“Haam…”
Once again, I woke up late in the morning today.
But… does oversleeping even exist for someone like me, with no schedule at all?
Since I woke up at eleven, it was certainly late compared to other people.
I sat up and stared blankly ahead.
Memories of last night surfaced in my mind.
Thinking about it again made my face burn so much I wanted to kick off my blanket in my sleep.
‘This really isn’t a dream?’
To find some sense of reality, I picked up my phone.
As soon as the screen lit up, I saw a notification that had already arrived an hour ago.
[Seohee: Yeonseo, are you up? You must’ve been out in the cold wind a lot yesterday. Your throat doesn’t hurt or anything, right? My shift at Small Coffee ends at 3. If you’re free, do you want to meet then?]
It looked like she had sent it right before her shift started.
Seeing my kind unni’s way of speaking finally made what happened yesterday feel real.
With a faint smile, I typed out a reply.
[Me: Yes, I’d like that. I’ll come by around the time you finish.]
The moment I pressed send, an inexplicably ticklish feeling wrapped around my whole body.
I stretched widely and stepped out of bed.
The instant I got up while stretching, my head rang terribly.
At the same time, my body felt heavy.
‘No way… did I catch a cold?’
Feeling uneasy, I swallowed dryly.
Sure enough, my throat stung as if a thorn were caught in it.
Even on normal days, I hated nothing more than having a swollen throat, and this time, I was properly screwed.
Since I’d stood out in that freezing dawn air for over two hours last night, maybe it was only natural.
Fortunately, though, the pain wasn’t that severe.
I felt relieved that it wasn’t bad enough to stop me from meeting unni.
Maybe this was a small price I had to pay in order to clear up the misunderstanding with her and set my ruined daily life back in place.
“Ugh, but I still hate having a sore throat…”
Dragging my aching body along, I roughly put together a meal and sat down at my computer desk.
While shoveling food into my mouth, I watched Nutube Shorts for the first time in a while.
[Everyone, my mom said I have to quit my channel if I don’t hit 1 million subscribersㅠㅠ]
“What is this…”
Without hesitation, I scrolled past the contextless sympathy-baiting.
[An opponent who crossed the line? Commencing top-lane etiquette training.]
Scroll.
[CaBaKu, the huge trend right now. Do you still not know this delicious treat?]
At those words, my finger stopped.
The strange sense of alienation that I was the only one who didn’t know about something supposedly so trendy subtly provoked me.
Out of curiosity, I tapped it into the search bar, and countless related searches popped up.
Social media was already plastered with photos of this cookie.
“Wait, the name is Canada Crispy Cookie…?”
When I saw the price on the screen, my spoon stopped without me realizing it.
The name was weird enough, but the price was even more absurd.
“What kind of cookie costs about as much as a meal…”
I was bewildered, but strangely, my eyes kept being drawn to it.
For some reason, the thought crossed my mind that Seohee unni might like it.
When I imagined the bright smile that would bloom on her face if I handed this to her after she’d been working all day and needed sugar, the corners of my mouth twitched on their own.
“Yeah, who cares about efficiency? Trendy things are good.”
Even if it was far from a rational purchase, when I thought of unni, who must have suffered emotionally all week because of me, this much spending was nothing.
After I finished eating and spent time watching Nutube, two hours had passed before I knew it.
I got ready and went outside.
To get my hands on CaBaKu, I decided to start by attacking the convenience stores near my house.
Social media had definitely been in an uproar saying you could buy it at convenience stores too, but when I actually searched every inch of the shelves, I couldn’t see it anywhere.
“Excuse me, do you happen to have CaBaKu?”
Before I even finished speaking, the part-timer at the register answered in a mechanical voice.
“Ah, sorry. Those sold out as soon as they came in.”
Of course. There was no way a trendy dessert would quietly wait for me.
Thinking that I couldn’t expect to be full on the first spoonful, I walked another ten minutes to the convenience store in the shopping area of a nearby apartment complex, but the result was the same.
As I kept wandering around in the cold weather, my throat swelled even more and my head throbbed.
Just as I was wondering whether I should give up like this, one person suddenly came to mind.
‘Gaeul might know.’
An insider who knew every single trend. If I got a tip from Gaeul, I felt like I might be able to succeed in this difficult journey.
I immediately took out my phone and sent a message.
[Me: Gaeul, do you know CaBaKu by any chance?]
[Gaeul: Of course! But why?]
Maybe she had no plans, because her reply came quickly.
[Me: Ah… I was looking around because I wanted to try it once, but I can’t find it anywhere…]
[Gaeul: I searched this whole neighborhood last time, but there just weren’t any. Unless you take the subway and go somewhere else, it’ll be hard, wouldn’t it?]
[Me: Mm… got it.]
[Gaeul: If you want to buy it that badly, want to go get it with me?]
[Me: If I can’t buy it now, there’s no point, so sorry.]
[Gaeul: I don’t know what this is about, but I guess it can’t be helped. Contact me when you have time!]
[Me: Yeah.]
Even Gaeul couldn’t get it? This cookie was not a dessert to be underestimated.
“Wait, already?”
When I checked the time, the appointed hour was already right around the corner.
The cookie surprise plan I had prepared with anticipation shattered to pieces before the cold wave of sold-out chaos.
With heavy, trudging steps, I headed toward the café where unni worked.
Fortunately, when I arrived, the timing was perfect.
Just as I was hesitating over whether to go inside, the café door opened with the tinkling sound of a bell.
And I saw Seohee unni in a bustier dress.
“Yeonseo, did you wait long?”
The moment she spotted me, unni approached with a bright smile.
“No, I just got here.”
“That’s a relief. Since you weren’t waiting outside like yesterday.”
“…Hmph, don’t tease me.”
“Okay, I’m sorry.”
Unni let out a pleasant laugh and walked over to my side.
Naturally matching our steps, we began strolling down the afternoon street where the sunlight poured down.
Suddenly, I wondered if she had any special plans today.
“Unni, where did you call me out to go today?”
At my question, unni tucked her hair behind her ear as if a little embarrassed and answered.
“Actually… I just wanted to see your face, so I called you out. I wasn’t trying to do anything in particular, so I’m sorry.”
At that honest confession, I shook my head and met her gaze.
“It’s okay. I wanted to see you today too, unni.”
At my words, unni’s cheeks flushed red.
“Did something happen today?”
Only for a moment, Seohee unni quietly studied my face and asked.
“No, nothing in particular happened.”
“Really? You look kind of disappointed. Or is there something you’re sad about?”
At unni’s sharp observation, I eventually confessed the truth.
“…Actually, when I met you today, I wanted to give you a dessert as a present, so I searched every convenience store in the neighborhood, but I couldn’t get it…”
“By any chance, is it that CaBaKu everyone’s been making a fuss about lately?”
When I nodded at unni’s question, she let out the laugh she had been holding back with a “pfft.”
“Oh dear, how do I say this when I feel bad… I got one from the part-timer I worked with today.”
“Ah…”
I had wanted to see unni’s happy face when I bought it for her myself, so hearing that it was already in her hands made a hollow sigh escape me.
I was so disappointed that my shoulders drooped.
Watching me, unni whispered gently.
“You went around like that to buy it for me? Thank you so much.”
“But… I wanted to buy it for you myself.”
“It’s okay. Instead, let’s share this.”
Unni took a small box containing CaBaKu out of her pocket and waved it in front of my eyes.
“I was worried it would be too sweet to eat alone, so this worked out perfectly. Right?”
“…It did.”
I gave a small laugh and watched as unni opened the box.
Soon, a thick, round cookie revealed itself inside.
It looked quite hard even at a glance, so it didn’t seem like it would be easy to break cleanly by hand.
Unni picked up the cookie and held it out toward me.
“Here, you eat half first.”
“Then… thank you for the food.”
I carefully took a big bite of the cookie unni was holding.
A rich butter aroma spread through my mouth along with an intense sweetness.
It certainly had a luxurious taste, as if no ingredients had been spared.
Unni popped the remaining half into her mouth as well, chewed, and made a subtle expression.
It wasn’t that it tasted bad, but considering the amount, the price was excessively evil.
“Yeonseo, this is too…”
“Expensive. I think it’d feel like a waste of money to buy it twice.”
“Honestly, I don’t know why this is such a trend. Right?”
“I know.”
We looked at each other’s faces and burst into laughter at the same time.
Compared to its fame and price, the taste might have been absurdly underwhelming, but this experience of sharing a single cookie would surely remain a precious memory for us.