Unlike his lively outfit, Yiyoung, who looked noticeably haggard, collapsed into the seat next to Chahyun. Chahyun toyed with Yiyoung’s bangs, gently mussing them up and then smoothing them back with the hand whose elbow rested on the sofa’s backrest, as he said:
“Let’s rest a bit before going out. Since the opening time has passed, I won’t get to feel like I rented out the entire department store, but oh well.”
“It’s okay.”
Yiyoung answered in a voice that had exhausted all his energy, then added a question:
“Do you always buy clothes like this, Chahyun-ssi?”
“No.”
Even with loosely relaxed eyelids, Yiyoung showed a puzzled look. Chahyun answered:
“Usually I call them to my house. I also walk around normally. Not at department stores though.”
“If not department stores, then where?”
He did it at what they called luxury boutiques. When he had a bit more motivation, he’d also make separate requests to brand designers.
Just as he was about to answer, Director Jo came over with the organized checklist.
Director Jo, who had approached quietly, began reciting the purchase list once Chahyun nodded. At the endlessly continuing items, shock began to settle in Yiyoung’s eyes, which had been unfocused. Regardless, as soon as Director Jo finished speaking, Chahyun answered:
“That’s all correct. Send them as is.”
“Wait, Chahyun-ssi!”
Yiyoung called out to Chahyun urgently. Since it was obvious he was going to decline, Chahyun looked at Yiyoung blankly and spoke first:
“We agreed I’d do what I want today, right?”
“Ah……”
Yiyoung let out a troubled sigh and seemed to give up, but in the end muttered:
“I don’t even have anywhere to wear these clothes except when I’m with you, Chahyun-ssi.”
“That works out well—wearing them only when you meet me.”
“I don’t even have proper space to put all these things.”
“I have a method in mind for that.”
Chahyun answered with a meaningful smile toward Yiyoung. Yiyoung kept tilting his head with an expression that was quite anxious. Before he could ask specifically, Chahyun stood up from the sofa.
“Shall we leave now?”
For some reason, Yiyoung perked up.
***
Standing up from the sofa in the clearly VIP-only shop, Yiyoung’s legs were all wobbly.
It wasn’t just because his stamina had dropped from changing clothes. It was because he was scared of how much the clothes, shoes, accessories, and such that Chahyun had just bought might cost. Of course, Yiyoung wasn’t the one buying them, but it was still uncomfortable to wear clothes more expensive than his own worth.
Chahyun began striding toward the shop’s entrance. Yiyoung followed him, trembling with his hands clasped together tightly as if in prayer. The closer they got to what looked like a register, the more his heart pounded. He swallowed hard, prepared to faint in shock when he heard the amount.
But for some reason, Chahyun left the shop without being stopped at all.
“Huh?”
Yiyoung widened his eyes and unconsciously quickened his pace to closely follow Chahyun. As they crossed what seemed to be a skybridge leading to the department store’s regular shops, Yiyoung asked Chahyun:
“Aren’t you paying?”
“Paying?”
Chahyun asked back, seeming surprised by Yiyoung’s question. Soon he seemed to understand and smiled with an “Ah.”
“Come to think of it, they do that at regular stores, don’t they?”
Yiyoung frowned, unable to readily understand Chahyun’s words.
“You don’t, Chahyun-ssi?”
“Of course I do. Come to think of it, I did at the cafe the other day too.”
Chahyun spoke as if the act of paying was an event that occurred very rarely in his daily life. Unable to understand his consumption patterns, Yiyoung unconsciously grabbed his own hair.
Doesn’t he even go to convenience stores? Indeed, it was hard to imagine Chahyun looking for things he needed at a convenience store. It was striking anew, but he really was someone who lived in a different world from Yiyoung.
In his bewilderment, they reached the regular shops beyond the skybridge.
Only then did Yiyoung feel like he could breathe. The department store, which he’d only visited a few times to buy gifts for others, let alone rent out, felt unexpectedly familiar. He even felt like he’d gotten lost in a very strange and scary place and returned home, so Yiyoung relaxed.
Yiyoung looked around the shops with a much more comfortable expression.
It was a floor where expensive brands that he normally wouldn’t feel like browsing gathered. Fascinated that summer season new products were already on display, Yiyoung looked around with sparkling eyes. Then he stopped abruptly in front of a mannequin wearing a fluttery dress and thought absentmindedly:
‘That would suit Mom well.’
Right then, Chahyun unexpectedly called an employee. When the employee approached, Chahyun pointed at the dress and said:
“Give me that.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
The employee, who seemed to know Chahyun’s face, bowed in greeting and showed signs of going to get a new product. In that instant, Yiyoung snapped to attention and unconsciously raised his voice toward the employee:
“No! You don’t need to bring it. We’re not buying it.”
“Wasn’t it to your liking?”
Chahyun asked Yiyoung. In any case, his perceptiveness was uncanny, then and now. It was just that before, he’d used that perceptiveness to win frog dolls in shooting games.
Yiyoung answered with a pained expression:
“I just thought it would suit my mom well. In any case, it’s not like I can give it to her now, and the size might not fit……”
“Really? I thought it would suit Bae Yiyoung-ssi well too. That’s a shame.”
Chahyun spoke in an obviously joking tone and showed a mischievous smile.
But women’s clothes—his face heated up at something he’d never even considered. Unable to help imagining himself wearing the dress, he was more shocked that, as Chahyun said, it would suit him without much discord. Strangely annoyed and lightly bristling, Chahyun gave instructions to the employee again:
“Bring it.”
The employee left without giving Yiyoung time to stop her further.
After that, Chahyun fumbled in his suit jacket’s inner pocket with noticeably large movements to find his wallet. Chahyun showed the credit card he took out from his wallet before Yiyoung’s eyes and said in an excited tone:
“Paying.”
Somehow looking like a child replaying a fun game after a long time, about five question marks floated above Yiyoung’s head.
Soon the employee returned with a new product. While Chahyun was paying, Yiyoung couldn’t overcome his curiosity and sneakily looked for the price tag of the dress the mannequin was wearing. Having confirmed the price, Yiyoung’s jaw dropped.
‘1.67 million won!’
In that instant, Yiyoung felt dizzy and his legs wobbled.
Of course, he wasn’t unaware that department store clothes could cost that much, but it was shocking to see it with the thought of purchasing. If a dress displayed in the regular shops was 1.67 million won, he couldn’t even gauge how much money Chahyun had spent on Yiyoung at the VIP shop.
‘Isn’t it about 10 million won?’
It seemed unlikely to be less than that. Thinking he might have spent 10 million won in about an hour, Yiyoung wanted to lie flat on the floor.
Then Chahyun, who’d finished paying, returned.
Even in his dizziness, Yiyoung was puzzled to see nothing in Chahyun’s hands. Resolving to somehow buy his mom clothes this good later, he asked Chahyun with a sliver of hope:
“You didn’t buy it?”
“I did.”
At the disappointing answer, tears welled up in Yiyoung’s eyes, but he endured thinking it was a gift for his mom. Even though it was burdensome, he was happy about that much, so Yiyoung spoke sincerely:
“Thank you. I think Mom will like it.”
Chahyun suddenly tilted his head as if puzzled.
“You didn’t say a word when I bought things for you.”
“Ah.”
At first he was shocked, and later he was exhausted and too flustered, so he’d completely forgotten to say thanks. He felt bad toward Chahyun, but truthfully, the bigger reason was that he wasn’t particularly grateful or happy at all.
Even after realizing this, he couldn’t bring himself to say thanks for those things, so Yiyoung changed the subject:
“Where is it? I’ll carry it.”
Come to think of it, they’d been empty-handed when leaving the VIP shop too. Having lost his wits, Yiyoung absentmindedly looked around searching for the missing items. Chahyun burst into laughter as if something was funny and answered:
“How could we load all that in the car? It has to be sent home.”
He wondered if department stores delivered too, but hearing it, it seemed natural for someone who’d bought this much, so Yiyoung quietly nodded. Then Chahyun added something like a bolt from the blue:
“Besides, we’re going to buy more from now on.”
Yiyoung’s jaw dropped.
***
Was he possessed by a ghost that died from not being able to spend money?
Around the time he was thinking that, Chahyun said something nice for once:
“I think we’ve roughly bought what we need immediately, so shall we stop here for today?”
“Yes.”
Yiyoung answered, adding only in his mind: Please.
