“It’s not that I liked being taken care of, it’s that I liked you taking care of me…. I’m not a child.”
“…Me taking care of you?”
I tried to explain more but just closed my mouth. I realized then that this wasn’t the right timing to interfere with their romance. I’m supposed to confess my feelings to Eun Haejin belatedly when Jung Yoonseo and Eun Haejin are deeply in love with each other, not now. Mm, right. My head turned slowly because of the alcohol.
“What do you mean by me taking care of you?”
“It’s nothing.”
“No, what is it?”
“I said it’s nothing.”
“Tell me.”
Thinking about that reminded me of Jung Yoonseo’s business card in my pocket. I’d shoved it into my pants pocket earlier, but did Eun Haejin put my pants in the washing machine too?
“Did you put my pants in the washing machine earlier?”
“No. But what do you mean by me taking care of you?”
“Ah, you persistent bastard…. Where are my pants?”
“At home. Ah fuck, but why do you stop mid-sentence?”
“It’s not important….”
I shamelessly replied and leaned my head on Eun Haejin’s shoulder. Maybe because his shoulders were broad, the sense of stability was exceptional.
“Don’t move. I’m dizzy.”
At my shameless words, Eun Haejin glared at me as if dumbfounded. I could feel Eun Haejin’s gaze from above my head, but I ignored it.
“But why are you suddenly asking about your pants?”
“Ah, I got a business card earlier.”
“…Business card?”
“Yeah.”
“What business card?”
“You persistent bastard….”
At my words, Eun Haejin closed his mouth, then asked seriously again after a moment.
“…Anyway, you’ve gotten really weird. Is something going on?”
“Get used to it. This is me.”
“Crazy bastard. You’re really not in your right mind.”
“Of course. I’m fucking drunk.”
“Let’s go home. You have your part-time job tomorrow.”
…Right. I have my part-time job tomorrow…. It would be better if the part-time shift was closing, but it’s opening.
“Ha…. Fuck, it’s opening shift.”
“What time do you have to be there?”
“8 o’clock.”
As soon as he heard my answer, Eun Haejin’s expression turned serious and he pulled on my t-shirt as if trying to get me up.
“Go home and hurry up and sleep.”
“You gonna tuck me in?”
“Or should I leave you here?”
“Iiing. Please take me with you.”
Eun Haejin pushed my head off with his hand as I clung to him and rubbed against him.
“Ah…. Hey. Get up.”
When I got up wobbling, Eun Haejin practically dragged me home.
I put the toothbrush Eun Haejin handed me in my mouth and barely managed to brush my teeth before lying down on the floor. Eun Haejin kicked me a few times with his foot to adjust my position, then wordlessly threw a blanket over me.
Much later, between my fading consciousness, I heard Eun Haejin’s voice.
“Hey. If you ever want to talk to me later, tell me.”
Cute bastard…. He definitely showed his young side in moments like this. A few more short words followed, but I couldn’t make out what they were. Because I fell asleep right away.
***
“Hey.”
The first thing I felt as soon as I regained consciousness was that my head was dizzy. And next, I was so fucking sleepy that thinking was a luxury, so I closed my eyes again without responding.
“Hey.”
“Mm….”
“Hey, Lee Hyun!”
A loud noise, then I felt pain in my side. Eun Haejin had kicked me.
“Ow!”
“It’s 7 o’clock. Wake up.”
“…Why are you waking me up so early?”
“Aren’t you going to your part-time job?”
At those words, I snapped awake. I opened my eyes to get up and sat up hurriedly, then a throbbing pain poured into my head and I immediately smashed my head back to the floor.
“Ugh….”
“Why did a bastard who can’t drink consume that much alcohol yesterday?”
“Haejin. I’m not dying, right?”
“Eat some bean sprout soup.”
“Did you make it?”
“A major corporation did.”
Eun Haejin waved a retort pouch of bean sprout soup from a major corporation at me.
“…Hey, I think I’m really gonna throw up.”
“Wash your face and pull yourself together.”
I barely got up and practically crawled to the bathroom. I went to the bathroom, held back the urge to vomit, finished washing my face and brushing my teeth, and came out.
While I was half-dead preparing, Eun Haejin set up the table, poured out the bean sprout soup, and heated up instant rice.
“Eat before you go.”
“You’re so fucking wifey….”
“Don’t talk shit.”
“Sorry for the narrow-minded comment. Hubby.”
“Ah fuck, pull yourself together.”
At Eun Haejin’s scolding, I plopped down and ate the bean sprout soup. I couldn’t possibly eat the rice, so I just drank the bean sprout soup, which made the meal end quickly.
“What are you doing today?”
“Finishing and submitting my graduation thesis.”
“When do the results come out?”
“Interview? Or thesis review?”
“Interview.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Eun Haejin finished his meal and answered half-heartedly.
“Don’t know. Was it a week later?”
“How can you not know that?”
“I’m trying my best not to care, so shut up.”
“Cute bastard….”
After helping clean up the dishes, I wobbled back to the bathroom to brush my teeth one more time, then sat down and took off my pants.
“Hey. My pants.”
“Ugh.”
When Eun Haejin threw my pants at me, I put them on while still sitting.
“Haejin. Can I wear this to work today? I’ll wash it and return it.”
“Do whatever.”
At Eun Haejin’s cool answer, I nodded, grabbed my bag, and left. The hoodie… I’ll get it back next time. Our houses are this close, so even though we probably don’t usually visit each other often.
The cafe was closer to my house, so it took about 15 minutes on foot from here. It would be perfect to stop by home briefly to put down my bag, but the timing was a bit tight.
“Ah, Hyun-ssi. You’re here?”
“Good morning….”
“…Did you drink a lot yesterday?”
“No, I didn’t drink that much….”
As soon as Cha Hyunwoo saw me, his face stiffened subtly and he asked in a worried voice. If he said that as soon as he saw me, I must look pretty bad.
“But why are you in this condition?”
“I guess I can’t handle alcohol.”
“You don’t know your drinking capacity?”
“I just found out now….”
That Lee Hyun’s drinking capacity is significantly weaker than Kang Seojin’s…. I omitted the additional comment and reached for the door handle to enter the changing room in zombie state when I heard a voice behind me.
“But Hyun-ssi, your clothes….”
“Yes?”
“Ah, nothing.”
Cha Hyunwoo changed the subject. I was briefly curious about what he was going to say, but my curiosity was easily defeated by my hangover. While changing in the changing room, something sharp in my pocket stabbed my thigh.
“What is it?”
When I pulled out the object stabbing my thigh, it was yesterday’s business card. Jung Yoonseo’s name and his number printed on the card caught my eye. Clutching my throbbing head from the hangover, I saved the number on my phone and threw the business card in the trash.
I wondered what to text and decided to keep it simple.
I’m the student from the cafe yesterday. You gave me your business card, so I’m contacting you now.
While typing the text, I heard Cha Hyunwoo calling me from outside. The expression “the student from the cafe” seemed too vague, so I tried to delete the message and rewrite it when I heard Cha Hyunwoo calling me again from outside. In the end, I decided to send it later,
I’m the student from the cafe yesterday
…I definitely decided to do it later, but nothing was going right today.
“Yes! Coming out!”
After debating what to do, I decided to explain later and shoved my phone into my apron pocket.
I felt my phone vibrate once, but I didn’t have time to check. Today was the terrible penalty day when headquarters was holding an event for double points accumulation.
You’re the student who got coffee spilled on them at the cafe yesterday, right?
…Mm. Please check and reply.
If you leave your laptop with me, I’ll ask them to try recovering it. And of course, I’ll replace it with a new one.
You must be busy. Check this and contact me.
I would check those messages six hours later.
***
“…Boss, is this really right?”
“What would I have done without you, Hyun-ssi….”
“I don’t want to make iced Americanos anymore. I’m going on strike.”
“I’m sorry for making you work hard when you’re not feeling well.”
Cha Hyunwoo’s face showed genuine distress. Honestly, it was tough, but I didn’t want to make him feel guilty, so I spoke lightly. And since I was the one who drank, it wasn’t really Cha Hyunwoo’s fault.
“Then double hourly wage?”
“Yes! I’ll give you double.”
…Is he really going to give it? Cha Hyunwoo was definitely not someone who understood jokes.
