You're Scared of Me, Aren't You? (2)
Lim Jiwoo seemed to have more or less locked in her character.
Asking if she was scary? What kind of bullshit was that? I'd had sex with Lim Jiwoo twice so far. The first time, she'd passed out cold. The second time, she'd submitted to me all on her own. And now she was asking if I was scared of her?
It was a provocation that didn't even hold water — but when Lim Jiwoo did it, that was a different story. Those slightly elongated fox-like eyes, narrowed to slits. Just one corner of her mouth, tugged up ever so slightly. Just one eyebrow, drawn down a fraction. Looking at the face she'd assembled — that expression of looking down on me like I was nothing — I figured this was worth playing along with.
"Alright. Then we'll grab dinner and take the test tonight."
"Heheh~, deal."
Pleased she'd gotten exactly what she wanted, Lim Jiwoo let out a coy little hum of a laugh.
"So then after dinner, a motel nearby... ah, but it's the weekend. Think they'll even have a room left? We might have to go a bit farther out."
"Why bother? We can just go to my place."
"You live on your ow— ah, right. You said you did."
"Yeah. I live on my own — and I get drunk on my own, too."
What decade was that joke even from? And then she burst into a bright little giggle like it was the funniest thing in the world. If it had been any other woman, I'd have taken a step back. But because it was Lim Jiwoo, it was honestly a little cute.
"Woojin, while we're on the subject — want to have a couple beers tonight?"
"Beer?"
"Yeah. After dinner, we can stop by a convenience store on the way home and grab some cans. Then you can see for yourself whether I really get drunk that easily."
Not a bad idea, necessarily — but there was no real need to drink tonight.
"Let's drink next time. Doesn't seem right to drink and then take a test. If we're going to drink, we should set aside a whole separate day for it."
And if I pulled back like this, Lim Jiwoo would have no choice but to carve out time just to drink with me. I was wondering whether she'd take the bait.
"Sure. So when works for you?"
"Uh..."
"What, were you just saying that? That's actually pretty disappointing."
She didn't just take the bait — she went right ahead and tried to lock in the next date herself, nice and proactive.
"I'll get in touch about that soon."
"I mean it. You have to. You have to tell me. I'll be waiting."
"Got it."
While we were, not particularly smoothly, locking in a drinking date, we arrived at the salon she'd booked. Just as she'd said, they had a reservation waiting. The moment she gave her name, I was led off by a stylist.
Lim Jiwoo, who'd followed in after us, started giving orders immediately.
"I think it would look good if we showed a bit more of his forehead. It's not bad as it is, but if you part it this way and lift the bangs just a little, then clean up the sides and back, that should do it."
"And for the perm?"
"Keep it soft, please."
After placing her order for my hair, she went and sat somewhere she could see me clearly — far enough, though, that she wouldn't be able to hear anything the stylist and I said.
The stylist standing behind me glanced at Lim Jiwoo's face in the mirror.
"Your girlfriend really likes you a lot."
"Girlfriend?"
"Yes. From the moment you walked in until now, it's been written all over her face."
I followed the stylist's gaze and glanced at the mirror. Our eyes met, and Lim Jiwoo gave me a soft smile, her eyes curving up with it.
That's acting. All acting. Acting to score points.
I knew it was acting, but...
"...Yeah, well. Something like that."
What a little minx.
Two hours later, just as we'd discussed. Maybe it was because Lim Jiwoo had always been confident when it came to putting someone together.
"Oh..."
Even I had to admit the look she'd ordered from the stylist was pretty good. I liked it — so she probably did too.
"Wow... Woojin, you look really good. Your face has so much more life now."
Beaming, she closed the distance until her chest was a hair's breadth from touching mine, then lifted a hand and gave my bangs a few light, lingering touches.
Lim Jiwoo's pretty face, right in front of me. Lim Jiwoo's good scent, right in front of me. Lim Jiwoo's delicious body, right in front of me. With the entire woman that was Lim Jiwoo pressed up this close, I had to physically stop the blood from rushing downward.
"Woojin, did they tell you how to maintain this going forward?"
"Yeah. I heard. Something about wax, and then the dryer, and so on..."
"Mhm. If you've got somewhere to go, just style it like that before you head out. If you forget what they said, just text me. I'll walk you through it."
Trying to build herself another little hook to stay connected. I let out a short laugh, paid, and we left the salon.
"So, Woojin. Earlier we said we'd go somewhere after your hair, right?"
"We never actually decided, did we. Is there anywhere you'd like to go? I honestly, genuinely don't care where we end up."
"Hmm... want to try a dog cafe? No, wait. I should call it an animal cafe, I guess...?"
"What's an animal cafe?"
"It's like a dog cafe, except it's not just dogs. All kinds of animals. Cats, dogs, sugar gliders, parrots, meerkats, ferrets."
I didn't have any particular interest in animals, but she'd listed so many that a little curiosity had started to stir...
"...And they have a fox, apparently."
"A fox?"
"Yeah. A marble fox, I think they call it? I heard they have a fox too."
"......"
...A fox, though?
Hearing the fox-faced woman herself bring up a fox was funny enough on its own. And she didn't even seem to realize it — she just looked at me, as I stood there fighting a laugh, like she was asking what my problem was.
"Let's go, then."
"Okay, okay. We'll grab a quick coffee there, and then maybe hit a bowling alley too? Three hours in an animal cafe might get a little boring."
"Oh. A bowling alley sounds good."
"Let's go! I heard that's nearby too."
Lim Jiwoo pointed in a direction and, in the same motion, casually looped her arm through mine. Just like before, it was calibrated to that exact pressure — my arm grazing her chest with every step, almost touching, almost not. Not so much rubbing my arm into her on purpose as letting her chest bump against it as we walked.
Naturally, what I felt against my arm felt extremely good. Firm. Soft. Full.
And walking down a Seoul sidewalk with Lim Jiwoo like this drew a considerable number of stares from every direction. Most of them were from men, and those could be filed neatly under envy. I say most, because there were women's stares too — and of course none of those women were looking at me with envy. The ones who did look envious raked Lim Jiwoo over from head to toe.
"That's it over there."
"Have you been here before?"
"No, first time for me too. I went to a cat cafe a long, long time ago, but a cafe with this many different animals? Never."
The reason it was envy and not jealousy was simple: she was just too much. Face. Figure. Height and proportions. And the atmosphere on top of all that. Lim Jiwoo had every external quality that could appeal to the opposite sex, so overwhelmingly that no one would even dare to feel jealous.
Walking into the building with her, I caught the smell of coffee mixed with that smell of animals... if you could call it that. A peculiar scent, starting to come through in little waves. Not an unpleasant smell. Maybe it's easier to understand if I call it that warm little-animal smell.
"...What's she up to?"
"Who?"
"Ah, no. Nothing."
The second I thought little-animal smell, Chae Dayeon popped into my head — but Lim Jiwoo was right next to me, so I set that aside for now.
Anyway. Following that peculiar scent inside, I could hear the calls of all kinds of animals this time.
"How many?"
"Two."
"Here are our cafe guidelines — please give them a read and then you can go ahead and order~."
We skimmed the rules, each ordered a coffee, and sat down. Inside a fairly spacious enclosure, a surprising number of animals were wandering around. Other guests were doing their best to get a hand on the various animals, or at least taking pictures from a distance.
The first one to approach us was a golden retriever. Tail swaying in a slow sweep of gold, it came not to Lim Jiwoo but straight to me. Then, out of nowhere, it planted one front paw on my thigh and gave me a very particular look.
Go on. Tell me I'm pretty.
"Oh, a cat. Come here~."
Meanwhile, a long-haired cat had made its way toward Lim Jiwoo. She patted her lap. Clap, clap, clap. Apparently her eye-smile worked on cats too — the thing let out a long mrrrow and melted right into her arms.
I stroked the head of the golden retriever that had now plopped itself down completely beside me, and watched Lim Jiwoo play with the cat.
"Awwie-awwie-aww, meow-meow~."
Well now. Playing with the cat must have been pretty fun, because Lim Jiwoo was making the weirdest sounds.
"Oh, right. Woojin."
"Yeah?"
"I told you earlier, didn't I. They've got a lot more than just dogs and cats here. Want to take a quick look around?"
"Sure."
Then a squeaking from over that way caught her interest again. She carefully set the cat down beside her and stood. I eased myself away from the golden retriever at my side and followed.
A sugar glider small enough to nestle in the palm of your hand. A parrot that shouted "Bleh!" the instant you looked at it. A meerkat watching from behind a clump of grass, wariness written all over it. And a fox.
"A fox!"
Lim Jiwoo pointed at it with a huge smile, like she'd just run into one of her own kind. She approached the white fox with exaggerated care, following the rule about not rushing up on a sensitive animal you'd never met. And the white fox, for its part... whether it recognized her as one of its own or what, I don't know how else to put it. It came right up to her, flopped onto its side, and let out a peculiar little yipping cry.
Bewitched by the fox putting on a coquettish little display right at her feet, Lim Jiwoo hovered, torn.
"Can I pet it? Can I pet it? Is it okay to pet it?"
"Go ahead. Looks like it lay down in front of you because it wants to be petted."
"Right? It's okay, then?"
Having received my permission — which didn't mean much of anything — Lim Jiwoo carefully reached out and set her hand against the fox's side. The moment her fingers sank into that plush-looking fur, the fox seemed delighted. It yipped again and gave her an eye-smile.
"Wah! It's smiling, oh my god... what do I do, what do I do, I can't even..."
They say the fox is the only animal people describe as bewitching. And watching this white fox smile, I could see why. It actually made me think that someday, if I made a lot of money, I'd want to live with a fox like this.
And at the same time.
"See, Woojin? Foxes are so cute, right?"
"......"
When had they even gotten so close? Lim Jiwoo, who'd pulled the white fox into her arms and was giving it that eye-smile of hers, really did know how to bewitch people.
I let out a short laugh, crouched down beside her, and reached out to gently stroke the ridge of the white fox's nose. The fox smiled back at me — the same eye-smile as hers.