Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have such extreme thoughts. But it seemed I’d been thinking about the original novel more deeply than I realized. Ominous imaginings kept burrowing into my mind.
“Yuri?”
Do Jihoon tapped my shoulder. I snapped my head up.
“Uh—yeah. Right. Let’s go, let’s go.”
I absentmindedly opened the map app and guided him.
Do Jihoon placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer. My body was abruptly dragged toward him. I looked up at him with a slightly bewildered expression.
He spoke calmly.
“You might bump into someone again. Is it uncomfortable?”
“No. It’s not uncomfortable. But are you okay with it?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go quickly. I’m hungry.”
“Alright, baby pig Jihoon.”
“Who are you calling a pig?”
Do Jihoon reached out and attacked my soft stomach.
I resisted fiercely. But I was brutally defeated by his muscles and had no choice but to surrender ownership of my belly fat to him.
***
Midterms were finally over.
The four of us chemical engineering majors—including me—headed to a chadolbagi restaurant in front of the university.
“Today’s a drinking party.”
“Hell yeah!!”
It was a scene of madness. No one could control a college student who had just finished exams.
While the others happily cracked open beers, I bitterly drank soda.
The aftertaste of the soda was incredibly bitter.
“Why’s he drinking soda?”
“Apparently his husband is super strict.”
They’re messing around. Kwon Jisoo and Lee Daeju teased me with exaggerated, fake sincerity.
“You bastards having fun? Shut up and enjoy your drinks. Unless you want to see someone get drunk off soda.”
I threatened them. After staying up for two nights and being banned from alcohol, I was in a state where nothing scared me. My eyes were bloodshot as I glared fiercely at the two of them.
“I get how Do Jihoon feels. Yeon Yuri doesn’t know the meaning of restraint.”
Shin Gi-hyeok chimed in between gulps of alcohol.
“You traitor. I trusted you of all people……”
I aggressively shoveled chadolbagi into my mouth. The grill quickly became empty. Lee Daeju frowned deeply as he stared at the bare grill.
“Hey, Yeon Yuri! Match the pace! Why are you grabbing three slices of beef at once? Because of you, there’s no meat left on the grill. Look at this.”
“I don’t care. You drink as much as you want, I’ll eat just as much meat. Sir! Five more servings of chadolbagi here!”
“He really eats a lot.”
“Seriously. I don’t know where all that food goes. Yeon Yuri’s body must have terrible fuel efficiency.”
I closed my ears to them. Placing the newly arrived meat onto the grill, I began round three. The table was already piled high with empty plates and empty bottles.
We had met at six, and now it was already nine-thirty.
Ah. It’s time to contact Do Jihoon.
A few days ago, when I casually mentioned to Do Jihoon that I had dinner plans with my classmates after midterms, he had issued a warning: if I drank even a single drop of alcohol, he’d change the house password.
“If you want to shiver outside the house, go ahead and drink.”
When I protested loudly that he was being too harsh, Do Jihoon just silently smiled. For some reason, I could almost see an Asura with six arms standing behind him. I pouted and told him fine.
“Alright, Yuri. Check in every thirty minutes.”
“What? No! Are you paranoid or something? If you’re like this already, what are you going to do after we get married—”
“You want to shiver outside the house?”
“…….”
So the result was the current situation. I picked up my phone and sent Do Jihoon a KakaoTalk message.
[Still at the chadolbagi place. Haven’t touched alcohol at all ㅜㅜ]
There was no reply from Do Jihoon.
He usually checked KakaoTalk immediately, but now it had been two hours of being left on unread.
Did something happen? I felt a little worried. But I quickly shook it off.
Maybe since exam period was over, he went to hang out with his classmates too. I told him all about my plans, but maybe he just didn’t bother mentioning his. It’s not like I felt disappointed or anything!
“Why does Yeon Yuri look like that?”
“Probably because he can’t drink.”
“He looks like a puppy that lost its mother.”
“Alcohol must mean that much to him. If he sleeps well tonight, he’ll be back to normal tomorrow. Let’s hurry and eat the meat before he snaps out of it.”
“Good idea.”
“You assholes……”
I take back everything about having good friends, you bastards.
As the number of bottles piled on the table increased, my classmates’ faces grew redder in proportion.
It was when they had already opened four bottles of beer and two bottles of soju that Lee Daeju loudly spoke up.
“I’m getting tired of meat. Second round?”
“Sounds good.”
“Let’s go!”
I watched them shout happily with envious eyes.
Me too… I’m confident I could drink better than anyone here… I’m confident I could happily snack on side dishes too…
But it was all just a fantasy.
“I’m heading home……”
“Already? It’s not even ten yet.”
“What’s the point of tagging along when I can’t drink? I’ll just go home and meditate……”
“Yeah. Good idea. You should get home early for once.”
Not a single one of my classmates tried to stop me.
They left me behind without hesitation and headed to a nearby bar. I stood there in the cold wind, watching their backs as they walked away.
“Sigh. This is my karma.”
I planned to match Do Jihoon’s pace for a few months at least. It seemed like he worried because the only times he’d seen me drunk were when I was completely losing my mind. To show him it wasn’t that bad, I had to stay sober.
“Guess it’s not that chilly anymore.”
On the way home, the weather had long since warmed up into a cool spring evening. Wearing just a hoodie felt pleasantly refreshing.
Around me were plenty of Hanguk University students celebrating the end of midterms.
Yeah. This is when the night is just starting.
Except I’m the only one going home.
“Jihoon. Your hyung is home.”
Ding—
I stepped inside.
“Jihoon?”
Do Jihoon wasn’t there.
I went around opening every door in the apartment, but he was nowhere to be found. Only the lingering warmth of his pheromones brushed faintly against my nose.
“That bastard. So he really went out to have fun? After telling me to come home early.”
Technically, he had specifically told me not to drink.
But it was basically the same thing.
I flopped down onto the bed a little past ten—ridiculously early. For a brief moment, Do Jihoon’s bed crossed my mind, but if I lay on that bastard’s bed one more time, I wouldn’t be Yeon Yuri anymore—I’d be Do Yuri. Do Yuri.
I squirmed around on the bed. If Do Jihoon were here, he would’ve nagged me to take off my clothes, shower, and then lie down.
But he wasn’t home.
So I’d do whatever I wanted.
[What are you doing]
Out of boredom, I messaged Kim Bo-jin.
There was no reply. Then again, even Do Jihoon—the human reply machine—was leaving messages unread tonight. There was no way Kim Bo-jin would answer.
Maybe it’s time to get sentimental for once.
I crawled over and leaned my head against the headboard of the bed. My music choice was WINNER’s “Sentimental.”
“I’m a firefly made of dog poop… I have no friends……”
I was busy lamenting my life when—
The song suddenly cut off as my phone vibrated.
Someone was calling.
I lowered my voice dramatically like actor Kim Young-chul in a historical drama and began a one-man play.
“Who dares interrupt my sentimentality?”
The caller was Do Jihoon.
“Demons fill the mind of Doji Doji! Strike his head repeatedly!”
After doing that, I felt a bit embarrassed. I ended my solo performance and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“…….”
“Where are you?”
Do Jihoon said nothing.
Judging by the noise around him, he was definitely at a restaurant or a bar. Did I suddenly gain psychic powers or something?
Also, that bastard told me not to drink but he went to a bar himself…?
“Where are you?”
“…….”
“Excuse me? Did you call the wrong number?”
He stubbornly remained silent.
What the hell was he doing?
Every time I tried to hang up, he somehow sensed it and told me not to disconnect. But whenever I asked where he was or how much he had drunk, he clammed up like an oyster.
About ten minutes passed like that in a standoff.
“Hey. Can you at least walk home? If you crawl here, it’ll be so embarrassing we’ll have to move neighborhoods.”
“…….”
“Seriously. Where are you?”
“…….”
“If you don’t answer this time, I’m really hanging up.”
“……Don’t hang up.”
“Then tell me where you are.”
At last, a location slipped out of Do Jihoon’s mouth.
When I searched it online—damn it—it was exactly what I expected.
A bar.
I threw on a jacket and headed to where he was.
