This World is too Cruel to Men

Come to think of it, it’s quite strange.

Just the fact that shopping is planned after a meal can make my appetite disappear like this.

Take the egg sushi I’m eating right now, for example.

Until I heard Yun-Seo say she wanted to look around at a few places, I was completely satisfied with it—it was soft and fluffy, sweet, and the sauce drizzled on top was slightly salty.

Now, it felt like I was chewing on a sponge.

If I’d known it would turn out like this, I would have just bought something suitable as a gift and been done with it.

Picking something out was a bit of a hassle, and I was worried she wouldn’t like what I chose if I picked it out alone.

So, suggesting we go look together while we were out buying her uniform was a misstep.

“Aren’t you going to eat anymore? They’ll fine you if you leave food.”

“Ah, yeah… I’ll eat…”

One good thing amidst all this… Even though the wind is biting and it’s freezing, at least it’s not snowing.

If it ‘were’ snowing?

I would have seriously considered lying down on the ground and refusing to move.

Honestly, even now, I kind of wanted to.

‘Sigh…’

Both in the world I lived in during the first round and this world, why do girls love shopping so much?

I swallowed a sigh that almost escaped along with the sushi, when I heard giggling next to me.

‘Don’t tell me…’

She wouldn’t have made that suggestion knowing I’d hate it, would she?

Fortunately, she hadn’t grown ‘that’ malicious.

“Don’t look so glum. It won’t take as long as you think.”

Well, who raised her, after all?

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Unless… you don’t like… walking around with me?”

Anything else I could let slide, but this needed clarification, so I put on a serious face and said, “It’s not that. I just hate shopping in general.”

“Tsk… And yet, you’d be excited to go look at computer parts.”

“That’s different.”

“To me, they’re both the same.”

When I heard that, I was honestly appalled.

Both the same?

A computer is practically a life partner.

How could she call the act of choosing components for such a partner “shopping”? Such blasphemy!

“So, you were looking at ‘that’ kind of stuff on your precious computer?”

“Hey! Anyone would think I spend all day looking at that kind of thing!”

“Weren’t you?”

Seeing her tilting her head with a fake innocent expression made me want to flick her forehead so hard my hand trembled.

However, I didn’t actually do it because, well, what’s the point of hitting a kid?

It definitely wasn’t because I was afraid of the bloody, I mean, watery revenge that would follow.

“…I just looked at it once out of curiosity. Geez.”

Of course, I knew.

That what I just said was a truly lame excuse.

Isn’t there a saying?

‘There might be someone who hasn’t seen it, but…’

There’s no such thing as someone who’s ‘only’ seen it ‘once’.

But if I kept my mouth shut, I’d be branded a perv, and I couldn’t let that happen.

So, even though I risked being laughed at, I said it anyway—

“…Really?”

“Uh, yeah?”

Her reaction was a bit strange.

Did she actually believe me?

Even if she did, why were her eyes sparkling like that?

And why was she leaning towards me?

“…You believe that?”

I teased her because of that strange feeling.

“I think we’re done eating, so let’s get some ice cream.”

She then abruptly stood up. I heard a ‘tsk’ from behind me.

Hearing that, I felt strangely relieved.

I wasn’t sure what I was relieved about, but I was.

“For two, let’s see… that’s 36,000 won. And, payment will be…”

“I’ll use this, please.”

“Okay! Card received!”

So, even with that slightly strange moment, we somehow finished our meal without incident.

Stepping outside, I couldn’t tell if I was in the Republic of Korea or Mother Russia.

The wind was so biting… I usually dress warmly, so I could manage, but the person next to me seemed to be having a harder time.

It hadn’t even been five minutes since we came out, but her nose and cheeks were already bright red.

If The Little Match Girl saw her, she might have thrown her matches at us, accusing us of encroaching on her territory.

“…Are you cold?”

“Huh? No?”

If she was going to say no, she should at least do something about her sniffling nose.

Who would believe her when she said that while sniffling?

‘Sigh…’

I sighed inwardly, took off my padded jacket, and put the hood over Yun-Seo’s head.

While Yun-Seo, suddenly buried in my jacket, fumbled in surprise, I zipped the jacket all the way up to her neck—

‘Whoa… it works?’

I wasn’t sure if it was because I was so big or because she was so small, but surprisingly, it worked.

Of course, Yun-Seo, now trapped in the jacket like a straitjacket, was making muffled noises.

How long did that last?

After a while of wriggling inside as if she were about to burst out, Yun-Seo’s face popped out from the top of the jacket.

“Pfft…! What are you doing!?”

It must have been pretty warm inside.

Her face, now a different shade of red from the cold, confirmed it.

“Well, you looked cold…”

“Then you should have said something!”

It’s a bit awkward to say this while she’s getting angry, but… seeing her all bundled up in a jacket much too big for her, flailing her arms and getting angry, was more cute than scary.

Her hair sticking out in all directions made it even cuter.

“Ugh… My hair’s all messed up… How embarrassing…”

She usually refuses to wear a padded jacket, complaining that it’s too heavy, but now, with this biting wind, she must have realized how precious its warmth was.

Despite her grumbling, she didn’t seem to want to take it off.

“Um… While you’re fixing your hair, I’m about to freeze to death here.”

“Hmph…! Who told you to take it off?”

“Wow…”

Is this what they call returning kindness with spite?

“Oh, it’s warm. Nice.”

“I’m never taking it off for you again.”

“I never asked you to in the first place, old man.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Old lady.”

This wouldn’t do.

I hadn’t noticed while wearing the jacket, but now that I’d taken it off, the wind was brutal.

I wasn’t kidding; it felt like the cold was seeping into my bones.

If I stayed out here any longer, I’d freeze to death.

So…

“We’re going to the department store, right?”

I said that and quickened my pace towards it, but there was no answer.

I looked back to see what was going on, and she was spacing out, slightly huddled against the cold.

“Hey, Oh Yun-Seo!”

“Huh?!”

“I asked if we’re going to the department store.”

“Oh, yeah…”

She’s spacing out from the cold, and yet she wants to go shopping…

Anyway, since she answered, it seemed like she’d come to her senses, so I put everything else aside and dashed towards the warmth of indoors.

***

‘Is he really that cold?’

Watching Dokgun’s retreating back, shivering as he dashed towards the department store, rubbing his exposed forearms through his thin sweater, made my heart pound.

It wasn’t just because Dokgun had given me his jacket.

It was also partly due to the anxiety that he might have noticed what I was doing just moments ago.

‘He didn’t see, did he…?’

I mean… did Dokgun see me burying my face in the jacket he’d given me and… sniffing it?

I kept worrying, but he probably didn’t see.

Knowing Dokgun, he would have been disgusted if he had.

‘Sigh…’

I had called Dokgun a pervert earlier at the buffet, but… the real pervert might be me.

Why am I getting so flustered over a jacket?

That’s what a pervert would do, right?

But… I had something to say for myself.

The jacket Dokgun gave me was that powerful.

Isn’t it the same as when he wrapped his scarf around me last time?

At first, I thought so, but it turned out to be completely different.

The difference in area was huge.

Back then, I only felt it… where the scarf touched me.

But now, being practically buried from head to knee in the jacket Dokgun was just wearing felt like… being hugged tightly.

The scent that naturally filled my nose with each breath, the lingering warmth inside the jacket, made it feel that way.

So… it felt strange.

How could I describe this feeling?

It was good, but also not good.

Seeing Dokgun shivering in the cold in front of me made it worse.

If he was going to be this cold, he shouldn’t have taken it off.

Even if Dokgun was more mature than other kids his age, he was still the same age as me.

Did he see me as a seven-year-old kid he needed to take care of?

The thought made me pout.

In the short time I’d looked away, Dokgun had run all the way to the department store entrance and was calling me.

He wasn’t even trying to be discreet. Waving his hands, he called out to me.

“Hey! Wait up!”

Feeling the precious warmth and the strange wonderful moment fade, I ran towards him.