A Date for Two
"Yu-seong… w-would you… want to go on a date with me?"
My parents had come by the house and left again. I'd been about to flop onto the couch and spend the rest of the holiday taking it easy when, out of nowhere, I got that proposal.
The Seol-hwa I knew was not, to put it bluntly, the assertive type. Even when she wanted something, she was the kind of person who couldn't quite bring herself to say it out loud. Lately, the most she'd managed was asking for a little skinship — holding hands while we walked, that sort of thing. So when a girl like that suddenly came out with the word date, I honestly doubted my own ears for a second.
"Sure. It's not like I've got anything else going on."
Whatever wind had blown through her, I had a rough idea of the cause. But whatever it was, it was a good direction — no reason to shut it down. I nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Seol-hwa's face lit up so visibly that I almost broke into a fond smile without meaning to.
She's so easy to read.
Watching her beam like a little kid who'd just been handed a brand-new toy, I couldn't help thinking, Does something this small really make her that happy?
I got myself ready in short order and leaned against the front door, waiting for her. Women's preparations take time, after all.
Come to think of it, I'd been getting lessons in self-care from the others lately, and for someone who'd thrown all of that out the window until now, it had been rough going in more ways than one. The lifestyle side of things had improved naturally enough — I had a good example right beside me. My diet was taken care of by a girlfriend far more reliable than my mother had ever been, and even if my injured knee kept me from doing what I used to, I'd at least started up some light exercise again. So most of what I was hearing about these days was the surface stuff — hair, skin, that kind of maintenance.
I'd always figured there was no one around to look at me anyway, and that a guy who wasn't cut out for it would only look ridiculous half-assing it. But that wasn't true anymore. There was someone precious beside me now — someone who actually looked at me.
Seol-hwa would probably say she liked me no matter what I looked like. But I didn't want to get comfortable and coast on her affection. I wanted to become someone who belonged at her side — someone who could at least face himself without shame. That was the spirit in which I was trying, as much as I could manage.
The fact that the others pulled this kind of thing off so casually only made me think how impressive they were in every way. I was still a long way from where I needed to be. I let out a sigh at the thought — and then Seol-hwa came out of the room.
In a pure white blouse with a soft pink cardigan draped over it, she looked, quite simply, like a girl made of spring. The outfit was plain, without any real ornamentation, but that only made Yun Seol-hwa's own charm stand out all the more.
"Mom sent you that, didn't she?"
I remembered how, the last time my mother had stopped by, she'd hauled in a whole box of clothes supposedly for Seol-hwa to wear.
"…Y-yeah."
Was she embarrassed by the question? Seol-hwa nodded, her cheeks pinker than usual. My mother was a scatterbrain most of the time, but when it came to this, she was nothing if not professional at her actual job. Credit to the woman who'd picked the clothes — and credit to Seol-hwa for wearing them so well.
"Yeah. It looks great on you," I said, and smoothed her hair.
Looking pleased, Seol-hwa got as far as "Than—" before she suddenly slapped both her own cheeks with a sharp smack.
"Y-you should count yourself lucky!"
Faced with that sudden behavior and that sudden line, I could only tilt my head in confusion. Seol-hwa took a steadying breath, as if collecting herself — and then said something completely absurd.
"Y-you're dating someone as pretty and cute as me!"
"…What?"
First things first: I pinched my own cheek as hard as I could. It hurt. Not a dream… though honestly, this wasn't the kind of thing she'd say even in a dream.
"U-um… if you don't say anything, I… I don't really know what to do…"
What on earth was the correct reaction supposed to be in a situation this ridiculous? Watching Seol-hwa put the cart so thoroughly before the horse — saying it herself and then getting embarrassed about it — I let out a silent sigh.
"You're right. I'm insanely lucky. More than I deserve, honestly."
Who exactly had been filling her head with this stuff? A few likely candidates sprang immediately to mind. But since things had already gone this far, rather than interrogate her, I decided to just roll with it and play along.
Even after we stepped out onto the street, Seol-hwa still couldn't quite meet my eyes. Backlash from earlier, maybe?
"So, where were you planning to go?"
She'd been the one to suggest going out in the first place, and she was doing things she never normally did — surely she had some kind of plan.
"Uh… uh…?"
She doesn't.
At the sight of her floundering, I sighed inwardly for what had to be the nth time. Looks like this was pure improvisation. Maybe she sensed the crisis in my expression, because Seol-hwa glanced frantically around and then bolted toward a vending machine.
"I-I don't know why, but I'm suddenly thirsty~"
This girl should really never try to act.
Even delivered in a tone like an elementary schooler reading from a textbook. I swallowed the thought and watched as Seol-hwa made a show of rummaging through her pockets before speaking up again.
"I guess I didn't bring my wallet…"
"…"
The awkward atmosphere hanging over us like thin ice showed no sign of thawing anytime soon.
"So you want me to buy you one?"
She nodded at that and pointed a finger at a can of black coffee. "Th-this one."
"…Are you sure?"
I asked one more time, just to be certain. For good reason — she tried not to show it, but this girl had a pretty childish palate. What she liked was the sweet stuff, hot chocolate and the like. I still remembered the time she'd taken one sip of bitter coffee meant to fight off drowsiness while we studied and immediately made a face like she'd been poisoned.
But Seol-hwa just nodded again instead of answering, so I had no choice. I pressed the button. With the distinctive clunk of a vending machine, the canned coffee dropped down.
"Ah… I made Yu-seong buy it for me."
"You asked me to."
I threw out the most obvious counter possible, but Seol-hwa didn't seem to hear a word of it. "It's fine anyway!" she declared at full volume.
"B-because it's for your cute girlfriend…"
Tomorrow the sun might genuinely rise in the west. Or meteors might fall instead of raindrops. I didn't have a mirror, but I was certain my face was wearing an expression of pure disbelief.
Seol-hwa saw my reaction, hesitated for a beat, then cracked open the can and took a long swig. The result was exactly what you'd expect. The moment she swallowed that first mouthful, her face twisted into something that said enduring the bitterness was pure agony.
I was about to tell her she didn't have to force herself when she abruptly shoved the remaining can at me.
"Y-you want some too, Yu-seong."
You can't just decide that out of nowhere.
More to the point, taking a can she'd already been drinking from was… well. That kind of indirect thing. Did she even understand what it meant? Come to think of it, it had been a while since we'd last kissed, too. And I'd already said I'd play along with her lead.
"I—I can't take it anymore…!"
The second I closed my eyes and reached for the can, Seol-hwa — so red she looked ready to explode — snatched it right back. Game over, apparently.
Whether the embarrassment had simply overflowed past capacity, she was trembling all over. I guided her over to a nearby park bench and sat her down.
"So. Who put you up to this?"
"I-it wasn't really like being put up to it… I just… talked it over with Seo-jin…"
"Talked it over?"
"Well… I'm not a very assertive person, right? It always ends up looking like you're the one pulling me along. So I tried talking to her about it, and…"
"And it went completely off the rails."
Of all the people she could have consulted, she'd gone to someone who was easily in the running for worst possible advisor on this particular subject. No wonder. I sighed, and Seol-hwa — thoroughly misunderstanding the look on my face — dropped her head and mumbled, "I looked pathetic, didn't I…"
Without a word, I pulled her in and settled her against my chest.
"W-wai—?!"
"You really do worry too much. That's your problem."
It was true that Seol-hwa was not, even by the most generous stretch, an assertive person. But—
"Pathetic? Don't be ridiculous."
She was trying to change. She was trying to move forward. A girl who had never received the things she should have gotten from her family, who had lived so long inside that pain—
"If I thought of you that way, I never would have fallen for you in the first place."
How lonely must it have been, trapped inside a reality where no one acknowledged her existence? How painful, in that solitude where not a single person truly saw Yun Seol-hwa?
And yet here she was. Standing here now — as a friend, as a girlfriend — present and unashamed. Looking ahead, saying she didn't want to give up… saying she wanted to take even one small step forward.
That sight of her. That strength. It was what had saved me. There was nothing pathetic about it. I'd thought, I want to be like you — and that was how I'd gotten here. How I'd been able to make peace with the life I'd given up on and thrown away.
"So don't you dare call yourself pathetic. If you're pathetic, then liking you makes me pathetic too."
I could feel the heartbeat quicken in the small, warm body held against mine, and a smile slipped out before I could stop it. Seol-hwa lifted her head and looked up at me. Those eyes, reflecting nothing but me, steady and clear — they gave me strength again today. Just a little more. Let's keep going a little further.
"…Thank you."
Watching her look like she'd fully recovered her spirits, a mischievous impulse sparked to life.
"Don't mention it, Miss Seol-hwa — pretty, cute, and adorable."
"Cough…?!"
"What? You're the one who said it."
I grinned at the spectacular coughing fit she'd just produced. Seol-hwa was stuck, unable to move in any direction — but she'd been the one yanking me around this whole time, so a little payback seemed fair.
"That may be, but! I mean, I… I never said adorable!"
"It felt like something was missing, so I added it."
"Th-that's…"
"You don't need it?"
"…That's a dirty question."
If I teased her any further she might actually get sulky on me. I apologized and smoothed her hair, then stood up and stretched.
"Want to keep the date going a little longer?"
I held out my hand for her to take. Seol-hwa said, "I-if you're okay with it, Yu-seong…," and laced her fingers through mine without a second of hesitation.
Her usual smile had come back. I gave her the same one in return.