No Matter How You Look at It, This Is a Bit Embarrassing
The next morning.
I turned on my phone the moment I opened my eyes. It was seven a.m.
When I got up and headed to the living room, Yu Seongun happened to be coming out of his room at the same time. We grabbed breakfast together, then I shut myself in my room and read for a while. By the time I checked the clock again, it was already past one in the afternoon.
Deciding it was about time to head out, I called for him.
“Hey, Yu Seongun. Let's go buy clothes.”
“Alright.”
A little later, we were ready to go and headed out to shop for clothes. On the way to the store, I spoke up first.
“I just need a few comfortable things, right?”
“If you're buying anyway, might as well buy proper ones.”
“I have no clue what's what.”
“You'll figure it out when we get there.”
Before long, we arrived at the clothing store. Stepping inside, I was met with far more clothes than I'd expected — every kind and design imaginable, so overwhelming that I had no idea where to even start looking. With men's clothes I could at least grab whatever caught my eye, but with women's clothes I couldn't picture at all how anything would look on me.
After casting around helplessly for a bit, I turned to Yu Seongun.
“Hey. Just pick stuff out for me.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I'm completely lost here.”
“Hmm. I'm not exactly an expert either.”
“You're still better than me. You do beauty stuff, don't you?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Whatever. Pick for me.”
“Hmm... if it turns out weird, no complaining later.”
“Just pick something normal, you punk.”
At my words, Yu Seongun snorted a laugh and walked over to the display racks. He came back a short while later with a white short-sleeved t-shirt and a black leather skirt in hand.
“Try this on first.”
“Wait, a skirt? Right out of the gate?”
“We came here to buy women's clothes, so what's wrong with a skirt? You need to get used to it.”
You bastard. That one there.
Maybe I was imagining it, but that seemed suspiciously like him indulging his own tastes. I gave him a suspicious look, but he just shrugged. Reluctantly, I took the clothes and went into the fitting room.
The t-shirt was fine — similar to things I wore all the time. The skirt was another matter entirely. It wasn't like pants where each leg went into its own opening; the bottom was just one wide, open hole, so the very act of putting it on felt bizarre. After a brief debate with myself over whether I should actually wear it, I changed anyway and walked out to where Yu Seongun was waiting. I'd barely taken a few steps before the skirt kept feeling like it was riding up, and I found myself covering the back of it with my hand.
Showing this to my friend brought a belated wave of shame. I stood there awkwardly and looked up at him.
“Yu Seongun. I did put it on, but...”
He looked me up and down and nodded. “Ooh, simple but pretty.”
“This skirt is way too short. It's uncomfortable. And it's leather, so it's tight...”
“That much is fine, isn't it?”
“Hey, I'm the one wearing it and saying it's uncomfortable. Why do you get to decide it's fine?”
At my curt reply, he laughed. “Okay, okay. I'll pick out something else.”
He gave a short answer and went back to browsing the racks. A good while later, what he brought back was a white dress.
“Then try this one on.”
The moment I saw it, my brow furrowed. It was a short backless number that left the back almost completely bare. I'd seen women wearing dresses like that plenty of times watching internet broadcasts, but actually putting one on myself felt way too much to handle.
“Hey, are you just picking stuff at random since it's not you wearing it?”
“It seems like it'd really suit the way you look now. Go on, hurry.”
“It's so easy when it's not your problem...”
“If you wear it, I'll buy you something tasty.”
That gave me a moment's pause. “Like what?”
“Whatever you want to eat.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah. So go get changed.”
“Okay.”
I took the dress and went back into the fitting room. Once I had it on, the entire length of my back felt exposed. Reaching behind to touch it, I found there was almost no fabric there at all. And the hem was short, too, so the slightest movement drew my attention downward. I hadn't thought twice wearing a swimsuit, but wearing something like this as everyday clothing felt completely different.
As I was adjusting the dress, I noticed a long pair of strings hanging from the front of the chest. Looks like these tie behind the neck. I grabbed them and tried to pass them over my head, but my long hair kept getting in the way, making it impossible to tie properly. No matter how many times I fumbled with it, the strands kept catching, and I finally dropped my arms.
Fine. I'll just ask Yu Seongun to tie it for me.
I roughly tidied the rest of the outfit, covered the strings with my hand, and stepped out of the fitting room. Yu Seongun's gaze, already waiting, snapped straight to me.
“Ooh, that's pretty? Turn around, let me see the back.”
“Why are you checking the back too? Just tie the strings.”
“Fine, fine — but turn around first.”
“Good grief. You want a lot, don't you.”
Grumbling, I obediently turned and showed him my back.
“Wow, that dress really suits you. Let's buy it.”
“Are you insane? How am I supposed to walk around the street in this?”
“Why not? It was made to be worn. What's the problem?”
At that, I turned my head to look at him.
“...No matter how you look at it, this is a bit embarrassing.”
“Why? You look nothing but pretty.”
You little brat, look at that grin splitting his face. He was having the time of his life precisely because he wasn't the one wearing it.
Yu Seongun stepped a little closer to examine the dress. Then he pointed a finger at the front of my chest.
“Hey, wait a sec. Why didn't you tie the strings in front?”
“What did you just hear me say? I asked you to tie them.”
“Hehe. What a high-maintenance friend I've got.”
“You're the one who told me to wear it. Less talking, more helping.”
Only after I shot him a glare did Yu Seongun finally brush my hair aside and tie the strings for me.
“There.”
“Thanks.”
“......”
He stared at me for a moment, then picked up a white hair ribbon lying nearby.
“Doyun, let's tie your hair up too while we're at it.”
“Huh? Since when?”
“Yeah. I think it'd look even prettier.”
“I don't know how to do my hair.”
“I'll do it for you.”
Before I could even answer, Yu Seongun gathered up my hair and lifted it. The long locks that had been draped over my back swept away all at once, leaving my bare back completely exposed. With deft fingers, he smoothed out the tangled strands and pulled them together into one.
“Ooh, beauty-school guys really are something else.”
“This is nothing. It only seems hard because you've never done it.”
“Really?”
“Mm. Now take a look in the mirror.”
Just then, as Yu Seongun lowered his hand, his fingertips brushed against my bare back.
“Ngh...!”
Startled by the unexpected contact, I whirled to look at him. Yu Seongun, flustered by my reaction, froze with his hand still in the air and just stared at me.
“...Hey. Watch your hands. You just touched my back.”
“Uh... right. Sorry. But your face is really red.”
Now that he mentioned it, my face grew even hotter.
“Shut up.”
Doing my best to look composed, I changed the subject. “Hey, but this one's too short too, isn't it? It's right on the verge of showing my butt.”
“Then wear a long one. There's something similar over here.”
Yu Seongun pulled another dress off a nearby rack and handed it over. This time I practically snatched it out of his hands and retreated into the fitting room.
The new dress had an open back as well, but the hem came down almost to my ankles.
This much I could probably wear out in public.
With my long hair, it would cover the exposed part of my back well enough, too. When I changed and came back out, Yu Seongun looked me over as if he'd been waiting.
“Ooh. The short one suits you, and so does the long one. We'll take both.”
“Both?”
“Yeah. I'm paying, so you wear whatever I give you. Got it?”
“Whoa...”
For a moment, words failed me. But the thought of free money meant there was really no reason to refuse.
In the end, I headed to the register still wearing the long dress and the white hair ribbon. Yu Seongun set the short dress on the counter and paid for everything at once — the dress I was wearing and the ribbon included. Once the transaction was done, the clerk tucked the clothes into a shopping bag and handed it to me. Taking the bag, I gave Yu Seongun a playfully exaggerated thank-you.
“Wear it in good health, milady.”
“What is with that accent?”
“What's wrong with it? You get to feast your eyes, lucky you.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
And so, trading mindless banter, we left the store.
“Now let's go to a café.”
“Why would two guys go to a café?”
“Since when do cafés have a gender, you idiot? We're just going to get drinks.”
Put that way, he had a point. But a few steps later, something odd about that logic belatedly occurred to me.
“Wait. But right now we're not two guys, are we.”
“Uh... no, I guess not.”
An awkward silence fell over us both. Eventually, pretending nothing had happened, we walked into a nearby café. We ordered drinks and cake, collected them, and sat down. I'd just started on my cake when Yu Seongun, seated across from me, suddenly rose with his phone in hand.
“Doyun, look here.”
“Hm?”
Click.
I turned my head absentmindedly just as the shutter sound went off.
“Wh-what are you doing?! Why are you taking pictures!”
“Sorry, you were just too pretty, I couldn't help it...”
Hearing the word pretty yet again, my face flared hot all over.
“How many times has that been today alone?”
“Ahem — the outfit! I meant the outfit is pretty...”
He'd clearly flustered himself too, and mumbled the excuse while stealing a glance away.
“Don't lie. You just called me pretty.”
“Oh, hush! Eat your cake, you brat.”
Doing his best to act like nothing had happened, he picked up his own drink.
“Delete the photo.”
“Nope. It came out really well.”
“Does it? Let me see.”
The moment I reached for the phone, Yu Seongun quickly leaned back out of range. In the end, all I could do was glare at him and pick up my fork.
“If it comes out weird, you're dead.”
“I'm telling you, it's pretty.”
“Quit saying pretty. It's not sinking in yet.”
“Fine, fine.”
The photo never did get deleted, and we whiled away some time over our cake and drinks. After leaving the café, we stopped by a few more stores to buy the comfortable clothes we'd originally come out for. By the time we finally finished shopping and stepped out, I had several shopping bags dangling from each hand.
“Let's go home. I'm exhausted.”
“Yeah. Let's get back and eat.”
“Order delivery.”
“What do you want?”
“Dakgalbi. Spicy chicken stir-fry.”
“Okay.”
And with that, we headed straight home.