My Girlfriend Is Very Good To Me [EN]: Chapter 86

Ep. 85

I barely slept for a few hours, waking up early and moving with restless energy. Usually, with only three or four hours of sleep, I’d be exhausted, but right now, my mind was wide awake, fueled by adrenaline.

After washing up, I tidied myself as neatly as possible and double-checked the items I needed to bring. Unlike my usual casual clothes, today I was dressed in slacks, a knit sweater, and a coat.

When I finished getting ready and went to the living room, Jeong-hu hyung [older brother or close male friend] and Dad were sitting on the sofa. They didn’t say anything to me, even after seeing me, so Mom apparently hadn’t told them anything yet. They just looked at me as if I was going on a date. Then, as I came out of my room, Mom approached with a cup.

“Son, drink this before you go.”

“What is it?”

“A health drink.”

“…….”

I appreciated her thoughtfulness, but I wished she would have just let it pass like yesterday. I had tossed and turned under my blanket several times before falling asleep last night. Still, I couldn’t refuse something she had thoughtfully prepared, so I downed it in one gulp.

Ugh, bitter.

After thanking Mom, I left the house.

There was still plenty of time before our agreed meeting, but I wouldn’t be able to calm down if I stayed home, so I thought it would be better to go early and wait. And I remembered that Hee-na had come out very early to wait for me on our first date.

In the early days of our relationship, we used to try to arrive early to wait for each other, so we made a promise not to arrive too early. But today, I couldn’t help it! Today’s date was also a kind of revenge for our first date.

What was I feeling when I went on that date? Honestly, it’s a bit hazy now. I remember being incredibly nervous about the fact that Hee-na, a girl so pretty you wouldn’t easily see someone like her on the street or on TV, had confessed to me, and that I was going on a date with her.

Unlike her cute appearance, she took care of me and guided me in many ways. I was able to receive the care of my girlfriend, who was like an older sister. Actually, not much has changed even now.

Rushing, I arrived at the subway station where we had agreed to meet an hour early. I checked my hair and clothes one more time in the station bathroom and went up the stairs to the ground.

Back then, Hee-na had immediately caught my eye as soon as I came up these stairs. Even in the midst of this place where so many people were waiting for someone, she was impossible to miss.

Right.

Like her, waiting for someone under that streetlight with a faint smile.

Hah, Lee Hee-na, seriously.

I came an hour early, but how could she be here even earlier than me? This really is a first date returns.

I chuckled in disbelief and approached Hee-na, who was waiting for me. As I got closer, Hee-na seemed to sense someone approaching and turned her head. And as soon as she saw me, she smiled brightly, and I said to her:

“We promised not to come too early.”

“But~ I couldn’t stand waiting at home.”

“Is that all the excuse you have?”

“You came early too!”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Anyway, today’s Hee-na was, of course, always pretty and cute, but she was even more perfect.

A black skirt that came to her knees, a pure white blouse tucked into the skirt. On top of that, a black trench coat with white accents here and there that reached the hem of her skirt. Stockings and shoes that she doesn’t usually wear. Overall, it was a mature outfit, but the clothes themselves had a cute feel, which suited her perfectly.

Surprisingly, these were clothes I had never seen her wear before. It’s a bit much to say, but if I don’t know about Hee-na’s clothes, there’s a 99.9% chance she bought them new. She sometimes takes out old clothes to wear, so it’s not 100%, but she wouldn’t wear those today, so she probably bought them for this day.

In the midst of all that, the sunlight reflected off the couple ring on her left ring finger, the same as mine. It showed more clearly than anything else that Hee-na was mine and I was Hee-na’s.

All those elements combined made my girlfriend, who was too pretty, too pretty, and I stopped even my playful teasing and told her sincerely.

“You look so beautiful today, really. The most beautiful in the world. And happy birthday.”

“Thank you. Yeon-hu, you look the most handsome in the world!”

She smiled brightly at my compliment and clasped her hands together with mine. Recently, we’ve been walking around arm in arm a lot, but holding hands like this also reminded me of our first date. Maybe Hee-na was thinking about that too when she held my hand like this.

Of course, that’s just my thought, but I felt that way, and I couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“What? Why are you smiling?”

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go. I’ve thought about where to go.”

“Really? Then I’ll trust you and follow you?”

“Yeah, trust me today. Until the end.”

However, even in this moment of meeting and walking together, one corner of my mind was thinking about what would happen tonight. She dressed up so beautifully for today’s date, and I was thinking that I should do my best to escort her right now.

On the other hand, I felt a little sorry for her. The outdoor date I had planned for today was going to be very short. I wasn’t thinking of anything special. I hadn’t made any reservations anywhere.

The first place I took Hee-na was the street behind the station with many street food stalls. It was the place where Hee-na had tried to buy me all sorts of things with her own money.

“Do you want to eat a skewer?”

“Do *you* want to eat it?”

“I want to eat it with you.”

“Hehe, okay. Let’s buy one and share it.”

For me, who likes these kinds of foods, she bought them for me without showing any dislike, even though she didn’t really like them. This time, I bought it and fed her a bite. Even if she didn’t really like street food, she liked sharing it with me like this.

“Shall we sit down for a bit?”

“Yeah~ Thank you!”

When we strolled a little further and sat on a bench for a while, I laid a handkerchief on the seat for her, just like Hee-na did back then.

“It doesn’t seem to have changed here.”

“Right. Ah, shall we take a picture wearing couple glasses [matching glasses worn by couples]?”

“Without buying them?”

“We already have matching ones. We don’t wear them often, though.”

“I should have brought them today~ I haven’t worn mine much since I bought them last year.”

We strolled through the shopping mall that we had visited quite often, not only on our first date but also afterward, and stopped by the glasses store where we had matched our fashion glasses frames and took some pictures.

“The arcade is crowded~”

“It’s a bit like that today.”

“Shall we play basketball? There’s no one there.”

“Okay. Let’s do it together.”

We also stopped by the arcade near the movie theater. And back then, we were enjoying the basketball game together like this when Hee-na suddenly started crying, and I was very embarrassed. Because of that, I was worried about Hee-na, so we broke up quickly on our first date.

It was a date where I just took a similar lap, as if belatedly trying to soothe the regret of that day. Hee-na probably noticed what my date concept was from the middle.

“I’m good at shooting, right?!”

“What, why are you so good? Did you practice?”

“Because you like basketball, I practiced a little during PE class too~”

“Really? I should definitely play with you sometime later.”

“With your friends?”

“Forget them. We can do it just the two of us.”

Since neither of us was wearing clothes that were easy to move in, we slowly threw the ball and finished one game. Actually, rather than really wanting to play this game, I just wanted to finish the day that ended awkwardly back then.

And back then, we had dinner afterward and broke up right away, but today it’s not like that. There was definitely a schedule from then on that I couldn’t have imagined back then.

However, I felt sorry for this foolish date plan that was ultimately just my emotional self-satisfaction.

And with a little embarrassment about bringing up this story even though it was still midday.

Holding the last basketball in my hand, I gently turned it with both hands and opened my mouth in a low voice.

“Hee-na.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you hungry?”

“I’m okay, but if you want to eat, let’s eat. I’ll eat a little too.”

“That’s not it… it’s still early, but…”

Originally, I wanted to finish with a meal, but I wasn’t in a state where I could eat a meal with excitement and tension, let alone a simple snack. So, after confirming that Hee-na wasn’t very hungry either.

“Shall we go home?”

I brought up the words to go back. I thought it might be too obvious, but I thought that trying to kill time by going on a date outside as usual would just make each other impatient. So, even though it wasn’t even 4 o’clock yet, I voiced my honest feelings.

And to my suggestion, Hee-na, who had a slightly surprised face for a moment, smiled faintly and nodded.

“…Yeah. Let’s go home. I want to go too.”

“I’m sorry for saying let’s go already when you dressed up so beautifully today.”

“No. For things like this… it’s enough if you just tell me I’m pretty once. You know. How much I’ve been waiting for today.”

Saying that, she looks at me with a face that seems like she’s about to cry. Of course, I couldn’t not know. I’ve been foolishly backing away all this time.

After hearing her answer, I threw the basketball inside.

-Swish

After confirming that the ball went in with the sound of the chain brushing against the iron chain connected to the rim, I grabbed her hand. We met and moved too early without thinking, so it was earlier than I had initially expected.

Honestly, I didn’t care. It would be right to wait until night to suit the mood, but we, especially Hee-na, had been holding back for too long to think about such things one by one.

And putting aside all these excuses, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. Maybe, from the moment I met Hee-na today.

“Let’s go.”