IF YOU'RE HANDSOME LIFE IS EASIER

073

The Next Morning After Setting Up a Meeting with Sujin

"You're already here?"
"Yeah, meeting on the first floor is quicker."

Sujin was waiting outside her house.
I had been planning to greet her parents since it had been a while.

‘Well, I can always do that another time.’

With that thought, I glanced at Sujin’s headband.

“Did you always wear a headband?”
“I mean, I hate sweating, so… it makes sense, right?”

Oddly, as she answered, she kept fidgeting with her bangs.
Now that I thought about it, I remembered hearing somewhere that girls paid a lot of attention to their bangs.

‘They even hold them down when they’re running, right?’

As that image popped into my mind, I headed straight for the nearby track field.
It was early morning, so it was deserted, and the track looked clear—perfect for a relaxed run.

“But are you really planning to keep doing this every day?”
“Huh? Doing what?”
“I mean, are we seriously going to practice like this together regularly?”

At Sujin’s question, I nodded confidently.

“Of course. Ideally, you should run steadily for at least six months, but hey, doing something is better than nothing.”

The secret to running well was simple and straightforward: just keep running consistently.

Of course, there were limits, but achieving a level of “decent running” was totally doable for most people.

‘Obviously, one week won’t cut it for that, though.’

Still, it was enough time to make running feel less awkward.

“First, we absolutely have to stretch, or you’ll get hurt.”
“Really? How do you do it?”
“Just follow my lead.”

Stretching wasn’t anything complicated.
It was pretty much the same warm-up exercises we used to do in elementary school.
A privilege of being a teenager, really.

“I remember half-assing these in school all the time. Kind of weird doing them now.”
“Well, except for a few weird moves, they’re not so bad.”

With that, the running began and went off without a hitch.
I mean, it’d be strange if there were any actual obstacles to running.

‘Three kilometers in 15 minutes? That’s pretty solid.’

According to military fitness standards, that was third grade.
It seemed my past as an actor had left me in decent shape.

“Huff… huff…”

When the first run ended, Sujin was gasping for air and frantically searching for water.

“Drink slowly, slowly.”

I had anticipated this, so I pulled a bottle of water from the bag I’d brought and handed it to her.

Gulp, gulp.

As Sujin drank, she unconsciously adjusted her headband, which seemed to be bothering her.

And then—

She pulled it off.

Wanting to feel more comfortable, she removed the headband, which caused her bangs to lift, revealing…

“Oh, a pimple.”

A zit on her forehead.

“Huh? Huh?! Huh?!?!?”