His Flustered Expression, My Satisfied Smile
"Oppa, good work today—hwaeh?"
"You worked hard too, Jihye."
The moment he got home from work, Oppa pulled me into his arms.
"O… Oppa?"
"Haa…."
He didn't seem drunk. The fabric softener clinging to his suit still carried that familiar scent of flowers and fruit. Even his breath gave nothing unusual away.
"Sorry. I just missed you."
"Mm… okay…."
I should have reacted better, but I was so flustered that all I managed was a dazed little response.
"C-come eat. The food's going to get cold."
"Yeah. Thanks."
How was I supposed to stay calm when Oppa had hugged me because he missed me?
"It's a little spicy today, huh? And it's still crispy even with all this seasoning on it. That's amazing."
"I've been switching things up. I figured you'd get tired of the same thing no matter what."
"Thank you. Really, it's only ever you, Jihye. I like you."
"…W-well, of course—I'm your girlfriend! …I… like you too."
I barely got the words out, clutching at my chest. Bad for the heart.
Why is he so cute?
"Mm~ Ah. Want to go out for a bit after we eat?"
"…Won't you be tired?"
"Nah. It's just—there's so much I still don't know about you. I thought we could take a little time to learn about each other."
Oppa gently laid his hand over mine and smiled.
"Well, if you put it that way…."
I rested my hand on his too. Warm skin against warm skin.
"I'll go change first!"
"Okay, okay. I'll get ready too."
This… is a date, right? We're going on a date.
"Oh…."
My heart fluttered. It felt like we were finally doing something properly couple-like.
Wasn't kissing already couple-like? But up until now, I'd always been the one leading.
I wanted to be the one being led.
I cleared the empty table and wiped away whatever oil might have settled on my face with cleansing foam. I always bathed before Oppa got home. Last time had been a special exception—if I didn't wash ahead of time, my hair never dried properly.
"I'm done changing."
Oppa had a padded jacket on, but he'd left it open on purpose, showing off the sweater and jeans underneath.
"You look great. You really know how to dress, Oppa."
He looked sharp in a suit and coat too, but this had its own casual charm. Not bad at all.
"Thanks."
Honestly, I was short on time. So I'd keep it simple and just find a way to look pretty.
I still couldn't do full makeup, but I made sure to put on toner and lotion at least. In the dead of winter, even guys needed that much or their skin would fall apart.
As for clothes… right.
We were a couple, so I'd match him a little.
He was in a sweater, so I'd go with a knit.
If I wore an actual sweater, my chest would—yeah. Knits were dense and thin; sweaters were bulky. With a padded jacket thrown over lightly, I'd still be warm enough.
"Hmm… ah. This one."
A knit with a subtle check pattern, plus a fleece jacket with a soft wool lining. Oppa's jeans were a deep indigo; I went with a lighter wash.
"How do I look?"
"Pretty. Really, really pretty."
"Hehe. Thank you."
There was something I'd been wanting to try on Oppa while he was wearing that padded jacket.
"Oppa!"
"Whoa—!"
The warmth of his body, the way the jacket swallowed me up—it was so cozy I almost wanted to fall asleep right there.
"Jihye… shouldn't we… get going…?"
"Haa… I've been dying to do this."
I roughly smoothed down my mussed hair and headed outside, carefully taking hold of Oppa's arm.
"Everyone's staring at us…."
"You're right… I figured at night people would just walk past, but maybe you're glowing or something. They can see you just fine."
"I think there's a halo coming off you too, Oppa."
I meant it. Just looking at him, he shone.
It wasn't the neon signs on the buildings or the yellow streetlights. He simply glowed. Maybe my eyes were seeing things.
"Let's just ignore them."
"I can only see you anyway."
"Thank you… Honestly, there's so much I've been curious about with you. That's why I wanted to make time like this."
Oppa tightened his arm a little and drew me closer—probably to keep me from bumping into someone. Then he went right on talking with that same unchanging expression, as if what he'd done was the most natural thing in the world.
"…I feel like I don't actually know anything about you."
"Ahem. I feel the same way."
Maybe it was because the way we'd met had been so unusual. We barely knew each other, and yet we'd already skipped ahead on so many other things.
"So when is your birthday, Jihye?"
"Mm… December third."
"Ah… it's already passed."
"It's fine."
I'd known Oppa's birthday for a while, so I didn't ask. Yeah—I'd make sure to celebrate it properly this year.
We smiled at each other and wandered down the street with no particular destination. Oppa was so much taller than me, but he matched his pace to mine, and walking felt easy.
There was still so much we didn't know. From here on, we'd just take our time and learn, little by little.
"Oppa. Let's take pictures!"
A photo booth had caught my eye by chance—one of those unmanned studios where couples and groups of friends always piled in to shoot.
"Sure. I'd been thinking about it myself. Doing it now sounds good."
Oppa agreed without hesitation, and we stepped inside.
"Is there anything you want to put on your head? Something like this, maybe."
Before you entered the booth, there was a big mirror with all kinds of headbands and silly glasses laid out in front of it, as if inviting you to at least touch up a little.
"Cat ears… wouldn't those look cute on you, Jihye…?"
"Huh… you think so?"
"Yeah."
Oppa took the headband from my hand and settled it onto my head himself.
"See? Super cute."
"Hnn… fine."
I fussed with the pointless little cat ears, hiding my face. I was definitely red, and my expression was probably completely dopey.
"Ah…! I'm so sorry. We'll be done in a second."
I felt people behind us and turned around—somehow a whole group had already gathered.
"…No, it's fine. Please, take your time."
"Uh… excuse me?"
"Ahem. Jihye. Let's go."
There were several people lined up behind us, but none of them said anything sharp.
"W-wait, then Oppa—you wear this."
"Alright. Just come on. Too many people are piling up."
"Uwah… sorry~!"
We scrambled free and ducked into an empty booth. Judging by the scattered sighs I heard, we'd been a little too absorbed in ourselves.
What do you want from me? It's my first time.
"Hnn… this is your fault, Oppa."
"It's fine. Everyone was looking at you like you were adorable."
A sweet-and-sour feeling swept through me. Embarrassing as it was, hearing him call me cute made my heart pound.
"Oh… I've never done this before. This is so cool…."
"Me neither. So this is how everyone takes these."
A machine faced us; behind us, a bright pink wall welcomed us in. The space looked a little tight. How on earth did four people even fit in here to take pictures?
"So how should we pose?"
"Improvising…? If we wing it, we'll both just stand there stiff as boards. Let's decide first."
Stiff… stand?
Oh no.
"…Jihye?"
"…Ah. A-ah, should we look up poses online?"
I shook off the sudden dirty thought and pressed close against him over one small phone screen.
"Hmm… this one?"
"That looks good. And… I want to try this one."
A hugging pose, and one where we gazed steadily into each other's faces. Searching "recommended couple poses" had naturally brought up plenty of contact.
"Uh…."
"…Want to do it?"
A pose where we kissed each other… was that even a pose?
"Ahem… if we cover it with a flower, it should be fine."
"Hmm… then let's just make peace signs with our hands and shoot it that way."
What we'd seen was a pose where two people held up flowers to hide their faces while kissing at the same time. Whether they actually kissed was something only they would know.
"I want to post these on social media—is that okay?"
"Uh… sure. I don't really do that stuff myself, but I don't mind."
"Since we're already here, why don't you try it too?"
"I've seen people who post all the time, and it always looked like a hassle. And I… yeah."
Oppa made a faintly reluctant face. I understood.
His messages would probably max out the twenty-four-hour limit. If he didn't turn off his notifications, they'd keep coming all day.
It would be nice if there were a setting that just blocked messages from complete strangers—for people like Oppa.
Well… I'd probably be in a similar boat.
"I'm going to use it like a keepsake account—just for posting pictures of us together."
"Yeah. That's fine. I'll drop in and look sometimes too."
For the third pose, we decided on smiling at the camera while making a heart with our hands.
And for the last one…
"Want to try improvising this one?"
"Yeah. Sounds good."
"Starting now."
I tapped the monitor in front of us and finished the settings. Once I paid on my phone, the two of us appeared on the screen.
"Ah—Oppa, pose, pose!"
"R-right, right. What was the first one again?"
"Wait, take your jacket off first!"
Looking back, there was so much we hadn't prepared for.
Apparently the machines online gave you one more chance. The first round had already fired automatically when the timer ran out.
All we had were pictures of us scrambling around in a panic.
In the meantime we stripped off our outer layers, I got a puppy headband onto Oppa's head, and we finally managed to get ready.
"Ahem. Ready?"
"Yeah. Perfect."
"You remember the poses?"
"Yeah. I've got them memorized."
One shot, ten seconds of waiting, then another—the approaching urgency made me feel like I was going to flail.
How is this even popular? Must be an MZ generation thing or whatever.
I'm MZ too and I still don't get it.
"Haa… starting now."
I hit the button and threw my arms around Oppa as fast as I could. It was more like I was the one being held, really.
I looked at the camera and angled my face just enough to show.
— Click!
"Next, next!"
Next was the long, steady gaze.
"……"
"……"
Looking at each other was somehow both awkward and hilarious, and we both burst out laughing.
"Pft…!"
"Puhah…!"
— Click!
A moment later we pulled our faces together properly, pressed our shoulders close, and shaped a heart with our hands.
"Oppa, you're smiling, aren't you?"
"Uh… yes. I am smiling."
We'd been too frazzled to notice, but the monitor never lied.
A second ago we hadn't been posing at all—we'd just cracked up.
I checked the timer, brought my lips to Oppa's ear, and whispered.
"(Oppa, I love you.)"
— Click!
I snapped back into place right on the timer and set my expression. In the frame that flashed past, I was wearing a thoroughly satisfied look.
"This one's easy, right?"
"Is it…?"
"Smiling is easy too~"
"Ahem. Got it."
I wondered how to flash a peace sign without covering my face, and then I remembered a pose that used to be popular in Japan.
"Oppa, flip your peace sign and bring it down low. Like me."
"L-like this?"
"Yep, yep."
A gyaru… peace? What I remembered from old comedy shows was a little different from the gyaru looks coming out of Japan these days.
— Click!
"Ahem. I've got something I thought of this time."
"What is it?"
Time kept ticking down.
Let it keep going. No room for Oppa to get flustered.
"Oppa, look at me."
"Hm?"
Two.
One.
— Smooch.
I gently caught his face in my hands and drew him in. At the flustered look in his eyes, I gave him a soft, smiling glance.
Even after the photo took, I didn't let him go. I wanted to stay just like that.
It was the clumsiest kiss imaginable—but more than enough to set my heart racing.