Shopping Spree
"What? You two got here first~"
Seoeun appeared in a light, flowing white dress, as if she had come out for a casual picnic. Her destination was the cafe where she'd been told the two of them were waiting.
"I was going to get his hair cut but decided against it."
"When you put it that way, I really do sound like some kind of dog."
Suhyun muttered, a hint of irritation in his voice at Hana's comment.
"Whoa. But Suhyun looks so much better with his hair swept back! You should wear it like that more often."
Seoeun's praise made him happy, but Suhyun couldn't help worrying about the fact that styling it that way would mean waking up fifteen minutes earlier every morning.
"Juyeon didn't come with you?"
"Oh, she did. I messaged her earlier and she said she's almost here."
Almost before the words left her mouth, Juyeon walked into the cafe, phone gripped tightly in her hand. She scanned the area with the sharp eyes of a weasel checking for predators, then spotted the group and broke into a bright smile. She looked like a Chihuahua that had just found its owner.
"...Hi."
She tilted her head slightly as she greeted them. Suhyun smiled and returned the gesture.
"Hi."
After returning their trays, the Spirit members finally stepped outside. Their first stop was Young Plaza, right next to the department store.
"Wow, this is cute, unnie."
"Isn't it? How much?"
"Let's see... No way. It says fifty-seven thousand won?"
"Look it up online. I bet it's at least ten thousand won cheaper somewhere."
Hana and Seoeun were frantically browsing accessories from the very first floor. Suhyun found himself forced into an experience he imagined came with being born into a house full of older sisters. Having never gone anywhere with only girls his own age before, these moments felt both unfamiliar and strangely alien to him.
Juyeon didn't seem interested in the jewelry. She stayed glued to Suhyun's side, watching the others from a distance.
"...Aren't you going to look around?"
"Um... no."
Clothes were one thing, but Juyeon almost never wore accessories. She didn't really see the point. Why bother? People always called them "statement pieces," but she had no idea what kind of statement they were supposed to make, or to whom. It wasn't like collecting enough points would get you a coupon.
Standing around doing nothing felt awkward, so Suhyun aimlessly wandered over to a nearby display with Juyeon in tow. He stopped and picked up a straw hat. It looked like it would suit Seoeun best among the members, but instead he placed it on Juyeon's head as she stared at it blankly.
"...What are you doing?"
Juyeon tried to hand the hat back, clearly telling him to stop.
"It looks good on you."
"...R-really?"
"Yeah. You look like a country housewife."
It was nothing, but it still got under her skin. Juyeon flicked her hand against Suhyun's forehead.
"Stop messing around."
Suhyun chuckled, his rarely exposed hitbox having taken a direct hit. Being with Juyeon made him feel oddly at ease. It wasn't that Hana or the other members made him uncomfortable, but Juyeon felt... different. He wasn't sure if saying she was special because she had no standout traits was accurate, but the point was he could now pull off simple pranks like this without difficulty.
"Lee Suhyun!"
Hana's voice called from across the store. When he tracked it down, she was holding up two pairs of earrings in front of him.
"Which one do you think suits me better?"
They had clearly different designs, so they didn't look the same at all. But Suhyun had no idea what made one better than the other. The best answer he could come up with was something he'd seen other guys say.
"Hana, you... I think everything looks good on you...?"
"Ah, come on. Don't just say that. Isn't there one that stands out as the obvious choice?"
"Your face is so pretty that they all just... seem to suit you..."
Hana had been about to pout and complain, but Suhyun's answer clearly pleased her. She covered her mouth with her palm, hiding a smile.
"Aish... You're no help at all... Juyeon, what do you think?"
Now the target had switched to Juyeon.
"This one."
Juyeon picked up the second pair.
"Really? This one suits me better?"
"Yeah. Structurally, this one is prettier."
"I see. I'll go pay for it quickly then."
Hana dashed to the counter, and soon a beige paper bag was placed in her hand.
"Now let's go look at clothes!"
Once Seoeun finished buying her bracelet, the group headed up to the fourth floor.
Inside the huge select shop, clothes hung in dense rows—items Suhyun wouldn't have glanced at once if he'd come alone. Humans were wired by default to seek comfort over adventure. In that sense, this place was pure jungle to him. He felt a considerable amount of anxiety.
"Hmm..."
Noticing his expression, Hana grabbed his wrist.
"I'll pick for you. I'm a fashion expert, after all."
"You will?"
Rather than risk bringing back something weird and getting roasted, it seemed far better to let Hana choose everything.
"Yeah. Let's pick yours first before we look at mine."
As if on a double date, Juyeon paired off with Seoeun while Suhyun was dragged along by Hana to begin the fitting session.
"Hmm... Not bad."
"Ah, this one's no good."
"Aish... If the pants are like that, we'll need to change the top too."
"Next!"
"Okay! This time can you come out wearing just this top?"
This was already the fifth round. Every time Suhyun stepped into the fitting room, his fatigue grew.
He came out after buttoning up the khaki shirt Hana had handed him. Right on cue, Juyeon had also finished changing, and the two of them took a moment to scan each other in their new outfits.
Clothes had the power to reshape a faint presence into something new. Both of their looks had real coordination and effort behind them.
"Perfect, unnie."
"Yeah. Hana, this is it~ This is the one!"
The two self-appointed coordinators stood up and began clapping with genuine emotion.
The two models harmonized both as individuals and as a unit.
When performing with a band, personal clothing choices were free. But some basic unity always looked better. If one person wore a suit-like white-and-black monochrome look while the other went full street style with clunky accessories, it would be hard to believe they were even on the same team.
"I-is it over now?"
Suhyun and Juyeon's thoughts were perfectly in sync.
I just want to rest now.
I don't want to try on anything else.
"Yep! You two go sit somewhere for a while!"
"Unnie! There's this one I spotted earlier that's perfect! It would look great with what they're wearing too! Let's go let's go let's go!"
Seoeun and Hana disappeared back into the store in a flash. The scene looked like parents shopping with their kids, but Suhyun didn't particularly mind.
"This is exhausting..."
"Tell me about it..."
Still, Suhyun really liked the clothes Hana had chosen for him. He twisted and turned in front of the mirror. With the new hairstyle and outfit, he didn't look like his usual self at all. It was the kind of look that might appear in an Instagram "today's daily outfit" post. His face was a different story, but at least the clothes gave that impression.
"Your outfit looks nice."
Suhyun complimented the clothes Seoeun had picked for Juyeon. He especially liked the print on the lower left of the shirt.
"You're just messing with me again."
"No I'm not. It's not like you picked it yourself."
"So you're saying the one I picked is weird?"
"It means Seoeun unnie has excellent taste."
"Says the guy who only ever wears gray hoodies..."
Unexpectedly, Juyeon was the first to bring up the habit Hana had been trying to break.
"Those are cost-effective items."
"...They're lame."
"I won't give you any more streaming advice then."
Their eyes met in the air with a sharp spark. To the other members it was like comparing two acorns, but the two of them carried a strange pride that said, Still, I'm better than her.
"You can't do that."
In the end, Juyeon was the first to back down. She still wanted Suhyun's help. In fact, ever since he started getting involved in her streams, her viewer count had grown meaningfully. She hadn't been able to stream even once a week because of exams and festival preparations, but she planned to start streaming at least twice a week from the week after next.
Suhyun and Juyeon found some chairs and sat down. Juyeon leaned her head against the wall and began dozing off. Suhyun simply fiddled with his phone, scrolling through internet news.
Several minutes passed like that.
"Lee Suhyun."
It was Hana's voice. The drowsiness that had been creeping over him vanished in an instant.
A short skirt that reached just above the knees. A thin leather belt of mysterious design added accent in two layers. Her smooth, narrow waist was fully on display. Crop tops were devastating items that melted men's hearts. Suhyun, a healthy twenty-one-year-old guy, couldn't stop his heart from racing.
"...How does it look?"
Hana already knew the coordination had been a success. Suhyun had zero talent for hiding his expressions, after all. His flustered reaction seemed incredibly cute to her.
"Y-yeah. It's pretty. I mean."
Look at him stuttering.
"Hey. Look properly and give me a real answer."
"...You look truly beautiful?"
It was a beauty far too dazzling for a basement-dwelling loner to handle. With so much skin showing, Suhyun wasn't even sure where he was supposed to look.
"Hmm. I'll take that as a pass."
Hana smiled brightly.
Once Seoeun finished paying, every member was carrying multiple bags.
"Ah~ Perfect, perfect! Should we take a group photo somewhere before rehearsal on the day of the performance?"
The club president was certain this summer's stage outfits would be the best in the group's history.
"Good, good. Let's take it in front of the art building."
"I just hope Kang doesn't wear something too weird again."
"He showed up in a skull-print tank top last year, remember?"
During the first-years' debut performance, Choi Kang had refused to reveal his outfit until the very end, only to appear on stage in a tank top with a giant skull printed on it.
"Are we going home now?"
Juyeon yawned and blinked sleepily.
"Not yet. We need to finish the homework we've been putting off until today."
Seoeun pulled a B5 notebook from her bag and showed it to them.
"Today is the day we finalize the lyrics and title."
The 23rd generation's first original song. It was finally time to fasten the last button.