Blushing Barefoot and Ye-eun's Interrupted Dinner

"All done?"

"Not yet. They said I need some treatment, so wait a bit."

Silence followed that reply.

She must be really embarrassed.

Even though there were plenty of empty seats, she'd chosen to sit way off to the side. Her hair was stiff and unmoving. And above all, her eyes, staring off into space, were darting around every which way.

"Ugh……."

A soft groan escaped her lips. She seemed embarrassed, so I hadn't said anything, but seeing her like that made me oddly worried, and I finally spoke up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Luckily, no fractures…… Just some ligament damage."

"Oh? Yeah, I see it's a bit swollen……."

"Wh-where are you looking?!"

Jang Ha-rin jumped in surprise and whipped her body around. At the same time, she scooted her butt farther away. Then she grabbed her foot and let out a groan, uuugh.

Probably jolted her ankle turning like that.

…Yeah, showing her bare foot could be embarrassing. I'd probably seen it at her place last time, sure. But indoors and outdoors feel different.

Feeling awkwardly self-conscious for no reason, I smacked my lips and turned to my phone.

"Ms. Jang Ha-rin."

"I'll be right back."

Jang Ha-rin limped into the treatment room. In the meantime, my phone buzzed—ziiing.

It was Lee Soo-min. We'd even pinky-sworn on it yesterday, but apparently she didn't trust me.

"Man, she's so thorough."

I shook my head. Truth be told, I'd been planning to bail tomorrow. After all the bad luck today, I just didn't have the energy.

I'd been brainstorming excuses……

…but now that she'd gone this far, ignoring her could really mess things up. I could only sigh.

To cool my head, I decided to clear out the backlog of messages. All those spam ads from accidentally hitting "agree." I went through them one by one, hitting "cancel subscription."

Leave 'em, and they'd take over the chat in no time.

"Huh……."

As I was deleting them, I had to stop my busy fingers.

Kim Seo-yeon. Familiar name, awkward profile pic. Tapped it—yep, the photo I'd taken her at the exhibition last time. Smiling brightly under the soft exit lights.

It overlapped weirdly with that cold stare she'd given me at the end of drinks yesterday.

Why'd she look at me like that all of a sudden? She'd been smiling and greeting me at the start of drinks.

We hadn't talked much after, and even though we'd made up recently, it still made me uneasy for no reason.

Especially since my life was on the line.

"Who's that? Girlfriend?"

The voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I jumped and quickly turned off the screen.

"Huh? Oh, no. Just a classmate."

"Hmm…… Staring at a classmate's profile like that?"

"No, it's… She's a classmate, but we went to an exhibition together……"

"Classmates go to exhibitions alone?"

"No, not just the exhibition. Before that, a musical. As payback……"

"You went to a musical together too?"

My brain couldn't keep up. I tried explaining fast, but every word seemed to make it worse.

"This is super suspicious……."

Her eyes narrowed with growing suspicion. I turned away, took a deep breath, and said firmly.

Don't misunderstand. And don't cross the line.

"Seriously, just a classmate. I'd appreciate it if you dropped it."

This was only our second meeting. Even if she was Kim Ye-eun's roommate and I'd screwed up last time, this was clearly her overstepping.

"…Sorry. I got too worked up."

"Nah. I've messed up with you too."

Jang Ha-rin bowed her head in apology. The mistake I'd made at our first meeting. We'd agreed to call it even with her slip-up the next day.

But honestly, my screw-up was way bigger than a simple faux pas. Add today's incident, and we were even.

I extended my hand as a peace offering.

"Let's call it square and make up."

"Okay. Truce."

Jang Ha-rin and I shook hands lightly, both smiling. Short fuss, but now resolved. Perfect—I didn't want more emotional stress.

…Her hand was so soft and warm—

"Um…… Sorry, but there's another patient here, so you need to be quiet. Could you take it outside?"

The nurse had snuck up. Jang Ha-rin flinched and bowed.

"Ah, s-sorry!"

Her apology was kinda loud. The nurse had said quiet, and here she was yelling it.

"Patient?"

The nurse's eyes went cold.

"Hey, she said quiet. Really sorry."

I quickly helped her up and headed out.

"Where to now?"

We'd hurried out of the hospital and were walking toward the nearby subway when Jang Ha-rin asked out of the blue.

"Dunno…… It's about dinner time. Wanna grab some together?"

"Ah…… I was supposed to eat with Ye-eun tonight."

She brought her hand to her mouth, looking sulky. Probably torn between her roommate and the guy who helped.

"With Ye-eun? At home?"

"No, out near the house."

"Cool. Then how about all three of us?"

"Huh? I'm fine with it, but…… Isn't it the wrong direction?"

"No biggie. Your foot's hurt. Consider it me walking you home. Whatever."

"Ah……."

Jang Ha-rin trailed off, looking down. Ignoring her, I figured rip the band-aid off and called Kim Ye-eun right away.

Dring dring dring.

A few normal rings, then a click.

Kim Ye-eun's voice rose like a crescendo. No point listening more—it'd just hurt my ears—so I hung up.

Ziiing.

My phone blew up right after. I ignored it casually.

Pure notification call. No revenge worries. We're childhood friends, super close. She'd dumped stuff on me like this before.

"Jun-woo."

"Yeah? What?"

"Just got a message from Ye-eun. The content……."

Guess she switched targets since I ignored her. Obvious what it said.

"What, 'She'll take responsibility, so smack her hard upside the head'?"

"Huh? Yeah, exactly."

"It's fine. Ignore it. Happens every day. Just say you did."

How would she even know if I did or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not?

"Anyway. Here."

"Huh?"

"Lemme help you walk. Must hurt like hell."

Her limp was pretty bad. Fine for short moves inside the hospital, but outside? Looked painful.

…And to dodge Kim Ye-eun's wrath later, better play nice. Said not to worry, but the constant buzzing made me uneasy.

"…Thanks."

I draped her arm over my shoulder.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, let's go."

Jang Ha-rin looked at my slightly bent knee as she spoke. A bit uncomfortable, sure, but I told ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her it was fine.

Our height difference wasn't huge. No need to bend much, but I didn't want the injured one in a weird position, so I sacrificed a little.

She stared at me a moment, then nodded with a faint smile.

"Yeah. Let's hurry. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm starving."

Crunch.

In a residential neighborhood behind Sinchon Station, up on a steep hill, an ominous sound came from a certain cheap dorm.

"Lee Jun-woo, that jerk……."

Kim Ye-eun, still in pajamas after lounging at home all day, glared at her phone ringing nonstop.

Her best friend and roommate, Jang Ha-rin. With exams over, they'd planned a nice dinner out tonight.

Craving good food after ages. She'd been home all day, hyped just for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that……

Lee Jun-woo. Childhood friend she'd known forever, annoyingly so. Guy who helped with her influencer shoots sometimes.

That damn bastard shattered her whole day’s buildup.

Sudden one-sided dinner invite. And somehow, he was with Ha-rin.

They were probably already on their way. She'd pulled this unilateral crap on him before too.

Couldn't just say no and send Ha-rin back alone.

All she could do was stare at the unresponsive screen and swallow her rage.

"Hoo……."

Finally, Kim Ye-eun gave up calling and tossed her phone aside.

About an hour and a half till meetup. It was supposed to be casual with her roommate—comfy clothes, basic makeup.

"Now I gotta pick new clothes……."

All ruined by one guy.

Jang Ha-rin embarrassed about showing her bare feet (Image)