The bear, dressed in tattered fur and faded cloth, looked terrifying enough to appear in dreams.

Why are the bear’s eyes green, though? Aren’t they usually black or buttons?

‘Anyway, anything would look scary on it.’

The bear itself seemed to say, ‘I’m cursed.’

“Ah, welcome, customer!”

I wished the shopkeeper had been away, but he eagerly approached.

“How do you win it?”

“Hit the target with darts. Depending on where you hit, we’ll total the points and give you a prize!”

The bear Kashar spoke of required 100 points to win.

‘The score requirement is pretty high.’

It seemed unlikely to win in just a few rounds.

With five chances per round, all darts had to hit 20 points to win the bear in a single round.

When Kashar only looked at the bear, the shopkeeper chuckled and handed him some darts.

“You have a target in mind! Here, five darts for you!”

Passersby began to gather around the dart shop in threes and fives.

Kashar threw the darts as if he were the leading man on stage.

“Gasp.”

“Huh?”

“……???”

All five darts he threw stuck right in the center.

‘Calculate the probability that a person throws five darts simultaneously and hits 20 points with all.’

It seemed impossible for a human.

The crowd went silent.

The shopkeeper came up with the cursed bear in his hands, his face pale.

“……Here’s the bear.”

Please take it and go.

That was written all over his face.

Then Kashar tried to give me the bear he had won.

“Here, take it.”

I never knew one could wish to refuse a gift from a lover.

I learned it for the first time today.

“How could I possibly accept this precious thing…!”

The bear’s green eyes seemed to flicker ominously.

When I hesitated, as if to refuse it, he smiled as though telling me not to worry.

“It’s a return gift for your letter.”

My sin has come back to me.

I had no choice but to hug the bear.

‘……It looks even scarier up close.’

Especially those green eyes seemed to evoke something cursed the more you looked at them.

“Th, thank you.”

Just as I managed to express my gratitude, a joyful scream came from the next booth.

“Kyaa, my darling is the best!”

“No one but this man!”

“That’s right!”

The shorthaired woman was kissing the cheek of the boyfriend who had given her the doll.

‘Should I also do it?’

If it’s the rule of dating, I should follow it.

After briefly glancing at the bear, I closed my eyes and lifted my lips.

Thunk–

Because a passerby bumped into me, my blind lips missed their mark.

Still.

At least the lips had touched.

Not on the lips or cheeks, but on the chin.

“What does a kiss on the chin mean?”

“Well, um, it means long life?”

Clearly, it was an adhoc excuse.

Was it because I lied?

Kashar stepped off the main road and went into a small alley.

“Good children don’t lie.”

Kashar was telling me the same thing I used to tell Louis and Evan.
“I’m not a child…!”

“So it’s okay for adults?”

“That’s not it!”

“Then you should be scolded.”

The minor argument was swallowed by the lips.

The intruder who caught the awkward movement didn’t allow escape.

It was a tangled moment. Fireworks burst above the dark sky.

Lips slowly fell, holding a smile.

As I exhaled my held breath, Kashar asked,

“You said you’ve kissed a lot.”

“Why are you so good at it, Kashar? Haven’t you done it much?”

Why would one person be out of breath when both kissed?

The past of a virgin man that didn’t appear in the original was suspicious.

“Someone said that. Lovers are in a complementary relationship.”

Kashar’s improvisation sounded plausible.

“Perhaps I was born to meet a woman who’s bad at kissing.”

“What…!”

Once again, our lips overlapped.

My words were swallowed by the tip of his tongue.

As the fireworks ended, the surroundings grew quiet. All that could be heard were my breath and his words.

“I have to be as good as you’re clumsy.”

He withdrew with a leisurely smile.

Despite the night, the world seemed brilliantly illuminated. Although the autumn night air was chilly, my body felt warm.

At the moment of rubbing my eyes with a floating feeling,

I checked the teddy bear in my hand and regained my senses.

‘Yeah, what sin could you have?’

After several kisses, I decided to humbly hold the cursed teddy bear and go.

Stepping back onto the alley, I briefly saw delicious smells rising with dense smoke.

“Come, come. Chicken barbecue that two can eat without knowing if one dies! Especially popular with couples!”

“There’s also pork skewers! It’s seasoned and tasty!”

The charm of the festival was indeed the food.

But it was useless if one couldn’t taste it.

This time it was my chance to lead.

“Let’s go somewhere else for a moment!”

I led Kashar and changed direction.

After passing the street where the festival was held, we arrived at a small lake.