Kangyeon Do went to the café the next day, too.
And the day after that.
On her third day of going to the café, she was sitting in the same window seat again. This time, she ordered a vanilla latte. It was sweet. This was more like it. Americano wasn't fit for human consumption.
Six twenty. The café door opened. It was Yeonwoo. Today, she was wearing a black puffer jacket and sneakers. Her earbuds were still in.
Yeonwoo ordered at the counter and looked for a seat. As usual, the only open seat was the one across from Kangyeon Do. Actually, there was one more empty seat, but Kangyeon Do had blocked it off by putting her bag on it. She knew it was a low move.
Yeonwoo sat across from her. Just as before, she didn't look at Kangyeon Do.
Kangyeon Do went over yesterday's failure in her head. Recommending a restaurant had been lame. So had saying, “Excuse me?” the day before. She had to try something different today.
'Be natural. I need to strike up a natural conversation.'
Kangyeon Do took out her phone and turned on the screen. Then she tilted it slightly toward Yeonwoo.
“Excuse me, do you happen to know any decent gyms around here?”
Yeonwoo took out one earbud. Progress. Yesterday, she hadn't even taken one out.
“…What?”
“A gym. I just moved to this neighborhood, so I don't know which ones are any good.”
Yeonwoo looked at Kangyeon Do. More precisely, she looked at Kangyeon Do's shoulders and arms. At 190 centimeters with broad shoulders, she had the kind of build that looked athletic even without working out.
“Why are you asking about a gym? You look like you're doing fine already.”
Kangyeon Do hesitated. Was this interest? Or not?
“Oh, well, you still have to keep at it. You lose it pretty quickly if you stop.”
It was a lie. When she had been a woman, the only exercise she'd ever done was jump rope in gym class.
Yeonwoo took a sip of her Americano. Then she set her phone down. Kangyeon Do's heart started pounding.
“If you go out Exit 3 and head straight to the right, there's one.”
She'd answered. Yeonwoo had answered. Not “Look it up on Naver” like yesterday, but a real answer.
“Thank you. Is it any good?”
“Don't know. I don't go there.”
Yeonwoo put her earbud back in. Conversation over. But it had lasted longer than yesterday. Definitely longer.
Kangyeon Do took a sip of her vanilla latte and clenched her fist inside.
'Yes. I got two sentences in today. Yesterday, it was only one.'
At this rate, it felt like it would take about three hundred years for Yeonwoo to fall in love with her.
Day four.
Kangyeon Do changed tactics. Instead of talking to Yeonwoo, she had to make Yeonwoo talk to her.
She went to the café early to claim a seat. Then she opened her laptop. It was the laptop she'd used when she was a woman. It had been covered in stickers, but she'd peeled them all off before coming. A six-foot-two heartthrob with character stickers on his laptop would have looked a little weird.
She didn't open anything on the screen. She just pretended to be doing something. A man working on his laptop in a café. It was a perfectly natural sight.
Six twenty. Yeonwoo arrived. She sat across from Kangyeon Do again. She didn't look at her.
Kangyeon Do pretended to type on her laptop while sneaking glances at Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo was frowning at her phone. Something seemed to be irritating her.
'Jin Woobin, probably.'
Her instincts told her that Jin Woobin was usually the reason Yeonwoo frowned like that. It wasn't an angry expression, exactly—more like she was just annoyed. That was Yeonwoo: always looking annoyed at her boyfriend.
Yeonwoo set her phone down with a tap. Then she sighed. It was a small sigh. Kangyeon Do wouldn't have heard it if she hadn't been right there.
Kangyeon Do opened her mouth.
“Rough day?”
Yeonwoo looked up. She looked at Kangyeon Do. This time, there was an expression on her face: half annoyed, half puzzled.
“…Why?”
“Nothing. You sighed, so… Sorry if I'm overstepping.”
Kangyeon Do immediately turned her gaze back to her laptop. She didn't say anything else. It wasn't so much playing hard to get as being afraid that if she kept talking, she'd get another stiff response like “Look it up on Naver.”
Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten.
“…No.”
Yeonwoo spoke. Pretending to look at her laptop, Kangyeon Do perked up her ears.
“There’s just someone annoying me.”
“It's best to ignore people like that.”
Kangyeon Do said it lightly. If she'd still been a woman, she would have said, “Who? Want me to teach them a lesson?” But Kangyeon Do couldn't do that. She was a stranger to Yeonwoo, after all.
Yeonwoo looked at Kangyeon Do. This time, she looked for a little longer. About three seconds. To Yeonwoo, three seconds was a long time.
“…You're right.”
Yeonwoo picked up her phone again. That was it. But Kangyeon Do saw it. The corners of Yeonwoo's mouth had lifted ever so slightly. Really, really slightly.
When she got home, Kangyeon Do lay down on her bed. She smiled at the ceiling. Smiling by herself made her look a little crazy, but she didn't care.
Her phone rang.
Yeonwoo: Dohwa Yeonwoo: Something kind of funny happened at the café today Dohwa: What? Yeonwoo: There's been this same guy sitting across from me and trying to talk to me for days Dohwa: Holy crap, what? Isn't that scary? Yeonwoo: Not scary, exactly, but kind of funny Yeonwoo: He talks to me using a different excuse every day Yeonwoo: Yesterday he asked about a gym, and today he asked if I'd had a rough day because I sighed lol Dohwa: LMAO what is with that guy? Yeonwoo: I don't know, but it's kind of interesting Yeonwoo: Usually, guys don't come back after you leave them on read once Yeonwoo: But this guy keeps coming back
Kangyeon Do held her phone and stared blankly at the screen.
Yeonwoo was talking about her to Dohwa. She was listening to Yeonwoo talk about herself. It should have been funny, but it wasn't. Her chest felt strangely hot.
Dohwa: LOL that guy is kind of unusual Yeonwoo: Yeah, he is kind of unusual Yeonwoo: But I don't think he's a bad person Yeonwoo: It's just a feeling
Kangyeon Do placed her phone on her chest.
'I don't think he's a bad person.'
Yeonwoo had said that. Yeonwoo, who had zero interest in some strange man. Yeonwoo of “Look it up on Naver.” She'd said she didn't think he was a bad person.
Kangyeon Do pulled up the blanket. Tonight, she lay diagonally so her feet wouldn't stick out.
'What should I say to her tomorrow?'
She fell asleep wondering.