Date (2) - Popcorn and Guilt
“Gonna eat some popcorn, Baekseolgi?”
“……Huh? Ah, yeah.”
“How’s the taste?”
After buying the tickets, at the concession stand inside the theater, Baek Seolah mulled over Han Taeyang’s question for a moment before pointing to a spot on the menu board.
“Can I get this one?”
It was the cheese-rose macaron sweet popcorn that had been quietly trending among girls who visited theaters lately. The name was ridiculously long and oddly specific, but Baek Seolah had secretly been wanting to try it.
The reviews weren’t exactly glowing, but…
She had always wondered just how memorable a flavor it could possibly be. Curiosity alone had made her think she should give it a shot someday. Still, she knew strongly flavored foods like this usually didn’t appeal to guys. If Han Taeyang hated the idea, she was ready to suggest regular sweet popcorn as her backup.
To read his reaction first, she subtly glanced sideways.
……Yikes. Looks like he’s not a fan.
The moment she saw the boy beside her wearing an extremely ambiguous expression, she clicked her tongue in inward disappointment. But what could she do? Once they bought the popcorn they’d be sharing it, and she couldn’t force her tastes on him.
“Or maybe we should just go with—”
She cleared her throat and pointed at the normal option as planned, but—
“Cheese-rose-whatever. Just give me one of those weird popcorns.”
“Eh……”
Han Taeyang quickly smoothed his face back into a neutral expression, walked up to the counter, and handed over his card. The order went through. While Baek Seolah stood there stunned, he returned first with the drinks that had come out ahead of the popcorn.
“Here.”
“U-uh, yeah.”
She had ended up accepting the drink without even getting a word in. Baek Seolah blinked in a daze, then carefully put the straw to her lips, took a sip, and stole a glance at Han Taeyang’s face.
……It happened again. I really didn’t mean for it to.
Her guilt toward him was swelling inside her. And not just about choosing popcorn to suit her own palate—this was about everything that had happened since they started their date today.
Their first date had begun at the restaurant she’d said she wanted to visit in the early afternoon. From there the route had gone to a prop shop, a board-game café, a cosmetics store, and a walking path, with Baek Seolah’s preferences heavily reflected at every stop. A good number of those places were the kind that usually failed to spark any interest in guys. The board-game café and the walk might have been tolerable, but the prop shop and cosmetics store were one-hundred-and-twenty percent the sort of thing men avoided.
She wasn’t unaware of that. It might sound like an excuse, but the truth was she hadn’t planned such a one-sided itinerary on purpose. It was just that Han Taeyang kept asking what she wanted to do.
By the time he came back from the counter with the popcorn and they headed into the auditorium, Baek Seolah felt strangely bashful and kept fiddling with her drink cup even though it served no purpose.
After all, she was a girl who already had a boyfriend. They had been dating for over a year. She knew the habits of boys her age quite well and had fully intended to accommodate Han Taeyang’s wishes today too. Yet somehow the result had been the exact opposite—she had indulged herself completely at his expense.
Ah… This is so embarrassing.
Her face burned at the fresh realization. She fanned herself with one hand and closed her eyes for a second. Maybe she should have planned the schedule yesterday after all, but that was a pointless thought now. What good would it do? The fact remained that she had blurted out every single thing she subconsciously wanted to do and dragged him along. And the fact that Han Taeyang had quietly gone along with it all and tried to enjoy himself wouldn’t change either.
Baek Seolah stole a timid glance at the boy beside her, the faint discomfort pressing on her chest.
Of course her boyfriend was Lee Hyeonseong. No matter how legitimate this “adulterous” date with Han Taeyang might feel, their relationship wasn’t going to flip. If she absolutely had to choose one over the other, she would pick Lee Hyeonseong without hesitation. But that didn’t mean she could treat Han Taeyang like a substitute.
That obvious truth still applied even now. If she did treat him that way, it would sink to the level of an excuse, a justification. That was why she felt a twinge of guilt when Han Taeyang casually offered her the aisle seat inside the auditorium.
Even if she hadn’t meant to, she had ended up acting far too spoiled toward him today. Since she was the one who suggested the date, she should have treated him with the same consideration she gave Lee Hyeonseong. Instead she had only made him follow her wishes, and that upset her deeply.
Maybe she had simply gotten a little too excited.
Hyeonseong always looks so bored whenever I suggest going somewhere like a prop shop.
Because that had been her experience until now, Han Taeyang’s willingness to tag along without a single complaint felt refreshingly new. And precisely because of that freshness, she had unconsciously grown greedy and acted even more spoiled. That was the best self-justification she could come up with.
Of course Lee Hyeonseong would reluctantly play along if she whined, but the way he openly yawned during the process created a clear difference. His unconscious actions always stirred up her sense of burden, which might be why Han Taeyang’s generosity felt especially dependable today.
That was as far as her thoughts had gone—the exact moment she nearly felt an unusual, almost foreign “emotion” toward Lee Hyeonseong.
“What’s with the serious face?”
“……”
Suddenly something cold and stinging pressed against her cheek with a soft thud. Baek Seolah was still too lost in thought to react immediately and just blinked stupidly.
“……?!!”
About three seconds later she realized it was Han Taeyang’s ice-filled drink cup and let out a startled “Hik!” She was lucky she remembered in time that they were inside an auditorium and managed to clap a hand over her mouth. Otherwise she might have let out an embarrassingly loud noise even though the ads were still playing.
She hurriedly rubbed her chilled left cheek and hissed, “What are you doing, you idiot…!”
Her volume was low enough not to disturb others but perfectly clear to Han Taeyang. She glared at him sharply. He simply grinned and held out his hand. Worried he was about to pull another stunt, her upper body flinched on reflex, but—
“Open up. I’ll feed you.”
“……?”
What he held wasn’t the drink but ordinary popcorn—the kind you see everywhere in theaters. This batch just happened to be coated in bright red sauce and dusted with cheese powder.
Baek Seolah drew her elegant brows together.
……So the name was… cheese-rose… something.
She couldn’t quite remember the full ridiculous title, but the visual was bolder than she expected. She studied it with slightly narrowed eyes while Han Taeyang, still wearing that mischievous smile, pressed a single kernel to her lips.
“Give it a try. From the way you’re acting, I’m guessing this is your first time buying it too?”
“……”
“Come on. Say ‘ah.’”
Aah…
Baek Seolah cautiously opened her mouth. Without hesitation Han Taeyang slipped the popcorn between her lips. For a brief moment her cheeks moved cutely as she tried to taste the peculiar snack.
“……”
“Heh. Can’t keep a straight face, can you?”
His teasing remark was impossible to deny—he must have already tried it himself. The popcorn’s truly original flavor made her grimace the instant it hit her tongue. For someone who loved snacks as much as Baek Seolah did, that was a rare occurrence.
……It’s fishy.
The taste was that awful. How on earth had cheese and rose combined to create such a monstrosity? She honestly thought swallowing Han Taeyang’s cum would be far more pleasant. Of course, that was just a passing exaggeration.
Slurp—
In any case, she quickly stuck the straw back in her mouth to rinse the flavor away, then looked at him. All the guilt and apology she had felt moments ago seemed to have vanished.
“……”
“Wow.”
She blatantly shoved the popcorn bucket that sat between their seats toward him. Han Taeyang let out a soft laugh at the shameless act. Baek Seolah did her best to act cute and whiny.
“……A-aing.”
“Oh dear?”
“Han Taeyang, you eat all of it, okay?”
It was something she only did occasionally—very occasionally—with Lee Hyeonseong, so a trace of awkwardness remained because she couldn’t quite abandon her pride. Still, it was that Baek Seolah acting spoiled.
Han Taeyang let out a dumbfounded chuckle but couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. He spent a moment simply admiring her brightly flushed face, then—
Crunch—
“!”
As if deciding to fall for her obvious ploy at least once, he grabbed a handful and tossed it into his own mouth. Baek Seolah’s eyes widened. She clearly hadn’t expected him to actually do it.
Just as the advertisements ended and the movie was about to begin, Han Taeyang chewed the bizarre popcorn with little change in expression and muttered,
“Next time order something normal. If you pull that pointless adventurous spirit again, you’re getting hit.”
“A-ahaha……”
The remark subtly hinted at a next date so naturally it was almost sly. Baek Seolah noticed it too, but in truth she didn’t mind one bit. She simply felt comforted once again by his consideration wrapped in the guise of violence and broke into a bright smile.
In a cheerful voice she answered, “Yeah. Next time let’s get whatever you want. I’ll buy it.”
“You sure talk big.”
“I mean it, I really do. Want to pinky swear?”
The slight lisp that had crept into her words was something both of them noticed immediately, yet neither pointed it out. It was as if they had silently agreed not to ruin the mood.
An empire does not collapse overnight. There is only the first crack that no one hears.
Soon the lights in the auditorium dimmed, and with a short narration the movie began.