Different After All
“Is this the pasta place?”
“It’s supposed to be good. Dad said so.”
“The restaurant’s name is Tiger Restaurant…? Looks like they’re selling Korean food.”
“My dad likes pasta too, and he said it’s really delicious. It should be reliable.”
The moment we stepped inside, we saw the place was packed with customers, just like a popular spot should be.
There was exactly one table left for us. A group of people walked in right behind us and had to wait.
We would’ve had to line up if we’d been even a little later.
“Should we get rose and cream pasta and a pizza?”
“Yeah!! Let’s do that.”
“Drinks… what do you want?”
“Cola. If they have zero, I’ll take zero cola.”
“One zero cola and one zero cider. That should work.”
Despite the crowd, our food came out surprisingly fast.
We’d barely exchanged a few words before the dishes arrived.
I waited so Chae-yeon could take pictures first, then snapped a few of my own.
After that, I sent them to the writer group chat.
“You take pictures of food before eating too.”
“Yeah. It’s nice to keep memories like this.”
“I heard guys don’t usually take food photos.”
“Some do, some don’t.”
“But why didn’t you take any last time?”
“I just forgot.”
Wondering how they figured it out, I checked the photo and realized Chae-yeon’s upper body had ended up in the frame along with the food.
I hadn’t meant to show her off, but I’d accidentally done exactly that.
I brushed off Suho’s threats and focused on Chae-yeon instead.
It wasn’t the first time he’d acted like this.
“Is the writing going well? I heard some people get stuck.”
“Yeah. Lately it’s been coming along pretty smoothly.”
“How do you come up with ideas when you barely go outside? You haven’t experienced much.”
“It just comes to me. I can write just by imagining things in my head.”
“That’s amazing. Everyone else says they get blocked because they have no material.”
“It feels weird saying this myself, but I guess I have some talent for writing novels.”
“Is that your own conclusion, or do other people say that too?”
“People around me told me I have talent.”
It takes me an average of one hour to write a single chapter properly.
Even that’s slower than before. When I first started, I was much faster.
The novel I serialized after only two months of writing achieved the best results. Even though it ended long ago, it still helps me earn a living.
Of course, every novel after that has only done mediocre numbers—that’s the problem.
How is it that a person’s debut work ends up being their best-performing one?
“Writing seems really cool. How do I put it… there’s something romantic about it.”
“Everyone says that.”
“How many chapters do you upload a week? Twice?”
“Daily updates. Seven times a week.”
“What?! That many? Isn’t that exhausting?”
“People tend to think webtoons and web novels are similar, but they’re not. Web novels require less work compared to webtoons.”
“I see. How long is one chapter?”
“Three thousand characters, excluding spaces. That’s the standard for the platform I’m serializing on.”
“Three thousand characters would be over pretty quick.”
One of my readers started writing their own novel, so I went to check it out.
In the author’s note, they’d written: “I didn’t realize it when I was just reading, but actually writing three thousand characters feels like an enormous amount.”
That’s how it is with three thousand characters.
It feels short when you’re reading, but long when you’re the one writing it.
A magical word count.
“I want to read it later too!!”
“No. I’m not telling you.”
“Why? Let me see. I’m curious.”
“It feels weird having someone I know read my novel.”
“Because you’re embarrassed?”
“Yeah, a little. I’ll tell you when I feel okay about it.”
“Okay!! Make sure you do.”
After we finished eating, we strolled down the street at a leisurely pace.
We weren’t doing anything special, just walking, but it felt surprisingly nice.
“Want to look at clothes? We can buy something if we see anything we like.”
“Sure. I was looking in my closet this morning and realized I have nothing to wear.”
Chae-yeon wandered around the clothing store we naturally entered, browsing through the racks.
Seeing that bright expression on her face, it seemed she really liked clothes after all.
“Jung-woo, how about this?”
“A shirt? It suits you, but won’t it be too hot to wear right now?”
“It’s thin, so it might be okay? Should I try it on?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Chae-yeon came out of the fitting room wearing the shirt she’d picked.
The oversized sleeves that covered the backs of her hands and the long hem.
It reminded me of little Chae-yeon happily wearing stolen adult clothes as a child.
That didn’t mean it didn’t suit her now.
Chae-yeon, happily checking her reflection in the mirror and saying she liked the clothes, looked better in them than anyone else.
It really is different after all.
“It looks great on you. Since fall’s coming soon, it might be nice to buy it.”
“Really? But I think it would fit you too. Want to try it on?”
“No matter how oversized it is, it won’t fit me.”
“No, I think it will. Come on, try it.”
Following her words, I went into the fitting room and put on the shirt.
Then I was hit with a wave of self-loathing.
It fit. Aside from the shoulders being a little tight, the sleeve length and hem were both generous.
It was supposed to be unisex, but wasn’t this going too far?
“See? I told you it would fit.”
“This is depressing…”
“It’s fine. It’s a unisex shirt and it’s oversized anyway.”
“You wear it. I’m not getting this.”
“It looks good on you though?”
“No. If I wear this, I feel like I’ll cross a river I can never come back from.”
“Got it. If you see anything you like, try it on and I’ll take pictures for you, okay?”
“Sure.”
“I want to send them to Mom.”
After that, I was officially hired as Chae-yeon’s personal photographer.
Every time she came out in new clothes, I took pictures and sent them to her mom.
If something didn’t suit her, I’d tell her before she even asked.
“Make sure my legs don’t show too much.”
“If your legs show, they’ll look longer.”
“I don’t want them to show because they’re thick.”
Of course, compared to how thin I was, hers were thicker, but by normal standards for women, they weren’t thick at all.
I didn’t think they were thick enough to need hiding.
“Yeah, got it.”
Chae-yeon’s shopping spree lasted over an hour. It was the first time I’d ever spent that long in a single store.
“Aren’t you buying anything?”
“Hmm, nothing really caught my eye.”
“I’ll pick something for you!!”
“No, I can just buy something online later.”
“You say that but you won’t actually buy anything. Since we’re here, let’s get you something.”
Chae-yeon probably knew me better than anyone except my family.
How she could read me so well without me saying a word was sometimes terrifying.
“Are you buying both top and bottom?”
“Yeah. If I see anything decent, I’m getting it.”
“What size top?”
“105. If it runs big, 100.”
“What about pants?”
“Uh… I don’t think there are any men’s pants that fit my waist. It’s 28.”
“28?! Dude, how is your waist that small? 28 is the smallest size.”
“That’s why I sometimes wear women’s pants too.”
She didn’t have to look at me like that just because my waist was small.
Chae-yeon dragged me straight to the women’s pants section.
Starting there felt way too weird.
“Men’s 28 isn’t even that big for women’s pants. Let’s just look here.”
“Can’t we check men’s pants first?”
“Why look at men’s sizes when 28 is already big? What kind of pants do you like?”
“Skinny. I like ripped jeans.”
“Black? Or blue?”
“I like black more.”
“Then try these on.”
I came out of the fitting room wearing the clothes Chae-yeon had picked.
It was my usual style, so it didn’t feel awkward, and the outfit looked pretty good.
“It suits you. Are you getting these?”
“Yeah. I’ll take these. Thanks for helping me pick.”
“No problem. Shall we go now?”
“Yeah.”
On our way out, Chae-yeon stopped in front of a display of accessories.
Among the many items, she couldn’t take her eyes off a leather bracelet, fiddling with it.
“This is pretty.”
“Yeah, it is. Leather does look nicer than metal.”
“Should I buy it? No, I’ll get it next time.”
“If you like it, just buy one.”
“I already spent too much today, so I’ll get it next time.”
If someone who said they’d buy it next time kept staring at it like that, wasn’t that contradictory?
“Huh?! Hey, why are you taking that?”
“Just wait. I’ll pay for this.”
“That’ll be 15,000 won.”
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
I fastened the bracelet I’d paid for around Chae-yeon’s wrist.
“It looks pretty.”
“Ah, no. I really was going to buy it next time.”
“If you see something you like, you should buy it that day.”
“Then I’ll send you the money.”
“It’s fine. Think of it as a gift.”
“What kind of gift is this? I’ll send the money.”
“A birthday present.”
“My birthday’s in October. There’s still a month and a half left.”
“An early birthday present. Anyway, I’m not taking money.”
“B-but still…”
“Hurry up. If you don’t come, I’m leaving without you.”
“I-I’m coming!!”