episode_0092

“Haruya, just one drink. Okay? Just one drink.”

Where did you sell it, senior?

Kim Min-ji, who had been running hard with the guild people, came over to our table, completely drunk.

Chewy, chewy, chewy.

Soju and beer being poured into an empty glass. The mass of alcohol that was almost half and half filled up, stopped just before it overflowed, drawing a beautiful surface of water.

Kim Min-ji’s appearance is welcome.

Hanna Yeon, Baek Yu-jin, and I. The receptionist who had been sitting across from us had long since fled from the suffocating silence, and we were just enjoying our food without much conversation.

“Okay, Haruya. To celebrate our reunion!”

“No, I can’t drink at all… .”

Actually, I think there is another reason why Kim Min-ji started making such a fuss.

Oh Hyun-seo is drinking beer alone, far away.

There was no way Kim Min-ji didn’t find Oh Hyeon-seo, and it seemed like she went wild from the moment they met.

“Give me.”

“Huh, huh?”

As I was fidgeting and watching her furtively, Hanna Yeon snatched my glass away and drank it down in one gulp.

A drop of water flowing down a thin neck.

Ugh… isn’t half soju and half beer really strong?

“Oh, Hanna Yeon, the Black Knight!”

widely.

Hanna Yeon emptied her beer glass in the blink of an eye, wiped her mouth as if nothing had happened, and picked up a peanut to eat.

“You’re so cool… Hanna Yeon, one more drink? Oh, our junior’s glass is empty too.”

“There is no hierarchy among the receptionists… ….”

“Yes, yes. This isn’t a guild, right? I’m your senior in life, right? Should I accept it? ”

Baek Yu-jin, who was speaking her mind, was defeated by Kim Min-ji’s momentum and offered a glass to Kim Min-ji, as if she didn’t dislike alcohol.

Yeah, there has to be someone like Kim Min-ji at the drinking party.

In contrast, I… .

My gaze continued to follow Oh Hyeon-seo, who was sitting alone.

Kim Min-ji blatantly ignores Oh Hyeon-seo, and Han Na-yeon didn’t even recognize her in the first place, so should I go and talk to her?

But something like that happened at Oh Hyun-seo’s house a while ago… .

“Ugh… I don’t know… .”

“Why, why? If you don’t know, have a drink?”

“Don’t drink… .”

He bent his back like a shrimp and rested his chin on the table.

widely-

Tak─

Chewy, chewy, chewy.

Tak─

widely-

But why is the drinking speed… .

The vibrations transmitted to the jaw, and the sense of urgency.

Kim Min-ji’s voice was no longer heard, but another sound filled the void.

Chewy, chewy, chewy.

Pour some alcohol.

widely-

Tak─

Put your glass down.

Even the voices of two people.

“Hanna Yeon, aren’t you drinking too much?”

“It’s okay.”

Since I had never seen Hanna Yeon drink alcohol before, I couldn’t help but be worried.

And what if some kind of competitive spirit was ignited?

Baek Yu-jin, who was sitting next to me, also poured her drink at Hanna Yeon’s pace.

First of all, both of their faces look fine, and since they are full-fledged adults, they should be able to control themselves, right?

But since we’re all together now, I think it might be a good idea to let him fill his glass by himself. Even if he doesn’t drink, he can at least maintain some drinking etiquette.

“I’ll follow you. Oh, Baek Yu-jin, please wait a moment too.”

Since we have nothing to do anyway, let’s just pour some drinks between the two of us.

I filled Hanna Yeon’s glass with beer, and then poured some into Baek Yu-jin’s glass as well.

“Drink slowly. I’ll get drunk just watching you.”

“Thank you… .”

Huh, are you drunk?

I remembered what Narin had said and gave Hannayeon a warning, but Baek Yujin, who had been quietly pouring her drink, suddenly expressed her gratitude.

But the face is still white.

It might be right to say thank you when someone pours you a drink. But it’s probably because it’s the first time you’ve poured it for me.

“Ms. Baek Yu-jin, what do you think? The guild is.”

When I asked her while pouring beer into her quickly empty glass, Baek Yu-jin, who was about to drink it right away, put down her glass and muttered.

“… Okay.”

His expression doesn’t look good at all.

It would have been nice if she had at least shown him the smile she had shown him during lunch, but Baek Yu-jin just drank her beer with a completely expressionless face.

“I’m going to stop now… .”

After pouring a few drinks for the two of them, my arms started to hurt, so I slumped back down on the table, munching on the grilled squid.

It’s delicious… Butter-grilled squid. It’s probably freaking expensive, but it’s even more delicious because I know I’m not paying for it.

Knock knock─

After chewing on the squid for a while, Hanna Yeon stood up and pulled her chair back.

“Where?”

“Bathroom.”

restroom…?

Okay, wait a minute… If Hanna Yeon disappears, I’ll be alone with Baek Yu Jin again… .

“Shall we go together…?”

“… You don’t have to do that.”

Now I can go into the women’s bathroom without any hesitation. But I don’t know if I should just follow someone I know.

Left alone with Baek Yu-jin, he follows Hanna Yeon to the bathroom.

After being torn between the two options, I ended up choosing the former and ate another piece of butter-grilled squid.

Because silence is… familiar.

* * *

Oh Hyun-seo’s school life was no different from that of a conglomerate.

For students, friendships are like property.

In that respect, Oh Hyeon-seo has never felt lacking since childhood.

“Hyunseo, I brought you some snacks. Do you want to share them?”

“Okay, good. What kind of snack is it?”

“It’s a chocolate cookie… How is it?”

‘I’m nervous… I want to be close to you, but I’m not used to it.’

“I like chocolate! I’ll eat it well.”

By looking into the other person’s eyes, you can easily tell whether they like you or not.

Even what kind of emotions you have, and who those emotions are directed at.

That is why there were no failures in Oh Hyeon-seo’s interpersonal relationships.

At least until I met a girl in my first year of middle school who was taller and more mature than her peers.

As Oh Hyun-seo grew up, she naturally realized that she had to be selective about who she associates with.

In front of Oh Hyun-seo, a pretty girl with dark blonde hair and a rumor that she was talented at sports appeared, so it was impossible not to be interested.

“Nayeon, do you want to play dodgeball together?”

“Yeah.”

At first, it seemed like everything was going smoothly like other kids.

Just a kid who was a little awkward at talking to other people. To Oh Hyun-seo, Han Na-yeon was just that kind of kid.

“Nayeon, let’s eat lunch together!”

“Yeah.”

But as time passed.

“Nayeon, I bought it without knowing there were two chocolate rolls in it… Do you want one?”

“Yeah.”

As my relationship with Hannah Yeon deepens.

“Nayeon, let’s go to karaoke.”

“Karaoke is a bit… .”

“I’ll pay for it. Okay?”

Before I knew it, I found myself clinging to Hanna Yeon.

Something is wrong.

You’ve always been the one leading your friends, but now you’re being completely dragged along.

“Nayeon… Are you finding me annoying?”

“… … .”

Deep down, I hoped Hanna Yeon would deny it. Just saying ‘No’ would have been enough. Hanna Yeon just stared out the window and didn’t open her mouth until the very end.

“I see. Okay, I won’t talk to you again.”

‘Hold me… please… .’

Oh Hyun-seo ran out of the classroom and prayed inwardly several times.

But from that day on, Hanna Yeon never greeted Oh Hyeon Seo again.

“I, I, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize again. I know you… .”

Oh Hyun-seo met Hanna Yeon again after she entered high school.

New semester, new friends.

Oh Hyun-seo skillfully created her own territory and added some interesting kids into that fence.

A boy named Iharu who had the kind of appearance that anyone walking down the street would turn to look at at least once, but who gave off a gloomy vibe as if he had never made a single friend.

But was even that a failure?

Iharu climbed over his own fence so easily.

“And don’t believe rumors too much… You don’t know until you check.”

Saying such boring things that it’s hard to believe a high school student said them.

Oh Hyun-seo admitted her failure. She let Lee Ha-ru go and threw him out of her sight.

But it was something I could never stand by and watch someone else succeed as if they were making a fool of my failures.

At some point, Han Na-yeon and Lee Ha-ru started to stick together as if they were lovers. To the point where they were nicknamed “prince and princess” among the students.

‘I ignored it…’

It didn’t take long for jealousy to turn to hatred.

And it was naturally resolved when Hanna Yeon left for France.

After Hannayeon disappeared, Iharu became as quiet as the dead. He didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t get up from his seat except during lunch, and when the bell rang to end school, he suddenly disappeared.

Oh Hyun-seo thought that all human relationships during her student days were like that.

He himself was no different.

After graduating from high school, I started to lose contact with my friends one by one.

The only person left in the end was Kim Min-ji. To Oh Hyun-seo, that one person felt so light and worthless.

That’s why I completely cut it off with my own hands.

Let’s live a new life, let’s start over from scratch.

But for the adult Oh Hyun-seo, the fact that she had many friends was of no help at all. What’s more, she lost all of those friends.

Oh Hyun-seo gradually fell apart.

His only specialty was ‘making friends’, and the things he could do with it were extremely limited.

“Uh, uh… If you bang your head against the wall like that… .”

And at the very bottom of life.

At the most miserable moment.

I met Iharu again.

“Yeah, no, no. Thanks, Hanna Yeon.”

Even Iharu retained the same appearance as in Oh Hyeon-seo’s memories.

“Hanna Yeon… ?”

“Yeah… .”

He acts like he’s always being nice and does everything by himself.

Even the fact that I am on good terms with Hanna Yeon.

“I guess we’re still in touch.”

“Yeah… .”

Oh Hyun-seo hated both of them.

Hanna Yeon, who didn’t open her heart to him, and Haru Lee, who entered Hanna Yeon’s heart by making fun of her.

The world they created for themselves.

I hated it so much and it annoyed me so much that I wanted to smash it into little pieces.

That’s why Oh Hyun-seo approached the person she hated the most.

“Nayeon-ah.”

“… ?”

Even though I hate Hanna Yeon so much that she tilts her head and says she doesn’t remember at all.

“Don’t you remember me? Hyunseo, Oh Hyunseo. We went to the same middle school and high school. If I told you we were friends for a day, would you remember?”

“… … Ah.”

A sigh burst out after a long silence.

Oh Hyun-seo forced a smile so hard that her face convulsed.

“Would you like to talk for a moment? It’s nice to see you after such a long time.”

Hanna Yeon probably won’t remember it properly.

“We met a day ago. It’s strange. Is this what they call fate?”

So please follow me.

If you use this day as bait, then definitely.

* * *

“Ms. Baek Yu-jin, stop drinking. Is something bothering you?”

“None. Don’t worry about it.”

It’s almost time to leave, but Hannayeon, who went to the bathroom, doesn’t come back.

Even when Baek Yu-jin drank too much and turned into Hong Yu-jin, and the receptionists, who were so drunk that they called for a second round.

“Did he make a toilet and go?”

Hanna Yeon didn’t come back.