episode_0021

I was taken aback by my junior’s sudden request.

“What…what?”

“Are you going to play it off?”

Teacher Baek A-rin suddenly rushes in.

Her shirt was undone at the top, exposing her cleavage.

Ashamed that my eyes had gone there first, I turned my head away for a moment.

“Senior! Why are you turning your head? Are you really refusing me?”

“That’s not it…! Anyone would be embarrassed if he suddenly rushed in saying that.”

I can never talk about it.

I mean, he looked at her cleavage and turned his eyes away.

“Isn’t that because you don’t want to grant my wish?”

“No! Absolutely not!”

“Then please listen.”

“What is it? ”

okay.

There was one thing I promised Baek A-rin when I entered this hospital.

I decided to grant her one wish if she would back up everything even if I was away from time to time.

In fact, she has been my backup for almost three years.

Every time I urgently need to visit my daughter.

But she didn’t say anything about her wish for a long time.

So I thought there was nothing I wanted.

But to suddenly make a request like this…

“…Do you really need me to tell you that?”

“Of course you have to say it to know. I’m not even a mind reader.”

For a moment, Arin’s face turned red.

He seemed to think he had made a mistake.

“That…!! It’s hard to tell you now! Buy me a drink after work!”

“Alcohol?”

“I’m talking about alcohol!”

It was unexpected.

Arin hated alcohol.

[It’s just… I don’t drink it because I don’t like it.]

When I asked him why he didn’t drink, he always said that.

But I was thinking that there must be some reason.

But there were a lot of really strange people.

When I stopped drinking for no reason, people started whispering behind my back.

The most absurd thing among them was…

[You go out to the body shop after school and don’t drink alcohol. Can’t you tell by looking at his clothes?]

Why?

I remember getting angry at those words and getting into a big fight with my classmate.

She wasn’t even my girlfriend, she was just a junior.

He didn’t even insult me there.

But sometimes I wondered why that was so.

okay.

Now that I think about it, it might be like that.

My junior, Baek Arin, is so kind… I wanted to support her.

I think so.

That embarrassed expression still had the innocence it had back then.

I enjoyed drinking.

I was born good at drinking.

Even after drinking enough alcohol to kill other people, he remained fine.

It’s alright.

I enjoyed it because I liked the feeling of being high when I was drunk.

However, after my divorce and when I started raising my daughter alone, I stopped drinking.

[I don’t like my dad drinking.]

[Because dad comes home late. That’s why I hate it.]

I quit drinking because of that one word from my daughter.

You could have drank it at home.

However, I didn’t do that because I thought my daughter might go down a strange path if she started drinking alcohol when she was underage.

Now that I think about it, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had a drink.

okay.

I think I can drink alcohol now.

My daughter grew up properly.

I became an adult and became a student at Korea University, the first gateway to this society and the most important badge.

Now is the time when you no longer need me.

My time is fully invested in my daughter.

Now the moment has come to invest in myself.

“Okay. Teacher Baek. Let’s do that.”

“Thank you. Senior!”

“What do you want to eat?”

“Ah… well… I’ve never had alcohol before… so I’m not sure what’s good. ”

“Then there is no food to cover, right?”

“Would you like to see me once or twice? Everyone eats well.”

“Then how about Boshintang?”

“Hee…Hee Iik!”

Arin looked at me with a disdainful look for a moment.

“Just kidding, kidding.”

“I was shocked for a moment.”

It’s quite fun to make fun of Arin.

This is because the reaction is significant.

“If it’s your first time drinking alcohol, you should start with pork belly and soju.”

At that moment, her eyes began to shine.

“Pork belly!! Pork belly is good!! I’ve been craving pork a lot lately!”

“Teacher Baek has one thing to do.”

“What is it?”

“Find a delicious pork belly restaurant nearby.”

“Yep! Senior! Let’s find it right away!”

Arin’s face was as innocent as a happy child.

Maybe it was because of that appearance that I became close to that friend.

By the way, what on earth are you trying to ask me to drink, something I have never drank in my life?

I’m a little worried…but it’s still Arin.

I am not the friend to ask for strange things.

“Okay, let’s not take it too seriously.”

Okay, let’s think comfortably.

Since he was a friend with common sense, there was no reason to worry.

It’s almost time for treatment.

One by one, early bird patients began to appear.

Feeling excited about drinking alcohol for the first time in a long time, I started work.

****

……

The place Arin chose was a really shabby frozen pork belly restaurant.

It was also a place that sold the cheapest of the cheap, not the good frozen meats that are popular these days.

“No…let’s choose a better place…”

“I’m sorry for saying that this is a cheap and delicious restaurant…!! I’m sorry!!”

Arin looked at my face and started apologizing again and again in embarrassment.

But it’s not like I’m going to apologize for something like this…

“No. The place isn’t important. What’s important is alcohol and people.”

“Still…I’m sorry…”

“Soju is the same wherever you go! And people haven’t changed like this either. The location doesn’t matter. Now, let’s go in.”

I patted her shoulder and calmed her down.

“Yes…I am a senior.”

went inside.

This is a typical cheap meat restaurant.

It smells like oil.

Old…not properly cleaned interior.

Men in shabby clothes who talk drunkenly since early evening.

No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think it was a place to come with a woman wearing a miniskirt.

But it is the place she chose.

If you ask them to go somewhere else, they will be hurt.

I chose a seat in the very corner.

Because her skirt was too short, I was worried that her skirt might be visible to other people.

“Sit this way.”

I made Arin sit facing the wall.

If you do this, other people won’t be able to see it even if they try.

“Thank you, senior.”

“What. Hey there!!”

“Yes, I’m leaving.”

We were ready to enjoy soju with pork belly.

****

Cheeek.

“Wow, this is better than I thought?”

It was unexpected.

It was a really cheap and delicious restaurant.

Because it was early evening, there were only a few people at first, but soon after we arrived, all the seats were filled.

“It’s a popular house. If it tastes like this at this price…it should be popular.”

“…I’m glad. senior. It’s not that I didn’t choose well.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s really delicious.”

We were only eating meat.

I haven’t opened the drink yet.

“Alcohol…don’t you drink it?”

“I don’t think you’re ready.”

As the bottle and glass were brought out, I could see her tensing up.

That’s why I didn’t open the drink on purpose.

“Because I get so nervous as soon as the alcohol comes out…”

“I’m sorry…I stopped without realizing it…”

Chii Iik.

The sound of meat being cooked.

Only the voices of drunk people make my ears dizzy.

“Aren’t you curious about why I don’t drink alcohol?”

“…I’m curious.”

“But why don’t you ask?”

“That’s because you didn’t tell me.”

“Are you not that interested in your juniors?”

“…I just didn’t ask because I thought it was polite.”

Chii Iik.

It becomes quiet again.

Arin’s face was dynamic, going from red to white.

What is he thinking?

I don’t know the details, but the meat started to burn.

I placed the well-cooked meat on Arin’s plate with my chopsticks.

“…I grew up being beaten by my dad.”

“What?”

Momentary silence.

“That…is a soju bottle.”

“Then…I tried not to drink…”

“I was scared when I saw that bottle.”

Arin was trembling.

I tried not to tremble while holding my arms with my own hands, but it was no use.

“…So…I was afraid…to drink…so…I couldn’t drink it until now…”

“But…why did you decide to drink it now? That’s why you’re so scared.”

Kuuk.

At that moment, it felt like her body was being pressed against something.

The trembling stopped for a moment.

“That’s because I decided not to run away anymore.”

chin.

Arin grabbed the soju bottle.

“If you think about it, this… wasn’t a big deal.”

Crackling.

I hear the sound of a liquor bottle being opened.

“It was just alcohol.”

She put her mouth to the bottle.

“It’s nothing so you can just eat it!”

Swish.

Ari turned the bottle several times to create a whirlwind.

Then, after opening the lid, he brought the mouth of the bottle to his mouth and started pushing it in.

“Hey…Hey…!!! What…what are you doing!!!”

Gulp, gulp, gulp!

The swirling liquor in the bottle was quickly sucked into Arin’s mouth.

Because it happened so quickly, I couldn’t stop it.

bang!

Arin put down a bottle of alcohol that was neither too small nor too large.

I drank all that alcohol in an instant, but my face color did not change.

“I disowned my father.”

“……”

“Thank you for raising me alone and giving me good hair at the medical school, but still…I didn’t want to be beaten anymore.”

“…Did you…keep getting hit?”

“……”

She only smiled faintly.

“I went to college…I left home. After I came out, I had no money, so I worked part-time. That’s why I couldn’t drink with my senior.”

I finally understood.

Why did she disappear somewhere after finishing her college studies?

“I became scared of trivial things. Even the bottle of liquor my father used to drink from. Alcohol too. My father too.”

Arin’s face started to turn red.

It seemed like the alcohol I drank quickly was slowly creeping up on me.

“I felt like if I continued like this, I would be eaten by them…so…I went to see my father and told him. I will disown you.”

chin.

She grabbed the soju bottle again.

“And this alcohol…and the bottle…I tried to overcome it…and I won.”

Arin looked at me.

Her eyes were becoming bloodshot.

The skin was completely red.

But her face looked so peaceful.

“Actually…it wasn’t a big deal. My father and this drink.”

Arin raised her hand as if to order more alcohol.

The landlady saw that and immediately tried to bring more alcohol.

“…You don’t have to give it to the lady. Hey Teacher Baek…! I drank too much. Don’t drink more.”

“…Ha…So…I’m a senior…”

Arin looks at me.

Her eyes were different from hers so far.

It was a more…longing look in his eyes.

“Can I talk about what I promised back then…”

Her tongue begins to twitch.

She might remember if I tell her now.

But I was curious.

The words that Arin could not say because of her reason.

It was a golden opportunity to find out what it was.

“Okay. I’ll listen to everything. Please feel free to talk.”

“Good…Uh…Hi!”

Arin spoke even though she was drunk.

But then he looked at me as if he had made up his mind.

“I’m your senior! With me…! 3 days…don’t go on a trip to Jeju Island!!”

thud.

And she immediately fell face down on the table.

First drinking party.

The price for drinking too quickly was…passing out.