Chapter 6 : Easy Dating

“Seo-yoon, did you bring your mask?”

“Huh? What mask?”

“I told you to wear it if you were going to the department store.”

“That’s right!”

“…You forgot.”

I didn’t think Seo-yoon would forget.

No, I had a feeling she would.

Seo-yoon isn’t the type to remember every single thing.

“Miro… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. If you don’t have any, you can just go buy them. Seo-yoon probably doesn’t want to just go home today either.”

I’ll just buy a few at the convenience store.

If I’m going to buy them anyway, I’ll buy the type that covers my face perfectly.

“Okay, let’s go to the convenience store first… Huh!”

Huh-huh-.

The moment I turned my back on Seo-yoon, I was hugged by her warm arms again.

The softness that enveloped my body felt good, but I felt a little resistance to the sudden embrace.

“What are you doing, get away quickly.”

“You know, Miro.”

“Huh?” “Actually… I brought a mask.”

“Huh?”

“I thought Miro would let it go if I said I forgot… Hehe.”

You’ve used your brain. It’s just a cute joke, so I’ll forgive you.

“Well, you should’ve brought it. Let’s stop by the department store before it’s too late.”

“Hold on a second. Behave yourself!”

“Haa… What are you going to do again… Huh?”

After feeling a few twitches from behind, a soft cloth covered my mouth.

The warm cloth smelled like strawberries, and when I took a deep breath, it made me happy.

Is this a mask?

This mask is amazing.

In my previous life, it was just a cloth that covered my mouth…

It’s just uncomfortable.

“I brought Miro’s too! Hehe.”

“…I don’t need mine.”

“I can’t catch a cold, but Miro can? If we’re going to wear it, we should wear it together! If Miro doesn’t wear it, I won’t go today!”

Seoyoon-ah…

As expected, Seoyoon is a precious friend.

I was just pretending, but Seoyoon was truly worried about me.

She has a top 0.1% personality…

“Thank you…”

“Hehe, it’s nothing! Okay, let’s go to the department store now! Before it’s too late!”

Seoyoon, who broke the hug and came to me, was already wearing a pink mask.

Seoyoon’s shining appearance wasn’t completely hidden by the mask, but it seemed less than usual, so I wonder if it’s okay.

Hug-.

“Do we have to link arms?”

“Yeah!”

No matter what, linking arms…

No, I wonder if it’s okay.

In a world where people link arms casually even if they’re not a couple, it would be strange to stubbornly refuse between close friends.

It’s hard to find the right line.

“Well, okay. Let’s go quickly.”

Seoyoon’s body, which was clinging tightly to me, wafted with a sweet strawberry scent.

Is strawberry scent popular these days?

“Let’s go back.”

“Miro!?”

The department store, which was 10 minutes away from school, was more crowded than I had imagined.

The cosmetics store on the first floor was so crowded that employees were even coming out to sell items.

Aside from the fact that there were so many people, the overly sweet scent made my nose numb.

How much perfume was everyone spraying…

No, is it just all the girls gathering together that it smells like this?

“Ugh… Miro… doesn’t like department stores?”

“Seo-yoon…”

I wanted to go back right away, but when I saw Seo-yoon with tears in her eyes, my heart gave out.

…No matter how crazy the world is, if I just go shopping, wouldn’t it be okay if I just leave quickly?

It’s a little scary because there are more people than I thought, but I don’t want to disappoint Seo-yoon.

Right.

You even wore a mask for this kind of thing, right? It’ll be okay.

“Okay. But promise me that you’ll look around as quickly as possible and leave.”

Hug.

Seoyoon answered by tightly hugging my arm.

Her face was hidden by the mask, but I could tell her joy from her narrow eyes.

“Hehe, let’s go to the third floor.”

“Yeah. Oh, what is Seoyoon looking for? Clothes? Cosmetics?”

Come to think of it, I only heard that we should go shopping, but I didn’t hear what she wanted to buy.

Seoyoon seemed to be interested in fashion, so maybe it was clothes or accessories?

“Secret! I’ll check soon, so please look forward to it~!”

Seoyoon looked so happy as she hugged my arm and walked briskly, and just looking at her made me feel happy.

If I had known she’d like it this much, I should’ve brought her here sooner.

Wheeing-…

I gave up on the elevator because it was too crowded, and took the escalator up to the third floor.

Out of all the stores, the first thing that caught my eye was a swimsuit.

No, there were only swimsuits on the entire floor.

“…Seo-yoon. I think we heard wrong, did you get the floor wrong?”

“Huh? Did you get the right one!”

“Su, are you going to buy a swimsuit?”

“Yeah yeah! There’s not much time left in summer, right? If you’re going to go to the beach with Miro, you should buy at least one swimsuit in advance~! I’ll buy Miro’s too!”

“The sea…”

I tried to refuse, but when I saw Seo-yoon excitedly choosing a swimsuit, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

Since I was reborn, summer was just a hot and mosquito-ridden season, so I had forgotten about it, but if I think about it, summer is a season full of dangers…

the sea, festivals, travel.

It was a season full of real-life events, so it was a season full of danger wherever I went.

It was okay to be an outsider until now, but now that I have a friend, I can’t avoid it…

If I throw them all away one by one, Seo-yoon will be disappointed.

“Let me choose a swimsuit.”

If I can’t avoid it, I do my best defense.

Since I learned in school that it’s okay to choose a normal swimsuit, I tried my best

“Huh? Miro? I was going to choose it for you…”

The area that Seoyoon was already looking at was full of sexy bikinis, and there were swimsuits that she had no confidence in wearing.

Would you wear a swimsuit like that and go around the beach?

You’d be put in a van and locked in the basement.

“Yeah! Miro, how about we choose each other’s swimsuits? Huh? Don’t you think it’d be fun!?”

“Each other’s…?”

“Yeah! Let’s choose a swimsuit that suits us both!”

“Okay.”

“Hehe, I’ll choose the swimsuit that suits Miro the best!”

It wouldn’t be very meaningful if I tried to stop her alone, so I’d rather do it.

I’ll choose a swimsuit that covers Seoyoon’s body as much as possible so that the weird girls won’t get involved.

The swimsuit Seoyoon chooses…

I’ll try to refuse as much as possible and subtly mention that I like rashguard swimsuits.

The good Seoyoon will do as I say.

After making a plan, I walked to the swimsuit that caught my eye from the beginning.

A pretty pink pareo swimsuit that covers my legs.

It’s a swimsuit that’s often worn to hide a fat lower body, and it was the best swimsuit for minimizing exposure like now.

It seems like it would suit Seoyoon if she wore it…

“Seoyoon, I chose it.”

“Yeah! I chose it too~!”

Hurry up!

I had something I had been looking at since earlier, but I didn’t know Seoyoon would choose it this quickly…

Did she have something in mind in advance?

It wasn’t a bikini, right?

“I’ll reveal it first. I brought it because I thought it would suit Seoyoon.”

“Wow~! I’m so happy!”

Seoyoon tried on the pareo and bikini top I brought, jumping up and down and expressing her joy with her whole body.

It felt good that she liked what I picked out, but I think she would have liked it no matter what I brought.

“Hehe, try it on… Don’t you want to come? Later~ When we go to the beach or pool with Miro, I’ll show you the first time then!”

“Yeah. Do whatever you want, Seoyoon. Oh, let’s just ask the clerk about the size and change it.”

“Yeah yeah! Now, it’s Miro’s turn!”

Gulp-.

What kind of swimsuit did you bring… A bikini?

A one-piece swimsuit?

It would be better if it was something that didn’t reveal as much as possible…

“Ta-da~! What do you think? Isn’t it pretty?”

“Rash guard…? It’s pretty, but is this really okay?”

The swimsuit Seo-yoon brought was a rash guard in the form of a T-shirt and shorts that didn’t reveal any skin at all.

It was awkward to call it a swimsuit, and it was uncomfortable.

I liked it, but I thought Seo-yoon would bring something like a bikini.

“Yeah! I can’t show my cute Miro to other people~!”

“That’s why…?”

“Yeah! Miro doesn’t like to be exposed in the first place, right? She stays in the water during swimming lessons and doesn’t come out.”

“That’s true, but… were you thinking of me?”

“Of course~! Miro is choosing a swimsuit, so shouldn’t she choose one she likes?”

“I’ll pick a swimsuit again.”

Jin

I’ll bring one that Seo-yoon likes again.

My criteria for choosing a swimsuit was always based on my own self-esteem,
but Seo-yoon purely did it for me… It’s embarrassing.

“You don’t have to do that. I really like this swimsuit! Hehehe.”

“…Thank you, Seoyoon.”

“Come on, let’s stop here and go somewhere else. Okay? There are still a lot of places I want to go with Miro!”

“Okay. Let’s go wherever Seoyoon wants to go.”

In the end, we enjoyed shopping while looking around every nook and cranny of the department store.

We watched Seoyoon’s fashion show and bought delicious snacks.

…It was fun.

“Seoyoon, let’s go back. It’s already past 9.”

“Ugh, it’s already late… I want to play with Miro a little more.”

“I want to do that too, but I promised Grandma that I’d be home by 10… Sorry. Let’s play a little longer next weekend. Okay?”

“On the weekend!? That’s a promise! “It’s a must!”

“I understand, don’t shake me.”

Even though it was late at night, the department store was still bustling with people.

At first, I was sick of the sweet smell and the crowds, but now it seemed like nothing more than the daily lives of ordinary people.

It was the same at the convenience store, and at the department store.

As expected, the percentage of ordinary people in this world is overwhelmingly high.

Of course… it’s a bit open to sex.

Still, I think this is tolerable enough.

Well, it’s something special just to be on the news.

Was she too scared because of her mother’s incident…?

Yeah.

Today was the first time I saw someone holding a knife like that.

It must be rare… A knife?

A woman with short bob cut that reached her shoulders was muttering something continuously while glaring at a sharp kitchen knife.

She stood out among ordinary people, and she seemed to come from another world, so it was hard to feel real.

I didn’t support it.

I… I… can’t be unhappy…

Why, am I the only one… unhappy…

“Let’s run away, Seo-yoon!”

“Huh? Huh, what the…?”

The other customers had already noticed her and were quickly scattering.

The staff tried to approach her to stop her, but she was swinging a knife at the staff who approached her and blocking their approach.

Uniform date…

Couple mask…

Aha, ahaha…

You guys, are you happy…?

I tried to escape through the back door of the department store, but it didn’t seem like I could escape because so many people were trying to escape at once.

Since it was like this, I should go upstairs.

The security guards will come running and stop me soon…

You guys, should be unhappy too!!!

Oh, it didn’t seem like it would happen.

The woman was rushing towards me and Seo-yoon. She ran faster than expected, and now that I was running, I couldn’t dodge properly.

I hid Seo-yoon, who was standing there in a panic, behind my back and grabbed my bag.

“Seo-yoon, stay still. I’ll protect you.”

The distance between me and the woman had already become very close, and I could see her swinging her arm wildly and swinging the kitchen knife. Chook-…

Huh….

A hot pain was felt on her cheek, but it was bearable enough.

No, I had to endure it.

If I backed down here, Seo-yoon would be in danger.

Crash!

As she was about to swing the knife again, I swung my heavy bag containing several textbooks with a full swing.

With a heavy sound, the bag hit her side, causing her to drop the knife on the ground and stagger backwards.

She tried to pick up the knife again, but the guards who had run to her side grabbed her arms and stopped her actions.

Finally, at the thought that she was safe, the pain in her cheek that had been forgotten began to hurt more and more.

“Haa… haa…”

“Miroya! Quick, show me your cheeks…!”

Clang-…

When Seo-yoon, who had been hiding behind me, approached me, I heard the sound of something falling, but I had no more time to think.

“Seo-yoon, wait… I’ll rest for a moment…”

The extreme tension was released and sleepiness was slowly creeping in.

I knew I shouldn’t sleep like this… but I couldn’t stand it…

Seo…

Still, I was able to protect her.

I couldn’t protect my mom… but I was able to protect Seo-yoon…

That’s enough…