“Yes, it’s my first time at a game shooting range.”

As a reward for hitting all 10 shots in the 10-point target, I received the first-place prize of a luxury fountain pen.

The part-time worker sullenly replaced the first-place name with my nickname.

I wanted to write “Ex-military high school girl,” but fearing it might come true, I just wrote “Jun.”

I gathered the prize with light steps and returned to Adrian.

Adrian looked at me with a dazed expression and barely moved his lips.

“Juno, using skills for games is a bit…”

“Adrian, skills are me, and I am skills. I’ll preemptively stop your nagging.”

I dismissed Adrian’s concerns with a firm statement.

After all, I didn’t get this ‘Mental Focus (A)’ skill for free; I worked hard for it. So, I can use it at the shooting range. It’s not like I’m going to the Olympics or anything.

I slipped the fountain pen into Adrian’s jacket pocket as he looked at me like I was a tomboy. When I grinned, Adrian sighed deeply as if he couldn’t help it and then lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Alright, I’ll use it well since you gave it to me. Thanks. I suggested we watch a movie, but I ended up receiving a gift.”

A faint blush appeared on Adrian’s face.

“But I wanted to do something for Juno too.”

“For me?”

“Yeah. But I’ve only been receiving…”

Adrian suddenly slumped his shoulders.

Adrian sat on an empty pool table. Our eye levels matched perfectly.

Adrian spoke with a faint smile.

“I wanted to do something for you since you took time to watch a movie with me, but I’ve only been receiving. There’s so much I want to do for Juno. It’s a bit… frustrating that I can’t buy you anything.”

Adrian, who had been smiling broadly, suddenly became gloomy. He was upset because he had only been receiving from me all day.

“Huh? Why are you upset about that…”

I realized my mistake when I saw Adrian, who looked like a large dog betrayed by its owner.

I thought he’d be happy just receiving endlessly, but I guess not.

On the other hand, it was kind of cute how he was quietly complaining about not being able to buy me anything.

Getting upset over something so trivial, what a child.

‘Ah, right. He is a child. A high school student.’

“Then…”

For some reason, I wanted to cheer up the suddenly gloomy Adrian.

As I looked around frantically for something suitable, I spotted a dart machine in the corner.

Darts also offered prizes based on performance.

“Then, do that for me.”

“Which one?”

“Darts. I want the prize from that game. Win it for me.”

“Really? You want that?”

“Yeah.”

Actually, I couldn’t even see what the prize was because it was too dark around.

When I casually lied about wanting the prize, Adrian suddenly lit up and stood up. His blue eyes burned with enthusiasm.

“If you want it that much. Then I’ll win it for you, Juno.”

Adrian, now motivated, went to the electronic dart board and submitted the participation fee to the part-time worker.

In contrast, the part-time worker, who seemed to lack any enthusiasm, said dryly,

“You need to hit 10 points with all 10 darts to get first place.”

“Adrian, have you played darts before?”

When I asked, Adrian, who was selecting dart pins, shook his head.

“No. Actually, it’s my first time.”

If it’s his first time, it might be difficult.

But I refrained from saying anything that might dampen his spirits. Adrian, standing a bit away from the electronic dart board, soon prepared to throw a dart with his weight on his right foot.

Whoosh, the dart flew through the air and stuck in the center of the dart board, triggering fanfare and flashing lights up and down.

It was 10 points.

‘Oh… Is this beginner’s luck?’

But there were still 9 pins left. He needed to hit 10 points with all of them, which wouldn’t be easy.

‘Did I make a mistake by asking for this? What if he gets more disappointed?’

With his enthusiasm burning so brightly, what if his shoulders slump even more when things don’t go as planned?

Contrary to my worries, Adrian threw the dart again with a serious face.

The second was also 10 points.

The third was 10 points too.

The fourth… was 10 points as well.

Moreover, Adrian didn’t have a skill like my ‘Mental Focus (A)’.

This guy, who said it was his first time, was sticking all the pins right in the center of the dart board purely with his own skill.

By that point, both the part-time worker and I couldn’t hide our surprise.

While we were gaping, Adrian stuck the ninth dart pin in the center as well.

The electronic board kept playing fanfare.

‘Is he some kind of lucky guy like Timothy?’

As the last throw approached, Adrian seemed a bit nervous, changing his posture several times before throwing the pin.

I watched quietly, then approached him.

“Adrian, your arm angle is different from before?”

Due to his twisted posture, the arm angle was quite different from when he hit 10 points nine times in a row.

As I quietly grabbed his elbow to adjust the angle, I felt Adrian’s body stiffen.

“This angle. Throw like this. Don’t be nervous.”

“Ah, okay… Thanks.”

Adrian glanced at me as I approached closely, then threw the dart as if fleeing.

But strangely, unlike the previous 9 pins, this throw lacked power.

Thud.

“…?”

The powerless dart pin hit the wall far below the target and bounced off pathetically.

0 points.

“Adrian?”

When I looked at Adrian, seeking an explanation, he hung his head low and covered his face with his hands. The tips of his ears were bright red.

The part-time worker indifferently looked back and forth between us and rang a small bell.

“You’ve won the second-place prize.”

***

I had asked Adrian to win the prize from the electronic dart board without knowing what it was, but the prizes were quite impressive.

The first prize was actually a PlayStation.

If Adrian had won it for me, I would have been really happy and accepted it gratefully.

However, I was barely holding onto the second-place prize, which was a huge rabbit plush toy.

Barely supporting the giant rabbit’s bottom, I peeked over its shoulder to look at Adrian.

Although he had only won second place, Adrian’s face was flushed with joy at being able to give me a prize.

“How is it? Do you like it, Juno?”

I was already starting to worry about how to carry this huge plush toy.

As I was trying to choose my words while trapped in the rabbit’s embrace, Adrian hesitated.

“Do you… not like it? Is this prize not good?”

“Ah, no! I like it. I love plush toys. Thank you so much, Adrian. You even won this prize for me.”

I answered hastily, but truthfully, I don’t like these kinds of plush toys. They’re hard to wash.

But considering the sincerity of his gift, I smiled as happily as I could.

Adrian’s face brightened at that.

“I’m so glad. I was able to do something for Juno.”

As he said that with a bright smile on his pretty face, I just couldn’t bring myself to say I didn’t like it.

Smiling with such an angelic face, it would be psychopathic to say the plush toy wasn’t great.

I’ll just pretend to like it. I can lie on the rabbit’s belly and watch YouTube or something. Or just use it as a pillow.

“Shall we go then? I’ll walk you to your neighborhood.”

“That’s not necessary. I can go by myself.”

As I was trying to hold up the slipping rabbit bottom, Adrian’s phone rang.

‘Oh.’

Adrian, who had been smiling happily in front of me just a moment ago, slightly stiffened his face when he saw the caller ID on his phone screen.

But it was so brief that I thought I might have imagined it.

Adrian didn’t answer the call, and soon the phone stopped ringing on its own.

“You don’t need to answer?”

I asked, tucking the giant rabbit under my arm.

“You can answer if you want. Is it because of me?”

“No, it was a call I didn’t need to answer.”

I could have assumed it was spam, but honestly, I could tell that Adrian was reluctant to give details.

So I just nodded knowingly and said nothing more.

When we came out of the theater with our prizes, the sky had already darkened.

Adrian put his phone in his pocket and said to me,

“Juno, I’m sorry, but it seems something came up, so I need to leave early. I really enjoyed today.”

It must be because of that caller. I decided I should bow out gracefully and nodded.

“Okay. Take care. See you at school.”

“Wait a moment, let me call you a taxi. That looks heavy.”

“It’s fine. I do strength training, you know.”

“Still…”

Giving in to Adrian’s insistence, we went to the taxi stand, but the line was already dozens of meters long.

I quickly said to the troubled Adrian,

“My house isn’t that far. This is all cotton, so it’s not heavy. I’ll go first. You should head home too.”

Adrian nodded as if he had no choice.

“I’m sorry. I really enjoyed today, Juno.”

“Goodbye.”

Even after that, Adrian stood in place watching me until I disappeared in the opposite direction.

Until I turned the corner and vanished. Somehow, his face seemed to be tinged with quite a bit of regret.

***

After dinner time, the busy street became even more crowded.

The rabbit plush wasn’t that heavy, but its size did obstruct my vision.

On my way home, I tried to find the most comfortable position by holding the rabbit in various ways – hugging it this way and that, piggyback riding it, even putting it on my head.

Just as I decided that piggyback riding might be best even if it drew attention, a grocery store caught my eye.

A man wearing a mask rushed out of the brightly lit grocery store.

“Move! Get out of the way!!”