"…and I'm just saying, it's stupid."
Kang Jin-Woo didn't look up right away. He set the plastic grocery bag on the table, the thin legs wobbling as it took the weight. The apartment smelled faintly of instant ramen and fabric softener that belonged to her. He loosened his tie with one hand, rolled his shoulders, and finally met her eyes.
"What's stupid?" he asked.
Seo Hye-Rin was sitting cross-legged on the chair instead of properly in it, phone in one hand, the other waving vaguely toward the bag. "Those," she said. "Again. You bought them again."
He sighed. "They were on sale."
"That doesn't make them not a waste of money."
He pulled out the stack of manga, neatly shrink-wrapped, their glossy covers catching the ceiling light. He stacked them carefully out of habit. "I told you, I've been following this series for years. The final volume just came out."
"And?" Her tone sharpened. "What do you get out of it? Pictures? Words? You're almost thirty, Jin-Woo. Don't you think it's time to grow up?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. The day had been long; he suffered through three meetings that should have been emails, a client call that ran forty minutes over, a subway delay that left him standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers while his back screamed. He hadn't even taken his jacket off yet.
"I work," he said evenly. "I pay the bills. I don't drink, I don't gamble, I don't go out every night. This is… my thing."
She scoffed. "Your thing costs money."
"Everything costs money."
She gestured around them, suddenly animated. "Exactly. Look at this place. This apartment is tiny. The walls are practically touching. My closet barely fits my coats. You make more than enough to buy a house, and yet we're stuck here like students."
"We're not stuck," he said. "I choose to live here."
"Why?" She leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Because you like pretending you're still struggling? Because you think suffering builds character or something?"
"That's not-"
"You could at least think about me," she cut in. "Do you know how embarrassing it is when my friends come over? They ask why we don't have space. Why we don't have a better view. Why the kitchen is so small."
"You don't even cook," he said before he could stop himself.
Her lips parted, then pressed together. "That's not the point."
"It kind of is."
She straightened, crossing her arms. "I'm saying your priorities are wrong. Manga doesn't help us. A bigger place would. Nice clothes help. Going out helps. Those are things that actually matter."
He let out a humorless laugh. "What room do you have to talk about priorities? You don't even have a job."
Her eyes flashed. "Excuse me?"
"I pay for the rent," he said quietly. "Bills. Food. Your phone. Your clothes. The bag you're holding right now- I bought that."
"And?" she shot back. "That's what a man is supposed to do."
Something in his chest tightened. "Supposed to?"
"Yes," she said, as if explaining something obvious to a child. "At least my clothes are useful. I wear them. People see them. They matter. What use does your manga have? You sit there reading about things that would never happen in real life. It's all just a stupid fantasy. None of that-"
Thats when a light appeared, hovering above the table between them, a soft, colorless glow that cast no shadow. The apartment fell silent, something that only happened when they weren't in it.
They both stared at what lay before them.
The light flattened, resolving into a clean rectangle, translucent and impossibly crisp. Black text floated within it, perfectly centered.
[SELECT ONE.]
[DECIDE AMONGST YOURSELF.]
Jin-Woo felt his heart slam against his ribs. A laugh bubbled up before he could stop it. "You've got to be kidding me."
Hye-Rin stood slowly, chair scraping against the floor. "What is that?"
"It's like… it's exactly like-" He stepped closer, eyes bright despite himself. "Like in my manga."
She shot him a look. "This isn't funny."
"I'm not joking," he said. "Look at it. It's an interface."
Two smaller shapes hovered beneath the text, side by side. One radiated a faint blue, the other a dull, ember-like red.
Hye-Rin reached out, curiosity overtaking caution. "Is it a hologram?"
"Careful-"
Her fingertip brushed the blue shape.
The world shifted.
A new screen unfolded in front of her face, closer, personal. The blue light deepened, cold and sharp.
[CRYO SYSTEM]
[Authority Granted: Ice / Cold Manipulation]
Hye-Rin sucked in a breath. "Oh my God."
Her eyes lit up, reflecting the glow. "Did you see that? Jin-Woo, did you see-"
The cold prickled across his skin, goosebumps racing up his arms. "I see it."
She laughed, a bright, almost giddy sound. "This is insane. This is like… like Elsa." She spread her fingers, watching frost trace faintly along the air before fading. "I can make ice."
The remaining red shape pulsed, as if waiting for him to select it.
Jin-Woo didn't hesitate. He touched it, and immediately a screen popped up.
[PYRO SYSTEM]
[Authority Granted: Heat/Fire Manipulation]
A warmth bloomed in his chest, deep and steady, like a furnace settling into place.
The main interface returned, emotionless as ever.
[CONFIRM SELECTIONS?]
Hye-Rin's smile faltered. "Wait."
He turned to her. "What?"
"What if it's dangerous?" she said, suddenly uncertain. "We don't know what this is. What if it hurts us? What if it-"
He looked at her, really looked. At the designer clothes he'd bought, the phone he'd upgraded, the apartment she hated but lived in comfortably. At the woman who had just told him nothing he loved mattered.
He smiled anyway, soft and reassuring, the way he always did.
"It's fine," he said. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Little did he know that he would come to deeply regret those words.