Drinks with Miho's Friends (2)
All in all, they didn't seem like particularly high-quality friends compared to Miho. The guys went without saying, and A-young and Ju-young were no different. Friends who didn't look likely to have any good influence on her. I caught myself thinking I should tell her later to keep a polite distance and let them drift away—then laughed at myself alone.
She wasn't even my girlfriend, and she wasn't my tutoring student anymore. Why the hell was I worrying about this?
Just a sex partner. Miho was nothing more and nothing less to me. Being with her was enjoyable, of course, but that was purely physical. It had nothing to do with feelings.
Just like I'd told her the first time we slept together, this was only the stage of staying sex partners and figuring out whether we clicked. Not some budding crush—sex friends. If we got to know each other and it didn't work, we could simply stay body buddies and leave it at that.
Thinking it through like that, I laughed again at why I'd even shown up to this drinking party tonight.
Miho calling me over like I was her boyfriend, A-young and Ju-young making a point of showing interest in me, Man-hyeong and Seok-gi openly radiating hostility—and above all, the fact that I'd come all the way here myself. That was the funniest part of all.
“Having fun too, Oppa?”
Miho asked brightly when she saw me laughing to myself.
“Yeah. It's fun.”
“Hehe. I think calling Oppa today was a good idea.”
I stroked her back without saying much. Seok-gi watched the touch with eyes full of jealousy.
A little later the girls stood up, saying they were heading to the bathroom. However the plumbing was connected, women always seemed to flock to the restroom in a pack.
Once they left, only Seok-gi, Man-hyeong, and I remained sitting there blankly. With nothing to say to the two who were practically steaming with hostility, I simply lifted my glass and took a sip alone.
They kept staring at me.
Receiving that baseless hostility without end wasn't exactly improving my mood either.
“Got something you want to say?”
I set the glass down and asked with a wry smile.
“Mister.”
The skinny Man-hyeong who claimed to be in business pulled out a cigarette, stuck it between his lips, and locked eyes with me.
“Don't butt into someone else's game and cockblock. Read the fucking room.”
“Cockblock?”
“You're old enough—have some damn sense! Stop lusting after a kid ten years younger just to get a taste!”
The big guy with the large nose, Seok-gi, shoved both hands into his pockets and kicked the table leg with a solid thud.
Honestly, having two young guys come at me like that made me shrink a little. But it wasn't as if a fight was going to break out in the middle of a bar with the girls around, and my own temper was rising fast enough that I refused to back down.
I smiled, pretending to be relaxed, and spoke.
“Lusting? Who? Me?”
“Yeah, you fucking bastard! Some guy past thirty lusting his ass off after a kid ten years younger just to fuck her!”
Seok-gi shot up from his seat.
“Hahaha. You talk funny. … Aren't you the ones lusting to get a taste?”
“This fucking bastard's being snarky!”
Man-hyeong cut in this time.
“Why? Were you lusting to get a taste too? Who for you—A-young? Ju-young? Or… Miho?”
I glared right back at Man-hyeong without yielding.
“Hey, you guys talk so pretty… Even if your mouths are crooked, let's speak straight. The ones lusting right now aren't me—it's you, isn't it? Seok-gi, was it? Weren't you the one going crazy wanting to fuck Miho?”
“You fucking bastard!”
Seok-gi clenched his fist tight.
“If you want to hit me, hit me. Then the one who ends up fucked is you, not me. Hey—if you're going to make a move, at least do it with some style. Isn't it because you guys can't close properly that the girls are calling me? If you satisfied Miho, why would she call me?”
“This fucking bastard talks too damn much!”
Seok-gi took a step toward me, looking ready to throw a punch right then.
“Don't. You came out tonight to get laid, not to end up in a holding cell.”
I hid the way my heart was hammering and poured soju into my glass, still playing it cool.
“Do better. I'll cheer you on. Yeah? I'm serious. Got it?”
I poured until the glass in front of Seok-gi overflowed, then raised mine alone and clinked it against his with a sharp cheers.
“Hey—the girls are coming. Sit down before they notice the shitty atmosphere and your whole game goes to hell.”
I gestured after spotting the three women walking out from the bathroom around the corner of the shopping strip behind him. Seok-gi sat, still glaring at me to the end, his anger nowhere near settled.
“What were you three talking about?”
A-young asked as she sat back down. I just smiled and brushed it off.
“Nah, just some nonsense.”
“Ugh, Oppa! Just talk casually. We'll talk casually too.”
Ju-young waved a hand at me.
“Haha. If we run into each other again, sure. Miho—Oppa's heading out first.”
“Huh? Oppa, you're leaving already?”
“Young people having fun among themselves—an old guy hanging around cluelessly isn't right.”
“No, Oppa, stay longer.”
“Yeah, Oppa. Stay a bit more.”
“Ah, Oppa, sit down.”
“Aigoo… No. I was already tired from work anyway… It was fun today. Miho, Oppa's going.”
I shook off the hands trying to hold me back, stood, and paid at the counter. Miho rose to follow and tried to stop me, but I ignored her and settled the bill.
“I'll cover up to here—eat more after.”
“Oppa, you're not mad because we were just talking and hanging out among ourselves, right?”
Miho fretted, watching my face. I slipped my wallet into my inner pocket and gave her shoulder a light pat.
“It's not that, so don't worry. Go have fun. Oppa's going.”
I waved to them, walked to my car, and called a designated driver. Standing outside waiting for him, I waited for my e-cigarette to heat up.
What a ridiculous situation. Thinking I'd almost gotten humiliated by a couple of kids for coming out for no good reason made me laugh. My own position was funny, and Man-hyeong and Seok-gi treating me like a rival, showing hostility and trying to threaten me—that was funny too.
“Aigoo… Young people…”
I decided to file it under novel experience and blew out a long stream of vapor.
“Oppa!”
I turned at the voice beside me and found Ju-young.
“Huh? Ju-young. What's up?”
“This is only the second time we've met—talk casually.”
“Haha. That so? Why? Did I leave something?”
“No. I came out for a smoke too, saw Oppa, and figured I'd say hi.”
She held up the e-cigarette in her hand. So she smoked.
“It was nice meeting you today.”
She took a drag and blew the smoke toward me as she spoke. Unlike her face, she had a pretty bold streak. Before I knew it she was already speaking casually to me. Not sure how to answer, I just nodded with a smile.
“Miho brags about Oppa a lot.”
“Brags about me? What does she say?”
“That Oppa's good.”
“Good at what… We're not even dating… She's a younger sister I know, so I just look after her a bit.”
“No, not that. Sex.”
Her bold words made my eyes go wide.
“Wow….. Girls really talk about everything among themselves!”
“Hehehe. Don't guys do the same? Whose body's how, who fucked who… Oppa's that good, they say?”
Her attitude made it clear she wasn't someone to take lightly. If I didn't keep my head straight I might get pulled in.
Ju-young was staring right at my face.
I felt like I ought to say something, but this was new territory and nothing came to mind.
“Oppa!”
“Uh… uh… yeah.”
“Give me your number.”
“My number?!”
She nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world and held her phone out. As if possessed, I typed my number in. She took the phone back, hit the call button, and when my phone rang she hung up.
“Miho looks completely head over heels for Oppa… How about you?”
“Um… She's a pretty girl.”
“You decided to be sex partners, right?”
I wanted to stay sharp, but the continuous barrage left me no room to collect myself.
“You even talked about that?”
“Yes. How about me?”
“…… What… what?”
“I've been a bit hungry lately too. No regular guy, so I was getting lonely… Looking at you today, Oppa seems pretty decent… After only seeing skinny Miho, tasting someone like me would be different, you know? If I contact you later, you'll pick up, right?”
“Th… yeah. Sure.”
“I'll contact you later. Bye.”
I had no idea what the hell was going on. Ju-young waved and left coolly. I stared blankly at her large ass wriggling inside the dolphin shorts. It looked like the kind of ass that would make a sharp smack and bounce my palm right back if I slapped the cheeks. The sway of that full, heavy rear—completely different from Miho's slim one—made me swallow hard.
