This World is too Cruel to Men

“Hmm…”

What is this?

How did things end up like this?

Even when I tried to stay quiet, questions kept popping up.

“Hey.”

“…Yeah?”

“Which one of these looks better?”

The question I just received was one of those.

Holding what looked like tints, one in each hand, she asked me that, and honestly, the only thought I had at that moment was:

‘Are they even different?’

To my eyes, the one in her left hand and the one in her right looked pretty much the same.

“Are they different?”

So, genuinely curious, I asked, and the reaction I got was as if I’d asked if a tiger and a lion were different animals.

“Of course, they’re different. Can’t you tell just by looking?”

“I can’t tell.”

“They have different names, for starters. This one is Lollipop Pink! And this one is Juicy Coral!”

“Juicy Coral or whatever, I came along to buy a scarf, and now I feel like ‘my’ heart is turning juicy, looking at tints.”

Perhaps she felt a prick of guilt.

Usually, a retort would have flown back at me, but instead, a liar stood before me, slightly turning her head to avoid my gaze.

“Ahem… I think I need to try them on to tell the difference. Um… Excuse me!”

“Yes?”

“Could I try these two on?”

“This isn’t a food court… I don’t think that’s…”

“Yes, one moment. I’ll bring you the testers.”

It worked.

And they didn’t even take long to prepare them.

“These two are popular these days, huh?”

“Yes. It’s winter, after all.”

“I guess…”

What does winter have to do with these Juicy-whatever, Coral things selling well?

Cosmetics are fine and all, but I wish they wouldn’t talk about things only they understand.

I can’t make heads or tails of what they’re saying.

“Here, your hand.”

“Why my hand?”

“Just give it to me!”

In situations like this, quick cooperation was the only way to escape this cosmetics-scented space as quickly as possible, so I grumbled inwardly but offered my hand.

“Now… watch closely…”

What am I supposed to be watching?

I tilted my head, entrusting my hand to Yun-Seo, when…

“Hey, hey…!”

Yun-Seo picked up the tint, or whatever it was, and drew a line right across my wrist.

“Hold still!”

She even did it with both of them.

I was dumbfounded, my wrist suddenly body-painted as if I were at a festival.

“Hey, am I your canvas?”

“No, but you said you couldn’t tell the difference? So, what do you think? Can you tell now?”

…Admittedly, unlike when they were in the bottles, now that they were applied like this, I could distinguish them.

But to burn your friend’s wrist just to choose a tint?

‘Sigh… I’ll let it slide since she bought me lunch…’

If it weren’t for that, I would have unleashed bloody vengeance on that shiny forehead.

Should I offer to send her money now and just do it?

Oblivious to the debate raging in my head, Yun-Seo was busy scrutinizing my wrist.

Then—

“…Hey.”

“What.”

“Imagine this.”

“What.”

“Like… um… you have a girlfriend.”

“And?”

“And… she’s about to kiss you.”

That’s an interesting hypothetical.

“Hmm… and?”

“What color would you imagine on her lips… Oh?”

“Out of these two?”

When I asked, Yun-Seo nodded, holding a tint in each hand.

“Hmm… Maybe this one?”

After some deliberation, I picked one, and she put it back and headed to the counter with the one I hadn’t chosen.

‘Wait…’

Didn’t she need my opinion? Why did she even ask me then?

While Dokgun was feeling slightly perplexed, Yun-Seo, who seemed to have headed straight for the counter, was actually checking his reaction through the mirrors placed around the store.

*****

‘Lollipop Pink…’

Right.

While she pretended to choose the other one in front of Dokgun, if she really intended to, why would she bother asking for his opinion, risking embarrassment?

Her rebellious act of picking the other one after he made his choice was purely out of shyness.

Besides, wouldn’t it be too obvious if she immediately ran to the counter with the one he picked?

While she honestly wished for Dokgun to understand her feelings someday, she didn’t want to be ‘caught’.

At least not intentionally.

‘Did I… give it away too much…?’

In that sense, her recent actions were risky, but… it would probably be fine.

After all, it was Dokgun.

He was usually incredibly perceptive, but when it came to things like this, he became a clueless idiot.

He probably wouldn’t think much of their recent exchange.

It was frustrating, yet also reassuring, that Dokgun was so oblivious. Was this what it felt like to be truly smitten?

Thinking to herself, she pretended to pay, holding out the tint she’d brought to the cashier.

“Would you like me to wrap this up for you?”

“No, um… not this one… Lollipop Pink, please.”

She whispered, making sure Dokgun couldn’t hear.

The cashier, initially puzzled, nodded knowingly.

Honestly… If only he had that level of perception.

Anyway, after switching the products without Dokgun’s knowledge, she returned to his side.

He was now, for some reason, carefully examining the cosmetics displayed on the stand.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, just… Since we’re here, I thought I’d get a gift for someone.”

A gift.

The moment that word left Dokgun’s lips, her heart skipped a beat, but the flutter didn’t last long.

Logically, there were only two people Dokgun would likely buy cosmetics for as a gift.

‘Me… No way.’

So, it was probably for his mother.

“A gift for your aunt?”

“Yeah.”

“Speaking of which, is she… coming back this time?”

She asked, genuinely curious, and he responded with a wry smile and a shrug.

“Well… She said she’d try her best to make it for graduation day…”

Perhaps it was because he’d been let down countless times by her promises to return.

He didn’t sound very confident, even though he was the one who said it.

Realizing her blunder, she stammered, “S-She’ll come this time, right?”

“…I hope so.”

Damn it, stupid girl.

Why dig deeper and ruin the perfectly good mood?

Now she wouldn’t be able to make excuses to spend more time alone with Dokgun.

It was frustrating to think that their time together was ending, especially since they were finally alone.

She sighed in frustration, but what could she do?

Even with her talent, she could rewind spilled water but not retrieve spoken words.

“…Shall we go look at scarves now…?”

“…Sure.”

As Yun-Seo gauged Dokgun’s seemingly dejected mood, Dokgun, contrary to his expression, was surprisingly unaffected.

His display of dejection was, of course, an act to escape the hell that was shopping.

‘No way!’

He was going to drag her to more stores.

Absolutely not.

“Let’s just look at this one and go” had worked a couple of times, but three times was more than generous.

It was time to fulfill the original purpose of their visit to the department store.

Of course, his dejected expression wasn’t entirely fake.

He was a little sad at the thought of possibly standing alone at his graduation ceremony with no family to congratulate him.

But so what?

It wasn’t like they were intentionally not coming; they were just busy with work.

He understood. They were working hard to support him.

Of course, his ability to think this way was thanks to his first life.

If he didn’t have those memories? He might have felt resentful, even though he knew it couldn’t be helped.

Well, anyway…

“Come on, pick something already.”

“Hey, stop rushing me! We just got here.”

Scarves are all the same; what’s there to choose…

For him, as long as the design wasn’t too outlandish, a scarf just needed to be soft and warm.

But Yun-Seo, at her sensitive and emotional age, seemed to have a lot to consider.

From cute scarves with popular emoticon characters to standard checkered ones, she picked up each one, felt the material, and held it up to her neck…

He took a step back to observe, when suddenly, an arrow flew his way.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh? What?”

“You said you were buying it for me.”

“I… did?”

“Then shouldn’t you help me pick one out? One that suits me?”

He wasn’t sure about that logic, but… he had to cooperate if he wanted to escape this shopping hell.

So he pretended to help her choose, when—

“…Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think… about this one?”

Among the many options, she seemed to like a red one with brown patterns, holding it up to her neck as she cautiously asked.

“Hmm… It’s nice.”

“Hey, don’t just give me half-hearted answers!”

“No, I mean it. It looks good on you.”

There’s a reason they say fashion is completed by the face.

If you have the looks, even the most ridiculous outfit can look good.

In that sense, it was a bit… harsh to say, but as long as she kept her mouth shut, Yun-Seo, with her cute face, looked good in pretty much anything.

“…Really?”

“Yes, really. So let’s go with this one. Let’s see… the price is just right, too.”

He said that, but honestly, it was a bit more expensive than he’d planned.

But it was a small price to pay for a ticket out of this shopping hell.

“So, this one…”

“This one? Okay. Wait here, I’ll go pay.”

And so, after gifting Yun-Seo the red scarf that looked vaguely familiar, he successfully escaped the department store, a place he considered hell.

Time passed, and the last day of his middle school life arrived.