see the sweet-smiling girl holding a spoon near him. He opened his mouth without any defense...
"Mmph."
A mouthful of extra-spicy dip that could make someone spit fire was eaten entirely by Lin.
Elysia watched Lin unchanging ice-sculpture face with anticipation, holding a bottle of yogurt in one hand.
However, the expected scene did not appear. Lin merely looked with a bit of confusion at the expectant Elysia, then lowered his head to continue with the meat.
Elysia blinked her lively eyes, staring at the silent man.
...
"Waaaaah!"
Lin sat silently on the drop tower, listening to the whistling wind and the screams in his ears. His face was like an ice sculpture; even the wind couldn't move it.
The speed of the drop tower was too slow for him. Even if this amusement park's drop tower was claimed to be the second-highest in the world, the weightless fall didn't feel exciting to him, let alone enough to make him scream with an adrenaline rush like the others.
Even Elysia screamed aloud. After the ride, she leaned her entire body shakily against Lin and was helped out of the facility.
"Wooo..." Elysia held Lin arm limply. From a distance, she looked at her own distorted face in the camera-captured photo, then saw Lin incredibly calm face that looked like he was just riding a go-kart. She immediately puffed out her cheeks and dragged Lin back inside. "Let's go again."
"..."
Lin had already heard her screams seven or eight times. His eardrums were nearly burst, yet she still hadn't given up.
"Lin, is your face made of iron?" Elysia, whose legs were still shaking, reached out and pinched Lin cheeks, pulling them to the sides to stretch his expressionless face into a ridiculous shape. "It's clearly soft. Show more expressions. I've never seen your features move."
"...What kind of expression?"
"Give me a smile."
"..."
The muscles on Lin face twitched rapidly.
"...Did you smile?" The speed was so fast that Elysia didn't even react. She looked at Lin suspiciously. "Smile again?"
The muscles twitched a few more times.
"..." This time it was Elysia turn to be silent. The more she looked at Lin, the angrier she got. Suddenly, she pointed at his face and shouted, "Let's go again! This time, you must scream with me!"
What choice did Lin have? He could only continue following Elysia in the queue. Under the ticket collector's utterly confused gaze, he boarded the drop tower for the tenth time. And this time...
"Ahhhhhhhhhh."
Lin cried out, without any emotion.
As if his vocal organs and his body were operating separately, the scream was so devoid of passion that it even affected the other tourists. They listened weirdly to the shout whose frequency never changed and, by unspoken agreement, stopped their own screaming.
Then, the onlookers below saw the quietest drop tower in history, with only one man shouting like he was doing business with a flat tone...
"Hahahaha..."
The midday sun shone brightly. The girl laughed heartily at the man's eternal face on the screen and his wildly out-of-place open-mouthed shouting, leaving a lighthearted laughter drifting in the air of the amusement park.