Chapter 72
On a long-awaited holiday afternoon, Ki Seo-jung finished preparing for his outing in the dressing room and adjusted his clothes in the mirror. Today, he had a second date scheduled with one of the female cast members. After briefly recalling his upcoming schedule, he grabbed his jacket and turned around.
As Seo-jung was leaving the dressing room, his steps faltered for a moment. The first thing he saw was Cha Yoon’s neatly made bed.
“……”
Seo-jung paused for a moment, taking in the sight of the bed. Fortunately, he hadn’t run into Cha Yoon since their conversation the night before. What if he chased after him today with another absurd reason? It was a moment that made all his worrying seem pointless.
Was it a coincidence? Or maybe Cha Yoon had agreed with what he said during their early morning conversation. Seo-jung followed this train of thought, bitterly rubbing his tongue inside his mouth, before shaking his head. If this really was the end, it would probably be good for both of them. Probably.
Breaking his chain of thoughts, Seo-jung opened the door and stepped out. As he descended the stairs, he saw Kim Sae-young, who had just finished preparing to go out. She seemed to have spotted Seo-jung too, as she raised her hand in greeting. Seo-jung pushed aside his complicated feelings and responded with a gentle smile.
“Sae-young, you’re ready early.”
“Yeah, I was so excited that I ended up getting ready faster than usual.”
“Is that so? I’ll have to work harder to live up to your expectations.”
As they exchanged light conversation, Seo-jung looked around and pointed towards the entrance.
“Shall we leave before the others see us?”
“Sure. We shouldn’t be caught.”
Remembering the rule of keeping their date partners secret to prevent speculation about X, the two carefully slipped out of the X House.
The weather was as bright as befitting the title of a second date. Sae-young’s cheerful steps seemed to reflect her good mood, making Seo-jung smile as he walked lightly beside her.
After leaving the gate, Seo-jung headed towards his car. As he was gesturing for Sae-young to sit in the passenger seat, he hesitated.
He noticed the empty parking space right behind his car. It was where Cha Yoon’s car was usually parked. Where did he go? Well, today was the day of the second dates, so maybe he had gone out for his date too.
As he was staring blankly at that spot, he faintly heard someone calling him. Seo-jung quickly turned towards the sound.
“Seo-jung oppa, what’s wrong?”
Seeing Sae-young looking at him with a puzzled expression, Seo-jung shook his head.
“It’s nothing. Let’s get in.”
Sae-young tilted her head for a moment but soon got into the passenger seat. Get a grip, Ki Seo-jung. It’s not polite to think about someone else during a date. After pushing away all thoughts of Cha Yoon, he rubbed his face with one hand and opened the driver’s side door.
The date, which proceeded entirely according to Sae-young’s plan, was enjoyable. After having a light lunch at a brunch café, the two arrived at Sae-young’s dessert shop to make cupcakes.
“Wow, it’s done.”
“Really? Let me see.”
After finishing the decoration with cream through various trials and tribulations, Seo-jung wiped his forehead and put down the piping bag he was holding. Sae-young, who had finished everything long ago, came over to Seo-jung’s side to look at the completed cupcake.
“Um… So, this is, um, Grimer from Pokémon, right?”
“It’s not Grimer, it’s a rabbit.”
“Ah, a rabbit……”
Sae-young’s voice trailed off. Then suddenly, she lowered her head and started to make choked sounds as if trying to hold something back. Seeing her like this, Seo-jung spoke softly.
“Sae-young, I’m fine, so just laugh comfortably.”
As if his words were a signal, Sae-young burst into loud laughter for a while. Her bright laughter echoed throughout the store. Ki Seo-jung also felt good and smiled along with her.
After successfully completing the one-day baking class, the two left the store. In one hand, they each held a box of cupcakes they had made today.
“I’ve felt this before, but oppa, you really don’t seem to have a talent for cooking.”
“I think so too. Even effort doesn’t seem to help.”
“Well, that’s okay. Like Min-ha said, you’re good at everything else.”
“For example, like my face?” Seo-jung playfully responded to Sae-young’s teasing voice by lightly tapping his own cheek.
“This won’t do. I should start using face masks before bed from tonight.”
“Oh, that’s a very good attitude.” Sae-young patted Seo-jung’s broad shoulders a couple of times with her free hand. She then stretched her arms up as if stretching.
“Ah, I’m glad I asked you out on a date today, oppa.”
“That’s good. I was worried you might regret it.”
“Nah, no regrets… Actually, maybe because I haven’t fully sorted out my feelings, I didn’t want to get to know anyone else. So I was wondering what to do, and then I thought if it was with you, Seo-jung oppa, I could just relax and have fun without thinking about anything. So I texted you, and it really was the best choice. Thank you, Seo-jung oppa.”
Sae-young wrinkled her nose and gave a fresh smile. Then, as if feeling a bit embarrassed, she rolled her eyes. Seo-jung smiled back and shook his head.
“If anything, I should be thanking you, Sae-young. Thanks to you, I’m not left alone in the X House and even got to enjoy a fun date like this.”
Seo-jung held up the cupcake box. As they were walking towards the parking lot, chatting while following the setting sun, something happened.
“Let’s stop by there for a moment!”
Suddenly, Sae-young stopped in her tracks, shouted loudly, and ran towards the opposite side of the street. Seeing Sae-young running ahead, Seo-jung followed her.
The place she headed to was none other than an accessory shop. The shop owner seemed to know Sae-young and greeted her warmly.
“The owner here is really good with their hands, so everything is really pretty. I thought it would be perfect to give you a gift as a memento of our date?”
“I’m so clever, right?” Sae-young shrugged and put her finger on the bridge of her nose.
“It’s not that I went on a date with you, but you went on a date with me.”
“Ah, what? Ki Seo-jung, you’re being guilty again. Stop trying to charm me, okay? If you keep doing this, I’ll sue you?”
Sae-young pretended to dial 112 on her phone. Seo-jung chuckled at her joke.
“Then how about we each choose something and gift it to each other?”
“Hmm, sounds good!”
He chose appropriate words instead of suggesting something that could cause misunderstandings, like matching couple items. Sae-young gladly accepted Seo-jung’s proposal.
Afterwards, the two silently chose gifts for each other with serious expressions. At the counter, Seo-jung paid for both his and Sae-young’s choices and left the store.
“This way, it’s not me giving the gift. I wanted to buy it for you.”
“It’s a gift because you chose it thoughtfully, Sae-young. It doesn’t matter who paid for it.”
Seo-jung comforted the sulking Sae-young, saying it was okay, and got into the car. It was Sae-young who stopped Seo-jung as he was about to start driving right away.
“Let’s open our gifts now before we go.”
“Now?”
“Yeah, I’m so curious about your reaction. And I’m curious about what you chose for me too!”
At Sae-young’s insistence on seeing what was inside the small shopping bag, the two had a gift-opening time. Seo-jung’s expression became somewhat strange when he saw what was inside the small box.
“…A necklace?”
Sae-young nodded at his soft murmur.
“I noticed you wear a necklace every day. I thought it would be nice to gift you one.”
“Ah……”
Seo-jung couldn’t respond to Sae-young’s question about whether he liked it.
He couldn’t help but know which necklace Sae-young was referring to. It was something so obvious that he hadn’t even been conscious of it. Seo-jung slowly raised his hand and fiddled with the ring hanging at the end of the necklace.
Sae-young’s words brought many thoughts rushing into his mind at once. Naturally, the largest part was occupied by the early morning conversation he had with Cha Yoon.
What must Cha Yoon have thought, seeing him wear the ring they had shared around his neck while saying he had no feelings for him and wasn’t concerned about him? Seo-jung rubbed his face, overwhelmed by a sense of shame.
Unlike her expectation that he would be happy, Sae-young was also taken aback by Seo-jung’s frozen reaction. She opened her mouth carefully to clarify the situation.
“Um, oppa. If it’s an important necklace, you don’t have to change it…”
“It’s not like that.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not an important necklace. So don’t worry about it, Sae-young.”
As his voice came out as gentle as usual but somehow drawing a line, Sae-young blinked her eyes, making an “Ah” sound. Meanwhile, Seo-jung put down the box he was holding and unfastened the necklace around his neck.
With a soft click, the clasp came undone, and the necklace slipped off smoothly. Seo-jung looked at the necklace that had fallen into his palm for a moment.
He saw the ring still shining brightly, showing off its color. It was in contrast to his and Cha Yoon’s relationship, which had changed completely.
It was something that could have been easily undone with just a simple gesture. Yet he had been carrying it on his body all this time because he couldn’t do this simple thing. Seo-jung, once again witnessing his lingering attachment to Cha Yoon, unconsciously clenched his fist around the ring. He wanted to hide his weakness from sight, even if just like this.
After closing his eyes deeply and opening them again, Seo-jung put on the necklace Sae-young had gifted him. The new necklace filled the empty space, but the emptiness in his heart remained. However, it was a feeling he had to ignore.
“Sae-young, thank you. I’ll use the necklace well.”
“…Ah, yeah, yeah.”
Seo-jung instantly erased the expression he had been wearing until just moments ago, as if it had been nothing, and smiled brightly. Sae-young, who had been staring at his face for a moment, slowly nodded her head.
