“Oh, yes. Teacher Kim, you’ve worked hard.”
Amidst the chaos, I alone kept my eyes fixed on Woo Tae-seon. Aware of my gaze—no, having been watching me from the start—Woo Tae-seon naturally made his way toward me through the crowd. As he drew closer, my entire body tensed up.
The emotion making my heart race was close to anticipation. I thought it was the expectation that he might finally end this now.
“You can take it out now.”
I decided that the slight dampness at the front of my clothes from his whisper in my ear would have to remain a secret till death.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you for your work!”
“Yes, everyone worked hard. Get home safely.”
I jerked my head up from where it had been buried in my knees at the commotion. Everyone was bowing to someone somewhere. Ah, greetings. I hastily bowed my head in all directions as well. Thank you, thank you for your work…
“Jae-yun, snap out of it. Jae-yun!”
“…Yes!”
My vision suddenly shifted as my shoulder was firmly grabbed. The blurry crowd I had seen from a distance was now replaced by a single face right in front of me. My hazy face gradually became clearer with each blink. Ah, it’s my senior.
“Yes, it’s me. Can you pull yourself together?”
“Yes! I’m perfectly fine. Really.”
“Ah, you punk. You’re completely out of it.”
Ah, out of it. I’m out of it… Muttering that, I slumped down again.
“Hey, Jae-yun. Get up. We’re at your house. Get out.”
When I opened my eyes again, feeling my body shake, we really were in front of my house.
Ah, I need to get out. Still clutching my bag tightly to my chest, I tumbled out of the car in a hurry. Only after stepping onto the hard asphalt ground rather than the swaying car interior did the balance in my dizzy head seem to level out somewhat.
I only now realized that the car I had been riding in wasn’t my senior’s car but a taxi. I also thought that the tired-looking face of my senior, weakly protruding through the window rolled all the way down, probably wasn’t just my imagination.
With embarrassment, apology, and confusion all mixed together, I couldn’t form any words. Seeing me just opening and closing my mouth, my senior smiled understandingly and waved his phone. Let’s talk on the phone. The taxi left immediately, leaving behind only the wave of my senior’s hand.
My phone rang right away. I thought this was the day I answered the phone the latest despite seeing my senior’s name.
“H-hello.”
—You punk, next time you drink everything I give you, you’ll know what’s coming.
“S-senior. I made a mistake… Ah, I got too drunk, no. …I’m sorry.”
—It’s fine, man. It’s okay. Rest well over the weekend. Ah, take that thing in your pocket before you sleep.
“…I’m sorry, senior. Go home now.”
—Okay. See you on Monday.
Looking down at my phone as the screen went black, I could see my disheveled face reflected. My messy hair, the reddish stains around my eyes as if wearing a raccoon mask, and my completely unfocused eyes. It was a sight that made me sigh involuntarily.
I was someone who lost strength in my legs after just three shots of soju. In my memory, the glasses of alcohol had filled up and disappeared once, twice, three times, ah, and a fourth time… Even excluding the glasses that had been secretly swapped with water, it was quite a lot.
“…Ah, this is driving me crazy.”
My deep sigh was full of intense alcohol odor. Feeling as if I was getting drunk again from my own breath, I waved my hand to disperse the smell into the air. The alcohol smell disappeared quickly, but the persistent, clinging memories of being heavily intoxicated wouldn’t leave my mind.
…It would have been better if I had clung to my senior, but what I had actually clung to was the asphalt ground.
First, I put my phone in my pocket. No, I tried to, but it caught on something. That thing in your pocket. Before I could tilt my head in confusion, my senior’s voice came to mind. Instead of my phone, what came out of my pocket was a hangover remedy. I fiddled with the hangover remedy that still retained a slight chill.
At that moment, my phone, which I had put in my pocket, rang again.
Was it because I had regained some clarity from just touching the coolness of the hangover remedy? Actually, it would be more accurate to say I was excited rather than clear-headed. So this time, I answered the phone as usual, even faster than usual.
Although I couldn’t confirm the saved name with my eyes, my thumb had already slid from left to right, and my hand quickly brought the phone to my ear.
“H-hello!”
—Is it over? You answered quickly.
The voice from the phone wasn’t my senior’s. It wasn’t the pronunciation of someone trying to appear sober but with a slightly slurred tongue, nor was there the noise of the road that could be heard in a fast-moving car.
—You must not have drunk much. Judging by your voice.
In an instant, I was transported to the middle of a spacious living room. A quiet living room where soft classical music played, and the only noise was the violent beating of my heart. That place where sharp gazes surrounded my entire body instead of clothes.
—Come now. I’ll be waiting.
And Woo Tae-seon, who would be there.
I think I stood there for quite a long time, holding my phone that had ended the call and the still cold hangover remedy in both hands.
I drank the glass bottle with a refreshing sound as it opened. Is it not effective? I emptied the entire hangover remedy that claimed it could solve everything in one go into my mouth, but I still felt hazy. I hailed a passing taxi, gave the driver the now-familiar address, and leaned deeply against the backrest.
On the way to that house, on the way to that boy, I thought it might be the first time I had laughed. The sight of me taking a hangover remedy while heading to Woo Tae-seon’s house was funny. Rather than self-deprecating laughter, it was just funny. Me.
* * *
As soon as I came out of the bathroom, Woo Tae-seon designated a specific spot and told me to raise my buttocks. I climbed onto the opposite side of the sofa where Woo Tae-seon usually lay down, and stood on all fours like an obedient dog. I became a well-behaved dog, waiting only for my master’s command to fall.
I had some idea of what to expect. Soon I would have to bury my head in the sofa and raise my buttocks. Then the fluffy bathrobe would flow inversely from my thighs up to my chest.
“How about this?”
But what came from behind me was not permission but a question.
When I turned to look at Woo Tae-seon, in his hand was a slender-circumference ice wine bottle. The transparent bottle with gold-engraved letters contained deep amber-colored wine, about half full.
I shook my head. Not only did I not enjoy alcohol itself, but I particularly disliked fermented drinks.
“I don’t like wine.”
“Hmm. This would probably be best for a beginner.”
Although it was a question, my opinion wasn’t necessary anyway. I nodded listlessly at the familiar situation. Actually, the strongest emotion I felt was worry. Could I drink more here? The image of me trying desperately to drive my head into the floor kept popping up from my fragmented memories.
When I quickly shook my spinning head, the alcohol scent that seemed to fill my mind also swayed heavily. I tried to exhale as deeply as possible to release the intoxication, but it was quite difficult. Rather, a vague feeling of getting even more tipsy rose up.
I won’t die, right? I hoped it would at least taste sweet. With those thoughts, I got up from the sofa.
“I didn’t tell you to lower your buttocks.”
“…Huh?”
Wine. You, …said let’s drink. At my crawling voice, Woo Tae-seon tilted his head.
Come to think of it, Woo Tae-seon had never once asked me to choose wine for him. Even offering me a drink had only happened on the first day. It was a bit strange. It could be a whim, but it felt different.
I tried hard to think positively, but an ominous feeling clinging to my entire body put me on edge.
“I didn’t know you were that desperate.”
I blinked repeatedly, but nothing changed. Neither the ominous premonition nor my inability to understand what it meant.
“If it wasn’t enough, you should have said so.”
“What are you talking about…”
“I’ve been thinking you haven’t been satisfied lately.”
From the smile hanging on his slightly parted lips, from his eyes that had darkened as usual, I could tell. That what Woo Tae-seon was measuring with his grasp was the thickness of the wine bottle.
I slowly rechecked whether my understanding was correct. So, this. Put it in. My fingertips trembled.
“H-how can you put that in.”
It’s a wine bottle. Although the circumference wasn’t too thick, appearing almost straight from the bottle’s mouth to the bottom, it was still a wine bottle.
“I’ll tear. I-I’ll tear…”
“Lie down again, Teacher.”
It wasn’t meant to scare me. Woo Tae-seon was smiling, but everything about him exuded firmness. I could be certain. Woo Tae-seon would neither change his mind nor back down. Realizing this, I felt like I might burst into tears.
Woo Tae-seon hadn’t been asking me. It was a notification.
“I’ll loosen up. Tae-seon, I’ll, I’ll, quickly, loosen, loosen up.”
“…”
