Chapter 368: Hangover Soup
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 368: Hangover Soup
“Hey, hey. Do something about her.”
“Ugh, please. Don’t touch me.”
Yoo Ah-rin tried nudging Choi I-seo, who was collapsed on the floor, with her foot to get her to intervene.
However, I-seo was in no state to do anything after the sheer amount of alcohol she’d put away the night before.
It was my first time seeing her so completely wrecked.
I wondered just how much she’d drunk to end up in such a pathetic state.
How did she even make it back here?
Regardless, it didn't look like I could expect any help from her. I suppose I should just be impressed she managed to get here at all.
“Should we go grab some gukbap in a bit?”
“De... deliver it. Just order delivery.”
“What a total mess.”
She was so far gone she couldn't even step outside. Was this really the same Choi I-seo?
Anyway, the real problem was Seo Ye-rin.
She was still clinging to me like glue, refusing to let go. I didn't know what to do with her.
“Ye-rin, come on, let go.”
“…….”
“I need to wash up.”
“…….”
“Are you really going to be like this?”
“…….”
Ye-rin kept her mouth shut and refused to budge. If she’d just tell me what she wanted, I’d probably listen, but she wouldn't say a word.
Unable to watch any longer, Yoo Ah-rin finally stepped in.
“Hey, Seo Ye-rin. Are you really going to act like this? Stop being such a baby. Act with some common sense.”
“…….”
“Oh, look at that? Look at her face?!”
Since she was behind me, I couldn't see her expression, but it must have been something pretty defiant.
“Stop making that annoying face. Knock it off.”
“…….”
“Why, you little—!”
A provoked Ah-rin lunged forward, but Ye-rin tightened her grip on my arms, using me as a human shield to block her.
“Woo-jini Shield.”
“Move, you brat!”
“I want to move too!”
“Hey! Fix your face! Jeez! Stop puffing out your cheeks, you wench!”
I was starting to get curious about what kind of face she was making.
“What does she look like?”
“She looks incredibly punchable!”
“Let me see too.”
“Hold on.”
Ah-rin pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a photo.
“……Are you going to fix your face or what?”
“…….”
“Wow, look at this girl acting all pretty the second a camera comes out!”
What a total circus.
In any case, it was clear that Ye-rin had absolutely no intention of letting go.
“Ye-rin, what my father said to I-seo... he was just talking.”
“…….”
“Hm? What did your father say to Choi I-seo?”
Come to think of it, Ah-rin probably hadn't heard the details.
I wondered if I even needed to mention it, but Ye-rin finally opened her mouth.
“He told I-seo to marry Woo-jin.”
“……For real?”
Ah-rin’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between me and Choi I-seo.
“I only heard about it yesterday too. I didn't know.”
I shrugged and took a step back, shifting the spotlight to I-seo.
Under Ah-rin’s demanding gaze, I-seo let out a deep sigh and answered.
“You know when we went to the department store before going to Hawaii?”
The moment I heard that, it clicked.
Now that I thought about it, my big brother had asked for I-seo’s number back then.
“He called me over suddenly and told me then. I didn't bother telling you guys because it wasn't a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?”
Ah-rin crossed her arms and looked down at I-seo.
In the midst of the awkward atmosphere, I-seo managed to pull herself together and sit up.
“What’s the point of hearing that from his father? In the end, the choice is Kim Woo-jin’s. So I just told him it didn't mean anything and left.”
It was a very Choi I-seo-like response.
Thinking about how she’d basically shut my father down made me feel strangely refreshed.
“…….”
“…….”
However, the mood between the other two was far from good.
“You know, somehow...”
A brief silence followed.
Then, Ah-rin tilted her head and grumbled in annoyance.
“I feel like I just lost?”
“I agree.”
Ye-rin muttered while burying her face in my back.
I wondered what the problem was now, and Ah-rin calmly explained.
“It’s like... we got all worked up hearing that, but Choi I-seo just brushed it off like it was nothing. It makes me feel like we lost.”
“Lost what?”
I-seo sighed and told them not to think such weird things, but...
“Stop acting with the dignity of a True Heroine!”
Ye-rin shouted, hugging me even tighter.
“Gah! Ye-Ye-rin! You’re going to snap my waist!”
My internal organs were about to be pulverized.
I understood she was frustrated, but why was she taking it out on me?
Seriously, Father.
He was the root of all this.
My opinion of him had been changing lately, but this felt genuinely unfair.
Ye-rin was stuck to me with both her arms and legs.
I was about to use some force to finally pry her off when—
Splat.
Yoo Ah-rin stuck herself to my front.
“…….”
“…….”
We were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
Not understanding the situation, I asked cautiously.
“What are you doing?”
“…….”
“I said, what are you doing?”
I felt like I’d experienced something similar while playing in the ocean in Hawaii.
Just in case, I tried to push Ah-rin away, but she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me.
“Oof!”
Being squeezed from both the front and back was quite a stimulating experience for a man.
But honestly, right now, it was just suffocating.
“Come on! Move! Why are you doing this too?!”
“…….”
“…….”
Since both of them just stayed there hugging me in silence, I felt like I was going to die of frustration.
“Choi I-seo! Get them off me! I can’t breathe!”
“Ugh, let me just lie here a little longer.”
Just how much had she drunk to still be this out of it?
“Whoa!”
Thanks to Ah-rin pushing in aggressively, I was forced backward. Normally, I would have fallen onto the bed, but since Ye-rin was behind me, I ended up crushing her.
“Agh! My boobs are getting squashed like rice cakes! I’m not wearing a bra! Woo-jin, move to the side!”
“I want to! But Ah-rin won't move!”
“Ah-rin! Unlike you, if I get crushed, my chest actually gets flattened!”
“Why, you little bitch?!”
To be honest, there was a significant difference in the 'chest department' between the front and the back.
I kept my mouth shut and didn't say a word, but Ah-rin, who had been reaching out to swat at Ye-rin, was suddenly glaring at me.
“…….”
“Why aren't you saying anything?”
“What am I supposed to say?”
“Hurry up and say that breast size isn't about winning or losing, it’s just a matter of preference!”
“Agh?!”
Ah-rin suddenly bit my neck.
“You crazy girl! Why did you bite my neck?!”
“It’s your fault! It’s because you made Seo Ye-rin’s boobs so big!”
“You—you know how much I’ve massaged yours too—Agh! Why are your canines so sharp?!”
“My boooooobs! They’re being flattened like dough!”
“Ah, guys. I feel sick, so please just be a little quiet.”
* * *
After a long time of tangling with each other, shouting, and fighting, we were eventually kicked out of the dormitory.
“Ah, I’m dying.”
I-seo, still feeling unwell, was walking while being supported by Ah-rin and Ye-rin.
“Ye-rin, should we just dump this girl in that trash can over there?”
“If your father saw a photo of Choi I-seo in a trash can because of a hangover, wouldn't he change his mind?”
“You guys are dead.”
Watching the three of them bicker as they walked was both funny and cute.
“Seriously, how much do you have to drink to end up like this? Choi I-seo acts all prim and proper, but she’s actually the wildest one.”
“Wild? Who’s wild?”
“I-seo is pretty sneaky. She told me the other day she was thinking about getting a Brazilian wax.”
What?!
A Brazilian wax?
“No, I just said I thought about it because it’s supposed to be more hygienic. How is that sneaky?”
I-seo protested, feeling wronged.
Then our eyes met, and she scowled, looking disgusted.
“I’m not doing it, so look ahead.”
“……Are you really not doing it?”
“Someone, please just hit him for me.”
I-seo flailed her arms trying to hit me, but she didn't have the energy to actually do anything.
“As expected, Choi I-seo is the real vixen.”
“We’re just onaholes to him, aren't we? That’s how it is.”
“Stop saying weird things.”
Trading jokes that had long since crossed the line of decency, we arrived at a hangover soup restaurant.
It was a place near I-seo’s house that she said she frequented whenever she drank, so we’d headed here.
However.
“Oop.”
“…….”
“Huh?”
As soon as we stepped inside, we saw three familiar faces.
Oh Yun-ji, Senior Ju-hee, and Choi Jin-ah.
The three of them were eating hangover soup when our eyes met.
Why are those three here together?
While I was wondering, I-seo explained, having suddenly remembered.
“Ah, they all stayed over at my place last night.”
So they’d come to the hangover soup place near I-seo’s house and run right into us.
“Ahem.”
An awkward atmosphere filled the air.
Since I was at the front, I greeted them first.
“Hello, Senior.”
“O-oh. Hey, Woo-jin.”
Ju-hee turned her head away, trying to hide her expression. The conversations we’d had yesterday suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Why aren't you greeting me?”
A deathly-pale Oh Yun-ji asked grumpily, so I gave her a light flick on the forehead.
“Ow?!”
“You. Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused me yesterday?”
“That hurts.”
“Because I got dragged into your mess, things have become awkward for everyone else too.”
The three girls who came with me took seats at the table next to them.
I-seo had already slammed her forehead onto the table and collapsed, while Ye-rin was glaring at the other table in a boxing stance.
Ah-rin was scolding Ye-rin, asking what she was doing.
“Dragged into what? Haven't you heard of 'drunken truth'? I was just sharing my honest feelings because I was drunk.”
“Pfft?!”
Senior Ju-hee nearly choked on her spoon.
“W-wait a second. That’s really not it for me. Yesterday... I was just... I was just drunk and saying whatever came to mind.”
Ju-hee tried her best to fix the situation, but Oh Yun-ji’s fiery personality wasn't about to let her go down alone.
“Senior, just be honest! I remember everything you said yesterday! You said you can’t sleep at night because of him!”
“Yun-ji?!”
“He needs to know! He has no idea how much he’s ruined us!”
“Yun-jiaaaa!”
“…….”
What on earth was this conversation?
While I stood there speechless and bewildered—
“Boss, can I get another bowl of rice here?”
Choi Jin-ah, sitting in the corner, simply ordered another bowl of rice.