episode_0091

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On a floating, aimless day like this, there’s nothing much to do.

Maybe I should sign up for a gym and drop by occasionally.

“Sigh…”

Sunday afternoon.

As I dried my hair with a hairdryer, I let out a light sigh while staring at my phone.

The reason? This damn pleading dog emoji.

I had planned to call out Lee Hayoon, but she sent me a text saying she already had plans with friends today, along with that apologetic dog emoji.

…What a shame.

I was going to casually ask her how yesterday went while walking around with Lee Jiyun, treating her to something tasty.

But if I ask over text, my ulterior motives will be way too obvious…

Oh well.

Not everything in the world goes the way I want it to.

I’ll just have to find another opportunity later.

“So… is Lee Jiyun home alone right now?”

If Hayoon is out having fun with her friends, that means Jiyun is probably at home alone, gaming.

What should I do…?

It might be fun to drop by and surprise her.

Or maybe it’d be more entertaining to keep teasing her until she finally brings it up herself.

Both options sound delicious. Hmm.

As I continued drying my damp roots, lost in thought—

My phone, which I had just placed on the table, vibrated lightly.

“……?”

The moment I turned my head slightly, I saw a familiar name.

Psycho Bitch.

[Psycho Bitch] —Hey, Han Soo-ah contacted me earlier, what do I do about this?

And, judging by the state of her texts, she seemed pretty drunk.

“…….”

After seeing this kind of thing countless times over the past ten years, I wasn’t particularly moved.

She must’ve had at least eight bottles yesterday. No, probably ten. That’s my guess, anyway.

But more importantly, why is she reporting Han Soo-ah’s contact to me like this?

Did she get so drunk she forgot the whole act she’s been putting on?

Or did she remember that I told her to bring Han Soo-ah to the bookstore last time?

…Well, whatever the reason, it must be related to me.

After roughly gauging Yozora’s state, I finished drying my hair and picked up my phone.

[Seo Woojin] —What kind of contact?

[Psycho Bitch] —She said she likes manga, so I told her all the manga I studied, y’know?

What the hell is she even saying?

First, she says Han Soo-ah contacted her, and now she’s suddenly talking about manga?

Reading Yozora’s drunken, garbled texts, the familiar disgust I’ve built up over ten years slowly creeps up from deep inside me.

I’m an adult. I’ll endure it. Endure.

[Seo Woojin] —Forget about what manga you “studied.”

—Finish what you were saying earlier properly.

—I’m asking why you contacted me.

[Psycho Bitch] —Ah

—Uh, y’know

—I was gonna slowly prep her to give you a present, but

—Ah, wait. This is a secret.

—I’ll delete it. Wait.

…Idiot.

Muttering under my breath, I chugged some water.

Later, when she sobers up and slowly pieces her memories back together, she’s gonna come running to me, isn’t she?

Ah, she drank more than usual this time, so she might black out for once…

“…….”

Wait a second.

A present?

Before I could even properly process what that meant, Yozora’s next text came in.

[Psycho Bitch] —Anyway!!

—I totally accidentally ended up talking about lewd manga with her!!

—And I guess Soo-ah got interested in that stuff too.

—So I was like,

—”Come to my place!” (≧∀≦)ﾉ

—She said she’ll be here soon, waaaah~

“……….”

…Psycho bitch.

91

Even though Han Soo-ah has never relied on her liver to process alcohol before,

One thing was absolutely certain.

The scent of alcohol practically wafted from the words she had typed out by hand.

[Yozora] —The manga I recommended? Did you really watch all of it?

—Even if each one isn’t that long, combined, it’s a lot. I didn’t think you’d finish it all over the weekend.

—Ugh. My fingers hurt. Maybe I should just call…

—No, actually. Wanna come over? I’ll send you the address.

If you cleaned up Yozora’s messy sentences, they’d probably look something like that.

Han Soo-ah, who had pulled her scarf up to her lips, sighed as she looked at her phone.

Visiting a friend’s place wasn’t a bad thing in itself.

Compared to a casual friend you’d only exchange greetings with, having more shared memories like this would only help the Hanseol Group’s image.

Even if it was annoying, taking the time to build the impression of being a “good friend” was part of the job.

That was Han Soo-ah, the face of the Hanseol Group, speaking.

The reason she sighed was because Han Soo-ah, the human, had slightly different thoughts.

Like, seriously?

You were talking about lewd manga, and then suddenly invited her over to continue the conversation at your place??

Does that kind of thing actually happen in real life?

Not in manga, but in actual reality??

Does that even make sense??

Of course, part of the reason she left without much protest was because she was worried about how much Yozora must’ve drunk to be like this,

And since Yozora was generally well-liked, maybe popular people just didn’t overthink these things…

“Ugh…”

She just didn’t get it. The ways of the socially adept.

If she wanted to make more friends, maybe she needed to adopt that kind of mindset too…

Han Soo-ah’s head drooped heavily.

“Is this the place?”

Having arrived at the destination her map led her to, Han Soo-ah double-checked the address before pressing the doorbell firmly.

The building in front of her was, surprisingly, a far more luxurious officetel than she had expected.

Though, compared to the “moderately expensive” officetel Han Soo-ah had bought, it was still a tier below.

Well… Last time, Yozora mentioned she came to Korea because of her parents’ work.

She didn’t know exactly what they did, but it seemed like they were well-off.

Maybe something related to trade…? Probably.

“…….”

…It’s not something illegal, right…?

…Hah. What a lame joke.

Dismissing her own baseless speculation, Han Soo-ah stepped into the elevator.

The seventh floor.

She then pressed the doorbell firmly in front of Unit 702, as Yozora had instructed.

But there was no response.

“……?”

Thinking she might’ve gotten the unit wrong, she checked her messages again—but no, it was 702.

Tilting her head, Han Soo-ah pressed the bell once more.

Still nothing.

Wait, the lobby door opened just fine, so why no response now?

Did she pass out drunk or something…?

Not wanting to accidentally run into another resident, Han Soo-ah leaned against the wall, pulling her scarf up further.

Then, about a minute later—click—the sound of a lock disengaging.

“Soo-ahhh…”

“…….”

Peeking out from inside was—

A zombie.

“You came… Ughhh…”

“A-Are you okay? There’s nothing there, what did you trip on…?”

“Slippers…”

“…….”

A zombie that reeked of alcohol.

And looked suspiciously like Yozora.

From the outside, the officetel had seemed impressively large, but the inside was unexpectedly cramped.

No, wait, I take that back.

The place itself was as spacious as expected, but the clutter everywhere made it feel smaller.

What were clearly delivery boxes were shamelessly piled up in the walkway.

Is that… a… massager?

A Japanese-style massager she’d seen in manga once was rolling around on the floor.

And that wasn’t all.

The tiny table was crammed with liquor bottles, giving off a suffocating, claustrophobic vibe.

Sigh… Should I praise her for neatly lining them up while drunk…?

Couldn’t she just leave them on the floor?

“Huh…?”

Her brief shock at seeing Yozora’s bare face for the first time was quickly overshadowed.

Something ticklish brushed against her hair and back, making Han Soo-ah glance behind her.

Whether it was because she was wasted or not, Yozora had pressed her cheek firmly against Han Soo-ah’s back and was acting clingy.

…So this is what real alcohol breath smells like.

But weirdly, the apartment itself didn’t smell at all.

Does the scent only come out when you drink?

Learning something new yet again, Han Soo-ah nudged Yozora’s forehead away with her elbow.

“Hey, Yozora.”

“Mmm…”

“Did you drink all this by yourself?”

“Mmm…”

I see.

She only half-believed that.

There was no way one person could drink that much.

Even if it were water, no one could down that much.

She probably drank with the school nurse and was sent home midway…

And as for why a man and woman would drink that much together…

Obviously. Yeah.

If there are any suspicious stains on the bed, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see them.

Having roughly pieced together the situation, Han Soo-ah carefully started clearing the empty bottles in front of her.

If Yozora stumbled and knocked them over, things would get messy fast.

“I’ll just put these bottles on the floor for now. Over there in the corner.”

“Mmm…”

“The delivery boxes… Wait a sec. Aunties usually fold them like this to dispose of them.”

“Hmm…”

Her sleepy, cat-like eyes that made it hard to casually talk to her.

Her voice, which sounded cold and clipped unless she deliberately brightened it.

Outwardly, she wasn’t exactly the friendliest, but at her core, she was just an innocent, shut-in romance manga otaku.

So, forgetting her original purpose for coming, Han Soo-ah diligently cleaned up like a mother who had just witnessed her daughter’s disastrous living situation.

“And…”

She picked up the small massager in her hand.

Did alcohol spill on it? It felt slightly sticky all over.

“Where should I put this? The massager.”

“Ahh… That’s… mine…”

Yozora, who had been sitting on the sofa (and sulkily retreated there after being told she’d just be in the way), stared blankly in her direction.

Then, she lazily stretched her finger to the right.

Her arm flopped back onto the sofa, but her fingertip pointed at a mysterious door.

“That one?”

“Mmm…”

Is that the bedroom?

Curious, Han Soo-ah carefully opened it—only to find a bathroom.

“This is the bathroom?”

“Mmm… Gotta wash it…”

“Wash it? Oh, because of the alcohol?”

“Mmm… Not that…”

If that’s the case, I can just wash it and leave it somewhere sunny to dry.

Checking where water shouldn’t go on the massager, Han Soo-ah headed to the sink.

Then, she froze.

“I used this yesterday… when I masturbated… Gotta wash it before it starts smelling…”

“…….”

Her brain short-circuited.

“M-Masturbated…?”

“Mmm…”

…No way.

…You used this to masturbate?

How, exactly?

Don’t tell me you inserted the tip—

No, no, there’s no way it’s thick enough for that.

How would this even fit inside a woman’s body?

Then how…?

As Han Soo-ah stared at the massager in shock—

She slowly, inevitably, pieced together the truth behind why it was so sticky.

“…….”

…But she couldn’t just throw someone else’s belongings.

So she quietly placed the massager by the sink.

Beside her, the sound of vigorous handwashing echoed for a long time.