Seolah
"Hnnn…"
"You're lovely. Honest in the way you react. Sensitive skin, too."
"Hah— O-Oppa…"
"Still, you ought to mind your manners with a friend. Don't you think?"
"Hnn… ah—!"
I brushed the next bloom of heat haze rising over Im Seolah's shoulder, and her knees gave out beneath her. Before she could sink I caught her around the waist and drew her in. That waist was barely a handful, as narrow as Hyunji's. I felt the firm line of her body against my stomach, and she looked up at me alone with a dazed, dreamy face, so I leaned close and whispered.
"Come back after you've got Hyunji's permission. I don't like you making a move on me behind her back."
"…Ah… Okay…"
This was a different case from Go Yewon. With Yewon I could tell she had already settled things with Rahi, so I hadn't minded. Touching Seolah on a whim of my own felt like a discourtesy to Hyunji. I still hadn't even brought the subject up with Ju Hayeong or Go Yewon, and if I added Seolah on top of that, I was afraid I might make that pure-hearted girl cry.
"Hah… Y-your hand…"
"My hand? What about it?"
"It's… it's so warm… Hnn…"
Seolah's hand crept, little by little, over mine where it held her slender waist. As I quietly closed my fingers around hers, her eyes grew wetter still. I looked into them and murmured, soft.
"You understand?"
"Yes… Oppa…"
"And you're not fat, Seolah. At least to my eyes, you're genuinely beautiful. So…"
At that her face crumpled all at once. She threw her arms around me, buried herself against my chest, and hid her face there.
"Thank you…"
"…Don't thank me. Just don't shrink in front of that ballerino. If you do, I look like a fool for saying you're pretty. Right?"
"…Yes." She sniffled.
To someone else it might have been nothing, but for Im Seolah it had clearly been a deep wound. I hadn't meant to go that far. I'd only wanted to comfort her a little. I scratched at my cheek, felt the warmth of her against me, and quietly patted her back.
"If we stay like this too long, everyone's going to get the wrong idea."
"…Ah, I-I'm sorry…"
"You've had quite a bit to drink, too. Let's head home."
"…Yes… Oppa."
"Hm?"
I had started to turn away when she called me back. She was rummaging frantically through a tiny handbag, then worked at her phone in a rush and held it out to me. The screen trembled in her grip. When I met her eyes she swallowed hard and opened her mouth.
"C-could I have your number…?"
"Sure. Fair warning, though—I'm not easy to reach."
"Th-that's fine… I know, from Hyunji…"
I took the phone, punched in my number, and even placed a call so she could see it connect. Watching my screen light up, she nodded so hard it looked painful. I let out a short laugh and hung up. The way she clutched the phone to her chest stirred something in me—maybe the drink—and I turned back toward the room with that odd heat still under my skin.
"Oppa."
"We leaving?"
"Yes. I already paid. Let's go home."
By the time I stepped back inside, the room had already shifted into the mood of a night ending. Seolah came in behind me with her face and eyes flushed red, and Hwang Jiyoung and Lee Miji fussed over her at once, worried.
"Yeah. It was getting late anyway. I was about to say we should head out."
"All right. Girls, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. We'll look after Seolah. You get home safe too, Shinwoo oppa."
"Sure. See you next time, Jiyoung."
"Thank you so much for coming out tonight."
"Don't mention it. See you next time too, Miji."
"Yes. Please get home safely."
Miji bowed so deeply her waist folded, and for a second it almost stung. Well. I knew she didn't mean anything by it.
"…Oppa."
Seolah's voice caught when she called me. I met the eyes fixed on mine, nodded, and we said our goodbyes.
"Thank you for today."
"Don't mention it. I'll see you next time, Seolah. And hang in there."
"…Thank you."
Hyunji already had her handbag on her shoulder and was watching me. I gave everyone one last nod and slowly left the room.
"Oppa."
The moment we were out of the building she caught my hand. I closed my fingers around hers, and she leaned into my arm as if the whole night had pleased her.
"Did something happen with Seolah?"
"Oh, that. We talked for a minute outside the restroom."
"I think I can guess what you said."
"What do you think I said?"
"…Mm. That she isn't fat. That she's pretty. That she should hang in there. Something like that?"
"Oh. Not bad."
"I got it, then. Hehe."
"Close. If you add that I gave her my number."
"Huh?"
Hyunji, who had been tilting her head at me, went on.
"All my friends already have your number."
"…What?"
"Th-that time… when someone snatched my phone during a video call. Seolah memorized it. Friends ought to know it anyway… but I never got your permission…"
She watched my face and offered it like an excuse. I only smiled and stroked her hair. She was right. If something happened to Hyunji and I never found out because her phone stayed locked, that would be a hundred times worse. I checked whether my teasing had actually crushed her, but she didn't seem beaten down.
"…You did well."
"Yes…"
"Anyone watching would think I stamp on your spirit every single time."
"…Who? Tell them to come out and say it."
She balled a fist so delicate it looked as if it couldn't squash a bug, and I laughed. A moment later she was giggling again, hehe, and catching my hand. I, meanwhile, had sunk into thought, trying to work out what Seolah had been after.
Hmm.
Then why had Seolah asked me for my number? It hadn't even come up as a saved contact when I typed it in. Had she read my character off a single line about getting Hyunji's permission? I replayed the moment she'd lifted her phone. I definitely remembered her unlocking it and working hard at the screen. So she had deleted my number, then made a show of receiving it again—advertising that she hadn't had it before she made her move, and flirting with me in the same breath. Did she actually want me, or not?
"…Would you look at her."
"Hm?"
"No. It's nothing."
I couldn't be sure, of course. Taken simply, maybe she had only been trying to rebuild things between us from the ground up because I'd brought up manners. Or it was nothing more than a plain gesture asking to meet as a man and a woman. From what I'd said about permission first, she would understand well enough that I meant to tell Hyunji. I could sort it out slowly. Or not at all. Just then Hyunji quietly wrapped herself around my arm, and her warmth filled the whole of it. The drink made her warmer still.
"…Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being so good to the girls. They all said you're really wonderful."
"Of course. They're your friends. And… you didn't tell them, did you?"
"Tell them what…? Oh. About you being a Multimale…?"
She glanced around and whispered it, small, and the sight was so cute I laughed and petted her hair again.
"Right. I don't think you mentioned that."
"Of course not. If you ended up in danger because of me…"
"That won't happen. And even if it did, why would I blame you?"
I reached out with both hands and cupped her cheeks. Soft and springy as a rice cake, her face drew in under my palms, and I looked into that pretty little face and murmured.
"When you're this pretty and this cute."
"…Oppa. You're in real trouble now."
"Why?"
"Because I really don't think I can live without you anymore…"
"Same here. I want to stuff you in my pocket and run straight home."
"…Please do…"
She gazed up at me with hazy eyes, her face a little flushed—from the alcohol, or from my hands, I couldn't tell. The faint smell of drink on Hyunji was strangely out of place. It was also more provocative for that.
"We ought to have a drink together too, shouldn't we?"
"I haven't forgotten we said we'd drink wine."
"Now that you mention it. Once the performance is over and we've got the time, let's go have some fun."
"Yes, Oppa."
"Anywhere you've been wanting to go?"
"…Mm. I want to go see the ocean."
"Sounds good. The weather's warming up. I'm not fond of the west coast, though. How about the East Sea?"
"Yes. I'd like that."
"…We could stay the night while we're there."
"…Yes…"
We had reached a crosswalk and were waiting on the green, quietly sharing each other's warmth, when she spoke.
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"…Kiss me."
I hadn't expected her to beg like that in the middle of the street. Had the alcohol made her bold? I looked down at her, and the way she wanted only me came through clear as anything. Without hesitating I covered her lips with mine, gentle. Screams rose around us, and I felt a crush of stares, but neither of us much cared.
"…Oppa. I want to sleep with you."
I wanted to tell her I felt the same. But it was already past two. By the time we got home and washed up it would be nearly three. On an ordinary night that wouldn't have mattered, except Hyunji had another grueling practice waiting tomorrow. If she couldn't get up, she would be the one in trouble.
"…You've got practice tomorrow."
"Just sleep. I only want to sleep beside you…"
I stroked her cheek and nodded. Whether I could hold myself back was another worry. Just then the light beside us turned green, and Hyunji and I took each other's hands and crossed.
I knew it.
We reached Hyunji's place. I finished my shower and came out to find her fast asleep on the bed, curled neatly on her side, breathing soft and even. In nothing but pale baby-pink underwear, hugging a pillow, her body didn't show an ounce of excess flesh—so much so that beautiful rose to the tongue on its own. That cute little backside, especially, pulled a smile out of me before I could help it.
Maybe this is for the best.
I wouldn't have minded taking her in her sleep, but not sprung on her like this. If we were going to, the decent thing was to tell her first. There was plenty of time anyway. No need to rush. I perched against the vanity and took her in. Moonlight lay over her skin until it seemed to glow white. The curve of her body bent like something drawn, and I followed that soft line with my eyes, admiring her. Just looking felt as if it sharpened my sense of beauty.
"Nn… nn…"
The cute little breaths brought a smile up on their own, but a moment later something caught my eye and the smile died.
Are my eyes going?
I rubbed them. It was the same. I could feel dark places on Hyunji's body. For a second I thought it was only the dim room, but the moonlight made everything bright, and shadow had settled on those spots alone. I narrowed my eyes and stared, and still I couldn't quite make it out—a feeling like fog, or cloud. I moved closer bit by bit, holding my gaze fixed, and only when I was nearly beside her did those shadows begin to catch.
…What is all this?
Hyunji's body was a wreck of ailment shadows. They tangled over her left big toe, both soles, and her right ankle. I could feel them in both knees, inside her pelvis, at the right hip joint, along her lower back, and even at her neck. The left shoulder was a little better, but both shoulders carried shadow too. With Hayeong it had only been a little shadow at the ovaries.
This isn't serious, is it?
For a moment I wanted to drag her to a hospital first thing tomorrow. My chest went tight with urgency, and I laid her flat on her back. She squirmed and hugged the pillow in; I let her keep hold of it, then looked her over again. Rubbing my eyes didn't change a thing.