Blonde Tanned Thug (5)
The leisurely park on the weekend was packed with families out with their kids, couples, and groups of friends trying to shake off the post-semester boredom.
Seonwoo and Yuli had planned to meet here today. Yuli was fidgeting nervously, glancing around everywhere.
Crowded places are still tough...
She was getting better through therapy, bit by bit, but some things were still just hard. All she could do now was hope Seonwoo showed up soon.
"Seonwoo made time for me, after all..."
Yuli squeezed her eyes shut and muttered to herself. As she kept mumbling, a voice called out.
"Yuli."
"Eek! ...Oh, Seonwoo, you're here."
"What, why'd you jump like that?"
"Ahaha, n-no... nothing..."
The moment Seonwoo arrived, Yuli naturally grabbed the hem of his shirt.
"Still tough, huh?"
"Yeah... last time..."
"Last time?"
"N-no, nothing."
"Hmm... Well, shall we head out?"
"Yeah!"
Last time they'd come to the park, she'd been less tense for sure. Maybe because she was excited to meet her SNS friend FridayAngel despite the crowd, or anxious about not seeing him—either way, it hadn't felt this bad. Telling Seonwoo about it would just be rude, though.
Yuli quietly held onto Seonwoo's sleeve and followed him.
"It's right nearby, so it'll be fine."
"Yeah... Sorry about this."
Seonwoo scratched his cheek, thought for a moment, and said,
"I should be the one apologizing. I picked this place for no good reason."
"No, I just need to... try harder."
"You'll get better little by little."
"Yeah."
After a short walk, they reached the restaurant Seonwoo had reserved. The problem was, it was packed too.
"Ah, weekend crowds, huh? Wanna go somewhere else?"
"No, you picked this place specially... I-I'll muster up some courage."
Seonwoo glanced at Yuli's face, but when she urged him on saying it was fine, he nodded and went inside.
"Table for how many?"
"Two."
He'd half-thought about going elsewhere, but knowing Yuli, she'd feel bad about it. He decided to trust her here.
"Yuli, order whatever you want. Go wild."
"...Uh, yeah... What? But this place is pricey—is it okay?"
"Haha, don't worry about it. Eat comfortably."
"Uh... yeah."
Seonwoo said to relax, but Yuli felt awkward. It was too much as thanks for the keychain she'd given him last time. Dutch pay would've been easier on her conscience... But she shook her head. Showing discomfort now would just make her a burden when he was treating her.
Yuli steadied her trembling hands and picked the cheapest item on the menu.
"Just one okay?"
"Yeah, I don't eat much."
After awkwardly ordering, as Yuli nervously scanned the room, Seonwoo tapped the table to get her attention.
"Huh?"
"How'd you spend break?"
"Oh, break..."
They'd originally planned a trip together, but Yuli had backed out. She wanted to focus on therapy. And truthfully, hanging out with the group still scared her.
"Sorry for ditching the trip last minute."
"It's fine. You already apologized before."
Irked by her repeated apologies, Seonwoo quickly changed the subject.
"Nothing fun happen over break?"
"Not really..."
"That's a shame. If you think about it, there must've been some good times."
"...Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'll try to remember something fun."
"No, I didn't mean anything that epic."
Yuli just hemmed and hawed. This was getting boring. Seonwoo decided to take the lead.
"Well, for me over break..."
He chatted about trivial stuff like dragging his annoying little sister to the zoo or photos from a random walk. He skipped anything about Juyeon—last time hadn't gone well, and bringing up another girl here would just backfire.
Still, with the right gestures and tone, Yuli started enjoying it. She stopped fretting about her surroundings too.
"Oh, I... found a nice spot recently too."
"Really? Where?"
"The other day, chatting with my SNS friend FridayAngel..."
And just like that, Yuli opened up. Seonwoo had been running out of topics, so this was good—he'd finally gotten her talking.
But for some reason...
"So FridayAngel... Oh, I didn't tell you about Seonwoo?"
"The one who recommended the youth psych center last time..."
"I actually met FridayAngel recently, about my social anxiety..."
"FridayAngel suggested this park too, always shares nice walk spots."
"So FridayAngel..."
Every one of Yuli's stories featured the same person: her SNS friend FridayAngel.
From what Yuli said, FridayAngel had approached her first online, but when they met IRL last time, he'd hidden in a bear costume. A high school girl with social anxiety, voice distorted? Kinda weird.
Seonwoo worried some creep had latched onto her. But Yuli said after that first meet, FridayAngel always refused further hangouts. What was the angle? Better warn her.
Seonwoo spoke carefully.
"So... you've never seen FridayAngel's real face?"
"No, social anxiety—she wore a costume."
"Be careful with people like that."
"Huh?"
"Online friends can turn dangerous offline. You don't really know who they are."
"She said... we're the same age, and a girl..."
"Could be lies. Just don't get too close."
"But..."
Yuli's energy visibly deflated.
Can't be helped. I'll have to shield her.
Originally, Seonwoo saw Yuli as an easy mark—meek personality, low maintenance. Sure, with Juyeon gone, she was his last fish, but Yuli seemed blindly devoted to this other SNS friend now. He couldn't lose his remaining heroine, so he'd guide her right.
"Your food."
"Th-thank you."
The arrival of food cut the convo short. Seonwoo switched topics to avoid clashing too hard, but it wasn't long before FridayAngel came up again.
Yuli peeked at her phone and froze.
"Yuli? Something wrong?"
"Oh, it's..."
"Fr-FridayAngel wants to meet now, if that's okay?"
She dodged me before saying it was hard, but now she wants to meet out of nowhere?
Seonwoo was dumbfounded by the sudden invite. His inner thoughts leaked onto his face.
"Ahaha, yeah, probably not... Nice to hear, but I'll say no..."
Yuli's voice trailed off, thanks to Seonwoo's earlier words. As she typed a reply, he stopped her.
"No. Introduce me too."
"What?"
"Ask if I can join."
"But... social anxiety... Okay, I'll ask."
Yuli figured it'd be a no and sent the message.
Yuli's heart pounded. What if they got outright mad? Or... maybe Seonwoo was right, bad intentions, scoping us out together...
No, FridayAngel's not like that. She listened to my stories so well. But... with the anxiety, and Seonwoo suspicious, what if she gets hurt...
As Yuli fretted, a reply came.
"Seonwoo, FridayAngel says it's okay to meet."
"Alright, let's go once we're done eating."
"Yeah. Um, Seonwoo..."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for everything... but she has social anxiety, so..."
"Don't worry. Just curious what kinda person."
"Yeah."
Yeah, Seonwoo wouldn't hurt anyone. FridayAngel must be considerate too. They'd probably hit it off. Yuli hoped so as they headed out.
"Ah, over here!!"
A bear costume waved from afar and approached.
"Whoa~ Sorry for the sudden meetup. Must've thrown you off."
"N-no, all good. How've you been?"
"Eh, same old. Doing therapy bit by bit."
Seonwoo shot a glare from the side. The bear turned to meet it.
"Oh, nice to meet you. Heard from YuriMental—you're super nice."
"Ah, yeah... Heard a lot about you too."
Seonwoo shook hands reluctantly.
Voice distorted for sure, and the energy's too high for social anxiety?
His suspicions lingered.
"Let's chat while walking."
"Sure. Ah... forgot the keychain."
"No worries. Next time."
Seonwoo watched them from behind, tilting his head. Height's average for a girl... Wait. The irregular mechanical girl-voice filter. Something familiar underneath. And the height matches that guy from recently...
- Steal all the girls around hyung.
The short, cocky declaration kept popping up. Kim Taeyang—if serious, he wouldn't sit idle. But how'd he know to come here? And he'd been Yuli's SNS friend for ages. His NTR declaration was just two weeks ago. No way he'd planned this deep unless from the start.
"Hmm..."
Still, Seonwoo's gut screamed it was Taeyang.
"Gonna test it."
After walking a bit, Seonwoo suggested a bench break. Yeah, even I was dying in the heat—time to rest.
"Yuli, mind doing me a favor?"
"Huh? Sure, what?"
"Grab some drinks from the convenience store?"
"Let's go together!"
This punk's bossing Yuli around already. As I started to stand, she stopped me.
"I can go alone. You two... talk."
Yuli eyed Seonwoo. Hmm... they must've chatted about me behind my back. Whatever it was, worked in my favor. I crossed my arms and sat back.
"What'll FridayAngel have?"
"Oh, I'm good like this."
In costume, obviously couldn't drink or eat.
"Can't take that off?"
Doesn't he know? As I opened my mouth to explain, Yuli scolded him.
"Seonwoo... she has social anxiety..."
"Got it."
Seonwoo nodded.
"I'll be quick then. Okay?"
Yuli checked on me again, worried. Fair, leaving a social anxiety girl alone with a guy she'd never met.
"Fine! You two chat."
"Yuli, she said it's cool."
"Okay, I trust you, Seonwoo."
Yuli left. Silence hung between us.
Not from lack of things to say. Seonwoo's gaze sharpened the second she was gone.
"Must be hot in that thing."
Sudden casual speech?
"Yeah, brutal. Ah~ When's global warming getting fixed~"
"How about taking it off now?"
"Huh? Take it off suddenly? To a girl?"
I hugged myself protectively.
"Kim Taeyang, cut the crap."
Boring guy. I'd barely dropped hints to rile him, and he already clocked me.