The fluttery dress I wore for the interview at the school introduced by Senior So is now too cold to wear. Didn’t I catch a cold when I wore it that day?

Soo Young rummaged through her closet and took out all the formal-style clothes.

As her unemployed life dragged on, she didn’t have many clothes suitable for events. The place she’s working now doesn’t require paying attention to clothes either. Should I buy some clothes?

However, it was nonsense to buy clothes for a wedding that might happen once a year.

“Soo Young, come eat!”

Young Soon’s voice called from outside. Soo Young grabbed two blouses and went out of the room.

“Mom, I told you I’m going to a wedding, right? I have to eat a lot there, so I can’t eat now.”

“But you didn’t eat breakfast either.”

Always sleeping in late and eating breakfast-cum-lunch, her daughter who skips meals again today saddened the mother who had prepared a proper meal while she was home.

Young Soon’s brows furrowed involuntarily with concern.

But heedless of her mother’s feelings, Soo Young nonchalantly asked while holding the two blouses.

“Mom, which one is better? This one has a wrinkled collar, and this one has wrinkled pockets. I’ll wear a trench coat over it, which one will be better covered?”

Not just the collar and pockets, but both were equally crumpled as if they had been stuffed in the closet.

Young Soon sighed lightly and snatched the white blouse from her daughter’s hand.

“I’ll iron it for you.”

“It’s okay. I’ll be wearing a coat anyway, so it won’t show.”

“You fool. You’ll have to take off your coat at the wedding venue! What are you wearing on the bottom?”

“Jeans, of course.”

“Don’t you have dress pants? The ones you wore when you were teaching?”

“Ah, those are too tight around the waist now.”

Back then, she had lost some weight from working, but these days, she’s gained weight around her sides from not being busy.

Plus, she’s been eating lunch and dinner too well with Woo Jin.

Originally, she only ate lunch, but after lunch, a walk, and some house cleaning, it quickly becomes 4 o’clock, and at 4, Woo Jin invariably asks for coffee.

Without much conversation, sitting with coffee at 4 o’clock, it soon becomes 6, and shortly after, Ji Hyun comes to eat dinner.

And he orders that delicious steak for delivery. How can she not gain weight like this?

The strange thing was that Woo Jin ate the same way, but his body remained the same.

Ah, that guy runs like his life depends on it… For a moment, the thought of trying to run like that herself crossed her mind, but she decided to just let herself gain weight.

Wearing the blouse ironed by Young Soon, jeans, and a beige trench coat, she looked very pretty, as if effortlessly styled.

At least that’s how Soo Young saw herself.

Blinking her heavy eyes after putting on mascara for the first time in a while, Soo Young boarded the subway.

Today is the wedding of Shin Ye Jin, the elder sister of Shin Ye Won who is a high school teacher in Seoul.

Being both a friend’s sister and a college senior, as well as a club senior, she couldn’t not attend.

Knowing that school seniors, juniors, and peers would all be there, Soo Young was secretly nervous.

Everyone will ask how she’s doing…

Then she could say she’s a manager-cum-assistant writer, and if they ask if she has a boyfriend… then…

Seol Woo Jin’s face came to mind, but she quickly erased it. He’s not my boyfriend.

But even if she said he was her boyfriend, it’s not like her friends would check if it’s true or not. Should I just say I have a boyfriend?

Her cheeks reddened just imagining it.

While imagining, she went further to imagine walking hand in hand with him, sitting across from each other at a cafe eating strawberry parfait, watching a movie together, still holding hands tightly.

While inserting David into all the date scenes she had seen in dramas and movies, she arrived at the wedding venue.

Ye Jin’s sister had such heavy makeup on that she looked like a completely different person.

She even went out and came back in thinking she had entered the wrong bridal waiting room.

After the ordinary wedding that could be seen anywhere ended, she went down to the buffet restaurant with the meal ticket she had prepared in advance.

As expected, college peers were gathered at one table.

Looking at other tables, seniors were gathered with seniors, and juniors with juniors.

Everyone seemed equally awkward meeting after a long time.

After going to the table where the seniors were gathered to give light greetings and have a brief catch-up talk, Soo Young quickly went to sit next to Mi Jin.

As soon as Soo Young sat down, Mi Jin asked with round eyes.

“Manager? You said you’re working as a manager?”

It seems the catch-up talk in front of the seniors was heard at this table.

“What kind of celebrity?”

One of her peers asked. The job of manager seemed equally unfamiliar.

“Not a celebrity, a writer, a writer.”

“Didn’t you say last time you were tutoring high school students?”

“Oh? Ah… I’m working as a manager now.”

Though it was the same high school student, as Soo Young got a status upgrade to manager, that thoughtless high school student also got a status upgrade to writer.

“I didn’t know writers have managers too? Who? A famous writer?”

“Well, just, they work under a pen name…”

“What’s the pen name?”

As her peers’ interest focused, Soo Young continued hesitantly.

“It’s Seol Yong…”

Then another peer exclaimed loudly, pretending to know.

“I watched ! That’s the writer, right?”

“Uh…”

Soo Young’s face reddened. Is this how a mother feels proud when her child is praised?

“I heard it’s being made into a drama too?”

“Is the writer that famous?”

When a friend who had no interest in books despite being in the same Korean Education department asked with curious eyes, the friend who had read answered in an excited voice.

“How should I put it… When you read it, the world seems beautiful? Especially the character illustrations by that writer are fantastic.”

Soo Young was surprised to find that there was someone else who fell for those illustrations, thinking she was the only one. So she unconsciously shouted.

“He looks exactly like that character!”

“Really? Come on, that’s a cartoon, right? Are his eyes really like that in real life?”

“I’m telling you it’s real. His eyes are really amber-colored.”

“What? Is he mixed-race?”

“I’m not sure about that, but he is fantastic.”

At Soo Young’s words, suddenly another friend said with a somewhat secretive expression.

“Soo Young, you’re dating that writer, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

Soo Young waved her hands in panic.

“No! I just help him write well from the side.”

“Your expression doesn’t look like just a work colleague? You look like you’re head over heels!”

“Th-that’s just admiration. Admiration. Liking a handsome man I see.”

“Hey, even Ye Jin’s expression looking at the groom today wasn’t like yours. You’re the real deal.”

“Yeah. Lucky you, Kim Soo Young. Helping your boyfriend with work.”

Even though Soo Young denied it, everyone around seemed to acknowledge the two of them, leaving her at a loss for what to do.

However, not entirely disliking her friends’ gaze, she shyly acted like a woman with a really handsome boyfriend.

After the wedding, when she went to her handsome boyfriend’s house, he held out three books with his cartoon-like visuals.

“Here, Seol Ji Hyun said to give these to you.”

“What are these?”

“Books to record.”

“All three?”

“Find the one that suits your voice best among them and do that one.”

All three were books Soo Young hadn’t read. Novel, essay, travelogue, the types were diverse.

“Is there a novel among the three?”

When Woo Jin asked calmly, Soo Young held up one book and said.

“Yes. This one is a novel?”

Although he wouldn’t know exactly what ‘this’ referred to, Woo Jin spoke calmly as if he knew which book it was.

“Don’t do the novel.”

“Why not?”

“You’re too bad at expressing characters’ emotions. That should be done by professional voice actors.”

“But didn’t Seol Woo Jin say that audiobooks recorded by voice actors are too pretentious?”

“Novels are different. You need acting for dramatic scenes. What are the other two?”

“One is an essay collection and one is a travelogue.”

“Do the travelogue. Your voice goes well with travelogues.”

“But travelogues are boring. I find novels more interesting.”

Then Woo Jin said quietly with a pathetic expression.

“It’s not about reading a book you like, but reading a book that will sell well when you read it. Do you think making money is easy?”

“Tch, so full of yourself, Seol Woo Jin.”

“Learn if you don’t know, Kim Soo Young.”

Looking at Woo Jin who never loses an argument, she wondered when she would be able to counter that verbal skill.

I should write. If I write, I’ll develop verbal skills like him.

“Write. Don’t just read. Aren’t you publishing a book?”

When Woo Jin spoke her thoughts exactly as if he had some kind of clairvoyance, Soo Young gasped. Is his superpower getting stronger?

“Why? Don’t want to write?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it…”

“Then why are you holding your breath again?”

“Seol Woo Jin, do you perhaps have some kind of clairvoyance?”

“I can’t even see normally, how could I see through things?”

“No, I was just thinking I should write, and you said ‘write’. How do you know my mind so well?”

Then Woo Jin looked straight into her eyes and said.

“Write 10 pages every day and bring them. Save them in a file.”

“Why?”

“So I can read them.”

“And after reading?”

“I’ll tell you if it’s interesting or not interesting. I’ll teach you writing techniques too.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Wow!”

“…Does that mean you like it?”

“Yes! Ah, no… Is it not good? It’s a bit embarrassing to have you read my writing.”

“You read mine too.”

“That’s true.”

Soo Young felt excited about receiving his guidance, but also feared how much he would criticize and show off.

Just try criticizing me, I won’t show you again.

Soo Young raised her eyebrows primly and looked him up and down, when suddenly his large hand slowly rose.

Wh-what? Did he notice me glaring?

As Soo Young’s shoulders hunched, Woo Jin’s hand landed on her crown.

As she felt the warm temperature on her crown, a soft voice reached her ears.

“Kim Soo Young. You’ll be busy now. You have to record, and write…”

“Y-yes…”

Her voice naturally shrank at his sudden gentleness, when suddenly the hand on her crown gripped like holding a basketball and that sharp nose bridge approached.

Hup! As Soo Young’s breath stopped again, a threatening voice reached her ears.

“But you still have to do your job as my manager. Got it?”

“O-of course!”

Then his hand and face pulled away at the same time.

As Soo Young exhaled deeply, Woo Jin’s expression became slightly strange, and the hand that left her crown slowly traveled down her hair.

Almost touching… but not quite… his fingertips that made her weak in the knees lightly brushed her shoulder.

“…Is it raining outside?”

“Huh? Ah, it’s drizzling. I went to a senior’s wedding today. They got married on a rainy day, so they’ll live well. Hehe.”

“Your hair tips and shoulders are wet. Didn’t you use an umbrella?”

“I did… But I guess it still splashed.”

Then Woo Jin said in a much gentler voice.

“Go to the bathroom and dry off with a towel. You’ll catch a cold like last time.”

Wondering why he was being so kind for once, Soo Young stared blankly into his eyes without thinking to answer, when he turned and went into his room saying.

“If you give me a cold again, I’ll sue you.”

Haa. Of course. So much for kindness.

As Soo Young grumbled without making a sound, a smile slowly appeared on Woo Jin’s lips as he closed the door.

There was a different fragrant smell than usual, so he was worried why she wore makeup, if she had gone to another interview, but she said she went to a wedding.

He was curious about her usual appearance, but even more curious about Soo Young wearing makeup. His fingers suddenly began to trace curved lines in the air.

Soo Young’s face that he had touched before was being carefully drawn at his fingertips.