Drowning in His Clothes
"I'm completely wiped out."
I said it looking at Eunchae, who was lying next to me. We'd just finished having sex and even taken a shower afterward, and burning through that much stamina first thing in the morning had left my whole body feeling heavy and languid.
"Mmh, yeah. Maybe we just... don't go in today?"
Watching her yawn, I found myself thinking the same thing. But—
"Even so, showing up one day and taking the next off feels a little much."
"We can just work through the weekend. It's not like anything's actually urgent right now."
She wasn't wrong. There was nothing so pressing that missing today would blow a deadline. I'd already gotten a decent amount of work done, and with my Speed Stat steadily climbing, skipping a single day wouldn't cause any real problems.
"We should still go. Noona said she'd be coming in this afternoon, too."
I'd left Noona alone with Park Woojin yesterday when we ducked into the café, but something in me didn't want to do that again. I sat up.
"God, you really are crazy about Unnie."
"That's not even a question. Noona is my idol."
To me, she really was an idol in every sense of the word. Of course, I'd never imagined I'd actually get to be this close to someone like her. And that was exactly why I had no interest in leaving her alone with Park Woojin for any longer than necessary.
"Come on. Let's get ready and go in."
The studio was only a five-minute walk away, anyway. Not far enough to take any real time, and not far enough to wear anyone out.
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say~"
Eunchae finally sat up and started gathering her clothes, pulling them on in a halfhearted shuffle.
"Ah, maybe I should run home first. Wearing yesterday's clothes again feels kinda gross."
"Just wear something of mine?"
My clothes would all fit her anyway — or rather, they'd swallow her. Given how small she was, the only question was how oversized they'd be. Too small was never going to be the problem. The problem was that they'd be a lot bigger than you'd think.
"Hmm. Yeah, okay. That's way better than going all the way home."
The silver lining was that Eunchae wasn't the type to dress up much on a regular day. If she'd been the kind of person who needed a full face of makeup and a polished outfit just to go to work, she really would have had to go home.
"Just grab whatever."
I pulled on a hoodie and some pants for work myself, telling her to pick out whatever looked comfortable.
"Can I borrow underwear too?"
"Huh? Underwear? That's gonna be uncomfortable, though."
I wore boxer briefs, but I figured they'd be a bit big for a girl.
"I've been wanting to try them on."
"Well, I don't really mind."
We'd already seen everything there was to see of each other. Lending her a pair of underwear wasn't exactly a big deal. As long as she wasn't uncomfortable, I didn't see the harm. I pulled out a pair and handed them over.
"I don't have a bra, though."
I could lend her pretty much anything else, but a bra was where I drew a blank.
"That... would be weirder if you did have one, right?"
"Yeah. Fair point."
A women's bra in a guy's apartment, living alone... yeah, that would actually be a pretty weird situation. Even I had to laugh at how ridiculous that comment had been.
"The bra I'll just wear again. Whatever."
She muttered something about being glad she'd taken it off before we started drinking, and I watched her get dressed for a moment before finishing my own preparations.
"Alright, shall we?"
"The underwear isn't bothering you?"
"Nah. More comfortable than I expected, actually?"
From the underwear to the T-shirt to the pants — everything on her except the bra was mine, and looking at her like that stirred up this strange, protective feeling I couldn't quite name.
"You look like you're drowning in those clothes. It's cute."
She was so small that wearing my clothes really did make her look like she was being swallowed whole. Like a little kid playing dress-up in her dad's clothes, maybe? Either way, it was the kind of cute that punched you right in the protective instincts.
"Do you just go around flirting with people like that?"
"Huh? Where'd that come from? I've never flirted with anyone."
I had no idea what she was talking about. Going around flirting with just anyone? I'd never even tried flirting in my life, and I had zero plans to start.
"Unconscious flirting is even worse, you know."
She shot me a sideways glance, and somehow I was the one who ended up flustered.
"I'm telling you, I haven't done anything like that."
"Hmph. Sure you haven't."
"I'm serious."
I had no idea why she kept looking at me like that, and I was still busy defending my completely flirt-free record when we arrived at the studio before I knew it. It really was close.
"Park Woojin's gonna be in there, right?"
"Probably."
Clock-in time had come and gone a while ago, so the odds were good he'd shown up right at nine. For someone so unreliable in every other way, he'd apparently never once been late.
I opened the door and stepped into the studio.
"H-huh?! J-Jesus—!"
Park Woojin was standing in front of Dayeon Noona's room in a pose so unnatural it practically screamed guilt, and he whipped around to look at us.
"What are you doing there, Mr. Park Woojin?"
"D-doing what?! I wasn't doing anything! Fuck, you're the one who showed up late, so who the hell are you to talk?!"
He was getting angry in a way that only made him look more suspicious. I scowled. Had he done something to Noona's room? I strode over and tried the doorknob.
Rattle, rattle. Thankfully, the door was locked tight. I let out a small breath of relief.
"The hell are you doing, you little shit?"
"You were standing in front of Noona's door, so I figured I'd check if you'd done anything weird. If I was wrong, my bad."
I wasn't actually sorry, so the apology came out pretty halfhearted. I mean, who told him to react that suspiciously in the first place?
"...Ha. This fucking guy."
He looked like he was about to say more, then suddenly froze — apparently he'd only just noticed Eunchae coming in with me.
"Ah, haha... yeah, well. Fair enough. But why are you two showing up together?"
He put on an awkward smile and started talking to Eunchae, then his face twisted all over again.
"And those clothes... the hell is that?"
He looked Eunchae up and down, and his already ugly expression crumpled even further. It was almost funny. Anyone walking in on this would think Park Woojin was Eunchae's boyfriend. A stranger would think I'd been cheating with her, honestly.
"Hey, Eunchae. Wanna work in my room?"
I decided he wasn't even worth answering and ignored him completely, turning to Eunchae instead.
"Sure. Doesn't look like it'd be too cramped for two people."
She seemed to feel the same way. She brushed Park Woojin off just as easily, grabbed her gear, and followed me into the room.
"Want me to help you move your computer?"
"I'm good. The tablet's enough."
She brought in just her tablet, stylus, and chair, settled in next to me, and got to work.
"Hey, you little shits! Can you not hear me?! Are you seriously just ignoring me?! Fuck!"
Park Woojin kept screaming his head off out in the hall, but I decided to just close my ears and ignore him.
"Alright. Time I got started too."
"I'm gonna watch Dohyun edit!"
"You're not gonna work?"
"I'll watch for a bit first!"
I wasn't sure what was so interesting about watching someone edit. Then again, I kind of got the appeal of watching someone else draw. I figured Eunchae was in the same boat and fired up the program.
Today... I'd finish up what I started yesterday first. Then I needed to edit videos one and seven. I'd already been told the upload order when I received the footage, so I lined up the edits by deadline.
"You're already almost done with this?"
Eunchae asked, looking at yesterday's work.
"Yeah. I pretty much wrapped it up yesterday."
"Holy crap. Can I see how you edited it? Just a peek?"
She looked so excited it was almost a little pressure, but getting feedback from a fellow fan didn't sound like a bad idea. I nodded and hit play.
"Ooooh..."
Eunchae's eyes sparkled as she locked onto the video, completely absorbed.
"Pfft— ah, yeah, this part was so good. God, why is Unnie this funny? Seriously."
I'd thought she wanted to see the edit so she could give me notes. Turns out she just wanted an early look at the YouTube video. She'd gone full viewer mode. I couldn't help but smile.
"Mmh. Unnie is always right... she uses her face so well. She's the best. The absolute best."
I cut the video off mid-viewing.
"Hey! What the— why'd you stop it?!"
She'd clearly been completely sucked in. She practically shrieked.
"That's... as far as it goes. It's still being edited, you goof."
"Grr...! Finish the rest and hand it over, you damn editor...!"
She balled her fists and demanded the next part immediately. I gave her a light flick on the head.
"I couldn't work because you asked me to show it to you, dummy."
"Tch... fine. Just edit it already."
She stuck her lip out in a pout and scooted back.
"Okay. I'll have it done in no time. Just wait. Though you've already seen the whole thing anyway."
"No I haven't. Last time I was too busy having sex with you to actually watch it."
"Ahem. Maybe say that a little quieter."
There was someone right outside, and she had absolutely no sense of shame.