# Chapter 86
Shopping bags filled the back seat of the car.
“Haah…”
Both of them sighed in unison.
The store employee’s enthusiasm was so intense that even the great Suhyun couldn’t keep up. Despite Jiwon being completely exhausted and even Esper Suhyun looking somewhat tired, the employee remained surprisingly energetic.
They had no idea how many times they’d changed clothes.
They should have flatly refused to try on more clothes at some point, but the employee looked so happy that they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything.
The employee even went to the trouble of running to other stores to bring shoes and other items while they were in the fitting rooms.
Thanks to that, they experienced the bizarre phenomenon of clothes multiplying every time they entered and exited the fitting room.
‘Are you going to buy all of these?’
Jiwon realized the employee wasn’t burning with sales motivation, but rather was deeply immersed in the joy of dressing them up.
When they tried to pay for all the clothes they had tried on, Jiwon became certain his guess was correct based on the surprised reaction of the employee who asked.
Well, whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Jiwon was just grateful to have escaped the ant lion’s pit.
And then…
“…It suits you well.”
Suhyun was also wearing fresh clothes.
He was wearing the sweater and jeans he had tried on first with a leather jacket as an outer layer. Everything was perfect, right down to the bright white Converse sneakers he wore instead of his black dress shoes.
‘Would you mind wearing this when you leave?’
The employee had asked with sparkling eyes, and Suhyun couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
“…You too, Guide.”
Of course, the same applied to Jiwon.
It seems that the first outfit the employee had them try on best matched their taste. The employee made the same request to Jiwon.
Since he’d have to change clothes either way—back into his original clothes or into the first outfit he tried—Jiwon agreed.
Perhaps he thought anything would be fine as long as he could escape. Jiwon wore sneakers instead of the dress shoes he had originally been wearing. These too had been brought from another store by the employee.
Thanks to this, the two of them were able to finish all their shopping at one store. The problem was that they were as tired as if they had gone around multiple stores.
“That person was really enthusiastic.”
Jiwon, recalling the situation that had happened less than ten minutes ago, smiled and shook his head. Suhyun’s face showed he agreed.
“Do you like your clothes, Esper?”
At least their hard work had paid off, as Jiwon was very pleased with Suhyun’s current attire. He finally looked more appropriate for his age.
“…Yes, well.”
But Suhyun’s reaction was lukewarm.
“You don’t like it? It looks nice to me.”
Whatever he was thinking, Suhyun kept his mouth shut. Jiwon, feeling awkward for having made someone who wasn’t interested go through all that trouble, asked with a bitter smile.
“Were you just putting up with it even though you didn’t want to? Do you want to change back into your original clothes?”
From the beginning, Suhyun had been swept along. Jiwon had thought it was good because it looked nice to him, but perhaps Suhyun had been a bit annoyed.
“It’s not like that.”
Despite Suhyun’s immediate denial, Jiwon quickly became anxious. Maybe it was because he was placing so much significance on this outing alone, but it felt like he had ruined things from the start.
“I’ve never really thought about whether I particularly like something or not. So I’m not sure.”
It was an ambiguous statement—neither dislike nor like. It didn’t seem like a lie; Suhyun genuinely appeared to have no opinion on the matter.
“I see. Well… as long as you don’t hate it, that’s fine.”
He seemed completely uninterested in clothes. Jiwon wasn’t particularly interested either, but Suhyun was much more indifferent than he was.
No wonder his closet was filled with almost identical clothes. He probably never tried anything new because everything looked the same to him.
“Still, to my eyes, this suits you much better. The original was fine too, though.”
“Is that so.”
Jiwon nodded emphatically. He felt a little sorry for making Suhyun spend energy on something he had no interest in, but it was true that he preferred this fresh look.
“Yes. Ah, what shall we do now? We still have some time before our reservation.”
Jiwon furrowed his brow in thought.
Meanwhile, after scanning his own attire, Suhyun stared at Jiwon’s clothes. Perhaps because of the light pink sweatshirt and bright-colored coat, Jiwon looked even younger today, appearing more radiant.
In fact, none of the clothes Jiwon had worn today looked bad on him.
“Me too.”
Suhyun murmured absently.
“Pardon?”
Jiwon, who hadn’t heard properly because he was thinking about what to do next, asked again, but Suhyun didn’t bother to repeat himself.
“Would you like to see a movie?”
The topic naturally shifted. Jiwon nodded at the not-so-bad suggestion.
“Uh… shall we?”
Jiwon, who had been wondering why Suhyun suddenly suggested watching a movie, soon realized that he was following exactly what Jungyeom had proposed.
He was quite obedient, after all.
“Sounds good.”
But anything was fine.
After all, what Jungyeom had proposed was a perfect date course. If Suhyun was following it exactly, Jiwon was more than happy.
***
“Kyaaak!”
“Aak!”
Screams filled the air.
Jiwon found it hard to focus on the movie. His attention was solely on Suhyun.
Suhyun was looking at the screen with his brow furrowed.
‘How could I forget that…’
In truth, Jiwon felt so full of self-reproach that he wanted to hit himself on the head right then and there.
Up until they entered the movie theater, Jiwon had been in a good mood. There were quite a few people who recognized them, but no one approached them directly, which made it comfortable.
The two peacefully chose a movie to watch before dinner time. Perhaps because it was a weekday and the timing was awkward, they had many options.
‘How about this? “An Email from My Dead Lover.” Looks like a horror movie.’
Among them, Jiwon naturally chose a horror movie. This film, which had been released even before March, let alone summer, still occupied most of the theaters.
That must mean it’s entertaining. Jiwon was filled with subtle anticipation. He really enjoyed horror movies.
‘The timing works out perfectly too.’
Suhyun immediately nodded to Jiwon’s suggestion. Stupidly, Jiwon just felt excited, thinking Suhyun must be fine with scary movies.
He was in a great mood at the thought of watching a horror movie, especially with Suhyun, after such a long time.
However, Jiwon soon realized why it had been so long since he’d watched a horror movie. It was when the movie started and people’s screams began to be heard from all around, accompanied by eerie and intense background music.
‘Do you like horror movies? I watch movies when I relax. Would you like to watch together if that’s okay?’
‘I don’t like them because they’re loud.’
‘Ah, I see…’
Suhyun didn’t watch horror movies. Because they were loud. For an Esper with sensitive hearing, a noisy movie was nothing less than a landmine.
After that, they had never watched a horror movie at home, yet now he had forgotten and made this mistake at this particular moment.
Jiwon looked at Suhyun, shuddering with dismay. As if feeling his gaze, Suhyun looked back at him.
“…Shall we leave?”
Jungyeom, who had suggested watching a movie, probably hadn’t meant a horror movie. A movie with such bizarre sounds continuing. What on earth had he done?
‘This is driving me crazy.’
He had made someone with no interest in clothes change repeatedly, causing them trouble, and now at the movie theater, he had chosen a horror movie of all things and was torturing him.
It was a complete mess.
“…Are you not enjoying it?”
While Jiwon was busy blaming himself, Suhyun whispered in a low voice. He leaned slightly toward Jiwon so his voice could be heard better. For a moment, Jiwon’s body tensed, but he did his best to act normal.
“I’m worried your ears might hurt. Horror movies are so noisy.”
“Aaaah!”
“Holy…”
As if to rebuke his thoughtless, wrong choice, more screams erupted. Regret washed over him like a tsunami.
Even considering the suddenness, this was too much. He couldn’t do anything right.
He should have just worn similar clothes, dressed casually, and thought about what Suhyun might enjoy. Instead, he had just been excited…
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Suhyun shook his head as if it were no big deal.
“No, let’s just…”
Thinking it wasn’t something to endure, Jiwon was about to suggest leaving again.
“Don’t you like it?”
“……”
“It’s bearable enough, so please don’t worry.”
But with his gentle voice and the feeling of his breath, Jiwon pressed his lips shut.
He should be the one saying he was fine. But Suhyun’s whispering voice made it impossible for him to part his lips.
Sitting close together, leaning toward each other, and whispering—this small act made his heart race wildly. It even created the illusion that he was really on a date with Suhyun.
Thump-thump-thump-thump. He could feel his heartbeat throughout his entire body. The only fortunate thing was that his heartbeat was drowned out by the eerie background music.
“…Tell me anytime if you want to leave.”
In the end, Jiwon didn’t try to persuade Suhyun further. He had surrendered to his desire to stay like this a bit longer.
It was pathetic that he was so eager to indulge his desires rather than trying to be better for Suhyun, but Jiwon’s willpower when it came to Suhyun was particularly low.
“Yes, please enjoy the movie.”
Ah, his heart was in agony.
It was to the extent that he wanted to clutch his chest right away.
Suhyun’s face sparkled in the light coming from the screen. Jiwon stared at his face absentmindedly before consciously turning his gaze to the screen.
But his mind was completely filled with Suhyun.
‘If I suggest doing some guiding while we’re here, would it seem like a move to anyone looking?’
Jiwon, looking at Suhyun’s neatly placed hands, seriously considered this nonsensical thought.
‘What if I say I’m scared and need to stay close?’
Even this ridiculous idea seemed plausible in this moment.
Jiwon, barely maintaining his rationality, tried to suppress his rising impulses and desires.
The bizarrely melting ghost was running rampant on the screen, but he couldn’t feel any interest.
Ghosts weren’t scary.
The scariest things were himself, who wanted to get close to Suhyun with absurd excuses while losing his mind, and the consequences he would face because of it.
