NINE

Kyungsoo stared at himself in the mirror. He was wearing a casual light grey t-shirt and black jeans, complete with a pair of wayfarer sunglasses. I look good, right?
He preferred sweaters and sweats, but he didn’t want to go out looking like a complete bum – especially not when walking around with a girl. Seorin was annoying, but she was still a girl.

“Where are you going today?” His father asked from the living room.

He paused by the door, knowing Seungsoo was in the kitchen nearby. “Going to see someone,” he replied coolly, knowing it would make his brother envious.
He decided to take his sports car for today and sped towards Seorin’s, albeit a little late.
 

She was waiting out in front, and she didn’t look too pleased that she was kept waiting. She was in a yellow summer dress, easy to spot.
“You said noon,” she mumbled, getting into the seat next to him.

“Noon, 12:17 – same thing,” he replied.

“Where are we heading?”

“Downtown. To the Jackal stores.”

She gaped. “All of them?!” She asked incredulously.

“Nah, just the biggest one – the one near Gangnam station.”

Seorin wondered what he had meant by ‘surveying.’ Were they just going to walk into the store and watch people shop? That was research – but it sounded boring… and long. Was she going to have to spend hours with him? She wondered how long it would be until they got into their next argument.

The sun beamed brightly into her eyes and when the car slowed to a stop at a red light, she took the opportunity to steal Kyungsoo’s sunglasses off his face.
“Thanks,” she said with a smirk as she put them on. “I look good in these, don’t you think?”

He looked at her, speechless and slightly in shock. “Hey! Give them back. I’m the driver – I need them more!”

She ignored his demands and instead pulled out her camera to take some cute pictures of herself.

“Stop taking those damn selfies and give–” A loud honk from the car behind his interrupted his rant.

He huffed and pressed the pedal, letting her keep them on for just a little while longer. The sun didn’t bother him that much anyway.

# # #

The streets were crowded and the parking lot even more so, but Kyungsoo received special treatment: private parking spot, valet service, and even free ice-cold water bottles. The employees seemed intrigued to see a girl with him and offered her those nice things and some make-up samples as well.
He dragged her away from all the free things and into Gangnam’s Jackal – a three-story clothing store, complete with apparel, shoes, equipment, and accessories.
 

Seorin took a look around, taking note of the posters that hung around the store – athletic swimmers taking a breath of air, attractive men jogging or biking in Jackal gear… Typical ads.
She stayed by the counter, trying to subtly watch what most people were buying. She noticed Kyungsoo sitting by the shoes, trying on a pair of sneakers. She huffed in annoyance – they were supposed to be working, not shopping.

She stomped over, pulling him up from his seat. “Stop being so useless and go around to ask people what kind of ads attract them the most – like whether it’s the text, the image, colors, cleverness…”

He frowned. Him? Useless? Do Kyungsoo was not useless – he hated being called that the most… because it was the word Seungsoo used most often.
He sighed in annoyance as he took the notepad and pen that she held out. Because he didn’t want to look useless, he obediently stepped outside of the store to ask people walking in some questions.
Where are all the hot girls at? He thought with a grumble as the young men ignored his requests – he was much better at persuading the ladies.

He perked his head up at the sight of an attractive girl walking towards him but