The Pathetic Maid's Aftermath
I woke up feeling refreshed after a long, deep sleep—the first proper rest I'd had in a while. Even though I'd risen about an hour earlier than usual, my mind felt crystal clear. Why? Because it was finally time to see the results of the bait I'd scattered yesterday.
I'd received an apology message and a gift icon from Jeong Sua last night, but I hadn't replied at all. Maybe she lost her nerve, because there were no more texts or calls from her afterward. Still, according to Kang Suho, Sua had been so distracted during their game that she could barely focus and they didn't play much. 'Looks like my little brother is actually helping me out for once.' Thanks to that, I now knew just how much she was hurting over me.
Of course, there were still some lingering questions. Sua had left our house around 8 p.m. If they hadn't been gaming the whole time, what exactly had they been doing together? Unfortunately, Suho hadn't given me any details about that part. For a moment I worried that maybe he'd been comforting her broken heart and they'd spent some cozy time alone, but... the other party was Kang Suho. There was no way that dense idiot would notice her obvious feelings for me even if they were staring him in the face.
“Hyung? Where are you going so early? Yawn~”
I was about to head out when Suho, who had just woken up, called after me.
“What else would a student do in the morning besides go to school?”
“It just sounds weird coming from you, hyung...”
“What did you say, punk?”
Picking a fight first thing in the morning. But I was in a good mood, so I decided to let it slide. Realizing I wasn't going to hit him, Suho continued.
“Hyung, let's go together. Sua's supposed to come over to our place soon.”
“No thanks. You two can walk to school by yourselves.”
“What's been up with you since yesterday? Did you fight with Sua?”
So her mood really had been that obvious yesterday. Even this clueless idiot had picked up on it.
“Did the little brat say she fought with me?”
“...No, not exactly a fight. It was more like... the album...”
“The album?”
“Ah, never mind.”
What the hell? The fact that he was hiding it like this meant something had definitely happened. I'd been ready to let it go, but that reaction told me I'd have to dig it out of him later somehow. Still, the fact that Sua hadn't told him about what happened between us was a smart move. It meant she was reading the room between me and my brother.
'Doesn't seem like she's completely uninterested in me as a man...'
If she wasn't interested at all, she would've told her closest friend—Suho—about every single time I'd confessed to her. But Suho still had no idea I'd ever confessed. That deserves praise. Since you did well, I'll reward you by choking you while we fuck next time.
Ding-dong! Dang-dong!
Fourth period ended, and everyone headed off to lunch with their friends. I stayed glued to my desk the entire morning, watching Lee Yena fidget restlessly like a dog that desperately needed to piss. She clearly had something to say to me. Then her friends approached her.
“Yena, let's go eat.”
“Ah... sorry! I have something to take care of... You guys go ahead without me.”
“Really? Then you have to eat with us tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah~”
Scraaape. The sound of her chair dragging across the floor echoed as Yena stood up and slowly walked over to me, stopping right in front. She looked like she had a lot to say but had no idea how to say it.
I stood up with a smile, as if I'd been expecting this, and spoke to her as she flinched.
“Let's get some food first. Sound good?”
It had better. She wouldn't dare refuse if she knew what I'd do to her.
“Y-yeah. S-sure, let's do that.”
“Thanks, friend. Heh heh.”
At the word 'friend,' Yena's body trembled as memories from yesterday clearly flooded back. I didn't care. I casually slung an arm around her shoulders and headed toward the cafeteria. Having obtained such an entertaining new toy put me in an excellent mood.
“Hello, sunbae-nim. Enjoy your meal!”
“Yeah. You enjoy yours too.”
“Vice president, would you like some of this?”
“Chocolate? I'm good. You eat it. And remember, snacks should only come after you've finished your meal.”
Every time I went to the cafeteria, the freshmen kept striking up conversations. A few had done the same yesterday, but today was even worse—like they'd finally gotten used to school life. Why, though? This never happened when I was a first-year. Was this the power of the vice president title? It felt like my life had finally entered its golden age. My greeting speech from the entrance ceremony on the podium must have left quite an impression. Plus, from what they were saying, word had spread that I'd been first in my class during freshman year. I felt fantastic.
All that brutal studying and training hadn't been for nothing.
“You're pretty popular, huh?”
“Obviously.”
“But... you seem a bit gentler than usual. Is it just me?”
“What are you talking about? I've always been gentle.”
Yena stared at me with her mouth hanging wide open at my confident declaration. Was it really that shocking? How rude. I should make her puke up that hangover cure I bought her yesterday, you bitch.
“Everyone must be crazy. What do they even see in a guy like you... haa...”
Anyway, Yena, who had been so restless just moments ago, seemed to relax thanks to my teasing. Of course, her own strong nerves played a part too. It must have taken a lot of courage to approach me. I knew from personal experience—back in middle school when I'd gotten drunk and thrown up in front of my friends. The shame was unbearable. Every time I saw their faces afterward, that memory would resurface like a trauma, making it impossible to drink with them again. And Yena wasn't even a guy; she was a sensitive girl. If I'd been the one to drink half a bottle of soju, puke, and pass out in front of a guy I wasn't even close to, I'd have been too embarrassed to speak to him for months.
...Thinking about it again, maybe she wasn't brave. Maybe she was just an idiot? If someone who didn't even know their own limits drank until they puked wasn't stupid, what was? 'Learn your damn tolerance before you turn twenty, you stupid bitch.'
Still, I wondered how Cha Yeri had reacted when she saw a drunk Yena. Just thinking about meeting Yeri in the student council room later already had me excited.
I stood in front of the kiosk and looked at the menu. Despite being called a cafeteria, the school was large enough to have a proper system where you selected from various menu options through the kiosk. In reality, it was basically a school restaurant in everything but name.
“What do you want? The beef soup here is really good.”
Bzzz. I ordered two bowls of soup and handed one of the numbered tickets to Yena. She muttered with a look of disbelief.
“If you were just going to order the soup anyway, why did you even ask...”
“I told you. This place makes great soup.”
“I'm a student here too, so I already know it's good! Haa... Fine. I shouldn't even bother. The more I try to understand you, the more I feel like I'm getting dragged into your pace.”
We each took one of the two bowls that came out and found seats. The moment Yena lifted a spoonful of the hot broth to cool it down and eat—
I spoke up as if I'd been waiting for it.
“So, what did you want to say?”
“Huh...?”
“You had something to say but didn't know how to say it, so you were standing in front of me like a dog that needed to pee. Did you forget?”
“P-pee... It wasn't that bad!”
She set her spoon down, fidgeted for a moment while gauging my reaction, then spoke.
“I didn't... do anything weird yesterday, right?”
“Why can't you remember?”
“Well... yeah... I remember drinking with you, but when I came to my senses, I was at home... And there were weird photos on my phone...”
So she'd seen the pictures I took. Imagining Yena kicking her blankets all night in shame, unable to sleep after seeing those photos, felt incredibly satisfying. Who told you to sell my information to Yeri?
“So you're the type who loses your memory when you drink?”
“I didn't know until now... but it seems that way. Yesterday was the first time I ever drank that much...”
Half a bottle of soju and you're calling that drinking too much? Isn't that too pathetic? I wiped the smile from my face and spoke with a serious expression.
“You really don't remember? Or are you just pretending not to because you're embarrassed about what we did yesterday?”
“Embarrassed? W-what exactly did I do?”
“It wasn't just what you did. It was what the two of us did together... I didn't expect you wouldn't remember any of it...”
“W-what? What the hell did I do to you? Tell me right now.”
Yena leaned her upper body toward me with a genuinely curious face. Her expression was full of anxiety. Teasing her like this was incredibly fun.
“You kept kissing me and then jumped on top of me. It was my first time...”
I trembled as if I'd been raped, wrapping my arms around my own body. I thought it was an Oscar-worthy performance, but why were Yena's eyes growing so cold?
“Ugh... It's a lie. Stop messing with me, Kang Ijin.”
She must have immediately realized I was lying, which explained that expression. Seeing me laugh, her anxiety vanished and she continued.
“I didn't do anything, right?”
“Wow, caught right away. So that whole 'I don't remember' thing was bullshit?”
“It's not that... It's just that saying it was your first time is completely unbelievable...”
“Ah. So that's what it was.”
Thanks to that, I now had a clear idea of how poorly Yena thought of me. Still, being acknowledged as someone who seemed like he'd sleep around didn't feel half bad. Guys generally loved it when people reacted with 'You? No girlfriend?' to their claims. It was way better than being treated like some otaku virgin loser.
“That's right. Nothing happened.”
“Phew... Thank god.”
Relieved by my words, Yena scooped up a spoonful of soup and put it in her mouth. But she should've listened until the very end.
“Except for puking right in front of me.”
Pffft! The contents in her mouth sprayed out in shock. Rice grains and broth splattered all over my face and clothes.
“Cough, cough! Hack! Ah... sorry, sorry... It was a total accident. I didn't mean to.”
“You wanna die?”
“Wait a second. I'll get some tissues... I'll wipe it for you.”
She hurriedly grabbed some tissues and started wiping my face. Even after she was done, I could still smell it, and it felt gross. I waited until she'd even cleaned the table neatly, then sat back down like nothing had happened before quietly voicing my complaint.
“I'm the one who suggested we become friends first. Do I really look that comfortable to you?”
“...Sorry...”
“Just how comfortable do I look that you'd show me you throwing up and even spray the contents of your mouth at me?”
“Ugh...! I-I'm so sorry! Why am I like this... I've never done anything like this before, ugh...”
She must have felt genuinely terrible. Yena kept bowing her head, blaming herself over and over. There were too many eyes here, so I let it go for now. But I swore I'd make her pay back every bit of this humiliation.