CH 2.5

Yeon Woojeong ate slowly, and because I followed him to eat slower and our portions were different, we finished about the same time. He didn’t stop me from washing the dishes. It might be easier to use the dishwasher, but I’d rather use the time to figure out how to use it to wash it myself.

“Empty your schedule tomorrow. Let’s buy clothes.”

Tomorrow? Yeon Woojeong looked like he was about to wash because he was taking off his suit jacket. Then, after leaving it on the chair, he went straight to the bathroom.

I wondered if we would have time for that. Well, I had nothing to do, but he kept working overtime, and he was only able to get off earlier today. Come to think of it, was he on his way home after working late on the day we met for the first time? Considering the direction in which the car was coming, it was quite possible.

Looking at the closed door, I then moved to take out the underwear under the sofa and wear it. I put the rest in the wardrobe on the second floor. After closing the wardrobe door, the space on the second floor finally entered my sight. He said he’s going to put a bed here, didn’t he?

This couldn’t be called a room because there was no door, but it was a personal space, and if I stuck my head out, I could see the living room, so it wasn’t bad. I kept the space in my eyes for a moment, then I went down.

***

Yeon Woojeong called me at 7 p.m. It was when I was about to eat while waiting for him, so his timing was good.

I went out to the roadside near the officetel and after waiting for a while, a Benz stopped smoothly. When I got in the passenger seat, Yeon Woojeong greeted me, saying, “Hi.” He was tucking the tie that was close to getting untied inside his suit pocket.

Wouldn’t it be better to just take it off if he’s going to wear it like that? But, in the prosecutor society, which I didn’t know of, there was a possibility he’d become a problematic person if he didn’t wear his necktie. I didn’t think Yeon Woojeong cared about such a thing, though. Does that mean there’s regulation there?

“Why are you wearing a tie?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you wearing it if you’re going to make it look like that?”

“Aha.”

Yeon Woojeong glanced down like a person who just realized he was wearing a tie, then he untied it completely.

“Sometimes, clothes shape your posture. I don’t get lazy, only when I wear the tie perfectly.”

I didn’t really understand, but as I imagined Yeon Woojeong working in that office with piling documents while wearing the clothes he wore at home, it was indeed weird.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No.”

“Then let’s eat after buying the clothes. I’m hungry.”

It was a curious thing that he could feel hungry. If I ate like him every time I ate, I would get hungry every time. 

The car, which had been running on a narrow road after exiting the lines of buildings, stopped in front of a clothing store with a glass window on the front. Beyond the window, there were faceless mannequins with clothes on, and the clothes were neat, but they looked young.

Next to the clothing stores, there were stores with the same air lining up. Like they had no signboard or were not big, and the store names were all in English. As we walked inside, the male employee who dressed fancily approached us.

“Welcome. Please feel free to look around and let me know if you need anything.”

While the employee was walking away after greeting us, I looked around. Even after looking at the T-shirts, flashy pants, that are gathered according to their colors, and the mannequins that were placed in between, I couldn’t see anything that was worth wearing for Yeon Woojeong. Well, all that he wore were only formal attires, home wears, and bathrobe. Even though his figure wearing formal clothes felt odd, I couldn’t imagine him wearing other kinds of clothes.

“Try to choose what you like.”

Yeon Woojeong spoke as if he was recommending an easy task, but it was embarrassing to pick, as I like it when he paid for it. I only needed a few clothes to wear after I washed the clothes I was wearing. The price or the quality wasn’t important to me, but because he said he wanted to spend his money on me, there was no reason for me to stop him.

But, all of this was debt. Yeon Woojeong told me to do nothing, and that meant he wouldn’t ask anything from me. I did not completely believe that. But in contradiction, Yeon Woojeong’s words made me owe him.

He gave things to me, but I have nothing to repay him back. A transaction without substance tightly blocked my solar plexus.

At a glance, the clothes looked expensive. Rather than the clothes’ quality or model, the neat and posh interior of the store made the price of the items. Wearing faded jeans with knees exposed and a padding jacket with torn cotton leaking here and there made me feel like I was wearing an unusually different color here. While I stupidly stood with my hand in my pocket, Yeon Woojeong went to the stand and picked up a shirt. It was of a bizarre color, looked like sky blue but also looked like gray.

“Wanna try this on?”

He handed out the shirt to me, and I stared absentmindedly at that. Yeon Woojeong tilted his head, then he brought the shirt under my chin.

“I think you’ll be prettier if you wear this.”

The black eyes seemed like they were glowing. As he said, in this place full of pretty things, he kept looking at me. After staring at the lively face for a while, I took the shirt and entered the changing room guided by the employee.

Taking off the jacket, I hung it on the hanger, and then I changed to the shirt. This was my first time wearing a shirt since I left school, and this shirt had a lower collar than a regular shirt. I had an awkward face in the mirror.

When I walked out, Yeon Woojeong, who was sitting with his feet crossed and looking at his phone, lifted his head. He scanned me thoroughly and then the corners of his lips rose up.

“You’re pretty.”

“…”

“Try that one too.”

The place Yeon Woojeong pointed to was a long chair next to the changing room, and clothes were piled up one after another on the chair. I grimaced, but the employee brought me a heap of clothes closest to me. Yeon Woojeong returned to his phone, and he didn’t react even when I glared at him.

I went back into the changing room and took off the shirt. After wearing purple loose knitwear and jeans with folded hem, I put a navy tteokbokki coat over. The coat was very soft and wrapped me warm. Fiddling with the sleeve, I looked at the mirror. These clothes looked like something that young masters would wear.

I subconsciously stood up straight. I felt like I got what Yeon Woojeong meant by how clothes shape the posture. Also, it seemed like the clothes determined your status. Although the truth was the opposite way. The fact that these mere pieces of cloth could represent people, and that I couldn’t buy one of these pieces of cloth, searching through the clothing donation box, made me laugh.

My hair and eyes in the mirror looked unexceptionally dark. Maybe, it was because the lighting looked dim. After looking at the mirror with me alone inside, I walked out.

My gaze met with Yeon Woojeong, who turned his head at the same time the door opened. Strangely, I felt like my surroundings turned brighter the moment I saw his eyes. The useless thoughts filling my head scattered.

Yeon Woojeong showed his teeth. He smiled as if he was really happy. It gave me goosebumps.

I held his gaze for a while. Then, he opened his mouth.

“Now I know why kids are obsessed with doll play. It is human’s nature to dress something pretty to someone pretty.”

The employee organizing the clothes next to me said it really suits me, adding to Yeon Woojeong’s nonsense. These were his clothes, so it was fine with me if he liked them.

Yeon Woojeong then pointed to the other prepared clothes. His phone had somehow entered his suit jacket. I said nothing and entered the changing room, changing the clothes as I became his doll.

After doing this a few times, Yeon Woojeong didn’t say to try on other clothes as if he was already satisfied. Well, I was hungry, so I also didn’t want to change anymore. As I walked out after changing into the clothes I wore when we came here, there was a deal of shopping bags on the counter. Yeon Woojeong left without accepting the receipt after paying with his card. I endured the urge to look at the number inside the receipt left on the counter and went out. The employee followed us out while bringing over the shopping bags and putting it in the back seat.

“Thank you so much, sir. Get home safely!”

With a passionate greeting from the employee, the car pulled out. Yeon Woojeong’s face that I looked at from the side looked somewhat soft. As I stared at his face, I felt like saying something.

“A prosecutor must have made a lot of money.”

“Prosecutor? Is that so?”

“That he could even buy clothes for a total stranger.”

“You’re not a total stranger for me, Jiho.”

I suddenly got speechless. This was the first time he called my name. The ordinary name that never meant anything to me sounded strange. I wanted to scratch my ear, but instead, I clenched my finger.

“And I work hard to make the money, so I should use it at least this much. I have no plan to embrace the money as I close my eyes when I die.”

He could say that because he had a lot of money. If I had a lot of money, I would bring it along with me as I die. So that I wouldn’t be in despair when I die, and not poor in hell.

But, what Yeon Woojeong said suited him. He wasn’t obsessed with anything, and I didn’t think he would get thirsty for anything. His fairness was different from mine, but I liked it.

“Do you have something you want to eat?”

“…”

“Even if you do, bear with me. I have already decided on the menu.”