Chapter 691 – Maybe, First Date (1)

The morning after, Hye-eun and I went through Spartan-style combat training in an A+ grade dungeon throughout the afternoon shift.

She somehow managed to get out of bed, her muscles still throbbing a little from yesterday.

Fortunately, like last time, I didn’t have to make it to the scheduled time and oversleep. If that were the case, I really wouldn’t have had the honor of seeing Hye-eun.

Just in case, she also asked Eunbyeol to wake her up on time.

Perhaps because I thought of her in my head for a moment, Eunbyeol, who had just come up to my room, knocked on her door outside her room.

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Sir, it’s time to wake up. “Are you awake?”

“Yes, Eunbyeol. Woke up.”

“All right. “I heard you have plans other than work today, so what would you like for breakfast today?”

“I think I’ll go out and eat, so there’s no need to prepare my own food today.”

“Has confirmed.”

As soon as I finished my short conversation with Eunbyeol, I got out of bed and immediately took out the clothes I had put away before going to sleep the previous night from my subspace pocket and put them on.

Still, it was a long-awaited date, but I couldn’t just wear a white t-shirt and jeans like I usually do. That’s not polite to Hye-eun either.

It was a casual style with beige cotton pants and a slightly light jacket.

It wasn’t an outfit I had put any special thought into, so I took out a set from the outfit Sihee bought me the other day and wore it. If Sihee had sense, at least she wouldn’t be told that she couldn’t wear clothes.

“It seems like it’s been a really long time since I’ve had a date outside.”

If I were to be honest, the date I had in the dungeon yesterday could almost be considered an outside date.

It wasn’t until Hye-eun got into her serious mode that she really taught me her shield techniques and that she was really intense.

It almost occurred to me that Hye-eun was deliberately giving me her muscle pain to make me late again today.

Because I had inadvertently mentioned that I would do whatever he wanted if he was late again.

Of course, he couldn’t have treated me with such vicious thoughts, but it could have been closer to something he did purely in hopes of my growth.

“Anyway, I guess Hye-eun is fine.”

In reality, Hye-eun was probably busier than me. Just looking at her hunting success, she caught almost twice as many monsters as I did.

However, in my case, there was a difference in that the muscle pain was a bit severe because I was moving muscles that were not used while holding a shield.

There was a high possibility that Hye-eun, who always entered dungeons carrying a shield, was relatively fine. She had a really strong body since she was young.

Rather, that may be why I never anticipated the possibility that she would be throbbing with muscle pain the next day.

Of course, no matter how hard it was for her to move due to muscle pain, that didn’t mean she could be late for her date with her girlfriend today.

‘You can’t make the same mistake twice.’

Because he had already cheated on Hye-eun once before.

After dressing her up for a date, thinking that this should never happen.

As soon as she left her house, she walked straight to VGC, the meeting place with Hye-eun.

After becoming her lover, she has a strange sense of anticipation about meeting her, which is practically her first date.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Even though she left 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled time, as soon as she arrived at the scene, she saw Hye-eun who was waiting for me.

The pretty light blue dress flowing from top to bottom emphasizes her innocent feeling, while the white cashmere jacket lightly worn over the top gives her a strangely cozy look.

Seeing Hye-eun in casual clothes for the first time in quite a while made my heart pound again without my knowledge.

“Ah, Taekyung! Here~!”

“Yes, I can see it well.”

As soon as my eyes met, Hye-eun waved her hand with a bright smile.

Responding to that bright smile that seemed to convey her emotions, I also waved her hand and walked a little faster towards where Hye-eun was.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve only seen Hye-eun in hunter clothes lately.’

The last everyday clothes I saw were probably the pajamas I wore when I went to sleep at my house.

The last time I went on a date, I wore clothes that had that feeling, but ultimately that day’s date ended up being a visit to my body for a cold.

Even if the clothes were the same, the feeling was clearly different when seen at home and when seen outside.

I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t control my heart trembling inside her and I cautiously approached Hye-eun, who was waiting for me in front of the VGC building.

First of all, I started by complimenting the date outfit that my girlfriend took care to wear.

“… “You’re early, Hye-eun.”

“Yes… I woke up a little early…”

“The clothes are pretty. Hye-eun suits you amazingly because it feels so light and pure.”

“Thank you… Tae, Taekyung, you look even cooler today… Oh, no, of course he’s always cool, but…”

“Are you okay. Because it’s true that you’re cooler today. “Because it was a date, I deliberately paid extra attention.”

In fact, I might have been more disappointed if I hadn’t recognized him. Even though my clothes were different from usual, I thought it would be a little disappointing if Hye-eun looked the same.

Of course, that may be a good thing in its own way, but… Still, it would have been better to recognize the parts I was concerned about.

“Is there anywhere you want to go today?”

“… Huh? “Didn’t you ask us to meet here to watch a movie?”

“That’s true, but if Hye-eun wants to go somewhere else, she can change as much as she wants.”

“… But first, let’s watch a movie together.”

“Since you say that, do you think there’s a movie you’ve decided to watch?”

“Bird, do you want to see memories of dawn? “That looks pretty fun.”

“… Yes, just hearing the name makes me look forward to it.”

The title, which gave off the feeling that it was a romantic movie just from her name, made me quietly nod my head and walk with her into the movie theater.

This was the moment when I vaguely figured out what kind of date she wanted with me today.

… It wasn’t until some time later that I realized that the movie was quite different from what I thought.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

10th floor of VGC building. Inside the slightly dark theater number 3.

On a weekday morning, we happened to have a date during a quiet time, so we walked together to our seats a little behind the theater.

Couple seats without armrests between the two people were usually located at the back of the theater.

“Hye-eun, this way. “This is Row J.”

“Oh, yes!”

The sight of Hye-eun slowly following behind me, holding a large basket of popcorn in her hand.

She often checked to see if he was following behind her, and quietly sat down in the inner seat of the couple’s seat where the movie screen was best viewed.

‘Come to think of it, the last time I came here with Han Min-ah, we sat in the couple’s seat.’

When I gave her a choice to choose which movie she wanted to see, she not only chose a romantic movie, but also booked a couple’s seat, which was a few thousand won more expensive than the regular seat, which was unexpected.

She deliberately pretended not to notice and sat in the couple’s seat, but what was even more unexpected was that she fell asleep a few minutes after the movie started.

On the other hand, in the case of Hye-eun, she confidently reserved the back seat for two people as if she should sit in the couple’s seat. In this respect, the two friends who had known each other for a long time clearly had different tendencies.

‘Even when I was in school, I think we mostly sat in the couple’s section and went on dates.’

At that time, rather than feeling like a date, it was more like a regular routine that Hye-eun half-forcibly relieved me from the stress of her studies.

When I think back, that outing to the movie theater helped me relieve stress, but it was probably also an enjoyable time for Hye-eun.

Because I now know that Hye-eun has been liking me since middle school or earlier.

I remember Hye-eun covering most of her dating expenses during her school days. At that time, I was able to pay the expensive tuition of a hunter training school with the inheritance and insurance money left by my parents, and Hye-eun, whose mother was a former S-class hunter, was in a much better situation than me.

Now, not only I but Minah, who had the hardest life among us, is on a stable track.

‘Back in the day, she didn’t even know it was a date, really.’

It was a moment when I realized how stupid and insensitive I had been in the past.

That’s how much my relationship with Hye-eun went from a young age to becoming closer and closer.

It would be a lie to say that there was never a crisis between me and her, but neither I nor Hye-eun could deny that our relationship became what it is now because there was a slight crisis.

-Soak.

“Whoa.”

While I was thinking about that, Hye-eun’s butt also appeared to be slowly approaching the seat next to me.

After making sure she placed her popcorn basket between herself and me, I handed her a Coke that was in my hand.

“Here, Hye-eun.”

“Yes, thank you.”

While Hye-eun was taking her drink from me to her armrest, I quietly picked up a kernel of her snack from her popcorn basket that was placed between her and me.

Just as Hye-eun’s head turned, she gently pushed a piece of butter-flavored popcorn in front of her mouth.

“It’s been a while since we sat together like this and watched a movie. These days, we rarely spend time together like this…”

-Ugh.

“… Since there wasn’t, why…”

Hye-eun sees the popcorn kernel pushed in front of her face and immediately makes eye contact with her.

Although there was a brief moment of hesitation in her eyes, she immediately opened her mouth and took the piece of popcorn I handed her and ate it like a baby bird.

After she took it, she blushed a little and gave me a strange look.

“… “What happened all of a sudden?”

“Just. “It’s been a while since Hye-eun went out on a date with you, so I’m a little excited.”

“… Yeah, that’s right. “Most of the dates that Taekyung went on were either at home or out in a dungeon together.”

-Ugh.

With those words, Hye-eun carefully picks up a grain of popcorn and brings it to her mouth.

She had no reason to ignore her expressions of affection, so I, too, took the popcorn kernel in front of her and ate it with her mouth.

“Yum.”

“…”

The salty and savory scent that seeps into your mouth along with the sound of crunching popcorn kernels.

It was a moment that made me feel like I was in a movie theater.

Hye-eun, sitting next to her and quietly blushing as if embarrassed, looked even prettier today.

… Since it was a weekday morning, there didn’t seem to be many people in the theater. It might be okay to some extent.

“Hye-eun.”

“Huh?”

-Side.

“…”

“It’s just that there aren’t many people.”

Hye-eun’s face turns slightly red at the sudden contact of her lips and light kiss.

It was a kiss that had a strange buttery smell, perhaps because we had just eaten a piece of popcorn.

“… “If you’re going to do it, do it before feeding popcorn.”

“Well, how about it? “It’s more like a kiss at a movie theater.”

“Taekyung, sometimes I don’t know what you mean by ‘better’.”

It would be nice if you knew, but it didn’t really matter if you didn’t know.

With that thought in mind, I held the hand of Hye-eun, who was sitting next to her, and quietly waited for the movie to start.

Inside the darkened movie theater, when only the warmth of Hye-eun sitting next to her was quietly felt, the first scene of the movie ‘Memories of Dawn’ began.

… The first scene was unexpected and a bit disconcerting just based on the title of the movie.