The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

279 Photobox

Emma grimaced uncomfortably at the man who said his stomach was going to explode. “Sorry, but I told you to take away the food, but you refused.”

“Even if you take it home, I’m not sure you’ll eat it at home. The sushi won’t taste fresh anymore.” Levi replied.

Then, Levi saw an ice cream shop. He knew that the girl beside him liked sweet food. He immediately held her arm to stop her pace. “Do you want ice cream?”

Emma turned to the ice cream shop Levi pointed to, “Sure,”

They walked over to a shop that had lots of colourful lights and cute dolls on its front and counter. The shop had a carnival concept.

“Order whatever you like,” Levi said while studying the menu board behind the cashier.

“Welcome to Joy-joy Ice Cream. We have an interesting promo this week.”

“Oh, really? What is it?” Emma asked enthusiastically. Like other women, she could not hear the word ‘Promo’.

“This is a special promo for couples. Couple Joy Ice Cream x Familly PhotoBox. Two special ice cream cones with caramel or bubble gum flavours, melted chocolate and dried berry toppings. If you buy this package, you can take pictures in the Photobox and print the photos for free.” The barista explained and pointed at a photobox on the side of the shop with a pair of lovers waiting in line in front of it.

.....

“Oh... I-I see,” Emma muttered, staring at the photo box the barista pointed at.

The two of them then moved awkwardly. It seemed the barista mistakenly thought they were a couple. In the eyes of others, the two of them did look good together.

“D-do you want that flavoured ice cream?” Levi asked after clearing his throat awkwardly.

Emma rubbed her nape. “It sounds good. I’ve never tried anything like the bubble gum,”

“Then, I’d like to order the bubble gum flavour one, please,” Levi said to the barista.

“You don’t want one?” Emma looked at Levi.

The man shook his head. “I don’t want sweets.”

“I’ll pay for it.” Levi was about to go to the cashier. But his face turned full of questions when he realized the barista had not made his order and instead looked at him.

“Sorry. But this flavour is special only for the couple package. If you want it, then you have to buy according to the promo, which is two cones.” Barista explained.

“That’s a bit weird,” Emma said, displeased.

But the barista just smiled awkwardly at the two of them. “That’s a central rule. So, we’re just following it,”

Emma let out a long sigh, then shrugged, “Well, fine. I’ll order another flavour,” she looked back at the menu board.

“It’s fine. Give us that special package,” Levi said to the barista.

“That’s not necessary, Levi. I can order another flavour. You don’t want to eat ice cream, do you?” Emma tried to stop him.

“Sounds like you really want that one. It’s fine for us to order it.” He replied.

“Well... if you don’t mind,”

“Here you go,” After prepping, the barista handed Emma two ice cream cones. He also gave her a card with two small heart-shaped stickers. “This is a ticket for the free photobox. You can use it before the expiration date written on the back,”

“I see. Thanks.” Emma answered while accepting all of it until her hands were full.

“Gosh... It’s delightful!” Emma muttered after licking her ice cream.

“It’s done?” Levi approached Emma, as soon as he finished paying.

Emma nodded, “We got a photobox ticket. Do you want to keep it? It’s still a week away from expiration.” she handed him the ticket along with one of his ice cream.

Levi took the pink card and looked at it only out of curiosity. “This is useless to me.”

“It is? Looks like I won’t be using it either,” Emma muttered, then she cleared her throat, “Hey, take your ice cream. It’s going to melt.”

Levi looked at Emma’s hand which was holding a waffle cone with tall, untouched ice cream. Her smile broke slightly, and then he raised one of his eyebrows, “Did I say that I was going to eat that ice cream?”

“What?” Emma frowned.

“I didn’t say that I would eat one of the ice creams. I only ordered two. And both are yours. Please finish them.” Levi said.

“What? You’re going too far, Levi! Take it! I’m not kidding. I will melt soon!” Emma handed the ice cream to the tall man in front of her.

But Levi backed away with a laugh. Emma looked very cute with each of her hands holding colourful ice creams. What a sight!

“I’m not kidding either. I told you I don’t want sweets. My stomach is about to explode from eating all the sushi you ordered.” Levi said with a full meaning.

Emma clenched her jaw as she glared at him with hatred. “You bastard,” she hissed.

“Gosh....” Emma had to lick the ice cream she thought was Levi’s because the sweet cream was really starting to melt. She didn’t want to dirty the shop floor.

Seeing that, Levi laughed amusedly until his eyes watered. He hadn’t planned this. But, seeing Emma looked cute with two ice creams in her hands made his prank idea appear.

Besides being funny, Levi could also give a little revenge on Emma because she had made him eat too much.

“You can finish it. You didn’t eat too much, did you?” Levi smiled crookedly.

“You are a poisonous snake, you demon!” Emma glared at him.

Levi just laughed, then took the sling purse hanging from Emma’s shoulder carefully so as not to hit the ice cream she was holding. “Let me hold your purse. Your hands are full. Let’s get out of here.”

Emma let Levi carry her bag. But she didn’t move her feet to follow the man’s footsteps. “Wait, Levi.”

“Yes?” Levi turned to her.

“What about the ticket?” Emma asked.

“I don’t know. Don’t you just want to throw it away?”

But Emma’s face turned gloomy. “It’s a shame to throw it away,”

“Then you want to use it?” Levi asked.

“Now?” Emma looked at him innocently.

Levi’s face suddenly turned hot. He blinked his eyes as he cleared his throat. “Y-you said it would be a shame to throw it away. So I thought you might want to use it now,”

“Well... It’s fine actually. Do you mind?” Emma asked.

Levi shook his head as he scratched the back of his head that didn’t itch. “It’s... just a photo, right? It doesn’t mean anything.” he avoided eye contact with her.

Emma realized that Levi was confused about how to act. Indeed, if you had feelings for someone, a small thing could make you think too much. It was just a photo, though. But maybe it would give its own meaning to their feelings.

However, Emma decided not to get caught up in this. If they were friends, then there should be no shame in doing something as simple as taking a picture together. In the end, it all depended on their point of view.

“Okay. Then, let’s take some photos,” Emma said cheerfully.

Then, they entered a white photobox that had a long curtain as the door.

“Wow... in all my life, I’ve never taken a photo in a place like this,” Emma said as she looked around the inside of the small box.

“Me neither,” Levi said as studying a screen in front of them. “Point the ticket barcode here,” he read the instructions next to the large screen on the machine.

Then Levi looked back at their tickets and pointed the barcode on the back of the paper at the camera in front of them.

‘HELLO, LOVELY COUPLE!’

Emma and Levi were surprised to hear the automatic greeting of the photobox machine. Their eyes were both wide. Then, the screen in front of them swiftly showed what was captured by the camera above, which was the picture of Emma and Levi gawking.

“Hahahaha...” They instantly laughed out loud when they saw their own stupid faces that suddenly appeared on the big screen.

“Gosh! This thing is something,” Emma shook her head slowly with the rest of her laugh.

Levi was still laughing as he looked back at the screen in front of them. “Looks like we can choose the decorations,”

“Oh, that’s right. There’s a lot to choose. Ah, we got three shots too,” Emma said, also watching the screen with sparkling eyes. She didn’t forget to occasionally lick the two ice creams in her hands.

“You can decorate it,” Levi took the ice creams from Emma’s hands, “Don’t take too long.”

Emma chuckled, “All right...”

Before taking the pictures, they choose decorations for their photos. Emma chose a lot of beautiful stickers. Then, her gaze was fixed on the sticker in the form of writing,

‘Best Friends Forever’

“Emma, ??hurry up. It’ll melt soon,” Levi said.

“Okay! Okay...” Emma chose something on the screen and went back to Levi to take back the ice creams.

“It’s a...” Levi’s words stopped when he realized something was wrong with the frame decorations on the screen.