The person who opened the door was Dana’s mother.
She was momentarily taken aback when she saw Ban Eunhyeol alone, but she quickly opened the door wide and let him inside.
“I’m so sorry, Dana’s still sleeping.”
“It’s okay. Can I wait here until she wakes up?”
“Of course. Sit on the sofa and wait.”
As soon as Ban Eunhyeol sat down on the sofa, Dana’s mother brought out some simple snacks—Dana’s current favorite new potato chips.
“Dana’s been hooked on these potato chips lately. She even bought several bags of them. Do you like these too?”
“Yes, I do. Thank you.”
He opened the bag of chips and picked some out one by one while chatting with Dana’s mother.
He wanted to honestly say that he was dating Dana, but he didn’t want to talk about it alone without Dana being involved.
There was always the possibility Dana might get scolded for dating in her senior year of high school, or she might want to keep it a secret because of that.
‘At least she’s sleeping well. That’s a relief.’
Unlike himself, who had spent the night wide awake, Dana seemed to be sleeping soundly until lunchtime, which put his mind at ease.
It was enough for him to worry by himself.
He hoped Dana wouldn’t lose sleep over things that might happen in the future or get headaches from worrying.
“By the way, Eunhyeol, was something wrong yesterday?”
As they talked, Dana’s mother’s question caused Ban Eunhyeol’s body to stiffen.
He quickly relaxed and softened his expression deliberately, then tilted his head and asked, “Yesterday?”
“Yes, yesterday. Dana kept looking spaced out. Her expression didn’t seem very good either.”
Dana’s parents knew she had stayed at his house late after school yesterday, so he had to answer carefully.
Though his mind felt frozen from the sleepless night, it was actually spinning rapidly.
“We studied together at my place yesterday, and I think she was a bit stressed about studying. But from what I saw, she was doing her best. Well, it’s her senior year, after all.”
That was a solid answer.
He smiled to himself, imagining Dana would later praise him for handling the situation well.
“Oh, is that so? Since she’s a senior now, it seems like she’s really studying hard. I should make her favorite braised beef ribs for dinner tonight.”
Dana’s mother’s face brightened noticeably, clearly happy that Dana was working hard.
‘I have to do whatever I can to make sure her grades don’t drop.’
Hearing this, he realized that if Dana’s grades did fall, her parents would be deeply disappointed.
Though he had taken on the serious mission of changing the future, he thought he couldn’t neglect her studies and started planning future tutoring sessions.
“Yaaawn…”
Just then, the sound of the door opening came, and Dana appeared in the living room, looking disheveled.
Her eyes, still barely open, widened when she saw Ban Eunhyeol.
Seeing him sitting neatly with a clean face while eating the new potato chips, Dana backed away and dashed into her room.
Bang!
The door slammed unusually loudly.
***
‘Why is he here? Did I see wrong?’
After staying up all night and finally falling asleep, she thought she’d sleep well until late afternoon, but she woke up early because she was hungry.
First, she decided to fill her stomach, then think about the quest, so she went out into the living room.
But why was Ban Eunhyeol in her living room?
She hurriedly checked herself in the full-length mirror.
Her hair was messy from just waking up, and her face was puffy.
Most of all, unlike Ban Eunhyeol, who was neatly dressed in a shirt and slacks, she was still in pajamas.
Pajamas with teddy bears printed on them.
Her mom had bought them after hearing from a gathering that these pajamas were super comfortable.
“Haaah…”
She buried her face in her hands and sank down to the floor.
[Is this because of the quest?]
Hearing her sigh, Sahin suddenly appeared and asked.
She just shook her head no and lowered her hands.
“This is definitely a love problem… but now is not the time.”
She didn’t know why Ban Eunhyeol had come to her house on a weekend afternoon without contacting her, but she needed to at least look presentable.
When they were just friends, she wouldn’t have cared and gone out as she was, but now she didn’t want to.
She wanted to look a little more put-together, and she definitely didn’t want to show him her earlier state.
She brushed her hair, changed clothes, checked her face once more, then rushed to the bathroom to wash her face.
After that, she acted as if nothing had happened and calmly stepped into the living room.
“What’s going on?”
“Don’t ask what’s going on when your friend came to visit. Do you know how long Eunhyeol waited for you to get up?”
Her mom scolded her as soon as she saw Ban Eunhyeol.
Feeling sheepish, she quietly went to the sofa and sat down next to Ban Eunhyeol.
“Eunhyeol, have some lunch before you go. I’ll prepare it soon.”
Her mom checked the clock and went to the kitchen.
Thankfully, her dad was away on a business trip; otherwise, the three of them would’ve sat awkwardly in the living room.
It was fine when they were just friends, but now that they hadn’t told her parents they were dating, every little action felt significant.
“Why did you really come? Do you know how shocked I was earlier?”
“I was shocked too.”
“What does that mean?”
Thinking he was teasing her, she squinted and asked, but Ban Eunhyeol glanced at the kitchen, then leaned close to her ear and whispered,
“I was surprised because you looked so pretty even though you just woke up.”
What’s gotten into him!
Startled by his sudden, cheesy comment, she leaned backward.
Finding her reaction amusing, Ban Eunhyeol chuckled softly.
Then, when her mom briefly came back into the living room, both quickly composed their expressions.
“So really, what’s going on?”
“I wanted to see you but couldn’t reach you. Also, I need to talk about the future that Kang Yedam mentioned.”
“Oh, right. That’s important. We should talk about the future.”
Having just gotten up, the string of awkward compliments made her head spin.
Not knowing where to look, her gaze wandered around until she finally turned her body away from Ban Eunhyeol.
‘Maybe because summer’s coming, why is it so hot?’
Feeling her face flush, she fanned herself with her hands to calm down.
After having a simple lunch with Ban Eunhyeol, she lied that she was meeting other friends to hang out, then left the house.
She wondered where would be best to talk, but in the end, they ended up going to Ban Eunhyeol’s house again.
There was nowhere comfortable enough to talk about these matters freely.
Whether it was a café or a park, Ban Eunhyeol always attracted attention, so they couldn’t talk about the future in such places.
As soon as they got upstairs, they locked the door and sank into the sofa.
‘Huh? A sofa?’
She sat down, seeing the sofa immediately upon entering the room, but then realized it was a new piece of furniture that hadn’t been there until yesterday.
“I bought it because it bothered me that you always sat on the floor when you came over.”
Earlier, he had talked about wanting to watch her closely and such, but when it came to this, he seemed shy and said it off casually.
Then he quickly changed the subject.
“You didn’t stay up all night and sleep late, did you?”
“Of course I stayed up all night. After hearing that story, how could I sleep?”
Usually, even if she heard some things, she could still sleep, but this was different.
Thinking of what Kang Yedam had said, she bowed her head deeply.
‘No, I came here to figure out a plan.’
This wasn’t the time to fall into a slump.
She straightened her slumped back and opened her eyes wide.
Ban Eunhyeol, worried about her sitting gloomily with her head down, reached out to put his hand on her shoulder but quickly pulled it back in surprise.
“I think I can change the future.”
“What? How?!”
“A quest window popped up.”
“Quest? What’s that?”
Since he had already heard about the quest window, Ban Eunhyeol focused on what she was saying.
“It said I need to swap souls in a dream.”
“In a dream…? You mean that time you talked to the troublemaker from the other dimension in your dream?”
“That’s the one, I think. It didn’t say how to swap souls in the dream, though.”
Ban Eunhyeol’s expression darkened noticeably when she said she had received a quest to swap souls.
He seemed worried she might cross over completely to the other dimension.
“What happens if you swap…?”
His voice lowered, and his anxiety and unease were unmistakable.
“I don’t know. The reward showed up as a question mark. If I fail, the future will just play out as it is without changing.”
Ban Eunhyeol fell silent for a moment, biting his lip.
If the system that gave such a quest were right in front of him, he would tear it apart immediately.
He sighed deeply, then took a breath and looked at her with trembling pupils before asking,
“What do you want to do?”