Let's Go to My Place
The meeting didn't last long.
Their original purpose had already been achieved. She'd prayed while listening to the New Year's Eve bell right there on the spot.
There had been an unexpected interview while they waited, but she'd handled that smoothly enough. Maybe it was the crowds, but it was pretty fascinating how many broadcast cameras were stationed all over the place.
They'd heard the New Year's bell and made their wishes. So now it was time to part ways.
Two grown women at this late hour, with nothing particular to do and nowhere to go. What else was there but a jjimjilbang or a PC bang? Better to just go home, switch on the electric blanket, and toast themselves warm — a hundred times better, in her opinion.
But our Ririyang — Da-hee — seemed to have a slightly different idea.
"Um, since we heard the bell… want to go to the beach and watch the sunrise?"
"Huh?"
That seemed like a bit much, so she asked again as if she'd misheard. Time to head in already — when were they going to the beach again?
Besides, Ririyang had been shivering from the cold. Kayak could handle it, but if Ririyang got hit by the freezing sea wind, she'd probably end up in rough shape. Catch a cold and collapse in bed, that sort of thing.
When Kayak pointed that out, Ririyang smiled sheepishly.
"Never mind then, hehe…"
Fiddling with the scarf Kayak had wrapped around her, her fingers constantly twitching — she seemed to want to spend a little more time together.
Did she not want to go home? Thoughts raced, and Kayak started working out the reason.
Why wouldn't she want to go home? Come to think of it, Ririyang had said she lived alone. She'd heard that people who left their family homes to live on their own felt a fair amount of loneliness.
Kayak had always been alone, so that was one thing — but Ririyang, like most people living alone, seemed to find her empty house rather desolate.
Otherwise there was no reason to cling to her like this.
Well, it wasn't as if there was no solution. If she didn't want to part, they could just stay together till the end. Kayak wasn't so pathetic an adult that she couldn't indulge a little pout about wanting to stick around.
"Then let's go to my place. It's cold out."
"…What?"
Ririyang's eyes went wide as she finally grasped the meaning of the words.
"These days they even livestream the sunrise. We'll watch it nice and warm at my place, then sleep. Okay?"
She drove the point home, and only then did Ririyang start nodding.
Should've done this from the start. Why was she being so stubborn these days?
Kayak took the somewhat dazed Ririyang by the hand and headed for her home.
No matter how many times it was said, Kayak was like an idol to Da-hee.
From the moment they'd first become a team — no, even before that — she'd been interested.
After Kayak had rescued Da-hee from the notoriously vicious tournament newcomers, those feelings had deepened further, and they'd peaked when she met Kayak at the after-party dinner.
The impression she'd gotten from continuing to meet under Da-hee's own initiative since then was… even though Kayak was younger than her, she gave off a somehow mature air.
Like the composure you felt from seniors who'd graduated college first and jumped into the job market.
No — in Da-hee's experience, it was freer than that, like someone who'd been through every kind of hardship imaginable.
She was always one step ahead of Da-hee. The woman before her.
It was the same now. Da-hee had been the one sending signals that she didn't want to go home, but she never expected the answer to be come to my place.
It had only been a little pout to begin with. The kind where if Kayak showed concern it was nice, and even if she firmly said they should part for today, Da-hee would just go home with a bit of regret.
In the dozens of conversation simulations she'd run before the meetup, this possibility hadn't existed. So Da-hee, having put herself out there first only for Kayak to come on strong, found her mind bleached completely white.
On the way to Kayak's place, she'd just worked her lips like an idiot and couldn't manage a single word. Kayak had merely thought the kid must be really tired.
And so by the time Da-hee came to her senses, they were standing in front of an unfamiliar building she'd never seen before.
A small officetel with a clean exterior.
Kayak's home.
How many outsiders had come here before her, she wondered.
Kayak somehow seemed like the type who wouldn't casually let others into her space, and Da-hee found herself thinking that, ridiculously enough.
"E-excuse me…"
Standing before the sparse shoe rack that held only slippers and casual sneakers, she muttered a meaningless greeting for much the same reason.
It also showed how excessively nervous she was about Kayak's invitation.
"What are you saying hello for? It's just the two of us anyway."
A soft pfft of air escaping came from behind. Kayak's laugh.
Normally Da-hee would have felt a quiet pride at having made Kayak laugh, but right now she was focused on something else.
"Just the two of us…?"
Da-hee murmured Kayak's last words and swallowed slightly. Her mouth felt strangely dry.
Gulp — the sound of her swallow rang unusually loud in her ears.
Two-room, or maybe 1.5-room.
By classification, Kayak's place was quite comfortable for living alone. At least on the surface.
A short hallway following the small shoe rack. Walk straight and you'd see a small kitchen and sink.
A small room attached beside it. And if you went further in, a spacious living room opened up. In the living room, a computer and streaming equipment were set up in one corner.
Generously speaking, it was minimalism; less generously, it lacked any lived-in feel. The only evidence of life was that the cushion of the computer chair she sat in for streams had sunk in a little.
Here and there on the floor, you could find strands of Kayak's distinctive glossy silver hair. From this, Da-hee deduced that Kayak wasn't a neat freak.
Kayak seemed to mainly live in the living room. Right behind the streaming computer was a bed, after all.
It was the scenery you saw when Kayak turned on her cam during streams, and Da-hee fell into a strange feeling about it.
Like she'd won a fanmeet with streamer Kayak and been invited to her house—.
"Make yourself comfortable. Really."
"Ah, okay."
Da-hee, who'd been pacing lost in thought, finally sat down at the host's invitation.
That seat was a cute little rocking chair. The kind that rocked back and forth and gave the sitter a sense of ease.
"—!"
But not realizing it was a rocking chair, Da-hee leaned back comfortably — and silently flailed as her body tipped backward with a sudden drop.
Then she realized she was safe and stopped thrashing.
She didn't see that… right?
Following the laws of the rocking chair moving forward and back, the chair came up and Da-hee's gaze returned to the front. There was Kayak, looking at her with a somehow benevolent expression.
That was why Da-hee's ears flushed hot again and she ducked her head. Breaking eye contact with Kayak, she stared meaninglessly at the ceiling and rolled her feet to bury herself back in the rocking chair.
Did she usually rest here?
In Da-hee's mind, a scene of Kayak sitting here rocking while reading a book came to mind. Or maybe she sat here and watched other streamers' broadcasts.
Countless imaginings flashed through her mind, and not one of them seemed out of place.
Probably because of that distinctive appearance. The atmosphere her looks created was so strong that just sitting still produced a photoshoot-worthy image.
Even rocking back and forth, the chair didn't make a single creak, but it was clear Kayak used it regularly. The rocking chair carried a similar scent to what she'd smelled on her scarf.
A refreshing scent that also made your head faintly hazy. She wouldn't spray perfume on a chair she used every day, so this was probably her body scent.
How does a person's body smell like this…
It was a strangely addictive scent. The kind that made you want to keep smelling it the more you did.
So Da-hee tilted her head and started sniffing the chair's scent, snuffling away — then realized how inappropriate her behavior looked from the outside and stopped.
Sticking your nose into someone else's chair and sniffing. She'd have no defense if she got called a weirdo.
D-did she see?
And like before, she creaked around to check on Kayak, but fortunately she'd disappeared. From the rustling sounds in the kitchen, she seemed to be preparing something.
Only then did Da-hee come to her senses and stop her shady behavior. And right on cue, Kayak walked out of the kitchen.
In her hand was a canned drink familiar even to Da-hee.
What Kayak called barley tea. In other words… the imported beer sold four cans for ten thousand won at convenience stores.
"We should have a drink. There's still plenty of time till sunrise."
Da-hee didn't usually enjoy drinking. She could if she wanted to, but lately she'd been deliberately holding back because of the growing spare tire around her waist.
But somehow Kayak's expression looked excited. And Da-hee, having come to Kayak's house, was also feeling a subtle awkwardness.
"W-well, maybe we should."
Rarely enough, that was the answer she ended up giving.