Chapter 98: One summer day
It was a warm summer day. The amusement park was drenched in golden light, flowers blooming in wide beds that stretched along the cobblestone paths. The scent of caramel popcorn and fried dough filled the air. Laughter rang from every direction, mixing with the rhythmic clatter of roller coasters and the cheerful tunes of carousel music.
"So this is how you want to spend your thirteenth birthday?" Tristan muttered as he shielded his eyes from the sun. "Skip school and loiter in a place like this? Since when did you start liking crowds? Don’t you usually hate noisy places?"
Shin was momentarily confused. His eyes weren’t on the rides or the blue sky overhead. He was staring at two kids lying on the grass nearby both in rumpled school uniforms.
It was him.
And Tristan Felan.
Back when they were just thirteen.
The dream confused him. It wasn’t the strange red forest again, or that creature resembling Yeri. Just... this. A random slice of childhood. Forgotten, meaningless or so he thought.
"Shut up. Did I ask you to come?" young Shin snapped with irritation, the same look he always wore back then.
"Ugh. I think it’s starting to bruise..." Tristan groaned, poking his cheek. "Hey, Shin, why didn’t you get hit? Why do those delinquents always go after me?"
Tristan’s uniform looked like it had been chewed by a washing machine, while Shin’s remained suspiciously wrinkle-free. With a sigh, young Shin stood up and headed toward the ice cream shop across the street.
He had just reached the counter when something small and squishy slammed into his legs.
"My ice kem... hic!"