Chapter 28
Shopping.
It's a magic word.
Women love it to death,
while men shudder the moment they hear it.
More precisely, they said it was a word that meant hell for men with girlfriends.
Honestly, I wouldn't know.
Back when I worked at the factory, I only heard it from the married men and the guys with girlfriends who worked with me.
Every time they drank vending-machine coffee, they told me horror stories.
-I mean, I went in when the sun was definitely up, but by the time I came out, it had already set.
-Min-cheol, if a woman comes out after changing clothes, you're screwed if you just say she looks pretty. Compliment her in detail, no matter what. That's your only way to survive.
-The moment you start whining that your legs hurt, not only is the date over, the entire rest of the day is ruined. Remember that.
They never held back with advice, telling me to remember it when I got a girlfriend.
I hadn't gotten one yet, so I couldn't put their advice into practice myself.
So, honestly, I ignored about half of it.
What could possibly be so difficult about going shopping together?
Weren't they just being dramatic?
The kind of dramatic whining guys with girlfriends do just to humblebrag.
With that thought in mind, I let their words go in one ear and out the other.
And now.
“How is it?”
I was learning firsthand why their advice had been so desperate.
A women's clothing store in a gigantic late-night department store in downtown Taepyeong City.
I hadn't even known late-night department stores existed.
In Taepyeong City, where nocturnal beings coexisted, I heard there were dedicated spaces for them.
They even had separate centers just for those who only went out at night.
I'd only heard about them, so this was my first time actually coming here.
Looking around, I saw the place was packed with nocturnal beastkin and undead.
An owl beastkin family pushing a stroller passed by, while a pale-skinned jiangshi couple peered into the luxury-goods section—a bizarre sight.
Nocturnal beings rarely seen during the day filled the department store.
Now that I'd come here, I understood why Taepyeong City never turned off its lights, twenty-four hours a day.
But the most eye-catching one of all was Ms. Lumina.
Not only was she confidently walking around the women's clothing store in a full-face helmet,
“Min-cheol, hurry and look. How is it?”
She was alternating between showing me two outfits right in the middle of the women's clothing store.
In her right hand was a hip-looking black crop top, and in her left was an oversized shirt with a slightly low neckline.
Honestly, I had no idea.
I couldn't tell what either the crop top or the oversized shirt would look like until she tried them on.
A cardigan instead of the leather jacket over this would look really good on you.”
Beside her, an arachne sales clerk recommended a few more outfits to Lumina.
She was busily rattling off suggestions, one for each of the eight legs, recommending clothes that would be good for layering.
But Ms. Lumina's gaze was fixed solely on me.
“I think I'd have to see them on you to know.”
“Really? Then shall I try them on?”
“The fitting rooms are this way.”
The arachne employee led Ms. Lumina to the fitting room.
Only after she had gone inside
“Phew.”
was I able to sit down on the small sofa provided in the store.
This was already the seventh store.
Ms. Lumina had dragged me around to several stores because she needed a man's perspective.
She mostly picked clothes that suited her taste, and every time she chose something,
she always asked me
how the style looked.
whether the outfit looked all right from a man's perspective.
Honestly,
“They all look fine……”
Her figure was so good that almost anything looked great on her.
Of course, flowy dresses and the like looked bulky because of her large breasts,
but everything else fit her better than I'd expected.
They say a slender figure is usually what makes clothes look good.
Ms. Lumina's breasts were astonishingly large, but her arms and waist were just as astonishingly slender.
It hardly seemed possible for someone to have a figure like that, but sometimes people are simply born with everything.
So, honestly, I wanted to tell her everything looked pretty,
but the factory veterans' advice kept echoing in my head, so I racked my brain and showered her with compliments.
And as a result,
“I'm exhausted……”
I was really tired.
Now I understood why everyone said it was so exhausting.
Shopping itself was tiring, but having to come up with words for compliments was truly draining.
I had been resting like that for a while when
“Ta-da~.”
Ms. Lumina came out and struck a pose, wearing a black crop top that exposed her shoulders and waist, with a white sheer cardigan over it.
The blue jeans, deliberately ripped slightly around the thighs, added a funky touch.
“How is it?”
How was it?
She looked truly beautiful.
Her figure was unbelievably beautiful.
If not for that helmet, her appeal would probably have stood out several times more.
Then again, maybe the helmet made her unique charm stand out even more.
“Hmm, for one thing, the color combination is nice. The contrast between black and white……”
As I recited a compliment from the list I'd painstakingly put together, Ms. Lumina came pattering over and covered my mouth.
“Not that kind of compliment. Tell me how you feel the moment you see me.”
“Huh?”
“It's obvious you're racking your brain trying to praise whatever I'm wearing. I didn't ask you to look at clothes with me so I could hear compliments like that.”
“……”
“Just tell me whether you think it looks pretty or not. That's enough.”
At that, I cast aside all the complicated vocabulary I'd been coming up with for compliments.
“It's pretty.”
“What place is it among the outfits you've tried on so far?”
“First.”
Honestly, this outfit was the most to my taste.
Maybe it was because its image was the exact opposite of the biker jacket Lumina had shown me.
It was the outfit that brought out her charm the most.
“Really?”
She tilted her head at my answer for a moment, then
“I'll take this one.”
immediately held out her card to the employee.
“Aren't you going to look around some more? We've already visited several stores.”
“I don't think there's any need to look around anymore.”
After completing the payment, Lumina took back her card and smiled at me.
I could see nothing but her helmet, but the blue flames burning inside showed how delighted she was.
“You said this one was number one.”
I realized
why the men with girlfriends and the married men followed their girlfriends shopping even while groaning about how much they hated it.
It was so they could see their girlfriends make a face this happy.
‘I'm jealous of the normies.’
Wasn't this what they got to do every day?
After paying, Lumina changed back into the rider jacket she had originally been wearing and came out of the fitting room.
With a pretty paper shopping bag containing her new clothes hanging from her arm, her steps looked remarkably light.
“All right, now for the real final stop on today's shopping trip.”
“There's still more? You bought all the clothes you wanted.”
“I ordered a helmet, remember? We have to go pick it up.”
“A helmet?”
“Come on. Hurry.”
Lumina tapped me lightly on the back and led the way.
We left the late-night department store and headed down an alley on Lumina's bike.
An alley where the neon signs shone especially brightly.
An alley with a harsh smell that tickled my nose, layers of gasoline and leather scents hanging in the air.
“This is……”
“This is the holy ground of Taepyeong City's riders. You could say it's where all the motorcycle specialty shops are clustered. It's like my spiritual hometown.”
The moment we arrived in an alley where it felt as though we ought to start singing rock over an electric guitar, Lumina entered the shop at the very back.
“Oh, Lumina. You got here sooner than I expected.”
Guarding the shop was an orc wearing a steel prosthetic arm on one side.
“Wangpali, is the helmet I ordered last time ready?”
At her words, the orc owner laughed, pulled a sleekly designed helmet from beneath the display case, and set it on the counter.
It was a pitch-black matte full-face helmet similar to the one Lumina was wearing.
“Lumina, just like you asked, I loaded it up with as much protective magic as possible. But do you really need this much protection? You don't need anything like that.”
“It's not for me.”
After checking the helmet over once, Lumina tossed it to me.
“Try it on.”
“Is this mine?”
“Yeah, it's yours. It's a specially ordered helmet. Just by wearing it, you should be able to shrug off magic up to the fourth tier. Well, it's not like a convenience-store part-timer will ever be subjected to anything like that, but it can't hurt to have it.”
“……”
“Take it. It's a gift.”
The helmet had a glossy sheen.
It was obviously expensive at a glance.
I hadn't done anything to deserve receiving such a big gift.
Still, refusing a gift someone was giving me would look strange,
“Thank you.”
so I accepted the gift she offered.
“You'll keep going on drives with me from now on, right?”
“Of course. Call me anytime.”
“But you don't look very happy. Did you like wearing the helmet I used to wear better?”
Lumina felt around her own helmet, then took a step back.
“Pervert.”
“No, that's not it……. I just don't think I've done anything to deserve a gift.”
“Why overthink it? I'm giving it to you because I like it.”
“Thank you. I'll put it to good use.”
Once I had accepted the helmet,
“Heh heh, this is the first time I've ever seen Lumina give someone a gift.”
“Wangpali, don't say unnecessary things.”
“Hahaha! Sorry. It's just the first time I've ever seen it.”
The owner continued with a hearty laugh.
“Oh, right. There's an accessory that's popular among riders lately. Would you like to try it on?”
“An accessory?”
The owner casually pulled something out from beneath the display and placed it on the counter.
It was a black cat-ear accessory that could be attached to and removed from a helmet with magnets.
“What? Cat ears? I'm not some little kid. Why would I ride around with something like this?”
Lumina snorted with a grumble.
Though she snorted and called it childish, her eyes strangely refused to leave the accessory.
“Try them on.”
“Huh?”
“I think they'd suit you, Ms. Lumina.”
I picked up the cat-ear accessory and placed it on top of her helmet.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Try them on.”
Clack!
“Oh.”
Two ears stood perked up on the pitch-black full-face helmet.
It was the exact opposite of Lumina's usual cool look in her tough rider jacket.
I had felt a contrasting charm when she'd worn the sheer cardigan and crop top earlier, but this was far more striking.
“Wow……. This is quite…….”
While the orc owner rubbed his chin and let out an admiring exclamation as if surprised,
“W-why? What's with your reactions…….”
Lumina stammered unusually and flinched as she began feeling around on top of her head.
“M-Min-cheol, say something. Is it that weird……?”
Her voice seemed to shrink strangely.
Even the blue flames flickering inside her helmet were trembling faintly.
“They're really cute.”
“Huh, wh-what?”
“Honestly, putting cat ears on top of your helmet is much more striking than changing clothes.”
“D-don't tease me like that! There's no way something like this could suit me…….”
The flames inside her helmet flared and grew.
She hurriedly tried to remove the cat ears.
But perhaps she couldn't locate them accurately; she groped around on top of her head, searching for the ears.
She didn't seem to realize that the adorably clumsy side she showed then made her even cuter.
“N-no! Forget it!”
She hurriedly tore off the cat ears and flung them onto the counter.
“P-put these away. I don't think the latest trend suits me.”
Trying not to laugh at her unusually flustered fumbling and throat-clearing, I picked up the cat-ear accessory.
“I'll pay for these.”
“Huh? Why are you, Min-cheol?”
“It feels a little wrong for me to do nothing but receive things from you.”
“…You're teasing me, aren't you?”
“I'm telling you, I'm giving them to you because they really suit you.”
It wasn't at all because I'd been put through the wringer following her around shopping all day.
Nor was it because Lumina's reactions were subtly fun to tease.
I bought them simply because they really suited her.
“Try wearing them sometime.”
“…No.”
Though she said she didn't want them, her hand accepted the cat-ear accessory I'd given her.
“But I can't refuse when I think of the giver's feelings, so I'll accept them. That's all…….”
The way she squeezed out every word, embarrassed, was a little cute.
It was nice to see Lumina, who usually acted like an older sister, flustered.
“Why don't you two take this lovers' quarrel outside?”
the orc owner said with a click of his tongue.
“Who said this was a lovers' quarrel?! It's not like that.”
After buying their respective gifts, we left the shop.
“That's all for today's itinerary. I'll take you home.”
And we returned to my house on her bike.
When I got off the bike,
“Oh, and Min-cheol.”
“Yes?”
“Give me your phone.”
“My phone?”
“We need to exchange numbers. We should be able to contact each other, even if it's for delivery work. And we can't have another incident like that Phantom Flower thief this time.”
“Ah.”
I handed her my smartphone.
After adding her contact, Lumina handed my phone back to me.
A second number was now saved in my contacts.
“Call me if you run into trouble. I'll come as quickly as I can.”
“Understood. I'll put the gift to good use.”
I said, lightly tapping the helmet.
“Yeah. Then I'm off.”
And so the date came to an end.
***
Kim Min-cheol went inside his house,
while Lumina, still sitting on her bike, stared intently at the bike's rearview mirror.
Then she placed the cat-ear accessory Kim Min-cheol had given her on top of her head.
-They're really cute.
-This is much cuter than changing clothes.
Kim Min-cheol's words kept echoing in her ears.
She felt her face grow hot.
Even though she didn't have a face.
In the mirror, she could see the flames flickering and bobbing inside her helmet.
Are you really this happy over hearing a single compliment?
…I'm crazy.
She hurriedly removed the accessory from atop her head.
What was she doing?
It was ridiculous to react like this just because she'd received a single compliment.
Hadn't she heard countless compliments while changing clothes throughout the shopping trip with him?
-It's pretty.
-It suits you.
-Ms. Lumina, this one is really pretty.
-I'm serious.
Why was she happier over
-They're really cute.
a compliment about simply putting an accessory on her helmet
“Th-this is……”
She didn't know why.
Was it because Kim Min-cheol was the first person to treat her without prejudice, even knowing she was a dullahan?
“No. It's not because of that……”
It was because his reaction to her putting an accessory on her helmet was unusual—he liked it more than seeing her after she changed clothes.
There was nothing wrong with her.
It was all because Kim Min-cheol's reaction was unusual.
No, it had to be.
It had to be that way so that she could…….
“Ugh, no. I'm not a pervert.”
She wasn't the kind of dullahan who got excited about wearing cat ears on her head.
She started the bike.
Vroom!
She twisted the throttle all the way and hurriedly left.