An Outing, and a Visit

"Isn't the weather just gorgeous?"

"It really is~"

The sky beyond the window was a flawless blue — the kind of day that practically begged you to go out.

"This is our first time going to the movies together, right?"

"Hmm… yeah, I guess so."

"I'm kind of nervous, you know?"

"Hohoho~ That kind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of fluttering is something you should feel with people your own age, Seong-min — not with me."

"What's wrong with Auntie? There's a saying for this, you know~ A beauty has no age."

"And where did that saying come from?"

"No idea. I just made it up. Heh heh…"

"What kind of nonsense is that~"

"Haha…"

Maybe it was the weather, but riding in the Grandeur with Auntie at the wheel felt wonderful.

"There's a lot of traffic for a weekend, huh?"

"It's not just weekends. Seoul always has a lot of cars."

"Yeah, that's true."

Seoul was always packed with cars. Weekday or weekend — it never let up. And so, riding in Hye-suk's car, Seong-min headed into the busy downtown.

The crowds of pedestrians forced them to crawl along as the navigation guided them slowly toward their destination. The movie theater was attached to a department store, so getting into the parking garage took a while. They wound their way through the underground levels hunting for an empty spot, found one, and parked.

"There we go."

"Whoa~ Auntie, your driving is impressive."

"I've got years of experience, you know."

"A true veteran~!"

He got out with Hye-suk and walked toward the elevator. The theater was on the sixth floor.

"How much time do we have?"

"About fifteen minutes."

"Perfect timing."

"If we hit the restroom and grab popcorn and drinks, we should be fine."

"Then I'll get the popcorn and drinks."

"You will, Auntie?"

"Of course~ You booked the tickets, so this one's on me."

"Then I'll gladly freeload."

"You sound like you've been waiting for this."

"You're imagining things."

"Am I?"

"You are."

"Hohoho."

"Heh heh…"

The doors opened and the two of them stepped in, riding up with the other passengers who boarded after them. People not headed for the theater got off on the third floor, then the fifth.

They had finally arrived. The doors opened and they stepped out.

"Ahh~ That movie theater smell."

"Don't you mean popcorn smell?"

"Popcorn smell is movie theater smell~"

"Can't argue with that."

"Okay, I'll hit the restroom and meet you back here."

"Sure~"

Seong-min headed for the men's room; Hye-suk for the women's.

He took a satisfying leak at the urinal, washed his hands at the sink, and checked his hair in the mirror.

Good enough.

He pulled a few more paper towels, dried his hands, tossed them in the bin, and stepped out.

"Still not out yet?"

A guy could walk into a restroom, unzip, pee, and be done. Women didn't have that luxury — of course it took longer.

"Well then…"

Seong-min went ahead and ordered a large half-and-half — regular and caramel popcorn — plus two Cokes. He paid by card and was waiting when he spotted Hye-suk walking toward him.

There's no way that woman is forty-seven.

The way Hye-suk looked walking over, she could have passed for late thirties without even trying. Even if you deliberately aged her up, forty was the highest you'd go. Dressed up in a two-piece today, she looked solidly late thirties at most.

She's got a son, sure — but still. Living alone all this time is something else.

Hye-suk had a son, Park Seong-jun. But a son was a son. After her husband left, she had been on her own. She could easily have found someone new, yet from everything Seong-min had seen living under her roof, she wasn't seeing anyone. That a woman with looks like hers stayed single was genuinely surprising to him.

"You didn't have to order the popcorn."

"What?"

"I already ordered."

"Why'd you do that~ I was going to buy it~"

"Just because. Doesn't matter who orders, right… heh…"

"You're terrible."

A moment later the popcorn and two Cokes came out. They took them over to the straw station and gently pressed the lids on.

"To get into the theater we have to take the escalator up one more floor."

"Should we go now?"

"Yeah — looking at the time, now should be good."

They headed for the escalators and rode up at a leisurely pace. Other people were going up too, so they waited in line and then stepped on.

On the seventh floor, an employee was checking tickets, and numbered doors marked the screening rooms. They got in line, showed the reservation on Seong-min's phone, and the staff member helpfully pointed them to the right theater.

"You'll want Theater 1."

"Got it. Thank you."

Following the directions, they found Theater 1 and went in. Ads were already playing on the screen.

"Where are our seats?"

"Just follow me."

Seong-min turned on his phone flashlight, checked the row numbers, and led them into the center D section.

"These are ours."

Hye-suk sat down as directed.

"Is this movie any good?"

"It's been pretty popular. The reviews weren't bad either, so I booked it."

"I see…"

Hye-suk looked around and nodded. Just as Seong-min had said, the place was well filled.

"It's been ages since I last came to a theater."

"Same here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think this might be my first time this year."

"That long, huh."

At last the ads ended and the movie began.

It was a Korean comic-action film. The lead was a powerfully built detective from the violent crimes unit — looked like a gangster, but spent the whole movie thrashing and subduing genuinely awful people. A cathartic, freewheeling action flick. As expected, a few cases kicked things off, and watching him work through them was genuinely entertaining. The big, solid detective in the lead role was especially something else.

Seong-min glanced sideways and found Hye-suk thoroughly enjoying herself.

Glad I brought her.

He'd hoped she'd like it — and luckily, the movie seemed to be landing.

The runtime finally ran out and the credits rolled.

"So? How was it?"

"Really fun~ Especially that last beatdown — so cool."

"That actor's super famous and popular, even looking as scary as he does."

"Hohoho. The way he talks and acts was hilarious."

"Right?"

"Mm~"

Once enough people had filed out, Seong-min stood with Hye-suk and left the theater. They dropped the empty popcorn tub and cups in the recycling bin, then rode the escalator down.

"Want to look around the department store?"

"Look around?"

"Yeah — we're going downstairs anyway~"

"Sure."

Just leaving felt like a waste, and browsing the department store while they were already there wasn't a bad idea. They took the elevator down to the fifth-floor women's section.

"It's summer now, so there's a lot of new summer stock out~"

They wandered through brand shops, and Hye-suk asked Seong-min's opinion before buying a summer skirt and blouse. Then she stepped back into the elevator and pressed four.

"I'm fine, really."

He'd expected them to head for the food court on two.

"Looking never hurts."

The doors opened and Seong-min stepped out with Hye-suk into a men's brand store.

"This is nice~"

She was looking at a summer short-sleeve T-shirt — a bright, dandy-looking piece.

"It's a new arrival this season. Very popular with men in their twenties and thirties~"

"Oh, is that so?"

Then Hye-suk held it up against Seong-min's body.

"Seong-min, what do you think? Looks good on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you, right?"

"Not bad, actually."

The design really was solid.

"We'll take this one. Seong-min, what size are you again?"

"Wait — you're buying it for me?"

"Yep."

"You really don't have to."

"Nonsense~ Just tell me the size. A hundred?"

Seong-min nodded, and Auntie asked the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clerk for a size 100. Just like that, Seong-min received a brand-new summer T-shirt from Hye-suk.

"Show us some pants too~"

"Pants too?"

The request for pants on top of the shirt caught him completely off guard.

"If you're getting a shirt, you need pants to go with it~"

And so, after the T-shirt, she also bought a pair of clean-lined summer slacks in a dandy style that matched the shirt perfectly.

"Thank you."

Hye-suk finished paying with smart pay and handed Seong-min the shopping bag.

"You really didn't have to get me a gift…"

"Think of it as payback for the movie and freeloading on the popcorn."

"But this is a lot…"

The shirt and pants alone already ran well over 150,000 won.

"When you make it big someday, you can pay me back~"

Then she took his arm and pulled him along.

"I'm hungry~ Let's go eat."

Being led by Hye-suk's hand, Seong-min realized something. Back when Auntie was dating in her younger days, she must have been a lot more playfully clingy than he'd imagined.

They went down to the second-floor food court and had a delicious lunch. Once again, Hye-suk paid.

A bright weekend outing: a movie, new clothes, a good lunch at the food court. And because going straight home felt too abrupt, they bought two takeout coffees and strolled through Hangang Park before heading back. That was the day.

Seong-min thought he'd spent the weekend very well. And once again, he found himself thinking he had truly lucked out moving into that rooftop room.

The next day.

Seong-min headed to the gym on Sunday. When he arrived in the morning, a staff member he didn't recognize greeted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him — the trainer he usually saw apparently only worked weekdays.

From ten o'clock he changed clothes and went straight into ten minutes on the treadmill, then over an hour of weight training, then back on the treadmill again. By the time he finished everything, it was past one in the afternoon.

Drinking water, he opened the Status Window to check — and found he'd gone up two levels.

He'd already gained one level from walking on the rooftop the night before, so counting yesterday that made three levels total.

Martial Power is at 30, and Physicality is back up to 32.

As planned, Seong-min intended to push Physicality all the way to 50. Leveling through workouts and brutal labor made Physicality an excellent investment. He'd raise it to 50 first, then start putting points into the other stats.

Finished with his workout, he headed to the locker room, peeled off his sweat-soaked gym clothes, grabbed his bath bag, and went into the shower.

My body really has improved.

In the shower-room mirror, his upper body showed less fat and more defined muscle. His chest, his biceps — when he flexed, something was starting to show.

Are my shoulders getting broader too?

Physicality was only at 30, so he didn't know how far the body changes would go — but if his shoulders widened as well, that would be huge. He'd find out once he raised Martial Power further.

Either way, hitting 30 in Martial Power had made him that much stronger.

I bet I can fight better now too. Heh heh…

It was Martial Power, after all — the thought was fun to entertain.

And so Seong-min made good use of his Sunday as well.

Monday arrived.

As usual, Seong-min woke a little past five, got ready, and came downstairs around six.

"Heading out?"

The front door opened and Hye-suk appeared in a cardigan.

"Yeah. Gotta work hard again today."

"Good. Fighting."

"I'll take Auntie's energy and give it everything I've got~!"

"Hohoho~ You never run out of lines."

Seeing him off, Hye-suk watched Seong-min leave for the courier distribution center.

He took the subway, walked to the bus stop, transferred, and finally got off at his destination. A little more walking brought him to the courier distribution center. He headed for the gathering spot — and sure enough, the day-shift crew was already assembling.

He'd assumed Min-hyeok would be there too, but there was no sign of him.

Bathroom, maybe?

It had happened before, so it was possible. Seong-min went to the restroom himself and took a leak — Min-hyeok wasn't there either. He returned to the gathering spot, pulled a coffee from the vending machine, and waited while he drank it. Still no appearance.

What's going on?

"Everyone, gather up~!"

Seven o'clock arrived and the section chief called them together — and still Min-hyeok didn't show.