February 8, 1983

Temperature: 36 degrees Celsius/ 100.4 Fahrenheit

It was a hot, humid winter night. Nearby grocery stores are selling goodies like hotcakes. Soft drinks, sweet and cool, have been snatched up by elementary and high school students until they have almost disappeared from the freezers. All that's left is the extremely expensive Haagen-Dazs brand of bad-flavored ice cream. Children would probably die of disgust with this kind of thing, and so would I.

Luckily, it was exactly what I needed. A few minutes later, in my hand dangled a plastic bag containing a tub of rum resin flavored ice cream. Walking quickly into the public library located in the dimly lit heart of Bangkok. Even though it's called a library But the focus of attention for the general public will be a computer with a color screen.

VIC-20

Many of the locations are free to use. It's not because they use it to calculate math problems. But it's because of the games that come with the disc readers that kids around here are addicted to them. In the evening after school, I often see kids with tarmac-style hair. Bring some snacks and sit down to play games on the color screen. While sitting happily eating vanilla ice cream

No need to imagine how upset the librarian here would be.

Well, I don't think they got it right. In my hand, I carried a large bucket of ice cream as I walked into the library. The slight difference is that I don't mind the shiny new computer that tempts passersby.

I walked past shelf after shelf of books. Follow the sound of the radio playing melancholy disco music. The drum beat sounded joyful, but the wind instrument played the song wistfully, as if it were the last day. The singer who sings along with the saxophone It tells the story of a middle-aged person who accidentally overdoses on drugs and can't stop. No matter how you listen to it, songs like this shouldn't be played as disco songs.

And next to the radio was the man I was looking for.

“Hello, isn't the library closed yet?” I waved the ice cream bag around in familiarity. greeted the young man under thick glasses who was arranging books from an old metal cart.

“How many times have I told you not to bring food or drink into this place?” he replied in a cold voice. But with just one glance, you know you're staring at cold ice cream with sparkling eyes.

“Nah, na, don't make a mess,” I said in a slightly pleading voice. He placed the expensive ice cream bucket on the book table and pulled up a plastic chair to sit on it. “Let's take a break for a bit. There is still a lot of work left.”

“Because there's so much left, we can't take a break,” he replied in an annoyed tone. But the body is not honest. Quickly dragging a chair in and sitting across from me. I hurriedly covered the corners of my mouth with a smile as I handed him a plastic spoon.

“So how is it? Did you find it?”

“No, I didn't find anything,” he replied. He opened the lid of the bucket and diligently scooped out the white goo. “I probably have to search through the entire literature section. If you search randomly like this, until next year you will still be sitting there looking at the needle like before.”

“Then I'll help you find it,” I replied quickly.

“Don't be, it's the same result. You still don't know how to organize books. How can I find a hidden book in the library?”

“How difficult will it be? Just open the literature section of the book.”

“Look, it's not just opening a book like you think,” he said in an annoyed tone. Pointing a plastic spoon at me with Haagen-Dazs smeared in my mouth, “Paper always holds secrets. People like you who are only familiar with magnetic readers and disks don't understand.”

“ ...I just want to finish it before February, that's all,” I replied, holding my hand still. Look out the window near the bookshelf. The moonlight of the night shone down on the marble floor so beautifully that it caught my eye.

" Why? What's important in February?

“Oh, no.” This time I was the one who returned the favor with an annoyed tone. “I just wanted to take you on a trip to the southern region. Two people have been riding the train since the 13th. Then on the 14th, I would secretly put the ring in your favorite ice cream. When you eat my morning meal and find my ring, I will kneel down and propose to you. And then you'll get told by friends at your wedding a year later that you let the woman wait and have been together for nine years and still acted so nonchalantly that he came and proposed. Is this clear enough?”

It seems to have more results than expected. The dull eyesight beneath the thick lenses seemed to show some remorse. It was different from his usual rum resin cool demeanor.

“I'm sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I'm just being honest. As you told me to do when we argued last time.”

“For that, I apologize.”

When I saw him look wistful like this, I thought I started to feel guilty. I shouldn't have said it sarcastically like that. Hot weather is really harmful.

“Take it like this. If you truly want to apologize, I have a solution.”

Just like the map I prepared. I handed him a medium sized plastic grenade and placed it on the table. His eyes looked at him suspiciously through his glasses.

“ C-4 bomb? What do you want me to do?”

“Well...advance the time from one year to three days. If we blow up this place. Find the secret entrance from the ruins. Only then will we find the tunnel you've been wanting to find.”

“....So you take it like that?”

“You can just bomb the wall. The book won't get scratched."

I watched him shake his head. But the actions are not honest. Carrying the plastic block I gave her, I walked into the pile of books, a little upset. Seeing this, I could only smile with happiness.

Looks like tomorrow I'm going to have to buy a bigger Haagen-Dazs.