Chapter 104: The Next Day
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 104: The Next Day
The first thing I felt upon opening my eyes was a warmth greater than usual.
Through my blurry vision, a gentle, light brown hair came into view.
My girlfriend.
It was Doah’s hair.
Doah was peeking just her head out from under the pure white blanket.
She must have been exhausted, because even as I rustled and shifted beside her, she only continued to let out small, rhythmic breaths.
I reached out and tidied her hair.
As the tip of my nail brushed her cheek, her right eyebrow twitched for a moment before settling back into place.
So it really happened.
The more I woke up, the clearer the memories became.
It felt like I’d had a dream made of cotton candy.
A dream so sweet it seemed to melt away in my mouth.
But what happened yesterday was no dream.
Because right now, under this blanket…
When I moved my arm, which was buried underneath, my hand touched Doah’s thigh.
Do people normally get this warm when they sleep?
Even with the slightest touch, Doah’s thigh felt incredibly hot.
As I slowly slid my hand upward, it brushed against her cute little butt, a place I’d never even thought of touching before.
Gulp.
Inside my silent room, the sound of me swallowing my spit felt deafeningly loud.
An urge to squeeze and knead it welled up inside me, but I barely managed to hold back.
Just because we’d crossed the line for one day didn’t mean I could do whatever I wanted with her.
At the very least, I thought it wasn’t right to be doing this and that to a sleeping Doah without her knowing.
Besides, that guy down there, who always stands at attention in the morning, was already making a fierce protest as if aware of Doah’s presence. I decided it was best to just get up before I put myself through any unnecessary suffering.
When I got out of bed, the traces of last night were laid bare on the floor.
Doah’s black knit sweater.
My slightly stretched-out t-shirt.
I was picking up the clothes one by one and piling them on a chair.
…Hm.
A piece of fabric, far too soft to exist in my house, came into my hand.
The memories of yesterday replayed like a movie, and I recalled the image of Doah wearing this.
Yesterday was truly…
“…What are you doing?”
I had been staring intently at the panties held in my two hands when the voice from behind made me jump, and I dropped them.
The scrap of fabric fell pathetically to the floor.
Flustered, I turned around to explain myself, and Doah let out a sharp scream.
“Kyaaaa!”
It didn’t take long to figure out what had startled her so much.
Because right now, I…
wasn’t wearing a single thing.
Slurp, slurp, sluuuurp.
Slightly undercooked noodles were sucked into Oppa’s mouth. He was dressed in pajama pants and a white t-shirt.
He must have been starving, because a rather loud noise echoed every time he moved his chopsticks.
“Ah.”
My boyfriend lifted the bowl and drank the broth straight from it.
Perhaps the reason he was eating in such a hurry was because I’d given him a hard time earlier.
But I had my reasons.
I mean, come on.
Even if I saw it yesterday…
That… that… indecent… thing…
Our relationship was still a bit too awkward for me to get used to that friend of his.
I felt like it would take a lot of time to adjust.
“What are you doing today?”
I hadn’t even eaten half of my bowl, but Oppa’s was almost empty.
“Me? Nothing much, really. Just work later tonight.”
“Ah… I see…”
Something.
Something was subtly awkward.
The content of our conversation wasn’t special, and it felt like the same things we always talked about.
But the air between us felt like that of awkward friends meeting after a long time.
“What about you?”
“Me…”
I had things to do, but nothing was urgent.
If I had to name something, it would be reviewing content proposals for my personal streams.
The company required me to submit a plan every week detailing how I would conduct my broadcasts.
Sometimes I would propose ideas I wanted to try, and other times the company would suggest things to me.
In the latter case, it was frequently for what you’d call “sponsored” streams, which included advertisements.
“I’m just planning to rest.”
I’d said it without much thought.
But a shadow quickly fell over Oppa’s face.
“Is it because you’re in too much pain?”
“Huh?”
I didn’t think I was hurting anywhere in particular.
I tilted my head at his incomprehensible question.
“Ah… well… I’ve heard that it can hurt a lot after… your first time…”
Of course, it did seem to hurt a bit yesterday.
It was especially tough at the beginning after we turned off the lights, but after that…
Sizzle…
Someone, please pour some water on me.
I felt like steam was rising from the top of my head.
“I… right now… I’m not… really… I think I’m okay…”
“Really?”
Oppa grinned as if in relief.
…He’s so handsome.
How could he look so handsome without even trying to dress up?
Of course, my opinion might be biased because I’m his girlfriend, but no.
This person was just objectively cool.
“…I think I’m done eating.”
I felt pretty full, and it seemed like it was about time for me to head home.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
I took my bowl to the sink, washed the dishes, and put on my coat.
“Get home safe.”
“I live right next door, what do you mean, ‘get home safe’?”
“Still.”
He offered to walk me home, but I managed to shake him off. Leaving him with a promise to text later, I closed the front door.
Hah… I should clean up as soon as I get home.
“…Ugh!”
The moment I took the first step toward the stairs, a short scream escaped my lips as it felt like someone had slammed a hammer into my lower back.
It… It hurts so much…!
I grabbed the railing and debated for about ten seconds whether I should call Oppa, but I decided to get home on my own.
I mean, come on.
Telling him not to worry and then coming back crying thirty seconds later would be so uncool.
Leaning heavily on the railing, I carefully made my way down to the first floor and had to repeat the same process to get to my own building.
Wow, it really does hurt…
Lying down on my bed without even changing my clothes, I felt tears welling up in my eyes.
I should have just stayed at Oppa’s place longer.
It had reached the point where, whenever I was hurt or upset, Taemin Oppa’s face was the first to come to mind.
Objectively speaking, he didn’t seem like the best type of person to rely on.
But the bold and courageous side he sometimes showed seemed to keep turning me into a child.
“Owowowow…”
Another jolt of pain shot through me as I shifted my hips to grab my phone.
I had a missed call. After checking who it was from, I immediately sent a message.
[I was out just now so I couldn’t pick up. Was it something urgent?]
It was from my manager unnie.
Jiye unnie.
[Ah, Luka-ssi! Are you free for a quick call?]
[Yes, yes! Now is a good time!]
What could it be?
I didn’t have any urgent schedules after January 1st, so her call felt quite strange.
I wondered if I’d made another mistake, but I couldn’t think of anything.
Clutching my phone with a bit of nervousness, the call I was waiting for came right away.
[Hello?]
[Ah! Yes! Luka-ssi!]
[Yes! Manager-nim!]
Judging by her tone, it didn’t seem like a serious matter.
[Ah~ Luka-ssi! It’s about that time I visited your studio.]
[Yes, yes!]
[The school senior? Or classmate? The one I gave my business card to? I was wondering if I could get his number?]
Realizing who Manager unnie was looking for, I felt my body tense up.
[Um… May I ask why?]
[Ah. I gave him my card back then, but we haven’t heard from him, so we were hoping to contact him first to set up another meeting.]
What was the right thing to do?
It would be great if things worked out for Oppa and he became a model or actor for YM, but giving out his number without his permission…
[Ah… since this is personal information, I don’t think it would be right for me to give it to you without his permission.]
This seemed like the best course of action I could think of right now.
[Would it be okay if I just told Oppa to contact you again?]
[Ah~ In that case, Luka-ssi! Please, I’m counting on you! It would be even better if you could tell him we promise to offer him a deal he won’t regret!]
[Ah… yes… I understand…]
[Well then, get some rest, and please contact me if you need anything or have any questions about your streams!]
[Yes. Thank you.]
After ending the call, I opened my messenger app.
At the very top, in my favorites tab, was Oppa’s profile.
Contained within the small circle was a picture of Oppa and me, smiling brightly.
“Haaa…”
It was an unexplainable frustration.