"Always remember, that boy is an orphan. We have over fifty cows in our barn, and he is worthless. No matter how much he studies, he can never be your equal."
"But Papa, I just wanted to be his friend," a childlike voice cried out in protest, but that was it. The village head simply left his daughter behind and walked toward the vast rice fields his family owned.
— Childhood Memory of Cheon Yoona.
"Just so you know, if you didn’t have a sick father... I would’ve abandoned you with your suitcase."
Suho said as he and Yoona waited for the train to arrive. Suho was actually glad that he had helped her out—not because of the mission or because she had lied to the old woman, but because the station was far colder than he had expected. He was wearing only a cheap T-shirt and jeans, and he was starting to feel cold.
Pulling such a huge suitcase had kept him quite warm, but he still needed something warmer to wear. Unfortunately, it was rush hour, and the whole station was packed with people. Office workers and students crowded the platform, everyone waiting for the train and hoping to squeeze inside when it arrived. Suho couldn’t even leave to buy a jacket now because, if he did, there was a good chance he would miss his train.
"Thank you..."
Remembering her father, Yoona became slightly sad. Seeing her like that, Suho didn’t open his mouth. The more he talked to her, the more likely they were to start arguing again. She looked tiny compared to him. She was maybe five-foot-two, and standing beside someone like Suho, who was six feet tall and built like an electric pole, she looked even smaller.
’Damn! It’s cold... I should buy a jacket or something warmer...’
Looking at Yoona, who was wearing a huge puffy red jacket that made her look even chubbier because of her already puffy cheeks, Suho realized just how badly he was lacking clothes. The last cardigan he had was given to Daji before he left, so yeah, he definitely needed to buy some clothes and other day-to-day stuff.
’Even that cardigan has two holes in it, so it wasn’t a very generous gift...’
Suho had thought he would start fresh in Seoul. He was used to cold weather, but this time, even his body was reacting to it. It was just that cold; his skin prickled from the cold, and the hairs on his arms stood up.
’Yeah... I can’t believe I can’t endure this much cold... What is the temperature?’
Suho pulled out his phone and opened the weather app. It was showing 3°C (37°F). The last time he had experienced a temperature this low was last winter, when he was wrapped inside a thick quilt and preparing to sleep for the night.
’Man... I hate winter. I can’t believe it’s already here... Let’s buy a jacket as soon as possible. I don’t want to get sick.’
Suho looked around. The station was huge, with plenty of stores around it. Back at the orphanage, he had felt the cold too, but it had been something he could handle, so as usual, he had simply ignored it. The bus had its heater on as well, so his usual habit of overlooking small things had once again gotten him into trouble.
As he looked around, Suho finally spotted a clothing store nearby, maybe only a thirty-second walk from where he was standing. The name of the store was ’Gucci,’ and even from the outside, it looked extremely fancy.
Suho would have normally stayed far away from a place like that, but with almost ten million won in his bank account, he felt slightly more confident in himself. Without thinking too much, he immediately tried to walk toward the store, only to get caught once again when someone grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Where are you going?"
Yoona asked. Her nose had turned red from the cold, and her chubby cheeks looked as if they were naturally blushing. She was also sniffling slightly.
"That’s none of your business, really..."
Suho simply jerked his shirt out of her hand and, without thinking too much, walked toward the store. Wearing rough, cheap clothes while holding his brand-new phone, he still entered with confidence.
What welcomed him was a sales representative with a fake smile on her face. Suho easily saw through it. She was only smiling because she had to; otherwise, judging by how luxurious the store was, she probably would have preferred to send someone dressed like him straight back outside.
"Welcome, sir. What can we help you with? The washroom is for customers only, so if you’re here to use it... I’m sorry, but it’s not available right now."
"What?"
"I’m sorry, sir. Store policy."
Suho was shocked when the employee physically blocked his way. He had dealt with small insults before while growing up in the orphanage, so this kind of behavior wasn’t completely new to him, but this felt different. It felt like she was directly insulting him just because of how he looked.
"Get the fuck away from the door, you fat ass."
Before Suho could say anything, he heard the rough sound of suitcase wheels scraping hard against the tiled floor. A second later, Yoona came into view, dragging the huge suitcase behind her with all her strength.
She was breathing heavily, her face slightly red, and once she reached them, she practically collapsed over the suitcase, resting her entire upper body on top of it while trying to catch her breath.
"Young lady... did you just... curse?"
"Yes... fat ass. Move away from the door so we can go inside and shop."
Yoona wasn’t polite at all. Even Suho was taken aback by how rudely she was speaking, but he felt like this woman deserved it. He had wanted to ask for the manager himself, but it seemed Yoona had already taken revenge on his behalf.
"Excuse me, but..."
"Excuse your ass... If we miss the train because of you, I’ll tell my Uncle Lim about this, and you’ll get fired."
Yoona simply brushed past her without giving the employee another look. As soon as she entered the store, a look of relief appeared on her face, while the employee lowered her head and stepped aside, finally giving Suho a clear way to enter the shop.