Chapter 32

No blossoms had opened yet, but after walking along the street lined with cherry trees, we reached an area still packed with hanok. Hardly any of the old houses had been left to decay. Each had been renovated in its own way—modernized inside and turned into restaurants or cafés. The mix of sleek contemporary touches and the original wood-and-tile structure gave the whole street a fresh, distinctive atmosphere.

Yu Ha-neul bought a bag of walnut pastries from one of those shops. They were a little pricey for what they were—the bag itself cost about the same as ordinary walnut pastries, but there were noticeably fewer inside. "If you eat too many, you'll just feel uncomfortable at lunch. It's fine," was Ha-neul's argument.

"Here."

Yu Ha-neul picked one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up and held it out to me. I reached for it—

"Ah-ah."

Putting on a mock-stern expression, Ha-neul lightly dodged my hand. My fingers closed awkwardly around empty air.

The hand that had evaded mine came back down near my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face. The gesture was unmistakable: Ha-neul intended to feed me.

"You don't have to—I can eat with my own hands...."

But Ha-neul's expression was resolute. There was a certain determination there, a firm will to feed me no matter what.

I glanced around. The narrow street was crowded with people coming and going, and we were walking too. Nobody was paying us any special attention.

...Was this... normal?

Did girls feed each other by hand like this?

Even with that thought, I had no choice but to go along with it. I didn't exactly have other girl friends to consult, and I'd been on the receiving end plenty of times at school. At school, hardly anyone paid attention to us, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. And wasn't the school itself already a somewhat closed-off space? Once "inside" and "outside" are separated, even doing something a little mortifying on the "inside" was far less embarrassing.

But this was the middle of the street. A completely open place, surrounded by strangers. None of these people would bother to remember our faces, but there was still something viscerally uncomfortable about doing this in public where an unspecified crowd could see.

Yu Ha-neul seemed entirely unbothered. Looking at her face, I started wondering if maybe I was the weird one after all.

...It wasn't that I disliked having a pretty girl feed me. It just felt oddly unsettling, that was all.

"Alright—say ahh."

Ha-neul went a step further and actually made the "ahh" sound.

"...Ah...."

I took the walnut pastry from Ha-neul's hand.

I feel like I'm being tamed....It's probably just my imagination, right?

*

"By the way, I just realized—you're still dressed like you came out to exercise."

"Oh."

At my remark, Ha-neul looked down at herself as if noticing for the first time.

"It doesn't matter, does it? I barely broke a sweat. And it's not that cold out."

That wasn't really the point. Walking around a place like this in clothes that screamed "I came out to exercise" felt a little out of place.

But saying that directly might hurt her feelings, so I kept it to myself—

It bothered me after all. Even if this wasn't a real date, when two friends meet up and one of them is blatantly in gym clothes, the balance is just off.

So I pointed at a shop ahead of us.

"There's a clothing store right there. Let's go buy something."

Ha-neul looked startled.

"What? Ah, but I didn't bring enough money to buy clothes today...."

Since my own pocket held a wallet thick with fifty-thousand-won notes, that was completely irrelevant, but Ha-neul, righteous female lead that she was, apparently couldn't conceive of asking me for money.

"Then I'll buy you one. Call it repaying a debt."

I shrugged, hands still in my jacket pockets.

Ha-neul's eyes went round.

"But... you don't owe me anything...."

"Why wouldn't I? The fact that I'm even standing here is already a debt."

I had been planning to go out eventually, but the reason I was out here walking this street today was because Ha-neul had come to me. Otherwise, I'd have spent the day sprawled on my bed in the mansion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again.

Ha-neul fell silent at that. After looking at me for a moment, she nodded.

"Alright. Then I'll accept gratefully."

She didn't need to sound quite so solemn about it.

*

After all that walking, my legs honestly hurt.

Actually, "all that walking" was a pretty short time. Maybe an hour at most. Part of it was my stamina problem, but I'd also put some real effort into running this morning, so I was already a little worn out.

Still, I think I had a genuinely good time during that hour.

Walking around confirmed one thing for certain.

This world, this country; it was called the "Republic of Korea" just like the one I'd lived in, but it was a different place. Broadly similar, yes. Most of the place names around Seoul were the same, and nearly all the chain stores and landmarks you'd recognize by name were still there.

But it wasn't exactly the place I knew.

For one thing, despite how I look, I'm a Seoul native. I wouldn't claim I've been to every corner of Seoul, but I'd visited most well-known spots. I'd never ventured this far into what you'd openly call a "date course," but I'd been to the famous places around here—the huge underground bookstore, the street entrance with the giant brush statue, things like that.

But none of those places matched my memory exactly. Building shapes were slightly different. Places I'd been inside often had interior layouts that differed from my recollection.

Besides, something like "Yujin Electronics" didn't even exist in the world I came from. A company like that, boasting a market cap of 3,600 trillion won, on par with the world's number-one company back in my world, well, if the world could be that different, a few altered buildings and landmarks were hardly surprising.

Most of the smartphones people on the street were using came from Yujin Electronics. That alone already made this world completely distinct from the one I'd lived in, so it was only natural that some buildings and landmarks would differ from my memory.

No wonder I'd gotten lost last time. It wasn't completely different, just disorientingly similar. Confusion was only natural.

Yu Ha-neul seemed to notice wherever my gaze landed and energetically pulled me around with her arm looped through mine. Apparently, she thought I was marveling at everything.

And I was marveling, honestly. Walking through a city that resembled but didn't match the one I knew felt a little like traveling abroad.

But there was something pressed right up against me that overpowered even that novelty.

"Oh, are you getting a little tired? Should we find a café and rest for a bit?"

Seeing my steps slow, Ha-neul asked in a worried voice.

I reflexively almost said I was fine, then reconsidered.

"Yeah... I think that'd be good."

I really was exhausted. Physically and mentally.

It was because of the clothes Ha-neul had picked out at the shop I'd taken her into earlier.

When I'd asked, "Are you okay with that one?" Ha-neul had answered, "It's all one piece, so I only need to buy this!" Her argument was that since she didn't have to buy a top and bottom separately, it was more economical for me as the gift-giver. And she was right.

Yu Ha-neul was currently wearing a sky-blue one-piece dress.

Not that the skirt was especially short or anything. The lightly pleated skirt came down to her calves. The neckline wasn't low-cut either. The top part, with its collar, was neatly buttoned all the way up.

But still.

The girl who'd been stuck right next to me just moments ago in full athletic gear—seeing her now in a light, fluttery dress that matched the slowly approaching spring air... it hit differently.

Uh... how do I put this.

This might sound rude to Ha-neul, but it kind of felt like a date.

And on top of that, Ha-neul had been clinging to my side the entire time. There was no way not to be conscious of it.

"Let's go to that café up ahead, then. Once we rest a little, you'll feel better."

I just nodded without a word.

*

After we entered the café, I excused myself to Ha-neul and headed for the restroom.

Maybe because it was a small café, the restrooms were thankfully single-occupancy for both the men's and women's sides. I still found it deeply uncomfortable to be in a public restroom with a woman in the next stall, so I let out a sigh of relief.

Not that I'd come in here because I actually needed to go.

I took off my cap and tucked it under my arm, then turned on the faucet and splashed my face a few times. The cold water helped clear my head.

Alright. Let's think about this calmly.

No matter how bisexual Yu Ha-neul might be, she wouldn't openly develop romantic feelings for a friend she'd known less than a week. Sure, people say love at first sight exists, but... she's the protagonist. She wouldn't date someone based purely on looks.

You know how it goes, "the protagonist looks at the heart, not just the face", except saying that is undercut by the fact that Yoon Da-ho has a route too. If there's a choice option to keep pursuing someone with his level of insane rudeness, then by game logic, there must be cases where characters do pursue based on looks alone.

Then again, once you seriously enter the Yoon Da-ho route, he shifts into a "no woman has ever treated me this way" mentality and becomes inescapable, so...

"Hoo...."

Fine. Let's try a different angle. I'll recall memories of the women I used to know. How exactly did they end up with boyfriends...?

...But then I remembered that the only "women around me" were relatives, so I expanded the search to "college classmates I wasn't especially close to."

"There was that couple that got together the day after orientation...."

The hypothesis isn't helping at all. Come to think of it, the good-looking, pretty ones were already making connections at the freshman welcome party, and some started dating before their first month of classes was even over.

....

Ah, forget it. I don't care anymore.

When I think about it, this is getting way ahead of myself. Whatever Yu Ha-neul might think of me, she hasn't even confessed. What reason is there to be worrying about this already? This situation is the equivalent of your fingertips barely touching and you're already picking out your grandchildren's names.

I can't let myself do something that embarrassing.

"Hoo."

I exhaled deeply one more time. Good. I'd calmed down a little.

I pulled my slightly rattled nerves together and stepped out of the restroom. In the distance, I could see Ha-neul sitting with her back to me. Our drinks hadn't arrived yet, apparently.

Ha-neul didn't notice me until I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠almost right there. The café was fairly full, and music was playing, so that was probably why.

I was passing beside Ha-neul to get to my seat when, completely unintentionally, truly, completely without meaning to, I caught a glimpse of the smartphone screen she was looking at.

The search bar on the screen read—

[Seoul Date Spots]

"Huh?"

The sound slipped out before I could stop it.

"Eep!"

Startled by the noise, Ha-neul scrambled in a flustered, almost cartoonish panic to turn off the screen.

Then she turned toward me with incredible stiffness. Even through the deep blush that had spread across her face, her flustered gaze was painfully obvious.

"...You saw?"

"...Yeah."

Ha-neul's face turned an even deeper red. She seemed to have forgotten to even cover it with her hands.

...No, seriously. I keep telling you. Stop showing me things that can be so easily misinterpreted.

This is way too much stimulation for someone who's been single since birth.