"How would you like your hair cut?"
"Um... just trim it please."
"How should I trim it? Your hair is quite voluminous overall, so thinning it out might not work. Do you have any particular style in mind?"
Coming to a big salon was fine up to this point, following Yumin's words to make his hair pretty.
But everything after that was a series of surprises, shocks, and bewilderment.
'Maybe I should have just gotten it cut at my usual place...'
There, without needing to say anything, "Please do it as usual" would result in them automatically giving him the "Kim Minsu cut".
He had never once specifically thought about that hairstyle.
A haircut you get without thinking, a space where they silently just cut your hair without talking.
He really missed his regular hair salon now.
"I don't have anything... in particular."
"Is this your first time at our salon?"
"Yes, yes..."
"Oh! Is it for a date?!"
Minsu's heart grew more troubled at the staff's friendliness emanating from the salon.
He wished they wouldn't talk to him anymore, and couldn't understand why they asked such personal questions.
'What if I didn't have a girlfriend...'
But thinking the opposite way, does this mean I look like someone who has a girlfriend?
Suddenly feeling good, his shoulders straighten and his nose rises high.
"That's right."
"Oh my, then just trimming is too wasteful when you've come all the way to the salon. How about trying a perm? Your hair length is suitable and it should look good."
"A perm?"
"Yes, it'll change your atmosphere instantly. There are quite a few perms that would suit you. You have a good face shape, so I think everything would look great overall. Shall I show you a few photos?"
"Yes, yes..."
For Vincenzo, the head designer at Essence Salon, handling one rookie customer was nothing.
Vincenzo had accurately grasped who Minsu was from the moment he entered the salon.
'Hero Kim Minsu... He doesn't usually come to our salon but suddenly came... To dress up? There's only one reason a man dresses up - women...! He came determined to do his hair today.'
He grasps the customer's needs in advance and moves thoroughly according to them.
Not a single thing Vincenzo had said so far was a lie.
Scamming a naive customer? That would be truly trashy behavior.
'I'm just suggesting a direction.'
To always cut it the same way without knowing what possibilities your hair might have.
Would a girlfriend like that for a date? He couldn't be certain, but he didn't think so.
"If you look at this model's hairstyle, the head shape is very similar to yours. Oh, but your looks are much better. Hoho."
"Really?"
Flattery makes even whales dance. But it shouldn't be too burdensome and should flow naturally in conversation.
Being a salon's head designer wasn't just about cutting hair well.
How many regular customers you could attract through friendliness and communication was also an important measure.
"Of course, I'm not the type to just say empty words about these things. Anyway, having a similar head shape means the style will come out somewhat similarly, but don't you feel the model's style looks very different with and without a perm?"
Clear enunciation, not too burdensome distance and voice pitch.
Perfect diction that hammers into the ears.
Minsu wasn't thinking straight right now.
To be honest, the difference with the perm didn't look that big to him.
But since he said it was very different, it seemed that way too.
"Yes, to some extent...?"
"That 'some extent' can make or break a style. So what I'd like to recommend for you is an ash perm and down perm together, pressing down the hair while slightly lifting the part area. What do you think? And I see you have some grey hair too, how about dyeing it a deep black for a strong impression while we're at it?"
"Ah... that..."
"If you do it now, we're also doing hair nutrition treatment together. This will make the color last longer and the perm will hold longer, raising the overall quality. Would that be okay?"
"Yes... yes..."
Minsu couldn't come to his senses.
What kind of friendliness is this? How can someone talk like this to a person they're meeting for the first time?
It seemed like he was talking similarly to himself, but it wasn't unpleasant at all.
"Then please wait a moment~ I'm going to prepare a drink for you while you wait, is there any drink you'd like?"
"Then strawberry ade..."
"Okay~ I'll bring you strawberry ade~ Thank you, customer."
Though it felt like he'd made a big decision in a daze, he thought it was good to think positively.
'I came to do my hair anyway.'
It's better to properly dress up than just trim.
Minsu nodded while looking in the mirror.
'Is Yumin really going to fall for me completely today?'
He's already excited.
+++++++++++++++++++++
"I just need to be there?"
"Yeah, that's right. Don't let Minsu see you and hide somewhere."
"Then what?"
"Minsu will probably get a phone call after some time passes. When that call ends, naturally approach him and just ask 'Are you okay?' once."
"If I do just that, you'll test our new weapon development once, right?"
"That's what I said."
"Okay."
Melanie replayed the recording of the sudden call she received yesterday.
It was an abrupt request, but an understandable deal.
'I shouldn't have offered to make Kim Minsu a model...'
How much better it would have been if this deal was the model offer.
Baek Taeyang was moving too fast to be called a rising star.
He was moving at a speed too fast to even read the negative reviews saying he would just shine briefly.
'Following Nest Chairman Choi Youngnam, now even Wonderland CEO Ben Moro...'
When big hands of large corporations start flocking, the price skyrockets uncontrollably.
That brief moment she met Baek Taeyang in the limousine was when his price was at its lowest.
She felt self-loathing that the future heir to lead the Kaiban Group couldn't even have such a perspective.
Kim Minsu was more at the level of a rising star.
A small star that can't even properly shine, overshadowed by Baek Taeyang.
'Being in the same class as Baek Taeyang, he's likely to end up just as a promising talent until graduation.'
Baek Taeyang was already building such strong recognition externally that he was called a "hunter".
For a Victory Academy first-year cadet to be called a "hunter", it was unbelievable but reality.
Normally there should be some backlash among hunters, but even that didn't happen.
This was because Hunter Lee Minjun, who was quite influential among hunters, actively supported his title.
"I hope the title of hunter no longer falls into mannerism."
"Since when was graduating from the academy a condition for being a hunter?"
"What determines a hunter is not the educational process."
"I hope the stagnant pool in the hunter world disappears a little, starting with Hunter Baek Taeyang."
It was an admirable statement no matter when you heard it.
This 2-minute video spread instantly across all the internet.
"What do you think, Driver Kim?"
"You mean Hunter Baek Taeyang? For an ordinary person like me, he's very reassuring. There were no casualties at both Nest Mall and Wonderland, right? Honestly, S-rank gates and dungeons are too distant to relate to, but things related to casualties... are so close that it's even more impressive."
"...That's why it's more regrettable..."
Driver Kim closed his mouth, feeling the atmosphere might get heavy if he spoke any more.
There was no point in upsetting the young lady's mood unnecessarily.
'Something to change the subject...'
He desperately rolled his eyes.
It was reaching its limit to endure just parking quietly near Nest Mall.
He needed to find something to refresh the young lady's mood.
'Oh? Found it.'
Bad-mouthing others is not good behavior, but this time it couldn't be helped.
"Miss, look at that person over there. His hair is all done up but his clothes are a complete mess. I guess there are still people like that these days."
"That's Kim Minsu."
"What?!"
"You must be seeing Kim Minsu's casual fashion for the first time. It wasn't usually this bad, but it's gotten especially worse lately."
Even if he lives alone in the dormitory, isn't dressing like that a bit too much?
Driver Kim wondered if perhaps Kim Minsu was a person too ahead of his time.
After all, the world of fashion is profound and heavily influenced by the times.
"Black skinny jeans with a large dog print T-shirt... purple clutch bag... I can't believe it..."
"Me neither, I can't believe I have to go out and have a conversation with someone dressed like that in a little while."
"...Fighting, miss."
"Thank you."
It was hard to even look at him.
Whether it's fortunate or unfortunate, maybe because his pepper is small, it doesn't show much even wearing skinny jeans.
The third leg was at a level where a parrot might or might not pop out, so the crotch area wasn't burdensome.
'I probably don't need to mention this.'
Driver Kim's top priority was absolutely the young lady's peace, stability, and happiness.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
"Why isn't she coming?"
The appointment time had already passed by 10 minutes.
Every time he saw himself in the mirror, he felt proud.
Of course, he didn't know changing his hair once would cost so much money, but he didn't mind since he was satisfied.
"Hmm... Is Yumin in the middle of dressing up too?"
When 30 minutes had passed, he wondered if an accident had happened.
He thought about calling, but didn't want to be a man who rushed things.
After an hour passed, he finally picked up his phone.
Seeing that she wasn't receiving his messages even after sending several, something must have happened.
Ring ring ring
For some reason, an inexplicable chill settles in his body.
It should be a warm spring day, but the moment of waiting for his girlfriend in the bright weather was so anxious.
Why?
A sense of crisis he couldn't understand himself.
Click.
"Yumin, did something happen? I was worried because you haven't come out yet..."
"Don't worry, Minsu."
Huh?
It wasn't Yumin's voice.
An unfamiliar man's voice popped out of the receiver.
Dark clouds gather in the clear sky.
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