Disguised Date
The weekend had arrived.>
When I told Sia I would become her fake boyfriend and help her out, she replied that I should come over on the weekend. The thought left me stunned, and the days of the week flew by in a blur.>
On the promised day, morning finally came.>
I stood before my closet, rifling through the clothes inside with a heavy heart.>
After all, I was supposed to play the role of a boyfriend. I should dress nicely, but I had nothing suitable on hand.>
“Hmm… what should I do…”>
After much deliberation, I settled on a clean white t-shirt paired with a light cardigan and stepped outside.>
It looked casual enough, so I headed to the meeting spot with a sense of satisfaction.>
Upon arriving, I noticed every eye in the vicinity had locked onto one spot.>
Feeling a bit uneasy, I turned to look, and there stood Sia.>
She was dressed up to the nines.>
Since Sia was already beautiful even without makeup, the addition of some makeup made her glow even more.>
Seeing her like this for the first time, I froze for a moment, then snapped out of it and approached her.>
Hearing my footsteps, Sia turned her head and looked at me.>
Her gaze was icy cold.>
It was a feeling I had never experienced before—like anyone who dared speak to her would be cut down on the spot—so I hesitated.>
Only when I confirmed it was me did Sia’s expression brighten, and she rushed over to me.>
“Siwoo!”>
The cold atmosphere from just moments ago had vanished completely. It was as if a tail had appeared on Sia’s back, spinning like a propeller, and energy was practically radiating off her.>
As a result, the earlier tension faded into the background.>
“Ah… sorry to keep you waiting?”>
“No? I just got here!”>
I had clearly checked that the appointment time was still fifteen minutes away… but when I casually took Sia’s hand, her fingers felt quite chilly.>
That meant we had probably waited quite a while in this chilly weather, which made me worry about her.>
“Your hands are so cold. Aren’t you freezing?”>
“Yeah! I’m okay!”>
“You should have dressed warmer… I feel bad about it.”>
Sia had dressed lightly, thinking she would be dressed up for the occasion, which only made me feel worse.>
It seemed Sia had also been concerned about my outfit.>
“Hmm…”>
“What is it?”>
“That outfit on you… it’s so plain!”>
I had thought Sia was scolding me for the plain clothes, which would be rude on a date, but she was actually pointing out how cold it was for me to wear that.>
I was a little surprised by her words, then offered an explanation.>
“It’s a bit chilly, but I’m fine. Besides, it’s a date, so wearing a puffer jacket would be a bit odd.”>
“…”>
Hearing my explanation, Sia stared at my face intently, then suddenly grabbed my words.>
“It won’t do! We’re going shopping for clothes today! Got that?”>
“Eh? Eh, wait—”>
Just like that, I had no choice but to go along with Sia.>
After arriving in the city center, we headed straight to a clothing store.>
It was a store from a well-known brand, and it was quite large.>
“Let’s go in.”>
“Wait, this is pretty expensive, right?”>
“I’ll pay, so don’t worry and hurry up.”>
“No… I’ll pay…”>
But ignoring me, Sia immediately dragged me inside the store.>
The last time I had shopped for clothes was with my parents, and the times I had accompanied Sia to the city were only for sightseeing, so I had no idea how to pick out the right clothes.>
At that moment,>
“I’ll coordinate everything for you, so don’t worry.”>
“I’ll pay the money…”>
“It’s fine. I got a card from Mom!”>
“That’s not the issue!”>
Since Sia’s mom had given her the card, she insisted it was okay and dragged me straight to the men’s clothing section.>
She walked around with me, pointing at items as she spoke.>
“Siwoo, do you have any jeans at home?”>
“Jeans… I don’t have any.”>
“Then let’s try these on.”>
Sia quickly pulled out a few pieces.>
Jeans, a black turtleneck, and a black coat to match.>
“Put these on.”>
She handed them to me, and I had no choice but to change in the fitting room and come out wearing them.>
When I looked in the mirror after changing, I thought it looked a little strange, but I stepped outside anyway.>
“Hmm… it’s okay!”>
“Really?”>
“Yeah! Way better than I thought! Let’s just buy it!”>
“Um… yeah…”>
Since Sia said it looked good… the opinions of other people didn’t matter to me.>
While I was changing again, Sia handled the payment.>
“Are we wearing these to the date?”>
“…Sure.”>
I changed into the clothes Sia had bought and off we went on the date.>
The weather outside was much warmer than before.>
I held my old clothes in one hand inside a shopping bag, and in the other, I held Sia’s hand, and we started a proper date.>
“Hmm… where next?”>
“Want to go to that pasta place we went to before?”>
“Oh, the one we went to when we bought our school uniforms?”>
“Yeah, it had a nice atmosphere. I thought it would be perfect for a date… what do you think? If you don’t like it, we can go somewhere else.”>
“No, I like it!”>
We recalled our past memories and found the pasta place.>
I couldn’t remember the name, and honestly, while looking, I wondered if it had closed down and what I would do, but luckily it was still open and operating normally.>
The inside of the restaurant was full of customers, probably because it was a weekend.>
Fortunately, we got a seat by the window.>
“Hmm… what do you want to order?”>
“What about you, Sia?”>
“Hmm… I’ll have carbonara.”>
“Okay, then. Aglio, olio, carbonara, and grapefruit and grape cider, please.”>
“O-okay.”>
Just like I had studied on SNS, I ordered the right amount of food to post about.>
While waiting for the food and chatting with Sia, it arrived.>
Since it looked good enough to post on SNS, I adjusted the placement a bit, then said,>
“Sia, take a picture.”>
“Ah… yeah… okay.”>
Sia took her phone and started snapping photos of the food.>
Click click.>
Looking at the pictures,>
“Hmm… Sia, try it like this.”>
I gave her some pointers on the composition.>
“Waa! It’s much better!”>
“Right? Lucky.”>
The photos came out far better than before.>
And since my face wasn’t in the opposite direction, it was even better with my presence included.>
But Sia said,>
“If it’s okay… could you include your face too?”>
“Hm? It’s fine?”>
“Hehe, then I’ll take just a few more.”>
“Sure.”>
Click click click click click click click.>
In the middle, Sia made various poses and took many photos.>
I wondered if it was necessary to take so many, but since Sia wanted them, I let it go.>
The food had cooled slightly from all the photos, but since it was a place that cooked well, we enjoyed it anyway and left.>
“…Siwoo, where are we going next?”>
“Hmm… if we walk a bit more, there’s a great spot for photos. Let’s go there.”>
“…Okay.”>
Holding hands with Sia as we walked,>
Squeezed.>
Sia’s grip on my hand suddenly tightened a little.>
I knew what it meant when Sia held my hand like that—it meant she didn’t like something.>
“Hmm, do you not want to walk?”>
I thought she might not like walking, but she said,>
“No? I’m fine.”>
That wasn’t the problem, so I continued walking while pondering on the side of my head.>
The place I wanted to go was a walkway-like spot in the city center.>
It had been designed like a place for photos, so I had heard there were quite a few couples who came to take pictures there, and I had actually seen many such couples when I went with Sia.>
While walking, I spotted a fairly pretty tree.>
“Sia, let’s stand by that tree.”>
“Yeah.”>
After taking a few photos there, we moved to another spot and took a few more, and the walking had turned out longer than expected.>
“Sia, aren’t your legs hurting?”>
“Hmm… a little? But not that bad…”>
“Hey, let’s go to a cafe nearby and rest for a bit.”>
“…Okay.”>
I led Sia to a nearby cafe that had been recommended.>
Once inside,>
“Should I order my usual?”>
“Yeah. Please.”>
At the counter, I ordered a caramel macchiato, cafe mocha, and tiramisu cake for Sia, then headed over to her.>
When I returned with the order, Sia said,>
“How much is it? I’ll give you money.”>
“It’s fine, I’ll pay.”>
“You bought the food earlier, too, Siwoo.”>
“Then the clothes I’m wearing were bought by you, Sia.”>
“That was from Mom’s card, so it’s fine.”>
“I’m not okay with it…”>
Of course, the auntie wouldn’t say anything to me.>
Sia had known I was here to play and had given me the card in the first place.>
But the more I accepted, the more my conscience ached.>
At that moment, Sia muttered something like ‘Next time I should buy with my own money…’ but I couldn’t hear it clearly.>
Then the ordered coffee arrived.>
I took the tray and began setting it up.>
Considering the lighting, I adjusted everything this way and that.>
“Looks like we can take the photos just like before.”>
“…Yeah.”>
Click click.>
This cafe had a beautiful decoration, perfect for taking pictures.>
After the beautiful photos were taken, we sat down and started chatting casually while enjoying our coffee.>
“When are you going to post the photos?”>
“Hmm… I’ll do it later when I get home.”>
“Yeah, that’s good.”>
“Yeah, but for now, I won’t post any with my face in them. So don’t worry.”>
“Ah, whatever… do whatever you want, Sia. I was planning to help you while hiding my face in the first place.”>
“……”>
“Yeah.”>
Besides, even if her face was covered, since Sia was right next to me, I would probably still be under suspicion, so there was no point in covering it.>
But then,>
Sia fidgeted for a moment, then said,>
“I’ll go to the bathroom for a bit.”>
“Ah… yeah, okay.”>
And she headed to the restroom.