ACT I - Main Character Spectacles

I thought my way back home would be an interesting one, and I was right—except I got so dizzy that I had to take the glasses off for the time being. I thought it'd be a much better idea to get used to them back at home, instead of getting myself into potentially dangerous situations.

Weirdly enough, my eyes were having such a difficult time adjusting that I had even started to see things that actually weren't there. I thought I had bumped into a lady who was sitting on the bench but when I turned to apologize, there was no one sitting there. Or how I thought I saw a little kid climbing onto a tree next to the road and approached to warn him that it was too dangerous with cars all around—again, there was nothing but the tree itself.

Odd, but it was probably just the reflection from the glasses. Actually, such a difficult time in adjusting to new lenses was to be expected, especially as the prescription wasn’t made to fit mine.

I took them off and put them in their fancy little black case, which had three golden stars on top as decoration. Had I made a mistake? Was I too hasty in accepting these glasses…?

Well, it was true that I saw perfectly clear with them otherwise, so I didn't suspect I'd need to change them. I just needed some time to adjust, that’s all.

When I came back home, my mother immediately scolded me. "Yuujin, what hour is it?! Your lunch got completely cold, me and dad ate already! I called you a million times yet you didn't pick up—"

Oh. I hadn't thought of checking my phone at all, and I hadn't noticed its ringing either. I took it out of my pocket and surely enough, I was faced with two facts: She had called me over 7 times AND it was one and a half hour past lunch time!!

I took off my shoes in a rush and bowed down to apologize. "Mom, I'm so sorry! It didn't cross my mind to check my phone at all—"

"Well, you're here now so that’s fine but, to think you didn't even get a pair of new glasses. Wasn't that what you went out to do in the first place? Just where were you, really?"

She put her hands on her hips, aiming to be as intimidating as possible, but her worried gaze was in the way of completing the 'Angry Mom' look. She really was such a soft person.

"Oh! I actually got a pair, I just took them off because I kinda got dizzy on my way back home. I found them in an antique shop, maybe there wasn't signal in there so my phone—"

"An antique shop…? Dear, those must have been so expensive…"

I suddenly came to the realization that my mom wouldn’t really appreciate it if she learned that I had gotten them entirely free from a man I had just met, plus it'd be too difficult to explain the magical vibe of the shop too, so…

I had to make up a little white lie.

"No worries, actually I got them on discount because the shop owner uncle really wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible." I took them out of their elegant case under my mom's curious eyes and proudly presented them. "How's this? Don't I look like a main character with these?"

She blinked a few times blankly, trying to compute my new look, and then burst laughing. "My, indeed you do, but like one from the 18th century…!"

I wanted to take them off immediately.

She didn't give me the chance to do so, by grabbing my hand and dragging me to the living room. My dad was on his laptop, typing away with a focused look on his face.

"Dear, take a look at Yuujin."

"Oh, so the little rascal is finally back home? Should I be scolding you about how much you got mom worried about you or—" he typed a few last words in and finally looked up. My dad, who usually sported a most stern look, actually snorted.

"Pfft, what's with those glasses?"

Man, I really wanted to take them off now.

"So that's what took you so long. Must have been difficult to find lenses for those old looking frames. Well, actually… The more I look, the more I see them fitting you… I guess?"

Thanks, dad. How very encouraging...