Chapter BONUS - Side Story: Return Of The Stars (6)

# Stardust!

My brother has been acting strange lately.

That was the conclusion Han Seo-eun had reached after much contemplation.

"Oppa, snap out of it!"

"Uhhh... Seo-eun, I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry."

"What do you mean 'perfectly fine'?"

Han Seo-eun shook Da-in, who had been sitting alone in a chair staring into space, and clicked her tongue as she saw him still not coming to his senses.

Brother Da-in had been like this recently.

More precisely, since the day he caught the Teleporter and met Stardust. Da-in had been spending more days just sitting alone in a daze.

He wouldn't respond when called and seemed to be constantly thinking about something. All day long.

Sometimes he would grab his head and mutter, "Ugh... what is it exactly?" making her worry that he might be losing his mind.

She had shared her concerns about her brother with Su-bin, but...

"Well... maybe he's just got a lot on his mind lately? I'm sure he'll be fine if we leave him alone... probably."

Su-bin had only given such a vague answer with an awkward smile.

"...Ugh, this can't go on."

After several days of watching her brother's frustrating behavior, Han Seo-eun couldn't take it anymore.

How would sitting in an underground base all day in a daze help solve whatever problem he had?

"This won't do."

...And so, in this strange situation where a middle schooler was worrying about an adult, Seo-eun finally approached Da-in, who was still sitting there, with something in her hands.

"Oppa! Instead of just sitting there, why don't we go here with Su-bin unnie? It'll be refreshing, don't you think?"

She showed him a poster displayed on her tablet.

Out of concern for her brother who had been just clutching his head at home... and with a bit of her own personal interest mixed in.

She showed him the poster.

"...Maybe we should. But what is this?"

To Egostic's question, Seo-eun answered with a confident voice.

"An ice cream festival!"

* * *

"Ice cream festival. Yes, I remember. It's tomorrow, right?"

At Shin Ha-ru's home.

She was looking at a calendar and answering the woman on the other end of the phone with an amused voice.

Yes. The ice cream festival.

How could she forget this?

'Wow... what was it called again? The ice cream festival? When I ran into you there while you were still a civilian, Ha-ru, my heart really skipped a beat.'

'...? Did I see you there, Da-in...? Wait. I think I'm starting to remember. No way.'

'Don't you remember? That guy who made a scene trying to avoid your friend who was about to spill ice cream. That was me. Haha.'

An anecdote she had heard when they all lived together after defeating the Sun God.

The story of how she had already met Da-in back then... a memory they could laugh about by that point.

And now, after returning to the past.

This opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Ha-ru, whose primary goal was to get closer to Da-in as soon as possible.

...Of course, there would be another opportunity later to meet Da-in as a civilian rather than disguised as Egostic, thanks to Lee Seol-ah. But that would take too long to reach, so she hadn't considered it from the beginning.

Because.

The reason she had been trying to act as similarly as possible to before the regression was to ensure events flowed similarly to before the regression.

If she created changes too drastically, the future would change due to the butterfly effect. The advantage of regression would be lost.

That's why she had been pacing herself until now.

...Showing off her abilities and changing her speech pattern should be safe... right?

"But now... it's time to try."

However, Shin Ha-ru was now thinking of gradually introducing changes starting with this festival.

With the Behemoth incident that would happen later in mind, she was planning to completely change the future afterward, so until then, she intended to focus all her efforts on winning over Egostic.

And this festival was the starting point of that plan.

Specifically, to create a connection with Da-in while he was still a civilian.

Of course, normally, as in the previous timeline, Da-in would absolutely avoid getting involved with her for fear his identity might be discovered.

...But with his current deep doubts and concerns about her.

Would he really be able to refuse this opportunity?

She could be certain.

He would not be able to.

* * *

The next day arrived.

"Oh, Ha-ru~ Over here, over here~"

"Oh, Senior Chae-hyun. You arrived early?"

"Come on! You're the one who's late~ You always arrive earlier than the meeting time, what happened today!"

Well, I can't say much since I've been late more times than you! Chae-hyun said with a laugh, and Ha-ru silently gave a small smile.

...How could she explain? That the reason she was late was because 'Unnie, there was originally going to be a terrorist here today, so I wanted to take care of him in advance to prevent him from ruining our good time, but it took longer than expected to find him using just my senses.'...

Anyway, they set off. Heading to the festival that would be held for just one day.

As she experienced all kinds of ice cream, Ha-ru searched the faces around her for Da-in while also falling into a strange reminiscence.

...Chae-hyun unnie was so young back then. Seeing the college days of Chae-hyun unnie, whom she had occasionally met and kept in touch with after everything ended in the previous timeline, felt different.

Of course, she was also a college student now, but... well, she had taken a leave of absence as soon as she realized she'd have to attend college again after returning to the past, so was she on a break?

'I don't know.'

...While thinking about such useless things, she spent time laughing and chatting.

And time passed quickly.

"Ha-ru. How about this 7-layer ice cream? It'll be fun! Right?"

"Unnie. That's too dangerous, so let's just get 3 layers. No, even that's dangerous, so let me hold it."

"Ha-ru...? I'm not stupid..."

At some point, realizing the time had come, she began preparing by buying ice cream.

And then.

'...Found him.'

Finally, she saw him.

In the crowded festival street.

Standing in front of a booth, a familiar face she hadn't seen in a while... with a somewhat dazed expression, a man with black hair.

Along with a girl with silver hair and another woman with brown hair. A group of three.

...Were they playing a dart-throwing game?

"Chae-hyun unnie. Let's try that."

"Hm? Oh, the balloon popping? Sure! That sounds fun~"

Shin Ha-ru naturally headed in that direction with her senior.

With ice cream in hand, naturally.

As she approached while speaking loudly.

"...?!"

It was a bit amusing to see the man with the dazed face flinch slightly upon hearing her voice.

Anyway, Shin Ha-ru naturally stood right next to him and moved her hand while smiling and talking to her unnie.

...Only to receive the trembling gazes of the other two who had just noticed her.

"Unnie, I'll give it a try, so could you hold this ice cream for me? Where's my money..."

"Hm? Oh..."

And then.

In the process of turning around, due to an 'accidental' and 'unfortunate' mishap with her unnie.

She made the big mistake of spilling ice cream on the man next to her.

Splat!

"Oh!"

The ice cream that brushed past and stained the coat of the man next to her.

And so, Shin Ha-ru accidentally spilled ice cream on Da-in's clothes during their chance meeting.

"Oh my, how could this happen. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Haha... it's okay."

Although it wasn't completely covered, there was definitely a noticeable sugary stain on his coat.

Seeing this, Shin Ha-ru desperately put on an apologetic expression, showing that she didn't know what to do.

"No, it's not. Your coat looks expensive... it was my mistake, so I should compensate you. Money..."

As she was saying this, she suddenly realized she hadn't brought any cash and showed a dismayed expression.

Of course, she had deliberately not brought cash.

While Ha-ru was doing this, Egostic's group seemed even more flustered by her behavior.

Seo-eun... it seemed like this was the first time seeing her childhood appearance, and she looked cute... ahem. Anyway, Han Seo-eun had been frozen for a while. Su-bin, who had always shown a kind smile in the previous timeline, was also standing beside her, not knowing what to do.

They were probably worried about what would happen if their identities were revealed after talking for too long.

And this seemed to be a natural concern for Da-in as well.

But Da-in was still Da-in, wasn't he? He alone maintained an outwardly unshaken appearance and spoke kindly to Ha-ru with a smile.

"Haha. Really, it's fine. People make mistakes. I have plenty of clothes like this at home, so..."

"No. You don't need to say that. I should at least pay for the cleaning to ease my conscience."

However, Shin Ha-ru cut him off sharply and replied.

Good. Everything was going according to plan so far.

And then.

"Since I don't have anything with me right now... if you tell me the cleaning cost later, I'll send you the money. So..."

Ha-ru, making direct eye contact with Da-in for this part.

With a sweet smile in her eyes, she asked him:

"Could I have your number?"

"..."

Now.

How would he respond?

Ignoring the two women who had frozen even more behind Da-in, and Chae-hyun unnie who was sticking close behind saying "Ha... Ha-ru?"

Shin Ha-ru looked into Da-in's eyes.

Normally, Da-in would definitely refuse this.

He would have made a scene to avoid creating any connection between himself and her while he was still a civilian.

But now, after consistently planting seeds of doubt in him from the beginning?

Now that he was confused and suspicious about the hero Stardust?

Would he really miss the opportunity to create a connection that might help solve his questions?

Of course, it was a high-risk, low-return decision.

But having lived with Da-in in the same house for years and constantly sharing affection with him, the current Ha-ru knew.

That he wouldn't be able to refuse this offer.

Because Egostic was a man who always took on challenges when he saw possibilities, even in dangerous situations.

"..."

...After spending some time in silence with a contemplative look in his eyes.

Her prediction was correct.

"Alright. Sure."

Finally, those words came from Da-in.

At that answer.

'Yes...!'

As Ha-ru was hiding her joyful expression and about to continue her response.

"But."

Da-in.

As always, he went beyond her expectations.

"Honestly, don't worry about the cleaning cost."

"What? Then..."

"Instead..."

After saying that much, he paused for a moment.

Then, looking directly into her eyes.

He asked her in the affectionate tone she had heard during their time as lovers in the previous timeline.

"Could you treat me to a cup of coffee at a cafe sometime?"

"Uh..."

To think he would approach it so directly...

At this unexpected date proposal in the middle of the festival, everyone around wore shocked expressions.

...But as always.

Her answer was predetermined.

"Yes. Of course. I'd like that."

And so Shin Ha-ru, hiding her own surprised expression, answered with a bright smile.

The hottest hero and villain in the Republic of Korea.

This was the moment their meeting was scheduled.