With their bellies full of delicious food, the three of them headed to the clothing store.

They wanted to get Erf some nice clothes that would fit him properly, and Pandora and Frederick were a mess from rolling around in the grass in the maze.

The clerks at the clothing store were selfless, recommending this or that outfit for Frederick and Erf.

Pandora applauded the two handsome men as works of art, and then she picked out a men’s suit in her size and tried it on.

The clerks offered her a variety of outfits to try on as well, but Pandora declined, having already picked out the best outfit in the store with an excited eye.

Dressed to perfection, from shoes to hat to gloves, and carrying a cane, she was the most beautiful gentleman in the world.

Standing in front of the mirror, she giggled as she posed this way and that.

She doesn’t have to wear the same thing every day anymore.

With the freedom to pick and choose any outfit she wanted, she was as excited as a fish out of water.

Her curls, tied into a tight bun, fluttered as she shook her head merrily.

Erf watched her fondly.

Frederick, who was smiling at Pandora as well, muttered, “She’s crazy,” as Erf secretly snapped a tear away.

As the sun set, they went out to the river and boarded a boat.

People were gathered along the river, each with a lantern.

Orange lights lit up the world.

The lanterns seemed to break the laws of nature and rise into the sky in a flurry.

The lights, each containing a wish, big or small, swam eagerly in the sky.

People’s laughter, shouts, rushing water, and other sounds mingled together and drifted away.

Pandora was dizzy with the ecstatic shock of seeing it for the first time.

Her hands fidgeted, regretting that she couldn’t capture this on canvas right away.

“Pandora. You should light a match.”

Frederick struck a match and held it out. Pandora’s lantern glowed yellow as she held it.

As she watched the flickering light, Pandora made a wish in her heart.

That they would move forward into tomorrow. Together.

‘Let tomorrow continue to come. Never to cease, never to stop again.’

A life that naturally dreams of the future.

A life of making the most of today that will never come again, living hard and happy, and growing old like everyone else.

Time flows forward without looking back.

That was Pandora’s only wish. Something that was natural to others, but not to her.

Carefully, she hoisted the balloon upward. Her heart swelled as she watched it float away.

‘May you go all out and reach the end of the sky beyond the clouds. And may this wish reach the god who made me.’

Pandora smiled brightly, praying that the wishes of all the other lanterns would come true as well.

She felt the hollow in her heart fill up. It was only then that she realized she had broken the curse of June 9.

She felt like she was actually living.

The vivid sensation of being alive filled her entire body with exhilaration.

The lantern left Erf’s hand at the same time, and he too was immersed in this strange and beautiful landscape.

In the center of his view was Pandora, looking up at the sky.

At this moment, she was more alive than ever.

Her ashen eyes sparkled with excitement, and her white cheeks were flushed with color.

Her eyes curved into half moons and her mouth gaped open. Her shoulders heaving as she breathed heavily, her long lashes fluttering.

Erf couldn’t take his eyes off her for a long time.

He hadn’t even taken a sip of his drink, but he felt giddy and dazed, as if he were drunk.

Pandora’s languid gestures tilted as the boat swayed as it floated down the river.

She would giggle as if the rocking of the boat was amusing, and then sigh ecstatically as she surveyed the sky and the riverbank again.

And Erf’s heart danced like a flower petal on the water.

If only he could fold up this glorious sight and embed it in his eyes.

He wanted to capture it all, every smile that passed over her cheeks, every wistful sigh that escaped her lips.

???????? ?? ???

A pure white canvas.

A painting of a cat curled up in it, and when he first opened his eyes, he was confronted with the slender face of a woman.

It blinked for a moment as if its eyes hurt, but soon found itself staring back at him and smiling contentedly.

Just as a newborn duckling recognizes the first person it sees as its mother, so does a person fall in love at first sight, feeling that the first person they meet is their destiny.

In the space of a single breath, she was imprinted in the violet eyes of the cat painting.

With paint smeared all over her face and apron, her gray eyes rolling and smiling, she was beautiful.

The freckles on the bridge of her nose were lovely, and her lips were moist as she spoke, “You are my masterpiece.”

Pandora.

His beautifully named master. His god.

The cat painting couldn’t take his eyes off his artist.

She was painting a background color on the canvas for her next piece.

As the knife glided along the canvas, painting a thick, spicy blue that clung to the canvas, the cat’s mind seemed to turn blue with her.

When she left the studio and came back long afterward to cry, he felt his heart plummet to the bottom of his stomach.

Her tears soaked the corners of his canvas and seeped into the cat’s heart.

After a few moments of observation, the cat realized about Pandora’s situation.

The same day over and over again. People who know nothing.

Pandora left behind, alone.

‘You’re not alone.’

On the canvas, the cat watched and was with Pandora for all of June 9.

He also loved Pandora for painting him.

He loved the way she hummed as she squeezed the paint, and the way her forehead furrowed slightly when she concentrated.

He loved her little habits, like stomping her feet and pursing her lips when she didn’t like a new drawing.

He loved the innocence with which she would wipe the sweat from the bridge of her nose, smear paint all over her nose and cheeks, and then giggle at how funny she looked.

He loved the sweetness with which she would occasionally share a snack with him, even though he hated the maid who would send her to the art gallery at 1:00 p.m. like a knife.

He loved the silliness of her pampering him, wiping the dust off his canvases and saying, “Meow,” even though he was just a painting.

And then.

The cat painting, looking at Pandora as usual, noticed something strange.

Her expression was darker and more pained as she walked into the workshop carrying a bottle of green liquor.

Smiling bitterly, she raised the bottle to her lips and tilted it slowly.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Her throat never stopped moving.

Never one to take more than two sips of anything at a time, she gulped down an endless stream of poisonous liquor.

An ominous image flashed through his mind.

‘No.’

His breath caught in his throat like he was drowning.

‘Pandora.’

The cat painting twisted to reach out an unreachable hand.

‘I remember everything.’

‘I know your loneliness, your sadness, your emptiness.’

The cat painting was desperate.

To be able to slip out of this picture and grab her.

It wished it had broad shoulders and arms to wrap around her as she grew more precarious by the day.

‘Don’t give up.’

‘Don’t die.’

‘Don’t disappear.’

‘Don’t leave.’

The cat painting looked at Pandora with tears in his eyes. The canvas, covered in thick paint, quickly became damp and wet.

The cat painting struggled desperately. The canvas bounced as the steady painting shook.

The painting rattled and made a loud noise, but Pandora emptied the flask as if she heard nothing.

With a clang, the glass bottle hit the floor and shattered.

At the same time, Pandora’s swaying body collapsed.

‘No!’

At that moment, the canvas on the wall crashed down.

The cat painting bounced out of the canvas and grabbed Pandora in a hug.

“Pandora. Pandora. No, Pandora.”

“…….”

“Don’t go. Please don’t go.”

He knows death is her choice. That the freedom she so desperately want is just around the corner.

But the cat painting couldn’t let her go like this. He had to hold onto her departing spirit somehow.

The cat painting kissed Pandora’s cold lips.

And breathed warmth into them.

???????? ?? ???

Time reversed itself. The cat painting stood in front of Pandora’s bedroom door.

He wanted to see Pandora.

To see if she had woken up safely, to see how she was feeling, to see if she had swallowed the poison again.

His heart raced with worry and fear.

The cat painting spotted the doctor coming down the hallway toward Pandora’s room.

That’s it.

Without hesitation, he snatched the doctor up and threw him into a random canvas.

He grabbed the doctor’s clothes and bag and pulled them on himself.

The clothes were a bit small, tight around his shoulders and high on his ankles, but he didn’t have time to worry about that when he was a painting of a cat.

He had to see Pandora’s face now.

The cat painting tried his best to imitate the doctor. He knew the doctor’s lines well. Pandora used to complain that the doctor always said the same thing over and over again.

“Ms. Pandora. I’ll leave your medication here.”

“I don’t need them.”

The cat painting narrowed his eyes at the coldness in her voice.

He felt like he was going to burst into tears if he stayed like this.

He felt like he would burst into tears if he didn’t hold back and pull her into a hug.

He felt like reaching out and pressing his lips to hers.

But she knew him as a doctor. She would think it was weird.

He wanted to become her love, not her scapegoat.

The cat painting tried to run out of the room in a panic, but then.