A Sweet Weekend with Lee Yu-ri (4)
DVD rooms were far more famous as cheap places for couples to rent a room and have sex instead of booking a motel than they were for their original purpose of watching movies.
"I'll watch this one."
"That'll be 16,000 won."
While Lee Yu-ri picked out a film and we pooled our money to pay, the DVD room clerk kept glancing back and forth between us with an expression of pure envy. A face like Yu-ri's would make anyone on the street turn their head at least once. Her body was explosive. And what the clerk couldn't possibly know was that she was a straight-A genius who had never dropped the top spot in the entire school for three years running, as well as a diligent student council president. She was the very definition of an overachiever's daughter.
From the clerk's perspective, bringing a girl like that into a DVD room was basically announcing that I was about to spend the next two hours having intense, sticky, passionate sex with this perfect woman. Of course he'd be jealous.
Don't look so fucking envious. I haven't even fucked her yet.
But we weren't here for that perverted reason. We'd come to use the DVD room for exactly what it was meant for. Honestly, the moment we stepped inside I felt an overwhelming urge to rip Yu-ri's clothes off, knead those massive breasts like a madman, bite and suck them. Still, I couldn't throw away the chance to make Yu-ri completely mine just because of a momentary impulse.
We bought one medium popcorn and two colas, then entered the assigned room. The moment we stepped into a space that countless couples before us had filled with moans, the air felt subtly heated. Yu-ri must have felt the same way, because she desperately avoided my eyes and kept an extra step of distance as she spoke.
"You promised. No weird stuff."
"I said I won't. If I did something like that, I'd be a real dog."
I slid the DVD in and hit play. The movie Yu-ri had chosen began to roll.
"By the way, what movie is this? I've never seen it either."
"This? I haven't seen it, so I don't know. But I heard it's really popular with the girls. Since I haven't watched it, I was curious."
However, we had no idea about the terrifying power of Lee Yu-ri's terrible taste. Or perhaps in this case it was actually golden luck?
The film played on.
- Hiccup... Sob... How could you do this to me? How?!
You never loved me. It was our family's money you were after, wasn't it?!
A woman sobbing her heart out. A man who remained silent. And then...
- Why are you blaming yourself like an idiot all alone?! What does that make me, the one who's only ever looked at you?!
Get up! Don't collapse! Don't turn the girl who spent her whole life looking only at you into a fool!
The male lead comforting the heartbroken woman. The subtle emotion sprouting in her heart. A relationship that grew deeper, a love that grew larger.
It was a common melodrama with nothing particularly special about the plot, yet somehow she had picked a movie that matched our current situation so perfectly it was almost scary. Call it golden luck or shit luck; her movie selection was on another level.
Yu-ri seemed to sense it too. She kept glancing at me throughout the film, clearly flustered and unsure what to do. When a rather explicit bed scene between the female lead and another man appeared, she pressed both hands to her cheeks, trying to cool the heat rising in her face.
But there was no stopping the actors' lewd moans from echoing through the dark space where only the two of us sat. Yu-ri's hand, with nowhere to go, lay weakly on the floor. She swallowed hard, staring fixedly at the screen.
Should I try to set the mood just a little?
I pretended to reach for popcorn and lightly laid my pinky finger on top of hers.
"!!!"
Yu-ri's shoulders jumped in surprise. Our eyes met for a brief moment in the air, but she didn't push me away harshly. Maybe it was the heated atmosphere of the movie, or perhaps she was projecting herself onto the wounded female lead. Even though she could clearly feel my pinky against hers, she didn't pull away. She stayed perfectly still, and I didn't push for any further contact.
And so, with only our pinky fingers touching, we watched the rest of the movie.
"Come again soon."
The DVD room clerk sent us off with an even more painfully envious expression than before. You little shit, nothing even happened, so stop being so jealous.
Because of how closely the movie's plot mirrored her own situation, Lee Yu-ri couldn't easily speak. She simply followed me in silence. Eventually I decided to break the awkward atmosphere first.
"How was the movie?"
"Huh?! U-um, the m-movie? Yeah, it was good. It was fun. The spectacle of it all was..."
"Spectacle? Was there any?"
"There wasn't?! I must have mixed it up with another movie! A-ahaha..."
It seemed she'd become way too immersed in our current relationship while watching the film. I threw a fastball at the rambling Yu-ri.
"I really liked that movie."
"You... did? That's surprising."
"Yeah. It felt like it was about you and me."
"Hic."
Yu-ri started hiccuping again.
"W-what... do you mean by that..."
"You're smart. Do I really have to spell it out? Anyway, the whole time I was watching, I kept thinking about us. You were the female lead, and I was..."
"W-wait a second!!!"
Yu-ri reached out and covered my mouth, squeezing her eyes shut as she shouted. Her face had turned bright red, as if it would burst. Her hand felt burning hot against my lips, or maybe that was just my imagination.
"F-food! Aren't you hungry?! I'm really hungry right now! I haven't eaten anything all day! W-wanna go to a meat buffet? I'll treat for dinner! I'll pay!"
"Oh, you're treating? I'm not gonna say no to that."
Seeing how badly flustered she was, I could barely hold myself back from pulling her into my arms.
Han Seong-jin's words made Yu-ri's heart pound so hard it felt like it would explode.
You and me... it felt like it was about us.
The female lead who had been brutally abandoned after seeing the true colors of the man she once loved. The male lead who had been watching only her the entire time. The female lead who slowly opened her heart to his comfort. Their deepening relationship and budding love. And on that passionate bed...
D-don't tell me Han Seong-jin sees me as...?!
He was completely different from the rumors. The vicious stories about him seemed like lies. Since the new semester started, he hadn't caused any trouble, and she hadn't seen him hanging around with the delinquents. Most of all, he was kind to her for no apparent reason.
She had been hostile toward him from the start, yet he had saved her from those thugs twice, comforted her when she was heartbroken, and listened to her story. When he heard she left school early, he called out of worry. Thinking she was sick, he even bought her fever medicine and porridge. After learning about Gong Yeong-bae, he got angry on her behalf. And today he was going out of his way to cheer her up.
If he didn't like her, would he really do all those things?
The moment her thoughts reached that point, Yu-ri's heart began hammering so loudly it felt like it was pounding inside her head.
No way, no way... Is it true? No, it can't be... Why would he like me? He's a delinquent and I just studied all the time. We had no points of contact. We're practically from different worlds. There's no way he could like me. Get a grip, Yu-ri! You're being way too self-conscious! Your mentality is still broken from what happened yesterday, that's all!
"Hey, what are you thinking about so hard?"
"Nothing!!!"
Yu-ri had been desperately trying to deny the possibility slowly blooming in her mind when Han Seong-jin's voice snapped her back to reality. She shouted so loudly her voice cracked. But once she became conscious of it, even the way he looked at her started to feel overwhelming.
The sensation of their pinky fingers touching in the DVD room came back to life, tickling her hand. And then her mind drifted to the bed scene in the movie...
It felt like it was about you and me.
The movie's male and female leads had shared a passionate night together. If Han Seong-jin said that, then he and she...
Thud.
"Mommy!!"
Lost in all sorts of wild fantasies, Yu-ri didn't notice the slightly raised pavement block and tripped. Just as she completely lost her balance and started to fall forward, Han Seong-jin quickly stepped in and caught her with his thick, sturdy forearm. Even through her clothes, she could feel how solid his arm was where it pressed between her collarbone and chest.
"You okay? Watch where you're going."
"Ah... Uwaa..."
If this had happened before they watched the movie, she would have thanked him. But now the words wouldn't come out. For some reason, saying thank you felt like admitting that she liked him too.
When we arrived at the meat buffet Yu-ri had suggested, we'd been starving all day. Without needing to say anything, we set the table, grabbed whatever meat we wanted, and started grilling.
Yu-ri had been acting like her soul had left her body the entire way here, but the sight of food seemed to bring her back to her senses a little. She started to act more like her usual self.
"Miss, please give us one more bottle of this at the end."
"Wait, what are you doing? Ordering alcohol?"
"Yeah. Why? We're not first or second years anymore. What's wrong with a twenty-year-old adult ordering drinks?"
"It's just... I've never drunk before..."
"Really? Then just try one glass today. You must've felt like shit after what happened yesterday. One drink and it'll all melt away."
"...... Be honest with me. When did you start drinking?"
Yu-ri's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms in that signature lecturing pose of hers.
"If I tell you, you'll be too disappointed in me, so I'd rather not."
"...I can imagine."
When the soju arrived, I poured half a glass for Yu-ri and asked her to pour for me as well.
"Alright. To our enjoyable date today and to Yu-ri feeling better... Cheers!"
"You're really overdoing it."
Clink!
We tapped our glasses together. I immediately took a big gulp while Yu-ri carefully brought hers to her lips, then immediately made a face and pulled it away.
"Ugh, it's bitter! The taste is weird!"
"Tsk tsk. Our president still isn't a real adult if she doesn't understand this flavor yet."
"Ugh, my mouth feels weird. Ugh, stew, I need stew... Haa, I feel a little better. I don't get why anyone would drink this."
......
......
One hour later.
"Noooo~ I didn't waaag my taaail at hiiim~~ Seriously, that... son of a bitch, right?"
The girl who had claimed she didn't understand why anyone would drink this was now completely wasted after three shots of soju. She was slurring her words, pouring her heart out in drunken nonsense. This was the first time I'd seen someone get this drunk at a meat buffet that wasn't even a bar and had plenty of food and hot stew.
I didn't know her tolerance was this bad. I probably shouldn't let her drink again.
"Hic... That son of a biiitch... Trash bastard... I didn't even knooow~ I was foooled for ten yeeears~ Fucking bitch..."
Yu-ri grabbed her own glass and started pouring for herself. The moment I saw it, I snatched the bottle away.
"Hey, pouring for yourself is bad luck. And stop drinking. You're drunk."
"Noooo I'm nooot... Not even a liiittle..."
"That's what every drunk person says."
"Heyyy, Han Seong-jin."
Yu-ri called my name in a completely slurred voice. Her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. If I left her alone for even a second, she looked like she'd face-plant straight into the stew.
"What?"
"Why are you sooo nice to meee?"
"......"
"You saved meee, you took my siiide, you bought me medicine~ and porridge~ Whyyy?"
She was already this wasted. She probably wouldn't remember anything anyway. I decided to reveal just the tiniest sliver of the desire I'd been suppressing all day.
"Because I like you."