The Second Date
"Hahh, hahh... you've been waiting, right? Sorry, the bus pulled away right in front of me... hahh... and I couldn't catch it..."
"No, it's fine. You must be worn out from running all the way here."
It was 10:52 in the morning, a full twenty-two minutes past the time we'd agreed to meet. I had woken up early and gotten ready with plenty of time to spare, but the bus had tripped me at every turn — one pulled away right before my eyes, and the next one I did manage to catch crawled along like a snail through the gridlocked traffic. The day was hot enough as it was, and picturing Chiwon waiting out in the blazing sun for over twenty minutes made the guilt gnaw at me all the more.
"Hahh... thanks..."
As I stood there gulping for air, Chiwon fished a bottle of water out of his bag and handed it over without a word. Ahh, that was better — a few swallows and I felt like I might live. I drained the whole bottle in seconds and glanced around for somewhere to toss it, but there wasn't a trash can in sight.
"Just give it here. I'll throw it out when we spot a trash can."
"But I'm the one who drank it..."
"It's a pain to carry around. Sticking it in your bag is easier anyway."
Well, no arguing with that. Chiwon took the bottle back and tucked it away. A quick peek into the open bag showed it crammed with all sorts of odds and ends. Why on earth had he brought all this to a date? A notebook, a laptop, and — was that a bag of chips?
Grrrowl.
At the sight of a snack, my empty stomach let out a hollow rumble. Face going red, I hastily slapped a hand over my belly, and Chiwon answered with a wry smile.
"Did you skip breakfast?"
"Mm-hm. I wanted to eat with you..."
"Then there's a place around here I go to all the time. Want to check it out?"
"Yeah!"
A place he frequented around here... did he mean that barbecue restaurant we'd been to before? Or the Korean place we'd stumbled on last year? Racking my memory for every spot Chiwon and I had ever eaten at, I set off at an easy pace. About ten minutes of walking brought us to a restaurant with a quaint, old-fashioned facade. Wait, where is this?
"It's an Italian place. The pasta's really good."
I'd assumed Chiwon and I had been to every kind of eatery under the sun, but this was a first. Well, of course it was — when would two guys ever have sat down to a stiff, formal restaurant meal together? He'd never had a girlfriend in his life, so he must have come here plenty with his family. Settling on that convenient conclusion, I stepped through the open door.
Inside, quiet music drifted through a space every bit as elegant as the exterior promised — elegant enough to make a first-time visitor shrink back without quite knowing why. I stood there cringing, eyes darting every which way, until Chiwon chuckled and took my hand, pulling me along.
"Hey, hey! Hold on, what are you doing?"
"There's no need to gawk around like an idiot. First time somewhere like this, huh?"
"D-did you just call me an idiot? And who says it's my first time?"
"Sure, sure."
One thing I'd noticed now and then: the moment I slipped into the skin of 'Park Yerim' or 'Yu Haeun,' my mental age seemed to drop by a good ten years. Thankfully, by the time I was seated and reading over the menu, the giddiness had settled back down.
"I've picked mine. What about you?"
"Hmm... I'll go with the tomato spaghetti."
"Anything to drink?"
"No, water's fine."
"Got it. Excuse me — one orzo, one tomato spaghetti, and one margherita pizza, please."
A menu item I'd never heard of in my life. The second the server walked off with our order, I leaned toward Chiwon.
"What's orzo?"
"Oh, it's a pasta where the noodles look like grains of rice."
"Like rice?"
"Yep."
I only understood once the dish was in front of me — it looked less like ordinary spaghetti and more like porridge. Chiwon, clearly an old hand at this, stirred the cream with his spoon and took a big mouthful. Soon the tomato spaghetti and the pizza arrived as well. The smell passed the test, at least; now for the taste. I picked up my chopsticks, snagged a single strand, and slurped it down. Mmm, delicious!
...Delicious, yes, but a struggle to eat. Every third try, a noodle slipped right out from between my chopsticks. I wasn't usually this hopeless — was it the skin's fault? Chiwon watched me wage war against the spaghetti, sauce smeared around my mouth and onto my napkin, with a strange look in his eyes.
"...What?"
"No, it's just... your chopsticks..."
"Ah, I've always held them like this... Does it look weird?"
It was true that my grip was unusual — not parallel like the strokes of the number eleven, but crossed in a slightly tilted X. People had pointed it out often enough over the years that I'd learned to shrug it off. But Chiwon's next words caught me completely off guard.
"Hmm, it's not weird. Really, it isn't... It's just, watching you made me think of Inje."
"Huh...?"
"Inje holds chopsticks exactly like that too. You two are weirdly alike, you know..."
"Ah, ahaha... is that so."
Chiwon surely meant nothing by it, but from where I sat, my blood ran cold. While I fidgeted and rolled my eyes in a quiet panic, the follow-up blow landed.
"And why aren't you using a fork? It'd be way easier than chopsticks."
"...Oh."
Right. Spaghetti was supposed to be eaten with a fork. Why had I been whimpering along with chopsticks this whole time?
A long, deflating sigh escaped me and I sank deep into my chair. My time, my effort... I'd handled forks perfectly well before, so why was today different? Could the 'Yu Haeun' skin actually come with an intelligence-lowering side effect?
I was still squirming, doing my best to escape reality, when something touched the corner of my mouth. I snapped back to my senses and looked up to find Chiwon reaching across the table, dabbing at my lips with a napkin. Ah — I appreciated it, but there was really no need... Now it was embarrassing.
"You're like a little kid."
"...Then does that make you my dad?"
"I'd love to have a daughter like you."
"Whoa... wait, don't tell me you..."
"No, hold on! I know exactly what you're thinking, and it is not that! I don't have that kind of taste!"
...
"Hoah... that was a lovely meal~"
"Glad you enjoyed it. Just don't forget the fork next time."
"Quiet, Dad."
Bickering back and forth, we made our way out of the restaurant. Ugh, maybe I'd overdone it — my stomach felt stuffed to bursting, and even breathing took effort. I rubbed my belly and tried a few slow breaths, out and in.
"Hahh... hooohh, hahh... hahhhh..."
Chiwon was sneaking glances at me out of the corner of his eye. His face looked a little flushed — what exactly was going through his head?
"...Pervert."
"I am not!"
To let the food settle, we decided on a walk. Leaving the forest of high-rises behind for a while, we strolled along Cheonggyecheon Stream. Ducking out of the pounding sunlight by hugging the shaded wall, I noticed an elaborately finished relief carving along the embankment. It had really changed so much in the time since I'd last come here. Humming a little tune, I let my feet wander wherever the water led.
"Having fun?"
"Mm. It's been a while since I got to wander around outside without a single worry."
The clear murmur of flowing water, the footsteps of people out strolling, the honking of cars rushing down the busy road. A single nameless flower blooming by the path, a pigeon leisurely quenching its thirst. Little things I'd never spared a glance for were suddenly visible and audible everywhere.
"And because I'm with you. How could I not have fun?"
I grabbed Chiwon's hand and tugged him forward.
"Hey, where are we going?"
"Anywhere!"
I truly hadn't thought it through. I was simply enjoying this time together, and I wanted to share more of the scenery with him — taking photos, watching street performers, buying tasty snacks along the way. Even if this relationship had to end someday, I wanted to stay at Chiwon's side like this for a while yet.
"...Where are we, exactly?"
"That's what happens when you drag me all over the place. This is... Dumul Bridge."
Sometimes getting lost.
"Chiwon, look at the sky! That cloud is hilarious."
"Where... oh, wow, it really is. Like a squashed dinosaur."
Sometimes looking up at the sky and laughing together.
"Whoa, the wind's picking up out of nowhere!"
"Haeun, your skirt! Hold your skirt down!"
Sometimes running into entirely unforeseen perils — and through it all, piling up memories together. I wished this moment could last forever.
...
Take back what I said a minute ago. It doesn't have to be forever. I can't walk any farther, any farther at all. My legs feel like they're about to swell up...
"Ugh... my legs hurt."
"Want to sit down for a bit?"
"We walked way too long..."
Clutching my wobbly legs, I more or less collapsed onto a bench by the path. A woman's body really did seem to run on less stamina than a man's. Catching my breath, I turned my mind to what came next. Another walk was out of the question, and I wasn't hungry enough to eat yet. A cafe? Or... yes, karaoke. Karaoke sounded perfect.
"Want to go do karaoke?"
"Karaoke?"
"Yeah. You love singing, don't you?"
"I do, but how did you know that?"
Crap, another slip. The moment I let my guard down, pointless little remarks kept tumbling out.
"Ah, that... I heard it from Inje. I got some advice about today's date."
"Ah, I see..."
Phew. Safe. Crisis averted, for now. But I really needed to stop cashing in my own name like this — lean on it too often, and he might start pressing me about the connection between 'Yu Haeun' and me.
"Then let's sit a little longer before we head over. It's only about three hundred meters away."
"Three hundred meters? That's so far... Can't you carry me?"
"Obviously not."
"Aww..."
And so our next destination was decided: karaoke.