“Looking for two guys to go buy meat. You three do rock-paper-scissors.”
“And you?”
“I’m the one paying. Your hyung’s treating.”
“Okay. If you’re the one paying, that’s valid. Rest well, hyung-nim.”
“Sure.”
The ones who lost rock-paper-scissors were Kwon Jisoo and Shin Gi-hyeok. The two headed outside with the faces of people who’d just eaten shit. I fired off a message to the driver asking him to help with some driving.
Only Lee Daeju and I were left in the house. We sprawled around and started playing on the PlayStation.
But there was a problem. Lee Daeju had the worst hands of the worst—king of terrible players. We were supposed to be killing zombies, but that bastard kept grabbing items instead, so we were already on our eighth restart.
“Idiot! Stop picking up items and smash that zombie’s head!”
“But it won’t die?”
“The head, you idiot! The head!”
By the time Shin Gi-hyeok and Kwon Jisoo came back, I had Lee Daeju locked in an armbar. Lee Daeju was slapping the floor with his hand, writhing in pain. The two who’d gone to buy meat looked at us like we were pathetic and sighed, telling us to get up and go eat instead.
I glared at Lee Daeju and slowly released the armbar.
“My arm has no feeling…”
“The other arm looks useless too. Want me to delete that one as well?”
“Can’t. I need this one to eat meat.”
“You’re serious about meat. You—become my comrade.”
“…You lunatics.”
Kwon Jisoo pointed at Lee Daeju and me as we carried on like a comedy duo, then started bringing the food outside. We also moved the things needed for the barbecue.
Then I sat at the garden table and stared blankly at the ingredients.
The meat those guys bought was 3 kilograms.
I had absolutely nothing to say.
“…The four of us are supposed to eat 3 kilos? Are you insane?”
“You’re going to eat 1 kilo yourself anyway, right?”
“Want to die, Shin Gi-hyeok? Your hyung’s max is 600 grams.”
“Then I’ll just eat 1 kilo.”
“…Those pigs.”
It was decided that Pig Shin Gi-hyeok would grill the meat.
“Shin Gi-hyeok, you just went out to buy it. I’ll grill.”
“It’s fine.”
He rejected my considerate offer instantly. Apparently he had pride about meat and had to grill it himself. I nodded in disbelief.
He put charcoal into something that looked like a small furnace and lit it with a torch. After placing the grill plate on top, Shin Gi-hyeok laid the meat down.
Sizzle—
The smell of pork filled the entire table.
I swallowed and smacked my lips. When I glanced around, the other guys were doing the same.
“Alright. Now you can—”
“Okay.”
Before Shin Gi-hyeok could even finish speaking, we lunged toward the meat with our chopsticks like we were going into battle.
“Hey! Aren’t you going to move those chopsticks?!”
Kwon Jisoo shouted sharply at Lee Daeju, who was inhaling the meat. I looked at their behavior with disdain.
“There’s literally 3 kilos of meat here, guys. You don’t have to rush.”
“Doesn’t matter. I need to get some in my mouth first.”
“These bastards. Last time they gave me so much shit for taking three pieces of meat at once.”
Meanwhile they were each grabbing three pieces of pork barely a centimeter thick.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud—because I was also busy stuffing meat into my mouth. Shin Gi-hyeok, the meat manager, stared at us like we were pigs.
“With pork, you need?”
“Beer!”
The two of them were perfectly in sync. They started placing the alcohol they’d bought at the mart onto the table one by one. I gulped as I looked at the pile of beer cans—then squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away.
Today I absolutely wasn’t drinking.
After we finished hanging out, I was planning to call Do Jihoon. Just thinking about our baby feeling sad because I wasn’t there made sweat drip from my eyes. Sob.
“As expected of Yeon Yuri. The big eater of this era. He’s already eaten two servings.”
“Yeon Yuri, you’re not drinking the beer you like?”
“Yeah. I need to contact our baby while I’m sober.”
“If I hear the word baby one more time, I’m going to blow your head off.”
Kwon Jisoo’s eyes gleamed as she coldly snapped that out. I lowered my head, avoiding his gaze. With Yeon Yuri’s paper-doll body, I had no confidence in surviving a wild boar-like Kwon Jisoo body slam.
“Then let’s make a toast!”
“I’ll do it with soda.”
“Okay.”
“The one paying should do the toast!”
“Alright.”
After thinking for a moment, I stood up and shouted.
“For the smooth romantic lives of our classmates!”
“Hey. Beat that bastard up.”
“Roger.”
The moment I finished the toast, they grabbed me and showered me with beer. The smell of fermented barley wafted from my entire body. The bastards giggled as they looked at me—now a human pickle.
“I’ll do the toast.”
“Yeah. You do it instead, Kwon Jisoo.”
“Alright! Single heaven, couple hell!”
“Single heaven, couple hell!!”
Following Kwon Jisoo’s chant, the guys shouted together.
It was an absolute scene of madness.
Shaking with fear, I glared at them.
You lunatics.
Even Shin Gi-hyeok, whom I trusted, had his reasons for hanging out with those two crazy bastards. Birds of a feather flock together—there wasn’t a single thing wrong with that old saying.
Fueled by their madness, empty bottles gradually piled up on the table. At the same time, their faces were turning increasingly red.
Just how much were these guys planning to drink?
“Hey, uninvited guests. Vomiting isn’t allowed in my house.”
“W-We didn’t drink that muuch, you bashtard.”
“Lee Daeju’s tongue is about to go completely loose. Same with his eyes.”
Shin Gi-hyeok was already nodding off. He looked dangerously close to collapsing onto the table.
Seriously, he looked like he could drink a ton.
But Shin Gi-hyeok was a lightweight.
His maximum tolerance was half a bottle.
Half a bottle.
“What fragile guys.”
Kwon Jisoo—who was the only one still perfectly fine—downed a shot of soju in one gulp and declared that. I looked at the disastrous scene left behind by the madness and couldn’t help but exclaim.
Who the hell is going to clean this up, damn it…
Four people ate, but only two people were going to clean.
I looked at Kwon Jisoo with desperate eyes. Her expression wasn’t any different from mine.
“Kwon Jisoo. Let’s at least clear the food first. We’ll make those bastards do the dishes tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“And you take care of Shin Gi-hyeok. If even a little alpha pheromone scent gets on me, Do Jihoon will lose his shit.”
“…For fuck’s sake.”
We diligently carried the food back inside. We also cleaned the trash—and the two piles of trash-like luggage called human beings.
Lee Daeju was at least small enough to carry easily, but Shin Gi-hyeok was a disaster. I gave Kwon Jisoo a reverent look as she dragged the large, heavy alpha male away.
“Ugh! Fuck. My shoulder hurts like hell.”
I set Lee Daeju down on the bed.
Then suddenly, an old memory began floating up—my dark history of drunkenly spouting nonsense while being carried on Do Jihoon’s back.
I grabbed my head and screamed internally.
Damn you, Do Jihoon! Damn you, past Yeon Yuri!
I felt like I could die from embarrassment. It was a miracle that Do Jihoon was such a saint.
Thinking about it again, I couldn’t help wondering how the two of us even ended up dating.
Why on earth would he like such a prickly omega—one who vomits, curses constantly, and has a terrible personality?
…
Thinking about it more just felt like I was spitting in my own face, so I stopped worrying about it.
Just as I was about to leave the slowly squirming Lee Daeju and go wash up—
“Seongyeon… Seongyeon… I miss you…”
Lee Daeju, completely soaked in alcohol, started calling his ex-boyfriend’s name.
I couldn’t just leave him alone like that.
I stayed and listened to all of Lee Daeju’s drunken muttering and lamenting. When his breathing finally evened out, I returned to my room.
After washing up, I immediately called Do Jihoon.
Looking at the clock, it was a little past 11:30.
“Hello.”
“Doji!”
Thankfully, Do Jihoon answered. Joy seeped into my voice.
“You’re not asleep?”
“No. I was reading.”
“At this hour? Your eyes will go bad.”
“It’s fine. So what’s up?”
Do Jihoon’s voice was gentle.
Warm. Soft.
Just hearing his voice made me incredibly happy.
“Do we need a reason to talk on the phone? I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Yeah. I wanted to hear yours too.”
“Really? We’re in sync!”
I told Do Jihoon everything that happened today one by one. Chatting with the guys, showing them the house, and even grilling meat together at night.
Do Jihoon responded with a soft voice.
“Really? I see. That must’ve been fun.”
Every time he replied like that, the smile on my face wouldn’t disappear.
“Doji. Aren’t you bored without me?”
“Well… it’s pretty quiet, so it’s not bad.”
“……”
It was good that he was doing fine on his own. After all, I was the one who said I had plans and went out.
But somehow…
It didn’t feel that great.
When I thought about it, Doji wasn’t a baby who couldn’t be left alone. Maybe I was just overreacting.
…But after thinking about it a little more, that wasn’t it.
“……”
I was upset that Do Jihoon was doing perfectly fine without me.
What the hell!
The realization hit me suddenly, and I was completely shocked. My mouth fell open.
Have I seriously gone crazy?
Living next to that jealous, possessive man Do Jihoon must’ve rubbed off on me. I knew perfectly well this was complete nonsense.
But I felt so embarrassed I was on the verge of dying from shame.
At this point, I had no choice but to rationalize it like this.
