Just Sex Friends
"Well, I'll be heading out."
"You worked so hard today, Dohyun! Get some good rest!"
Park Woojin hadn't finished everything on his plate, but he'd clocked out early anyway, claiming he'd wrap it up at home. Dohyun, having actually completed all his work, spent a little while gaming on the studio's high-spec computer before standing up and saying he'd take off first.
"Dohyun, get home safe~ See you tomorrow~"
"It's right around the corner."
Once the goodbyes were done and Dohyun had gone as well, the studio fell terribly quiet. Whether Park Woojin was around or not never really registered, but Dohyun was different. She'd spent the whole day chattering away with him, eating meals together, and they'd had such a good time that the empty space he left behind felt all the larger.
"Everyone else is gone. You're not heading home, Eunchae? You already finished all your work."
On a normal day she would have left ages ago, and today Dayeon had fully expected her to walk out with Dohyun. The fact that she hadn't suggested she had something she wanted to say.
"Got something on your mind?"
"Hah— how did you know?!"
Eunchae jumped, startled by Dayeon's words.
"I've known you for how many years now? You think I wouldn't notice?"
The two of them had known each other since high school — nearly eight years now. And of those years, they'd practically lived together for the five since graduation, so they understood each other better than anyone.
"So what's this about? Something to do with Dohyun?"
"Hah, unnie, you could seriously set up shop as a fortune teller."
Dayeon had picked up on it that morning — Eunchae wanted to make a good impression on Dohyun. It was obvious. The girl who normally shuffled around in glasses and sweats had dressed up cute today and stuck to his side the entire day.
"So what happened after I left?"
Dayeon was secretly curious about how things were developing between the two of them, so she asked with a smile.
"Well, so... you know. Unnie, you know I'm not the type to fall for someone at first sight, right?"
"Well, yeah."
Eunchae definitely wasn't that type. If anything, she was about as far from it as a person could get. When she was with Dayeon she smiled brightly and acted all adorable, but the moment she talked to a guy she was generally indifferent. There had even been times Dayeon thought Eunchae had no interest in dating or men at all.
"But Dohyun has this... this something that's just different."
"He does seem like a genuinely decent guy, but something different? Like what?"
Dayeon knew well enough that Dohyun was remarkably mature for his age, good at navigating social situations, quite skilled at editing, and someone who actually put in the effort. Now that I list it all out... he really is a pretty great guy. Looks-wise, he wasn't particularly short, and his face wasn't bad either.
"I think what pulled me in the most was that we have the same hobby."
"Ah. The fandom stuff."
A shared hobby was one of the best ways for two people to grow close. And Eunchae hadn't had a proper fandom friend in quite a long time, so she was all the more drawn to that side of him.
"We just click so well when we talk. And besides the fandom stuff, even with games and things like that, our tastes are super similar."
"Really? Dohyun plays games too?"
"Yeah! Come to think of it, he'd get along great with you too, unnie! He said he plays all kinds of different games."
Come to think of it, Dayeon still had a pretty vivid impression of him having a blast playing games after wrapping up his work earlier.
"Hmm. It might be fun if we all played together sometime."
"Oh, Dohyun would love that!"
"Alright, alright. Anyway, enough about that. Keep going about the two of you."
The conversation had nearly veered off into games and hobbies, but Dayeon managed to steer it back on track.
"Ah, right, right. Anyway, so we were talking about this and that, and after we wrapped up the second round of drinks, we talked about going for a third."
"Oh my. You went for a third round?"
"Yeah, but it was getting pretty late, and it was kind of a weird time, so we just went to Dohyun's place to drink."
"What? You went to his place? Look at this girl. She has no idea how dangerous the world is...!"
Even as she said it, Dayeon had this odd feeling that Dohyun, at least, wouldn't be particularly dangerous. If anything... Eunchae might be the more dangerous one...? Looking at the two of them, Dohyun was obviously stronger as a man, and physically he was far more solidly built — and yet somehow the thought that Eunchae was the more dangerous one wouldn't go away.
"So we went, and we got so wasted we even started talking about our sex preferences and stuff."
It was definitely because of this perverted side of Eunchae.
"Whaaat?! Why would you talk about that with someone you've known for less than a day?! You're going to get sued for sexual harassment!"
The fact that he'd still treated Eunchae like normal after hearing all that only made Dayeon find him even more impressive.
"No, wait... Dohyun was having fun talking about it too...!"
"Well of course — he was drunk!"
She wasn't wrong, but they'd had such a good time talking that Eunchae felt a little wronged.
"But Dohyun was into it too! Our tastes actually matched pretty well, and so we had sex!"
"Wh-wh-what...?! You did what?!"
At Eunchae's bombshell of a statement, Dayeon nearly fainted on the spot.
"We had sex! Twice, even!"
But Eunchae was completely unashamed. She didn't even seem to think this was something she ought to hide, speaking so boldly that Dayeon was the one left reeling.
"I haven't even... wait, no. That's not the point. Hoo... haah. Calm down, Dayeon."
So flustered that her true feelings had slipped out, Dayeon drew a breath and collected herself.
"R-right, well. Kids these days do the whole 'sex first, date later' thing, I hear. That can happen."
She was incredibly shocked. Incredibly dizzy. And yet—
But why do I feel disappointed?
She'd thought over and over that she hoped Dohyun and Eunchae would work out. And yet she found a sense of disappointment blooming in a corner of her heart, which left her even more flustered than before.
No. If those two work out, that's a good thing. Who am I to feel disappointed about it?
Eunchae was like a little sister — family she truly cherished. And even though she hadn't known Dohyun long, she could tell he was a genuinely decent person. If those two had formed a good relationship and things were going well, she should be congratulating them and cheering them on.
"Huh? No, we're not dating?"
In the midst of all that confusion, more words kept pouring from Eunchae's mouth that only threw Dayeon into even greater disarray.
"Wait, hold on... you said you did it. You did it, but you're not dating...? What is that supposed to mean?"
If it had been sex first and dating later, she could have at least tried to understand. But they'd had sex and they weren't dating? She couldn't make sense of this at all.
"We just decided to be sex friends."
"Whaaat...?! Sex friends...?!"
Her first time having sex, and the other person wasn't even a boyfriend — they were sex friends.
"Wait... no, this is... what kind of... nonsense... don't tell me Dohyun suggested that?!"
She'd thought he was a decent person. The thought that maybe he was just someone who wanted Eunchae's body was unavoidable. But what was even stranger...
...Why am I feeling this weird sense of anticipation...?! Have I actually lost my mind...?!
If earlier it had been disappointment blooming, now a strange sense of anticipation was rising. Being sex friends meant they weren't dating, and if they weren't dating...
If they're not... then what...?! God, I'm actually insane...!
She couldn't even understand why she was so confused. No — she did understand. She just didn't want to admit it.
That I like the same person Eunchae likes. That's... that's just not something that should happen.
But if they were just sex friends, maybe it was okay. One sex friend or two. Wouldn't that be fine? The fact that she was even thinking this made her wonder if she'd been put under some kind of hypnosis.
"Huh? No, I was the one who suggested it. I don't want to date anyone either, and Dohyun said he's not in a position to be dating right now. So we stay fandom friends who also help each other out in bed! Isn't that perfect?"
"...You have a surprisingly open mind."
"Yeah, I'm pretty open-minded, I guess."
The fact that she felt relief at that side of Eunchae left Dayeon truly, thoroughly confused.
"Th-then... you wouldn't mind if I did it with Dohyun too?"
And so, without meaning to, she let her true feelings slip right out of her mouth.
I-I'm insane...! What did I just say...?!
Regret hit her immediately, but words once spoken couldn't be taken back. Eunchae tilted her head and answered.
"Huh? Unnie, you're already in that kind of relationship with Dohyun too? Since when?"
Dayeon had been talking about a hypothetical future. But Eunchae seemed to have taken it as meaning the two of them were already sex friends.
"No, no...! That's not it. I... I meant if I ended up like that going forward... would that be okay. That's what I meant."
Why was she even explaining this? The whole situation felt like it was sliding somewhere very strange.
"Ooooh~ Dohyun would be over the moon! Wait — then someday the three of us might end up having sex together?! My heart's racing...!"
And at Eunchae's reaction, Dayeon felt somehow deeply relieved. And also a little weird. Eunchae genuinely didn't seem to care at all if Dohyun and Dayeon had sex. No — it wasn't even at that level. The way she boldly said she wanted a threesome...
"...You really are an incredibly open person."
That was all Dayeon could say.