Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 245



Only Noblemtl

245.

Boooooooo.

During our drive into town, Alexa and I didn’t talk to each other as much as we usually do.

Knowing that silence can sometimes be exciting, I would have just enjoyed this moment in silence. But now it was different. I desperately tried to think of a story to escape this awkward moment, but unfortunately, the answer did not come easily.

The reason was simple.

I was starting to doubt whether the person sitting next to me was really the Alexa I know.

I occasionally checked on her as she looked out the window without saying anything.

······Damn, to be honest, even this bizarre(?) appearance was cute.

It was definitely severe.

Shiny stiletto heels and a hot-pink shoulder-length semi-formal suit. I couldn’t see exactly how many colors were mixed, but her face was covered in an incredibly thick color. Her blond hair was so voluminous that it almost looked like it had been hit by a bomb, and it seemed to act as a shock absorber as it hit the roof of the car every time it went over a speed bump, making a “boo-ing” sound.

‘I’m going crazy.’

How on earth should I react to this?

The answer is, of course, set. ‘It’s pretty.’ That one thing would solve the whole situation. Judging from the fact that it’s a completely different outfit from my usual style that I quite liked, it seems like she put a lot of special effort into preparing it, but if I said it wasn’t good or strange in that situation, the atmosphere would go from bad to worst.

Knowing that, I started saying this.

“Today is a little different than usual.”

But I couldn’t just say, “You’re pretty,” like I usually do. I felt like Alexa was wearing clothes that didn’t suit her. If I kept saying that, I knew that she’d wear clothes she didn’t want to wear the next time we met.

“Uh, yeah. Is it weird?”

“It’s strange. Doesn’t it make you uncomfortable?”

“Really?! I, I’m fine!”

“No matter what you look like, you are the prettiest to me.”

“Ah, yeah······.”

Any form is fine. Alexa bows her head and smiles bashfully when she hears those words.

That opened my mouth.

I led a conversation about how she prepared for the day, and it was easy to realize that the KH Agency models I had seen the other day were the culprits.

‘Even in the future, the sense of fashion designers often transcends the times.’

I could understand why she had dressed up in an exaggerated style that seemed to appear in fashion magazines of this era.

At the same time, I kept thinking about where to go on a date, not because I hadn’t prepared in advance, but because I felt the need to change my plans.

‘I’m wearing high heels, so I can’t walk for long.’

It seemed like it would be difficult to go for a walk in the park or window shop as we usually do. I modified my plan to watch a movie at the theater and then go to a cafe, and asked Alexa a question.

“Should we go downtown and see a movie?”

“Huh? Oh, okay. What movies are you doing these days?”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to go and see.”

For some reason, it felt like things were going wrong from the start, but… well, I guess it’ll work out somehow.

***

A movie theater in the city that we arrived at after driving for a while.

There we were put in a situation where we had to choose between two options.

And to be honest, both of them felt terrible.

One was a horror film called “Attack of the Murderous Refrigerator,” and the other was an action film with very racist overtones called “The Trouble in Chinatown.”

The latter movie poster in particular was very impressive, with a Chinese man with a Fu Manchu beard smiling evilly behind the main character and heroine.

‘It’s not a movie I particularly want to see.’

Since watching ‘Attack on the Murderous Refrigerator’ would have caused Alexa, who is already sensitive, to faint, it seemed like it would be better to go with ‘The Trouble in Chinatown’.

As I turned around to ask for consent after thinking it over, Alexa grabbed my hand and shouted.

“Shall we go on a raid on the murder refrigerator?!”

“Huh? No. Let’s go to Chinatown.”

“I feel like watching something scary today!”

It was at this moment that she, who had said that and stepped forward, was about to buy a ticket to ‘The Trouble in Chinatown’.

“Oh, sir. If you wait 30 minutes, you could watch ‘The Little Bird’s Tale’. How about that?”

The ticket agent, reading our mood, kindly made a suggestion, and we checked the poster for the movie ‘The Story of a Little Bird’ through the small pamphlet placed next to the ticket booth.

A poster depicting a tiny bird flapping its wings hard on a tree branch, about to take flight into the sky.

“Oh.”

“It’s so cute! Should I do this?”

I nodded, thinking that I could watch this content without any problems, and Alexa, who was next to me, seemed to like it so much that her face turned red through her intense makeup.

Alexa and I each bought a popcorn and a Diet Coke and went inside.

Looking at the synopsis written on the pamphlet, ‘The Story of a Little Bird’ is a work that deals with the ecology of small birds, including a species called ‘olive pine grouse’. It was a kind of documentary video that was occasionally distributed to movie theaters in this era. As expected from the poster, I thought that nothing bad would happen.

But the movie that soon started······ caused something unimaginable to happen.

About an hour after the movie started.

[That’s how the olive pine squirrel dies.]

“Ugh, ugh······! Hug ugh!!”

“······hmm.”

Alexa desperately holds back tears.

The life of the olive grouse was a splendid one. Achilles, go away. The sight of them struggling to survive in the harsh natural environment made us feel awe and pity.

It was a cute olive drabble bird that flapped its wings hard to escape the attack of predators and moistened its throat by drinking a drop of dew, but in the end, as is the case with all things in the universe, its end came.

[It was a happy life. But life must circulate in nature.]

“No······. No, Kevin.”

It was Alexa who had even given me a name.

I had a feeling that this was a moment of crisis(?), so I went out of the theater and grabbed some tissues and came back. If Alexa, who was wearing a ton of makeup, started crying, it was clear that an unstoppable disaster would occur.

I hurried as fast as I could, but when I got back to the theater, I felt like it was too late and my legs gave out.

Alexa sobbed, even suppressing the small sound of ‘Kebeee …

If there was one bright spot, it was that ‘Little Bird Story’ was an unpopular documentary film, so there was no one else in the theater except us.

I sat down next to Alexa again and was shocked as I carefully persuaded her to take her hand away while she cried loudly, covering her face with her ‘hand’.

‘It’s a panda, okay?’

It was natural. The eye shadow I had applied to make my eyes look darker smudged due to my tears. I was really disappointed with the cosmetic technology at the time, which did not have excellent waterproof performance.

I calmly dabbed her tears with the end of a tissue, but Alexa continued to cry. The movie continued for a while after Olive’s death.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Alexa was so moved by the movie that she cried, but I found myself laughing.

The situation itself felt so lovely. Alexa had come to date me like this, ‘dressing up’ for me, but inside she was still the same.

I cried and sniffled as I mourned the death of the Olive Pine. But soon, when she finds out what her own face looks like, she will want to die of shame.

“Ugh, ugh······.”

“are you okay?”

“Poet, this movie is so touching.”

“Yeah, yeah. Oh, I think it would be better to go out and use the bathroom after we’re done.”

“Why, why? My face is a mess.”

“No, I’m pretty.”

Alexa tilts her head as I speak with a smile.

It was just then.

[The blue squirrel dies.]

“Daveeeeeee.”

Alexa started to cry loudly again.

***

After the movie ended, Alexa went to the bathroom and didn’t come out for a while.

‘······I knew this would happen.’

I waited for her in the movie theater lobby, munching on the remaining popcorn.

The cinema of 1986 did not have many screens and used multiple floors like the future. This was the largest one in the area, but apart from a small snack bar and a waiting lobby, there was nothing special about it. It was a huge difference from the future, which had ancillary facilities like an arcade.

Still, I really liked the fact that you had to buy a ticket at the entrance to get in, and other aspects of the experience.

‘Come to think of it, ‘Cinema Paradiso’ was released a few years later.’

I found myself humming the famous melody of the ‘Love theme’ and leisurely enjoying the unique atmosphere of the movie theater at the time while waiting for Alexa to return.

And when she came back, she was in battle mode(?).

“I, I’m sorry······.”

“Have you calmed down a bit?”

“yes······.”

Alexa nods her head, looking sullen.

Her hair and outfit were still the same, blow-dried and puffed up, but the face of Alexa that I knew, hidden under her battle mode, emerged. It seemed like it took some time for her to completely erase her makeup after trying to touch it up and failing.

I felt strangely happy to see her face, which was lightly covered in sunscreen and lipstick as usual. It felt like I unexpectedly met someone precious twice today.

“Ugh, I’m sorry······. Something feels strange about our date today.”

“I don’t think so at all.”

“Ha, but I cried so hard in the movie theater.”

“It’s a sad story, so of course it could be like that. Right?”

“Shiiin······!”

Alexa was snuggled into my arms. Her puffy hair hit my chin and acted as a cushion.

“I really love it! Oh, thank you for understanding!”

“Come on, stop lying down and let’s go eat some delicious cake.”

“Okay! I’ll buy the cake!”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“No! No! I got my modeling fee this time! Hehe, I got paid quite a lot!”

Crunch! Crunch!

People turn around at the sound of Kill Heel hitting the marble theater floor.

Alexa, who was holding my hand and leading the way with excitement, didn’t seem to care much about that.

I smiled faintly and gently pulled her onto the carpet.

***

On the following date, Alexa had only one thought in her head the whole time.

‘Are you really not going home today? Are you really not going home today? Are you really not going home today? Are you really not going home today? Are you really not going home today?’

I wonder if my stomach is sticking out. I wonder if there’s anything strange about it. I wonder if I’m being too conscious and acting strangely.

She’s always ticking along, her vision narrowed like someone with excessive self-consciousness.

At God’s words that they should start from the movie theater, go through the cafe, and now slowly go to the hotel, Alexa felt as if her internal organs, such as her lungs and heart, were about to burst out of her mouth. She flinched and said this to calm her panicked mind.

“Oh, already? It’s already five o’clock in the afternoon?”

“Considering the check-in time, I should have gone a little earlier······.”

“Who have you been with before?”

“······You went to Georgia with Simon, right?”

“Oh, that’s right! Right!”

Alexa nodded in understanding.

Alexa hesitated as she looked at Shin, who was momentarily avoiding her gaze out of guilt(?) for not being able to tell her about his past life, and then opened her mouth.

“Hey, should we stop by the park and take a walk?”

“Shoes, aren’t they uncomfortable?”

“Oh, these are so uncomfortable! I always wear these shoes!”

Now I was fine, I had no feeling in my feet at all.

But she deliberately acts more cheerful to get rid of her awkward and embarrassed feelings.

Shin, who was watching the scene closely, was worried inside, but he thought that it would be okay if it was just a short walk in the park, so he drove to the nearby Griffith Park.

After driving up to the observatory located at a high altitude, the two got out of the car and walked hand in hand along the long road until they arrived at the top of a hill overlooking downtown Los Angeles.

“and······!”

Perhaps because it was a place that held special memories for the two of them, Alexa also seemed to relax a bit there.

It was a weekday afternoon, so there were hardly any people around, and Alexa, feeling like she had rented a house, walked forward, step by step, and looked at the sunset spreading out below the hill.

“God! Come quickly!”

My head is spinning from running around like crazy.

“It’s so pretty! It’s like God mixed the paints on his palette!”

And the feeling that God felt when he saw that sight was indescribable.

Los Angeles, 1986.

Like the red sunset slightly tinged with smoke, the fact that there was a person who had shone in full color even in the faded colors of the past memories touched my heart.

Every single one of her actions, which were creaky because everything was new to her, was so lovely, and at the same time, there was a sense of a sad beauty that seemed like it would soon disappear.

The innocence he had forgotten and never enjoyed was right next to him.

Everything that made this moment so precious.

Perhaps, he thought, if these things were to disappear, he would throw everything away and stop them.

As I got older, I realized something. As I gradually became worn out by the world, emotions became a minor issue. Instead, solving the problems that were right in front of me became a priority, and for the sake of efficiency, I often skipped over things one by one. And once I reached that state, I could never go back to how I was before.

That is why Alexa’s presence, which helped him briefly act out and feel the purity he thought he would never be able to recall, was more precious to God than anything else.

‘Maybe Jack feels the same way.’

For a moment, Shin felt his vision becoming blurry and an image taking shape in his head.

For a ‘man’ so worn out by the world, the innocence he once again encounters will be more intense than anything else.

“······It’s pretty.”

As he approached, Shin leaned against the railing and slowly admired the sunset.

Alexa next to him hesitated, then slowly leaned her head on his shoulder.

And after a while.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, dark clouds gathered in the sky and it started to rain.

“uh······?”

“Oh, you said it was going to rain today?”

God saw Alexa tilting her head while looking up at the sky, so he hurriedly grabbed her hand and started walking back the way he had come.

As if by some kind of magic, the raindrops suddenly became stronger, and Alexa, who had been walking along with the god leading the way while holding his hand, soon fell to her knees, unable to hold on any longer.

“ah······?!”

“Alexa, are you okay?!”

“Okay, it’s okay. I can walk.”

Swaaaahh …

The rain poured down, soaking my whole body. The jacket that Shin was wearing and Alexa’s hot-pink semi-formal were all reduced to mere pieces of cloth.

Shin, who had been examining Alexa’s swollen ankles from the intense movement, thought that this couldn’t go on, so he put his hands under her armpits and around her calves and lifted them up.

“Huh?!”

“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll go to the car.”

“Oh, I can walk by myself······.”

“Listen to me.”

When God spoke firmly, Alexa, who had been hesitating, wrapped her hands around God’s neck and bowed her head to hide her reddened face.

The blonde hair that had been blow-dried to fluff up the hair in an attempt to become an ‘adult’ was soaking wet and stuck to her pale cheeks.

Even in the midst of all this, God continued to turn back.

But for some reason, the parking lot is nowhere to be seen.

‘Where the hell are you?’

Playing also requires energy. If you spend all day exercising since early morning, you may catch a cold if you stay wet.

As expected, Alexa immediately started shivering. Realizing this, she started walking faster, which made her breathe heavily.

And Alexa bit her lip, lowered her head, and opened her mouth.

“······Sorry, I just suggested we come to the park.”

“No, no. I wanted to come too.”

“Today, today everything is a mess, really······.”

Alexa became so depressed that she almost cried.

But when God saw her, he burst into laughter.

“Why, why are you laughing?!”

“No, no. It was definitely a mess. I’ll remember today for the rest of my life.”

“Ugh, ugh······!”

“But I know for sure.”

“What, what?”

“You’re always pretty, but you’re even prettier in moments like this.”

God smiled gently and looked at Alexa, who looked up in surprise.

Our eyes crossed in the rain.

Two people soaking in pure water from heaven, not adulterated alcohol.

Just then, a wooden hut for the park ranger came into view.

Like an old-fashioned cliché from an old novel.