Shopping (1)
I'd spent a good while deliberately dodging his messages—and then I had one drink and got so carried away I fired off a Kkatalk.
Of course, I couldn't keep avoiding him forever, and getting back in touch with Yuhan was something I was genuinely happy about. But if I put myself in his shoes—in Yuhan's shoes—the whole situation had to look completely absurd. Which was exactly why getting through today without a hitch felt so important.
Yuhan had been trying to reach me this whole time, so he had no reason to act awkward around me. I, on the other hand, needed to watch myself.
I was parked near Yuhan's place. While I sat there turning all of this over in my head, the passenger door opened and he climbed in—no leather jacket, for once. It was getting properly warm out, so he'd come in just a white short-sleeved shirt.
"Been waiting long?"
"No, I just got here."
"You'd say that even if you'd shown up thirty minutes ago..."
"Haha... I really just got here."
Well, arriving twenty-five minutes early still counted as "just now," didn't it? I couldn't very well show up late to a meeting with Yuhan.
Unlike a certain someone who, no matter how many times I told him it was dangerous, would recline the seat the instant he got in and claim he was sleepy, Yuhan even checked my seatbelt before launching into small talk. Had I been doing all right this past week? What kind of person was my little brother? He'd watched such-and-such part of my stream and it had been hilarious... on and on.
There were times I thought Yuhan had zero awareness, the way he endlessly did things that made a girl's heart race—but when it came to reading people, he wasn't actually dense. He'd almost certainly picked up on the fact that I'd been avoiding him on purpose, even if he didn't know why. And yet here he was, treating me like nothing had happened. It only confirmed, once again, what a genuinely kind person he was.
We drove for a good while, and before I knew it we'd arrived at the department store. The one near our family home, where my brother lived, ran a little expensive, so I'd picked a place farther out. A high school sophomore could make the trip just fine, and since I'd promised to grant him any wish he wanted, someone with his personality would gladly put up with a little extra travel.
"Whoa... this building is huge."
"Aren't department stores usually about this size?"
"Are they? I've never had a reason to come to one in my life."
What was that, some line out of a male-oriented drama about a penniless male lead? I'd had enough sense to figure Yuhan wasn't exactly rolling in money... but it was this bad?
I'd seen something online about how husbands who'd grown up without much money tended to be more frugal with it... damn it, what kind of insane delusion was that?
I snuck a glance at him. He was staring up at the building, his face full of curiosity. Someone who was normally so cool and self-assured, looking like that... it made my chest tingle. That phrase I'd seen online—gap moe—really did suit Yuhan perfectly.
After coming home on Friday, I'd gone back and watched the VODs of Yuhan's streams that I'd missed. I'd thought his numbers seemed higher overall, and it turned out some truly insane things had been happening one after another lately.
I'd always assumed Yuhan was the type who'd dated a few girlfriends. Set aside the fierce look and he had an extremely handsome face, and quite apart from his kind personality, he gave off the impression of someone who partied hard. Honestly... everyone probably thought the same thing. He'd even said on stream that he'd been with a lot of women. It was a crude, ridiculous thing to say, but he'd even talked about bagging girls left and right.
And then there was that clip of him—face flushed red over nothing more than a woman's chest showing on screen, ignoring the pain as he frantically shut off a video donation. That look when, for all how innocently he'd lived, his curiosity about sex had gotten him caught with the URL of an adult site he'd visited before.
I'd felt a lot of guilt over Yuhan's back injury, figuring a good portion of it was my fault. And then that absurd phrase—Virgin Bitch—would pop into my head... and the fact that it somehow turned me on would send a wave of self-loathing crashing over me.
A character so distinct it was like he'd torn his way straight out of a comic. How could a guy like this even exist? Being able to get close to a man like him... I really did think it was an enormous stroke of luck.
Anyway. Back to the present.
Seol Jihun, that little brother of mine, still hadn't gotten in touch. He wasn't all that late, but I hated making Yuhan wait.
You've got to be kidding me.
"He says he's in the bathroom right now?"
"Hmm... I was thinking of stopping by anyway. Want me to just duck in real quick too?"
I was glad he was being understanding.
And a little after Yuhan left for the restroom, my little brother Seol Jihun arrived.
Talk about a sweet deal.
For once, noona had asked me for something she never asked for—help picking out clothes for a friend. The fact that she'd called me meant they were definitely buying guy clothes, and Junhyuk-hyung's birthday wasn't anywhere close. Whatever. Not important. Those damn lovebirds could take care of themselves.
All I needed to think about today was cleaning out noona's wallet. Whenever she took me shopping, something always fell my way too. It wasn't like Mom and Dad were stingy with my allowance, but other people's money always tasted better.
And noona's wish free-pass? That was an insane gift. With her word backing me, I could swap out my phone no problem. Mom and Dad never really pushed back on anything noona had already signed off on.
This was the life. This was happiness!
I was thinking all that when the pee I'd been holding in started getting urgent. Why'd she have to pick this department store of all places...? Better hit the bathroom first.
Act first, report later. Army slang noona had taught me. This was exactly what it was for!
I went in through a different entrance than the one we'd agreed to meet at and found the restroom. No, wait. This was what they meant by one mountain after another. Every single stall was occupied. You've got to be kidding me. On top of that, a nagging text from noona. And here I'd thought my luck was running good today...
The hiss of tap water from the sink settled my nerves. I washed my hands thoroughly, even working up a good lather, and tidied my messy hair. Nice. Real nice. My hands would dry well enough as I walked.
On my way out of the bathroom, I gave my hands a big, careless shake.
"Ah, tch... what the hell."
Uh.
Uh...
Uh............
A height that had to be pushing six feet. Sharp eyes and a piercing in his left ear. Faded dye that screamed I do what I want, plus a tan to match. A delinquent. And clearly not your garden-variety one.
I'm fucked!
The blond, tanned delinquent had just taken a full-body splash of the water I'd shaken off without thinking, and he was frowning. And of course he was wearing a white T-shirt that would go see-through the second it got wet. It wouldn't actually be that bad unless I'd dumped water on him, but would a guy like that care about the details? I'd just flung water at him with that huge motion. I... didn't think so.
"I-I'm sorry!!"
An apology probably wouldn't do anything—but I needed to run while this guy was still stunned. This day was going to hell in every possible way.
I left the shouting guy behind and sprinted to the meeting spot, but noona was nowhere to be seen. Was she waiting inside? What the hell was this. I went back into the department store, wandered around for a bit, and finally found her.
"Noona!"
"What? Why'd you come running like that?"
"Uh... something came up. Let's just go upstairs already!"
"Ah, wait a second."
"Why... why?"
"My friend's just in the bathroom. He'll be here soon."
"Friend?"
What was she talking about now?
"What friend?"
"The friend we're buying clothes for today. Did I not mention that?"
That smug look on her face made it obvious she'd hidden it on purpose. It wasn't like I was super shy around strangers. What was the big deal? I would never understand why a perfectly normal person acted like this only with her little brother.
"Come on, what's the big deal... if you've got a friend, just say you've got a—"
"Ah, Ari. There you are."
?
What was this creepy feeling?
I slowly turned around.
Haha.
You've got to be kidding me.
Did I still need more time to adjust to this gender-reversed world?
I'd been confused when I couldn't find any urinals in the men's room—turns out even the urinals were all divided into stalls, just like the toilets. Anyway, that was neither here nor there.
I'd always known I looked intimidating, but I hadn't expected someone to run away just because I got a little water on them. What was that guy's deal, anyway? It wasn't even a big deal, and he'd even apologized. Was I really that scary? Whatever. He was already gone.
This was my first time at a department store. Even so, acting shocked that the building was huge... I'd just said that because it was my first time. Surely Ari hadn't taken it seriously. Back in school I hadn't had the interest, the money, or the friends, so there'd been no reason to come. Once I grew up I was too busy working on top of that.
Hmm. Department stores really were a different world. The bathrooms, the overall cleanliness—if I'd come here as a kid, the atmosphere probably would've intimidated me a little. But I was past that age now.
On the first floor, several men were shopping in the cosmetics section, trying samples as they went. Would I need to wear makeup when I went to Sehee's school? I hated having anything on my face that wasn't dirt. Makeup, of all things... that word had absolutely nothing to do with me.
The whole reason I was here buying clothes was to make Sehee look good at parents' visiting day. Maybe I'd have to endure that much suffering. Hmm. No. That was still pretty horrific. Absolutely not. Anyway... I'd think about it later. Just imagining it made my chest tight.
That said, I'd had the feeling people were glancing at me for a while now. Not a lot. Just a little, here and there. Was it because I'd washed my hands and wiped the water on my clothes? My side was only a little damp and clinging, and people were still looking. Even people who had their partners right next to them!
It wasn't like it bothered me that much... but now that I was in a gender-reversed world, was I supposed to drop this kind of old-man habit? That felt like overkill...
Over there, Ari was standing with another guy. Even from behind, you could tell he was Ari's little brother. But the closer I got, the more familiar that silhouette became. Not Ari. The guy.
Hmm...
Small world.
"Ah, Ari. There you are."
Just a word to let her know I'd arrived. Hearing it, a high school boy slowly turned around.
And in his eyes, there was nothing but terror.