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Chapter 9
Anyway, the problem with the photo book had been settled for now, and the plant-care work was also going fairly well.
I still hadn’t figured out what kind of program to make, but I felt like there was no need to rush.
“Mom? What’s wrong?”
However, when Mom came home from work this time, she didn’t look very happy. I wondered if something had happened.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah~ It’s just… business hasn’t been very good lately. Looking at this month, I don’t think there’ll be much left after we pay the employees’ salaries.”
It was true that the economy wasn’t doing very well.
All-you-can-eat meat restaurants always had some demand, but our restaurant wasn’t part of a franchise chain. Dad had started it as an independent business, so when it came to advertising and things like that, we couldn’t compete with the well-known franchise restaurants in the same industry.
Honestly, I’m no expert on meat, but I really thought the meat at our restaurant was pretty good.
“It’s almost the end of the year, though. Won’t customers come in?”
“Mom’s hoping for year-end company dinners too… Places that make reservations early should have contacted us already, but we haven’t heard much.”
I wondered whether I should tell Mom that I’d been quietly making some money from my hobbies.
“Mom.”
“Hmm?”
“…I’ll go out and help this weekend too.”
But I soon decided against it.
I wasn’t planning to hide the fact that I had money. Mom already knew that I received a decent amount of money from my public service salary.
However, I didn’t think the amount I’d made over the past few days was enough to announce, ‘I have money!’
Besides, I still needed quite a bit of starting capital before these side businesses really got going, such as money for buying flowerpots and paying the model. I was also planning to replace my computer.
I was worried that if I told her now, I might raise her expectations only to disappoint her later.
Once I was making as much as an ordinary person’s salary, I’d tell her and do something nice for my parents.
In any case, the hobby abilities were definitely effective.
Sooner or later, the day would come when I could proudly tell her about it.
- Two days later, Sunday afternoon –
Beep!
-Who is it?
“Uh, it’s me, Hoyeon.”
-Beep. Ah, Oppa. Come in.
Beep!
The electronic lock beeped, and the apartment’s main entrance opened.
Two days ago, Yoo Ji-a had left me with the warning, ‘I won’t forgive you if you don’t take pretty pictures of me.’
This time, I was entering that very same apartment.
‘She said the 13th floor.’
I got into the elevator and got off when I reached the 13th floor.
‘Why am I getting nervous?’
Maybe it was because this was my first time visiting a girl’s home.
Of course, when I was in elementary school, I’d been to someone’s birthday party and things like that, but this was a little different.
At twenty-one, we were both adults who knew enough about these things, and I was going to a girl’s house while her parents weren’t there.
‘Although her younger sister is here too.’
I had no ulterior motives, but it would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous when both Yoo Ji-a and her younger sister Sena were extremely beautiful.
“You’re here to see my sister, right?”
I carefully hid my nervousness and greeted Sena at the front door.
“But why are you out here?”
“Ah… Oppa, could you wait here for a moment?”
“Here?”
“My sister is still getting ready.”
I wondered what there was to prepare for, but I didn’t say it out loud.
Women had their own circumstances. Unlike men, who could get ready in ten minutes even if they were meeting someone at the same time, I’d heard that women could take an hour just to get themselves ready.
In a situation like this, the polite thing to do was simply wait quietly.
“Hey, Yoo Sena! Where did you put my mist…?”
Click.
The door opened behind Sena, and Yoo Ji-a came out.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yeah.”
I wondered what she had been doing to get ready so seriously at home, but even I could tell she’d put a lot of effort into her makeup.
“You always dress like that at home?”
“W-What!? Does it… look weird?”
Then I noticed Ji-a’s outfit.
It was mostly black, with what you could call a punk-style theme. She was wearing a short black tennis skirt, a crop top that showed a little of her belly button, and a leather jacket over it.
There was no doubt that this wasn’t her ordinary clothes for lounging around at home.
“Sis, just come inside first…”
“Ah! Right. Come in.”
As soon as I entered the house, a pleasant but overly strong scent hit me.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
Ji-a looked surprised when I unconsciously frowned. She seemed strangely restless.
“Sis, the diffuser…”
“Ah!”
Ji-a hurriedly ran into her room, but it was already too late. The entire house was filled with the strong fragrance.
“Haah… Seriously, I don’t know…”
Ji-a sighed deeply. Then, as if she’d given up, she firmly shut her bedroom door and said to me,
“Wait. I’ll change clothes and come out.”
The reason I had come to the home of a female high school classmate whose parents weren’t there on this sunny Sunday was because she had offered to show me her cosplay outfits.
The cosplay costumes that Ji-a kept carefully hidden deep inside her closet, where nobody was allowed to touch them.
Apparently, only her younger sister Sena knew they existed, and even Sena had never actually seen them in person.
‘She said she’d kill me if I touched them, Oppa.’
But today, for whatever reason, Ji-a had decided to show me her cosplay costumes even though Sena was also at home.
I’d told her there was no need to do this at home, but when I thought about it, there really wasn’t another suitable place.
“Hmm…”
To be honest, I was quite excited.
Ji-a could be a little sharp-tempered, but she was definitely beautiful.
Earlier, I’d pretended to casually tease her by asking if she really dressed like that at home, but I couldn’t deny that the outfit suited her extremely well.
With the carefully applied makeup as well, Ji-a looked surprisingly beautiful, and that made me both curious and excited to see what kind of cosplay costumes she’d come out wearing.
“Ah, I’m nervous…”
“You are?”
Ji-a was the one changing clothes, yet Sena was the one nervously waiting beside me.
“This is my first time seeing my sister cosplay.”
“Ah~ Did you hear why she’s showing me her cosplay today?”
Sena nodded.
“You said you wanted to take pictures of my sister’s cosplay, right? And make a photo book out of them so you could keep it for yourself…”
“Huh?”
Something seemed to have gotten seriously distorted along the way.
“…You’re more of a pervert than I thought, Oppa.”
“No, I think you’ve misunderstood something…”
Just then, Ji-a slightly opened the bedroom door and poked her head out.
“Sena! Help me with this!”
“Okay, Sis.”
Without even hearing my explanation, Sena went over to help her sister.
At this rate, I was going to end up looking like some pervert who wanted to own a photo book of his high school classmate.
“I’m coming out now, so don’t laugh!”
“I won’t laugh. I’m not that rude.”
“Anyway! If you laugh, everything’s canceled! Canceled!”
You were pretty extreme, Ji-a.
Honestly, I could probably pick you up and throw you with one hand.
Click.
The closed bedroom door finally opened, and Yoo Ji-a, who had taken so long to come out, finally appeared.
“Oh!”
I’d intended to react positively no matter what she wore, but when I saw her, I couldn’t help letting out a genuine gasp of admiration.
The outfit was a refreshing blue, almost like armor shaped after clouds.
It wasn’t a particularly large costume. It covered her chest and lower body somewhat like a tank top and short pants. It might have looked a little old-fashioned, but it suited Ji-a incredibly well.
The parts not covered by the armor were draped with thin fabric of the same color.
It covered her pale thighs and pretty legs, while also wrapping around her slender arms without a trace of excess fat.
With the matching headpiece completing the outfit, Ji-a looked almost like an Eastern goddess.
“Pretty.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. It suits you incredibly well.”
When I gave her my honest opinion, Ji-a’s face turned red.
If only she acted that cute and gentle all the time.
“Since you’re already wearing it, why don’t we take a few quick pictures?”
“Now!?”
We’re planning to release a cosplay photo book eventually anyway. I didn’t understand why she was so surprised.
“Ah, I haven’t mentally prepared myself yet…”
“I just want to see what kind of pictures we can get.”
“Even so…”
Ji-a was unusually shy and kept hesitating.
I smiled at her and said,
“Don’t worry. You’re really pretty, so the pictures will definitely come out beautifully too.”
“…”
Even I felt a little embarrassed after saying that.
Ji-a lowered her head and couldn’t move after hearing my cheesy words. Her ears were bright red, as if someone had heated them with a fire.
“…Oppa, you’re naturally talented.”
“At what?”
“In many ways.”
I was fairly good with words despite being an athlete, but I didn’t think that was what she meant.
“Anyway, let’s hurry up and take some pictures. How many more outfits do you have?”
“The ones I currently own… about four?”
“Hmm. That might be a little too few for a photo book.”
I was planning to take eight photos for each outfit, for a total of around sixty photos.
“I sometimes buy the outfits I really like, but most of the time I borrow them for events.”
“Events?”
She went to events too?
Was she actually planning to become a serious model?
“Cosplay events.”
“Ah~”
I’d heard of those too.
Apparently, events where all kinds of otaku, from cosplayers to artists, gathered were held here and there.
Ji-a probably went to those events to enjoy her hobby.
‘Everyone really does have their own hobbies, whether they’re surprising or obvious.’
Ms. Cha had gardening.
Ji-a had cosplay.
Sena had jogging.
Dad’s hobby was also taking care of plants, and before Mom took over the restaurant, she spent her free time making miniatures.
‘When I think about it, I really lived a pretty monotonous life.’
Until now, the only thing I’d really done in my free time was play games.
I realized all over again just how boring my life had been.
But not anymore.
I had gained several different hobbies, and I’d probably gain even more in the future.
And since I could make a living from those hobbies alone, there was nothing left for my life to do but become more interesting.
“All right, then. Let’s take some pictures.”
I smiled brightly once again and pointed my phone at Yoo Ji-a.
Her face was still bright red, but Ji-a was also smiling slightly.
Five outfits.
Forty photos.
They had been taken with nothing more than my phone, which wasn’t even the latest model, but the quality was so good that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call every single one a masterpiece.
“You’re seriously good at taking pictures. I’ve been telling you, you should just go into this professionally.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. If photography became my actual job instead of a hobby, the ability probably wouldn’t apply.”
‘It’s strictly a hobby ability, after all.’
While looking through the photos of her sister on the phone together with me, Sena unconsciously muttered,
“I want to try it too…”
“Huh? Really?”
The words had slipped out before she could stop herself.
Sena jumped in surprise and stepped back. Then she pressed her lips together and nodded.
“Mm-hmm… But we don’t have any clothes that would suit me.”
That made sense.
They were sisters, but their heights and figures were different.
“No, I don’t necessarily mean cosplay… I’m embarrassed too. I don’t think I could be as confident as my sister.”
“Once you actually try it, it’s not a big deal.”
Was that really true?
It wasn’t exactly something I should say as the person taking the pictures, but honestly, I also thought cosplay was embarrassing.
“Let’s stop here for today. Next time, bring some of your other outfits and let’s go to the studio. The pictures might come out even better there.”
“Okay.”
I sent all the pictures I’d taken to Ji-a and stood up to leave.
“You’re leaving already?”
Ji-a now seemed completely comfortable wearing a game character cosplay costume in front of her high school classmate, so she looked at me with some confusion.
“If we’ve finished taking the pictures, I should go.”
“Stay for dinner. My parents won’t be home until tonight anyway.”
“Should we? Order delivery?”
And so, I ate dinner with the two sisters at Ji-a’s house before finally returning home.
