Drinking Party with a Friend's Mom (2) — Second Round at Her Place
We kept the drinking going, trading increasingly steamy jokes back and forth. The auntie's hand never left my thigh.
Once we had emptied the last bottle, she proposed a second round.
"How about we wrap things up here and do round two at my place? I've got some really good liquor."
"Sounds good, Noona. But is anyone home?"
Jaehun asked.
"Yuncheol's in the military, and my husband's away on a business trip. Completely empty house. Hehe."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go."
The words were barely out of her mouth before Hyeonsu was already on his feet.
I helped the tipsy auntie up. She leaned into me just a little, her chest pressing against my body.
"Thanks, Minwoo."
I slipped on the jacket that had been covering her thighs. Her warm, rich scent wrapped around me.
After we settled the bill and stepped outside, the late-winter chill closed in around us.
"Oh my, it's cold."
She stuck right against my side, stamping her feet and hiding her reddened nose behind her coat collar.
Her high heels clicked sharply against the pavement. Jaehun and Hyeonsu kept stealing sidelong glances at the stockinged legs that peeked out between the flaps of her long coat.
Those long, slender legs always looked like something expensive.
"Noona, the bill must've been pretty high, right?"
Jaehun asked. She waved a hand dismissively.
"It wasn't much. A bunch of healthy young men ought to eat at least that much. Don't you think?"
"Thanks for the meal, Auntie."
"I told you—Noona. Hehe."
"Ah. Noona. Thanks for the meal."
We stopped by a convenience store for a few simple snacks and headed for her place.
On the way I felt a flicker of worry. Even if we were just her son's friends, if we kept drinking here her true nature was bound to come out… and what came after that was complicated just to imagine.
Before long we reached her apartment. I had spent the entire night making love to her in this very place only a few days earlier. It was the same complex as Jaehun's, but a different building, far enough away.
She punched in the door code and the three of us followed her inside.
The dark, empty living room looked lonely.
For a moment I could almost feel how empty it must have been for her to walk into this silent house alone. Maybe that was why she had dragged us here tonight.
"All right. Coats off, make yourselves comfortable on the sofa."
She flipped on the lights, shrugged out of her coat, and headed for the kitchen. She arranged the convenience-store snacks on a large plate.
Jaehun and Hyeonsu sat on the sofa looking a little awkward, glancing around the unfamiliar space. Being alone in a friend's empty house with only his mother for company was not exactly a familiar feeling.
"Noona, want us to help with anything?"
Jaehun had already gotten comfortable calling her Noona; the word slipped out as naturally as if he had always used it.
"No need. Just sit. I'll bring everything out in a second."
Yuncheol's mom carried out a big tray loaded with liquor and snacks.
"Why don't we skip the sofa and just sit on the floor? More comfortable that way."
Sitting all together on the sofa would have been cramped; the floor sounded better.
At her suggestion we pushed the coffee table aside and settled on the floor. A thick, plush area rug made it perfectly comfortable.
She dimmed the living-room lights a little and even put on some atmospheric music.
"All right then. Shall we drink this tonight?"
In her hand was a bottle of premium whiskey with the number "24" on the label.
Twenty-four years old.
I didn't know the brand, but I knew exactly what that number meant.
Expensive liquor.
We sat in a loose circle.
Of course the auntie took the spot right beside me.
You would have expected her to change clothes once she got home, but she was still in the same outfit as before.
Sitting on the floor had pushed her skirt up past mid-thigh, yet she didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Her legs, neatly folded to the side in black stockings, looked extremely seductive. From Jaehun and Hyeonsu's angle they might even have been able to see deeper.
"Shall we have a glass? This is really good stuff."
"Yes."
I knocked back a shot of whiskey.
The liquor burned hot down my throat, tracing a clear path all the way to my stomach.
"Hah. The aroma's fantastic."
"Right? Hehe. I've got a few bottles, so drink as much as you want."
"If we drink a few bottles we won't even make it home, will we?"
"Then just sleep over. Plenty of rooms here."
We sipped whiskey and chatted on the warm rug.
Before long we had finished one bottle and opened another.
"Thanks to Noona we got to eat well and drink something this good. I'm happy."
Jaehun gave her a little bow, his speech already slightly slurred.
"Me too, Auntie. I mean, Mom… I mean Noona. My mouth's having a great time. Haha."
Hyeonsu followed Jaehun's lead and bowed his head as well.
"Hehe. Call me whatever's comfortable. And what's the point of holding back with my son's friends? I could buy you even better things if I wanted."
She seemed to be the type who got clearer the more she drank; her pronunciation stayed crisp and precise.
"And Jaehun, your mom and I hang out at my place all the time."
"Really?"
"We sit right here on the floor, play cards, drink beer, that kind of thing."
Jaehun's face lit up with sudden understanding.
"So this is the 'friend's house' where you drink beer. Haha."
"That's right. Beer, cards, movies… the two of us hang out like that every now and then."
She poured herself another glass, popped a snack into her mouth, and fanned her face with her hand as the alcohol hit her.
We all raised our glasses and downed them in one go.
"But Noona, your clothes are way too sexy. We can see everything underneath. Heh."
Jaehun, clearly drunk, crossed a line.
"So what? I'm just an auntie. You look at your own mom's underwear and it doesn't bother you, right?"
She answered bluntly, as if it were nothing.
"But Noona's pretty. Super pretty!"
Jaehun shot her a big thumbs-up. She seemed pleased; her voice brightened.
"Really? I'm pretty? Jaehun's been laying on the flattery all night."
"Completely pretty. Doesn't even compare to my mom. Haha."
He fired off double thumbs-up.
His goofy expression set us all laughing.
Whether it was the alcohol or the heating, the room was starting to feel a little warm.
"Want to try a card game I know?"
She suggested.
"Oh, yeah. Let's do it. Sounds fun."
Hyeonsu, who normally loved cards, brightened right up.
"You know One Card?"
She stood to go get the deck.
"I know the rules, but I'm not great at it."
"Really? Then I'm just going to keep winning, aren't I? Hehehe."
She came back with the cards and sat down again.
Her hem had ridden even higher, but she paid it no mind. From the side I could see half her ass.
Snap-snap-snap-snap-snap.
She shuffled with the easy confidence of someone who played often.
After showing off a little flourish of a shuffle, she seemed to think for a moment.
"Should we put something on the line? Money feels weird… hmm…"
Playing with nothing at stake did feel a little empty.
But we couldn't exactly bet cash either. Nothing suitable came to mind.
Jaehun furrowed his brow in thought, then his eyes lit up.
"Strip!"
The word was barely out before Hyeonsu's foot shoved him hard.
Thud.
"You crazy bastard. That's the kind of game you play with friends when you're trying to pick up girls. Noona's right here."
Jaehun tumbled sideways but still managed to talk.
"Ah, sorry. I forgot and thought we were just hanging with a close Noona. Then there's nothing to bet. Ow, that hurt."
These two were something else.
Watching them was better than any sitcom.
Oblivious Jaehun rubbed the spot where he'd been kicked and kept going.
"I only said it because it's hot. Because it's hot! You're the one with the dirty mind, and you're only mad at me."
Hyeonsu raised his foot again.
That was when the auntie said something none of us expected.
"Why not? Honestly, when I was younger I used to play strip games for fun too… So what? You boys seeing an auntie's underwear isn't going to change anything. Right? If you just think of me as a mom, it won't bother you."
"See? Noona says it's fine, you idiot."
Jaehun pressed the point and Hyeonsu's foot came back down.
"I'm just grateful you kids are willing to play with an old auntie like this."
She agreed readily.
Watching her from the side as she pursed her lips and wet them, she still didn't look all that drunk.
She clearly believed she couldn't lose at a game she knew so well. But you never know until you play.
It's a game of chance, after all.
"Then how about only the last-place person takes something off each round? As long as it's not me. Hehehe."
She set the rule.
We agreed to go along with it.
I had no idea how far the game would go, but I couldn't pretend I wasn't a little curious.
The whiskey must have been stronger than I thought. Playing strip cards with a friend's mom…
Of course Yuncheol's mom seemed firmly convinced she would never have to take anything off…
"In exchange I'll dim the lights a bit more. You boys might get embarrassed. Hehehe."
She laughed and used the remote to lower the living-room lights further. It was dim, but still easy enough to see everything.
About the brightness of a cozy neighborhood izakaya.
"All right then. Shall we start?"
Yuncheol's mom shuffled the cards once more.