Ch.8484. Tilting the Wine Glass

“Would you like a drink?”

“…Are you suggesting we drink alcohol?”

“Yes, why?”

Why, isn’t that obviously not allowed… I was about to say, but then I realized I had no grounds to stop her.

Come to think of it, January 1st has already passed, right? Now that we’re both “twenty,” it doesn’t matter if we drink or do whatever else.

“Ah… sure, let’s have a drink then?”

Well… it wouldn’t be bad to join her to celebrate becoming ‘adults.’ After casually accepting, I sat down across from Hwa Nabi.

“Heh, okay.”

When she smiled at me in that outfit in the middle of the night, my heart started racing involuntarily.

The night was still young, and I couldn’t be like this already. I needed to calm down first… I barely managed to tear my gaze away from her thighs, which kept drawing my attention, and brought over a small table.

All that was on the little table was a bottle of red wine and two empty wine glasses.

“When did you prepare the wine?”

“I ordered it through room service. They brought it right away when I called.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

I leisurely replied while examining the wine bottle.

-Banfi Rosa Regale.

Rosa Regale, an Italian sweet red wine famous for its sweetness. She managed to pick something appropriate even though she doesn’t know much about wine.

But sweet wines that go down easily have a fatal flaw. They make you drunk easily. No matter how well someone can hold their liquor, drinking these consecutively will quickly lead to intoxication.

And Hwa Nabi is the type who becomes completely incapacitated when drunk.

Well, who isn’t like that, really? But Hwa Nabi’s drinking habits are particularly severe, so if she gets drunk, I’ll be the one suffering.

“Come to think of it, Nabi, you got drunk once before, didn’t you?”

“What? No, Siwoo. What are you talking about?”

When I reminded her of what happened 2 years and 6 months ago during our school trip, Hwa Nabi’s face immediately turned red.

She seems to remember that day when she got drunk and acted all cute with me.

“Anyone listening would think it happened like 10 years ago.”

“…Hmph, whatever. Don’t worry about that. I’m an adult now, right? So that won’t happen.”

Seeing her snorting and huffing, she still seems like a child? Keeping those thoughts to myself, I poured wine into her glass.

“Anyway, don’t drink too much.”

Back then… well, she drank strong alcohol in one go, but this is low-alcohol Brachetto wine. It should be fine as long as she doesn’t drink too much. If it seems problematic, I can always stop her.

I offered her a glass filled slightly less than halfway. She primly adjusted the collar of her gown and took the glass.

“Don’t worry, I can’t drink much anyway.”

“Heh, right.”

So she knows she can’t handle alcohol. The difference between someone who knows their limit and someone who doesn’t is like heaven and earth, so I felt relieved without realizing it. Smirking, I filled my own glass with wine.

“Well then, shall we toast?”

It would be a shame to skip this when we’re drinking together in such a nice atmosphere.

When I asked while making eye contact, Hwa Nabi extended her glass. I also raised mine.

“The first glass is supposed to be downed in one go, right?”

“…Is this soju or something?”

Who tastes wine like that? She must have learned drinking etiquette incorrectly. I clinked glasses with Hwa Nabi, who was saying something completely off.

“Cheers.”

Making the sound with my mouth too, I took a small sip of wine. Then I swallowed it slowly.

…As expected of sweet wine, it goes down smoothly and has a great aroma. But the sweetness of the wine far exceeded my expectations.

“…Whew.”

As soon as I swallowed the wine, my eyes squinted, and an exclamation involuntarily escaped my lips. Hwa Nabi, who was watching me, smiled slightly.

“Siwoo, your reaction is just like an old man’s.”

“How do you know what an old man’s reaction looks like?”

“My dad always does that whenever he drinks at home. Making all sorts of weird sounds.”

“Your father must know his alcohol.”

Hwa Nabi, who had been chatting with me, slowly raised her glass. Then her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

1 second.

2 seconds.

3 seconds.

…After 4 seconds.

“…Ah, that’s good.”

Seemingly feeling the intense sweetness, Hwa Nabi showed a reaction similar to mine. It was a response I had anticipated, but her expression was so cute that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft, what? ‘Ah, that’s good?’ You’re not so innocent yourself.”

“W-when did I say that? Don’t make things up.”

She belatedly covered her mouth and pretended otherwise, but it was too late since I had already witnessed everything. I pointed to the opened wine bottle and said:

“See, I told you it happens inevitably? It’s because this is extremely sweet.”

“Hmm… like you said, it really is sweet. More than I imagined.”

As she said that, Hwa Nabi’s gaze was fixed on the mouth of the wine bottle. Judging by her reaction, it seemed she quite liked the sweet Rosa Regale.

“Want another glass then?”

“Should I? …Oh, but.”

Hwa Nabi, who was about to quickly pick up her glass, suddenly stopped in place. Then, carefully examining my face, she asked:

“I’d like to, but… Siwoo, don’t you dislike sweet things?”

It took me a moment to realize she was asking out of consideration for me. Pleased by her thoughtfulness even in this situation, I waved my hand dismissively.

“What, are you worried about me? There’s no need.”

“No, it’s not exactly that. It’s just, it would be rude to drink alone in front of someone.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll drink with you.”

Maybe it’s because wine contains alcohol, but although it’s very sweet, it’s not unbearable. That’s what I meant, but Hwa Nabi quickly snatched the wine bottle.

“Just a moment, let me pour for you this time.”

“…Sure. Go ahead.”

With a gurgling sound, the red liquid filled the glass.

But… the amount seems a bit small? I thought it might be my imagination, but looking closely, it really was less.

She filled less than a fifth of my glass and said “That’s it.” Meanwhile, she filled her own glass to the brim with wine.

…What’s this about? Perplexed, I stared at Hwa Nabi. She tilted her head as if wondering what was wrong.

“What is it?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? Why did you pour so little in my glass?”

“What are you talking about? I poured exactly the same amount. It must be your imagination.”

“No, there’s clearly a difference.”

“China is different.”

“…What?”

Hwa Nabi tried to brush off my complaint with a dad joke that wasn’t even remotely funny, then extended her glass. Making a “cheers” sound with her mouth, she urged me to clink glasses with her.

I held my glass and pondered. The reason this stubborn young lady was acting this way was obvious. Since she knows I don’t like sweet things, she’s probably doing this out of consideration for me.

Although her method of showing consideration was a bit aggressive… it wasn’t incomprehensible. I suppose this was the best she could think of.

“Siwoo, are you going to let me drink alone?”

When my thoughts lingered too long, Hwa Nabi spoke up. But her voice sounded quite pitiful. I looked up from the wine glass.

She gazed at me with gentle eyes, then suddenly winked cutely with one eye. It seems she changed tactics after realizing that being forceful wasn’t working.

…And that tactic worked quite well. With just one wink from Hwa Nabi, my closed heart opened up.

“Umm, Siwoo?”

Ah… I wondered if I should give in so easily, but Hwa Nabi was too cute to resist. How could I stay upset when all my annoyance had disappeared?

Still, not wanting to seem too easy, I deliberately sighed once.

“…Alright. Let’s drink.”

“Yes, let’s. Here… Siwoo, cheers!”

“Yeah, cheers.”

…I let it slide because she’s really cute. We lightly clinked our glasses and tasted the wine.

“Ugh… this is really sweet. Siwoo, should we drink the same kind again later?”

“I don’t mind… but wouldn’t it be better to try different things? This isn’t the only sweet wine out there.”

“…Oh, I see. What else is there?”

“Well, I don’t know the details, but famous ones include Sauternes or Tokaji, and less famous ones….”

We continued chatting like that as we emptied one glass, two glasses, three glasses… slowly emptying the bottle.

And by the time we had finished the bottle of wine, I belatedly realized one thing.

That was…

“…Heheh, Siwoo.”

…that I had underestimated Hwa Nabi’s alcohol tolerance.

Hwa Nabi, who had consumed more than two-thirds of the wine bottle by herself, had quite a dangerous gleam in her eyes. I gulped and tried to figure out how things had ended up this way.

I thought I had her drink slowly and in moderation… why did she suddenly get so drunk? Something seems off.

Even though the wine is sweet, its alcohol content is only 7%, so it doesn’t make sense for her to be this drunk after just over half a bottle….

“Ah.”

My eyes widened as I realized.

Wait a minute. Why did I overlook that? I just realized that I don’t know how much alcohol Hwa Nabi can handle.

That’s inevitable because… during the school trip, she drank a can of beer with over 10% alcohol content in one go and passed out immediately. But I had carelessly assumed that was her maximum tolerance.

In reality, she might handle alcohol much worse than that.

“Siwoo, do you like me?”

“…Why are you asking that suddenly?”

“Mmm, answer me quickly. Do you like me? Or dislike me?”

“Uh… of course I like you.”

“Then prove it.”

“…How am I supposed to prove that?”

“Kiss, kiss me on the lips.”

“What are you talking about kisses in the middle of the night… wait, hold on. Let’s put this down first and talk.”

I barely managed to detach Hwa Nabi, who was trying to cling to me while drunk. Her face immediately turned pouty, and she glared at me with a look that seemed like she might start crying any moment.

“Siwoo… you actually dislike me, don’t you?”

“What? Why is the conversation suddenly going that way…?”

“It’s true! You’re trying to push me away because you dislike me!”

“No, come on. Seriously….”

Somehow her drinking habits seem worse than before.

With no other choice, I approached her and kissed her on the forehead. Just with that, Hwa Nabi’s face relaxed into a smile, and she quickly leaned her body against mine.

“Mmm… Siwoo, I like you.”

“……”

“…Answer me.”

“…Oh, right. I like you too.”

“How much, how much? How much do you like me?”

“…A lot, I like you very, very much.”

“Yes, me too. I like you very, very much, Siwoo.”

Whew, I swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and thought while patting her back.

From now on, absolutely, no matter what, I must never let her drink alcohol.

But that’s a matter for later.

Our night… is just beginning.

“…Heh.”

This is a big problem, isn’t it?