Department Store (1)

Beneath a street washed in sunset, we walked on in silence, our hands clasped together.

Is this even right?

At first I'd wondered how I was supposed to act, but looking back on everything we'd been doing lately, anyone would have believed we were actually dating. The fact that she could do all of this without a shred of embarrassment made it seem like she didn't even see me as a guy to begin with.

Well, if she'd seen me as a man, she never would have asked me for a favor like that in the first place.

Even if she didn't see me as a romantic prospect, the behavior itself still seemed to embarrass her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— her ears would flush red from time to time. It made me want to tease her more, but...

I can't cross that line. I'm just the fake, after all.

I was walking along, lost in thoughts like these, when a voice drifted over from beside me.

"Hey. Today was fun, right?"

"Yeah."

"I hope it stays this fun from now on."

"Yeah."

I'd been answering in monosyllables when a finger jabbed me in the side. I turned to find Yeonhee looking at me, her lower lip jutting out in a pout.

"You're putting in zero effort."

"I'm sor—"

"I don't need an apology."

I hadn't known what to say and had been about to apologize when Yeonhee cut me off.

"Instead of apologizing, just keep hanging out with everyone like this."

"...I'll try."

"Pfft. What kind of answer is that?"

My reply must have amused her, because Yeonhee let out a snort of laughter. I offered her an awkward smile in return.

"Ew."

Could you maybe not do that?

By the time I made it home, the sun had nearly set and the sky was growing dark. I headed for the living room to eat dinner before showering, and a lonely feeling settled over the space.

...Lonely? After all this time?

I thought back over everything that had happened recently. Getting confessed to, out of nowhere, by the most beautiful girl in school. Becoming friends with Kang Hanbyeol. Holding a meeting at my house. Stepping into a karaoke room for the first time. Every last one of them had been strange and unfamiliar to me — but if I had to say whether I liked them or not, I didn't dislike them.

...They were kind of fun, actually.

I wasn't sure what my face looked like just then. I wasn't sure, but... I was probably smiling.

Sunlight slipping through the curtains wrapped itself softly around my eyelids. I was savoring the comfort of a warm, soft blanket when my phone started ringing.

Riiing. Riiing.

"Who's calling this early on a weekend..."

I dragged myself upright and checked my phone. It was Yeonhee. Puzzled, I rubbed my eyes and picked up.

She just said her piece and hung up...

A sigh escaped me all on its own. Weekdays weren't enough — now I was getting summoned on weekends too.

"Haa..."

Noon...?

I glanced at the clock on my phone. The display at the top read 10:56.

I only had an hour left...!

I scrambled through getting ready. There was no time for breakfast, so I just headed out.

A short while later, I managed to arrive at the meeting spot, cutting it close but not quite late.

At least I won't get chewed out for being late...

With the appointed time almost upon us, I was wandering around the station looking for Yeonhee when I noticed a crowd gathered off to one side.

What's that? Are they filming something?

Unable to contain my curiosity, I headed toward the commotion — and there, at the center of the encircling crowd, stood the girl I was supposed to meet.

A white miniskirt, a beige knit tucked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the waist, a tote bag slung over one shoulder. Nothing about the outfit was particularly flashy, and her makeup was so light it barely looked like she was wearing any, which only made her look all the more innocent.

Why did she have to stand right there of all places...

I was hovering there, unsure what to do, when whispering drifted over from beside me.

"Dude, she's crazy hot, right?"

"Tsk. Quit dreaming and sit your ass down. Like you of all people are gonna ask her out."

"Who said I was? I just figured maybe I could snap a picture."

We hadn't even started yet and it was already this bad. Today was going to be a long one.

I was thinking all this when Yeonhee, who'd been looking around, locked eyes with me. Her face lit up with a bright, sunny smile, and she strode right over, looping her arm through mine.

Something soft and yielding sank against my arm.

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠took you so long, babe?"

"Hey... this is a bit..."

I tried to say something, but one look at how exhausted she seemed and I decided to just get us out of there first.

"...Let's move somewhere else."

The burning, jealous stares that followed us were thrown in for free.

After walking with Yeonhee for a while, we found a quiet park with nobody around.

"Hahh... I can finally breathe."

"Is it always like this?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

This was her everyday life. If I were in Yeonhee's shoes — me, who hated being the center of attention — I never would have left the house.

"Anyway, you actually made it on time?"

"No thanks to a certain someone."

"Well, I'm the one who called you, so of course. Hehe."

"That wasn't a compliment."

So I asked her what the plan was now.

"First, the department store..."

A low growl from my stomach cut her off.

"...I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning."

"Pfft. Should we get lunch first, then?"

"Yeah..."

I started walking toward the department store before I could die of embarrassment.

Once we arrived, we walked through the floor packed with restaurants, discussing what to eat.

"Hmm~ Are you a picky eater? Any allergies or anything?"

"Not really. Nothing like that."

"So what do you feel like eating?"

"Anything's fine."

"Yeah? How about that place, then?"

In the direction Yeonhee pointed was a spaghetti place that looked pretty cheap.

"That works."

"Right? Let's go there, then."

A chime sounded as we opened the door, and a server came over to greet us.

"Welcome, how many in your party?"

"Two."

"Alright, please sit wherever you'd like and call me once you've decided on your order."

"Okay."

The place was more crowded than I'd expected. The lunch rush was part of it, but the cheap prices probably had a lot to do with it too. There happened to be an empty table by the window, so we set our things down, sat, and looked over the menu.

There were all kinds of options, but since I didn't really know what was what, I just picked the one labeled "Popular" beside it.

"I'm getting the rosé spaghetti. What about you?"

Yeonhee hummed, staring at the menu for a long time.

"Ugh... what should I get? This looks good too, ah! This one looks decent as well..."

"Why don't you just order everything?"

"Sheesh, do you think I'm a pig or something?"

Yeonhee puffed out her cheeks as she said it. I took a moment to look at her figure. A slender frame without an ounce of excess anywhere. She was so slim people might assume she starved herself — but after seeing how much she put away at lunch, I'd thrown that idea out the window.

"Mmh...! I've decided. I'll have the bread-bowl carbonara."

Once we'd decided, we called the server over. The server came with a notepad, wrote down our orders, and headed for the kitchen. It wasn't long before the finished dishes were set on the table, and we each started eating.

I was working through my own food when I glanced across the table. Sauce was smeared at the corner of Yeonhee's mouth, and she was munching away like a hamster, completely unaware.

"You've got sauce on your face."

I pointed it out and held out a napkin, but Yeonhee craned her neck toward me, making little mmph mmph sounds to get her point across. It wasn't as if I didn't know what she wanted. I frowned, but she didn't so much as twitch, so I had no choice but to reach out and wipe the corner of her mouth myself.

"Hehe."

She smiled with such pure, innocent delight that the other customers' eyes drifted our way for a moment before returning to their own tables. Among them were other couples — including a few guys who were now getting an earful from their girlfriends.

She'd become an accidental couple-breaker, and she didn't even realize it.

I'm sorry...

It wasn't my fault, but if you traced it back, I was the one who'd caused all this, so I offered a heartfelt apology in my head. I watched Yeonhee, whose every little action seemed to enchant everyone around her, until we finished eating, paid, and left the restaurant.

"Ahh, I'm so full."

Considering she'd polished off even the bread the spaghetti had come in, of course she was full...

"So, what now?"

"Now we're going to a cafe."

"...Didn't we just eat?"

"You don't get it. The stomach for meals and the stomach for dessert are two different things."

Yeonhee held up her index finger and wagged it from side to side as she said this. Apparently there were mysteries of the human body I had yet to understand.

Since we were already on the restaurant floor, finding a cafe wasn't hard. A few steps later we walked into one and ordered at the counter. I was already full, so I just got a blue lemon ade. Yeonhee ordered a cheesecake and an Americano.

It wasn't long before our dessert and drinks came out. I went to pick them up, and she took the cake and Americano with shining eyes.

"Mmh~ It's so good~!"

I hadn't paid for it, but watching her enjoy it so much wasn't a bad feeling.

She's not exactly a light eater, so where does all that nutrition even go...?

The moment I thought that, the cake must have gone down the wrong way, because she started pounding her chest. I handed her the coffee.

"Cough. Cough."

"Nobody's going to steal it. Slow down."

"Cough, thanks."

When she'd been coughing, the way her chest had bounced caught my eye for a split second.

...So that's where.

It all made sense in an instant.

After dessert, I was pulled along by Yeonhee's hand up to the floor with the women's clothing stores. Mannequins standing here and there, clothes hanging from every rack.

Isn't that one way too flashy...?

There were plenty of outfits that made no sense from a loner's point of view, but someone must have been buying them if they were for sale. I was looking around at this unfamiliar scenery when Yeonhee came over carrying several pieces.

"How's this one?"

"Looks pretty good."

"Yeah? What about this?"

"Looks good too."

"Don't just say it looks good. Give me an actual opinion."

I'd said it looked good because it genuinely did. Apparently that wasn't what she wanted to hear, because her lip jutted out in a pout.

It was objectively true that she was pretty, and equally true that she looked good in anything. I thought as much as I said it, and in front of me, she lowered her head and mumbled.

"R-really...? Th-thanks..."

...What's with her?