Chapter 104: The Next Day

The very first thing I felt after opening my eyes was the fact that it felt warmer than usual.

In my blurry vision, I could see soft light brown hair.

It was my girlfriend’s hair…

Doah’s…

Her whole body was tucked in under the white blanket, only her head was slightly peeking out of it.

From her regular breathing, despite me moving around beside her, it seemed like she was still tired after what happened last night.

I reached out to tidy her hair.

When my fingertip lightly touched her cheek, her right brow twitched slightly.

Anyway, we really did it…

The more time passed, the more I woke up, and the clearer my memories became.

It felt like everything was a dream; A sweet dream, as sweet as cotton candy.

So sweet that I felt it would melt in my mouth.

But I knew. What happened yesterday was certainly not a dream.

Because right now, under this blanket…

I moved my arm that was buried down there and touched Doah’s thigh.

Hm, did people’s temperature normally get this hot when they were asleep?

I just touched her lightly, but her thigh felt quite hot.

After that, I slowly pulled my hand upwards, lightly touching her cute little butt, the part of her body that I had never even thought of touching before.

-Gulp

Inside the silent room, the sound of me swallowing my saliva sounded incredibly loud.

My urge to just grab her butt welled up, but I managed to resist it.

I mean, just because we crossed that line once, it didn’t mean I could do whatever I wanted to her.

At the very least, it just didn’t feel right to do this while she was sleeping.

Still, my little guy, who had always been energetic in the morning, was protesting fiercely, as if aware of Doah’s presence, so I decided to get up first rather than suffer needlessly.

When I got out of my bed, I could see the obvious traces of what happened last night on the floor.

Doah’s black knit sweater.

My slightly stretched t-shirt.

I figured that I picked up everything one by one and piled them on the chair. And then…

…Hmm.

I grabbed something that was too soft to exist in my house.

Almost immediately, memories of yesterday played back in my mind. Right, Doah was wearing this, huh…?

Yesterday really was…

“…What are you doing?”

As I was holding the panties with both hands while staring blankly at it, a voice from behind dragged me out of my stupor, causing me to drop the item.

The piece of cloth fell pathetically to the floor.

When I turned around, trying to explain in my flustered state, Doah immediately screamed.

“Kyaaaa!”

It didn’t take long to realize why she was so surprised.

Because right now, I…

Wasn’t wearing anything at all.

-Slurp slurppp

Oppa, now wearing pajama pants and a white t-shirt, was sucking his slightly undercooked noodles into his mouth.

From the way loud noises echoed every time he used his chopsticks, he must have been starving.

“Ah…”

After a while, he lifted the bowl and drank the soup all at once.

Maybe he was eating so hastily because I just scolded him.

But, I had my reasons!!

I mean, c’mon!

Yes, I saw t-that thing yesterday…

T-That… I-Indecent thing…

A-Anyway, our relationship was still a little awkward for me to get used to that thing!

I couldn’t see myself adjusting to it anytime soon…

“So, what are you going to do today?”

I hadn’t even eaten half of mine, but there was almost nothing left in Oppa’s bowl.

“Me? Nothing much. I have my part-time job in the evening and that’s it, I guess?”

“A-Ah, right…”

Somehow…

It was subtle, but everything felt awkward…

We didn’t really talk about anything special, like, this was the conversation that we always had…

But the air between us made it feel like I was meeting a friend after a long time, with the subtle awkwardness and all…

“What about you?”

“Me…?”

I had things to do today, but there was nothing really urgent.

Well, if I had to say something, today, I was planning to review my personal stream plan.

You see, the company required us to submit proposals on how we would conduct our streams every week.

Sometimes I’d suggest the things I wanted to do first, while other times, it was the company who’d make the proposals.

In the latter case, it usually included ads, basically the so-called ‘sponsored’ streams.

“Uh, I think I’m going to rest…”

I blurted that out without much thought, but…

For some reason, Oppa’s expression suddenly darkened after hearing that.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Huh?”

I… Didn’t feel hurt anywhere…?

At his weird question, I tilted my head.

“Ah… Well… You know… I heard that after the first time… It hurts…”

Uh, yeah, yesterday, I was hurting quite a bit.

Especially at the beginning, right after we turned off the lights. Back then, I was having a hard time, but after that…

-Whiiiiieeeee

Someone! Please, pour some water on me…!

It felt like steam was rising from my head…!

“U-Um… R-Right now… I-It doesn’t hurt… Anymore…”

“Really?”

At my words, Oppa smiled in relief.

…So handsome…

How the hell did this man look so handsome without even trying?!

Sure, I might be thinking that way because I was his girlfriend, but!

The thing was that he was objectively good-looking!

“…I’m done eating.”

My stomach felt somewhat full already, and it felt right to go home now.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

I took the dishes to the sink, washed them, and put on my coat.

“Get home safely.”

“I live next door, what do you mean get home safely?”

“Well, you know…”

I refused his offer to walk me home, told him that I’d text him later and closed the front door.

Haah… When I get home, I’ll clean up first…

“…Ugh!”

The moment I took my first step towards the stairs…

A short scream escaped my mouth. It felt like someone had hit my waist with a hammer.

I-It hurts so much…!

I grabbed the railing and contemplated whether I should call Oppa or not for about ten seconds, but I decided not to and just go home on my own.

There was no way I could do that!

I literally told him not to worry just now! Wouldn’t I look silly if I were to come back crying to him after merely thirty seconds had passed?

After that, I leaned on the railing, slowly dragging my aching body to the first floor. Of course, I did the same thing when I arrived at my building.

The pain was no joke…

I collapsed on the bed without even bothering to change my clothes. Tears were welling up in my eyes.

Kim Doah, you should’ve just stayed at Oppa’s place for a little longer!

These days, whenever I was hurt or I felt sad, Taemin oppa’s face was always the first thing that came to my mind.

Though, if I may be honest, he wasn’t really the most reliable person to depend on…

But, his occasional moments of boldness or courage always made me feel like a child in comparison.

“Ow ow ow ow…”

When I tried to lift my waist and take out my phone, the pain struck me again.

It seemed like I had a missed call, so I checked who it was. When I saw the name, I immediately sent her a message.

[hi i just got home so i couldn’t respond, is it urgent?]

She was our Manager unnie.

Jiye unnie.

[Ah Luka-ssi! Can we speak for a moment?]

[yesyes! it’s fine now!]

What was this about?

There shouldn’t be any urgent plans after January 1st, right? Why was Unnie calling me?

Did I make some kind of mistake again? But, I couldn’t think of anything…

Feeling slightly nervous, I held onto the phone, and the awaited call came right away.

「Hello?」

「Ah! Yes! Luka-ssi!」

「Yes! Manager-nim!」

Judging by the tone of her voice, it didn’t seem that she was calling me to reprimand me.

「Ah~ Luka-ssi! It’s nothing much, but, do you remember when I visited the studio before?」

「Yes, yes!]

「I gave my business card to your sunbae, right? Or was it your classmate? Anyway, could I possibly get his number?」

After I figured out who Manager unnie was looking for, I could feel my whole body stiffening up.

「Um… May I ask why?」

「Ah. I gave him my card then, but he hasn’t contacted me back, so I wanted to reach out first and set up a meeting with him.」

What should I do…?

I mean, if things worked out well for Oppa and he became a YM model or actor or whatever, it would be great and all, but… Should I really give out his number like that…?

「Ah… Um, since it’s his personal information, I don’t think I can give it out without his permission…」

This was probably the best judgment I could make at the moment.

This seemed like the best judgment I could make at the moment.

「Would it be okay if I pass along the message and told Oppa to contact you?」

「Ah~ Then, Luka-ssi! Please make sure to let him know! It would be even better if you could tell him we promise to give him the best treatment possible! He won’t regret it!」

「Oh… yes… I understand…」

「Alright, please get some rest after this! If you need anything or if you have any questions about matters related to the stream, please contact me!」

「Yes. Thank you.」

After ending the call, I opened my Messenger.

On the top of the favorites tab, Oppa’s profile was shown.

Inside the small circle was a picture of him and me smiling brightly.

“Haah…”

Somehow, I felt frustrated… I didn’t know why though…