Party
Party
"Seong-hwan-a. Did you see the agency party schedule?"
When I finished the dishes and came into the bedroom, A-ra was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her phone.
Her hair was damp, and she hadn't dried herself properly—
her white dress was slightly wet, making her look quite provocative.
The kind of sight you'd often see
at a sports field, a gymnasium, or a fitness center.
No, actually, in places like that,
there were plenty of women exercising with their tops off,
so by now, I'd grown pretty indifferent to this kind of thing.
"No, not yet. When did they say it was?"
"Next week, apparently."
A-ra held out the smartphone she'd recently switched to.
On it, a sparkly invitation glittered, asking us to please attend and grace the party at the agency building next weekend.
I wasn't speaking metaphorically—it was literally glittering in an actual gif file,
so I nodded to myself, thinking they were unexpectedly tacky when it came to decorating this kind of thing.
"It's hideously tacky, right? They made it like this last year too."
"Still, they put effort into making it..."
"The Director unnie made this in three minutes with a phone app."
"....."
Was it really okay to use something like that as a party invitation?
Well, our Director was friendly, straightforward, and truly hated heavy atmospheres, so I guess it was possible.
Even something that seemed insincere
became nothing short of delightful when the Director did it.
So that was the level you had to reach to lead a major corporation.
Even though A-ra Noona held all the shares.
"Speaking of which, I heard Lee Min-ho is joining the MCN this time too?"
"Yes, I heard about that too. He seems to be doing quite well these days."
"He's entertaining enough that even I watch him. I wonder if he'll come to the party."
What Lee Min-ho filmed were food review videos.
No, to be precise, should I call it a mukbang disguised as a review?
He consumed and evaluated various branded frozen and retort food products—
all he did was cook them, eat them, say "It's delicious!", and that was it.
"He'll probably come, won't he? Since he's a guy who loves showing off."
"Right?"
A-ra smiled slightly.
Because Lee Min-ho was one of the quieter ones in A-ra's fan club,
but he was the kind of guy who promoted himself enough that A-ra remembered his voice.
A man with a personality that loved showing off.
It was the kind of personality that might be a bit difficult for women—as a lover or a husband.
She was probably comparing him to me.
'Noona thinks it's a relief that our Seong-hwan-i is a quiet, well-behaved husband.'
"I'm not that well-behaved, you know."
I gently lifted the hem of A-ra's white dress.
To be honest, I felt happy at the word 'well-behaved',
but I suddenly felt like teasing her.
As I lifted the dress slightly, the fresh scent of body wash
began to spread faintly.
A-ra really seemed to suit citrus-based scents the best.
Anyway, why wasn't she wearing anything underneath?
Things that were allowed to be seen only by me
began to fill my vision, one by one.
"If I put on underwear right now, it gets damp. Then I'll get heat rash and feel uncomfortable."
Then shouldn't she have dried herself properly after showering and then said that?
There was still moisture left on her hair and body, so it would feel sticky and cause heat rash anyway.
I went into the bathroom, took out a towel, and came back out.
When I came out, A-ra was holding the hem of her dress with her fingers
and standing in front of the fan, drying herself.
"Take it off, I'll dry you off once."
"Our Seong-hwan-i is quite proactive today. Did you get turned on?"
"If I didn't react to you seducing me like that, would I even be a man?"
A-ra smiled brightly and began to take off her dress.
***
"Unnie, why are you so late!"
On the day of the party, we were running a little late because we were getting our hair done,
and we barely arrived at the agency five minutes before the party started.
When we reached the entrance at a somewhat hurried pace, Eun-ji had her hands on her hips
and was squeaking like a chinchilla.
What was this, A-ra was a hamster and Eun-ji was a chinchilla—it wasn't some rodent zoo.
"Sorry, getting Seong-hwan-i's hair styled took a bit of time."
"You take such incredible care of your husband! But you don't take care of your little sister."
"You handle everything well on your own."
After hearing that from A-ra,
Eun-ji made an expression that was hard to tell whether it was pleased or bittersweet.
Then she looked at me and gave me a quick once-over from top to bottom.
"You dressed well."
"The coordinator noona picked it out."
"That coordinator seems to have good taste. Introduce me sometime."
When Eun-ji stared at me and complimented me, A-ra nodded her head vigorously too.
Usually, comments evaluating things like the clothes you're wearing might be considered rude or a nuisance,
but Eun-ji's evaluations of others were a little different.
It was because her assessments, as a twenty-year-old my age who worked both as an idol and a model,
were compliments that came from a sincere place.
"Seong-hwan-a, what about me?"
Eun-ji asked how her own clothes looked, and spun around once on the spot to show me.
The off-shoulder dress fit Eun-ji perfectly, making her look both mature and cute.
I had hesitated a little about whether it was okay to judge another woman's clothes when she wasn't my wife,
but after common sense between men and women had reversed, it had become an extremely ordinary and natural thing.
"It suits you well. But aren't you cold?"
"How can you say that in this weather? Maybe it's because you're a man, you're sensitive to the cold."
"It's not like I'm wearing revealing clothes myself."
"...It'd be better if you don't even think about wearing stuff like that. Unnie might ground you from going out."
Eun-ji chuckled.
Certainly...
Short sleeves and shorts were perfectly natural summer clothes, so it seemed they were fine,
but it looked like A-ra didn't really like things like the ripped jeans that had been trendy before.
She was surprisingly conservative in that regard.
"But is it okay for us to be chatting like this?"
"Right, right. Let's go in quickly."
"But where's Lee Min-ho?"
"That guy? He already went inside! With his girlfriend."
For reference, our agency's party allowed one accompanying guest,
so bringing a boyfriend, girlfriend, or family was permitted.
A-ra didn't really have anyone to bring, and I had considered bringing Jeong Hwan-yi,
but he ran off saying he had a date, so we had no choice but to agree to be each other's plus-one.
Since we both had no family other than each other,
maybe that actually suited us better.
"More importantly, this isn't the time. Everyone's waiting, so hurry inside."
"O...okay, so don't push me."
Whatever the rush was, Eun-ji pushed us from behind,
and A-ra and I went inside the building.
*
"You came?"
When I entered the hall, Lee Min-ho, sitting right in front with one hand stuffed in his pocket, greeted me.
Maybe because he was tall, the suit looked quite good on him.
So that was why people said a suit's look came down to height and face.
I nodded slightly and went to sit next to him.
"What, are you filming for Qtube?"
"A lot of people were curious, you know. Is it not allowed?"
"Why do you ask when you wouldn't stop even if I said no?"
"That's true."
Then he laughed with a kik-kik sound.
Looking around, even famous celebrities I'd seen on TV
were filming with action cams or their phones, so it didn't seem like there were any particular restrictions on filming.
"Then I guess I should shoot some footage too."
"Will you appear in it?"
"I'd be really grateful if you did."
Since Lee Min-ho had appeared on my channel before,
I was willing to appear on his too.
How much attention would it draw?
Lee Min-ho seemed to be looking forward to that quite a bit, but...
I had no particular intention of uploading the party footage myself.
*
The Director finished the first-half report, gave a greeting, and stepped down from the podium.
Then, several people approached me and greeted me,
and just accepting each and every one of those greetings took up a lot of time.
After about thirty minutes passed, worn out by all the people, I was sitting in a chair
when A-ra held out a drink to me.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"Seong-hwan-a, long time no see."
"Oh, Hwa-young. Long time no see."
Looking now, A-ra's best friend Hwa-young was standing next to her.
Was the last time I saw her last winter?
"How did the movie turn out?"
"It turned out well, of course. You have to go on a date with A-ra later and watch it, okay?"
"Of course."
Even if I didn't suggest going to see it, A-ra would drag me there.
After all, it was a movie starring her.
"Anyway, you seem to have gotten a bit cuter compared to last year?"
"You shouldn't say things like that to a married man."
"What's the big deal, considering our relationship?"
I looked at A-ra, who was sitting next to me with her arm linked through mine.
There she was, sending Hwa-young a gaze burning like a tiger's,
saying she could never hand me over even to her best friend.
"It's a joke, a joke."
"Well, it is true that Seong-hwan-i has gotten cuter."
"Couldn't you say I've gotten more handsome instead of cuter?"
"Hmm... isn't that a word that doesn't really suit a man?"
A-ra and Hwa-young tilted their heads with ambiguous expressions.
I much preferred the word 'handsome' to 'cute' or 'pretty'.
"That aside, where on earth did that brat Eun-ji go. Her unnie is thirsty."
"Noona... are you still tormenting Eun-ji?"
"I told you, it's not tormenting, it's exercising my legitimate authority."
Before, Eun-ji and Hwa-young had made a bet—
with the condition of becoming a lifelong slave on the line.
Eun-ji, who lost that bet, was still Hwa-young's slave to this day.