This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 469

I found myself face to face with someone claiming to be a fan in a completely unexpected place, and it was mildly embarrassing.

To soothe the awkwardness, I was absentmindedly sipping water when suddenly, out of the blue, the shop owner auntie struck with a comment that caught Yoonseo off guard, causing a strange sound to escape her lips.

Well, it was only natural for that to happen, right?

If I was this flustered by the unexpected topic, how must Yoonseo, who tends to be shy, feel?

As if to reflect that, Yoonseo’s face turned bright red from her constant coughing.

Sure, it could have just been the coughing and not because of embarrassment, but…

Anyway, Yoonseo’s outburst was more than enough to surprise the auntie who had first brought up that topic.

“Huh? Ah, not yet…? I thought since you both dressed so beautifully, you were dating…”

Did she think she’d made a mistake?

Seeing the auntie’s face slowly turning into a mix of awkwardness, I couldn’t help but step in.

“We are dating.”

I reached across the table to cover Yoonseo’s hand with mine.

“Right? I knew it!”

And just as I made that move, the auntie’s face, which was turning increasingly awkward, brightened as if it had never been that way.

Of course, in contrast to the auntie’s reaction, Yoonseo’s face, which was already red, deepened further.

“Every time I see you two, I wonder when you’ll finally start dating… It’s been so fun to watch…”

“Haha… Is that so?”

“Absolutely! It was like a drama from my perspective! Anyway, so?”

“What?”

“Who confessed first?”

Just as I thought I had managed to recover the atmosphere that was about to become awkward, the auntie unexpectedly fired off a question that left me dumbfounded.

And somehow, whether it was a misinterpretation of my reaction or not, a knowing smile began to spread across the auntie’s face.

I found myself unable to say anything, just awkwardly smiling.

“That’s not right. You should eat first.”

With that, the auntie headed back to the kitchen, saying she wanted to celebrate the fact that we had finally started dating and would prepare something special.

This left a peculiar silence hanging between Yoonseo and me.

“Um… should we eat?”

I broke the silence, as it was necessary to reply to the aroma of the steaming sweet and sour pork and black bean noodles placed before us.

“Sh-Should we?”

Fortunately, my breaking the silence seemed to help Yoonseo regain her composure to some extent.

Still, with an awkward expression stuck on her face, she nodded lightly and began to mix her portion of black bean noodles with her chopsticks but then hesitated as she caught my gaze.

“Why?”

As her gaze locked onto mine, she faltered, her face starting to flush again as she tried to avoid eye contact.

“Ah, you shouldn’t say things like that…”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I mean… about the auntie…”

Could she be talking about saying we were dating?

“Honestly, at this point, we’re dating, right? Aren’t we?”

“Well, yeah… that’s true but…”

What could she possibly want to say?

I found myself curious, but what I really needed to clarify was only one thing.

“So… did you dislike it?”

And I got the answer to my question almost immediately after asking.

“Not at all… I just… feel a bit… shy.”

Of course, she would say that, as despite her words, the corners of Yoonseo’s mouth were struggling to suppress a smile.

It was that kind of smile that makes you want to poke her cheek with a finger.

Thus, without me realizing, I began staring into her face, which caused another wave of embarrassment to wash over me.

“Ah, never mind. Just eat your black bean noodles!”

Yoonseo’s blunt voice cut through the moment.

Then she awkwardly focused on her noodles as if trying to pretend nothing had happened.

*

Is that why they say the most familiar taste is the scariest?

The flavor of the black bean noodles, which boasted a remarkable base combined with nostalgia as a cheat code, was truly moving.

The sweet and sour pork paired with them and the cream shrimp that the auntie specially prepared were nothing short of amazing.

“I’ll really enjoy this!”

“Oh, you really don’t have to…”

“Hey, you have to let me pay!”

And just like that, our meal and even the bill came to a neat conclusion as we were about to leave the shop.

“Um… ex-excuse me?!”

“Yes?”

“I-If it’s not too much trouble, could I get an autograph, please?!”

A voice calling us turned out to be the shop owner’s daughter, who seemed a bit frantic as she asked for an autograph.

Her voice was so urgent that it nearly cracked mid-sentence.

Not only that, but she was also holding an A4 paper and a marker, and seeing this, Yoonseo nodded eagerly.

She also readily accepted a request for a picture.

“Let’s take a picture together, Auntie.”

“Huh? Me too? Oh, come on! What are you saying about a picture…?”

“Don’t be shy, come take a picture with me, Mom.”

“That’s right. Even though she looks like this, she’s quite famous, so having a picture of her on the wall might get some recognition!”

“…Really? Huh… in that case, shall we take just one picture?”

With that, we snapped a picture together before finally leaving the shop, feeling exceptionally good.

Thanks to our hearty meal, I felt I could wander around for hours.

So, having come this far, it wouldn’t be too bad to visit some nostalgic spots from the past, but… Yoonseo’s preferences should come first.

After all, she spent days preparing the itinerary for our outing.

“There, where are we heading now?”

I turned to Yoonseo and asked.

However, her reaction seemed a bit strange.

She looked like she was lost in thought.

“Pictures…”

She muttered, causing me to feel slightly puzzled.

Pictures?

*

To be honest, the itinerary we had prepared for today wasn’t anything spectacular.

That’s because I thought it would be better to keep ordinary memories rather than special ones.

I wanted memories of a plain ordinary date like everyone else.

But, I didn’t want it to be too plain, so I chose the first place we visited as a particularly memorable spot.

Thus, from then on, I had planned for us to date fully like any ordinary couple, but…

“Pictures…”

That thought changed.

And it was all because of the photos we just took in the shop.

“Pictures? Why is there a sudden urge for pictures?”

“Let’s go take pictures of ourselves.”

“Out of nowhere?”

“I just had an urge to take some pictures.”

“Sure, I guess…”

Of course, I had plenty of pictures taken with Dogun.

After knowing each other for years, how could we not have at least one?

Just flipping through my album at home would reveal piles of pictures just from graduation or entrance ceremonies where we posed together.

However, those were just relics from the past; we hadn’t taken photos like that recently.

We hadn’t had the chance.

So, why not take at least one now?

And since we were going for a picture together… I wanted to do it properly instead of just opting for a sticker booth.

The only problem was Dogun’s opinion…

“It could be fun.”

Contrary to my worries that he might hesitate, Dogun surprisingly accepted my suggestion readily.

“But where should we take them? Do you know any studio or something?”

This sparked excitement in me, but…

‘Uh, a studio… did I know of any?’