episode_0249

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Hmm.

This is unexpected.

I thought that pervert would obviously show some subtle interest in Seoyeon.

But I’m not seeing that behavior as much as I expected…?

Rather… how should I put it?

It’s almost like he’s treating her like a rock instead of a woman?

“Where are we going? I don’t mind just grabbing something quick to eat.”

“…I’ll have anything…”

“Hmm. In that case, a pub that accommodates everyone’s preferences would be…”

Weird.

With her looks, she shouldn’t fall short next to Sua-chan, but isn’t she being too reserved?

Look. Even the guys passing by are glancing at her sideways.

So if they were ordinary men, they’d definitely say things like:

‘What’s your relationship with Yozora?’ or

‘How was the movie?’

Or even if they already kind of know each other, they’d pretend to formally introduce themselves.

By now, they’d already be pulling all sorts of tricks.

Why is Seowoo Jin so uninterested…?

It’s not like he’s devoid of sexual desire…

…

…Ah, unless.

“You can go if you want, but I won’t be drinking.”

“…Same here.”

“Then should we really go? To a pub?”

“Yeah.”

Just.

Simply.

Could it be that Seoyeon just isn’t his type…?

“…”

That… that won’t do, will it…?

249

A suitably rowdy Hofbräu.

A bar with dim lighting, trying way too hard to look sophisticated.

An izakaya he rarely visited, grumbling about why he’d drink this stuff in Korea.

Similarly, a pojangmacha he rarely visited—

but for slightly different reasons.

After wandering around led by Yozora, the place they ended up at was a suitably noisy Hofbräu tucked away in a corner of the downtown area.

According to Yozora, aside from craft beers, the selection of alcohol is pretty much the same anywhere around here, but this place had the best side dishes to go with it.

And true to her word, it was reasonably satisfying.

Sliced potato fries, chicken, spicy aged kimchi stew, and so on…

Well, unlike me, who treated it as a snack, I’m not sure how the other two, who had it as a proper meal, felt about it. But it must’ve been decent enough, considering—

Yozora, drinking along with her food, and

Baek Seoyeon, who had been acting subtly awkward ever since we ran into each other at the theater—

both silently kept their chopsticks moving.

…Honestly, though.

“…”

Baek Seoyeon.

I thought she’d make up all sorts of excuses to run away rather than have dinner with me, let alone step foot in here.

I mean, that’s only natural, right?

After (probably) getting lightly groped by me because of Yozora, how is she sitting here in her right mind?

If it were her choice, she’d probably want to wipe me off the face of the planet without a trace so there’d be no witnesses to the ‘Infirmary Heat Incident.’

“Seoyeon, you’re way cuter than I thought…? Last time we went to do purikura together…”

At first, I planned to manipulate her into betraying Yozora, but seeing Baek Seoyeon—who seemed like she was being toyed with by a tyrannical boss—I ended up pitying her and stayed quiet.

Baek Seoyeon, silent out of embarrassment, just kept moving her chopsticks.

Between them, Yozora carried the conversation on her own, and eventually, all the side dishes we generously ordered were gone before we knew it.

Time to wrap up this awkward meal where only Yozora seemed comfortable.

So I lightly nudged Yozora, who had been mumbling with her cheek pressed against my shoulder for a while now, but all I got in return was a whiny, nasally protest.

If we were dating, maybe it’d be different, but given our current relationship, it’s just annoying.

Letting out a sigh, I glanced around before shaking Yozora awake—lest strangers start giving us dirty looks.

“Yozora. Wake up.”

“Uuueeehh…”

“Stop pretending to be drunk after just a few bottles. Get up.”

“Eeuugh…”

“…You just wanted to come to a pub so you could do this, didn’t you?”

“Nuh-uuhh…”

“What do you mean ‘nuh-uh’? You usually hold your liquor better than this.”

“Must’ve been stronger than I thought… My head’s gonna explode…”

“Here’s some water. Drink.”

“…Water…?”

“Yeah. Here.”

“…”

Taking the glass from me, Yozora stared at me with a dumbfounded look for a second before carefully tilting it to drink without spilling.

Maybe she’s being careful because she doesn’t want me scolding her if she spills.

I don’t know why, but as long as she’s quiet now, it’s fine.

Her stumbling is a little concerning, but she can just stay with Baek Seoyeon for a bit.

Screech— I pushed back my chair and stood up, briefly leaving Yozora with Baek Seoyeon sitting across from me.

“Hey.”

“…Ah, yes?”

…Now that I think about it,

this is the first time I’ve spoken directly to Baek Seoyeon today.

“I’ll go pay. Just make sure she doesn’t drink anymore until I get back.”

“…Okay.”

“Sorry about this.”

“…It’s fine. This much is… nothing…”

Awkward.

No, that might not even fully capture it.

After the embarrassing experience earlier thanks to that clingy drunk girl, it’s even more so.

But there’s no helping it, so I quickly settled the bill and returned—peeling Yozora, who had latched onto Baek Seoyeon like jelly, off her and scooping her up over my shoulder.

…Judging by how she clung to me rather than just flopping limply, she might be slightly drunk but still perfectly capable of walking on her own.

I decided to ignore it.

“We should take a taxi, right? But in this state, they might refuse…”

“…I’ll try flagging one down…”

“Ah, okay.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Once again, the conversation died, leaving only the sound of our footsteps on the pavement.

The only thing that changed was that Yozora’s loud chatter had turned into soft, sleepy breaths—but her absence was deafening.

We weren’t exactly friends.

And it wasn’t like we were in a situation where we needed to become friends.

Even though in the infirmary, I pushed her panties aside, soaked with her own fluids, and played a mean-spirited prank on her… me casually striking up a conversation now feels just as weird.

…Given her reaction earlier, Baek Seoyeon must’ve been really embarrassed.

We walked in silence, and before long, we reached the main road.

A night sky devoid of stars, pitch black.

Underneath the bright city lights of skyscrapers, cars with their headlights dimmed glittered as they noisily passed by.

Just as I was quietly watching—

perhaps because of the taxi, Baek Seoyeon, who had been fumbling with her phone, suddenly spoke up.

“…Did you two make up completely?”

“Make up?”

“You and Yozora. I heard you fought and broke up…”

“Ah.”

“And, um… I know you weren’t lovers but, well… s-sex partners. Or whatever.”

We did make up.

Like kindergarten teachers forcing kids to ‘shake hands, say sorry, and give a kiss!’—it wasn’t heartfelt, but yeah.

But the intent behind her question isn’t to confirm the truth.

Looking at everything so far, Baek Seoyeon is a bit dense, but she’s not actually stupid.

She came to meet me in the first place and is now helping carry Yozora. She must’ve figured it out by now.

So this is…

A forced attempt at ice-breaking.

Instead of giving her a short answer, I deliberately lengthened my response.

…And mixed in a tiny lie.

“Yozora started crying and apologizing first, so I forgave her. Mistakes happen to everyone.”

“…Crying? Yozora did?”

“Yeah. She clung to me, sniffling. I should’ve recorded it and teased her about it for life.”

There was no reaction from Yozora on my back.

I was prepared for her to strangle me or sneakily pinch the back of my arm, but—

Seems she’s way more wasted than I thought.

Her rhythmic breathing suggests she’s genuinely asleep now.

“I take it Yozora doesn’t usually show that side of herself?”

“No… not really. …Ah, I have seen her whine a bit while drinking, though.”

“What happened then?”

“Well… what was it? It was a long time ago, and I was drunk too, so my memory’s hazy…”

“How long ago did you meet her? She’s been in Korea for… 10—no, 3 years, right?”

“Almost right after she arrived. She said she’d teach me Japanese, among other things… You remember Mr. Kwon Nam-ho? She had a brief connection with him…”

“So you’re good at Japanese too.”

“…Just self-taught to a basic level.”

“I see.”

Not that I was particularly curious, but these weren’t exactly crucial details for Baek Seoyeon either.

We volleyed trivialities like a badminton match, easing the tension slightly compared to before.

Though she still looks uncomfortable—probably because she never intended to get close to me in the first place…

But at least sharing the same space was manageable now.

So I seized the chance to broach a slightly more sensitive topic.

“…That reminds me, um… about what happened in the infirmary that time?”

“……”

If we’re just going to treat it like Voldemort the longer we wait, better to rip off the band-aid now.

It’s not like we’re going to be friends anyway, so there’s no harm in talking about it.

And if—if—we do end up getting closer…

This would just become an awkward obstacle later.

“That… that time, um, what was it…”

“You’re thinking about that right now, aren’t you?”

“……”

“That time, about what happened.”

Hmph— Adjusting Yozora wriggling on my back, I lowered my voice—

so passersby wouldn’t hear,

so the words would drown in the sound of cars cutting through the night wind.

“You came to me because of Yozora, right?”

“…Huh?”

“After tempting me, Yozora was going to use you as… what, a key to reconciling with me? Something like that.”

“…W-well. Yeah. That’s right. It was because of Yozora…”

Baek Seoyeon flustered, visibly panicking as she stumbled over her words from the embarrassing topic.

Spotting a taxi screeching to a stop in front of us, I added one last thing before opening the door and stuffing Yozora into the back seat.

“Thinking about it now, I feel like I was a bit too harsh on you.”

“…”

“Seeing you forced into this because Yozora asked made it kind of… funny? Honestly, though, the way you clutched my sleeve and pulled was kinda hot.”

“…”

“That ‘heat’ thing you mentioned—was that real?”

“Uh… that…”

“It wasn’t, was it?”

“N-no! That kind of thing doesn’t exist! Even if you’re a variant-type, there’s no way…”

“Then let’s just forget about what happened. It was just Yozora’s sex-crazed nonsense.”

“…Okay.”

“Sigh… You want the front seat? Or the back?”

“B-back… I’ll take the— Ah!”

“Careful.”

“…”

As she nearly tripped between the car and the sidewalk, I instinctively grabbed her wrist and pulled her back—

…But Baek Seoyeon made a face like she’d just made a grave mistake.

Gently pushing her spring coat-clad shoulders away, I gestured for her to get in.

Together.