“Haa……”
I left the crowded café and moved to a quiet park.
I hadn’t gone to the café to buy coffee, but to sit somewhere cool and rest.
‘Though I did go to use a gifticon, too.’
In any case, I hadn’t planned on drinking warm hazelnut coffee outdoors like this.
“It’s hot, so hot…”
The sun was blazing.
To think I was sitting on a park bench on a scorching day like this, drinking hot coffee.
I let out a short sigh and sipped at the coffee.
The sweet yet bitter taste of coffee traveled over my tongue and flowed down my throat.
The taste was perfect, but if there was one problem, it was that it was really way too hot.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Fight heat with heat, my ass.
That’s how people die.
Unable to bear the sunlight, I wandered around the park for a while before settling on a bench in the shade.
“This is a little better…”
It wasn’t particularly humid, so just being in the shade made it noticeably cooler.
Though my hand was warm because of the coffee.
A cool morning breeze, and a cup of warm coffee.
If you called it luxurious, I suppose it was a luxurious life.
At least, to the office worker looking at me from the window of the building across the street, it probably was.
Anyway.
“This is nice.”
I felt pleasantly languid.
Like sleep was gently creeping in.
So I decided to just close my eyes for a moment.
With my eyes closed, I could feel the wind blowing through and stirring my hair even more clearly.
My hair had grown out on its own, though I’d never intentionally let it grow.
It felt awkward, but the sensation of the wind sweeping past it wasn’t half bad.
As that flowing wind rustled the leaves, a soft sararak sound reached my ears.
‘Should I come out every morning?’
I liked this calm atmosphere enough that I thought I might want to come every day.
Maybe I’d found a place even better than the café.
A place where I didn’t have to care about other people’s stares, and where no one would confess to me.
I wouldn’t have anything to do in the mornings from now on anyway, so finding a place nearby and going for walks didn’t sound bad.
‘So this is what it means to live in a park area.’
As I was having those random thoughts, another cool breeze blew by.
Feeling that breeze, I pleasantly took another sip of coffee.
“Ah, hot!”
Since I drank with my eyes closed, I accidentally took a little more into my mouth than I’d intended.
Thankfully, I didn’t spill or dribble any, but my tongue was tingling.
I’d taken the lid off so it would cool faster, only for a disaster like this to happen.
Rubbing the roof of my mouth with my stinging tongue, I set the coffee down beside me.
I’d drink it once it cooled a little more.
With my hand free, I slipped my phone out of my pocket.
When I checked the time, it was roughly a little past ten.
“There’s still a long way until lunch.”
There were still more than two hours until lunch.
They’d said I might be able to pick up the car at three if it was late, too.
“……It’d be a bit much to just stay here all day like a real bum, right?”
There weren’t many people in the park right now, but at lunch, it would be full of office workers trying to enjoy a bit of leisure, just like me.
Rest is important for office workers.
And time when you can sit blankly without thinking about anything is even more important.
Anyway, while pondering my next destination, I tapped away on my phone.
The timing was awkward, so stopping by a real estate office felt a bit much.
But going grocery shopping without a car wasn’t ideal either.
“Mm……”
They say people who’ve spent money before know how to spend it well.
I’d never really spent it, so I wasn’t sure.
‘What do rich people usually do when they rest?’
This was exactly what the internet was for.
Wondering if there was anything I could do alone without feeling burdened, I searched diligently.
‘PC bang? What PC bang… I can’t go to a board game café alone. Shopping? Since I’m already out, should I try on and buy some other clothes too? But I can’t go right now.’
Nothing really appealed to me.
Even with plenty of money, since I didn’t know how to spend it, I kept thinking of and looking for the things I used to do.
“Haa……”
The saying that people who’ve spent money before spend it well came to mind again, and a long sigh slipped out.
Then, suddenly.
[Romantic Comedy – Wife Manipulation Squad Re-release]
That advertising phrase caught my eye.
A movie theater.
A perfect place where no one had to pay attention to me, and time would fly by.
“Why didn’t I think of that?”
I sipped down the coffee, which had cooled quickly with the lid open, then hurriedly headed to a nearby theater.
####
It had really been years since I’d last gone to the movies.
The last movie I’d seen was after graduating from university, so it really had been a long time.
Back then, unless it was a morning discount showing, I couldn’t even dream of watching one.
But now, I confidently bought a ticket with no discount whatsoever, then even bought a popcorn and cola set.
Popcorn in one hand.
Cola in the other.
I already felt reassured.
“Is she a celebrity?”
“I dunno, I’ve never seen her before.”
“Hey, did you just see that?”
As I sat on a lobby chair looking at my phone, I heard people chattering nearby.
I didn’t particularly think they were talking about me, so I just ate the popcorn I hadn’t had in ages and stared at my phone.
‘My mouth’s all scraped up, so eating popcorn hurts like hell.’
Because of the coffee, it stung a little every time the popcorn touched the roof of my mouth.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just ordered cola.
No, still, the movie was over two hours long. Wouldn’t it be a bit much to watch without popcorn?
I don’t know.
Maybe I just shouldn’t have gone to the café.
Conclusion: the coffee was at fault. Bang, bang, bang.
As I struggled to chew on the popcorn, someone suddenly approached my side.
“Excuse me…”
I looked over while chewing the popcorn.
And then, again.
‘Again?’
A man was holding out his phone to me while his friends snickered behind him.
“Could you add me on Insta…!”
I swallowed all the popcorn I’d been chewing and answered quietly.
“I don’t have an account……”
At my rejection, the man’s friends started laughing softly.
“Sorry, this guy doesn’t know his place…”
“Hey, did you really think you had a chance with that face?”
Saying all sorts of things, the group of guys disappeared in an instant.
I scratched my cheek lightly and watched them with an awkward feeling.
‘Do women normally get confessed to this often?’
I was a woman, but also not a woman, so I didn’t really know.
Of course, when I looked in the mirror, I was definitely pretty.
Even if Choi Minhu had seen Choi Yeonbi, he would’ve gone, wow… and stared for a long time, so it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand.
Still, it felt a little…
Strange.
It didn’t feel bad.
Just somehow, a little……
“Customers here to watch ‘Wife Manipulation Squad,’ please enter this way.”
I don’t know.
I should just watch the movie.
With a slightly excited heart and my arms full of popcorn, I entered the theater.
####
The movie I watched after so long was even more fun than I’d expected.
The movie “Wife Manipulation Squad,” which had been so popular it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the whole country had watched it.
Judging by the title alone, it sounded like some ridiculous makjang drama, but the story was fairly deep and profound, which was why it had been so popular.
On top of that, its genre was romantic comedy, so it was also incredibly funny.
Most of the jokes were old-fashioned, so some of them were a little cringe-worthy, but still.
It was all good.
But my current situation wasn’t good at all.
“Bathroom, the bathroom…”
Near the end of the movie, I’d suddenly needed to go to the bathroom, but I hadn’t wanted to leave in the middle, so I held it in. Now I felt like I was dying.
Considering I’d drunk coffee and then that much cola, it was only natural.
‘I should’ve drunk a little less……’
What’s past is past.
Regretting it wouldn’t make a bathroom pop out of nowhere.
So instead of wasting time regretting it, I moved my legs as quickly as I could.
‘It should be on the way out……’
I searched frantically, crossing my legs as much as possible to hold it in.
When I was a man, it had been bearable, but now I seriously couldn’t stand it.
After gritting my teeth and walking around desperately, a bathroom appeared.
“Ah, found it.”
I quickly moved my legs and went in.
I opened an empty stall, pulled down my easy-to-remove training pants, and sat down.
“Wow. Seriously……”
I thought I was going to be in big trouble.
So it’s harder for women to hold it in than men.
‘How would I know that when I’m not even a woman?’
Thinking it was unfair, I frowned for no reason.
“Hey, do you think that woman from earlier really doesn’t have an Insta account?”
“She probably just didn’t have an account she wanted to give you.”
At that, the men burst out laughing.
No, wait.
‘I came into the men’s restroom, didn’t I?’
I’d needed to go so badly that I’d come in unconsciously.
Still, as long as I didn’t get caught, it should be fine.
I knew it was a bad idea, but it was already too late, so what could I do?
For now, not getting caught was the best option.
“But seriously, the moment I saw her, I thought she was a celebrity. If she stands out that much even wearing training clothes so casually, well.”
“And that’s why you immediately went and confessed?”
“How is that a confession? I was saying I wanted to build a good relationship.”
“Ah, shit, I’m fucking dying, move.”
I heard someone enter the stall beside mine.
“That’s disgusting.”
“You never know. They say the one who dares wins the beauty.”
“You sound like an old fart. Then why did the guys next to us just stand there watching instead of confessing?”
“Other guys were watching too?”
“You didn’t know?”
‘Really?’
Before I knew it, I was listening intently to the conversation.
No, more importantly, I was getting that much attention?
For no reason, I felt my face grow hot.
The conversation continued even after that.
They stopped talking about me there, but they went on about the movie, their friends, going to karaoke today and then to a newly opened bar, and so on.
These guys really talk a lot.
I’d been sitting on the toilet for so long that my back was starting to hurt.
Then, suddenly, my phone started ringing.
“Ugh!”
Startled, I let out a small sound.
It felt like outside suddenly went quiet.
Was the sound too loud?
Did they realize a woman had come in?
“Hey, when are you coming out?”
“I’m done shitting. Wiping now.”
“Ah, you crazy bastard. I didn’t ask that much.”
Thank goodness. It seemed they didn’t really care.
When I looked at my phone, it was the dealer’s number.
I hurriedly ended the call and sent a message asking him to text me instead.
[Customer, I’m contacting you because your vehicle is ready. There will be an explanation of the vehicle and a few simple documents to handle, so I’d appreciate it if you could briefly let me know your arrival time.]
[I’ll be there by twenty past.]
[Confirmed.]
The car.
At last, I had my first car.