Meat Party
Meat Party
After finishing the final exams early and stepping outside, my classmates and seniors were buzzing with anticipation about how they would spend winter break.
From what I heard, the girls seemed to be planning some kind of trip somewhere, so they were all excitedly buzzing about.
A trip, huh...
Since I went to Japan in the summer, should I just hole up at home for winter?
I should ask A-ra about her schedule later.
"Ugh... it's cold, so cold."
As I stepped out of the department building, the now thoroughly chilled weather greeted me.
I shoved my hands into my thick coat, pressed the car's smart key to unlock it, and opened the door.
Since I'd only been taking an exam and planned to leave quickly, I hadn't turned the heater off, so the inside of the car was very warm.
My fingers, which had been stiff just moments ago, thawed out and began moving freely, and a smile spread across my face.
"In summer and winter alike... having a car is a lifesaver."
Since I didn't have the confidence to walk or catch a bus in this weather, I truly treasured the Porsche Cayenne A-ra bought me.
"Shall we head out, then."
My hands had loosened up, and the warmth automatically brought a smile to my face. I diligently fastened my seatbelt, and also buckled in the bag sitting next to me.
"Huh?"
As I looked ahead to leave, I saw Jeong Hwan-yi running toward me.
He'd clearly said that solving the problems would take him a while.
"Seong-hwan-a, just give me a ride to the front!"
Seeing Jeong Hwan-yi shivering all over in front of the door, with an expression like he might freeze to death any second, I gave a wry smile and opened the door for him.
He didn't seem to struggle much with summer, so it was fascinating how badly he felt the cold in winter.
"Didn't you say you'd be late because you were solving problems?"
"They suddenly just started solving smoothly one after another. I came outside and saw your car, so I ran over."
"I see. But aren't you going to buy a car?"
"A car?"
"Our company pays employee insurance premiums too, you know."
"Right... maybe I should buy one, even a used car..."
This guy came from a well-off family, already had a job, and was earning money, but I'd never really seen him spend it.
Not that he saved money or didn't spend it—he just didn't seem to buy much personal stuff in general.
Should I call it a minimalist vibe?
"Why don't you try asking your parents to buy you one? Last time I saw them, they seemed ready to buy you anything."
Jeong Hwan-yi's parents ran a huge seafood center.
The first time I visited to buy king crab as a gift for A-ra, I thought the building as big as a bus terminal was the fish market, and that Jeong Hwan-yi's parents' shop was inside it. But it turned out the entire building was the business run by his parents.
And they were such warm people that even though they'd met me for the first time, they were so good to me that they left an impression on me—an orphan without biological parents—of what real parents must be like.
"It feels like I'd be a burden."
"A burden... your parents would absolutely never think that, you know?"
"Well... I don't just mean my parents, but my noona-s too."
"Ah."
From what I'd heard, it seemed his parents had raised him, Jeong Hwan-yi, their son, with quite a bit of favoritism.
Despite that, the biggest reason his relationship with his noonas was still very good was probably that he himself knew he was favored and felt guilty about it.
"Did you ever have anything like that?"
"At the orphanage? Hmm..."
The 'Mom' who raised me did go especially easy on me alone, but she treated everyone like family all the same.
Well, from what I heard, she even considered adopting me, but I also heard it was impossible because she was too young and unmarried at the time.
"You did, right?"
"Yeah."
As I nodded, Jeong Hwan-yi chuckled, then buckled his seatbelt.
"Well, even if I rule out asking them to buy one for me, I'm thinking maybe I'll try buying one with my own money."
"Give me a ride when you get a car."
"Of course."
Looking at Jeong Hwan-yi's face as he nodded like it was the most natural thing, I stepped on the gas pedal.
As I left the school grounds, I found myself looking forward to what I'd do over the break, and a smile automatically appeared on my face.
***
"Sorry, Seong-hwan-a..."
"No need to be sorry. You're busy, so it can't be helped."
When I came home and asked A-ra, it turned out she had no time to travel because of her busy schedule.
In summer, she often had schedules that took her out of town, so she frequently had free time, but in winter, there were no out-of-town trips, and most of her time was taken up with schedules like variety shows at broadcasting stations and music programs.
"Music shows?"
"Yeah... they asked me to be a judge."
"Oh... that seems pretty impressive."
It was apparently a music show with an idol audition feel, done in a death match style with a variety entertainment vibe.
They said it was kind of like the Hunger Games... but what did that have to do with an idol audition?
"Seong-hwan-i, don't you have any schedules or anything?"
"Me, well, I'm a Qtuber, so just one video a month is fine. And I'm a househusband, you know."
"Househusband..."
When I called myself a househusband, A-ra's face brightened slightly.
A-ra often showed that she rather liked it when I used expressions like househusband, or referred to myself as her husband.
"Still, about two days should be fine."
"Then let's go see the night sea."
"To Yeosu?"
"Yeosu is too far. Let's just go to Incheon, reasonably."
"Okay, I'm looking forward to it."
She said she didn't know when that day would be, but she was looking forward to it, beaming a smile before letting out another sigh.
She apparently had a showcase shoot for some game tomorrow, and it was scheduled to take about 20 hours.
"That game looked fun."
"It is fun, but it's only fun when you play it as a user."
Chuckling, she stroked my head, then stretched, yawned, and rubbed her eyes.
"I'm going to sleep first."
"Is it okay if we don't do it tonight?"
"Yeah, if we do it today I feel like I'll be way too tired tomorrow, so pass."
"Alright, sleep well then."
Considering A-ra's libido, it was more accurate to say she was postponing it rather than holding back, so that sent a slight chill down my spine.
***
"So that's why you're waiting here?"
"Yes... what were you doing, Yeji Nuna?"
"I was waiting for Eun-ji."
When I went to the agency for the first time in a while, I saw Yeji sitting in the cafe staring blankly, so I sat across from her.
She apparently had plans to meet Eun-ji, but Eun-ji had contacted her saying she'd be late because she was putting on makeup.
"Now that I think about it, do you remember that bitch who tried to kidnap you before?"
"The woman who got beaten up by you, Nuna, even though she had a knife?"
"Yeah, the lawyer said she got 8 years in prison."
Saying she should have gotten life imprisonment, she grew angry and drank the coffee on the table in one long gulp.
It seemed that the reason she'd beaten that woman up back then—given that the criminal had a knife and it was done to protect me—was ruled as reasonable self-defense, so she'd been acquitted.
And once it spread in the news that I had been the target, public opinion had apparently grown in support of Yeji.
"If you hadn't been there, Seong-hwan-a, it might have been hard to get a not-guilty verdict, wouldn't it?"
"Why's that? She had a knife..."
"Nuna is a former boxer, remember."
Come to think of it, she was.
I think I'd heard somewhere that if a martial artist or ranked practitioner commits an assault that causes injury, they can receive a sentence equivalent to attempted murder.
Yeji had even pinned her down and pummeled her, so she was absolutely in a situation where she could have been sentenced for attempted murder.
At times like this, I felt grateful to be a man.
After we'd been chatting for quite a while like that, Eun-ji entered the cafe.
She ordered an iced Americano packed with ice, came over with it, sat next to me, and began sipping it.
"Aren't you cold?"
"I am, but I like drinking something cold."
"Your taste is similar to A-ra Noona's in that way, too."
A-ra also gets cold easily, but she only ever drinks cold beverages.
Even her favorite cafe latte, she always chills it thoroughly in the fridge and drinks it filled to the brim with ice, just short of it watering down.
"But Seong-hwan-i, why are you here?"
Eun-ji tilted her head and asked why I, who normally didn't show my face at the agency, was there.
"I was waiting for A-ra Noona."
"Where on earth did she reel in a guy like you... I'm so jealous I could die."
"Definitely, that is a truly enviable part."
"N-Noona... you're embarrassing me, what are you doing?"
My face flushed red, and I lowered my head.
The two of them, whether sincere or teasing, wore smiles and slurped their coffee.
"So, you've got nothing to do either, then, Seong-hwan-i?"
"Well... she said she'd be working until late at night."
"Then do you want to go eat meat with us? Yeji unnie said she's treating."
"Yeah, Seong-hwan-a, come with us."
"Hmm... would it really be okay..."
Eun-ji and Yeji were people I could trust, so following them wasn't a problem, but the real issue was that I thought A-ra might give me tearful puppy eyes if she found out everyone else ate meat without her.
"You're worrying about the strangest things."
"No, A-ra unnie might genuinely sulk."
Agreeing with my concern, Eun-ji nodded with a serious expression.
Eun-ji would know well, too. The fact that A-ra secretly sulked easily over things like that.
"Then... should I just wait until it gets late..."
"There are plenty of barbecue places open until late, so we'll just wait."
"Or, how about we buy a ton of meat and grill it at home?"
"Oh? That could be good too?"
When I suggested it, the two of them began nodding in agreement that it sounded good.
Actually, compared to going to a barbecue place late at night to eat, wasn't eating at home the right choice for them, since they were idols? Why hadn't they thought of that?