Weekend Date with Friends? Maybe I'm Popular Now?(2)
Now… um, where should we go next?
Excluding Jihye, who had already finished her coffee, Miju and Seyeol wandered the streets with drinks in hand. The bustling downtown area was packed with things that felt both stimulating and thrilling to high schoolers—manga cafés, instant photo booths, cosmetics shops, clothing stores, coin karaoke rooms, and more. Their eyes darted around busily while Kim Jihye watched them from a step behind.
“Since we’re already holding drinks, somewhere we can browse would be nice. Should we check out a clothing store?”
“Are we… buying summer clothes here?”
“If there’s anything decent, sure. …Though after checking my account balance, I doubt I can actually afford anything.”
“Want me to buy it for you?”
“Huh?”
Seyeol stared at Jihye, who had tossed the offer out so casually.
“The clothes, I mean. Should I get them for you?”
“No, that’s a bit…”
“Don’t worry, class president. I’ve got plenty of money. My family’s rich.”
What Jihye pulled out was that same black card from earlier. She wasn’t trying to brag. But watching these poor young students get all glum because they couldn’t do what they wanted was just too painful to ignore.
“Uh… is this a bl-black… card?”
“Huh? What’s a black card?”
Seyeol had no idea what the card was, but Miju recognized it instantly.
“It’s a card only the top one percent of magical girls can have. If you reserve in advance, you can rent out an entire department store time slot, guarantee VIP seats for concerts or sports events, fly first class automatically, and enjoy tons of other perks…”
“Uh… anyway, it sounds amazing.”
To stop Miju from launching into another excited ramble, Seyeol quickly changed the subject.
“This card belongs to Jiah unnie, right?”
“It’s… my cousin’s. Yeah.”
“As expected from Lady Blossom. I knew she was incredible, but I didn’t realize she had a card like this too.”
The card had Magica Blossom engraved on it.
“Jiah… unnie told me to have fun without worrying about money and handed it over. So if there’s anything you want, just say it. I’ll pay.”
“Uhh…”
Seyeol felt both awkward and burdened. She wasn’t used to this kind of thing when hanging out with friends. No matter how ridiculously wealthy her friend might be, the guilt that came with being treated was unavoidable.
Jihye understood exactly how Seyeol felt. She remembered what it was like during her own poor days, when friends or others would buy her meals. Thinking back on those times, Kim Jihye spoke up.
“If it really bothers you, pay me back once you succeed. Think of it as me investing in your future.”
“…All right. If you put it that way.”
“Pfft. Then let’s hit the clothing stores first.”
Somehow, what was supposed to be casual window shopping had turned into actual shopping for clothes.
The three of them went from store to store, carefully examining outfits that might suit Seyeol.
“Not this one either… This doesn’t match my style at all.”
“Then, Seyeol, how about this flower-patterned dress?”
“Doesn’t it look too mature?”
“I, I guess so…”
“Hwaaaam.”
Of course, to Kim Jihye—who had lived more than half her life as a man—all the clothes Seyeol picked out looked basically the same. Still, she kept that to herself while watching Seyeol concentrate with her lips pursed.
She was already exhausted from wandering around, so she mostly stayed out of the selection process. Jihye would sit on a chair inside the store, rest for a while, doze off, then get up only when they moved to the next shop, repeating the cycle.
“I thought there’d be something decent.”
“The ones earlier were all too mature…”
Seyeol and Miju muttered regretfully as they left yet another store. They had already visited four places. With at least ten minutes spent in each, more than forty minutes had passed. When Jihye actually checked her phone out of curiosity, she saw that a full hour had gone by since they left the café.
At this rate we’ll never finish.
Jihye quickly pointed at a random outfit hanging in the nearest store.
“Class president. How about that one? Doesn’t it look okay?”
“Huh?”
“That t-shirt. …Yeah, it’s nice. What do you think, Miju?”
“Uh… it, it looks pretty good…?”
Seyeol went inside and quickly tried on the piece Jihye had chosen. She’d felt it the moment she grabbed the hanger—her instincts told her it would suit her. After changing in the fitting room and standing before the full-length mirror, she confirmed it was perfect.
It was a white short-sleeved tee that paired beautifully with the denim skirt she was wearing. The casual vibe was spot-on, the boxy fit loose enough to avoid looking sloppy, and the print had just the right amount of detail without being overly trendy.
Both Seyeol and Miju were impressed.
“…Jihye’s fashion sense is incredible.”
“R-really. I had no idea it would suit her this well… To spot it so perfectly at first glance… As expected of Jihye.”
She had only pointed at a random shirt because she was too lazy to keep looking. Yet somehow the girls’ eyes were now filled with tremendous respect as they gazed at her.
Jihye had never received such sparkling looks even when teaching them, so the situation felt incredibly awkward. Still, she decided that good was good and let it slide.
“Thank you for your purchase.”
After buying the clothes with Jiah’s card, the three of them stepped outside with refreshed expressions.
“Whew. Finally got one.”
“I’m so glad. I can wear this when I go home next weekend…”
“Exactly. Jihye, thank you.”
“Yaaawn? What’s there to thank me for?”
“Pfft. If you don’t get it, that’s fine.”
Seyeol gave Jihye a gentle smile as she spoke. The smile was so pure and pretty that Jihye couldn’t bring herself to ask what she meant.
Seyeol continued in an excited tone.
“Now that we’ve bought clothes, where should we go next? The photo booth, obviously?”
Faced with Seyeol’s expectant gaze, neither Miju nor Jihye could bring themselves to refuse.
“One, two, three!”
A flash of light burst out in time with the machine’s voice. A click followed, and the screen showed three female students.
One was using props and striking an energetic pose toward the camera. Another covered more than half her face with her hand and even turned her head away. The image of someone clearly uncomfortable with being photographed was unmistakable.
And the last one had been captured mid-yawn. She’d tried to cover her mouth with her hand, but her closed eyes and flared nostrils were impossible to hide.
Anyone looking at a photo of the three would probably say:
…What a disaster. Wait, is that girl taking an ugly selfie on purpose?
Four cuts were printed on a single film, so there were other shots, but they weren’t much different from the ones described. The friend who was used to this sort of thing struck confident poses, the embarrassed friend kept hiding her face, and the last one continued yawning without fail.
What more was there to say? Seyeol, Miju, and Jihye were each freely displaying their personalities in the photos.
After a final inspection, Seyeol handed out the printed photos one by one.
“…You’re really going to put this in your phone case and carry it around?”
“Yeah. I’ll slide it into a clear case.”
“Do we, do we really have to…?”
“It makes the phone look nicer and shows off our friendship. Ah, I didn’t mean you guys have to do it!”
“Then the class president is going to, right?”
“Yes. I really like it.”
Seyeol, who had already inserted hers, proudly showed off her phone.
“I, I can’t do it. I’ll keep it safe at home instead.”
“I don’t mind, but… unfortunately this isn’t a clear case. It won’t be visible.”
Jihye’s phone case was a rugged bumper design—the kind a male engineering college student might use.
Seyeol studied Jihye’s phone carefully before making a suggestion.
“Then let’s go buy a clear case.”
In the end, Jihye ended up at a phone accessory shop, bought a clear case, and inserted the photo they had just taken—just like Seyeol. With the flow heading this way, Miju reluctantly decided to join in too.
Eventually all three of them had the film tucked into their phone cases.
“N-now that we’ve done this, we really… look like friends.”
“What are you talking about, Miju? We are real friends.”
“R-really? Hehe.”
Unlike her earlier reluctance, Miju was now smiling brightly as she looked at the photo inside her case.
Watching how satisfied Miju seemed, Seyeol felt certain they had done the right thing by taking the group photos.
Next was Jihye’s reaction. Seyeol turned to look at her.
But instead of the expected response, Kim Jihye was tilting her head and muttering.
“…Real friends? What does that mean? Is it the same as BFF?”
Unfortunately, Jihye wasn’t familiar with the latest slang. After all, Jihye was… a thirty-four-year-old uncle.