I shook the water off my shoulder. Oh, dear. I forgot I was wearing a white shirt and just ran. Thank goodness it wasn't raining yet, I looked around the umbrella corner.
“Is this the only one left?”
The part-timer replied that there was only one pretty voice left. Of course, our hearts preferred the prettier voice. I felt a bit like a doting younger sibling, but I didn't mind feeling that way.
“Students bought quite a lot of them…”
The voice came again, and I turned my head. It was a woman, and even for someone like me who diligently follows celebrities, her face was quite pretty. Cat-like, upturned eyes, a distinct, high nose, and a beautifully curved, smiling mouth. And her bright, pinkish-red lips. There's no exaggeration in describing her like this. It's describing reality as it is. But that's about it. Objectively, she was pretty, but subjectively, our hearts were prettier. I preferred her puppy-like appearance to her cat-like appearance, and I preferred her cuteness to her sharp features.
“Okay. How much is it?”
He asked, opening his wallet.
“It’s 3,500 won.”
Instead of responding, I take out 4,000 won from my wallet. I give it to her, and she gives me 500 won in change and says,
“Hey… you’re my ideal type. Could you give me your number?”
I've never really been a fan of revealing that I'm a celebrity. The moment I do, even people who aren't particularly interested in me start rushing to see what's on my mind. So I decided to just say what's on my mind.
“I’m sorry. I have someone I like.”
The nameless convenience store worker smiles kindly and says.
"It's okay. I hope everything goes well."
"thank you."
I never thought I'd get such cheers and wishes here. I wish you the best, but you have so many formidable rivals. I left the convenience store, saying things I'd never say out loud.
I opened my mint-green umbrella with a pop. I could see Ma-eum's silhouette in the distance. The water was splashing all over my pants, thanks to the puddles that had formed. As soon as I reached her, she expressed concern for me.
“Wow… Oppa, you’re completely wet?”
“I didn’t know I’d get this wet.”
"This isn't the time to be so calm. It's all coming to light now..."
“Why is your face red, Miss Ma-eum?”
“Yeah, no…”
I think it's a good thing I've been working out hard lately. Ha, I can't believe I'm thinking about this in the middle of all this.
“I feel well”
“No… that’s true. But he said it himself…”
“Why, were you excited?”
Ma-eum lowered her head and nodded to hide her blushing face. Even that looked cute.
“You are a very honest type.”
At my words, Ma-eum raised her head again and stared at me intently.
"why?"
“Now that it’s been revealed that you’re the honest type”
Ma-eum took off her own Mai and draped it around my shoulders. Because of our height difference, there was a size difference, but Mai, who was so tiny, was cute.
“It’s so small? Will it be effective?”
“I know it’s small… but I don’t like it when it’s visible.”
I stroked her hair. The dress, a few sizes smaller than mine, seemed to fall from her shoulders. I placed my other hand on her shoulder again.
“If I reveal my upper body later, you’ll say I’m going to die.”
“It’s really fortunate that Seventeen didn’t reveal their shirts…”
“But you see it every day, right?”
It was true. There were quite a few members who weren't careful. Seungcheol hyung, Junhwi hyung, Wonwoo hyung, Jihoon hyung, and me. The rest of us seemed to be really careful, but sometimes we'd show Ma-eum our shirts.
Of course, it wasn't intentional, but Ma-eum didn't bat an eye when she first saw him. In fact, she even exclaimed, "You look so good!" When I asked why, she said her male friends sometimes did that too. "Wow, what are your male friends really like?"
“Oh, oppa! Do you really have to wake me up like that?”
“No… I just saw it before
I wondered why they were doing this.”
“I don’t want other people to see it.
By the way, my daughter is really small.”
My heart finally picked up the fallen Mai. She thought she'd give it back to me, but that wasn't the case.
“It has to be small because there is a 20cm difference.
“It’s even more so because Ma-mang-i isn’t that big.”
“Should we just go to the clothing store and buy something? I’ll buy it for you!”
“Ugh, you little brat.
“Did you see me accept something I bought you?”
“No, that’s not it. I think it would be too funny to use mine.”
“I’ll try my best to keep you out of it. Don’t worry.”
“Okay. But why is there only one umbrella?
“Because you want to write with me~?”
“It’s not for such a selfish reason,
“There was only one umbrella. I heard a lot of students bought it.”
I can't say I had no selfish motives at all. It was my desire to be under the same umbrella as her. But if she felt uneasy, I could easily set aside my selfishness for a moment. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her.
"Oh, I see. Then let's use it together. It's big."
She blurted it out nonchalantly. I was more of a friend to her than an older brother, not even a boyfriend, just a friend. She didn't see me as a man at all. That was how she saw me.
But I wasn't. Everything you said without emotion came to me as a thrill. My heart, which I usually didn't pay attention to, was pounding like crazy, and I felt alive, filled with excitement. You are my reason for living, the driving force that keeps me going.
"Where's the book cafe? Let's go there quickly!"
I'm barely coming to my senses thanks to your words. Whenever I think about you, I tend to escape from reality.
I barely manage to gather my thoughts and open my umbrella.
“I guess I’ll have to stick to it… so I don’t get wet.”
“Okay, okay. Should we link arms?”
That's the best way, but I can't guarantee that the moment my arm touches yours, you won't hear my heartbeat.
I held the umbrella with my right hand, and my left arm touched Ma-eum's right arm. The important thing here is that she didn't seem to mind.
“How was your college entrance exam this year?”
“I… always have a hard time.”
At my answer, she laughs with her signature laugh. Ah, just seeing her laugh makes me happy.
“What if you say that?
I wonder if this CSAT is a difficult CSAT or a difficult CSAT
It's not easy to tell the difference.
Ah… I wish it was a no-brainer. I think I did really well.”
He replies, thinking that he would have pinched her cheek if his arm hadn't been bound by hers.
“Oh, did you hit it well?”
“Yeah, it was easy for me. But the people around me said it was difficult.
I think so. But, can you let this go?”
Before I knew it, I was holding her hand. It seemed quite uncomfortable, holding her hand while our arms were linked.
“I don’t like it.”
“No, why!”
Without realizing it, I'd tilted my umbrella a little further toward her. When I came to, my left shoulder was quite wet. I checked my heart, and it didn't seem to be wet at all. Thank goodness.
