Chapter 107: Department Store Shopping

What is a change of pace?

It’s a word that only holds meaning under the premise of negative emotions like depression, exhaustion, or dissatisfaction.

So, if you’re not feeling bad at all. If you’re maintaining calmness through meditation, rather.

A change of pace is entirely unnecessary.

That’s what I argued, but –

“Unni! Why are you thinking so complicatedly? If you want a change of pace, you just do it!”

Koharu said cheerfully.

“No, aren’t I right?”

“Not at all! Bomi halmeoni! Defeat this 4D sophistry with the wisdom of the elders!”

“You die.”

Sara, pushed forward by Koharu, let out a light sigh.

“Well, a change of pace is literally ‘changing your mood’. Even if it’s good, it can get better, and even if it’s okay, let’s try to make it more fun.”

“I see. Making something already good even better…”

While I was momentarily speechless at the unexpectedly solid logic, Karen added with a grin.

“For someone saying that, Leah came out without complaints too.”

“But taking a break from broadcasting as a group seems a bit grand.”

“Unni. Today is my regular day off anyway.”

“That’s not the important part right now.”

Ignoring the bickering voices of Koharu and Sara, I looked around the place we arrived at.

The department store on a weekday morning was quiet.

The low conversations of adults, the peaceful face of a child sleeping in a stroller, and the classical music arrangement BGM flowing distantly overhead.

All the displays entering my vision sparkled brilliantly. The mannequins lined up in front of the stores looked like soldiers occupying positions before battle.

I didn’t refuse the gathering among members for a change of pace.

But the method being ‘shopping’ was still… a bit difficult to understand, should I say.

I knew women liked shopping. It’s common sense.

However, I didn’t understand exactly what was so fun about it.

Choosing clothes, touching them, trying them on, taking pictures—

The fact that it was more than just the ‘act of buying things’, that it moved emotions, was hard for my past self to grasp.

Even now, honestly… it’s not much different.

Of course, I have a sense for modern women’s clothing.

Because I have knowledge accumulated from the clothes originally in the house, plus additional orders.

Even now, looking at the thin, light summer clothes hanging on each rack, I could roughly grasp it.

Chiffon, linen, lace— clothes expressing summer not by revealing the body, but through transparency.

One of those stores seemed to catch Koharu’s eye.

“This is the place for Unni!”

Following Koharu who reached out her hand, I naturally walked inside.

The employee preparing to assist saw us, and the moment she faced me, who entered last, her eyes widened.

Just before speaking, I heard a faint intake of breath.

“We… Welcome.”

The employee cautiously approached.

“Um… Are you perhaps, looking for a specific style?”

When I turned my head, another employee also subtly approached and stood there.

Neither of them spoke. Instead, only their eyes moved busily. Face, shoulder line, fingertips.

A gaze that seemed to explore whether all the clothes in this store would suit me right now.

Karen moved closer to the employees and said.

“Please take good care of her. She has a total model figure.”

A look of surprise crossed the employee’s face as she looked up.

“Ah… Are you really a model? Did you just finish a photoshoot?”

“No. I’m not really a model.”

It seemed the sunglasses I wear when going out contributed to that atmosphere.

“But model figure doesn’t seem right. Models need to be slim.”

“Choeun is slim, but. She’s a bit… big, right?”

Koharu and Sara spoke in turn. From the perspective of choosing clothes, I felt like I knew where they meant was big without asking…

The employee, perhaps hearing the members’ conversation, trailed off her words with a smile.

“Including that aspect, I’ll recommend clothes that best suit your body shape. Among the new arrivals this season, there are many lines that flatter the figure while falling comfortably.”

Her tone was cautious, but I could feel she was already conscious of my bust and hip lines.

The first dress the employee presented was a cream-colored one-piece with a subtle sheen.

As I changed inside the fitting room and slowly parted the curtain, I sensed a slight holding of breath outside.

Koharu reacted first.

“Wow! Crazy! So pretty!”

Sara immediately followed.

“You could wear this straight out.”

Karen silently approached and observed closely.

The employee stood with one hand gathered in front of her chest, her eyes wide.

“This kind of fit really doesn’t come easily. People with volume often find the fabric puckering or looking bulky… but now the lines are so natural, and the overall silhouette is really beautiful. It feels like watching the clothes flow.”

I looked in the mirror too.

The length came down to my calves. The fabric covering the bustline had thin pintucks. There was no separate belt at the waist, but the line followed my body naturally.
‘It certainly looks luxurious and pretty…’

I stopped looking at the mirror and turned my head slightly.

“This… What’s the price range?”

The employee smiled and said.

“Yes, this product is a new arrival that came in this week. The regular price is 920,000 won. Right now, there’s a 10% discount applied exclusively for members.”

I understood. Is this why it’s called a change of pace? After spending that much on a single dress, my mood definitely changes! To discomfort.

Of course, I’m also earning quite well in my own way.

But spending over 900,000 won on a single piece of clothing was still sensorially unfamiliar. Moreover, during the war, I had always lived a life avoiding luxury and being wary of unnecessary consumption… That habit remained a little.

Considering that, the memory of immediately buying a 1.3 million won VR device surfaced… but well, that was equipment close to actual combat… It’s different from clothes, I want to believe.

“Um… Thank you, but I’ll just look.”

I lightly raised my hand to decline.

“Ah~ Unni. No, no. There’s still more!”

Koharu raised her hand high.

“It’s a waste to end after trying just one! We’re riding the mood properly now!”

“That’s right. Trying things on is free anyway.”

Sara also chimed in with a chuckle.

“Besides, shopping is about opening your eyes through comparison.”

Karen silently picked up another dress and handed it to me.

Pastel blue, a thin chiffon high neck reaching above the collarbone, and a long design with only the waistline subtly defined.

“…How about this?”

I quietly accepted the dress.

And like that, another piece. And another.

Somewhere along the way, I felt doubt and asked the members.

“…Aren’t you guys buying anything here? Sara Unni too.”

Koharu raised both hands.

“We came to watch Unni?”

Sara said with unnecessary seriousness.

“This is Choeun’s exclusive store. If we wore it, it would just be a piece of cloth?”

Karen picked up a blouse nearby, glanced at me once, and quietly hung it back up.

“…This needs you to wear it to be clothes.”

I touched the hem of the clothes lightly with my fingertips.

Is that really so?

What was slightly bewildering was that the process of continuously changing clothes and looking in the mirror —

Was surprisingly not unpleasant.

Clothes that fit my body well, words saying I’m pretty, the changes confirmed by eye.

I usually dress well with an elf’s aesthetic sense, but today felt a bit different.

Eventually.

I put on that first cream-colored dress again.

This time, I spent a little more time in front of the mirror.

The feel against my skin, the falling lines, the atmosphere confirmed by eye.

It was definitely just a few pieces of cloth, but I myself, wearing them, looked slightly different.

…Just one piece.

Owning clothes chosen not to prove something or fight,

but simply for the reason of wanting to be pretty—

‘Might not be bad.’

Leaving the store like that, I held a shopping bag in one hand.

“Unni! Give it here. I’ll carry it!”

Koharu promptly tried to take it – but as I raised my arm, her hand cut through the air.

“Why? I’ll just carry it.”

“Yoona. Don’t act up.”

Naturally, that was Sara speaking from behind.

※※※

It was well past lunchtime.

The other members also had at least one small bag in their hands.

This time, Karen spoke up.

“Let’s take a break now. My feet are burning…”

Koharu chimed in agreement.

“Aren’t you hungry? Unnis have so much energy, really.”

I looked around the nearby stores once more.

“…It seems like there are still quite a few places we haven’t entered around here?”

The three members turned their heads simultaneously to look at me.

“Leah… Are you… serious right now?”

“Huh? Just… I feel like I can still walk.”

Looking around and trying on clothes doesn’t consume that much stamina… That thought occurred to me.

I casually swept my hair back with the back of my hand.

Sara said softly.

“You said you didn’t know why people need a change of pace?”

Karen, sticking close by, lightly nudged my side.

“You look like the most excited person right now?”

I immediately refute the absurd statement.

“What are you talking about. I just… followed you guys around?”

Koharu dramatically pointed at my wrist.

“Choeun! Look at that wrist. Did you perhaps finish all your shopping?”

I silently raised both hands.

…Why are there so many shopping bags.