Chapter 41
“…The truth is, I didn’t have any clothes to wear when meeting you on Saturday… So I asked Yu-rim to help me choose clothes. I don’t know how to pick clothes well…”
“……”
“But because I was embarrassed to say honestly that I was going to buy clothes because I had nothing to wear when meeting you, I ended up lying somehow.”
As I spoke, I felt choked up. Why did I stupidly lie? Unnecessarily causing suspicion.
I felt upset, thinking I had overreacted and blown things out of proportion.
“You have a lot of clothes and always dress nicely. I always wear similar things… Anyway… I’m definitely not going on any blind dates.”
I can’t even explain properly. What are you good at, Ryu Jeong-ha?
I silently sighed while blaming myself. Now all I could do was hope that Joo Kwon-oh would believe this clumsy excuse.
“What kind of clothes did you buy?” Joo Kwon-oh asked in a much softer tone after a few seconds.
I immediately rummaged through the shopping bags and quickly answered.
“A shirt… a white t-shirt, and pants too. Oh, and socks.”
“You even bought new socks?”
Joo Kwon-oh’s voice, which had been tense, now completely relaxed. Only then could I let go of some of my tension too.
“Ones that go above the ankle. They said it looks pretty… to wear them like that.”
“Who said that?”
“Yu-rim did.”
Joo Kwon-oh’s low laughter flowed through the receiver. His voice, cracking slightly at the end, doubled the embarrassment washing over me.
“Are you going to wear them just like that on Saturday?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah, really…”
“……”
“You’re driving me crazy.”
“You’re not angry…?”
“I was fucking surprised because Choi Kyung-won made such a fuss that I thought you were really going on a blind date.”
“I clearly said it wasn’t from the beginning. Kyung-won misunderstood.”
“He is usually pretty dramatic. But I called you right after hearing that, and you kept not answering. So I thought it was true and was about to put on my shoes to go catch you.”
I could clearly hear the sound of Joo Kwon-oh stomping his feet.
“Catch who?”
“You, Ryu Jeong-ha. I was going to catch you and scold you for playing with me.”
He threatened that he was about to burst out of his front door. It seemed like he really would have rushed over here if things had gone differently.
“No, it’s not like that. So don’t be angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
“You were…”
Just recalling Joo Kwon-oh’s voice as he questioned me earlier made one side of my chest sting.
“I asked very gently.”
“……”
“Didn’t I?”
“It was a bit scary.”
“Should I kill Choi Kyung-won? This is all because of that bastard’s big mouth.”
“No, don’t fight.”
“Trying to interfere before we even start dating, that crazy bastard.”
“……”
“Anyway, you bought nice clothes because of me, right?”
“N-nice… Yeah.”
Joo Kwon-oh made a strange sound, “Pfft,” at my honest admission.
“Jeong-ha. Why are you so cute?”
“……”
“If you keep being this cute, you’ll have to be my boyfriend even after we meet three times.”
Unlike his stiff tone earlier, Joo Kwon-oh’s voice was now completely relaxed and full of laughter, but it didn’t completely erase my complicated feelings.
While I was relieved the misunderstanding was cleared up, I felt down because Joo Kwon-oh had found out everything before I even got to wear the clothes.
It was like I had unintentionally spread the news everywhere that I was going to start dressing up from now on.
“But why did you buy so much? Jeong-ha looks pretty in anything.”
“…Don’t tease me.”
“Why does your voice sound like that? Is it because of something I said?”
“……”
“I really wasn’t angry. I was just shocked so my tone might have been… like that. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
“No, it’s not that… I just wanted to show you on Saturday.”
The truth is, rather than wanting to show him, I wanted to wear them naturally when I went out.
“Yeah. You can wear them when you come out on Saturday.”
“I’m suddenly so embarrassed.”
“I like it though. You bought them to show me, right?”
His voice was still full of laughter. I could almost see the curve drawn on his lips, and it somehow felt teasing.
“Stop laughing all the time.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“Liar. You said you don’t lie.”
“Sorry. That was a lie this time.”
“……”
“Make sure to wear them on Saturday. Ah, I’m going crazy wanting to see you. Can’t you just show me tomorrow? No, should I just come over now?”
Joo Kwon-oh asked as if he really might rush over right away. But I had already used up a lot of energy going around with my classmates to buy clothes, and I was drained from the shock of receiving Joo Kwon-oh’s call just now.
When I quickly checked the mirror in the living room, I saw my thoroughly disheveled face. It was definitely impossible to see Joo Kwon-oh like this.
“N-no, that won’t work. Wait until Saturday.”
“Hehehe. Make sure to wear the socks too when you come.”
“Okay.”
“What movie do you want to watch?”
“…The earliest one.”
Although I was a bit annoyed at the moment, I still wanted to see Joo Kwon-oh as early in the morning as possible.
“I’ll have to make a reservation before going to bed.”
Anyway, I felt relieved now that the misunderstanding was cleared up. I could feel the tension that had been tightly gripping my body slowly dissipating.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“I need to shower and go to sleep. You?”
“I’ll probably watch some YouTube and then go to bed.”
“Mm… Well, good night then.”
“You too, Jeong-ha.”
“……”
“See you Saturday.”
“Yeah.”
*
Finally, the Saturday I had been looking forward to all week arrived. We had a general education class in between, but because Choi Kyung-won kept talking to me nonstop, I couldn’t spend time separately with Joo Kwon-oh. We were both busy with our department schedules and barely saw each other properly at school.
“Damn. Jeong-ha, you’re so pretty. Is this the outfit you bought then?”
“Stop staring, it’s embarrassing.”
“Why? You said you bought it to wear when meeting me.”
Joo Kwon-oh kept saying embarrassing things as soon as he saw me, making me wander around not knowing where to look.
Even though I was bundled up in clothes, I felt naked. At the same time, it felt like my body was floating a few centimeters off the ground.
They say to stop inflating someone when the compliments are too much. I guess this is when you use that phrase. My heart was literally flying through the air.
“The clothes suit you so well. The clothes are getting a boost from Jeong-ha right now.”
“Kwon-oh, please…”
“But Jeong-ha might be better off not dressing up. You stand out too much because you’re so pretty.”
Joo Kwon-oh said this seriously without blushing at all.
And he himself had dressed up so handsomely too.
I tried to control my expression and urged us to enter the movie theater.
“Let’s go in quickly.”
“Wait. Jeong-ha, don’t you want popcorn?”
Joo Kwon-oh and I had bought tickets for a movie starting at 8:30 in the morning. Just before entering the theater, we ordered a set of popcorn and cola.
The movie was a new Disney animation, but after watching it, I could barely remember what it was about. That’s because Joo Kwon-oh and I sat in the very back, holding hands and playing with each other’s hands throughout the movie.
I don’t know how it was for Joo Kwon-oh, but for me, this kind of skinship in a public place was thrilling.
Every time he gently stroked the back of my hand and then firmly grasped my finger joints, my heart would beat wildly, forcing me to take deep breaths constantly. Even though the theater was so spacious, I was gasping for air.
The popcorn in Joo Kwon-oh’s other arm barely moved. We hardly touched the cola or the caramel popcorn. In the dim interior, we were only focused on each other, engrossed in childish hand play.
“Stay still for a moment.”
At some point, Joo Kwon-oh grasped my hand so tightly that I couldn’t move, and stopped moving in that state.
“Let go.”
I whispered, shaking my hand. Joo Kwon-oh shook his head firmly.
“Just wait a little.”
“Why?”
“……”
“My hand hurts, Kwon-oh.”
“I’m hurting somewhere else.”
“……”
Suddenly realizing what that meant, I couldn’t hide my surprised expression and looked down at Joo Kwon-oh’s lower body.
Feeling heat rush to my face, I quickly turned my head away. Then I cleared my throat softly.
Joo Kwon-oh let out a low sigh and tightened his grip on my hand.
“Let’s focus on watching the movie.”
“O-okay…”
After watching the whole movie, we ate at a restaurant Joo Kwon-oh had found. It was a cute Japanese rice bowl place, and our table was the only one with just two men eating together.
Although it was a restaurant where you could have drinks, so it wasn’t awkward for men to come alone, we couldn’t help feeling a bit self-conscious. Unlike me, Joo Kwon-oh seemed completely unbothered, which was surprising.
After the meal, we took photos at a nearby self-service studio. I wasn’t used to taking photos in a photo booth like this, having only done it once with my department classmates.
In contrast, Joo Kwon-oh stood in front of the machine very naturally. There were several background options, and we chose a simple white one.
As soon as the countdown started, I fumbled, not knowing what pose to strike. I wasn’t prepared at all mentally. Joo Kwon-oh, as if it was natural, leaned towards me and wrapped one arm around me.
“Come here.”
Click.
Then he playfully bit my earlobe.
“Ah, what are you-!”
Click.
I was surprised and burst out laughing at the ticklish breath on my ear.
Click.
Seeing me like that, Joo Kwon-oh smiled leisurely, which momentarily displeased me. I glanced at Joo Kwon-oh’s smiling lips, then stood on my tiptoes and impulsively kissed him.
Click.
“Ugh!”
“Aack!”
But perhaps because I rushed in too forcefully, our teeth collided instead of our lips. A clear “clack” sound echoed through the photo booth.
Joo Kwon-oh and I simultaneously covered our stinging lips with our hands and opened our eyes wide.
Click.
Tears welled up from the pain spreading across my entire lips. With teary eyes, I checked if Joo Kwon-oh was okay.
“Sorry. D-does it hurt a lot?”
“……”
“I was just trying to play around… Is it bleeding?”
Until then, Joo Kwon-oh remained frozen like a stone, staring blankly at me with his hand still covering his lips.
“Kwon-oh?”
“Jeong-ha really is a fox…”
