By Zephyria “We’ve urgently brought in a highly capable stylist specifically for Mr. Lee’s shopping today.”
The manager, with an ambitious expression, introduced the Asian woman with short black hair who had been with them since they arrived at the main entrance.
“As a stylist who works globally based in LA, she will fully satisfy Mr. Lee’s excellent eye and taste…”
“No, no.”
Lee Hae-sung shook his head as if something bothered him and placed his teacup back on the saucer. The manager, who was ambitiously introducing the stylist, paused, his expression tense.
“Not me, this one.”
Lee Hae-sung placed his hand on Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder, who was sitting beside him, and gently massaged it.
“I thought I made it clear when I introduced him earlier, but my expression must have been insufficient.”
Revealing his displeasure, he emphasized his words with force.
“He is my partner.1) He’s not just a boyfriend, and he’s certainly not someone you can subtly exclude. Prioritize his feelings, not mine. Do you understand?”
“Ah, yes! I understand! I’ve made a great mistake!”
The manager, perhaps worried he might have upset Lee Hae-sung, repeatedly apologized to both Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo. His expression was one of sweating, just like when he heard Lee Hae-sung’s incomprehensible joke.
As if that weren’t enough, Lee Hae-sung stood up from the sofa and approached the manager and stylist.
“Once I see a few items he chooses, I’ll be able to grasp his taste, right? He’s rather passive when it comes to shopping, so even if he doesn’t say he likes something, wrap up everything that might suit him. No matter the cost. I’ll pay more than the agreed-upon amount. However, it must be something he will genuinely like and be happy with. Since you’re a capable stylist, I’ll trust you with this.”
Though I don’t know what he said, I could tell that the manager’s and stylist’s expressions brightened noticeably at the end of his words.
Lee Hae-sung, the manager, and the stylist. All three pairs of eyes simultaneously turned towards Choi Hong-seo. Choi Hong-seo, who was about to put a forkful of rich, thick chocolate cake into his mouth, cautiously put the fork down, sensing an ominous feeling.
“Your physique and face are beautiful, so anything will suit you. I’m looking forward to styling you!”
Starting with the stylist’s words, the clothes, shoes, and accessories she had pre-selected for Choi Hong-seo were introduced. They were items that perfectly matched Choi Hong-seo’s taste, as if he had chosen them himself.
Some items were shown like a fashion show, with male staff members with model-like physiques and faces wearing them. The stylist demonstrated how to style them. Any items Choi Hong-seo showed even the slightest interest in were immediately presented to him to touch.
“Would you like to try on the items you’ve chosen so far? It would be much easier to make accurate recommendations once we grasp Mr. Choi’s exact size and body type.”
Pushed by the enthusiastic responses of the stylist and manager, Choi Hong-seo stood up and was led to the fitting room. He barely managed to refuse the offer of a staff member to help him change and could catch his breath in the fitting room.
He sank onto a luxurious chair covered in velvet and looked around the fitting room. It was more spacious than the officetel he was currently living in, like something a prince from a foreign land might own.
His t-shirt, hoodie, pants, and shoes, even socks… the clothes Choi Hong-seo was to change into were neatly prepared on hangers and shelves. He checked the prices on the tags. An oversized short-sleeved t-shirt was $1,200, the hoodie was $2,800, the pants were $2,300, and the socks were in the $400 range… A single outfit, which looked casually comfortable in a street style, cost well over ten million won in Korean currency.
Due to his profession, he knew such clothes existed in the world, and he had worn them for photoshoots, but he had never owned them. He didn’t want to ruin the mood by mentioning the prices. If he carefully chose one or two items, his mood would probably be satisfied. Hoo, he took a deep breath, took off his cardigan, and changed his clothes.
“You worked hard changing. As expected! It suits you perfectly! You’d be believable as a K-pop idol!”
At the manager’s effusive reaction, Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo exchanged a brief smile. After all, he had been a K-pop idol, both as Choi Hong-seo and as Yoon Hye-an.
Lee Hae-sung, who had been sitting on the sofa drinking coffee, put down his cup and stood up.
His face, looking at him dressed in Choi Hong-seo’s style rather than Yoon Hye-an’s clothes, seemed to be suppressing overwhelming emotion. He approached and pulled the large hood of the zip-up over his head. Then, he cupped Choi Hong-seo’s cheeks with both hands. He gently lifted Choi Hong-seo’s chin and lowered his own head. He met his eyes with a gaze overflowing with affection. Regardless of who was around, his actions were uninhibited, as if they were the only two people in space.
“You’re pretty.”
“……”
“…My Hong-seo.”
My Hong-seo. His voice trembled slightly. The moment he sensed that tremor, Choi Hong-seo’s eyes instantly welled up.
“Why are you trying to cry again when I say you’re pretty?”
He shook his head, denying it, and tried to force a smile.
After that, there was no need to try on clothes. He just had to sit on the comfortable sofa, drink coffee and eat macarons, and say whether he liked them or not. Clothes, bags, shoes, accessories… He saw what looked like a mountain of items. By the time he had carefully chosen about two items, Choi Hong-seo was completely exhausted.
Lee Hae-sung, sitting beside him, checked the time, and Choi Hong-seo thought it was finally over, feeling relieved, but that wasn’t the case.
“Now, let’s look at watches. Something not too formal… I’d like a model that would suit him.”
“We happen to have a vintage model that perfectly matches Mr. Choi’s image! It’s not on display, and it’s a very rare vintage piece we only show to a select few clients.”
The word “watch” made the manager’s eyes light up. He immediately gave instructions to another staff member. A moment later, the staff member returned with a sturdy-looking small trunk equipped with a digital lock. The manager, now wearing gloves unlike before, carefully opened the trunk in front of Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo.
The trunk was a watch winder, neatly displaying about ten wristwatches.
“I think this model would suit Mr. Choi’s image well. What do you think?”
“Hmm… I think this one would suit him better.”
The model the manager recommended had a yellow dial, while the one Lee Hae-sung pointed to had a blue dial.
“Can I put them on him myself?”
“Of course.”
Lee Hae-sung fastened one wristwatch onto Choi Hong-seo’s left wrist and another onto his right. He looked back and forth between his hands with a thoughtful expression. He was so serious that his brow furrowed.
“Both models suit you very well. Since the outfits Mr. Choi has chosen are mostly monochrome, using the watch dial for a pop of color would be excellent.”
“Hong-seo? Which one do you like more?”
“……”
Choi Hong-seo, who had been standing back as if he were a third party even though it was his own watch being chosen, couldn’t readily answer. Although the watches didn’t have price tags like clothes, he knew that each one on his wrists was worth at least the price of a luxury car.
“Do as you wanted to do. I like that too.”
It was Choi Hong-seo himself who had told him to do as he wanted when Lee Hae-sung asked if he had to hold back his desires like before. It was as if he had removed his own excuse to refuse. Lee Hae-sung, reading everything in Choi Hong-seo’s expression about what he was contemplating, let out a laugh. Even that laugh seemed joyful.
“Since you can’t choose, how about both…”
“Blue! I’ll take the blue one.”
Choi Hong-seo said, almost shouting, as he tightly gripped Lee Hae-sung’s arm.
“Really? The yellow one you recommended looks good too, though.”
“No. Blue, I like blue. I don’t like yellow.”
Choi Hong-seo firmly expressed his preference, even shaking his head. He even took off the yellow-dialed watch he was wearing on his right wrist himself.
“He says he likes blue. Let’s go with this model.”
He told the staff, as if boasting about something Choi Hong-seo had said that was wonderfully commendable. The manager, stylist, and other staff members all laughed and reacted positively to Lee Hae-sung’s words. This time, Choi Hong-seo was the only one sweating.
“It’s okay. They’re all laughing because you’re cute.”
It seemed like only Lee Hae-sung thought that, but he didn’t have the energy left for such a back-and-forth. It felt like the shopping was finally over, and all he wanted was to rest with him in a quiet place.
After sitting on the sofa and completing the payment, the two could finally return to the car. The manager and stylist followed them to see them off. They had spent hours in the store, and the sun had already begun to set.
“Uh… um… I didn’t choose this much.”
Choi Hong-seo’s eyes widened when he saw the staff loading shopping bags into Lee Hae-sung’s SUV. To exaggerate slightly, two or three staff members were endlessly carrying shopping bags. The trunk space wasn’t enough, so they occupied the back seats too.
“It’s strange. I didn’t choose this much.”
“It’s okay. You must be tired, so sit down and rest.”
Unlike the bewildered Choi Hong-seo, Lee Hae-sung was calm. He opened the passenger door and nudged Choi Hong-seo’s back.
“It’s strange. I think there’s been some mistake, so please check. Okay?”
Lee Hae-sung, who had half-forcibly seated Choi Hong-seo in the passenger seat, stood by the open door and fastened his seatbelt. With a click of the buckle, he gestured to the manager standing behind him, as if asking for something.
“Hong-seo, look at this. I took out a pair of sunglasses beforehand because I thought it might be dazzling on the road to Malibu. Good, right? Here, let’s try them on.”
“……”
Choi Hong-seo watched Lee Hae-sung, who was acting like someone trying to distract a whining child, without a word. His expression was probably a little sullen.
Lee Hae-sung paused as he tried to put on the sunglasses and asked, “Why?”
“I’m not really a baby.”
Only then did Lee Hae-sung sigh, admitting his plan had failed. He held onto the top of the open door frame, bent his back awkwardly into the car’s interior, and poked Choi Hong-seo’s cheek with his index finger. As if tasting the whipped cream on a cake.
“I asked them to pack everything that would suit you.”
“That…”
“You need a lot of things, and we have to return home in a few days. We can’t spend all our time just shopping.”
“Still… I chose them carefully…”
“Didn’t I tell you that you don’t have to hold back if you want to give me something? I’m sure I heard that, right?”
“……”
He said it with his eyebrows raised, a little annoyingly, and his face looked amused. Choi Hong-seo could only press his lips together, happy that he had collected another one of his smiles.
With a slight premonition that his words, “You can do as you please,” would be used by Lee Hae-sung as a universal shield from now on, the car set off towards Malibu.
■
Partner: A term primarily used to refer to a same-sex lover, especially in a serious relationship. Recently, it is also used regardless of gender to indicate a deeper relationship than a boyfriend or girlfriend.