“Haejin. Are you drunk?”
[I don’t know, fuck… When will drinking culture at company dinners disappear?]
Eun Haejin was someone who didn’t drink soju even when drinking with just the two of us. When I asked why later, he answered that he just hated the taste of soju itself. That said, Eun Haejin himself wasn’t particularly weak with alcohol, but he seemed to have drunk quite a bit especially today. Eun Haejin’s slurred pronunciation was a bit funny, so I burst into a short laugh.
I arrived in front of my house and wedged my phone between my shoulder and ear while pressing the passcode.
[Ugh… I’m so fucking dizzy.]
“Seems like you drank a lot. Can you make it home?”
[I don’t know… Will they let me off if I take a taxi?]
“Are you saying that while actually remembering your home address?”
[Fuck. Don’t talk. My head’s ringing.]
“But you’re the one who called?”
He seemed thoroughly drunk. I roughly threw my coat over a chair and repositioned the phone properly.
“Should hyung come pick you up?”
Eun Haejin didn’t answer. After hearing gasping breaths for a moment, I heard a different voice.
[Hello?]
“Uh… Hello?”
[Are you Haejin-ssi’s friend?]
“Yes.”
Judging by the young male voice, he seemed to be a fellow new employee.
[Um, I’m Haejin-ssi’s fellow new employee, and Haejin-ssi has been really drunk since earlier… We’re trying to send him home in a taxi now, could you tell us his address?]
“Is he in a state where he can crawl into his house?”
[Uh…]
From the way he clearly hesitated to answer, I sighed and gave him my home address. I could wait on the first floor, then bring Eun Haejin up to my place. Good thing today was Friday. By the way, why do they pour alcohol into young kids who haven’t even been there a month? Does the team leader even know about this? Jung Yoonseo’s face briefly flashed through my mind. Come to think of it, Eun Haejin and Jung Yoonseo would know each other now.
[Then I’ll send him there in a taxi!]
“Yes. Thank you for your trouble.”
[Not at all!]
I hung up the phone and put back on the coat I’d just taken off.
“This feels like a penalty for being good-looking…”
Muttering, I went back down to the first floor. I came out to the alley in front of my house and waited for the taxi. It was a distance that really wouldn’t take long by car, but the taxi didn’t appear for longer than I thought. I called Eun Haejin’s phone several times, but they all went to voicemail.
“Geez, what is this guy doing?”
I muttered with a mix of worry and irritation. Just when I was getting fully suspicious that the taxi driver was deliberately driving around in circles with a drunk passenger, I saw a taxi in front of me. I stopped the taxi and helped Eun Haejin, who was lying down in the back seat, dragging him out of the car.
“Driver, what about payment?”
“You should give the address properly. I had a hard time navigating the alley. Payment’s already been made, so take your customer and go inside.”
…I definitely gave the address properly though? That fellow new employee probably only had clear pronunciation but wasn’t in his right mind either. I hope that person got home safely.
After briefly deliberating, I somehow managed to gather up the heavily slumping Eun Haejin and pushed him into the elevator.
“Haejin. Hey. Get it together.”
“Ugh… Fuck.”
He curses even when drunk. He didn’t curse like this in front of his superiors, did he? I was getting worried now. Eun Haejin’s brow was furrowed full of dissatisfaction about something. That was kind of cute too, so I chuckled and pressed his brow flat with my finger, then supported Eun Haejin and brought him inside.
“Haejin.”
I barely got Eun Haejin, who collapsed right at the entrance, onto the bed. Is it okay to let him sleep like this? I took off Eun Haejin’s shoes and tossed them in the shoe cabinet, then loosened his tight tie and threw it aside.
Even in his sleep, Eun Haejin seemed suffocated and fumbled to take off his jacket and throw it. The tie was one thing, but the jacket shouldn’t be left wrinkled, so I picked up Eun Haejin’s jacket again, hung it on a hanger, and threw my own coat anywhere. Moving Eun Haejin wasn’t a simple task by any stretch, so my t-shirt was covered in sweat.
I unbuttoned about three of Eun Haejin’s shirt buttons and loosened his belt too. Only then did Eun Haejin’s tightly furrowed brow slightly smooth out. Was he uncomfortable? I threw off my sweat-soaked t-shirt and immediately went into the bathroom, showered, and even brushed my teeth.
When I came out of the bathroom wearing only underwear, Eun Haejin had apparently found his shirt definitely suffocating and had taken it off almost as if tearing it, leaving it beside him while sitting there in a half-asleep state.
“Why are you sitting up?”
Eun Haejin blinked slowly and looked at me.
“Lee Hyun?”
“Yeahhh. Should I give you a toothbrush? Want to brush your teeth?”
Eun Haejin nodded. I went back into the bathroom, squeezed toothpaste onto Eun Haejin’s toothbrush, and handed it to Eun Haejin. Eun Haejin pretended to take the toothbrush, then just dropped his hand straight down. I reflexively snatched the toothbrush, worried the toothpaste would get on the blanket.
“Wow, crazy. That scared me. Haejin. Can’t brush your teeth?”
“No… Give it.”
However, Eun Haejin’s hand never really came up. I sighed and slightly lifted Eun Haejin’s chin up. So this is where I use my kids cafe part-time experience…
“Haejin. Open your mouth.”
Eun Haejin obediently opened his mouth at my words. I put my thumb between his slightly parted lips to open his mouth wider and inserted the toothbrush inside.
Even in a half-unconscious state, when the toothbrush penetrated his mouth, I could feel Eun Haejin’s body flinch. Trying to brush his teeth as gently as possible naturally slowed my movements. By the way, his mouth is really small. Is it because his face is small?
“Can’t you open your mouth a bit wider?”
I briefly met Eun Haejin’s eyes, but with his mouth already open, I didn’t expect a proper response. Physiologically flowing saliva slowly ran down my hand. Good thing I took my clothes off…
“Your mouth is really small. What do you do at dental appointments?”
I laughed quietly even after saying it myself. I imagined Eun Haejin quietly receiving dental treatment. Worried I might create a wound inside Eun Haejin’s mouth, I concentrated completely on rubbing his teeth with the toothbrush. Eun Haejin reflexively raised his hand and gripped my forearm. Since I could barely feel any strength, it didn’t seem to mean stop, but just in case I asked:
“Does it hurt?”
Eun Haejin just blinked.
“Sorry. I’ll be gentler.”
My weight kept making Eun Haejin’s body lean backward. I wrapped my hand that I’d put in to hold his mouth open around the back of Eun Haejin’s neck. Fortunately, his mouth stayed open without closing. After finishing brushing his teeth, I pulled the toothbrush out of Eun Haejin’s mouth.
“Don’t swallow. Just a moment.”
White toothpaste foam ran down the corners of Eun Haejin’s mouth. It’s not like I’m raising a kid. Worried Eun Haejin might swallow the toothpaste, I hurriedly left the toothbrush in the bathroom and brought a cup.
“Spit.”
Eun Haejin spat out the toothpaste foam that had pooled in his mouth into the cup. I wiped Eun Haejin’s mouth with my hand, then picked up the water bottle next to us and handed it to Eun Haejin.
“You need to rinse your mouth.”
I even twisted open the cap for him to prevent Eun Haejin from fumbling. Eun Haejin slowly rinsed his mouth and spat the water into the cup. I had him repeat the process a couple more times, then took the cup to the bathroom and washed it. I even rinsed Eun Haejin’s toothbrush and hung it up, then came out with a wet towel.
In case there was foam left around his mouth, I gently wiped his mouth once more and cleanly wiped away even the saliva that had flowed down my hand and Eun Haejin’s chin.
“Baby?”
After teasing Eun Haejin with words I couldn’t say when he was sober, I threw the towel into the laundry basket.
“Lee Hyun?”
Eun Haejin called my name with obviously slurred pronunciation. I tapped Eun Haejin’s cheek gently so it wouldn’t hurt and gestured with my chin toward the blanket, telling him to lie down.
“What? Just lie down.”
“Why am I here?”
“Seems you don’t remember because you drank, but you got drunk so I brought you to my place?”
“Ah…”
Eun Haejin frowned as if his head hurt. I reflexively touched Eun Haejin’s forehead, then decided to just lay him down.
