Drunk Woman – 2

“Hey, you idiot.”

“…”

“Say something, you idiot.”

“……”

“What, are you a master of long-distance relationships? Can’t handle short distances? You were bragging about not fighting for over three years, so why are you causing a scene less than a day after meeting? Huh? Huh?”

Seo Jin-hyuk said mockingly, repeatedly hitting my chest with his head.

Normally,

I would have picked up Seo Jin-hyuk and

Crack-

Turned him into S/J/H, but right now I had no defense against any insults, so I had no choice but to endure quietly.

“You son of a bitch. Because of you, I can’t go on a date either. Why do I have to clean up the mess when you’re the one who made it!!!”

“Fuuuuck-” Seo Jin-hyuk wailed.

I remembered the silence when I told Ye-rin to go to the class gathering during lunch.

**

From Ye-rin staring at me with crimson eyes to Se-ah’s couple who were talking among themselves but turned to look at me in surprise.

It only took a few seconds to realize I was screwed in that suffocating silence.

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…”

“…I’ll go.”

“Huh?”

“…The class gathering. I’ll go.”

ㅡ Oh no, it’s going to pop, it’s going to pop…!

Ye-rin’s cheeks puffed up more than I had ever seen before.

I just.

Like how parents want their children to do what they couldn’t.

I had never attended such gatherings, so I just wanted Ye-rin to participate, make friends with her classmates, and have fun.

Ye-rin must have been planning to spend time with me after school today, because from the moment she heard my words, her white cheeks began to swell gradually, and now they had become perfect round mochi.

…Can I poke it lightly with my finger?

Absolutely not because I want to touch that cute mochi in the midst of all this.

Thinking that maybe popping that sulky pouch might ease Ye-rin’s anger, I slightly extended my finger,

“Mmph!”

“Gasp…”

Ye-rin quickly turned her head as if saying “no.”

…This is bad, no, really screwed.

Ye-rin avoiding my hand?

That Ye-rin?

It was shocking enough that her eyes weren’t their usual pink, but this unprecedented emergency made the sirens in my head start blaring in earnest.

Seo Jin-hyuk and Se-ah, who were watching from the side, were looking at me with pitying eyes.

Don’t look at me, at me with those eyes…

After wiping my face with my hands once, I opened my mouth.

“Ye-rin, it’s not like I don’t want to be with you today.”

“……”

Ye-rin nodded as if she understood.

“But. Even though Se-ah is there, since you just came back to Korea after a long time, I just wanted to concede to your classmates just this once.”

“…Just this once?”

“Yes. Just once. Not twice.”

When I smiled and slightly extended my hand to Ye-rin again, this time she didn’t turn away.

So I could easily pop the now slightly smaller sulky pouch with a little poke.

“And, call me when it’s over. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. Together with Seo Jin-hyuk.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Seo Jin-hyuk and Se-ah, who had been watching with fascination, were startled as if asking what that meant.

But that wasn’t my problem.

It was fun watching, wasn’t it?

Let’s die together. You bastard, Seo Jin-hyuk.

“You bastard Han Woo-jin, if you want to die, die alone, why drag me…”

“Why? It’s nice to go to a PC room with your classmates. Right?”

“Right~”

“Is this guy crazy? I already had plans to go somewhere with Se-ah, why do I have to go to a PC room with you guys? Ah-!!!!!!”

“You can go tomorrow, friend. Right?”

“Upvote~”

In the end, both I and Seo Jin-hyuk ended up going to a PC room with a few classmates while waiting for Ye-rin’s class gathering to end.

I gave up apologizing and decided to act shamelessly. And Yoon Do-hyun seemed to enjoy stirring up trouble, giggling as we both made snide remarks, causing Seo Jin-hyuk to tremble with his fists.

Then Yoon Do-hyun suddenly spoke as if he had just remembered something.

“Wow~ But it’s really surprising.”

“What is?”

“That your girlfriend showed such a reaction?”

“…?”

“You know, like, that fantasy about pretty girls. I imagined someone like her would just respond to your trolling with ‘Hah, who do you think you are?’ but in reality, she went ‘Hmmph’ and got upset because you didn’t understand her feelings.”

ㅡ Oh god.

I almost felt sick from Yoon Do-hyun pretending to be cute while saying “hmmph.”

“…She wasn’t upset, she was just a little sad. And what’s so surprising about that?”

“That’s what I mean, dude. It’s like, ‘Wow, even such a pretty girl clings to someone~’?”

Yoon Do-hyun’s words made me chuckle.

“What do you mean cling? Where’s such a thing in dating?”

“What do you mean where? Don’t you know dating is a power struggle? Do you think our senior mentors use techniques like push-and-pull for no reason?”

“You’re talking about power struggles. Then how about your couple?”

“Of course I surrender.”

ㅡ So that’s what was surprising?

I couldn’t help but laugh at the guy who proudly declared “I’ve never won” as if it were something to boast about.

“Power struggles, push-and-pull. Don’t even think about such things, and don’t practice them. It’s a waste of time.”

“No, but for you guys…”

“Why do you think it wouldn’t work for you?”

When I asked sincerely, Yoon Do-hyun stopped mid-sentence.

Then after pondering for a moment, he soon smiled and opened his mouth.

“…You punk, your girlfriend comes back and now you’re lecturing a senior who has dated 10 times more than you.”

“Disgustingly envious. For dating 10 times.”

As we were giggling and heading to the PC room, the phone in my pocket rang with a buzz.

When I checked, it seemed like there were many participants from Ye-rin’s class, so they hadn’t left yet, but were about to leave soon.

“…Everyone is participating?”

While I expected a high participation rate since it would be hard to make friends if you missed the first day’s gathering,

ㅡ It’s the first time I’ve seen a 100% participation rate.

The reason why not a single person was missing was probably…

Over there.

Because of Ye-rin.

I could see both girls and boys pretending not to, but still glancing at Ye-rin.

But whether all the classmates participated or not, whether they looked at her or not.

The sight of Ye-rin sitting glumly with her lips jutting out in the sunset-lit classroom.

Her appearance clearly different from others, and the ruby-like crimson eyes that made her shine even more.

Even though she was just sitting, it was like a painting.

Even I, who had seen Ye-rin for a long time, felt this way, so how would others feel?

They probably thought Ye-rin was in serious contemplation.

…But in reality, she was probably just thinking about how she wanted to see her oppa.

At times like this, the saying “ignorance is bliss” came to mind.

Thinking of oppa, my fist clenched again.

…I was planning to go on a date with Jin-hyuk oppa today.

Seeing Ye-rin looking at me with sparkling eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to say that I was going on a date today and that she should go alone.

Ugh… damn oppa…

At that time, I felt like I wanted to erase him from the family registry.

But what can I do? It’s the sin of having the wrong oppa…

I decided to just have fun with Ye-rin for now, and then date Jin-hyuk oppa later.

After discussing where to go, the place we decided on was simply a karaoke room.

But since there couldn’t possibly be a karaoke room that could accommodate 30 people at once.

After arriving at the karaoke, when we decided to divide into rooms of 10 people each, I could see the desperation on everyone’s faces.

Ah, since I was Ye-rin’s longtime friend, I was naturally in the same room as a set.

“Uwaaa-!!!”

As the grouping was finalized, a stark contrast of joy and sorrow occurred among the students.

Some were happy, some were wailing, which was somehow funny.

These guys, really.

How desperate are they? When the person in question doesn’t even care.

Fortunately, Ye-rin, who had been sulking until we arrived, was now being pulled among the girls and bombarded with questions.

“Ye-rin, was that senior who came in with you this morning your boyfriend?”

“Yes…”

When Ye-rin answered shyly, the girls squealed with excitement, and the boys who were quietly listening nearby had their shoulders drooped as their what-ifs turned into reality.

“How did you meet that senior?”

“Both oppa and Se-ah, when I was little, they both told me my eyes were special…”

When my name suddenly came up, everyone’s eyes turned to me.

“Hahaha, it was nothing…”

Feeling shy from the sudden attention, I scratched my head as I spoke, and Ye-rin looked at me with a quiet smile.

“…That ‘nothing’ was something no one else had done for me back then?”

But.

I had no choice back then.

Look, even now.

Your eyes are blooming brightly like forsythias when you look at me.

“Two people told me my eyes were special… but to me, those two people are more special. Then, and now.”

“Ye-rin…”

My heart ached at those sincere words.

Without realizing it, I approached Ye-rin with my arms outstretched, and Ye-rin also smiled brightly and hugged me.

Damn oppa, I’ll cancel the erasure from the family registry.

Just hearing those words made giving up today’s date worthwhile.

After a while, the door burst open and a boy assigned to a different room entered with his arms full of something.

“Hey guys!… Oh? What’s this atmosphere?”

“What is it, why are you here?”

“No, why aren’t you singing…?”

The boy was momentarily taken aback by the cold welcome, but soon poured what he had brought onto the table as if saying “look at this.”

“Ta-da~!”

“What is this?”

“Have you heard of Whisky Bon Bon?”

Whisky Bon Bon?

Wondering what that was, I looked at the boy, who shrugged his shoulders with a “hmm-ha-ha.”

“They say these are chocolates with alcohol in them. I was just buying something up front and thought they looked fun, so I bought a bunch.”

“Alcohol…?”

Wondering what kind of alcohol would be in chocolates, I examined them and saw small chocolate pieces shaped like liquor bottles.

These are chocolates…?

Looking at the surface, I saw that each chocolate actually had its alcohol content written on it.

“But isn’t it a bit much to have alcohol in them…?”

One student cautiously spoke up, but,

“Come on, who gets drunk from these? I heard even light drinkers don’t get drunk. And what if we do get drunk! We’re all here, right? Let’s try one each for fun. What do you think?”

At the excited boy’s words, everyone looked around, and soon, as if a tacit agreement had been reached, curious students began nodding one by one.

Of course, I was among them.

More than being curious about the taste of alcohol…

I once stole a sip of my dad’s alcohol at home and it was really awful, making me wonder why people drink it.

Would it be different with chocolate?

After unwrapping one, I popped the chocolate into my mouth with a chomp.

A tingly alcohol scent rose through the sweet chocolate taste on my tongue.

Ugh………

“I-It doesn’t taste good…”

Not sweet, not bitter, what is this…

The others seemed to feel the same, all making groaning sounds with their tongues out.

“It’s interesting but not great, right Ye-rin…?”

After swallowing a sip of water, I looked to the side and saw Ye-rin was also chewing with her mouth moving.

“Mmmm…”

Gulp-

After swallowing one completely, Ye-rin stared intently at the Whisky Bon Bon in front of her.

Suddenly, she started unwrapping another one.

“…Ye-rin?”

Chomp-

After putting another one in her mouth and swallowing it,

Ye-rin started unwrapping yet another one, faster than before.

“Ye-rin, you should… stop eating those…”

“Whyyy~?”

…This is bad.

Ye-rin’s eyes looking at me with a broad smile were the same yellow as before, but.

Somehow, seeing those yellow eyes that had become a bit cloudy,

ㅡ Oppa, help me…

I couldn’t help but call for oppa involuntarily.