Girlfriend
The warmth of their bodies pressed together was scorching.
Seorin steeled herself to offer him her lips and closed her eyes on the sofa.
She had secretly been hoping things would turn out this way from the start. Ever since she had coaxed him into drinking. The playful remarks she had tossed out just to get a rise out of him, too. Part of it was wanting him not to overthink things—but that was not the whole of it.
…Even if they were going to drink, they did not necessarily have to do it at home. If that thought had never crossed her mind, she would have suggested going out. She would never have brought him back to her place.
Of course, as two job-seekers their finances were hardly flush. But Seorin lived thriftily enough that going out for drinks once or twice a month was well within reach. The real reason she had insisted on inviting him to her studio was simple. She wanted to be alone with him. She wanted to be alone with him while they were drunk.
…Maybe then I can give him the kiss I promised earlier.
That was what she had thought. Yet the situation had flipped, and now she was the one about to be kissed. Not that she minded one bit.
…I-is this really happening?
Still, she could not stop the trembling rising from deep inside her body. Her first kiss. Handing that over to someone filled her with a dizzying mix of fear and excitement. Ever since she was young, watching kiss scenes in movies and dramas, she had wondered what a real kiss would feel like. And now that moment was about to become reality.
…Why isn’t he coming closer?
Strangely, she felt no sensation at all. Their bodies were still locked in an embrace. Wrapped in his solid frame she felt as warm and secure as if under a blanket, and his heartbeat pulsed quietly against her. Yet Ijun’s face simply was not approaching hers. If he were drawing near she would feel his hair brush her first, or at least sense his presence. She felt none of that.
“Ijun-ssi?”
Puzzled, Seorin called his name. A thought suddenly flickered through her mind. Could Ijun be playing a prank? Revenge for the way she had teased him earlier by pretending she was about to kiss him? Maybe if she opened her eyes he would be filming her waiting for the kiss with her eyes closed. Thinking that, Seorin cautiously lifted her lids.
And just as she had expected, Ijun was frozen in place—still straddling her in that same embrace, eyes shut.
“Ijun-ssi?”
When Seorin called his name again, Ijun’s eyelids fluttered slowly. His amber eyes peeked out as he looked at her and grinned.
“Seorin-ssi… mmm.”
It can’t be.
“Yes…”
“Being wrapped up with you like this is so warm and soft…”
“…”
“I’m so sleepy… sorry…”
With that, Ijun’s head lolled down—right onto the upper part of her shoulder. He had fallen asleep just like that.
“Wait a second. Ijun-ssi. Wake up. This is ridiculous.”
“Mmmngh…”
“Ijun-ssi? Ijun-ssi! Ijun-ssi…”
With the full weight of an adult man collapsing limp on top of her, Seorin was pinned beneath him, unable to resist. She called his name over and over, but he only twisted his body with cute sleep-talking sounds.
Ijun-ssi… so his drunk habit is falling asleep…
She had seen it often enough in college—kids who conked out the moment they drank. Among all the ugly drunk behaviors, that one had not seemed so bad. Right now, though, it was the absolute worst. How could anyone fall asleep in a mood like this? Seriously.
“…Haa.”
The fluffy fantasies about her first kiss that had been swelling in Seorin’s mind fizzled out completely. Well, he had every right to be tired. He had suddenly done a ton of exercise he never did, plus the alcohol, and he must have been under a lot of mental stress too. In that state, pressed against someone soft and warm, of course he would get sleepy. Honestly, if Seorin closed her eyes like this she felt she might drift off as well.
“I shouldn’t have suggested running if this was how it would end.”
She clicked her tongue in disappointment. Making him sprint full-out and drain every last drop of stamina so he would fall asleep… and at the most critical moment. She felt a little resentful of her past self.
“…Idiot.”
And this big sleeper sprawled on top of her. She hugged that teddy-bear of a man tightly, as if taking revenge. Then, almost without realizing it, she turned her face toward his neck and breathed in his scent.
Huff.
“Hoo… smells good.”
She felt like she had read somewhere that women found the body odor of men they liked more fragrant. Maybe that was it. Everything about his scent felt good somehow—the shampoo smell from using the same shampoo as her, the subtle body-wash scent from his skin, even the sharp tang of the beer they had just been drinking.
…I want to smell his bare skin too.
She thought that for a second, startling herself with her own lewdness as she gazed at his cheek. This much should be fine, right? He was so deeply asleep there was no way he would wake. And he needed to pay for leaving her hanging like this. Rationalizing it that way, Seorin lightly pressed her lips to his cheek.
Chu.
A very cute sound echoed in the room, and Seorin whipped her head away in shock.
“Mmm…”
Thinking Ijun had woken, she squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to sleep. But he only squirmed a little before settling back into even breathing. Seorin murmured while remembering the feel of his cheek on her lips.
“I’ll let it slide for today, but next time I won’t go easy. Be prepared.”
He had gotten her all heated up and then failed to take responsibility, so it could not be helped.
…I never expected to get payback like this, though.
Wondering if this was the karma for her teasing earlier that day, Seorin stroked Ijun’s cheek for a long while.
A spicy, salty aroma. The smell of broth my body instinctively craved made me open my eyes without realizing it.
Raising myself groggily from the sofa, I saw a figure over by the sink. It was a back view—the line rising from those sleek thighs to her hips. The part I had thought was the best last night came into my view. Before I even thought about who it was, my body recognized her instantly.
“Ijun-ssi? You’re awake?”
Had she felt my gaze? Seorin, who had been boiling something bubbling in the kitchen, turned her head to look at me. She must have already showered that morning. Unlike my disheveled self, Seorin was in casual clothes but neatly put together.
“What? Why is Seorin-ssi here…”
I started to say, then looked around and froze solid. Come to think of it, this was not my place. The situation was clearly me waking up after falling asleep on Seorin-ssi’s sofa. As I sat there bewildered, Seorin said with a smile,
“Don’t you remember? Last night?”
“Last night? Ah, wait a sec…”
I quickly rummaged through my mind. Then the fragmented pieces of memory surfaced one by one. Running with her in the park and deciding to drink. Arriving home, drinking together, playing along with Seorin’s teasing, and then…
…I clearly remembered pinning her down in a hug on the sofa. But nothing after that. It would have been better if I knew what I had done, but not remembering made me even more anxious. I carefully gauged her reaction as I asked Seorin,
“I remember us hugging on the sofa… did we sleep together by any chance?”
At my question Seorin snorted as if it were absurd.
“When you say ‘slept together,’ which one are you asking about? That’s pretty ambiguous.”
“Ahem. Both.”
At her spicy joke I coughed involuntarily. Had I climbed the adult staircase without even knowing? Had I caused an accident? Should I be proud or call myself an idiot? But if I had just slept, what was I supposed to do? Did I need to take responsibility? Having never experienced a situation like this in my life, I had no idea.
“Pfft. Why does your face look so troubled? Ah, that’s funny.”
Seeing my worried expression she chuckled, then told me the truth that I could call fortunate.
“We did sleep together. But purely just sleeping.”
“Ah, that’s a relief.”
“A relief?”
Seorin’s eyes narrowed slightly. Wait—did I answer wrong? What was I supposed to say here so the woman would not feel hurt?
“Then… that’s a shame?”
“What’s a shame? That you couldn’t sleep with me?”
Wait, so this is not it either.
“Uh… then…”
“Heheh. Idiot, idiot.”
As I hesitated over my answer, Seorin’s expression quickly filled with laughter. Only then did I realize she was teasing me. Still, one fortunate thing: from that reaction it seemed nothing major had really happened. We had truly just hugged and slept.
“Enough jokes. Hurry up and wash up and come out. The ramen’s ready. Your stomach’s upset, right?”
“Yeah. Whatever else, my stomach is threatening me to eat some broth. I’ll be right out.”
Apparently Seorin had even thought of my hangover and boiled ramen for me. A devoted wife if there ever was one. We had drunk together and slept, yet she had gotten up before me and prepared hangover soup even. And only then did I realize from the light coming through the window that it was morning.
“Wait a minute. Seorin-ssi. Is it morning right now?”
“Huh? Of course. You slept for hours, Ijun-ssi. You must have been tired from running for the first time in a while—you didn’t even wake up in the middle.”
I hurriedly pulled out my phone and checked the time. 7 a.m. Normally I would still be sprawled out sleeping at home. But that was not what mattered now.
One call each from both of them. Of course we were all adults and men, but living with my parents I had gone and stayed out all night without a single word. No matter how cool my parents were, they could not help but worry if something had happened to their kid. As I started to frantically dial my parents—
“Are you trying to contact your parents, Ijun-ssi?”
Seorin asked as she set a ramen trivet on the table. How did she know? I looked at her in surprise, and she said with a smile,
“They called a few times last night too.”
“R-really?”
With some unknown anxiety I laughed “ahaha” and looked at her. Seorin mixed a mischievous smile at the corners of her mouth.
“Yes. But I answered, so you don’t need to call.”
“You answered? Seorin-ssi?”
“Yes~ At first I wasn’t going to, but they kept calling so I checked.”
“…”
“With ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ popping up right there, how could I not answer? It was obviously a call worrying about you, Ijun-ssi.”
Since she knew I lived with my parents, she could easily guess that the call was from them worrying because I had not come home. But why did I feel so uneasy?
“Um… what did you say when you answered?”
“That Ijun-ssi was sleeping right now so he probably couldn’t take the call.”
“Yeah.”
“And that he was sleeping over at our place so not to worry. If there was a message to pass on, I’d pass it along. That sort of thing?”
In other words, my mom and dad now knew I was sleeping over at a girl’s place. I asked her next in a trembling voice,
“So what did my parents say?”
“Your mom casually said, ‘Oh really? Please take good care of Ijun’?”
That was like Mom. My mom was not the type to get easily surprised anyway. She was the kind of person who just went “oh well” about things. But—
“…And Dad?”
“Your dad said, ‘Ijun. Let’s talk in detail when you come home today’?”
I’m screwed.
As I broke out in a cold sweat at those words, Seorin laughed at my reaction for a moment, then as if remembering something—
“Oh right. And your mom asked me what my relationship with you was, Ijun-ssi?”
“Yeah…”
Well of course. If a strange woman answered a call to me and said he was sleeping at her place, they would have to wonder what the relationship was.
“So I told her I was his girlfriend.”
And the follow-up blow. My mind went a little blank at that. Seorin dropped the bombshell and then grinned like an innocent puppy who knew nothing.
“Girlfriend…?”
“Yes. Explaining it that way is the most convenient, right? No misunderstandings either.”
“Well that’s true but…”
“So I’ll leave the rest to you~”
…How am I supposed to explain this when I get home.
Suddenly saddled with a girlfriend I did not have, I could only sigh as I looked at the carefree smiling Seorin.