"Oppa, do you notice anything different about me since yesterday?"

Sia's surprise question made my mind go blank. 'Do you notice anything different about me?' Wasn't that one of the hardest questions a girlfriend could ask her boyfriend? If she'd cut her long hair short or dyed it, sure, but unless the change was that obvious, it wasn't easy to spot every little difference.

But wait. 'What changed?'

I'd seen Sia's face during our video call yesterday, but I'd been exhausted. After running around all day, I'd barely made it back to my room before calling her just before bed, my eyes half-closed. I could hardly remember what we'd talked about, let alone exactly how she'd looked.

'Still, I have to find it.' If I hesitated and got it wrong, there was no telling what might happen. One thing was certain: it probably wouldn't be something I could handle.

"Hmm. Now, what's different about my Sia?"

To buy time, I stepped closer and slowly examined her face. I'd start with her hair. Her bangs had been down yesterday too, I thought, and they didn't look any different today. Unless...

"Did you put a little wave in your hair?"

"Yeah! That's right."

I hadn't been entirely sure even as I said it. Who knew that would be the answer? 'Thank goodness.'

If she'd curled it more, I'd have noticed immediately. But the waves were so subtle they were hard to spot at a glance. Even though I'd guessed right, I couldn't relax yet.

"I tried it for a change. What do you think? Does it suit me?"

There was still the follow-up question. Saying she looked pretty and that it suited her wouldn't be bad, but I didn't want my compliment to sound like empty flattery. What Sia probably wanted was an answer that showed how much I cared.

"It goes surprisingly well with your outfit. It gives you a slightly chic look without losing that lively charm you've always had. Changing your hair was a great idea."

I watched her reaction at once. Sure enough, the corners of her mouth lifted. "How about from this angle?" she asked, spinning in place.

"You look gorgeous."

"Hee-hee."

Even I had to admit I'd nailed that answer.

"Come to think of it, your hair and the way you're dressed today look a lot like the style you wore when you were around twenty-two."

"That's right! You remember that, even though it was years ago?"

"I thought of it on the bus yesterday and looked through some old photos of us. I saw it then. It suited you back then, and it suits you now."

A bright smile spread across Sia's face. "Hearing you say that makes me want to keep doing my hair like this for a while. Hee-hee. I'm glad I changed it."

She took out her phone, turned on the camera, and moved it around to admire her hair from different angles.

'Good. I got through that.' She seemed happy with my answer. Just as I was about to change the subject naturally, she said, "And, Oppa, can you guess what else is different?"

... Huh? There was something besides her hair? 'I have no idea.'

I scanned Sia from head to toe again. Her makeup didn't seem different. Maybe she'd bought new clothes or accessories, but honestly, I couldn't tell. Or maybe...

"Did you change your perfume?"

"Yes! I tried the one you use! It feels strange but nice to smell the same scent on myself that I smell on you."

Sia lifted her sleeve to her nose, then leaned in naturally to sniff my clothes and compare the scents. The perfume could be worn by women, but it was more commonly worn by men. Personally, I thought the one she usually wore suited her better. But she seemed so pleased with the change that I kept that thought to myself.

"Do you like the scent?"

"Of course! It's kind of comforting whenever I smell it. Come to think of it, you're wearing it today too, aren't you?"

Oblivious to what I was thinking, Sia rested her head against my chest and sniffed, apparently enjoying the perfume. Then she said, "Even our perfume matches today."

She looked up at me with a loving smile in her eyes. Judging by her mood, I'd gotten all the answers right. Just as I was thinking it was time to get our date properly underway, an amusing idea occurred to me.

"Sia, what about me? Do you notice anything different?"

Call it a little playful revenge. Guys often got asked that sort of question by their girlfriends, but girls rarely heard it from their boyfriends. I wondered how Sia would react. Maybe the unexpected question would fluster her, or she'd come up with some wild guess.

But she answered without hesitation. "I haven't seen that belt before. Did you buy it recently?"

"Yeah. But how did you... know?"

My T-shirt partly covered it, and it was a similar color to the belt I usually wore. It couldn't have been easy to notice. Yet Sia had gotten it right immediately.

"And another thing..."

Wait. There wasn't anything else different besides the belt, was there? I hadn't bought any other new clothes or accessories, and my hair was the same as yesterday.

"You put on about 1.3 times as much perfume as usual. No wonder I feel even better than usual."

I hadn't noticed it myself, but now that she mentioned it, I might have put on a little extra before coming out. ... How did she know?

And she wasn't done. "You trimmed your nails, too. I noticed during our call yesterday that it was about time. I was going to trim them for you when we met today if you hadn't done it, but you beat me to it."

... She'd noticed that? Sometimes I failed to notice when a woman had gotten her nails done. How had Sia spotted that I'd trimmed mine?

"Oh, and you've got a tiny new mole on your neck. It definitely wasn't there yesterday. And there's also..."

She went on pointing out tiny changes one by one, including ones I hadn't noticed myself.

"Well? Did I get them all?"

"... Yeah."

What was the person asking the question supposed to do when she knew more answers than he did? I'd secretly hoped she'd get flustered or grow adorably anxious when she couldn't find anything different. Instead, she'd answered in such detail that it knocked the wind out of me. Only then did I remember that Sia was a dragon who never forgot anything. With senses far sharper than an ordinary person's, maybe it would've been stranger if she hadn't noticed.

'If I ask her anything like that again, she'll eat me alive.' I wouldn't do that next time. There was nothing to gain from it.

Anyway, after that shockingly thorough game of spot the difference(?), we finally began our Jeju Island date.

We started with lunch. Seeing the beautiful sights was all well and good, but sightseeing was better on a full stomach. When we'd planned our route a few days earlier, I'd suggested trying black pork while we were on Jeju Island. Sia recommended another local dish instead: bomal kalguksu, a name I'd never even heard before.

"Here we are, Oppa."

At our destination, Sia pointed to a restaurant. Jeju Island's distinctive stone walls surrounded it, and the tangerine tree in its yard was heavy with fruit. Everything about the place looked unmistakably Jeju. There was even a box of tangerines by the entrance. I wondered why it was there until I saw a sign beside it: "Help yourself."

"Is this what Jeju Island is like?"

"Yeah! I was surprised the first time I saw it too, but after looking around, I found lots of places like this. Haven't you seen one during your trip?"

"That's strange. How have I never seen one? Anyway, it's pretty neat."

Chatting about the tangerines, we went inside.

The restaurant showed its age, but it didn't look run-down. It was well maintained, giving it an old-fashioned charm that would look good in photos. Perhaps that was why other young couples were taking pictures inside.

"Oppa, let's take pictures too!"

Sia took out her phone and snapped a photo of us together, then took several of me on my own. "How do you look so good even when I just snap pictures at random? Take some of me too, Oppa."

She handed me her phone. After I'd taken a few pictures of her, I accidentally pressed the home button while handing it back. The wallpaper was already one of the photos she'd just taken of me. When had she even found time to change it?

Anyway.

While we took photos and chatted, our long-awaited bomal kalguksu finally arrived. The dish looked as unfamiliar as its name sounded. Unlike ordinary kalguksu, it was pale green, with what looked like seaweed mixed in. After taking a photo of the food, I scooped up a spoonful and tasted it.

"Oh."

The look of it wasn't really to my taste, so I hadn't expected much. But the first bite filled my mouth with a rich, fragrant flavor. The bomal sea snails, which I'd never tried before, were deliciously chewy too. It was far better than I'd expected.

"What do you think, Oppa? Good, right?"

Sia watched me eat with a pleased expression. Before I could finish swallowing the noodles and answer, she said, "You don't have to tell me. You're surprised it's better than you expected, right? I was too."

"How did you know?"

"Come on, Oppa. I can tell with one look."

I guessed you couldn't discount all the years we'd spent together. She was practically a mind reader.

"Eat up, Oppa. It's hard to find this in Seoul."

Sia smiled at me, looking pleased. "I know. To be honest, I wasn't sure when you first suggested this place, but now that I've tried it, I get it. It's like waves are rolling through my mouth."

"Pfft. 'Waves are rolling through my mouth'? That's a funny way to put it."

We took our time over lunch, chatting about the places I'd visited on this trip and others Sia recommended. As we talked comfortably about one thing and another, she suddenly said, "Oppa, doesn't it seem like something happens almost every time we go on a date?"

"I was thinking the same thing on my way here. I don't think we've had many dates that went smoothly."

It wasn't just a feeling. We really hadn't. Sia gave a slightly rueful smile when I agreed.

"At this point, I almost think the world is determined to keep us apart. But I've got a good feeling about today."

We had more time together now, and we'd shown up dressed like a couple without planning it. She seemed to take that as a lucky sign. If anything, it gave me a faint sense of foreboding, but I kept it to myself.

"Let's make the most of today so we have no regrets."

"Yeah!"

After lunch, our date went smoothly according to plan. We strolled through a sprawling botanical garden and took pictures of each other. We stopped by a market for snacks and bought souvenirs together. Then we chatted at a café overlooking the sea.

The time was short but full, and as it went on, I began to think we might get through the day without a hitch.

But.

"No wonder things were going so well today."

I was wrong.