ABM CH24

Chapter 24. I Won’t Give Up the Tomato Seat

“Hey, Park Seungwoo! Why are you suddenly going in? At least tell me who it is before you go!”

My second older sister completely ignored the drama she had been absorbed in earlier and focused all her energy on trying to open my door. 

I couldn’t understand why she was acting this way when she loved the actor in that show so much that she had watched reruns more than ten times. Figuring she would eventually tire herself out, I decided to concentrate on organizing what I would wear tomorrow.

“Seungwoo, you’re not seriously planning to wear those clothes you were holding earlier, are you? It’s your first date, for crying out loud! If you go out wearing that, you’ll get dumped immediately!”

That was exactly what I had planned to do.

If I hadn’t looked at my reflection in the mirror while listening to my younger sister’s voice booming through the door, that is.

‘Is it really that strange? They might not be perfect, but they’re the decent options from my wardrobe.’

“And what, a hat~? Why would you wear something so dull-looking!”

‘But this is a brand-name one that my older sister bought for me.’

She even said I looked cute wearing it. I pulled the hat I was holding firmly onto my head. It looked fine until a moment ago, but now it seemed awkward and dull, just like my sister said. I quickly took it off and tossed it onto the bed. Looking again, my clothes also seemed somewhat shabby.

‘And what’s wrong with my hair? Gasp, are those dark circles?’

“If you leave it to this sister, I can at least make sure you won’t get rejected on your date…”

Before my second older sister could finish speaking, my body moved on its own and I opened the door. My second older sister’s face was full of smiles. 

After just staring at each other silently, I ended up making a request I would never normally make. Ensuring tomorrow’s plans weren’t ruined was important enough to overcome my fear of future consequences.

“…Help me…”

Hearing those words, my younger sister grinned and nodded toward the front door.

“Let’s go out.”

***

“Did you bring a fat wallet?”

“…Yeah.”

Worried that my New Year’s and birthday money wouldn’t be enough, I had even emptied the piggy bank where I’d been saving coins whenever I got them. 

My second older sister said the jingling sound as I moved was funny and exchanged the coins for bills, which also added up to quite a sum. She had a solemn face as if we were heading into battle.

“Today I’m going to coordinate you properly from head to toe. Just trust me and follow along, got it? Don’t get distracted.”

“Okay.”

Although she seemed somewhat unreliable, I had no choice but to nod. Even I could tell that the clothes in my closet were all similarly mediocre. Until now, I hadn’t paid much attention to what I wore, but I felt a bit embarrassed thinking about how I’d been dressing.

‘I hope Yeonho hasn’t seen me somewhere before…’

As I came out to the main street where I could run into school kids at any time, I suddenly started to worry. While following my sister, I went into clothing stores twice, concerned that Yeonho might be watching me from somewhere, but I could barely remember what clothes I had seen.

Anyway, judging by the fact that I only tried things on without buying anything, they must not have been that great. My second older sister peeked around here and there before entering a third clothing store. 

As I was about to follow her in, I heard a familiar voice calling a name from behind, and I instinctively turned around.

“Heureum ah!”

“Oh, Yeonju! It’s been a while~”

“Right, I think this is the first time seeing you since our classes changed. Have you adjusted well?”

“Yeah, yeah, since most of the faces are familiar. Are you on a date with your boyfriend?”

“Oh right, let me introduce you. This is my friend Yoon Heureum~ And this is my boyfriend Song Inhyuk.”

“Hello~”

“Ah, yes. Hello. I’ve heard a lot about you. You really are incredibly beautiful…”

“By the way, Heureum, did you know your rumor has spread completely?”

“Huh? What rumor?”

“That you confessed to Woo Yeonho!”

The moment I heard Yeonho’s name, my heart skipped a beat. Somehow it seemed like several people nearby were also looking at those kids. I suddenly realized just how famous and popular Yeonho really was.

I don’t have the habit of eavesdropping like a thief, but somehow my feet wouldn’t move, and I ended up overhearing the conversation between Yoon Heureum and her friend.

‘I thought only Kim Jungwoo did this kind of thing, but I guess I’m no different.’

Still, I was curious.

I wondered what Yeonho had actually said to Yoon Heureum. He told me he rejected her, but were they actually getting along well?

Heureum’s face turned red when she heard Yeonho’s name, as if she was shy. It looked just like me when I think about Yeonho in front of the mirror. 

Heureum must really like Yeonho too. I felt a bit envious that she could freely show such an expression to others. Heureum spoke in a slightly quieter voice than before.

“Ah… yeah, it’s been a while.”

“Kyah~! What did Yeonho say? Everyone’s saying you two look good together. Hmm? Are you dating?”

“No… we just decided to stay friends. Yeonho said he’s not interested in dating anyone right now.”

“Really? Everyone thought you two would make a legendary couple. Aw~ But you know, Yeonho is famous for never seeing girls who confess to him again, so if he told you he wants to stay friends, doesn’t that mean there’s a possibility?”

What possibility? 

Once rejected, that’s the end of it. 

But Yeonho was weird too. If he rejected her, that should be it, so what’s with the “let’s stay friends” thing? That’s why Heureum is probably holding onto some hope.

I kicked at nothing on the ground and sneaked another glance at Heureum from the corner of my eye. Among what seemed like a bunch of squids, only Heureum appeared to be smiling normally.

She is certainly pretty, I suppose. But Yeonho is prettier. His smile is prettier too.

They don’t match at all.

The two exchanged a few more words before the friend headed off in another direction, ending their conversation. Most of the rest of their talk consisted of Heureum saying things like “Is that so?” and “Really?” while her friend planted false hope in her.

Just then, my second older sister came out of the store and gestured for us to go somewhere else. It seemed she couldn’t find any satisfactory clothes there either.

Heureum, who hadn’t been able to cross the street while talking with her friend, was now waiting for the signal to change. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out her ringing phone.

I was watching that action when I noticed something fall out of Yoon Heureum’s bag and drop at my feet, causing me to stop as I was about to follow my older sister.

“You’ve arrived already? Why did you come so early~ No, I’m almost there too. I’ll be right there after crossing at the light.”

Without thinking, I ran and picked it up. Yoon Heureum was on the phone and didn’t seem to realize she had dropped something. Worried that the light would change and she would cross, I urgently called out to her.

“Um, excuse me… you dropped this…”

“What? Hold on a moment. Oh, thank you! Why did this fall out?”

Yoon Heureum didn’t seem to recognize me.

‘Well, of course she wouldn’t know me. We’re not even in the same class…’

I had spoken to her naturally, but now I felt I should pretend not to know her. Yoon Heureum, who had turned completely in my direction, seemed quite flustered. 

She grabbed my hand along with her belongings and kept thanking me. It seemed like she was being overly grateful just for me picking up a card wallet.

Yoon Heureum’s hands were white and small. Even though my hands aren’t particularly large, hers looked tiny in comparison.

I wondered if Woo Yeonho thought the same when he saw Yoon Heureum’s hands. They say that when you see someone so small, something like a protective instinct kicks in – did Yeonho feel that too? Is that why he asked to be friends?

“Thank you so much. I didn’t even realize I had dropped it…!”

“Ah, yes… G-good thing. Well then, I should be going…”

“Oh! I’ve been keeping you too long, I’m sorry…”

Yoon Heureum told me to wait a moment, then took out something small wrapped in paper from her bag. I wasn’t sure what it was, but she said she had made it herself.

“This is all I have with me right now… I’m really, really grateful!”

“Oh, it’s f-fine…”

“Ah, the light is changing so I’ll go ahead. Thank you! Hello? Sorry, sorry, I didn’t know I dropped my wallet, but someone picked it up for me…”

As the distance between us grew, Yoon Heureum’s voice faded away too. I kept thinking I had heard her voice somewhere before – it seems she was the one talking with Woo Yeonho at the bus stop last time. The sweet perfume scent and thin voice matched that person.

‘Even after being rejected by Yeonho, she still approached him first and spoke to him. If it were me, I don’t think I could face him again. Do pretty and handsome people not care about such things?’

Suddenly, I recalled Yeonho’s voice from that day as he was speaking to Yoon Heureum.

‘Despite rejecting her, he treats her so warmly. I guess even though he pretends otherwise, he must feel good that a pretty girl likes him?’

I imagined stepping on Woo Yeonho’s foot though he wasn’t even in front of me, but it didn’t make me feel any better.

At the next clothing store, I tried on clothes my second older sister had brought and stood in front of the mirror, but I couldn’t tell whether this one or that one looked good.

Could the person Yoon Heureum was talking to earlier have been Yeonho? Movies can be watched on Saturdays too, so why did he suggest Sunday? 

Was it because he had to meet Yoon Heureum on Saturday? If so, are they meeting right now? Since Yoon Heureum said she was almost there while on the phone, they must be meeting somewhere nearby. 

Should I look for them? But what would I do if I found them? It’s none of my business whom Yeonho meets, when, or where, and I have no right to interfere.

If just imagining it makes me feel this bad, how would I feel if I saw them in person?

Yeonho and Yoon Heureum.

Though I hate to admit it, as others say, the phrase “golden couple” seems made for them. Yeonho shines brighter when Yoon Heureum is beside him than when I’m there.

He wouldn’t have to hear people calling him gay or dirty, and he wouldn’t be looked down on by kids like Kim Jungwoo.

“Wow, my eye for fashion is incredible. Clothes make the man, Seungwoo.”

“Oh, yeah…”

“Even you can see it looks good on you, right? Let’s throw away all the clothes you have at home.”

My older sister patted my back as she spoke. Forgetting that some of my clothes were ones she had bought, she marveled and pushed me toward the changing room to get changed.

While I was imagining Yeonho and Yoon Heureum together, I was pushed along without resistance. When I came to my senses, I was in the changing room. 

My older sister urged me to hurry and change so we could also buy shoes and get my hair done. As I slowly changed clothes, somehow my vision became blurry.

Water droplets fell onto the sky-blue t-shirt I was about to change into, causing it to stain. Before too many drops could fall, I roughly wiped my eyes with the sleeve of the clothes I had been wearing. First my heart got sick, and now it seemed like something was wrong with my tear ducts too.