Pajama Party, Preparations
A few days after the graduation ceremony only Yeoncheong hadn't known about, on a day when the season's first snow had fallen and laid a thin white veil over the world.
Yeoncheong, who should have been glued to her bed, was unusually busy today.
Instead of the pink pajamas she lounged around the house in, she was dressed in light outdoor clothes as if she had somewhere to go. She vacuumed one more time for no particular reason, folded the dried laundry well in advance, took out the trash, and even opened the windows to air the place out despite the cold.
She practically radiated the impression that someone was coming over.
Yeoncheong stopped the humming vacuum and took one last look around the house.
Hmm... this should be enough.
Today was the day of the pajama party Suyeon had finally won after days of relentless battle.
Anyone might ask why she was going this far, but...
Back when she lived with her father, she had cleaned every single day regardless of the season; now, no one was around to complain if things got a little messy for a day or two. Besides, even people who were fundamentally clean-freaks couldn't stay spotless through a winter like this, when the body itself wanted to curl up and hibernate.
Yeoncheong was only human, after all.
Though not nearly as bad as houses that never got cleaned at all.
Still, every once in a while it was necessary to turn the whole place over, shake the dust out of every corner, and swap the stale air for fresh through a proper airing.
And of course, as the one doing the inviting (semi-forced by circumstance, admittedly), she wanted to show only her best side — partly as a thank-you for the get-well visit.
Deciding the cleaning was sufficient, Yeoncheong sat on the edge of her bed for a moment and reached toward the nightstand.
The notification chime had been ringing noisily for a while now, and messages had piled up without her noticing.
Not a group chat, but a one-on-one conversation. She'd practically spammed the same message over and over, so that much was a given.
Somehow the messages felt like a voice ringing right in her ears. Yeoncheong swiped the screen all the way down, and her fingers began tapping out a rhythm on the keyboard.
The reply came back in an instant.
She was pretty sure she'd told the group chat she was awake this morning. She didn't bother pointing that out.
Perhaps because Yeoncheong hadn't replied right away, Suyeon sent a grinning animal sticker to lighten the mood, then asked:
Suyeon had been the one to beg and wheedle until the pajama party happened, yet when it came to the prep work, Yeoncheong was doing it all alone. Apparently the guilt had gotten to her.
Yeoncheong preferred serving home-cooked food over delivery anyway, so she'd told them to just handle the ingredient shopping on their end.
Not a chance.
In Yeoncheong's eyes, the suggestion was nothing but a growing source of worry.
Granted, Hasol was in the culinary club, but simply buying the ingredients on a list and shopping for them efficiently were two entirely different skills. There was no way she'd be as adept at it as Yeoncheong.
On top of that, the other friends looked like they had almost no cooking experience at all.
Buying something similar but not quite right, misreading the quantity — she'd rather move around a little more herself than waste time and money that way.
Still, their hearts were in the right place, and Yeoncheong found it endearing. Her tone in the message softened despite herself.
All she had to do was say okay, but something was clearly on Suyeon's mind. A beat later, another message arrived.
Yeoncheong rested her chin against her phone, thinking. She was perfectly used to going alone, so she could have refused on the spot — but honestly, this particular offer tempted her.
Counting Suyeon, there would be five mouths to feed. One dinner — and not just any dinner, but pajama-party dinner. A pajama party was still a party, after all, and with the shopping doubling as a thank-you for the get-well visit, the haul was bound to be substantial.
She wasn't weak by any means, but an extra pack mule would be welcome.
Apparently she was in a tremendous hurry. She fired off a message riddled with typos and didn't even read Yeoncheong's confirmation.
This means... she's coming, right?
Taking it as a yes for the time being, Yeoncheong decided to fiddle with her phone and pass the time.
Meanwhile.
"Siyeon, I'm heading out!"
"Good riddance. Finally."
Suyeon, who had been carrying on dramatically from the top bunk, hopped down and landed lightly on the floor.
Slinging her pre-packed bag over her shoulder, she crammed her feet into her shoes and raised her voice.
"Mom, I'm off!"
"Already leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm going grocery shopping with a friend."
"Don't get into trouble. Have fun."
The moment the half-heard reply reached her, she slammed the door shut behind her. Her mother, who had come out to see her off, stared at the twins' room, its door left hanging wide open.
Suyeon bounding out in high spirits and Siyeon rolling around in her room — the two made for quite the comparison.
"...Siyeon, you do have friends, don't you?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Well, you're always home, so..."
The twins' mother was only worried about her stay-at-home daughter, but there was no helping the way it bruised Siyeon's pride.
"Ugh, I have friends too! I told you I'm meeting them tomorrow because it's my birthday!"
Grumbling that her style was just different from Suyeon's, Siyeon shooed her mother out of the room.
Even though she'd been told she could take her time, Suyeon had insisted on hailing a taxi to get there. She'd snatched the shopping basket away, declaring she would carry it. She was wandering the mart humming a little tune...
Yeoncheong, who had thought of her as nothing more than a pack mule, now felt almost guilty about it.
That said, there were parts where Suyeon genuinely helped, Yeoncheong had to admit.
Since Yeoncheong kept her shopping list in her phone's memo app, Suyeon would peek at it from beside her and beat her to fetching items pretty often.
"Yeoncheong, is it this one?"
"Nope."
Yeoncheong shook her head with an easy smile.
Just like now — bringing back something with a similar name, or grabbing a size far too big. The scene she'd predicted played out right before her eyes, exactly as expected.
Since she rarely cooked herself, Suyeon was especially prone to hauling over jumbo-sized products on the grounds that they were cheaper per unit.
Still, her accuracy wasn't zero percent, and her willingness to help came through loud and clear, so Yeoncheong didn't make much of a fuss.
The whole original point of bringing her along had been the pack-mule duty, after all. Suyeon was already performing beyond expectations.
If only she'd stop playing the devil's advocate every five minutes.
"Yeoncheong~ let's each get an ice cream."
"No. That's unplanned spending."
Whining at her side, one item into the basket, then another because it might be nice to have, then another — at that rate, there'd have been no point writing the list at all.
Fortunately, once Yeoncheong explained her reasoning, Suyeon seemed to understand well enough. Though she did pout a little.
"Fiiine... what's next on the list?"
"This."
Heads together over the memo app, Yeoncheong and Suyeon continued their shopping. Suyeon grabbed the wrong things plenty of times, but there were two of them now, so things moved faster than usual.
What could possibly be so fun about it? Watching Suyeon grin again and again, curiosity bloomed naturally in Yeoncheong.
"Is grocery shopping that fun?"
"That's part of it... but mostly it's because I'm with you, Yeoncheong."
If she'd stopped there, it would have been fine. But before she knew it, Yeoncheong's lips were moving on their own.
"Do you like me that much?"
"Yeah."
"As a friend?"
"...No."
She'd asked again, nursing a sliver of hope, but the answer that came back was, in a way, exactly what she'd expected. Two syllables she hadn't wanted to hear.
Without thinking, Yeoncheong's blue eyes turned toward her conversation partner. Suyeon was staring right back, unblinking, and for a moment the two pairs of eyes held each other in a long, searching gaze.
Embarrassment got the better of Yeoncheong, and she looked away first. Beside her, her friend asked quietly, tilting her head slightly — as if to say, look at me.
"Aren't you... going to ask why?"
"..."
Yeoncheong said nothing.
Given the setting, given everything — Suyeon had only asked with the lightest of intentions.
And besides, her expression was far too serious. Even if Yeoncheong heard her friend's true feelings, could she keep her composure afterward...? She honestly wasn't sure.
Toward the end of the shopping trip — whether because of what had happened earlier or not — Suyeon, who had been keeping a slight distance, spotted something and darted ahead.
"Yeoncheong, these are on sale. Should we grab some?"
She was gripping a long green onion like a baseball bat, giving it a practice swing.
Yeoncheong stood still for a moment, running through the contents of her fridge in her head, then shook her head side to side.
"We're not buying any. We've still got some left at home, and that's way too much for just me."
"Green onions get used up in no time, don't they?"
"Still no. It's too much."
Nothing was more wasteful than buying something just because it was discounted and throwing it away uneaten. But apparently it pained her to give up that price, because Suyeon set the green onions back down, disappointment written all over her face.
"Then how about we each get an ice cream with the money we saved instead?"
"Really?"
As if the last few minutes had never happened, Suyeon's eyes lit up the moment she raised her head. Yeoncheong let a small laugh escape at the sight of her.
She'd been keeping that promise in mind ever since Yeoncheong turned down her first offer. Suyeon's biggest purpose in coming seemed to be simply sticking close to Yeoncheong, but the earnest helping hand had been real too.
She'd planned to let her pick one right before checkout, but now felt like the perfect timing.
"Yeoncheong, I love you."
"You'll declare love over a single ice cream...?"
Pushing away the hugging Suyeon with practiced ease, Yeoncheong pursed her lips.
"Pick one fast so we can head back."
"Okay, got it."
"Hey, slow down!"
Basket hooked over one elbow, Suyeon broke into a waddling run toward the ice cream freezer.
With the basket fairly loaded down, her head tilted slightly to the opposite side — instinctively balancing the weight, perhaps.
Her stride wobbled to match, and the whole picture looked exactly like a penguin.
She's cute...
The thought followed her behavior so naturally that it startled her, and Yeoncheong shook her head to shake the idea loose.
A rhythmic patter on the keypad. The familiar chime sounded, the door swung open, and the two of them appeared.
"Here, hand it over."
With time still to spare, the house was naturally quiet.
Yeoncheong kicked off her shoes and set the heavy bags down in front of the refrigerator, while Suyeon plopped down right at the doorstep.
Red pressure marks streaked the fingers of her friend, who kneaded them with a grimace.
"Whew... that was heavy. Yeoncheong, do you usually lug stuff like this around?"
"No, it was heavier than usual. Thank goodness I had you with me."
Yeoncheong said it casually as she began stocking the fridge.
She'd packed the memo list full of dishes she wanted to make for them, never imagining it would add up to this much weight.
Only then did Suyeon kick off her shoes, stand up, and start rummaging through her bag. The bulging bag naturally drew Yeoncheong's gaze.
"Why did you pack so much for a one-night stay?"
"Because we're playing tonight. The night's long, you know?"
With a mischievous grin, Suyeon pushed her hand deeper into the bag. After a few good stirs around inside, she pulled out her pajamas and rose to her feet.
Her footsteps headed naturally toward the bathroom — then stopped in front of Yeoncheong, who was still wrestling with the groceries by the fridge.
"Yeoncheong, is it okay if I shower first? It'll be a madhouse once the others get here."
"Go ahead. I've got some prep to do anyway."
"Thanks~"
Once inside the bathroom, Suyeon cracked the door open and poked her head out.
"Want to shower together?"
Yeoncheong raised her head, and in the split second before she could fire back a retort, Suyeon slammed the door shut and fled.
"Haah......"
It was one long sigh, wishing — quite sincerely — that someone, anyone, would show up soon and keep Suyeon entertained.