169. I've Never Given Anyone Else a Ride
169. I've Never Given Anyone Else a Ride
***
No one goes through life without ever making a mistake.
And the range of mistakes was so broad that it was hard to define them easily. From trivial slip-ups you could laugh off, to colossal blunders you could never simply let slide—even the scope of them was endlessly varied.
If you narrowed it down to mistakes made between people, then more than the mistake itself, what mattered most above all else was how the person on the receiving end accepted it.
......
Click!
The door swung open quickly, and at the sight of Serin looking thoroughly disheveled, Eunha instinctively recalled Serin saying she had just woken up.
"Ah! I'm so sorry, Eunha. You waited a long time, didn't you?"
When Serin spoke with an expression full of apology, Eunha smiled faintly and gently shook her head as if to say it was fine.
"No. It's okay. Really."
Not much time had passed since they'd gotten in touch, and honestly, Eunha didn't mind Serin's current appearance at all.
Seeing Eunha's reaction, Serin kept apologizing as she led her inside.
'Ah. Why did I fall asleep...'
Serin still wasn't fully with it.
She'd only meant to sit on the living room sofa for a moment to settle down, but she'd ended up falling asleep just like that.
Then, after the appointment time had passed, she'd woken late to the sound of her ringtone, and she hadn't even managed to change out of what she was wearing.
Glug.
After guiding Eunha to the living room sofa, Serin took out a cup and poured a drink, then looked at Eunha again.
Eunha was far more dressed up than yesterday, as if she'd deliberately prepared. And thinking about how she must have waited while calling several times looking like that made Serin feel even sorrier.
Clink.
Serin lifted the filled cup and carefully handed it to Eunha, who was seated in the living room.
"Thank you."
Eunha accepted the cup with thanks.
Then, as she gazed quietly at Serin, Serin spoke with an apologetic expression.
"Eunha, I'm really sorry, but... could you wait just a little longer?"
I couldn't exactly go out looking this shabby when Eunha had come all dressed up so beautifully.
In that sense, she had no choice but to ask for a bit more understanding.
"Yes. Take your time getting ready. I can wait as long as you need."
Eunha smiled brightly and spoke in a soft voice.
"Really... I'm so sorry. Truly."
She kept saying it was fine, but even if I had ten mouths, I had nothing to say except that I was sorry.
Oversleeping and waking only after the appointment time had passed was clearly my mistake.
"No. Serin. You really don't need to be so apologetic. Honestly, this is time you should've been resting comfortably anyway, right? I'm the one who asked to spend it together."
They say beautiful people have beautiful hearts too, and Eunha proved that saying true by only saying things that were pleasant to hear, which put me a little at ease.
"They say pretty people like you have pretty hearts too. I guess that saying's true."
"Serin. Isn't that a little too transparent?"
When Eunha smiled faintly and asked playfully, Serin laughed along softly.
"Was it that obvious?"
"Yes. It was. So please hurry up and get ready."
With that, Serin went into her room to prepare to go out.
As soon as she'd disarmed the security, Eunha had arrived within minutes, so she hadn't been able to make herself presentable.
She'd been out of it after waking, and more than anything, she'd been flustered. Mixed with the thought that she'd completely missed the appointment time, her thoughts hadn't been connecting properly.
Letting out a small sigh, she checked herself in the large full-length mirror.
"I seriously look like a beggar."
From her wildly tousled silver hair—she must have tossed and turned in her sleep—to her rumpled sky-blue pajamas.
She let out a hollow laugh at the thought that she'd greeted Eunha looking like this.
"...It's really only because it's Eunha that she took this so well."
She figured she needed to get ready fast, and she did feel like dressing up.
Yesterday and today alike, Eunha had come dressed to the nines, enough to put celebrities to shame.
And on top of that, since we were going out today, I couldn't just throw on anything either.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Serin pulled out several pieces of clothing from the storage space, tossed them onto the bed, and immediately grabbed the hair styler.
Whirr.
She turned on the styler and quickly smoothed out her tousled hair with the heat.
She figured it wouldn't take long since she'd showered before falling asleep, but her eyes kept strangely closing on their own.
"Haaah..."
Yawning here and there while getting ready because she still didn't feel fully awake, Serin nonetheless finished preparing quickly.
Only after twenty minutes had passed was Serin able to finish all her preparations.
***
Eunha had been quietly watching Serin go back into her room, and when the door closed, words slipped out before she knew it.
"Serin looks tired."
She'd said she overslept. Eunha figured Serin must have things to take care of even on the weekend, and the image of her looking not fully rested came to mind.
Her disheveled silver hair, her unguarded appearance—it looked different from yesterday.
No, honestly, every time they met, Serin's impression felt different.
When they'd first met at the cafe, there'd been an elegance that matched her uniquely mysterious looks. Yesterday, she'd shown a calm yet bright side while streaming.
And today, she'd even shown a disheveled side, as if she'd easily let her guard down.
'...So a person's impression can change this much.'
Eunha wasn't particularly bothered that Serin had missed the appointment time.
Of course, it was a shame that their time together had shrunk, but in its own way, she felt like she'd gotten to see a different side of Serin.
Tap. Tap.
Eunha fiddled carefully with the cup Serin had given her and felt the need to significantly change the plans she'd made for today. She thought it wouldn't be great to drag a tired-looking Serin around from place to place.
So she thought it might be better to just relax comfortably in a quiet, uncrowded space.
Click.
She hadn't been mulling over the schedule change for long when the door opened sooner than expected.
Eunha lifted her head and looked at Serin.
"Did you wait long?"
"...No. Actually, I was surprised you came out so quickly."
The Serin she looked at now had transformed completely in just a few minutes.
Maybe she likes black—the thought crossed Eunha's mind the moment she saw her, because Serin's appearance was even composed.
As if her disheveled state from moments ago had been a lie, her now neatly arranged pure-white hair contrasted with the black outfit and gave off her signature mysterious aura.
As Eunha gazed quietly at Serin, Serin, wondering if something about her looked odd, spoke with an awkward expression.
"Does it look a little strange to you, Eunha?"
Eunha immediately shook her head, and while wondering what to say, a thought suddenly came to mind—something her fans used to say to her.
"No. It's not strange at all. More than that... Serin, every time I see you, it's like you live in a world of your own."
"...Pardon?"
When Serin answered as if she didn't understand, Eunha couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight.
Unlike her dazzling appearance, the way she looked and the things she said were very down-to-earth.
That contrast was strangely even more charming. Eunha slowly parted her lips as if explaining.
"I just mean you look so pretty right now, Serin. And for some reason, the moment I saw you, I remembered what my fans used to say to me. It felt like those words suit you now more than they ever suited me. Serin, did that upset you?"
"No. It's not that, but..."
Serin answered with a dazed expression and gazed quietly at Eunha.
It definitely seemed like a compliment, but if it was this excessive, it was enough to make the person hearing it feel burdened.
"Eunha, you're not mad right now, are you?"
When she asked just in case, Eunha smiled brightly and rose from her seat.
***
Ding!
With the soft chime of the elevator, the two women stepped out into the underground parking garage.
The sight of the silver-haired woman walking alongside the black-haired woman was striking in itself.
The image of two rare beauties walking together was more than enough to draw the eyes of the few people in the underground garage.
But since they didn't know Another World, their gazes were drawn only by their looks. They had no idea who they were.
And their eyes went wider than ever at the spot where the two women's footsteps came to a stop.
A car exuding a subtle blue glow.
A Bugatti Chiron Super Sport.
The end of the two women's walk together was right in front of that hypercar.
......
Vroom.
As soon as Eunha approached within a certain distance, the blue car lit up and let out its signature deep rumble. Eunha, who had approached before Serin, naturally opened the door and looked at Serin.
As if telling her to get in.
At the unfamiliar sight she couldn't get used to at all, Serin smiled sheepishly and parted her lips.
"Eunha, when you normally open the door for people like this, how do they usually react?"
She found herself curious how other people would feel toward Eunha when a beauty like her opened the car door for them on a car this nice.
After all, she'd already ridden in this car several times, and she still couldn't get used to it.
At Serin's reaction, Eunha answered with a face that suggested she'd never thought about it.
"I'm not sure. I've never had anyone else in the car besides you, Serin."