As Warm as the Scarf
"Protect Yeoncheong!"
"Stop it! At least don't say my name out loud!"
Nayun was clearly enjoying herself at Yeoncheong's violent reaction, and Yeoncheong, in turn, turned as red as if she'd come down with a fresh fever.
Escorted by her friends' makeshift bodyguard detail, Yeoncheong arrived at the restaurant and collapsed into her chair the moment she sat down. Hasol, seemingly deciding the protection had been a bit over the top, smiled and helped her friend off with her coat.
"Rough trip?"
"Ugh, I nearly died. Of embarrassment."
"Hey, wasn't it harder on us, walking the whole way while guarding you?"
At Nayun's words, Yeoncheong tilted her head back just enough to glare at her.
"I never asked you to do that in the first place."
Smack.
Hasol clapped her hands together to mediate between the two grumbling girls, then picked up the menu. Yeoncheong and Nayun shot each other one last glare before turning to the menu their friend had spread open.
Even the most breathtaking view can wait until after a meal. No amount of bickering took priority over food.
Once they'd each ordered their food and drinks and waited a little while, the server arrived with their dishes one after another. Yeoncheong, who had been grumbling, and Nayun, who had been teasing her with theatrical precision, both went quiet and docile as they chewed on the delicious food.
Yeoncheong and her friends chattered away through lunch.
The plates emptying one by one signaled that the meal was winding down. Yeoncheong picked at the last few bites of her food while Suyeon rose from her seat, saying she was going to the restroom.
"I'll hit the restroom too."
And Seoha left her bag on her chair and followed her friend out.
Yeoncheong finally set down her utensils. After lightly rinsing her mouth with water and wiping her lips with a napkin, she looked over at the two friends still seated at the table.
Unlike Seoha, who had stopped by the restroom before they left the café, Hasol and Nayun hadn't gone since they'd all met up.
"You two don't need to go?"
"It'd be too cramped. We'll go when we both head out."
Since they'd be leaving soon anyway, no one thought it strange that the two planned to use the restroom at the same time.
The restroom, located outside the main building, was a cramped single-occupancy stall. Suyeon, who had gone in first, came out and held the door for the next person.
"Seoha, go ahead."
But despite her consideration, Seoha hesitated, rubbing one arm with her hand.
Quick to read the room, Suyeon pulled Seoha along and shut the door behind them. Whatever Seoha wanted didn't seem to involve the restroom at all — and if she'd followed her all the way out here, it was likely something she didn't want Yeoncheong to overhear.
"So you do have something to tell me?"
"...Yeah."
Seoha gave a small nod. What on earth could it be, that someone of her caliber would fidget like this? Suyeon's curiosity only deepened.
After her lips fluttered open and shut several times, Seoha seemed to finally make up her mind and spoke.
"Suyeon, you remember. Fair and honest competition."
"Of course. But why bring that up?"
Suyeon tilted her head lightly.
It hadn't been long ago, after all, when Seoha had kissed her forehead and Suyeon had exercised remarkable restraint, settling for a kiss on the cheek.
Frankly, she doubted anyone competed for love as peacefully as Seoha did.
And for Seoha, who had been working up her courage, that made the conversation all the easier.
"I need you to step aside. Just for today."
"...Huh?"
At the completely unexpected request, Suyeon's mismatched eyes went round.
Having enjoyed a satisfying lunch, Yeoncheong and her friends did as they always did — wandering the downtown district to pass the time.
But despite Seoha having pulled Suyeon aside to make her request, Hasol and Nayun caught the difference from before all the same. Seoha was stuck to Yeoncheong's side like glue, while Suyeon could only stare blankly at the sight — impossible not to notice.
Yeoncheong, her attention captured by Seoha, was completely oblivious to any of it.
"You feeling sick or something?"
"...Huh?"
Suyeon turned her head a beat too late at Nayun's question. Her body was right there with them, but her soul seemed to be somewhere else entirely.
"N-no, I'm fine. What would even make me sick?"
"Ha. If you're going to lie, at least lie properly. Your face is running a full-page ad that says 'something's wrong with me.'"
Startled, Suyeon slapped her own cheeks a couple of times with both hands, working the muscles loose — which only confirmed to everyone that something was indeed off with her.
If she'd truly been fine, she would have just brushed it off. There was no reason to have such an oversensitive reaction.
Hasol and Nayun exchanged a look that said see? Realizing she'd walked straight into a sting operation, Suyeon stole a glance at Seoha, who was locked in a fierce struggle with a claw machine, declaring that this time, for sure, she would win a plushie alongside Yeoncheong.
Hiding it any longer would only deepen the suspicion — and as long as Yeoncheong didn't find out, it would be fine. With that thought, Suyeon's lips finally loosened.
"Seoha asked me to step aside... just for today."
"Because it's her birthday?"
Thanks to the perceptive Hasol, the explanation didn't need to drag on long.
They had promised fair and honest competition — and that meant special days like birthdays were to be conceded entirely. It was a proposal Suyeon couldn't refuse.
There was also a calculation behind it: yield now, and one day she'd get her turn in full. A certainty that was only possible because her rival was Seoha.
Watching Seoha feed another bill into the machine, Nayun spoke up.
"Seoha never stops surprising me, every time I see her."
It was only because they'd grown close enough to celebrate birthdays together like this. Back in first year, Seoha's image had leaned more toward the mysterious.
She was friendly and warm with everyone, yet never quite let anyone past her outer wall — that was how the reputation had formed.
"Which is exactly why love is terrifying, you know?"
Hasol added, glancing sideways at Suyeon beside them.
"We've got one of those right here, too. Someone new every single time you look at her."
Suyeon could only watch Seoha and Yeoncheong enjoying the claw machine with the most beleaguered expression in the world.
When a plushie snagged on the claw only to drop, she groaned along with them; when one hung on by a thread and fell right in front of the chute, she bounced on her toes and shouted.
And when their hands brushed as they worked the lever and buttons together, she genuinely caught herself thinking, I wish that were me instead of Seoha.
For Suyeon — who normally clung so close you'd wonder if she had any awareness at all — to be standing off to the side like this was, in its own way, another brand-new sight.
"If you really want to split hairs, isn't the scariest one of all actually her?"
Nayun's amber eyes slid past Suyeon and Seoha, landing naturally on Yeoncheong.
The original culprit behind it all — the girl who had stolen two hearts without a shred of self-awareness.
"Woo! Got it, got it!"
The prize chute clunked, and Yeoncheong pulled the plushie free, turning toward them with a beaming smile.
"Guys, I got it!"
The sweet fruit of countless failures.
Her smile was as crisp and refreshing as biting into a just-picked apple, and her blue eyes sparkled like stars that refused to lose their light even against the city's night sky.
Maybe it was because she'd spent days recovering at home and this was her first outing in a while, but Yeoncheong was radiating more life than usual.
The friends watching her all broke into awkward, wry smiles. How was that the smile of a girl who'd been one for a whole year (technically not even a full year yet, if you counted precisely)?
It didn't stop at Suyeon, who was in love with her — even Hasol and Nayun beside her felt their hearts jolt. Enough said.
Yeoncheong gifted the plushie she'd won to Seoha, and still riding the high of her victory, she bounced on her heels and beckoned to the others.
"Come on, hurry! I've got the hang of it now. I'll win you guys one too."
And it wasn't just the big gestures — it was every little move like this.
At this point, the impressive ones weren't Seoha and Suyeon, who'd already fallen for her, but Hasol and Nayun, who were somehow still holding onto their reason.
Pulling a bill from her wallet, Nayun walked over to Yeoncheong.
"Fine. I'll fall for it once."
Except... for all her bravado in calling her friends over, Yeoncheong's claw began missing with almost awe-inspiring consistency.
"No! Why is it doing this all of a sudden!"
Which, too, was classic Yeoncheong — or rather, classic Daengcheongi, if ever there was such a thing.
Seoha was happy.
There were plenty of words that could describe what she felt right now, but "happy" was enough.
She could have piled on flowery rhetoric and spun it out into something elaborate and lengthy, but that would be a waste of time.
Even in this very moment, Yeoncheong was laughing beside her. Smiling at her, the corners of her mouth curling up gently, right there at her side.
The streets decked out for Christmas were packed. With no better day for business than this one, the district was brimming with that particular year-end, holiday atmosphere.
"Look, they've got some kind of Christmas event going on over there too."
"Mm."
A remarkably short reply.
Strings of lights wound around the street trees sparkled and blinked — a sight hard to come by on ordinary days — but Seoha had no time to spare for such small things.
Because she had to etch every minute, every second of Yeoncheong's monopolized smile into her memory.
This was time she'd pried out of Suyeon with an unreasonable favor — it had to be utilized at one hundred and twenty percent.
Her heart wanted to shower Yeoncheong with affection to her fill, but the thought that she might genuinely hate it out here in public stopped her short of that.
"Want to rest for a bit over there?"
"Sure."
After strolling and sightseeing through the downtown district for a while, Yeoncheong and her group slipped away into a small park set a little apart from the crowds.
Everyone else, it seemed, had the same idea — the park was fairly crowded too.
Yeoncheong swiftly spotted an empty bench and led Seoha over to it. Wiping down the seat with brisk swipes of her hand, she ushered her friend onto it with a gesture that was half joke, half consideration.
"It's your birthday. Special treatment."
"Thank you."
Even as a joke, the heart behind the gesture wasn't false.
Seoha laughed softly, and caught herself thinking an utterly absurd thought: I wish every day were her birthday.
Before long, resting citizens began to rise one by one, freeing up seats, and Hasol and the other friends could sit down as well.
Nayun, who had been stretching her legs out straight in front of her, let out a huge sigh.
"Whew! Exhausting... I knew there'd be a lot of people, but come on."
"Right? So, what do you say? Should we hand out presents and call it a day?"
Hasol proposed, checking her smartphone.
Winter or not, the sky had already begun to darken. Considering the trip home, it was about the right time — and since they'd met in the morning, parting ways now wasn't especially early.
Naturally, everyone's eyes turned to the birthday girl herself.
"I'm fine with that too."
Beside her, Yeoncheong was nodding off. With it being her first outing in ages, and having walked around chatting more than usual, it was only natural.
"I'll just tell you what my gift is. Carrying them around would be heavy, after all."
And so, starting with Hasol, the friends revealed their presents one by one.
Perhaps because of all the time they'd spent together, an avalanche of thoughtful, personalized gifts landed in Seoha's lap — each one something they'd thought she'd want.
Even Yeoncheong, who'd been dozing, seemed to sense her cue at some point and, waking up, pulled out her gift last.
"Um... mine's not exactly personalized or anything..."
As she finally brought out the present, her hesitation was plain to see. Partly because her friends had prepared such wonderful gifts that hers looked plain by comparison.
"It's a scarf..."
It was a sky-blue scarf, a perfect match for the color of Yeoncheong's hair.
"Sky blue, huh?"
"...Yeah."
Even without a word, the flush spreading across her face betrayed exactly why she'd chosen that particular color.
Seoha tore off the wrapping and wound the scarf around her neck straightaway.
"It's warm."
Something in Seoha's demeanor shifted, just slightly, from the calm expression she'd kept all day.
Her hands, cradling the scarf, drifted toward the pile of presents stacked in her lap. The way her fingers brushed over them so gently was like someone handling treasure.
"Thank you. All of you."
Until now, "birthday" to Seoha had meant nothing more than a dinner the housekeeper prepared, and gifts received in cash — either something suitably expensive, or money to spend wherever she pleased.
Some people would say that kind of gift was better, and Seoha herself, understanding how busy her parents were, had never said a word against it.
But even Seoha, who always seemed so perfect, was still at an age where she needed her parents' attention and affection.
She simply hadn't known, never having experienced anything else. Now that she was actually holding a gift given with real thought behind it, she felt the difference keenly, aching in her chest.
The housekeeper, who was always there, had left early on account of Christmas. Her busy parents would never be home at the height of the year-end rush. In other words, even if she went back now, no one would be waiting for her.
Seoha fiddled idly with her hair, her lips parting and closing.
"Um... would you all like to have dinner together?"
"W-with us too?"
Flustered, Suyeon pointed at herself with her index finger as she echoed the question back.
It was Seoha's birthday — a day she'd gone so far as to ask a favor of Suyeon just to monopolize Yeoncheong from morning till now. The idea that she'd extend such an invitation to the rest of them had never crossed their minds.
Taking the echo as reluctance, Seoha hurried to add:
"It's my treat."
Coming that far, it was clearly sincere.
Seoha, who had always been as stingy with such invitations as Yeoncheong was — albeit for different reasons — so of course the friends' eyes went wide.
Nayun was just about to nod along and accept when Suyeon blocked her friend, furrowing her brow and blowing a raspberry.
"Hmph, no thanks?"
"Ah... ah, I guess that would be a bit much...?"
Seoha, taking it as a rejection, dipped her head slightly. And in that moment, Suyeon — having finished a silent exchange of glances with the others — flicked Seoha lightly on the forehead.
Hasol gathered up the presents stacked on Seoha's lap for her, correcting the painfully easy-to-misunderstand exchange.
"It's your birthday, silly. If you're the one buying us dinner, what does that make us?"
Amid her friends naturally gathering their things and rising to their feet, Yeoncheong — awake now, slapping her own cheeks a couple of times — held out her hand to Seoha.
"Let's go, Seoha."
"Yeah, we should hurry. It's going to be absolutely packed with people."
"...Mm."
Taking Yeoncheong's hand, Seoha rose to her feet.
She could say it with certainty: of all the birthdays she'd ever had, today had been the happiest by far.