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After the conversation with Sun Hwa, Juho returned to class. He had brought his half-empty bottle with him. After finishing what was left in the bottle, he went onto chat with Seo Kwang as usual and then went out to the hallway to take out the trash.

As he walked through the empty hall with an empty bottle in his hand, he saw a familiar figure standing in front of the trash can. It was Bom.

She was standing with an empty bag of chips in her hand, and she threw it into the trash can without a thought, not even bothering to separate the recyclables.

Juho said, “That should go in the other can.”

Bom jumped in her place. If she were to receive help from others, she would have to maintain her image of an innocent, timid girl. So, she seemed nervous to be caught at a vulnerable moment.

Juho pretended to have not seen her.

“It is confusing, especially things like plastic.”

“Y-yeah. Are you here to take out the trash too?”

“Yep.”

It was an obvious question, and he answered her by tossing the empty bottle into the trash can.

“Did you eat all that?”

There were crumbs from different snacks. It seemed like a lot for her to be able to eat on her own.

“No. We all shared.”

“But how come you’re the only person who’s bringing all the trash? It was quite a bit.”

“It’s more convenient that way.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Juho answered. Then, just as he did with Sun Hwa, he opened his big mouth, “I read your paper. I’m sorry I did it without your permission.”

“Huh?” She was flustered, but she didn’t spit out liquid from her mouth like Sun Hwa had done. Bom blinked awkwardly for a brief moment and then continued with a smile, “That’s OK. It doesn’t matter.”

“You don’t seem angry.”

She wasn’t angry. She didn’t seem to have taken offense, not one bit.

“It’s nothing to be angry over.”

“Good to hear. Well, you’re a good writer.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t feel very confident.”

At his compliment, she backed off as usual.

“Sun Hwa’s paper was good too, but I liked your descriptions in particular.”

“I see. Um... Should we get going? The bell’s about to ring any minute now,” she quickly changed the subject in case Juho was saying that her paper was better than Sun Hwa’s.

A talented person tended to be the target of envy and jealousy.

Juho said, “I’m a good writer myself.”

“Huh?”

As if she didn’t understand him, she looked up to his face.

“What I’m saying is that you don’t have to worry about me being jealous of your skills. I’m a good writer myself.”

“You’re brimming with confidence, aren’t you?”

“Did I sound like Sun Hwa?”

“A little bit,” Bom answered with a relieved look.

“Do you have time on the weekends?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I wanted to shop for some clothes, but I don’t know the trends.”

“Clothes? Um... I don’t really know what guys like either...”

“I’ll call Sun Hwa too.”

“...”

She hesitated, and he asked her, “Did you guys fight?”

“No. I’ve never fought with her. Not once.”

“Then, what’s the problem? I’ll help if there is one.”

Her face brightened up at the word ‘help.’ She still wanted her relationship with Sun Hwa to return to how it was before.

“OK...” she finally accepted.

After agreeing on a time and a place, they each went their separate ways.

“I’m here.”

That day, while waiting at a bus stop, Juho waved his hands at the familiar figure in the distance. Though she wasn’t late, she started running as soon as she realized that he’d beat her to it. She looked guilty as if making a person wait for her was a grave sin.

“I’m sorry, I thought I was early.”

“It’s fine, you’re not even late.”

“Still. Have you been waiting a long time?”

“Eh, maybe five minutes?”

“I’m sorry.”

She kept apologizing. By then, he thought it would be good to change the subject. The longer they talked about that, the more she was going to apologize.

“The bus is coming.”

“Yeah, but where’s Sun Hwa?” she asked about her as she looked around.

“She’s not here,” Juho said calmly. At his response, Bom stopped looking around and gave him a flabbergasted look.

“...What?”

“She said she’d give me a call when she was done shopping. Didn’t I tell you?”

“But... I know nothing about fashion trends...”

“That’s fine. It’s my clothes, so I’ll make the decisions. I’ll just ask for your opinion from time to time.”

The two got on the bus and sat next to each other in the back. It headed downtown.

From the time the bus took off and even after it had driven past several stops, the two didn’t say anything to each other. Juho cracked opened the window, and a gust of wind rushed in.

As he watched the passing scenery, he said, “So, when you shop for clothes...”

“Yeah?”

She had been sitting quietly until he suddenly started talking and she sat up at once to listen to him. He continued as he looked ahead, “Do you tend to buy what you like or what suits you?”

“Me? Um... probably the latter?”

She didn’t sound confident in her answer, and he asked her why. She hesitated while studying his face. Bom seemed anxious about their opinions not lining up.

“Well... if I buy clothes that suit me, I don’t have to worry about regretting my decision later.”

“Do you usually regret if you end up buying clothes that you like?

“Not necessarily, but if they don’t suit me, it’d be embarrassing if somebody pointed it out to me.”

“So, you give up on the clothes that you like?”

“Is that how it works? I’m not sure anymore.”

He whispered as he kept his eyes on the passing scenery, “I think you’ll always regret something, no matter what.”

“I see.”

“Still, it’s human nature to want to prevent it from happening.”

“Yeah, I agree. I hate it.”

Having been hesitant so far, she nodded.

Their conversation stopped for a brief moment, and he turned his head towards the window. Nobody wanted to regret. Yet, everyone had regrets at some point. Before long, one’s body would start to tense up as soon as they thought about their regret. Fear had always been lurking just below the surface, telling that they would never reach a favorable outcome no matter what they did.

Writing was just the same way.

‘Maybe that one vocabulary could’ve been better.’ ‘Wouldn’t this sentence get in the way of the flow?’ ‘Wouldn’t it have been better altogether if I had written it from a different perspective with a different protagonist? Wouldn’t it have been better if another writer had written about the same thing?’

As soon as those thoughts entered a writer’s mind, he wouldn’t be able to write a single word and he would develop a sudden urge to hand over his pen to another person.

Yet, he couldn’t let go. So, the only thing left to do was...

“Next stop...” a voice came from the speaker within the bus. Then, suddenly, the bus shook as it went over a bump.

“Well, in that case, I guess there’s no point in worrying ahead of time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your clothes. I was worried if I’d know what I was picking.”

“I think you’ll do fine too.”

Bom smiled at Juho agreeing with her. He had already gotten used to her smile. She was the only person who responded in such friendly manner.

If he had been with Sun Hwa or Seo Kwang, they would’ve sneered at him.

“Let’s get off the bus.”

The two arrived at the shopping district. Countless clothing stores were lined up on the street, one after another. There were also a lot of people walking through the district. Everyone had to have been out for the weekend. When Juho and Bom were jostled into a random clothing store, there weren’t nearly as many people. Though it might not have been a good thing for the shop owner, it was good for the them because it would allow them to shop in peace.

Inside, Juho slowly looked around the the store. The entire place was covered in clothes. From the counter, the owner who looked to be middle-age said with her nasally voice, “Please let me know if you need any help.”

As he looked around the T-shirt section, he picked out a shirt and held it in front of himself.

“How does this look?”

“Hm, it looks good,” she answered with a smile.

Then, he picked up another shirt next to it and asked, “What about this one?”

“Yeah, that too.”

“How about... this one?”

“Th-that one looks good too.”

She’d never say it with her own lips if a shirt didn’t suit him.

So, he said with a slightly concerned tone of voice, “I can’t possibly afford all these T-shirts.”

“I don’t know too much about fashion... I’m sorry.”

Juho had heard her say that several times now. Still, he didn’t stop asking for her opinion. Inevitably, the amount of time spent in the shop was getting longer. Red, blue, green, white, and black, even when he had picked a shirt with bizarre patterns, her answers had always been positive. It wasn’t completely unexpected.

He asked, “Are you getting tired?”

“No, I’m doing OK.”

“Well, I am.” Bom became flustered at his words, and Juho continued, “Still, I don’t want to live butt naked, so I guess I’ll just have to suck it up. I’ll just have to pick something.”

With those words, he looked at the two shirts in his hands. Whether he liked them or not, he had to wear something. Soon, he took both shirts and hung them back where they had been. Bom gave him a confused look. She had been expecting him to pick one of the two.

“Ma’am,” he called for the owner, and she quickly walked toward him in short steps.

“How can I help you?”

“I would like to take a look at the red hat over there.”

“A hat?” Bom whispered curiously.

The three looked up simultaneously. There was a hat hanging from the ceiling. It was as red as the tip of Sun Hwa’s nose when she had that personal conversation with Juho.

The owner took the hat out with a hook and lowered it to Juho. He stood in front of a mirror and tried it on.

“What do you think?”

“Um... Hm.”

Bom contemplated while looking at his back. Frankly, it looked quite tacky, but there was no way she could’ve said that out loud. Finally, as she gathered up the courage to speak her mind, the owner said, “Oh my! Young man, even my husband wouldn’t wear that. Pick something else. I’ll give you a discount.”

“Really? How come?”

“It looks like you smothered it with red pepper paste!”

“Haha!” he laughed off her joke peacefully.

Meanwhile, Bom questioned in her mind if the owner was intending on even selling the hat, ‘How could she describe something she was selling as something like red pepper paste?’

What was more surprising, was Juho’s response to it.

“I’ll take this one. Could you give me a decent price on it?”

“Goodness, you mean it? Why don’t you try the pink one before you make up your mind?”

“I’ll take this.”

“OK, if you say so. I know the color’s a little funky, but the hat’s still made of decent material. I’ll give you a good deal.”

“Thank you very much.”

The owner had changed her tone already. Perhaps, she didn’t want her customer to regret his decision after he walked out of the store. Bom didn’t say anything while Juho was paying for the hat. After he put the hat on, they walked out the store together.

“How do I look?”

“Huh?”

“Does it suit my style?”

“Um... Yeah.”

Even though she gave him a positive answer, it was obvious that she hadn’t meant it. Yet, she couldn’t stop herself from speaking affirming words. It had already become a habit.

“You can’t be serious. This looks tacky as heck, even for my eyes.”

“Then, don’t ask.”

She was taken aback by the words that she had just blurted out. She had spoken out of annoyance before she even had time to think. It could have been that she was growing tired of series of questions Juho had been asking her. ‘I shouldn’t have done that. What do I do now?’ She looked at him anxiously.

“Should we get some ice cream?” he said. He didn’t even mind.