8 Purple Snow (Part 2)

The two of them roamed around the store leaving me behind with Ilya. I looked at her and she was still busy fixing up a pink bow on the plant.

'Why is she not done yet? She's been doing that ever since we got here.'

"Ilya?"

She looked uncomfortable so I wanted to help. Friends help each other, right? I should help her since I should be friends with her... even if she's a bit weird... well, she's loaded with money.

The most valuable lesson I learned is always to be on good terms with someone with a thick wallet. They buy you medicine when you're bullied and... I'll stop here.

Ahem-ahem.

"What is it?"

Ilya looked at me. "The plant says the bow doesn't feel right."

Seriously? That's what it always says whenever we went to a store. It's a picky plant. I've never seen a human as picky as this plant.

"How odd," I murmured.

"The plant is asking if you mean that in a good way or if you're just trying to mock it in a weird way," Ilya replied.

I just kept quiet because I don't even know what to say to that. Also, Jashan was walking back to me with an extremely helpless face.

"Hyung. I'm thirsty."

Polly came to us with an urgent expression while still holding a lot of dresses in her hands.

"I'm going to take a while here! There are too many dresses I want to try and I look so damn good in all of them. I have to try them all first and then decide after that."

Of course, the plant always had something to say too.

"The plant says Ilya needs to go to a different store for a perfect bow."

"This idiot plant looking for an idiot-looking bow."

"We can't leave yet! I'm not done!"

"The plant says just take all of them."

Then the three of them looked at me as if they were waiting for what I had to say. I shook my head at their competitive gazes.

'I have nothing to say.'

"Is there even a need for us to argue? Why don't we split up?" I took out something in my pockets. The phone glowed in my hands. "We'll just make a group chat and then meet at the same place after you're all done."

The three of them froze. They must've forgotten because of the hype.

PING!

"Okay, it's done." I tucked the phone back inside my pocket. "We'll meet at the entrance when everyone's ready."

"Seems good. The party won't start until it's nine so we have a lot of time."

"The plant is leaving first."

Then Ilya left while searching on her phone. I saw a dozen pictures of bows before she got out of my sight.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Hmm?"

I looked beside me to see Jashan. He was tapping on my arm with one hand and then pointing at the door with the other.

"Hyung, you have better thing to do than stay with this idiot, right?"

Polly scoffed. "Ha! And what would that be?"

"Of course, going with me to order a drink."

"Pffft! You're a shitty liar. Just say that you want coffee but you can't order it because people under thirteen years old can't enter without a guardian."

Jashan looked shocked. "H-How did you even know that?!"

"I saw you earlier looking at the shop."

"Creep! Creepy idiot!"

The two of them started yelling at each other and the staff had to move to separate them. Embarrassing.

'But it's also cute.'

I just watched them with a smile on my face. I've been feeling a very foreign emotion in my chest since earlier. I can't name it but it hurts my heart and feels good at the same time.

'I think I heard this before.'

I looked to the side and started to think about people who feel good while feeling pain. There was a term for that, I think.

'Ah, I know!'

"A masochist," I blurted out while smiling.

I almost forgot about it. I learned it when I was reading a novel. Speaking about novels, I've never read since I came here. Now I'm suddenly missing it.

"I need one. Badly."

'Should I go to a bookstore? Hmm?'

I looked around when I didn't hear the voices of two people arguing. Then my forehead creased when I saw them looking at me with a flabbergasted expression. The staff also looked like they were very uncomfortable.

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