This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 288

Yoonseo’s Perspective

Before I knew it, Dogun had pulled out all the clothes from the closet and started examining them one by one. At the same time, I surprisingly managed to complete my date preparations.

Yet, I still couldn’t pull myself away from the mirror.

The reason was simple.

If there was even the slightest chance to look prettier in Dogun’s eyes, I didn’t want to miss it.

‘Should I try a slightly darker tint…?’

Of course… I knew deep down that today’s outing was more about relieving the suffocation Dogun might have felt rather than anything else.

But still… Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?

If I could make Dogun a bit more ‘conscious’ of me through this, then?

No matter how much longer I spent here, it felt like it would be time well spent.

‘More than anything…’

If I didn’t do this, if I didn’t keep his focus on me like this, it felt like the fragile calm I was barely maintaining would come crashing down in an instant.

“Huuh—ha—huuh—ha—”

I couldn’t help it.

I couldn’t help it because I honestly felt like I was going to lose my mind from the tension.

It was the kind of feeling where, if I let my guard down for even a second, the tension lurking at my feet would surge up my body.

Whether it was because of that or not, my mouth had been getting increasingly dry, and it was just bothersome.

I mean, I had lost count of how much water I had been drinking since earlier.

Of course, if I counted the times Dogun and I had gone out alone, it would be countless.

Setting aside the mundane outings like grocery shopping or buying necessities, even the instances that felt somewhat like dates could be counted on one hand.

Despite that, the only reason I felt so tense was clear.

This was definitely the first time both of us recognized this as a ‘date.’

Up until now, whenever I thought of it as a date, Dogun had merely gone along with it.

But today’s plans, and everything we were about to do now, were different.

So how could I not be nervous?

I had already finished my makeup and got dressed, yet here I was, still stuck in front of the mirror.

‘This much should be…’

I should look pretty… right?

No, I had to look pretty…

I didn’t even dare hope Dogun would stop in his tracks and be astonished by how I looked after he put some thought into my appearance.

I just… wished Dogun’s slowly changing perception would be solidified this time.

As I muttered such thoughts to myself while gazing into the mirror…

Knock, knock—

A sound of someone knocking at the door slipped into my ears.

Right after, I heard my father’s voice.

“Yoonseo?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

“Did you say you had plans with Dogun today?”

That was true, but why was he asking?

Could it be that he was thinking of opposing me at this point?

I would soon find out.

“It seems like Dogun is waiting outside.”

The moment I heard that, my eyes literally shot wide open.

When I grabbed my mobile phone to check the time… what I thought had barely been five minutes turned out to be fifteen!

‘No, how did time get away from me like this…’

There was no time for idle thoughts.

If I had that much time, I should be getting together the things I needed for going out.

First, I grabbed my mobile phone.

Then, I quickly picked up the small bag I had already prepared, and finally, I carefully wrapped around the scarf that Dogun had gifted me about this time last year.

Maybe I had worn it out to show off whenever I had the chance.

Though it might not quite match today’s look—it was relatively worn for just a year since he paid a pretty penny for it—it didn’t matter.

I just wanted to show it to Dogun.

To show him that I wore the present he gave me so well.

With that thought in mind, I left my room…

And lo and behold, I bumped right into my dad waiting outside!

“Oh my… oh my…”

The instant I came face to face with him, I was greeted with that remark.

What made me flinch was…

“I-Is it weird…?”

That thought had crossed my mind for a second.

Of course, from my perspective, there was nothing weird about it; it looked perfectly matched and pretty. But it might look different through a man’s eyes like Dad’s or Dogun’s.

“What are you talking about? It’s just pretty.”

I asked in the most cautious voice in the world, and his reply came back firmly.

“Then why…?”

“No, I was just wondering whose daughter looks this pretty.”

“What?! Really…”

“So what time are you going to be back today?”

Just when I was about to say, “That surprised me,” a seemingly perfectly timed question made me completely shut my mouth because it was so difficult to answer.

“What time? Well…?”

I slyly averted my eyes and tried to dodge my father’s gaze as it flew my way, thinking maybe that was a sensible choice.

After avoiding the question, I quickly fired out, “Ah! By the way, Dogun’s probably waiting! I gotta go!”

With that excuse, I swiftly sidestepped my dad.

“Y-Yoonseo…!”

Having managed to break through my dad’s side thanks to the training I’d had, I heard his voice calling me from behind, but I pretended not to hear it.

No, I decided to act like I didn’t hear it.

And as I stepped outside…

I finally came face to face with… Dogun, who was standing with what looked like a matching couple scarf around his neck.

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Dogun’s Perspective

Honestly, I was a bit taken aback at first.

It was understandable since I was just waiting for Yoonseo to come out of the house without much thought, and I never expected her to burst out like this.

“Is someone chasing me from behind? Why are you in such a…”

Just as I was about to say that, I caught sight of the scarf wrapped around Yoonseo’s neck, the one I had personally gifted her around this time last year.

The problem was… it looked remarkably similar to the one I was currently wearing around my neck.

‘Well, I did buy it with that in mind, so I guess that can’t be helped…’

But seeing it like this, it felt a bit different from before.

Back then, I had certainly thought it was ‘cute’ and laughed it off, but strangely, today, that wasn’t possible.

And I wondered if Yoonseo had also started being aware of something similar at that moment.

As she settled beside me, she started glancing over at the scarf around my neck, and an awkward air began to seep through, pushing aside the previous coldness that had hung between us.

“Should… should we head out?”

Despite the awkwardness, I carefully brought up that question, thinking we couldn’t linger here forever.

After all, Yoonseo had worked hard to convince Chae-rim to set up this chance for us to go out.

Wasting time like this wouldn’t be fair to Yoonseo for mustering the courage for this opportunity, and it wouldn’t be respectful to Chae-rim for allowing this either.

With that in mind, I slowly started walking, and Yoonseo nodded her head eagerly and quickly followed by my side.

It didn’t take as long to arrive at the Association as I had thought.

But the real issue was after we arrived.

To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t had high hopes.

After all, considering the nature of the Association, I hadn’t thought there would be much nearby.

Up until we got out of the taxi, that was clearly the case…

‘What is this…?’

I wasn’t joking; I genuinely thought I must have gotten off at the wrong place at first.

And it seemed that Yoonseo shared the same thought as she got out of the taxi as well.

The scene before us was completely different from what we had expected.

“There are so many people…”

“Yeah, there really are a lot.”

Even the sight of couples holding hands everywhere made it seem like everyone was in a relationship.

Was that why?

After getting into the taxi, the awkward atmosphere that had somewhat eased began to fill the space between us again.