Can't We Just Eat at Home? (1)
"Ayeong~"
"I'll go take care of it. Just sit tight."
Of course, I took Jeong Ayeong's card with me.
We'd left school around eleven. The hospital was quieter than expected before lunch hour, so we got through the exam quickly. The doctor asked Ayeong about her symptoms, tilted her head, then simply disinfected the spot on her forehead, stuck a gauze pad over it, and sent us on our way.
It wasn't a car accident. She hadn't fallen from anywhere. Just walked into something forehead-first — and they were making a fuss over that? Come back if you get dizzy later, the doctor said, and shooed us out.
Which brought us to the present: the pharmacy. Patient or not, I left Ayeong fidgeting in her seat and went to pick up the medicine.
The pharmacist glanced at my uniform and opened his mouth.
"Hweorang Academy?"
"Ah, yes."
"Your girlfriend? Young love, huh~"
"No, she's not. Thank you."
That half-sly, half-fond little smile of his was exhausting. Were all the middle-aged men around here the living embodiment of "can't mind their own business"?
"Here. The card."
"Ah — yeah."
Anyway.
When I got back to our seats, Ayeong was squirming restlessly in place. I thought it over carefully, but couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. In situations like this, conversation was the best approach.
"Did you leave something behind?"
"N-no. Just…"
Her fingers fidgeted. She clearly had something to say, and the waiting was killing me.
"What is it? Just tell me."
"Um… i-it's lunchtime, so…"
A faint flush colored her cheeks. Ayeong was sitting in the pharmacy chair; I was standing. For once, I was the one looking down at her. Through the faint dark circles under her eyes, a careful, hesitant gaze peeked out. The gauze covering her forehead — moisture wasn't good for that, right?
I brushed her bangs aside as I answered.
"Yeah. You hungry?"
Her cheeks grew steadily warmer. Ayeong had frozen solid, stiff as a penguin stuck in ice. Her lips opened and closed like a goldfish, and the sounds that tumbled out were painfully awkward.
"Ah, ahh. I-I am hungry, but… um…"
"Yeah."
Ahh. I got it.
Was she embarrassed because it felt like asking me on a date? Fair enough. Eating together in the cafeteria was everyday stuff, but we'd never actually gone out for a meal like this.
"Want to eat together?"
"Y-yeah…"
"But the thing is…"
I genuinely had no money. I had no idea how to make an excuse.
Had she already sensed the rejection forming on my tongue? Ayeong's head began to droop lower and lower.
"S-sorry…"
"No. No — I just don't have any money… yeah."
Hah. I'd said it after all.
Being poor wasn't something to be ashamed of, but it was something careful and sad. Not having money meant it got in the way of ordinary life, after all.
"I-I'll pay…!"
"No, that's a bit much."
"S-sorry… is it too much pressure?"
She didn't seem to take care of it, but her hair was softer than I'd expected. I let the endless stream of apologies wash past as familiar dialogue and offered her the next-best option.
"It's fine. I'm hungry too… want me to cook something?"
"……!?"
I stroked Ayeong's forehead with a gentle hand. Her head slowly lifted. I met a pair of eyes that looked like she was sure she'd misheard.
"I just need ingredients. We can go to your place."
I really had been being careful — so careful that the last part came out as more of a whisper-shout than I'd intended. Maybe because it was so quiet, her reaction hit even harder.
"L-let's go. Let's just go outside first."
"Okay. Grab your bag."
"Young love, tsk tsk."
An old woman in the pharmacy muttered under her breath. Ayeong must have heard it — her whole body jerked like a seized-up hinge. Waiting outside the door, I couldn't help but snort with laughter. She looked like a broken wooden puppet.
"Pfft."
"Ah…"
"Hm?"
"Nothing."
Ayeong stared at me with slightly dazed eyes, then shook her head. And just like that, the two of us started walking.
"Is it… okay if you come to my place?"
"Yeah, as long as I get permission from my noona?"
"O-oh, I see…"
Weird… permission from his noona…
Ayeong muttered to herself. She had a habit of talking under her breath, so I didn't comment. The word "permission" was funny, sure — but it was basically a notification, not a request. What was she going to do about it? I was hanging out at a friend's house! It wasn't even a sleepover — I'd be back by evening!
I fired off a text to Han Seyeon with roughly that content, then switched off my phone and shoved it in my pocket.
"Do you have ingredients at home?"
"Probably…?"
"So you don't know."
"Sorry…"
"You should be apologizing to your parents."
"Sorry, Dad."
"Pffaha, what was that."
"Hehe."
A natural laugh. She checked my face, then Ayeong broke into a fresh, bright smile of her own.
It wasn't even a studio apartment — she lived with her parents. Surely nothing was going to happen… right?
A boy's smile was a beautiful thing. Especially the smile of someone you liked.
To Jeong Ayeong, Han Sein's smile was something special.
An early dismissal. Time to spare. Looking at Sein's face — so apparently free of any particular thoughts — only made Ayeong's chest grow tighter. The situation itself was good. Mentally, it was not.
The good part: he was going to cook for her.
The bad part: he was walking unprotected into a strange woman's house.
What if he does this with other girls too?
Ayeong's useless worries began to pile up. When stress builds, you need an outlet — that was only human nature. She opened the community board she always used and started tapping at her phone's keyboard.
Hoo.
Ayeong let out a short breath. She was a named user on the community — someone who posted in earnest — and she came here looking for answers. Of course, no woman there ever gave her a proper one.
She closed her phone. Sein had finished texting his noona and was slipping his phone into his pocket.
Match your pace to the guy's! — dating advice she'd picked up from the gallery boards.
Anyway. Ayeong headed home like that. It wasn't a particularly long walk — about fifteen minutes on foot to the apartment. Matching Sein's stride made it feel frustratingly slow, but she did her absolute best.
She would win his heart. She had to.
"Excuse the intrusion…"
"Nobody's home."
"Still."
And so Han Sein and Jeong Ayeong arrived at the house. Technically it was Ayeong's house — but she was the one acting more nervous and awkward, to the point that anyone watching might have mistaken it for Sein's place.
"M-m-make yourself at… home…"
"Did you bite your tongue?"
"Yeah…"
How badly did you have to stutter to bite your own tongue?
Following Ayeong's lead, Sein reached her bedroom door and turned the knob. In that instant, Ayeong — who'd been looking somewhere else — made a sharp little sound of panic. She'd just remembered what she'd left behind in the room.
The door opened. Sein looked inside.
"Oh, it's clean. Can I sit here?"
"Ah, ah, w-w-wait…"
Sein stepped into the room looking faintly excited. He'd been curious what a girl's room looked like in this reversed world — and it was cleaner than he'd expected. More modern than cute. A wide room with a big bed, a desk and computer that clearly looked expensive. The plush bed looked so inviting he almost wanted to lie down on it. After nights spent sleeping on a hard floor, he felt a twinge of envy.
While Sein took in the modern interior with open curiosity, Ayeong stood frozen like a deeply uncomfortable meerkat, with no idea what to do with herself.
"Hm?"
"What's this?"
"Ah, aah. Ah…!!"
No!!
Ayeong stretched her arm out as far as it would go. But the distance was too far. Sein, who'd sat down on the edge of the bed, had spotted the towel beside him and picked it up.
"What is this? A towel?"
Ayeong's face went steadily redder. Shame flooded every corner of her chest. That was right — when women masturbated, they usually laid down a towel. This morning, after her happy time, she'd forgotten to put it away. And now it was in Han Sein's hand.
"Sniff sniff… ugh, what is that."
It was pure instinct, really. Towels usually smelled like fresh fabric softener, so of course he'd bring it closer to his nose. The towel neared his face. The sound of his breath.
Ayeong screamed.
"D-don't—!!!"
A day in March. It was spring.
Crrrk.
Kang Hyeona arrived at Class 1-3 and clenched her teeth hard. Lunch period. Jeong Ayeong and Han Sein were nowhere to be found — not in the cafeteria, not in the classroom. She'd come here looking for him and come up empty.
Her network was by no means thin. She didn't have many real friends, but she had plenty of hangers-on — the errand-running type. In a way, that was only natural. Handling every little chore herself was inefficient.
Right now, though, that network was backfiring on her.
The photo that had come through. Jeong Ayeong and Han Sein, heading somewhere. Walking side by side, just the two of them. Kang Hyeona ground her teeth. They looked so damn sweet together. So unbearably close.
She clenched her fist tight.