episode_0604

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11 PM.

After saying goodbye to the rude afternoon part-timer, it’s around the time when the cash register reconciliation is roughly finished.

The daily life of this tedious convenience store night shift, which starts from this point, usually goes as follows.

One. In the case of our small convenience store, the logistics come twice, once during the day and once at dawn.

I am solely responsible for organizing the ones that come at dawn.

Honestly, it seems like they hire a night shift part-timer because of this and cleaning the store.

Two. I separately check the foods that are near their expiration dates.

It’s not to take them out as soon as the time comes.

After all, if you scan the barcode of food that has passed its expiration date, it tells you to remove it.

It’s just because if there’s something delicious, I have to secretly hide it before a customer takes it.

Three. I go behind the refrigerator and fill the empty beverage sections to the brim.

It’s a bit difficult when a customer comes in at this time.

Not only can I not hear well, but most customers quietly wait, thinking the part-timer must be busy.

I actually find that more burdensome.

Four. I don’t know why, but I use my free time to check if the cigarette stock is correct.

Besides making mistakes, I guess they think the part-timer might be stealing them.

Well… I guess the person giving the money has reason to worry, so I just go with it.

But today,

Unlike this routine, there was something a little unfamiliar.

“Please give me a general waste bag, 20 liters.”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment…”

Dealing with two customers who reek of a faint smell of alcohol.

This is a common occurrence even on normal days.

“…Um, this too…”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment…”

Watching a couple come in and buy several condoms right in front of me.

It depends on the area where the convenience store is located, but it’s not uncommon.

“You don’t have to buy it. …I have a lot at home.”

“…Please ring it up.”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment…”

But.

Everything is fine, but.

It’s not like a simple male-female couple came in and are doing this.

“Lee Ji-yoon. Drink this.”

“What is it…”

“Hangover cure. As far as I know, you’re supposed to drink it before drinking alcohol in the first place, but it’s still better than not drinking it.”

“Uh-huh… Do I just drink it…?”

“Yeah.”

“……. Ugh, this is like some kind of herbal medicine…”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it before.”

“Ugh… I feel like I’m going to throw up…”

Even the women sitting at the table outside the convenience store.

A total of three women.

And one man.

“I can’t drink it all… Give the rest to Lee Ha-yoon… or Sunbae…”

“Noona will be fine.”

“Yeah… I’m not that drunk…?”

“What do you mean fine… You were clinging to Seo Woo-jin’s arm the whole way here…”

“It’s my business…”

And those three women are extremely pretty.

…One man that I can’t help but accept after seeing their faces and bodies.

These four gathered together.

Alcohol.

Hangover cure.

And even condoms that they almost bought.

Putting these things in a general waste bag and leaving.

Isn’t it definitely a bit unfamiliar?

“……”

Is the woman who came in with him his girlfriend, and the others outside are just friends?

But even so, aren’t they too close to the women outside?

Hugging the man’s arm and pressing their chests against him like that, his girlfriend would be worried.

So let’s rule this out for now.

Then, could it be that all four of them are friends…?

And that the woman who came in with him has ‘that kind of intention’ towards the man…?

“……”

…No, earlier, when they were about to buy condoms, he said he had a lot at home and took it out.

Besides, it’s already well past 11 PM.

Even worse, it’s late winter in mid-February.

So, are these people going to the house I mentioned just now with the alcohol they bought?

“……”

…Are they thinking of using condoms with everyone there?

“…Sigh…”

…I don’t know,

I’m so jealous…

Seriously…

604

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Instead of Lee Ha-yoon and Lee Ji-yoon, I entered the door lock password and went inside.

Four people’s shoes were scattered in the cramped entryway.

Seol Da-bin and I took them off neatly, and Lee Ji-yoon took them off fairly well, but Lee Ha-yoon, who followed, was a mess, so they were easily swept up.

If Lee Ha-yoon sees this mess later, she’ll naturally start scolding Lee Ji-yoon first.

I can picture Lee Ha-yoon’s face when she wakes up from her drunken state and learns the truth, she will be embarrassed.

Since the house has been empty for several hours, it was as cold inside as it was outside.

Lee Ha-yoon usually hesitates to use the boiler, saying that she needs to save on heating costs, but there’s no time as appropriate as today to use the heating costs that she’s been saving up.

Leaving Lee Ha-yoon, who is still struggling to take off her shoes, I quietly adjusted the boiler.

Of course, I put the general waste bag I was holding on the table.

“You should take off your coat too. I’ll take care of the alcohol.”

I nudged Seol Da-bin, who was busily taking out the alcohol, and put the still-cold beer cans on the table one by one.

The same goes for the snacks we bought together.

After taking out the snacks we each chose, and the dried jerky I chose, I quietly unfolded the empty general waste bag next to it.

Rather than sorting the trash, it’s to use it as a trash can later and throw it away all at once.

This isn’t the time to be worrying about such trivial things.

A much more enjoyable event is waiting for us.

“Just a minute… I’ll get the chopsticks…”

“Why chopsticks?”

“I feel uncomfortable if I get crumbs on my hands~…”

“It’s okay, Noona, take off your coat and sit down.”

“…Ah! I wonder if Da-bin likes rolled omelet too…?”

“Noona.”

“I can make it quickly. Quickly.”

“There’s a lot of food, so it’s okay. And we had dinner separately too.”

“Ah… That’s right…”

I’ve always hated taking care of drunks since I had to take care of Yozora, but strangely, I’m enjoying it somewhat today.

Unlike Yozora, who never listens to me, Lee Ha-yoon quickly changed her mind like this.

…And another enjoyable thing is this.

Lee Ji-yoon, who was annoyed after drinking the hangover cure because it didn’t taste good, seems to have sobered up a bit and has been quietly watching us from some point, which is also quite enjoyable.

Seol Da-bin. Lee Ji-yoon. Me.

And even Lee Ha-yoon.

Now that we’ve gathered like this, it’s natural for you to have bad thoughts too.

In your head, we are probably.

Already doing it.

Holding Lee Ha-yoon’s soft hand, I took her to the table where the two were waiting.

“Drink moderately so you don’t get too drunk. Especially Ha-yoon Noona.”

“Okay… I’ll drink just a little…”

Fizz—.

The sound of cold beer being poured.

Then, after taking a few sips, she lightly put it down in front of me.

Lee Ha-yoon is similar to me.

After taking a light sip of beer, she’s suffering from the coldness tingling in her head.

Lee Ji-yoon is completely different.

She pretended to drink, but she didn’t even open the can in the first place.

Holding a clean beer can, she’s just looking at the three of us.

And Seol Da-bin.

“……. ……”

Even more drunk.

As if she needed to get drunk on purpose.

After tilting the beer can all the way, she somewhat roughly put it down right in front of her.

“Hehe… Yeah~ It’s best to drink and forget…”

“…I guess so.”

“Anyway, the only people watching are me and Woo-jin…, and Ji-yoon, so you can get as drunk as you want…”

“……”

“…Oh, right. I need to open the snacks too…”

Not just once.

One more time.

“Look… I told you Da-bin drinks very well, hiccup, drinks very well…?” Hehe…”

One more time.

“…Phew… It’s a relief it’s Saturday… Since I have tomorrow off too, it’s okay to drink like this…”

And one more time.

“…So, that’s why you said my expression hasn’t been good lately…”

“…But I’m okay now.”

“Yeah, Woo-jin and…, um…, Sunbae? They said they gathered to comfort you… The friends I saw by chance on the street…”

“That’s right. Seo-yeon Sunbae and Woo-jin comforted me a lot.”

“…I guess. Woo-jin is very kind too… I think he would have done well if he had been a counselor…”

“…I guess. …It’s strange to say this now, but thank you. Woo-jin.”

“…You’re welcome.”

One more time.

One more time.

“…Ah, …a little more inside……”

“Not just with Da-bin…, …just one more time for me……”

“Unnie, you’re being heavy if you cut in like that……”

“Why…”

And one more time……….

*****

……Huh…?

Ah, damn…. Whose alarm is this….

Why is there an alarm on the weekend….

What time is it now…?

Seeing that it’s bright out, it must be at least 9 o’clock…,

And this vacuum cleaner sound is…, who is it….

Ah, ah. Wait….

Ugh….

I have a headache….

It’s rare for me to be this messed up after drinking, so I must have drunk a lot yesterday.

I also drank highballs… and I brought Da-bin home and drank with her…

And….

And……?

“…….”

……What happened?

Well…. Da-bin, Ji-yoon, and I even drank convenience store beer, right…?

What happened after that….

Uh….

“I think I remember….”

What happened.

I was covering myself with the blanket, thinking about it, then I got up with my messy hair and stretched.

I just want to sleep more, but I keep hearing a mysterious alarm sound from the living room.

The vacuum cleaner sound that I heard when I woke up a little while ago stopped in the middle, though.

But when I try to turn it off myself, the sound suddenly stops.

The smartphone alarm is really insistent on waking me up, so unless someone turns it off, it would have rung for a little longer….

…Did Ji-yoon or Woo-jin turn it off?

No, whose alarm is it in the first place?

Is Da-bin sleeping in the living room?

I thought about this and that, but all I see in front of me is my familiar bedroom.

So, I went out to the living room for now.

“…Oh. Noona.”

There was Woo-jin, who looked very, very fine, as if he didn’t have a hangover.

He must have been cleaning by himself, his sleeves rolled up with a lot of water underneath.

The vacuum cleaner sound I heard earlier must have been Woo-jin turning it on.

I covered the yawn that was coming out again with the back of my hand, and staggered towards Woo-jin.

“Noona, did you wake up because of the alarm sound earlier?”

“…Ah. Yeah.”

“I see…. That was the alarm that Da-bin set here.”

“……”

The place that Woo-jin’s fingertip is pointing to.

When I turned my gaze to the living room sofa, Da-bin was asleep, just like I saw her yesterday.

Judging from the blanket she’s covering, Ji-yoon must have taken it out of her closet in her room.

If she’s going to take it out, she should have taken out a thicker blanket.

I guess she was drunk too, so she just gave her whatever she grabbed.

Tsk tsk.

She should have drank moderately….

“By the way, is it okay for her to stay out overnight?”

“Well, I haven’t heard from anyone yet, but…”

“Then did she tell her parents in advance…?”

I don’t know exactly, but I guess so.

Moreover, Da-bin hasn’t really brought up the topic of curfew.

I guess she just said she was going to sleep at a friend’s house.

Anyway, now that this has happened, I have to prepare breakfast for Da-bin too.

I stretched again and looked around the house.

“…Um, Noona.”

“Yeah?”

“……”

“Why? If you called me, say something.”

“No, let’s talk about it later.”

“……? Okay, well….”

Woo-jin, with a troubled expression, suddenly said this.

I looked at him with a strange gaze and started looking in the refrigerator.

“…….”

Actually, I also just.

One very, very strange memory of last night came to my mind.

…Pretending not to know.

Putting on a poker face.