When Seongjo opened his eyes, it was past noon.
His eyes literally opened with a flash. Seongjo, who originally didn’t take long to come to his senses after waking from sleep, noticed in a brief moment both that this wasn’t his own house and yet that it was similar in structure to his own house’s bedroom. As soon as he raised his upper body, the blanket covering his body slid smoothly down. It was a soft beige comforter.
He looked around while absent-mindedly stroking the soft texture with his fingertips. The bed, which appeared to be about queen-sized, was arranged neatly and tidily like hotel bedding, and the bedroom was overall clean and spotless. Ivory curtains hanging by the window were blocking the sunlight halfway. A subtle and fresh fragrance wafted from a diffuser placed on the bedside table.
“Ah…… Haha.”
Seongjo, who let out a short laugh after an exclamation of realization, pressed his forehead. He felt a faint headache. Was it a hangover? Considering how much he drank yesterday, this level of headache was on the light side.
He remembered overdrinking beyond imagination thanks to Yujeong, who drank calmly like water, but he couldn’t recall at all how he ended up here. This is probably…… Yujeong’s house.
Neat, clean, and practical. It could be introduced as a proper example of interior design. It was a bedroom appearance that didn’t seem like a house where a man lived alone.
Including this time, he’d experienced having a blackout exactly twice in his life. The first time was during his university days, when on a day his body wasn’t feeling well either, he responded to every single person who challenged him to a drinking contest at a drinking session without missing one. Back then, he laid out several people in a row before finally barely passing out at the end, but this time there was a big difference in that he’d only faced exactly one person, Yujeong.
It wasn’t that he felt bad about losing. Rather, it became more interesting if anything.
Seongjo stood up from his seat with a bit of awkwardness, apologeticness, and interest. He’d roughly noticed since he was sitting, but he was really in exactly the same outfit as when he went out yesterday. He even still had his socks on.
Usually, if it’s a situation where you wake up at home after drinking alone with someone, getting drunk and blacking out, isn’t it the providence of dramas that you’d be naked or your clothes would be changed? The other person should have been lying next to you too.
However, with such a generously sized bed, wherever he’d gone, Yujeong wasn’t even visible. He was a thorough man anyway.
Seongjo calmed his spinning head from standing up suddenly, then opened the door and went out to the living room. It wasn’t difficult to find Yujeong. He was lying on the sofa with a blanket covering him. The sofa appeared to be for 2-3 people, and since the tall man was stretching his legs, it looked at a glance like he was wedged in rather than lying down.
Seongjo, who laughed inwardly, cleared his throat before speaking. It was an intention to not startle him as much as possible. But Yujeong opened his eyes faster than Seongjo could open his mouth.
“Are you up now?”
Taking the initiative to speak first, he sits up as if asking when he was asleep. Except for washing his face once with a tired look, he appeared fine. Did he drink like that and not even have a hangover? What kind of body is he made of?
The head that was still faintly throbbing felt embarrassing for no reason. When Seongjo nodded his head and considerable dizziness rushed over him, he grabbed his forehead. Thanks to that, he stopped his actions awkwardly and answered.
“Is this Jeon Yujeong-ssi’s house?”
“Yes. You couldn’t press the password by yourself at all.”
“Really? Didn’t I wake up even when you woke me?”
After muttering as if it was fascinating, Seongjo added a question that suddenly came to mind.
“I didn’t make any mistakes, did I?”
“I wonder.”
It was an immediate answer. In fact, it wasn’t like he’d said it worrying that he’d really made some mistake. When he pressed asking if it was a joke, Yujeong stood up from his seat without answering and lightly stretched.
“Should I get you coffee too, Lee Seongjo-ssi?”
Seeing there’s no particular comment, was it just a joke? Or was it bothersome to tell him there wasn’t any? He was about to unconsciously answer to give him some, then immediately waved his hands. It seemed like his stomach would churn more if coffee went in.
“You’re fine? After drinking like that together.”
“I’ve never been drunk originally.”
“So that’s why you accepted the bet.”
That said, he had no intention of clinging to it. Seongjo himself had also suggested it with confidence. Still, at the words thrown jokingly, Yujeong turned his head to glance at Seongjo.
“Anyway, I won’t let you off.”
“Do I look that petty? Tell me your wish.”
“I’ll think about that a bit more.”
Though he didn’t know he’d attach meaning to something like a wish voucher, it was amusing that he seemed to be thinking quite seriously. While Seongjo was laughing, Yujeong opened the refrigerator and took out a small bottle.
“Instead of coffee. Drink this.”
When he looked down at the bottle he was holding, it had a label attached that said ‘Alcohol Power.’ It was a hangover remedy. Seongjo, who rarely drank enough to experience a hangover, didn’t know hangover remedy brands well either, but he knew this one called Alcohol Power. Also that it wasn’t a particularly famous brand.
However, the hangover remedy Seongjo had drunk the first time he blacked out was also this. Seongjo, who received the bottle with curious eyes, asked.
“It’s not like you originally had it…… Did you buy it?”
Yujeong headed toward the coffee machine without any particular answer. Not denying meant affirming. The care of personally buying a hangover remedy and even putting it in the refrigerator while he was sleeping tickled him strangely.
“Thank you……”
So Seongjo didn’t add unnecessary words like asking why he bought the not-even-famous Alcohol Power, or that when he tried drinking it the effect was mediocre. There was even less need to mention that this drink had memories with his ex-lover intertwined.
Yujeong, who brewed and drank coffee, didn’t come out of the kitchen as if he’d regained energy just from that and went straight to preparing breakfast. Perhaps in consideration of Seongjo whose stomach wasn’t fine, he left the bread on the auxiliary table alone and personally cooked rice and boiled soup. Seongjo, who had been hovering around, was chased to the living room for being in the way.
A little time passed, and when he was called back to the kitchen, in front of the dining table were squid radish soup, white rice, and several neat side dishes. As he’d felt during the last housewarming that wasn’t a housewarming, Yujeong’s cooking skills were not ordinary. Various curiosities arose, but Seongjo sat down silently and first said he’d eat well.
The lightly seasoned broth was perfect for relieving a hangover. After confirming that Seongjo’s expression wasn’t bad, Yujeong also picked up his spoon and chopsticks. And just before starting the meal, he said a word as if in passing.
“You’re thinner than you look.”
“Am I? I’ve never heard anyone say I look frail until now.”
It was a sudden remark that could have been flustering, but Seongjo answered calmly. In reality, Seongjo was neither muscular enough to ruin his clothes’ fit, nor was he a very thin build. He just had a naturally good-looking skeletal structure and always maintained a physique that matched it. Yujeong asked quietly again.
“Didn’t you lose weight?”
“Hmm, maybe……”
“Is that also post-breakup aftereffects?”
“What? Haha.”
A laugh burst out automatically at the out-of-the-blue question. Post-breakup aftereffects? Suddenly? After laughing first, Seongjo retraced yesterday’s memories. At least within the line of what he remembered, there was no reason to hear such words. Did he perhaps make some verbal mistake after blacking out? So was that why an answer like ‘I wonder’ came out to the question of whether he made any mistakes?
“Did I really make some mistake while drunk? Did I call my ex-boyfriend or something? That can’t be?”
Even though the unconscious is said to be an area people can’t control. Did he miss him enough to want to see Jo Yeongbeom while drunk?
His feelings toward Yeongbeom were still complicated, and it was also true that he deliberately tried not to think about him because of that. But whether he made a conscious effort or not, it was clear that Seongjo hadn’t thought much about Yeongbeom recently. If it was just thoughts, didn’t he think more about Yujeong instead…….
Above all, Seongjo himself, who lived and died by his pride, didn’t think he would have done such a thing no matter how drunk he was. And if by any chance he’d made such a disgraceful scene, wouldn’t even Yujeong want to tease Seongjo to death? Not just that one sentence asking ‘Do you have post-breakup aftereffects?’ so politely, like a doctor making a diagnosis.
Yujeong’s examination didn’t end there.
“Do you eat meals properly?”
“I’m not the type to…… you know, stop eating and drinking because I broke up.”
It seems the wrong image got stuck. He added with a slight laugh, but Yujeong didn’t answer. Instead, he looked into Seongjo’s face silently for a while. A question came out after quite some time.
“Really not? I thought it could have been the case.”
